Chapter 112: Xiao Lintuo’s Underhanded Trick

The next morning, over a dozen nomadic cavalrymen arrived from the northwest.

They wore tattered sheepskin coats with dried bloodstains, their heads half-bald with a few braided locks.

Their faces were so dirty that their original features were unrecognizable, their skin chapped by the cold wind and full of dead skin.

This group was none other than the people of the Wuliji Tribe.

Leading them were the Young Chieftain Amo and the High Priest.

As for the other general, Etulu, he stayed behind to guard the tribe.

The two of them led the men to Wuya Village to file a complaint to Xiao Sima.

“Whoa, whoa—”

The group slowly stopped by a small river.

After riding for so long, even the High Priest couldn’t handle it at his age. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and dismounted.

He said to everyone, “It’s not far from Wuya Village now; we can arrive in at most two hours.”

“Rest for a while, tidy up our appearance, and then go to see the Garrison Commissioner.”

“Okay.” Amo nodded gently.

Others also led their warhorses into the river to drink.

They took out rock-hard dried meat from the horse backs and began to eat.

But just at this moment, a soldier suddenly shouted, “There seems to be someone over there.”

Looking in the direction he pointed, Amo found three cavalrymen standing on a small hill a few hundred meters away, observing them.

Seeing everyone’s nervous expressions, the High Priest told them to relax.

“It’s not far from Wuya Village here.”

“They should be Khitan scouts.”

The main force of the Eastern Capital Army was still at Wuya Village. Any commander would set up scouts to patrol at least twenty li away from the camp to prevent sneak attacks by enemies.

“Then should we go greet them and identify ourselves?” Amo said with a frown.

Although his father’s word was law in the tribe, he, who hadn’t inherited the position of leader yet, obviously didn’t have that prestige.

Even some matters were decided by the High Priest.

“If they come over to ask, just identify ourselves. If they don’t ask, we don’t need to say much,” the High Priest shook his head gently.

Sure enough, after observing for a while, the three scouts quickly left.

Amo and the others relaxed, rested for a while longer, and then continued to rush towards Wuya Village.

But they didn’t know that these three scouts were not Khitans, but pure Han people.

Just to cover people’s eyes and ears, Li Xiao had specially made these scouts responsible for reconnaissance and vigilance swap clothes temporarily with Xiao Yanyan’s guards.

As Amo and his group continued to advance, they increasingly felt something was wrong.

Finally, when they reached a hilly area, they found a group of cavalry had already been waiting there for a long time.

Between these grassland hills, these cavalrymen lined up, lying across heaven and earth, completely blocking the road ahead.

The faces of the High Priest and Amo changed almost simultaneously, and they subconsciously pulled the reins.

“Whoa—”

The warhorses stopped. The dozen or so people stood dumbfounded on the spot, their faces filled with panic and confusion.

The horses pawed the ground uneasily, their neighing particularly piercing in the silent wilderness.

They completely hadn’t expected that someone had set a trap here, waiting for them to rush in headlong.

“Bad, we’ve been ambushed,” the High Priest said in terror.

Looking at the scene before them, the other party was definitely a foe, not a friend.

Most of these people wore earthy yellow sheepskin coats with mottled leather armor over them, emitting an oppressive aura under the glaring sunlight.

Leading them was a young man, tall in stature, with a cold and stern face, sitting upright on a black steed like an unshakable mountain peak.

He held a horse lance in his hand, the tip swaying gently in the breeze, flashing with cold light, as if silently declaring their intention.

But when the High Priest saw clearly the appearance of this person with his old eyes, his face changed drastically, and he shouted with a terrified expression.

“It’s Li Xiao! He is Li Xiao!”

The old man’s voice became sharp, as if he had seen some terrifying demon.

Then, he shouted in a panic, “Run! Run quickly!”

“Everyone split up and run!”

“As long as one person can escape, go to Wuya Village immediately and tell Lord Xiao about what happened here.”

Saying this, the dozen or so people fled in all directions.

On the other side, Li Xiao slowly raised his arm, pointing the horse lance at Amo’s group.

With this movement, the entire cavalry unit surged forward rapidly, a strong oppressive feeling rushing towards the entire grassland.

Meanwhile, Li Xiao’s cavalry also appeared behind Amo and the others, as well as on both their left and right sides.

At this moment, although the grassland was large, they seemed to be in a huge cage, surrounded by cold iron walls, with nowhere to escape.

In the end, a few of these dozen or so people from the Wuliji Tribe were shot dead, and most were captured.

Especially the High Priest and Amo; they received special attention. before they could run far, the warhorses beneath them were shot and injured.

Finally, they were captured in a wretched state.

“Kneel!”

“Behave yourself!”

Four soldiers tied them up and pushed them in front of Li Xiao.

The High Priest was old and powerless to struggle, but the young and aggressive Amo was very unruly. Finally, he was punched fiercely in the stomach several times by the soldiers before finally quieting down.

“Li Xiao…”

The High Priest was pressed to kneel on the ground, raising his head to look forward.

A young man riding a warhorse was walking slowly towards them.

Behind him, there was also a very beautiful woman, with eyebrows like a painting, skin surpassing snow, and a cold and elegant temperament.

The High Priest immediately thought of this woman’s identity.

Princess of Great Liao, Xiao Yanyan.

“Hmph, they all say you, Li Xiao, became Vice Military Governor by licking a woman’s butt. Now it seems the rumors are true.”

The High Priest sneered, snorting with an old voice.

Hearing this, Xiao Yanyan instantly became unhappy. She glared with her beautiful eyes and scolded with a frosty face, “Old thing, looking for death, aren’t you?”

To be honest, Li Xiao really hadn’t licked her there.

On the contrary, she had squatted down to eat…

But having such things said by an old thing felt like an insult to her and Li Xiao.

But Li Xiao showed no emotional fluctuation at all. Still sitting upright on the warhorse, he looked down at the two from above.

He said in a faint voice, “Although I am not familiar with Wuliji.”

“We were comrades who fought side by side once, after all. Now it has come to this stage.”

“It is truly not what I, Li Xiao, wished for.”

As soon as Li Xiao’s voice fell, Amo spat fiercely at Li Xiao.

“Pah!”

Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and it didn’t hit.

“You despicable villain, stop your hypocritical act; it disgusts me.”

Amo shouted angrily, struggling so violently that two burly men almost couldn’t hold him down.

Subsequently, he naturally received another severe beating.

Li Xiao smiled disdainfully: “Wuliji’s death has nothing to do with my subordinates; we didn’t kill him.”

“Moreover, as long as you obediently listen to me, I can spare your lives.”

“Wishful thinking,” Amo said angrily.

“Falling into your hands today is my bad luck.”

“Kill me or cut me up, I, Amo, will absolutely not frown.”

This guy looked not very smart; his temperament was too rash.

Li Xiao had no interest in continuing to talk nonsense with them and ordered directly, “Use all means to make them talk.”

“Must make them implicate Xiao Lintuo.”

“Yes, sir!”

Zhou Dali and Qian Sanbiao nodded heavily.

Then, they had people drag this group of Wuliji people aside for interrogation.

Li Xiao’s meaning was very clear: even if it meant torture to extract a confession, he had to drag Xiao Lintuo into the water.

Since Xiao Lintuo used underhanded tricks first, Li Xiao didn’t care if his own methods were dirty.

Even if it was a framimg without evidence, he would drag him down, and they would be punished together.

Some people were not afraid of death, but that was only on the battlefield, ending it all with death.

But once falling into the hands of the enemy and facing various tortures, basically no one could withstand it.

These Wuliji people were not all hard bones either.

There were even a few who begged for mercy on their knees after just a few whips.

However, until one person spoke up, Li Xiao realized that this time he didn’t need to frame Xiao Lintuo without evidence.

“Obediently confess everything, and not only can I spare your little life, but I will also reward you with ten sheep.”

Li Xiao and Xiao Yanyan sat on a patch of grass covered with sheepskin, looking at the man kneeling before them.

He was the High Priest’s guard and knew about the deal between the High Priest and Xiao Lintuo.

“By the way, call Wuliji’s stupid son over too; let him listen.”

After a brief exchange, Li Xiao had realized that guy was a rash, brainless fool.

Like his father, he was used by Xiao Lintuo.

“Kneel!”

As Amo was escorted over, that man also began to recount the story.

“A few days ago, a Khitan found the High Priest, saying he was a subordinate of Governor Xiao.”

“He wanted to make a deal with the High Priest.”

“Asking the High Priest to find a way to bewitch Wuliji into conflict with the Han people.”

…

“Finally, after discussion, the High Priest agreed to Governor Xiao’s request, but the condition was to let Headman Etulu replace Chieftain Wuliji as the Thousand-Man Commander.”

Hearing this, Amo, who was tied up nearby, was instantly stunned.

How could he not understand now? This was actually a conspiracy jointly arranged by the High Priest and Xiao Lintuo.

The purpose was to make the Wuliji Tribe war with the Han people, allowing them to reap the benefits.

“Who exactly killed my father?”

“And why is it Etulu replacing my father as Thousand-Man Commander?” Amo’s eyes were bloodshot as he glared fiercely at that guard and asked.

Facing Amo, who looked like he wanted to eat people, the guard’s face was pale as he said nervously, “Chieftain Wuliji…”

“At that time on the battlefield, it was Etulu who shot that arrow…”

“And Etulu is actually the High Priest’s son.”

Hearing these two explosive pieces of news, Amo was instantly dumbfounded.

Widening his eyes, he said incredulously, “What?”