Chapter 172

  Tang Yin said he wanted to find someone to help, and the three brothers of Shangguan, as well as Lu Fang and Cheng Jin, were all stunned. They asked in unison: "Who does the master want to go find?"

  Tang Yin smiled and said: "The matter of Zhong Tian, whose news did we get first?"

  Deng Mingyang?

  "That's right!" Tang Yin said in a low voice: "Deng Mingyang is my old subordinate. Since he was willing to inform me at the first time, it means that he also holds an opposing opinion on the matter of Zhong Tian. I'll go see him tonight, and I think he can help us out!"

  "Adults, he won't..." Cheng Jin had always been suspicious and hadn't seen Deng Mingyang before, so he was very uneasy about him.

  "It's all right, don't worry." Tang Yin understood his meaning and smiled as he shook his head.

  That night, Tang Yin went to find Deng Mingyang. Since it wasn't for a fight and he didn't want to force Deng Mingyang to surrender, Tang Yin hadn't planned on bringing anyone along, but Shangguan Yuan kept asking to go with him, so Tang Yin agreed to bring him along.

  Both of them changed into ordinary people's hemp clothes and trousers, and Tang Yin even deliberately wore a straw hat to cover most of his face. After all, he had been the commander of the garrison in Yancheng before, and many people knew him. He didn't want news of his arrival in Yancheng to reach Zhong Tian.

  After leaving Yue Zijie's house, the two rushed straight to Deng Mingyang's residence.

  Deng Mingyang used to be a qianfulang under Tang Yin's command, and the address of his home was still very familiar to Tang Yin.

  Afraid of causing trouble, Tang Yin and Shangguan Yuan let did not wander around in Yancheng, but went straight to Deng Mingyang's mansion.

  Deng Mingyang's family was relatively well-off, with a courtyard in Yancheng that had a main house and side houses.

  When they arrived at the door, Tang Yin stepped aside and motioned to Shangguan Yuanrang to knock on the door. The latter responded with a sound, walked to the front of the door, and knocked several times in succession. However, there was no movement inside. Shangguan Yuanrang furrowed his brow and knocked again several times. After waiting for a while, footsteps were heard from inside, followed by the slow opening of the door, revealing half of a face from the inside.

  The door was opened by a young man wearing gray clothes, who looked like a servant from Deng Mingyang's family. The young man had a fearful expression on his face, and when he saw that there were only two people outside, he visibly relaxed and sized up the visitor, Ouyang Yuanrang, with a puzzled look, asking: "Who are you? What brings you here?"

  Guanyuan said bluntly: "I'm looking for Deng Qianjun!"

  The young man furrowed his brow even deeper, looking impatient as he said, "Sorry, my master is not in right now." After finishing speaking, he took a step back and made a gesture to close the door. At this time, Tang Yin stretched out his hand and pressed against the door frame, then tilted his head with the straw hat on it and asked with a smile, "Ah Wu, is your master so busy? He's still not home at such a late hour."

  The young man's face turned even more impatient, and he said, "What does it have to do with you whether my family's master is busy or not..." As he spoke, he glanced at Tang Yin, and after getting a clear look at his appearance, he was shocked stiff, unable to continue speaking.

  Tang Yin saw this and smiled even more deeply, asking: "What's wrong? Just one year has passed and you don't recognize me?"

  "Tang... General Tang?" The young man woke up from his shock, hardly daring to believe his eyes. Tang Yin had returned to Yancheng! That Tang Yin who openly defied Zhong Tian actually dared to return to Yancheng, this was too unbelievable.

  "Is Deng Qianjun at home?"

  "Back... home!"

  "Can I go in?"

  "Good, good......" The young man seemed to be under a spell, his eyes fixed on Tang Yin, nodding blankly, then mechanically retreated to the side and let him in. Tang Yin gave Yuangong a slight nod and strode into the courtyard.

  When Tang Yin and Shangguan Yuanrang approached, the young man suddenly felt a chill, reacted violently, then closed and locked the door, turned around and rushed into the main room. Without guessing, it was clear that he must have gone to inform Deng Mingyang. Sure enough, soon after the young man entered the main room, Deng Mingyang slipped out from inside.

  When he saw Tang Yin standing in the courtyard, he was both surprised and delighted, and at the same time, a sense of sorrow arose from his heart. He rushed forward, stepped up to Tang Yin's face, his eyes turned red, knelt down on one knee, and said with a trembling voice: "Subordinate... Deng Mingyang, see General!"

  Tang Yin stretched out his hand to Deng Mingyang, feeling that he was more haggard than when he left. It seemed that during the period of Zhong Tian's usurpation, his days were not easy either. He said: "Deng Qianjun doesn't have to be polite, besides, you are no longer my subordinate now!"

  After hearing this, Deng Mingyang's tears almost fell, and he regretted not following Tang Yan to Pingyuan County earlier.

  As Tang Yin had expected, these days were not easy for Deng Mingyang. After Tang Yin stepped down as the commander of the Second Legion, he remained in the legion as a chiliarch. After Zhong Tian usurped power, he naturally wouldn't let go of the Second Legion, which was most valued by the Dancer Clan. He removed the original legion commander and was ruthless to the chiliarchs below him. Whoever had even half a word of complaint would immediately bring about their own death. These days, Deng Mingyang saw too many colleagues die at Zhong Tian's hands. He couldn't eat or sleep, always fearing that Zhong Tian's great blade would chop off his own head at any moment.

  At this time, he saw Tang Yan, his heart surged, a hundred emotions intertwined, and he regretted it. He took a deep breath, clasped his hands and said: "I was the general's subordinate before, and now I am still the general's subordinate!"

  Tang Yin smiled and nodded towards the main house, saying: "Let's go inside and talk!"

  Deng Mingyang slapped his own head, hastily turned sideways, stretched out his hand and said: "Please, please, please! General, come in quickly!" As he spoke, he looked at Shangguan Yuanrang who came with Tang Yan. Deng Mingyang didn't know him, so he sized him up from top to bottom, looking suspicious, and asked: "General, who is this..."

  "One of us!"

  Tang Yin simply replied with a sentence, without saying much. However, this sentence of his own made Deng Mingyang extremely happy, and Tang Yin was able to say so, no doubt considering himself as one of them too.

  After entering the main room, Deng Mingyang had Tang Yin take the upper seat and then called for his servant to quickly serve tea. Tang Yin saw this, smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Mingyang, no need to be so polite!"

  "It should be." Deng Mingyang sat upright and nodded his head in agreement.

  Tang Yin looked at him deeply and said: "Do you know the purpose of my return to Yancheng this time?"

  Deng Mingyang took a deep breath and his eyes rolled around in doubt. "Could it be that the adults have come to rescue us?"

  "That's right!" Tang Yin said: "I want to rescue all of them from the Liang family, Wu family and Zi Yang family."

  "Deng Mingyang's face changed slightly, he guessed that Tang Yin was here to rescue people, but he only thought he was coming to rescue Wu Mei, and didn't expect him to take away so many people."

  Tang Yin said, "These three families control an army of 200,000 troops. I must get them to join me; otherwise, with my current strength, it will be difficult for me to contend with Zhong Tian. Ming Yang, I hope you can help me."

  Deng Mingyang's forehead was covered in cold sweat. To rescue all three families, how easy could it be? The Liangs, the Wus and the Zis were all powerful and wealthy households, noble families with many dependents. The three families combined had nearly a thousand people. How could they possibly escape? Moreover, they were currently being held captive in the Zhong Mansion, guarded by fifteen battalions of soldiers, a force of tens of thousands.

  Seeing Deng Mingyang's embarrassed expression, Tang Yin narrowed his eyes and asked lightly: "What? Mingyang, you don't want to help me?"

  "No, no, no!" Deng Mingyang hastily shook his head and said: "The general lets the subordinate do things, the subordinate will definitely go and do them. The general asks me to help, I will also go to help. It's just that the three families of Liang, Wu, and Zi Yang have too many family members, almost a thousand people, and there is an army guarding them. If the general forces a rescue, it will definitely stir up trouble. Even if we can get out of the Zhong Mansion, I'm afraid...I'm afraid we won't be able to leave Yan City."

  Tang Yin did not expect that the three families would have so many people when they gathered together. After listening to Deng Mingyang's words, he furrowed his brow. Even if there was a secret passage leading out of the city, with so many people, including the old, weak, sick and disabled, it would be difficult to shake off Zhong Tian's pursuit even after escaping from the city through the passage.

  So to rescue people, we can't alarm the enemy, it must be done secretly, but to rescue over a thousand people from the heavily guarded Zhong Fu without being detected is possible? At this time, Tang Yin also had some doubts. After a long silence, his eyes suddenly lit up and he asked: "Who is the commander of the 15th battalion?"

  "Zhongsan." Deng Mingyang replied: "He is Zhongtian's nephew."

  "Is it very fierce?" Tang Yin asked casually.

  "His cultivation has only reached the Linghua realm, but he is quite cunning and not easy to deal with." Deng Mingyang replied cautiously, pausing for a moment before continuing: "However, this person is extremely lustful and has been eyeing both Miss Dajie and Erjie of the dance family. If it weren't for Zhong Tian keeping him in check from above, he might have made his move already..."

  Tang Yin's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness as he asked again, "How close are you and him?"

  Deng Mingyang shook his head and said, "I've only met him a few times, there's no relationship between us." Someone like him, a commander with no background, wouldn't even be noticed by Zhong Sang. Even if he wanted to make friends, the other person might not even bother with him.

  Tang Yan narrowed his eyes and muttered: "Since he is a lustful person, it's not hard to lure him out, just use beauty to entice him."

  "What's going on?" Deng Mingyang widened his eyes, he didn't understand what Tang Yin was going to do by bringing Zhong Sang out. If it was a secret plan to get rid of him, then they wouldn't even have a chance to rescue anyone before alerting the enemy.

  Tang Yin thought for a moment with his head raised, then suddenly laughed, an evil grin spreading across his face. "May I invite the madam to come out and sit with us?" he asked.

  Plop! Deng Mingyang almost choked on his own saliva. He, of course, knew that Tang Yin was not a lecherous person. So why did he suddenly mention his own wife? Was it to let her seduce Zhong Sang? With a dry smile all over his face, he said: "General, this...this..."

  He guessed it right, Tang Yin indeed had this intention.

  He had heard before that Deng Mingyang's wife was very beautiful, but he had never seen her. Now he wanted to take a look and see if she was really as beautiful as the rumors said. If so, it would be useful to make use of her.

  He laughed and said: "Ming Yang, don't worry, I won't let your wife suffer."

  "But...". Deng Mingyang had already vaguely sensed Tang Yin's intentions. No matter what, as a man, letting his wife seduce another man would make anyone uncomfortable.