Chapter 633: Stealing the Beams and Replacing the Pillars
Chapter 633: Chapter 633: Stealing the Beams and Replacing the Pillars
"Enough!"
Tuoba Yu, sitting at the head of the room, barked the command. The few men who had been arguing fell silent at once, their mouths snapping shut as they all turned to look at him.
Tuoba Yu’s gaze swept across them. A shadow seemed to fall over his striking, handsome face, and his blue eyes held a chilling coldness that made one’s blood run cold.
Everyone was silent, too terrified to even breathe.
’They all knew perfectly well that this was a truly ruthless man!’
If they displeased him, even though they were his subordinates on the same side, they would end up meeting a gruesome fate, their bodies left in pieces.
Finally, Tuoba Yu spoke in a low voice. "Go and tell them that King Yan Nan has contracted a serious illness. He requires quiet rest and cannot endure the rigors of travel. Once his health improves slightly, he will naturally return to the capital."
The men exchanged uncertain glances.
"This... Will the envoy delivering the decree even believe that?"
"Whether they believe it or not is not up to them! King Yan Nan’s status is far too important. They would have to be insane to gamble with his life!"
"That’s easy for you to say, but it’s not that simple! What if they demand to see King Yan Nan in person? What do we do then? Don’t forget what a tough nut he is to crack! If we give him even a sliver of an opportunity to meet an outsider, everything will be exposed! And then... what will we do!?"
"Well..."
The arguing men all looked troubled.
Since entering Long City, they had all had some contact with King Yan Nan and understood perfectly well how difficult a man he was to handle.
"In any case, we absolutely cannot let him have any contact with anyone else! We’ll just say... we’ll say his illness is contagious! Even if they must see him, we can just find someone with a similar build and let them get a brief glimpse from a distance, behind a screen!"
A flicker of interest crossed Tuoba Yu’s face. He looked at the man who had made the suggestion, a hint of approval in his expression.
"That plan could work."
’The real King Yan Nan is hard to deal with, but finding someone who looks like him? That should be a simple matter.’
"Once we’ve dealt with those people from the court, it won’t be too late to take care of him! If he’s still being stubborn and uncooperative by then..."
A cold sneer played on Tuoba Yu’s lips.
"Then he’ll have only his own bad luck to blame!"
...
Evening fell, and the sun began to set.
King Yan Nan sat alone in his room.
He had been sitting in that same position all day.
Ever since Tuoba Yu received the news that morning, he had led all the Southern Hu people into hiding, leaving only the original men of Long City to stand guard.
’This is my best chance to turn the tables!’ he thought, though he didn’t know how they planned to handle the situation.
’No matter what they choose, I have a countermeasure!’
’No matter what, I have to get word of what’s happening in Long City out of here!’
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door.
King Yan Nan immediately looked up.
Tuoba Yu was not there. It was two guards.
The two men walked in without a word and immediately took out a rope.
King Yan Nan was instantly on alert. "What are you doing!?"
The guard on the left, whose eyes showed the whites beneath their irises, sneered. "King Yan Nan, I’d advise you to be sensible and not put up a useless struggle. You may be a great martial artist, but you can’t use any of your skills right now. You’re no different from a cripple. If you behave, you might spare yourself some pain."
Alarm bells screamed in King Yan Nan’s mind.
’This wasn’t what I expected at all.’
They weren’t killing him outright, nor were they planning to take him to see the court official. This behavior seemed more like they were about to do something in secret.
"You dare!"
He shot to his feet, but a sharp, intense pain suddenly flared in his chest!