Flower Stealing Master

"Since it's more difficult for us to attack, why not draw them out?" Song Qingshu said, "Lord Wei's reputation for gambling is well known all over the world. When the time comes, we will pretend to gather people and pretend to gamble and relax, so that everyone in Wangwu Sect will think that there is a chance. They will have the idea of ​​launching a surprise attack, and they won't be able to resist coming down from the mountain."

"Okay!" The generals all praised the plan, and Wei Xiaobao scolded him in his heart, but he could do nothing but agree.

That night, everyone set up a gambling arena in the army camp. Wei Xiaobao took out a stack of silver taels and put them on the table. He pointed at the five or six thousand taels of silver, and said, "Whoever has the ability, come and win!" 

But, in his heart, he kept praying that the group of people on Wangwu Mountain would never come down.

All the officers placed bets one after another, eating and merrymaking. After betting for a while, everyone got immersed, and the bet got bigger. Even a sergeant squeezed from behind and handed in money to place the bet.

They were obviously pretending to be gambling and keeping their guards up at first, but afterwards, all of their eyes turned red, and some even ran back to the camp to find colleagues who did not gamble to borrow money to make more money.

The military camp turned into a real casino, full of screaming, and the sound of eating and drinking.

Wei Xiaobao was secretly proud, ‘Hey, the more you bet, you will not be able to catch the people sent by the Wangwu Sect when the time comes.’

Suddenly, one person loudly said, "Bet on this!" 

And a watermelon-like thing dropped on the betting table. When everyone saw what it was, they were immediately shocked. The thing on the gambling table was impressively a bloody head. It was the head of a first-level guard wearing an official hat of the royal guard, who was patrolling outside the tents.

Everyone looked up in shock, and found that there were more than a dozen people wearing blue clothes in the camp, holding long swords in their hands.

The soldiers immediately prepared to counterattack with their weapons. But, they didn't realize that when the gambling had just started to get good, they had thrown aside the weapons on their bodies. At this time, while the opponent stared at them, if anyone wanted to pick their weapon up, they might immediately become the target of the opponent's attack. At this moment, no one dared not move.

"Huh, the Qing Army really has fallen low, and they have a stinky incompetent leader who gathers people in the barracks for gambling." Situ Bolei’s eyes swept the scene with a calm expression.

"That's not necessarily." With a long laugh, Jiumozhi walked out of the crowd.

When she noticed Song Qingshu standing next to Jiumozhi, Zeng Rou’s face couldn't help but flush red, thinking who knows what in her heart.

Situ Bolei's eyes showed a determined look, and together with a few others he attacked Jiumozhi.

"Your swordsmanship is pretty good, but it's mixed and impure." Jiumozhi sneered, his hands formed palm-prints up and down, and an air mass visible to the naked eye formed in the middle, which immediately countered his opponent's three sword strikes.

Situ Bolei and the others had cold sweat on their temples, and found that the long sword in their hands was no longer under their control.

"Hoh Hoh! What a superb display of martial arts!" A group of military officers thought that Jiumozhi was very wise and skillful, and they started cheering for him.

A smug smile appeared at the corner of Jiumozhi's mouth, and with a light pinch, all three sword strikes were shattered, and the tip of the swords were waived and reflected back to the three of them.

The soldiers in the tent took the opportunity to gather and launch a counter attack, and everyone in the Wangwu Sect panicked and their faces turned ashen.

Looking at the people of the Wangwu Sect who had just been subdued, Wei Xiaobao had a headache, his eyes rolled and he started searching for an excuse to let them go.

Noticing that it was the right time, Song Qingshu asked aloud, "Your king dares to send his men to kill officials of the court in their army camp! This is a serious crime of treason. Aren't you afraid of the punishment of decapitation?"

"Hmph, we have done our best for the King of Pingxi, and we will be content even if we die here. The King of Pingxi will rise up soon, and the good days of you Qing Court will come to an end." Situ Bolei spoke according to what they had discussed last night.

Sure enough, all the officers in the scene looked at each other and Zhang Kangnian angrily rebuked, "Nonsense, the King of Pingxi has always been loyal to the Emperor, and has been guarding Shanhai Pass for so many years to fend against Mongolia. If you want to create discord, then you have found the wrong target."

Wei Xiaobao, on the other hand, was very clear about the mutual distrust between Kangxi and Wu Sangui. And, this Situ Bolei was previously a general under Wu Sangui. So he wondered, ‘Is this guy telling the truth? No, my master specifically informed me beforehand and asked me to save the remnants of the previous royal house. Oh! I understand…this old man must have hated Wu Sangui's bones. This time he thought that he was bound to die, so he wanted to pull Wu Sangui down with him!’

After understanding this, Wei Xiaobao hurriedly gathered several high-level officials in the operation to discuss with him, "I heard the Emperor accidentally reveal the idea of ​​uniting the domain some time ago. Could it be that the news leaked and made Wu Sangui anxious to make a move?"

How could this group of people know that there was such a change, and Jiumozhi was taken aback, "If Wu Sangui really has a change of heart, that would be a big deal."

Song Qingshu's eyebrows twitched and took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, "If we catch this group of people and Wu Sangui gets the news then launches an attack in a hurry, the Emperor may not be able to deal with it in such a short notice. Maybe he will be displeased and blame us."

Several Army camp officers were so scared that they didn't dare to participate in such high-level turmoil. One moment of carelessness could be the cause of family destruction, and they all looked at Wei Xiaobao, "Everything is up to Lord Wei."

Wei Xiaobao glanced at Song Qingshu in surprise. He didn't expect this guy to say everything he wanted to say, and quickly added, "I'm afraid we have to find a way to suppress this matter. We might as well let these people go."

"Let them go?" The people on the scene felt that they couldn't understand this logic. They finally managed to capture the people of Wangwu Sect all at once, and now they were going to just let them go?

"This is why you people will never be officials." Wei Xiaobao said with a light cough, and pretended to give them a lecture, "You arrested them and now you are thinking that you have made a great contribution. But, as Brother Song has already analyzed it; in the end, the Emperor will not only never reward us, maybe he will punish us instead. But letting them go makes a big difference."

"What's the difference?" Jiumozhi was very confused, and thought that the officialdom of the central plains was more complicated than comprehending martial arts.

"Think about it…" Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, "They failed in their mission and were captured, but then we let them go. They would definitely not dare to mention this to Wu Sangui when they go back. If they spoke of this matter, Wu Sangui would surely suspect that they might have surrendered to the court, otherwise it would be impossible for us to let them go. They are not fools, so how can they speak of this to Wu Sangui?"

"In this way, Wu Sangui wouldn't know what happened today, so naturally he won't rebel so quickly. But we can notify the emperor in advance and let the court prepare early. Maybe the Emperor will be happy, and he will remember our great achievement."

"Sangui suffers, and we reap the rewards!" Zhao Qixian couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

Duo Long also smiled and said, "I thank Brother Wei for reminding us, otherwise we wouldn't be able to realize that we were making such a big mistake today."

Jiumozhi also sighed, "The ways of Central Plains is really broad and profound."

"But…" Wei Xiaobao slanted his eyes and looked at the Wangwu Sect in the distance. "They killed our brothers and we cannot let them go like this. It would damage the morale of our brothers. Hehe, I have to get back some interest from them."

Goblin: If you've read the announcement, then you know that my computer is no longer usable. I'm trying to gather funds to fix it as soon as possible. If you like my translation, you can support me on Buymeacoffee and Patreon. The amount doesn't matter, every little bit will help!