Chapter 590: Chapter 590: Prepared in Advance_1

“I’ve already told you, if you want to negotiate, hand over Xu Zhengyong first!”

“That’s not an option. Aside from Xu Zhengyong, we have other matters we can discuss.”

“Damn it, you’re wasting my time!” Tian Yuande finally lost his patience and ordered his subordinates to lay siege to the small farmhouse in front of them.

Yun Zixiu quickly moved to protect Wei Ruo: “Miss, this man won’t listen to you. Please go back inside the house. We can handle this.”

“No, my plan has already succeeded; I’ve bought enough time.” Wei Ruo was not panicked.

Yun Zixiu looked at Wei Ruo puzzlingly, not understanding what she meant by ‘my plan has succeeded’ and ‘I’ve bought enough time.’

While he was still confused, a rush of horses’ hooves caught everyone’s attention.

The noise was loud and clear, indicating that the arriving group was large.

Tian Yuande looked curiously towards his back, only to see an army much more impressive than his own approaching.

Shocked, Tian Yuande hurriedly sent someone to investigate.

However, before his men could reach the others, the army had already arrived.

Upon seeing their flags, Tian Yuande paled. He quickly dismounted and kneeled in front of the approaching army in a gesture of surrender.

“Commander Tian Yuande pays his respects to the Governor!”

In the Iron Cavalry, a man in his fifties with a gray beard was standing.

“Tian Yuande, what are you doing here? What were you intending by leaving your post?”

“In response to the Governor, I came here to arrest a Jurchen spy who sneaked into our lines!” Tian Yuande quickly answered.

“Those are King Rui’s people, why are you surrounding them if you’re chasing a spy?”

Faced with the Governor Lun Wei’s question, Tian Yuande was dumbfounded, incapable of forming any answers and he looked around nervously.

The arrival of the Jiliao Governor also surprised Yun Zixiu and the others.

Why would the Jiliao Governor be here?

Yun Zixiu’s puzzled gaze fell on Wei Ruo and asked: “Miss, did you call for the Jiliao Governor?”

Before Wei Ruo could even respond, Zhang Yi, who returned with the Governor, came to Wei Ruo’s side to give his report.

“Miss, I returned late.”

“The timing was perfect, not late.” Wei Ruo had previously estimated the round-trip time to the Governor’s mansion and thought that the group should have arrived soon. To buy time, she had deliberately made her conversation drag on.

She was indeed chatting nonsense with Tian Yuande, but her original purpose was not to persuade him.

Yun Zixiu couldn’t help but ask Wei Ruo: “Miss, how did you predict that Tian Yuande would come knocking?”

“I had inferred the reason for Xu Zhengyong’s capture before, and this was confirmed when I met him. He was indeed caught in a trap laid by Tian Yuande during his patrol mission with a small squad.”

“So, once Tian Yuande found out Xu Zhengyong had escaped, he would try to locate him and silence him immediately. Otherwise, if the matter gets out, he would be the one in trouble.”

“His best opportunity to silence Xu Zhengyong is here in Ji Town. As soon as Xu Zhengyong leaves Ji Town and his sphere of influence, it will not be as convenient for him to act.”

“Therefore, I was confident that he would take the risk and try to act within these few days. I sent Zhang Yi to inform the Jiliao Governor in advance. Regardless of whether Tian Yuande would find us at this time or not, it was necessary to report this to the governor.”

Wei Ruo heard before that the Jiliao governor was a patriotic and upright person, so she decided to try this approach.

Even if the rumors were false and her assessment of the governor was wrong, having him come over would not make things worse. It would be equally difficult for them to battle Tian Yuande’s forces or the troops brought by the governor.

However, to her poison, there is no difference between one thousand or ten thousand enemies.

So, if the gamble is right, they could avoid trouble; if wrong, things will not worsen more.

Upon hearing Wei Ruo’s explantation, Yun Zixiu couldn’t help but admire her. He had thought that she would not anticipate these points due to her concern over the prince’s injury; he was surprised that she did think on points they hadn’t considered.

Zhang Yi couldn’t resist asking, “Luckily, if the Jiliao Governor hadn’t promptly accompanied me or if we were delayed along the way, things would have been bad.”

“There wouldn’t have been any serious consequences. I didn’t just delay to wait for you guys, I was also waiting for an opportunity to use poison.” Wei Ruo said.

She was grateful to Chu Lan for the experience. Because of the previous incident with Chu Lan, Wei Ruo started to develop ways to swiftly deal with military forces.

She did not want to be defenseless again when faced with Chu Lan leading the army to surround her.

Her method was to mix poison into gunpowder. When a small thunderbolt bullet is ignited, the resulting smoke will be far from ordinary.

The amount of explosive she carried was enough to deal with the people brought by Tian Yuande.

However, since she had sent Zhang Yi to invite the Jiliao Governor, it would be best to wait for the governor to solve this issue. The poison was the last resort.

As Wei Ruo spoke, she was holding several tiny, black, ball-shaped items in her hand. It seemed she had planned to act long before.

Yun Zixiu and Zhang Yi looked at Wei Ruo, both displaying expressions of astonishment and admiration.

Among them, not everyone initially agreed with Wei Ruo. Yun Zixiu was one of them.

He believed their master’s decision to give up the throne for Wei Ruo was unwise, and even thought their master had given too much for her.

But out of respect for their master, they had to obey Wei Ruo and protect her.

But now, his view on Wei Ruo completely changed. For the first time, he genuinely admired and respected Wei Ruo.

###

Wei Ruo returned to her room. On the bed, Wei Jinyi watched Wei Ruo walking towards him and quietly asked, “How did it go?”

He could speak now, his throat wasn’t as dry and rough as before, but his voice was still hoarse.

“The Jiliao Governor took Tian Yuande away and said he will be tried under military law. He also said that once Brother Xiaoyong recovers, he should report back to his troop. We should be safe for now.” Wei Ruo said.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Second Brother always takes care of me, I only get a few chances to take care of him.” Wei Ruo responded.

Wei Ruo sat down beside Wei Jinyi’s bed: “Second Brother, I am not a weak woman, there are many things I’m capable of managing.”

Wei Jinyi looked at Wei Ruo, with something flickering in his beautiful, starry eyes.