Chapter 11 Settlement
Li Heng thought for a moment, took out a whistle and handed it to Xin Yunjing, saying, "General, please go three miles back, blow this whistle, and bring the person who appeared to me."

Xin Yunjing was surprised and suspicious, but as a soldier, it was his duty to obey orders. He did not ask any more questions, took the whistle, saluted and said, "Yes."

He said, "Stop, and ride away on your horse."

After a while, Xin Yunjing came back with a group of people.

A large group of people came up and bowed in unison, saluting Li Heng and Yang Yuhuan and saying, "Greetings to Your Highness, Greetings to the Princess."

Li Ying raised his hand and asked them to stand up.

The leading brigade commander walked up to Li Heng and said respectfully, "Your Highness, we have dealt with all the people following you. Unfortunately, they are all determined warriors who would rather die than be captured. I only caught one alive."

"Thank you, Commander Lu," Li Heng consoled him, and then asked, "Are there any survivors?"

"Bring it up."

Brigade Commander Lu turned around and waved, and two soldiers came forward, bringing a strong man who was tied up.

The sturdy man looked to be in his thirties and was dressed like a businessman.

The two soldiers kicked the sturdy man between the legs, forcing him to kneel in front of Li Heng.

Li Ying glanced at the burly man and asked, "Who are you? Who sent you?"

The strong man snorted and said, "You are so unreasonable. I am just a passerby doing business. But you killed my companions and tied me up without knowing good from evil. Why?"

When Lu heard this, he was furious and said, "Fuck you! If you were a businessman, why did you resist arrest when you saw us? And why did your captured companion commit suicide?"

The strong man said, "We are traveling merchants. We often encounter bandits disguised as soldiers to rob us. So we resist arrest. As for committing suicide, it is because we don't want to be captured by bandits and tortured."

"Your grandma..." Lu Lushuai wanted to curse again, but Li Heng raised his hand to interrupt him.

Li Ying asked the strong man, "You said you were a businessman, what kind of business do you do?"

"This..." The strong man was stunned for a moment and said, "It's just some small business, not worth mentioning."

Li Ying turned to ask Commander Lu: "What goods did they bring with them?"

Lu Lushuai replied: "Some gold and silver jewelry."

"Oh." Li Ying nodded and asked the strong man, "So, you are selling gold and silver jewelry?"

"Yes." The strong man replied.

Li Ying asked, "Which kind of ornaments sell best? What are the market prices of gold and silver hairpins? You followed me all the way from Chang'an to here, which means you often go to Chang'an, so you must know which craftsmen in Chang'an make the most valuable ornaments?"

"This" the strong man was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"I know you are not afraid of death." Li Ying leaned over and looked at the red string tied on the strong man's hand, and said, "You have many gold and silver ornaments, but you only wear this red string on your hand. The person who gave you the red string must be very important to you, right? Who is she to you? Oh, I remember there is a girl in Pingkangfang who likes to give red strings to her patrons. Should I go find her and reunite with you?"

Li Ying spoke calmly, but the strong man became more and more frightened the more he listened. At the end, he roared, "Don't touch her. If you have any problem, come to me!"

"Getting angry? Is getting angry useful?" Li Heng looked at the sturdy man, "You know what I want to hear. It's getting late and I'm in a hurry to get on the road. You only have a quarter of an hour to think about it."

"I, I..." The strong man's spirit was weakened, tears fell, and he cried, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you. It was Huangfu Bin's retainer who found me. He said that if I could kill Prince Shou, he would... he would help her get rid of her nationality."

Those who needed to be removed from the imperial register were usually official prostitutes.

Li Heng nodded.

He had actually guessed that it was Li Heng's people who had hired this group of people.

Because this group of people followed him all the way from Chang'an, it means that the people in Chang'an want him dead.

There were only two people in Chang'an who wanted him dead, one was Li Ying and the other was Li Heng.

Li Ying has a ready-made monitor, Zhang Mujin, by his side, so there is no need to send someone to follow him timidly, so the only person left is Li Heng. However, this killer was hired by Huangfu Bin's retainers, so Li Heng can completely cut him off, and there is no point in arresting him.

It would be better to let him go back and let him tell Huangfu Bin that he has a guard following him, so that Huangfu Bin will give up the idea of ​​assassination. This will be more useful to him.

Thinking of this, Li Heng said, "Since you have said it all, I will let you go."

Hearing that he was going to release the man, Marshal Lu at the side was incredulous and asked, "Your Highness, are you really going to release him? Even if you don't kill him, arresting him will be a handle."

Li Ying said, "Let him go."

"Here."

The brigade commander saw that Li Heng had made up his mind and dared not disobey him, so he ordered his soldiers to release the strong man.

The sturdy man was somewhat shocked at being let go so easily. He kowtowed three times to Li Heng and retreated cautiously.

Li Ying watched the burly man walk away and gave Yang Yuhuan a look.

Yang Yuhuan understood what he meant and took out a bag of money and presented it to Li Heng.

Li Heng took it, handed it to Lu Lushuai, and said, "Lu Lushuai, everyone has worked hard, share this money with the brothers."

Commander Lu said quickly: "I dare not. We are His Highness's guards. Protecting His Highness is our duty."

In the Tang Dynasty, princes who were granted the title of king could have their own guards.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the guard was huge, with two administrative agencies, the Qinshifu and the Zhangneifu.

Both governments have two military commanders, who are of the fifth rank and two deputy military commanders, who are also of the fifth rank, and their subordinates are in charge of soldiers in accordance with the Tang system.

But during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the prince's guards were massively reduced. Although Li Ying's mother, Consort Wu Huifei, was so favored, and he himself was granted the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi, the guards he could actually mobilize were only one brigade.

According to the Tang system, a brigade consisted of 100 people, and the chief officer was called the brigade commander, who was of the seventh rank.

Li Heng said: "Brothers should have been free and easy in the capital, but because of me, they followed me all the way here. This is what you deserve."

Since Li Ying had said so, Lu Lushuai stopped refusing and took the money bag with both hands, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Heng said, "I'll need you brothers to accompany me for a while longer."

"We are willing to follow Your Highness." Marshal Lu replied respectfully.

"Ah."

Li Heng nodded and got back on the carriage.

The group continued to set off.

Xin Yunjing was walking in the front, still a little confused.

Because he had no idea that Li Heng had made this arrangement, he always thought that Li Heng was a dying man who came out to see the world. The reason why he did not bring any guards with him was because he believed that the prosperous Tang Dynasty was quite peaceful and there would be no danger even if he left Chang'an.

But unexpectedly, Li Heng was setting a trap.

Moreover, in his impression, Li Heng has always been timid and cowardly, and not decisive enough.

But just now, he didn't see Li Heng show any panic from beginning to end. He let the strong man go as he was told, and rewarded his soldiers as he was told.

His behavior is totally unlike that of a prince who grew up in a sugar jar.

Xin Yunjing glanced back at the carriage behind him, and his contempt gradually faded away.

(End of this chapter)