Chapter 414 Hu Che-er

Chapter 414 – Hu Che-er

Hu Che-er was one of the historical figures that made a name of himself during this civil war period. In the other timeline, he served as one of Zhang Xiu's commanders.

When Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu plotted to kill Cao Cao at Wan, Hu Chu-er was the one who volunteered that he would poison Dian Wei, who was acting as Cao Cao's bodyguard commander. He stole Dian Wei's halberds, so their men could kill everyone.

Hu Che-er succeeded, but Dian Wei still had short weapons with him. Unfortunately, Dian Wei discovered Hu Che-er's plot and killed him, but the former still died by the overwhelming army of Zhang Xiu.

In a way, Hu Che-er was the key contributor to Dian Wei's death.

But in this world, Hu Che-er did not serve Zhang Xiu since Zhang Xiu did not declare independence from Li Jue and Guo Si's regime. Instead, Zhang Xiu and Zhang Ji were sent to serve Tong as a tribute.

Without a lord, Hu Che-er found a mercenary organization to make a living. Liu Yang and Khan found them and recruited them to their army.

Now, Hu Che-er received a commission from Liu Yang that he and his men had to keep Hua Xin and Huang Wan's family as hostages, so both Han loyalists could be blackmailed later.

They could have kept their family members in Chang'An to enslave Hua Xin and Huang Wan forever. Also, Khan could have used his brainwash skill to tamper with these people's minds. Unfortunately, Khan declined all of Liu Yang's suggestions and kept on saving his lifespans to create more soldiers, so he could wage wars against Han citizens.

In Liu Yang's mind, Khan was a mad man and untrustworthy.

As illogical as it looked, Liu Yang took everything with her, so she could have more options to improvise to any situation.

Hu Che-er and the family of the former ministers were also the variable options that she kept. However, she did not expect that Hua Xin and Huang Wan would be bold enough to take risks.

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Inside the hideout, the assassins were resting. Although it was noon, most of them were sleeping, leaving only a few guards to monitor the Hua Xin and Huang Wan's family members.

Everybody thought that no one would find trouble with them on daylight since this was Tong's capital city.

The hideout was an open field inside of the city wall, which used for assembling the garrison army or erecting a temporary encampment for VIP merchants. At this place, Hu Che-er had constructed wooden shacks and pitched several tents for his 1,000 men and their hostages.

Liu Yang paid a high price to rent this space for these people, so the minor officials or lowly guards would not dare to offend them.

Hu Che-er was in a bad mood because they were in a bad position in this territory. Since Ye City disallowed all civilians to possess any weapon, such as swords, spears, or even a short knife, they could not wander around the city to establish their dominance in this city. With policemen swaggering around with swords and shields, they did not dare to stir trouble.

"What kind of city is this? Even Luoyang doesn't have this security."

Without proper weapons, Hu Che-er was afraid that Hua Xin and Huang Wan's family could escape if they fight back.

The assassin leader looked at his men and voiced his thought, "We should leave that girl here and escape when we have the chance. I'm sure those two geezers will rat us out."

His subordinates disagreed, "No, boss. I don't think they have the balls. We have the hostages here."

"These hostages are as good as none! All of them should have been imprisoned at Chang'An, but that stupid girl took them here. It's like telling Zhang Tong's men that [We are offering these hostages back, so please come and kill us!]. You get it?"

Unfortunately, Hu Che-er's men did not think that way. They still believed that Hua Xin and Huang Wan's family members were their trump card, and they could continue blackmailing these two ministers to do their bidding indefinitely.

"You're overthinking, boss. Our princess is doing the right thing. Had she left them at Chang'An, we wouldn't have been able to exploit those two bastards. With them here, we can enjoy our retirement without having to work, right?"

Hu Che-er's face twitched, "Fine. I'll take a walk on the street. All of you keep guarding, then."

"Okay, boss. Buy us some women when you return!"

"…"

The assassin boss abandoned his men. Instead of visiting the town as he promised his goons, he took his horse, planning to leave the city before hell could break loose.

Unfortunately, a transparent being appeared in front of Hu Che-er.

It was one of Tong's souls, [Sloth].

Sloth pointed his index fingertip at Hu Che-er's head.

Sloth Curse!

It was a unique skill that only demons who overcame their [Sin of Sloth] had.

Hu Che-er suddenly felt exhausted as if he had not slept for days. He collapsed on the ground and fell asleep.

Not only Hu Che-er was affected, but everyone in the camp, including all hostages, also was inflicted with the curse. Purple gas enveloped the hideout, putting all assassins and hostages asleep.

It was a peaceful approach to rescue all hostages without a casualty.

An hour later, Hua Xin, Huang Wan, Lu Zhi, and policemen with many carriages arrived. They separated all hostages from the assassins and escorted them to Lu Zhi's resident. As for the assassin group, they were tied and brought to the justice department for trial and interrogation.

All assassins and Hu Che-er woke up at night.

When they found that everyone was tied and locked in prison, they panicked.

"What the fuck had happened!? Why are we here!?"

"This is a dream, right?"

"No way! I remember that I just went to sleep!"

While everyone was in an uproar, Hu Che-er remembered the last thing that he saw.

It was a ghost or a spirit that cursed them.

'Come to think of it, Zhang Tong is known to be an immortal emperor. Many of his subordinates are rumored to be immortals, as well. Well, fuck. This trip was a mistake. That little girl must have already been caught. Hua Xin and Huang Wan should have ratted us out the moment they arrived.'

The assassin leader sighed.

'I should have migrated to this city and join them as a normal soldier from the very beginning. I'm a stupid idiot!'

Soon, Sima Fang's men isolated every prisoner for a separate interrogation. The investigation lasted all night.

When it was Hu Che-er's turn, it was already the morning of a new day.

The assassin leader was brought to an open field with four of his subordinates. Each of them was still tied with ropes.

Sima Fang, who had dark bags under his eyes, did not sleep last night. He was busy squeezing all information from this group. Several tight mouths were executed after a bit of torturing by slicing a piece of their skin, one piece at a time.

The ground that Hu Che-er knelt on was soaked with blood. The stench of iron made everybody here nauseous, but they kept on working.

As Hu Che-er looked at the floor, he found several white pieces of human skin.

Sima Fang did not clean the floor on purpose. He left it to intimidate other prisoners.

"What's your name?" Sima Fang glared at Hu Che-er.

Intimidated, the assassin leader had no will to resist. He confessed, "Hu Che-er."

"Are you a Han citizen, or are you from Xiongnu?"

"Neither. I'm from Turkic Tribe."

"How did you come to work with the Xiongnu?"

"Well, I'm the strongest warrior in my tribe, and these guys hired me. What can I say?"

"From the records, you are their leader, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, what's your objective in this city?"

Hu Che-er gulped. Although he did not want to confess, surviving was more important. He was afraid that he might get killed if he was caught lying. Since they had interrogated many men, some of them should have spilled all the information already.

"We're using Hua Xin and Huang Wan's family as hostages so we can manipulate them to work for us."

"Is that all?" Sima Fang knew that there was more hidden info.

"No. We're working for the princess. We're waiting for her command, but we have lost contact with her."

Sima Fang got interested, "Who is she, then?"

"She's called … err … I forgot."

Hu Che-er could not recall Liu Yang's name. Since everyone was calling her "Princess," no one paid attention to her real name.

"Was her name Wang Yi?"

"... I'm not sure."

Sima Fang changed his approach, "Had she come together with you when you entered this city?"

"Yes. The princess went to seek an audience with the emperor with Hua Xin and Huang Wan. She said that she planned to use both of them as her parent or something, so she can infiltrate the emperor's harem."

"Ah, we already know of that part. Well, do you have anything else to say?"

"A-Are you going to let me live?"

"If that's all the secret you know, then you're useless to us. If you want to live, you need to tell us something else that we didn't know."

Sima Fang used a mind game with Hu Che-er. With the psychological pressure, prisoners usually spilled random information or secrets to save their skins.

"I-I know the Xiongnu's movement! Chanyu Khan has occupied the Yi Province, and he is planning to strike Jing Province next! They are also using Yuan Shu's territory as a buffer, so Cao Cao and the emperor can't attack them while they are attacking other provinces!"

Sima Fang nodded. His expression was as solemn as ever, "Keep going."

"Yes! Chanyu Khan is also a mad man. He doesn't care about his domestic affair at all! All of the captured Liu Yan's officers have been killed, and they are looking for survivors. All citizens have become the Xiongnu's slaves or have been forced to join their military. Most of their cities have been reduced to ruins!"

"Then, do you know about Khan's relationship with this so call princess?"

"T-They are not in good terms. The princess wanted to protect the people and improve the agriculture and finance of all regions, but Khan refused to follow her advice."

Sima Fang's subordinates grinned as they acquired a few more puzzle pieces regarding the Xiongnu. With this new Intel, they had just scored some achievements.

"If you have a chance to work for the emperor, will you become his loyal subject?"

"Yes! Yes! Definitely!"

Sima Fang waved his hand, "Release this man. From now on, you work for me and his majesty."

"THANK YOU! Hu Che-er greets my lord!"

The minister clicked his tongue, "Don't you dare to call me [My lord]! Do you want to make me a rebel!? Can someone take this brute away and give him a bath!?"

The interrogation continued. In the end, Sima Fang executed half of the assassins as some of them had unacceptable attitudes or suspicious background.

As for the surviving prisoners, Sima Fang transferred them into his Intelligence Agency, planning to squeeze more information from them with a more extreme method.

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The next day, Sima Fang presented his investigation result and brought Hu Che-er along so that Tong could interrogate this assassin leader himself.