Chapter 982
Chapter 982 Inform the Government
“You refused? Hall Master Lin, are you crazy?”
Xia Bin’s expression was twisted as if he had not expected that his proposal would be rejected so decisively.
“It’s my decision. I don’t have to explain to you,” Lin Mengya said indifferently.
To be honest, she could understand Xia Bin’s hatred for Qinghu.
But she was such a protective person. There was no way to hurt her family.
Xia Bin sneered ferociously and pointed at Qinghu in front of him with his jade-like index finger.
“I’m afraid you’ve been deceived by him! You know what? He was…”
Lin Mengya’s face turned serious, and she interrupted Xia Bin.
“I’m very clear about his past, and I don’t care about it. But you, a former popular artist, have fallen low to be the bandit chief in mountains. You must be upset about it, right?”
Lin Mengya grasped Xia Bin’s sore spot and stepped on it hard. She always knew how to quickly arouse someone’s anger.
“Good. It seems that he has told you everything. Since you chose the hard way, I will keep all of you here! Guards, keep an eye on them!”
Xia Bin left in a huff, but Lin Mengya and Qinghu were not worried at all.
Those bandits glared at them fiercely, but no one dared to come in to make trouble for them.
Qinghu told everyone not to let down their guard and then exchanged information with Lin Mengya.
“On this matter, other than that woman, no one else can do it so easily. Well, she’s really amazing. She actually could find out my old enemy.”
There was a hint of disdain in Qinghu’s eyes. He had defeated Xia Bin back then, and he was not afraid of Xia Bin as usual.
“Do you think it’s Princess Tiancheng behind this? I also think it’s her because no one else can get those weapons easily, but there is one thing I don’t understand. Now Tiancheng is like a homeless dog. Why doesn’t she keep the weapons and plot to make a comeback in the future? Even if she wants to catch me through Xia Bin to threaten Tianyu, Xia doesn’t look like a person who can keep his promise. As far as I know about Tiancheng, she would rather bring people to catch me in person than cooperate with such a double-faced person.”
The situation of the whole world has been set. Even if the Shangguan Family risked their lives to protect Tiancheng, they would not able to reverse the situation.
It was not wrong that Tiancheng wanted to catch Lin Mengya, but she should have been more careful.
Most importantly, only very few people in the underworld knew that Lin Mengya was the Hall Master of Sanjue Hall.
Even if they had known that she was the Hall Master, they might have not known that this was the only way she had to pass.
The person who could grasp all the information about Lin Mengya so thoroughly was not simple.
“Tsk, no matter how hard I tried, I still failed to guard against that damned mole!”
Qinghu said with hatred, but Lin Mengya thought it over and over again carefully.
“After the purge, we conducted previously, I don’t think there is a mole among our senior executives. Take this trip to Lieyun as an example, the masters of the Branch Halls only knew that we are going to make a big move and sent their elites to Chong’an County. The rest of the things were all arranged by us in person. I can’t rule out the possibility that someone among us has spread the news. But what if our rival is an expert? Even though we do things secretly, this route is not the first developed by us.”
Ever since Yunzhu’s incident was exposed, Lin Mengya and Qinghu had paid great attention to the loyalty of the people by their sides.
They could not deny that some people had hidden very well. However, their investigations and feelers were not in vain. If the mole could get through all this, they would have to admit their defeat.
Since it might be nothing wrong internally, it could be something wrong outside.
However, Lin Mengya did not believe that the person who had seen through their intentions would be that powerful.
Otherwise, that person could have arranged for people to lay in ambush in the mountains and captured them in one go.
It was unnecessary for him to provide money and weapons to Xia Bin, such an unreliable mountain bandit.
There must be some reasons behind it.
“Sounds reasonable. We’re going to a dangerous place, where there are naturally a lot of experts. I’m afraid that we’ll just hook out a few small unimportant roles here if we take action. I understand that you want to take the opportunity to destroy Fort Naratha, the unstable factor, to fight for a way out that we can fully control. So, should we kill them all, or…”
Lin Mengya rolled her eyes at Qinghu. She thought, “For this guy, killing people is as easy as cutting vegetables.”
“We don’t need to do that. Help me contact Baisu and ask her to find the other four groups of bandits, telling them that Fort Naratha robbed someone they shouldn’t have touched. The imperial court got angry bout it and wanted to raze the bandit forts on Mount Five Heroes to ground.”
Qinghu paused for a moment, and then he looked at Lin Mengya with hesitation.
“Mengya, if these bandits were afraid of the government, they would not have become bandits.”
Lin Mengya rested her chin on her hand and squinted at Qinghu.
“Think about it. Why did the other four groups of bandits never do such a thing? Besides, the guide also said that Fort Naratha only dared to show off on the mountain and seldom went down the mountain. Usually, bandits are in collusion with officials. If we secretly reveal to them that we are related to the imperial court, do you think they will remain indifferent?”
Lin Mengya had watched such a thing on TV plays many times in her previous life. There might be some exaggerated plots, but the fact was almost like that.
There were many mountain bandits before, and they were related to the local government.
Only if the imperial court fought against bandits, the local officials could have money and merit.
Without the bandits, the local officials would have one less way to make a fortune.
In some places, bandits even played role-playing game with the local soldiers.
Fort Naratha was the only one that was truly tough to handle. Moreover, they were breaking the rules of the game by robbing the caravans.
However, it would be a little fake if no people died in a robbery in the places where bandits had been making trouble all year round.
Therefore, the local officials would probably just turn a blind eye.
Although Lin Mengya hated such behavior, the best way to destroy Fort Naratha was to let the other four groups of bandits take the loss for her.
Thus, she could not only destroy Fort Naratha which was truly harmful but also hurt the vitality of the other four groups of bandits.
They were all smart people, and they knew the stakes.
“You’re so thoughtful. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Qinghu then told the two maids, “Take good care of the Hall Master. Keep it secret. Understood?”
“Yes.”
The two girls were a little excited when the Deputy Hall Master, who had always taken care of the Hall Master in person, actually put such an important task on her.
“Come back early. Be careful.”
Lin Mengya inevitably told Qinghu to take care. Although Qinghu was highly skilled in martial arts, who could guarantee that there would be no accidents?
Qinghu nodded and walked casually to the door of the front hall. No one knew how he did it, but after a long time, it was still silent outside.
This was the basic skill of being a killer, who could sneak into the target’s side without anyone noticing.
“Hall Master, the Deputy Hall Master…”
The two girls were a little surprised. They were good at martial arts, so they had been selected for the team of elites.
However, it was the first time that they had seen such an amazing movement skill as that of the Deputy Hall Master.
Among the bandits outside, Qinghu came and went freely, without a trace. How powerful he was!
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”
Lin Mengya comforted others, but she was worried about Qinghu.
It seemed that she had become a little sentimental since she was having a baby.
Lin Mengya knew that this was a reaction that a woman had to go through. However, she was a little unaccustomed to being overly emotional.
Subconsciously, she touched her belly and thought, “Perhaps this is the change of being a mother.”
Qinghu’s disappearance did not draw the attention of the bandits outside. The team of over 20 people was not afraid of the bandits, so those bandits only dared to patrol outside the door of the front hall.
In a few moments, Qinghu sneaked back.
After exchanging glances with Lin Mengya, the two of them, who had a tacit understanding, got the meaning of each other.
And meanwhile, Xia Bin came back to the front hall again.
Xia Bin had changed into another set of silk clothes, looking like a gorgeous peacock.
Xia Bin was smiling, but Lin Mengya could tell that he was up to no good.
Lin Mengya looked at him warily, but she kept sitting in the chair steadily.
In terms of arrogance, she was not inferior to anyone.
“You’re indeed different from others, Hall Master Lin. I’m the most benevolent person. Since you don’t want to cooperate with me, I’ll have to hand you over to someone else. But it’s getting late, and I think you guys are hungry. I cannot treat you to a hearty dinner on the mountain but a simple meal. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Why is he so kind to treat them to a meal?”
Lin Mengya and Qinghu looked at each other, and both felt that Xia Bin had bad intentions.
However, behind Xia Bin, a few lackeys carried over some porridge, pancakes, and some side dishes, which looked not bad.
“Everyone, don’t doubt my good intentions. You are my guests, I should entertain you, not to mention that you have given me so many gifts. Just take it as a return.” Xia Bin laughed.
Xia Bin’s voice was already hoarse and unpleasant to listen to. Now that he was laughing so arrogantly, it sounded more like a vulture’s laughter.
None of the more than 20 people from Sanjue Hall accepted his so-called “good intentions”.
Lin Mengya, however, narrowed her eyes, cast a glance at him, and then turned to Qinghu.
“In that case, let’s live up to Master Xia’s kindness. Qinghu, please bring me some of the food. I’d like to have a taste of the local specialties of Mount Five Heroes.”
Xia Bin’s pupils shrank, and then he put on a calm expression.
However, there was absolute malice in the depths of his eyes.
Qinghu got a bowl of warm porridge and put it in Lin Mengya’s hand as if he knew nothing.
After Lin Mengya took a bite gracefully, she frowned slightly.
“The porridge tastes good, but the ingredients inside are not good. Chief Xia, since you want to harm me, you should have asked your subordinates to buy some arsenic of good quality. Tsk, tsk, it stinks. It’s not leftover from last night, is it?”