Chapter 201
The Qi family members in the courtyard still thought Qi Yanzhou was surrounded by enemies and facing certain death.
In reality, he and the National Guard were playing Cao Liang's men for fools.
The moment the National Guard entered the main room, they coordinated with Qi Yanzhou and struck the mute acupoints of Cao Liang's subordinates.
They suppressed and beat them, giving them no chance to unblock their acupoints and call for help.
Therefore, the people eavesdropping outside had absolutely no idea what was truly happening inside the main room.
Listening to the commotion coming through the copper pipe, Cao Liang felt it was only a matter of time before Qi Yanzhou was captured.
He ordered his subordinates, "Spread the word that Qi Wenyue and his wife have been taken hostage by enemies, and that Qi Yanzhou must trade his life for theirs!"
Qi Wenyue was Old Master Qi.
He had originally planned to use the real elder couple of the Qi family as bait, but the secret passage somehow collapsed, burying his men and the two elders inside.
They were definitely dead, and digging them out would be useless, so he could only use body doubles to put on a show.
Soon, the martial arts experts arranged by Cao Liang took the body doubles hostage and left the prefectural estate.
The officials immediately went in pursuit.
It didn't take long for the commoners of Liangzhou City to learn that the two Qi family elders had been taken hostage by enemies, who were demanding Qi Yanzhou's life in exchange.
"Kidnapping someone from the heavily guarded prefectural estate? How is that possible! The news must be fake, right?"
"Didn't you see that all the officials from the estate have been mobilized? It must be true."
"Have you forgotten what Young Master Qi said before? It might just be Lord Cao directing and acting in his own play."
"Impossible! If it were an act, they would have been rescued by accomplices, not kidnapped by enemies!"
While the commoners were half-believing and half-doubting, someone suddenly shouted, "Look over there!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the man's raised arm.
A masked man in white clothes, carrying a person in each hand, swiftly glided across the rooftops.
The officials from the prefectural estate chased madly through the streets.
"Make way, everyone make way! Don't interfere with official business!"
After the officials chased the "enemy" and the two Qi elders away, the tone of the discussions began to change.
"The ones taken away really were Old Master Qi and the Old Madam. I saw them when they entered the city."
"I've seen the two elders too, it was definitely them, but I still feel something isn't right."
"What isn't right?"
"Qi Yanzhou's martial arts are unparalleled, and the prefectural estate is heavily guarded. Who could possibly kidnap anyone under these circumstances?"
"Exactly. If this enemy had such high martial arts, they could easily wipe out the Qi family. Isn't kidnapping them unnecessary?"
As soon as these words were spoken, many people agreed.
This was exactly the effect Cao Liang wanted.
The person he had planted immediately said, "Could this so-called enemy be a fake?"
These words were like a drop of cold water falling into a boiling pot of oil, making the crowd explode.
"Yes! Otherwise, it makes no sense at all!"
"If Qi Yanzhou was helping in secret, kidnapping them would indeed be much easier."
"I'm guessing that next, Qi Yanzhou will ignore Lord Cao's obstructions and insist on trading his life for theirs!"
"And then he'll take the opportunity to escape with his parents, reunite the Qi Family Army, and overthrow the dynasty."
"Shh! Do you have a death wish? You can't just say things like that!"
Seeing their mission accomplished, Cao Liang's men immediately left the crowd and returned to the prefectural estate to report.
Not long after.
"Qi Yanzhou," in order to save his parents, injured countless officials, fled the prefectural estate, and went chasing after the "enemy."
At this point, most of the commoners believed that Qi Yanzhou had become a fugitive, planning to raise an army to rebel and overthrow the imperial power.
There were also some commoners who believed in the generations of loyalty of the Qi family, thinking Qi Yanzhou just wanted to save his parents and would absolutely not run away.
However, they were soon proven wrong.
Because after Qi Yanzhou caught up with the enemy, he and the enemy together injured the guards at the city gate and ran away with the two Qi elders.
"He really ran away? What about the other people still in the prefectural estate? Does Qi Yanzhou not care whether they live or die?"
"The concubines and illegitimate children of the Qi family will definitely be implicated and executed on the spot!"
"Ye Chutang is so pitiful. She was exiled right after getting married, and now she's going to be beheaded."
"What's pitiful about her? If it weren't for that wedding, the Qi family wouldn't have met with disaster."
"I wonder if Qi Yanzhou will manage to escape or get caught and brought back?"
When all the commoners believed that Qi Yanzhou had become a fugitive with his parents.
Cao Liang issued another order.
"Kill all the body doubles, and have Qi Qingyu come identify the bodies."
"Yes, My Lord!"
After his trusted aide took the order and left, Cao Liang headed to the Elegant Courtyard, planning to personally send the Qi family on their way to the afterlife.
Passing by the study, he felt it would be more interesting to bring Ye Chutang along.
"Bring Miss Ye over!"
Ye Chutang could hear that Cao Liang was very happy, knowing that his "body double plan" had been completed.
As she stood up from the floor, she used dirt to plug the two holes she had dug out with her fingers and stepped on them.
"The dust has finally settled."
After saying this, she quickly walked out of the study.
Everyone's attention was on Ye Chutang, and no one noticed the anomaly on the wooden floor.
Ye Chutang looked at the blazing sun sinking in the west and raised her hand to shield her eyes.
"Lord Cao, tell me, can the sun make all darkness unable to hide?"
This statement was baffling, and Cao Liang didn't understand it.
He also had no interest in knowing its meaning.
"Miss Ye, let's go. I'm taking you to watch a good show."
Ye Chutang lowered her hand, her smile appearing exceptionally bright under the sunlight.
"It is indeed a good show. Where is Lord Han? Isn't he going to watch it together?"
Han Chong had volunteered to take his men to chase after "Qi Yanzhou."
"Lord Han is busy right now, he will be back soon."
Ye Chutang walked up to Cao Liang.
"Let's go, Lord Cao."
Cao Liang took Ye Chutang to the Elegant Courtyard, protected by guards both in front of and behind him.
His caution looked like a joke in Ye Chutang's eyes.
Outside the Elegant Courtyard.
The prefectural guards, paralyzed by acupoint strikes, stood perfectly straight.
The National Guard had surrounded the courtyard so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through.
Cao Liang was walking fast and didn't notice anything wrong with the guards.
But Yuan Ting noticed it.
"My Lord..."
He had just opened his mouth when Ye Chutang suddenly struck, grabbing him by the throat.
"Crack!"
His neck snapped at the sound.
This sound was like a signal. Upon hearing it, the National Guard immediately sprang into action and attacked Cao Liang.
The sudden turn of events happened too fast.
Although Cao Liang's subordinates immediately drew their swords to fight back, they had already fallen into a disadvantage.
Watching the reversed situation, Cao Liang's expression changed drastically.
Panicking intensely, he roared at the National Guard, "Are you going to disobey the imperial decree and rebel?"
No one answered him.
Ye Chutang threw Yuan Ting's corpse at Cao Liang's feet.
"Lord Cao, do you still not understand? The person trapped in the scheme, from the very beginning, has always been you!"