Rebirth and Reversal of Fortune

Chapter 74 Unexpected Visitor, Investigating Information

Just as Su Jinxiu successfully resolved the contest among the noble ladies and the banquet atmosphere became relaxed and pleasant again, a mysterious person dressed in a black robe, with most of his face obscured by the shadow of his hood, appeared at the entrance of the Marquis's residence.

The guards initially tried to stop him, but the man claimed he had important matters to discuss with the master of the Marquis's mansion, matters that concerned the life and death of the mansion. The guards dared not delay and quickly led him into the banquet.

The person's appearance instantly drew everyone's attention, the laughter and chatter abruptly ceased, and the entire banquet hall fell into silence.

Xiao Ling frowned slightly, stood up and asked, "Who are you? And what brings you here?"

The mysterious man slowly removed his hood, revealing a weathered face. His eyes showed a hint of urgency: "Lord Xiao, Madam Su, I have brought you an urgent message."

Su Jinxiu stepped forward and said gently, "Please tell me slowly."

The mysterious man took a deep breath and lowered his voice, saying, "Recently, I've heard that the bandits outside the city have been making unusual moves. They seem to be colluding with a certain force in the capital, preparing to harm the Marquis's residence in the near future."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

"Mountain bandits? How dare they be so audacious?" a guest exclaimed.

Xiao Ling's expression was solemn: "Do you know who in the capital they are colluding with?"

The mysterious man shook his head: "It is still unclear who exactly it is, but this matter is of utmost importance. Mountain bandits are known for their ruthlessness. If they are truly colluding with someone with malicious intent, the Marquis's mansion may be in danger."

After a moment of calm thought, Su Jinxiu said, "Thank you for informing me of this. But how did you learn of this?"

The mysterious man gave a wry smile: "To tell you the truth, I was originally a member of the mountain bandits, but I couldn't stand their behavior, so I secretly escaped. Knowing that the Marquis's family is usually charitable, I didn't want to see them suffer, so I risked coming to deliver the message."

Xiao Ling said, "Your Excellency's righteousness is deeply appreciated."

The mysterious man cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. I only hope that the Marquis's mansion can make preparations as soon as possible and get through this calamity."

After saying this, the mysterious man hurriedly left.

The atmosphere at the banquet became somber, and the guests began to discuss the matter.

"What should we do? If the bandits attack, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Could it be that the Marquis's mansion has offended someone, which has brought this disaster upon them?"

Xiao Ling looked at Su Jinxiu: "Jinxiu, what do you think we should do about this?"

After a moment of contemplation, Su Jinxiu said, "Husband, we must first strengthen the defenses of the Marquis's residence and arrange for patrols. At the same time, we should send people outside the city to investigate the movements of the mountain bandits. Only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we win every battle."

Xiao Ling nodded in agreement: "Okay, we'll do as you say."

Su Jinxiu continued, "In addition, this matter should also be reported to the imperial court, and we should request their support."

Therefore, the entire Marquis's residence sprang into action.

However, just as the Marquis's mansion was making intensive preparations to deal with the mountain bandits, another unexpected event occurred.

The men tasked with scouting the bandits' movements returned and reported that the bandits were moving faster than expected and were already approaching the capital.

"How could it be so fast?" Xiao Ling asked in surprise.

Su Jinxiu said, "It seems the situation is more serious than we imagined, and we must speed up our deployment."

Just then, news came from the imperial court that due to the tense situation on the border, it was impossible to spare troops to support the Marquis's residence.

The Marquis's mansion is facing an unprecedented crisis...

Although the Marquis's mansion was filled with panic due to the news of the impending bandit attack, Su Jinxiu and Xiao Ling remained calm and decisive. They knew that in this critical moment, blindly responding would only make the situation worse; only by verifying the authenticity and source of the information could they formulate an effective response strategy.

Xiao Ling first gathered his trusted confidants and highly skilled guards from the Marquis's residence to form an investigation team.

"This investigation is a challenging task, so everyone must be extremely careful," Xiao Ling said solemnly.

Su Jinxiu also reminded him, "Be careful to conceal your whereabouts and don't alert the enemy."

Under the cover of night, the investigation team quietly left the Marquis's residence and headed towards the direction where the mountain bandits might be active outside the city. Along the way, they carefully avoided any potential informants and tried their best not to attract anyone's attention.

Upon arriving at a village outside the city, the team found it unusually quiet, with hardly any villagers in sight.

"Something's not right, everyone be careful," the squad leader whispered.

They sneaked into the village and found some houses damaged and bloodstains on the ground.

"It seems this place has been attacked by bandits," one of the team members said.

Just as they were preparing to conduct a further search, they suddenly heard footsteps. The team members quickly concealed themselves, and several furtive figures appeared on the street.

"They're spies from the mountain bandits!" the captain deduced.

Xiao Ling signaled to everyone not to act rashly, but to observe the movements of these spies first.

The scouts searched the village, seemingly looking for something.

"Have they discovered our trail?" one of the team members asked nervously.

Xiao Ling shook his head: "Calm down first."

After a while, the scouts found nothing unusual and left the village.

The investigation team continued their journey and discovered a bandit camp in a valley. The camp was heavily guarded, making it difficult to approach.

After thinking for a moment, Su Jinxiu said, "We can go around from the back of the mountain; the defenses there might be weaker."

Following Su Jinxiu's advice, the team successfully circled around to the back of the mountain. However, they also encountered a patrol of bandits in the back mountain.

After a fierce battle, the squad finally defeated the patrol and quietly infiltrated the camp.

In the camp, they discovered some important clues.

“Look, here’s a letter. It seems to be a correspondence with someone in the capital,” one of the team members said.

Xiao Ling took the letter, examined it carefully, and his expression became even more solemn.

"As expected, someone was directing the bandits behind the scenes."

Just then, a bandit spotted them and shouted loudly.

Instantly, the entire camp was alerted, and the bandits rushed towards them.

"Oh no, we've been discovered! Retreat immediately!" Xiao Ling shouted.

Led by Su Jinxiu and Xiao Ling, the investigation team fought their way out of the encirclement and returned to the Marquis's residence with important clues.

However, before they could even catch their breath, they discovered some unusual signs appearing within the Marquis's residence...