Chapter 298 How dare he? ( words long chapter!)
In a quiet room in the Fengzhou prefectural government.

Murong Yuliang and Cui Dakai were playing Go silently around a chessboard.

Murong Yuliang played the white chess pieces and Cui Dakai played the black chess pieces. Their offensive on the chessboard was fierce, and they had already formed the momentum of a big dragon. It seemed that they had the momentum to swallow up the mountains and rivers. However, Cui Dakai, who played the black chess pieces, had his eyes fixed and he thought for a moment after each move.

Murong Yuliang, holding the white chess pieces, seemed to be on the defensive, but he looked calm and moved his pieces swiftly. Every move was just right and seemed natural!

Cui Dakai fell into Murong Yuliang's rhythm. Although he attacked seven or eight times in a row, he was firmly defended by Murong Yuliang. Then he could only watch as the white pieces pressed towards his eye position step by step, but he was powerless to do anything...

"well·········"

Cui Dakai shook his head slightly. Knowing that he was bound to lose, he did not make any last-ditch efforts. He simply chose to resign and admitted defeat. He bowed to Murong Yuliang and said:

"I've heard that Lord Murong is a great chess player. Today I see that his reputation is well-deserved!"

In response to Cui Dakai's flattery, Murong Yuliang smiled and said, "There are always people better than you, Brother Cui, you are too kind!"

Hearing Murong Yuliang calling him "Brother Cui", even though he knew that the other party was doing it for the sake of Cui's family, Cui Dakai couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart...

Although Cui Dakai holds an important position in the Cui family and possesses great power in the family, he has not pursued a career in politics after all. In terms of status and position, he is just a commoner!
Although Murong Yuliang was demoted, he was still a prefect of the fifth rank. Moreover, he came from the top family of the Great Zhou - the Murong family!

In terms of status and position, the gap between the two people is really not a small one. To say that there is only one level difference between them is complimenting Cui Dakai.

If there is anyone in the entire Cui family who can be on par with Murong Yuliang, it is probably only Cui Shao, the fourth-rank Liaoyang Censor!

Therefore, Murong Yuliang's words "Brother Cui" can be regarded as a sign of humility...
Cui Dakai, who was in a very good mood, discussed chess with Murong Yuliang for a while. Seeing that the atmosphere was almost set, Cui Dakai did not have the same good skills of cultivating his temper as Murong Yuliang, and he could not hold his temper. Finally, he could not help but say:
"Master Murong, this time our Cui family will fully support you!"

"Oh?"

Murong Yuliang was a little confused when he heard this. Although he got the bargaining chip from the Cui family to face Ye Mingsheng on the condition of helping the Cui family enter the court, to be honest, he didn't count much on the Cui family.

After all, according to what he knew, Ye Mingsheng and the Cui family were related, and Ye Mingsheng had personally helped the Cui family and removed Wang Laogun, the poisonous thorn that Song Wenhui had inserted into the Cui family's heartland.

So Murong Yuliang originally thought that the Cui family and Ye Mingsheng would have a very close relationship, but from Cui Kai's words now, perhaps there is another hidden story between the Cui family and Ye Mingsheng...

Seeing that Murong Yuliang seemed a little unconvinced, Cui Dakai continued:

"Master Murong, you don't know that although Ye Mingsheng is the only son of my seventh sister, he is an ambitious wolf cub. Last time at our ancestor's birthday banquet, he wanted to sow discord between our Cui family and Governor Song.

"Now, in Fengzhou, they have started to implement policies such as land distribution for immigrants and tax exemption. The tenants are eager to make a move and are no longer working honestly. They are always thinking about how to get to Fengzhou. There are hundreds of young and strong laborers from our Cui family who have come to Fengzhou. Do you think Ye Mingsheng is hateful or not?"

After hearing Cui Dakai's explanation of the cause and effect, Murong Yuliang's eyes flashed with understanding. After thinking for a moment, he asked:
"What did Master Cui Shaocui say?"

Facing Murong Yuliang's question, Cui Dakai hesitated for a moment, but still said honestly:

"My third brother didn't say anything..."

Murong Yuliang looked a little disappointed with this answer. Just when he was about to say something else, one of his trusted servants, Wang Tao, ran over in a panic. He wanted to say something directly to Murong Yuliang, but when he saw Cui Dakai sitting here, a hint of hesitation flashed across his face, and no sound came out of his open mouth.

Seeing Wang Tao like this, Murong Yuliang frowned and said:
"Brother Cui is not an outsider, if you have anything to say, please say it!"

After getting Murong Yuliang's permission, Wang Tao dared to speak:
"Report to the master, butler Zheng has been arrested!"

"what?"

When Wang Tao said this, not only Cui Dakai couldn't believe it, even Murong Yuliang, who had remained calm all this time, showed surprise.

"Butler Zheng has been kidnapped!" Hearing his master's question, Wang Tao repeated what he had just said with certainty.

"When did this happen?"

It has to be said that Murong Yuliang was indeed a high-ranking official who had served as a Hanlin Academician. He reacted quickly and began to inquire about the situation. Cui Dakai, who was sitting opposite him, has not yet recovered from his shock.

"Half an hour ago, Butler Zheng went out to do something, but he was caught by a group of people. Until someone sent a message just now..." Wang Tao said everything in detail:

"What was he doing, and where was he arrested?" After talking about Wang Tao for a long time, Murong Yuliang still couldn't get to the point, so he asked directly:
"Butler Zheng is going..."

Hearing his master's question, Wang Tao showed a hint of hesitation, as if he knew the answer but didn't dare to say it.

"Don't hesitate, speak quickly!" Murong Yuliang said coldly:
Seeing that the usually gentle master started to get angry, Wang Tao knew how powerful he was. He gritted his teeth and finally mustered up the courage to speak:
"Butler Zheng went to... Manchunyuan!"

Although Murong Yuliang was devoted to his official career and wanted to fulfill his father's last wish, he didn't know much about romantic matters, but when he heard the name Manchunyuan, he naturally understood what this place was and what Zheng Xu was doing in such a place!

"boom!"

Murong Yuliang, with a livid face, was so angry that he slammed the table hard, causing the tea on the table to splash everywhere.

Perhaps he realized that Cui Dakai was right beside him. In order to avoid making fun of him, Murong Yuliang quickly adjusted his mood and asked Wang Tao again:

"Do you know who kidnapped Zheng Xu?"

"I'm not sure about that, but I heard from people that the three or five people on the other side were all martial artists. They seemed to be going after Butler Zheng. They were very nimble and grabbed Butler Zheng directly, then put him in a sack and kidnapped him. The whole process took only a cup of tea." "When Butler Zheng was kidnapped, he kept saying that he was the steward of the prefectural government, but those people didn't listen at all..." Wang Tao continued:
"How dare the Fengzhou bandits be so rampant? They even dared to enter the city and kidnap the chief steward of the prefectural government?" After Wang Tao finished speaking, Cui Dakai said indignantly
After saying this, Cui Dakai patted his chest towards Murong Yuliang and said confidently:

"Master Murong, please rest assured that when I see Ye Mingsheng, I will immediately ask him to go out of the city to suppress the bandits, and I will definitely rescue Butler Zheng for you!"

Murong Yuliang heard this, smiled bitterly and shook his head...
Cui Dakai thought that Murong Yuliang didn't believe what he said, so he continued:

"Lord Murong, although Ye Mingsheng has evil intentions, he is still a capable fighter. He beat away the fierce Khitans, so a few bandits should be no problem for him!"

Seeing Cui Dakai's confident attitude, Murong Yuliang finally couldn't help but said:
"Brother Cui, after Ye Mingsheng came to Fengzhou, he had already wiped out all the bandits and gangs in Fengzhou. Now Fengzhou is probably better than the provincial capital Dongning in terms of public security!"

"Forehead··········"

His opinion was ruthlessly rejected by Murong Yuliang. Cui Dakai was also a little embarrassed. In order to ease his embarrassment, he said:
"If they weren't bandits, then who dared to kidnap Butler Zheng?"

Murong Yuliang sighed and said quietly:

"Who else would dare to do such a thing in Fengzhou City?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Murong Yuliang looked at Cui Dakai. Although Cui Dakai's reaction was a little slow, he was not particularly stupid. Feeling Murong Yuliang's eyes, he also understood who Murong Yuliang was talking about. Then his eyes widened and he said in disbelief:

"how is this possible?"

"How dare he do that?"

Looking at Cui Dakai's expression, Murong Yuliang, who was also very angry, said in a deep voice:
"Brother Cui, what you should be saying is, is there anything in Fengzhou that Ye Mingsheng, the general, dare not do?"

"this···········"

Hearing Murong Yuliang say this, Cui Dakai suddenly realized that this wolf cub Ye Mingsheng was even more terrifying than he had imagined!
Thinking about what happened at the city gate today, Cui Dakai hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell Murong Yuliang the truth.

After listening to Cui Dakai's detailed account of the incident, Murong Yuliang was so angry that he almost fainted. During his time in Fengzhou, he had been very cautious, fearing that he would give Ye Mingsheng something to use against him in Ye Mingsheng's territory.

Unexpectedly, these two idiots took the initiative to hand the handle to Ye Mingsheng!

Looking at Cui Dakai with an innocent face, if Murong Yuliang didn't want to use the power of the Cui family to deal with Ye Mingsheng, he really wanted to spit in his face and curse him.

"There's no way to make a fool of yourself!"

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Early the next morning

Ye Mingsheng had just woken up from his own "jade pillow" and put on his clothes under Pei Zhixiu's clothes when he heard Ye Dong coming to report:
"Master, Murong Yuliang and Cui Dakai have sent you a visiting invitation, inviting you to a banquet at Nanfuxiang Restaurant tonight!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng sneered. He knew that the two men had guessed that it was him who had kidnapped Zheng Xu. However, Ye Mingsheng had no intention of hiding it from the beginning...

So what if the two of them knew?
Zheng Xu instigated the servants of the prefecture to attack the military officers of the Zhenwu Army and obstructed public affairs!
Just based on this one thing, I can chop off Zheng Xu's head right now!
He was already giving Murong Yuliang face by not killing Zheng Xu now, leaving room for the subsequent negotiations. Otherwise, he would chop off Zheng Xu's head and give it to Murong Yuliang, and Murong Yuliang would have to agree with him and say "Well done!" with a smile.

After gently scraping Pei Zhixiu's fair face, which made Pei Zhixiu grumble, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"Tell them I don't have time these two days, let's talk about it the day after tomorrow."

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's order, Ye Dong hesitated and added:
"Master, they look very anxious..."

"So what if I'm anxious? I'm not a prostitute in a brothel. They can meet us as they please!" Ye Mingsheng said coldly:

What Ye Mingsheng wanted was to give Murong Yuliang and Cui Dakai a warning so that he could take the initiative in the negotiations!

If someone asks you to meet, and you go there without hesitation, is that still a show of power? Can you still take the initiative in the negotiation?
Feeling the unkindness in Ye Mingsheng's words and knowing Ye Mingsheng's temper, Ye Dong did not dare to speak anymore.

After walking out of Pei Zhixiu's room, Ye Mingsheng thought for a moment and then instructed Ye Dong:
"Send a few people to keep an eye on Zheng Xu. Don't let anyone get close to him. Be careful not to let anyone kill him!"

"Got it, Master!" Ye Dong nodded and said:

After having a casual meal in the mansion, Ye Mingsheng, together with Ye Kui and hundreds of other personal guards, rode out of Fengzhou City.

Ye Mingsheng asked Murong Yuliang and Cui Dakai to wait. On the one hand, he wanted to leave them alone for a few days to make them impatient. On the other hand, he really had something to deal with and could not get away for the time being...

With the help of the funds approved by Ye Mingsheng for Gu Sansi, the negotiations between Gu Sansi and the Khitans have been reached: 1,200 Khitan prisoners of war in exchange for 1,000 war horses!

At present, the Khitan prisoners of war have been exchanged back, and the one thousand war horses have also been delivered!

With these one thousand war horses, the cavalry camp planned by Ye Mingsheng can basically reach a scale of two to two thousand five hundred people.

As the saying goes, a tall tree attracts the wind; people are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being fat. In recent times, Ye Mingsheng first defeated the Khitans and then implemented land policies. It can be said that he has made quite a name for himself in Liaoyang.

And these one thousand war horses are not a small number. If others notice any clues, it might cause some bad waves...
Ye Mingsheng, who is now gradually gaining strength in army and horses, is not afraid of trouble, but he believes that it is better to do less than more. He builds high walls, stores up food, slowly becomes king, and quietly develops farming. This is the strategy Ye Mingsheng has set for himself.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng decided to keep a low profile and did not let Gu Sansi bring the thousand war horses back to Fengzhou. Instead, he arranged them in a hidden valley in Shiquan County. Now Ye Mingsheng was going to see the quality of these war horses and deal with some other matters!
(End of this chapter)