Chapter 102: Ino, Beside Himself with Rage

“Let her go!” Ino growled. It was not out of any tenderness for women, but because the girl was carrying the huge silver banknote he had just given her.

He was furious. How could he have been so stupid just now, thinking a helpless, unarmed woman could pull off a honey trap? Did he really think the Seventh Prince’s men would be so easy to seduce? Damn it all.

The men from the Seventh Prince’s side exchanged glances, especially the leader, whose face was blank with confusion. Who am I? Where am I? What is going on?

When the man still did not answer, Ino flew into a rage. “I order you to let her go! Right now! At once!”

The man remained silent. After a moment, he came back to himself, his eyes narrowing as a wicked smile touched his lips. Had someone just played him for a fool?

Seeing Ino’s frantic expression, the man decided the girl he was holding hostage must be carrying something important. He gave a cold laugh and looked at Ino with arrogant contempt. “I won’t.”

At that, Chu Junhan and the others were left utterly baffled as well. This was not how things were supposed to go. So Mengmeng did not even need to sow discord after all?

The girl’s eyes darted about. Biting her pale lip, she looked at Ino and pleaded, “General, he... he stole what you gave me!”

The instant those words were spoken, Ino exploded. He snatched a sword from the soldier beside him and pointed it straight at the man. “You bastard, you came all the way onto my turf to steal from me? Hah! You’ve got some nerve!”

The man was stunned for a second, then laughed arrogantly. “And if I did? Do you dare kill me? If you can bear the wrath of my prince, then go ahead and try. I’m standing right here.”

From hiding, Chu Junhan watched in growing astonishment. What kind of turn of events was this? Were his younger brother’s men this ferocious? They would not even bother to explain themselves?

Ino was beside himself with anger. Sword in hand, he charged toward... the wooden stake beside the man and hacked at it instead.

He truly did not dare touch the man. The Chu family alone was already enough to give the Liao Kingdom headaches; add the Seventh Prince of the Kingdom of Qian-De into the mix, and the consequences were unthinkable. He did not want to become a traitor to the Liao Kingdom.

“Hand over the treasure map fragment, or you’ll end up just like this post!” Ino looked like a locust after autumn, trying desperately to leap and strike, his eyes bloodshot with fury.

The man snorted coldly, pressing the sharp blade against the girl’s throat as he slowly backed out of the city. “What kind of fool’s dream are you living in?”

He was clearly intent on driving Ino mad. Furious, Ino followed with his sword raised.

Seeing that the time was right, Chu Junhan gave a low command. “Move!”

After running a short distance with their bodies lowered, the Chu soldiers slipped beyond the range of the archers atop the city wall, then halted again at the child’s signal.

“Mount up!” Chu Junhan ordered. The soldiers scattered at once, each searching for the horse he had hidden in the woods.

Once everyone was ready, Chu Junhan cupped his hands around his mouth, cleared his throat, and shouted, “Hey, Liao Kingdom! I’m Chu Junhan! Thanks for the four million silver banknotes!”

“What?” Ino’s heart lurched. He no longer cared about the man in front of him and immediately sprinted toward the camp.

One million silver taels had already been spent on the failed honey trap. There were still four million left. He absolutely could not lose those too.

Meng Fang seized the chaos as an opening. She drove her elbow hard into the man’s chest, twisted out of his grip with a flip, and seized a horse by the city gate.

But the man was no easy prey. His reflexes were astonishing. Clutching his chest, he sprang up from the ground and, like an arrow loosed from a bow, vaulted onto the horse the girl was riding.

“Go!” The horse galloped away, carrying two people upon its back—one struggling to shake the other off, the other clinging tightly.

“My lord!” The remaining men saw their leader being dragged off into the distance and hurried after him in alarm.