The prison cart was escorted by Wang Kuang's cousin, Wang Fen, who led a squad of Taishan Archers. Inside the cart was Humuban, an envoy from the Luoyang court and the brother-in-law of Prefect Wang Kuang.
"Wang Fen, you dare to break the law! What's going on? Men, surround them!" Ye Lin was startled. Could it be that Wang Kuang was so eager to kill his own brother-in-law?
Even though he was surprised, he shouted to try and scare Wang Fen!
Damn it, he was indeed a famous general of He Nei in the future, skilled in leading troops. With Commander Ye's order of "Surround them!", the thirty personal guards behind him had already drawn their bows and arrows, completely surrounding Wang Fen on horseback, his few confidants, and the prison cart.
The squad of Taishan Archers behind the prison cart hadn't been prepared, because they saw the He Nei Army banner and, upon getting closer, recognized Commander Ye, who was known to be transporting supplies to Ji County.
Therefore, this group of men hadn't taken any precautions at all. At this moment, a Captain and several Platoon Leaders of the Taishan soldiers were dumbfounded, not daring to move, with the He Nei cavalry pointing their bows and arrows at them.
Regardless of the dynasty, archers were a long-range force with poor defensive capabilities. They were no match for cavalry at close range. If Ye Lin had charged forward with his thirty riders just now, this squad of Taishan soldiers, with their bows still on their backs and unstrung, would have been scattered and trampled into meat paste in a matter of seconds!
Ye Lin had brought fifty riders this time, the elite of the two hundred light cavalry of the He Nei Army.
Fifty riders, each equipped with lamellar armor and iron helmets. The Squad Leader, the Platoon Leader, the Captain, and Ye Lin, the Commander, all wore iron armor. The difference was that Ye Lin's arms and wrists were also covered in iron, while the others only had iron chest armor, with the rest being leather.
The weapons of these elite He Nei light cavalry were similar to other late Han Dynasty cavalry. Their primary weapon was a two-meter-long iron halberd shaped like the character "卜". They also carried bows and arrows for ranged combat, and huan-shou sabers for close combat. Each rider also had a round shield hanging from their saddle, to be used for blocking arrows and crossbow bolts if needed.
"Hey, hey, hey! Commander Ye, what are you doing?!"
Wang Fen felt wronged. "I'm under the Prefect's orders to escort Dong Zhuo's cohort, Humuban, to Ji County for the Leader to deal with. This was your brother-in-law's idea, you know that?!"
Wang Fen was feeling extremely wronged. The Taishan Archers were recruited by Prefect Wang Kuang from his hometown in Yan Province, and were considered guest troops in He Nei County. Naturally, they often clashed with the local He Nei Army.
However, Wang Kuang was currently in the midst of the alliance of the Eastern Lords, and was in need of manpower. He had even recruited and incorporated Han Hao's followers, who were from the mountains, into the new He Nei Army. Wang Fen really didn't dare to have a conflict with Ye Lin's He Nei Army at this time.
"Do you have the Prefect's official documents?!"
Ye Lin didn't expect that his brother-in-law, Fang Yue, would come up with such a brilliant plan to deceive. He had worried for nothing.
Before, when Ye Lin had secretly discussed with Fang Yue, he had only suggested that his brother-in-law should, under no circumstances, allow Wang Kuang to kill the imperial envoy in He Nei. The key was to delay until the Leader, Yuan Shao, changed his mind.
As for whether Yuan Shao would change his mind about killing the imperial envoy to establish his authority and vent his anger, they would have to wait until their He Nei's famous Commander Ye went to the Ji Province Army and persuaded Yuan Shao!
"Here! This is the Prefect's document for the Leader! If it delays the Prefect's important matters, I'm afraid Commander Ye won't be able to bear the responsibility!"
Wang Fen threw out the wooden tablet, which was bound together, with a bad attitude. Ye Lin's personal guards came forward and received it, handing it to Ye Lin.
Ye Lin, still on horseback, opened the wooden tablet. It was all written in ink in the official script, with quite a few traditional characters, and the Prefect Wang Kuang's official seal at the bottom.
With some guesswork, Commander Ye roughly understood the meaning. Wang Kuang was using the pretense of serving the public and not getting involved in private affairs, and had sent people to escort Humuban to Yuan Shao's army to await the Leader's disposal.
"Sir Humuban, why serve as a claw of Dong Zhuo? Are you willing to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, and come over to the Eastern Lords? You and the Prefect are from the same hometown and are relatives. How can you bear to have brothers fight among themselves?"
Ye Lin held Wang Kuang's wooden tablet in his hand, ignoring Wang Fen for the moment. He turned his horse towards the prison cart and said to Humuban inside.
"Hmph, you Eastern Lords are the foolish ones. The court has already executed the entire Yuan family of Luoyang, the rebels. Except for the Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers, any other Eastern Lord who submits to the court will be forgiven!"
Humuban, though only in his thirties, had a face etched with lines. He was a tough one. Disheveled, in prison garb, and shackled, he sat slumped in the prisoner transport, yet he was still filled with righteous indignation, as if life and death were of no consequence.
"Commander Wang, it seems there was a misunderstanding. I wonder, will you go on your own, or will you travel with my grain transport team, sharing the same fate?"
Ye Lin ignored Humuban, that stubborn fool who didn't know when to quit. He casually stuffed the prefect's documents into his pocket, and, holding the reins, chuckled as he asked Wang Fen, who was opposite him.
Wang Fen was leading the escort of Humuban to Ji County this time. It was originally an unavoidable chore. Wang Kuang could be cold-hearted and use his brother-in-law's life as a pledge of allegiance to the Leader, but Wang Fen, his clansman, didn't want to have the blood of relatives and fellow townsmen on his hands.
Wang Fen was only a distant clansman of Wang Kuang. The five hundred Taishan Archers were more Wang Fen's men than Wang Kuang's. He was truly afraid that he would end up being a scapegoat, sacrificed by the Prefect to appease the people of Taishan.
So! So! Wang Fen only brought a squad of archers to escort the prisoner transport at the crossroads, ten miles north of Huai County, deliberately dawdling to intercept Ye Lin's grain transport.
What was Wang Fen's plan?
This guy wasn't just planning to hitch a ride on Ye Lin's grain convoy, escorting the prisoner wagon. He was straight-up trying to be a hands-off boss, handing the prisoner wagon over to Commander Ye Lin, so Ye Lin could take it to Ji County and deliver it to the Ji Province Army while transporting the grain!
As expected, when Ye Lin casually asked if he wanted a ride, Wang Fen was overjoyed and immediately leaned in, lowering his voice.
"Commander Ye, to be honest, military affairs in Pinggao are very busy, and I really don't have time to make a special trip to Ji County...
Alright, I'll be honest with you. As you know, the Wang family and the Hu family in Taishan, Yanzhou, are both distinguished clans, and we're all from the same area. He's also the Prefect's brother-in-law... I won't say more, but here's fifty gold. Consider it a favor from your brother. You can take the prisoner wagon to Ji County along with the grain. What do you say?"
Wang Fen's posture and voice were very low. Although he usually looked down on the He Nei Army's Commander Ye Lin, a complete incompetent, he had to be careful and smile since he needed something from him. The main point was the fifty gold coins clinking inside the leather pouch, right?
"Fifty gold? To take a prisoner wagon and the prisoner along the way? Old Wang, this is a two-hundred-mile mountain road in the middle of winter. Fifty gold isn't enough. I'm taking one thousand five hundred troops to do this for you. The reward should be at least one hundred gold!"
"Eighty gold!"
"Deal!"
Well now! Commander Ye, on his way to transport grain, simply added a prisoner's cart and a single prisoner, and effortlessly extorted eighty gold from the other party.
When they went their separate ways, both men harbored ulterior motives yet were pleased as punch. Each watched the other's retreating figure, secretly cursing: "Fool!"