Chapter 199: Subvert

After the convergence with the Gan Provincial Governor Lei Sitong, Sun Bingchen and his men then departed on the journey together under the company of Lei Sitong and his comrades. It wasn’t until evening that this group of people managed to arrive at Weiyuan City.

Weiyuan City was the prefectural city of Weiyuan Prefecture. The size of the city was about the same as Pingxi City too. Even though the entire Weiyuan Prefecture had just undergone a monumental change, everything inside and outside of the city seemed quite serene when they arrived. There wasn’t much tension in the atmosphere either. The citizens passing by on the streets went on with their usual routines. Businesses continued to operate, and the city gate was open as usual. Some bailiffs were seen patrolling around the streets too. There were Wanderers dawdling around as well.

This world would continue to spin regardless of the people it had lost. Such an established family like the Ye Clan thought they could control everything by treating Weiyuan Prefecture as their roots as well as acting like an overlord. However, the Ye Clan had fallen. Yet the impact on the citizens wasn’t significant. For most people, everything about the Ye Clan had turned into an after-dinner conversation in a blink of an eye, which was quite ironic in fact.

At this moment, as one of Sun Bingchen’s attendants, Yan Liqiang did not seem conspicuous as he blended in with a bunch of people. He did not emit an air of intimidation either. Even Provincial Governor Lei Sitong and his group of officers who came with him did not notice Yan Liqiang that much. Only a handful could not help but shoot a glance or two at Yan Liqiang due to his age. Even so, they were not shocked because those between the ages of 13 or 14 who became attendants or enlisted themselves in the army were aplenty in this era. A young attendant like Yan Liqiang was considered a common passerby in contrast to the crowd of great people.

Sun Bingchen and his men were arranged to stay in the largest government-operated posthouse at Weiyuan Prefectural City. As soon as they were done settling their carriages and steeds, the sky was already dim.

After traveling, sleeping, and eating in the wild for one day, everyone was already a bit exhausted. Because of that, the stove and hot water in the posthouse seemed very tempting.

The posthouse could accommodate about four hundred people. It had various rooms ranging from a small courtyard for one person to a single room for one person to a shared house that could accommodate about dozens of people. As an attendant of Sun Bingchen’s, his status was quite special. In the end, he was given a single room to stay in.

While the guards were calling the posthouse staff for hot water and warm beds, Yan Liqiang had already taken his belongings and keys to his room with a tail-wagging Goldie.

The room wasn’t huge, yet it was still tidy and clean. Of course, the cleanliness in this context was that the room didn’t seem dirty to the naked eye. Compared to the hotel rooms that required a daily change of bedsheets and blankets in his past life, it was impossible to top that. Yan Liqiang could not be picky about it either.

As Yan Liqiang was about to turn around and leave after putting down his belongings, he noticed that Liang Yijie had arrived. Liang Yijie first observed the situation of the room before he closed the door behind him as he entered.

With one look at Liang Yijie’s expression, Yan Liqiang knew that Liang Yijie had a problem.

“Brother Liang, is there a problem?” Yan Liqiang took the initiative of asking the question.

“Did you hear what Provincial Governor Lei said today?”

“I did. Why?”

“This Provincial Governor Lei is very decisive and ruthless when it comes to performing his tasks. Lord Sun did not expect Lei Sitong to be able to find an excuse to eradicate the entire Ye Clan in Weiyuan Province. Even though it was satisfying to do so, his actions have disrupted Lord Sun’s plans. The initial plan was to bring the three Ye from the Ye Clan back to the Imperial Capital so that they could stand trial. From the looks of it now, it’s good enough that we were able to bring Ye Tiancheng back to Imperial Capital…”

“Has Lord Sun never reached an understanding with Lei Sitong regarding this matter? Lord Sun seemed quite helpless when he was listening to Lei Sitong’s words!”

“Some key points are quite complicated to explain!” Liang Yijie shook his head and continued, “Lord Sun did coordinate and went through an understanding with Lei Sitong when he came to Gan Province this time. Both of them wanted to take down the Ye Clan, but there was a slight deviation to what Lord Sun and the Provincial Governor Lei desired for the handling the resolution!”

“Taking down the Ye Clan — Lord Sun’s final objective is at the Imperial Capital while Lei Sitong’s final objective is at Gan Province only which is to establish his authority at the said province…”

Liang Yijie looked at Yan Liqiang with admiration and nodded. “That’s right. That mostly seems to be the case!”

“Why? Is that Provincial Governor that bold to steal people from Lord Sun’s grasp?”

“Of course he’s not bold enough to steal people away. Lei Sitong won’t openly offend Lord Sun like that. However, based on Lei Sitong’s temper and how he annihilated the entire Ye Clan, how could he allow Ye Tiancheng to live? Ye Tiancheng is under us now and we are currently on Gan Province soil. If we make a careless move, Provincial Governor Lei will have a plan to fabricate an accident to kill Ye Tiancheng off. Lei Sitong has invited Lord Sun to the banquet tonight. I’ve met him before, so Lord Sun wants me to accompany him to the banquet. Since you and Lei Sitong have not met each other yet, you are unfamiliar to him. Besides, you pay close attention to details, so stay at the posthouse and watch over Ye Tiancheng. Make sure nothing happens to him!”

“Alright, I understand. Don’t worry and go to the banquet with Lord Sun, Brother Liang. I will remain at this posthouse and personally watch over Ye Tiancheng!”

“Mm, I’ll leave Ye Tiancheng to you for now. You can instruct the guards at the posthouse should a problem occur!” Liang Yijie said as he patted Yan Liqiang’s shoulders before he left.

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Yan Liqiang did not linger further when he saw that Liang Yijie had left. He even brought Goldie along to where Ye Tiancheng was being held captive.

As a felon, Ye Tiancheng had to stay at one of the single rooms in the posthouse as well. There were no windows in his single room, and the walls were strong and durable. That area in the posthouse which was originally used to store important gifts was in a small and independent courtyard. After Yan Liqiang and the others arrived, that room was cleaned up and specifically used to lock up Ye Tiancheng.

There would be at least one guard to watch over Ye Tiancheng every hour of the day, including the night when he was sleeping. Even if Ye Tiancheng was locked up in a room, his handcuffs or shackles would never be unlocked.

The guard stationed outside Ye Tiancheng’s door suddenly stood up when he saw Yan Liqiang bringing Goldie along and respectfully gave his greetings, “Guard Yan…”

“Hm, is Ye Tiancheng still inside?”

“Yes!” The guard replied and pointed to the iron window beside the door. Conveniently, anyone could observe the situation inside the cell through the bars of the window. Yan Liqiang looked into the room and noticed that Ye Tiancheng was sitting cross-legged on a worn out straw mat with his eyes closed as if he was meditating.

“Go eat and rest for a while. Brother Liang and Lord Sun are going to attend a banquet tonight, so they want me to come over and watch him!”

The guard was a smart man too. He immediately understood what Yan Liqiang said. Watching people wasn’t exactly a pleasant job to do as it was dull and boring. The guard heaved a sigh of relief and quickly stood up to pass the key to Ye Tiancheng’s room. “Our brothers are outside. If anything, just call out to us, Guard Yan!”

“Alright!”

Yan Liqiang received the key from the guard. Shortly afterward, the guard left.

After Yan Liqiang took a glance at Ye Tiancheng, who was sitting cross-legged inside the room, he then sat on the chair beside the door that had its back against the wall. The chair was facing the corridor while the left side of the chair was facing the iron window to Ye Tiancheng’s room. Yan Liqiang sat on the chair and personally took the responsibility to watch Ye Tiancheng.

Goldie laid down near Yan Liqiang’s foot and continued to stay with him in this area.

Less than two minutes after that guard left, Yan Liqiang could hear the sound of shackles moving inside the room. He turned around and saw Ye Tiancheng, who was just sitting cross-legged on the floor, stand up and walk toward the window.

Ye Tiancheng had a strange radiance in his eyes as he approached the window. He first looked left and right before he licked his somewhat cracked lips, placing his gaze on Yan Liqiang’s face. He then said in a hoarse voice, “I am a bit parched. Can you give me a bit of water?”

“Fine, move back two steps!”

Ye Tiancheng obediently retreated two steps. Yan Liqiang glanced at him before he picked up the kettle from the chair and poured the water onto the kettle lid. He then placed it on the windowsill outside of the iron window without directly giving it to Ye Tiancheng, thus avoiding any physical contact whatsoever.

“Alright, you can come over and drink it. Just put back the kettle lid on the windowsill when you’re done!”

As a person who was being held captive, it was expected that he couldn’t be allowed to eat and drink to his fill every day in order to gain strength and develop an escape plan. Because of that, the amount of food and drink Ye Tiancheng was allowed to have was strictly controlled. He was allowed to drink an amount of one small lid at a time as long as it was sufficient to keep him from dying of thirst.

Ye Tiancheng looked at Yan Liqiang with a deep gaze upon hearing his words. In the end, he approached the window and reached out with one of his arms, which was enough to reach the kettle lid on the windowsill. He brought the kettle lid inside and drank until not a single drop of water was left before he finally returned the lid back to the windowsill. He then moved back two steps on his own accord.

Yan Liqiang took the kettle lid and put it back onto the kettle before returning to his seat.

Ye Tiancheng then slowly walked toward the window and softened his tone as much as possible, even to the point of forcing a smile on his face when he said, “I remember. You are Yan Liqiang. You must be the person who first discovered the girl being kidnapped by the Shatu people as they sent her to the boutique…”

Yan Liqiang shot a glance at Ye Tiancheng and calmly replied, “Yes, it was me…”

“I remember you have two other companions and they are students of the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy as well. One is called Shi Dafeng and the other one is Shen Teng. All of you are from Qinghe County…” Ye Tiancheng sighed inside the room; his expression became solemn as he continued, “To be honest, even though that incident involved my son, Ye Xiao, I don’t blame all of you one bit. You all did the right thing. This is how students of the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy should act. At the end of the day, this is the result of my negligence as a father. I have been busy with government affairs on a daily basis that I have paid too little attention to Ye Xiao’s discipline. In the end, this has caused him to fall into the wrong path, being deluded by villains and making mistakes that cannot be reversed. Whenever I thought of that, I would be depressed and I regret not allowing Ye Xiao to stay by my side in the beginning so that I could discipline him properly. Initially, I wanted to wait until the Wang Clan’s matter was settled before meeting the three of you. I have to properly reward the three of you for what you have done…”

Yan Liqiang had a strange feeling as he listened to Ye Tiancheng. He couldn’t possibly be trying to ‘subvert’ Yan Liqiang, could he….?