As soon as Lao Jianhua said his words, Huo Wen was shocked. He couldn't help but take two steps back and said at the same time: "Sir, what do you mean? I have never..."
With a sneer on his face, Lao Jianhua said lightly: "Huo Wen, have you forgotten what I do?"
Huo Wen's pupils shrank suddenly, and there was a chill in his heart. Lao Jianhua was born in the Nilin Division of Beiya and was a famous intelligence chief in Shengtang. Throughout his life, he was best at snooping for information and engaging in conspiracies.
I secretly got in touch with Yan Chongxi, and under the other party's instruction, secretly captured Lao Jianhua and Li Bing through the Japanese pirate Kuohai, and then gave them to the emperor Li Bing in exchange for credit. I am afraid that these things have really fallen into Lao Jianhua's hands. In eyes.
Facing Lao Jianhua's questioning, cold sweat broke out on Huo Wen's back. He took half a step back again, struggled to defend himself and said: "Sir, I am loyal to you and I will never change my mind. You must not listen to others." To instigate slander.”
Lao Jianhua sat without moving, only looking at Huo Wen quietly, as if he was looking at a dead man. His reaction made Huo Wen even more panicked, and his legs shook uncontrollably.
"You want to seek glory and wealth, I can understand, but..." Lao Jianhua's tone was emotionless: "However, if you plan to use me as a sign of surrender to Li Bing and the imperial court, that's another matter. You know, my head is very valuable, isn’t it a bit wasteful to just exchange it for you for a negligible future?”
Huo Wen knew that it was useless to say anything now, and that his life could be at risk at any time, so he quickly gave up all attempts to struggle, knelt down in front of Lao Jianhua, and kept kowtowing: "Please forgive me, sir! The villain was confused for a moment. Being fooled by bad guys almost led to a big mistake!"
"Bad guy? Who do you mean by bad guy?" Lao Jianhua sneered, "Is it the profiteer Yan Chongxi?"
"It's him! It's Yan Chongxi!" Huo Wen said quickly: "Yan Chongxi encouraged me to cooperate with his conspiracy. Sir, I was bewitched by him."
Lao Jianhua laughed loudly, then stood up and approached Huo Wen step by step: "You put all the blame on him, which is clean and refreshing. Tell me honestly, how do you communicate with each other?"
Huo Wen raised his head, looked at Lao Jianhua in front of him, hesitated and replied: "As soon as Mr. goes to Mingzhou or Quanzhou, I will send a letter to Yongjia Silk Trading Company in Hangzhou, and they will notify Yan Chongxi. Then Yan Chongxi will contact the Japanese pirates , intercepting Mr. Jin and Prince Jin halfway."
Lao Jianhua nodded and ordered coldly: "Then you should send a letter to Yongjia Company now, saying that I have decided to leave for Kuohai in ten days, and the route arrangements are here."
With that said, he handed Huo Wen a letter.
Huo Wen took it with both hands, opened it tremblingly and read it once, then nodded and said: "Yes, I will deliver the letter right away."
Lao Jianhua put his hand on his shoulder and asked with a sneer: "Did Yan Chongxi tell you before about how to arrange your escape after completing the mission?"
Huo Wen was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "He said...let me find an excuse to slip away halfway, and then...then...then wait for the imperial army to conquer Hangzhou."
"Fart!" Lao Jianhua's hand was so hard that Huo Wen almost fainted from the pain: "How could he let you leave before I caught you? Do you think of him as a fool, or do you think of me as a fool?"
Huo Wen bared his teeth and shouted: "I don't dare, I don't dare! I tell the truth, sir, Yan Chongxi did order me to go to Kuohai to secretly cooperate with the Japanese pirates' actions. And... he also asked me to wait for opportunities. Drugged you. Damn it, damn it."
"That's right," Lao Jianhua sneered: "You think you can exchange my head for your own glory and wealth, but in fact Yan Chongxi will definitely let the Japanese pirates kill you first, you idiot!"
After that, he grabbed Huo Wen's chin with his backhand, pinched the other person's mouth open, and then put a black pill into it. Huo Wen was unprepared, and with Lao Jianhua secretly transporting his strength, he couldn't help but swallow the pill directly.
"Sir, me! What...what is this?!" Huo Wen stared with frightened eyes and was extremely panicked for a moment.
Lao Jianhua smiled and said: "Don't be afraid. This poison will take effect after an hour. As long as you take the antidote before then, you will be fine. Go ahead, send the message, and come back immediately."
-
Watching Huo Wen stumble out of the door, Lao Jianhua couldn't help but frown.
Now the situation in Jiangnan has reached the point where it can't be worse. Li Zhang's retreat to Anji was a no-brainer. Facing the powerful Zhenjiang Army, it was good not to be eaten in one bite. It was simply a luxury to hope to secure Huzhou and even defeat Li Jiangyao.
The withdrawal of the main force to the front line of Tongxiang, Anji, means that we have completely given up the favorable terrain of the Taihu Lake water network, Suzhou has become an isolated city, and Hangzhou will also be directly threatened by the Xinjiang Army.
With the existing military strength alone, turning defeat into victory has become out of reach.
The only thing to be happy about right now is the new changes in the imperial capital. According to various sources, an unexpected coup took place there not long ago. The entire court was completely swept away, and the trend was even getting worse.
Queen Cheng Wen, is she really that powerful?
Lao Jianhua silently thought in his heart: Could this be the ecstasy array deliberately released by Li Bing? The counter-insurgency war in the south is about to come to an end. The conflict between the imperial court and the Xinjiang Army, and the confrontation between Li Bing and Li Jiangyao will soon become the focus of the next round of Shengtang's political struggle. Is it possible that Li Bing played a trick to lure Li Jiangyao into his position, and then prompted the Zhenjiang Army to take action, and was caught by the court?
The answer is possible.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, the descendant forces represented by Cheng Wen and the traditional noble forces really took action early. They directly controlled Li Bing before the legions returned, and then launched a full-scale struggle, forcing Li Jiangyao and the Zhenjiang Army to rise up.
At that time, even if the Azure Dragon Army, Suzaku Army and Xuanwu Army remained neutral, the Forbidden Army and the White Tiger Army would still be able to work together to isolate the Zhenjiang Army within the territory of Shengtang, and accuse them of being rebels, calling on the whole world to join forces. crusade.
If this is the case, it is undoubtedly the best situation.
If Li Bing sets up a bureau, it is possible to reach a compromise with Li Jiangyao; if Cheng Wen usurps power, the Xinjiang Army will only have to fight to the death.
This rare opportunity is definitely not to be missed.
Lao Jianhua glanced at the setting sun outside the window and said to himself: "It seems that it is necessary to go to the Imperial Capital again."
-
Li Zhang threw aside the newly delivered military report and couldn't help but said angrily: "Damn it, this guy Bao Yuchun actually dares to refuse my order!"
Ye Rongchen wanted to pick it up and take a look, but finally held back and just asked: "Your Highness, what did he say?"
"What else can you say?!" Li Zhang frowned: "It's still the same as before, saying that Tongxiang is also the gateway to the north of Hangzhou. There is no room for error. I only hope that I and I will occupy two places in the east and west, and watch and respond. Damn it. , they just refuse to lead their troops to join forces in Anji!"
Ye Rongcheng smiled coldly: "I think Lao Bao is afraid that His Highness will ask him about his crime, and he will never come back in the end."
Li Zhang stared: "Shouldn't he be questioned? He didn't obey the king's orders, fled without fighting, abandoned Huzhou without permission, and handed over the important town of Taihu Lake to Li Jiangyao in vain. Damn it!"
Ye Rongcheng nodded: "That's true. Bao Yuchun was not a famous general of the Shengtang Dynasty, but he was as cowardly as a mouse. It is really disgraceful. We fought hard with Xu Youchang's elite at the Ancestral Hill for seven days and seven nights, and suffered numerous casualties. But he ran away without even starting a fight. If it had been the past, he would have been executed on the spot for the crime of cowardice."
Li Zhang snorted coldly: "I am very clear about his little calculation. He just wants to preserve his strength and leave a way out for the future. Rongcheng, what do you think we should do?"
Ye Rongcheng frowned and thought: "At present, it is not appropriate to have a conflict with Bao Yuchun when we are a powerful enemy. Instead, we will take advantage of Li Jiangyao. Let's just let Bao Yuchun lead the troops to guard Tongxiang first."
"Guarding Tongxiang?" Li Bing said: "He doesn't even dare to defend a big city like Huzhou, but he will defend a small Tongxiang county? As soon as the main force of the Zhenjiang Army arrives, Bao Yuchun will immediately wipe the soles of his feet again and escape. Extremely It is possible to continue fleeing south towards Mingzhou."
Ye Rongcheng nodded slightly: "Your Highness's guess makes sense. Bao Yuchun's nephew Bao Xinyan is over there, and there are also some remnants of the Kuohai Fleet. Maybe they will choose to take the sea route and hide far away. .”
Li Zhang angrily slammed the table: "We must not let him succeed! Especially we must not let the uncles and nephews of the Bao family take away my army!"
Ye Rongcheng shook his head in confusion and thought for a moment before saying: "Your Highness, Xu Youchang's troops are approaching Anji. At this time, we have no spare power to deal with Bao Yuchun."
"How about sending the Huben camp?" Li Zhen suddenly said in a sinister voice: "Send some experts over, kill him directly, and then let our people take over the military power!"
Ye Rongcheng was slightly taken aback and said hesitantly: "Bao Yuchun is extremely skilled in martial arts, and he is surrounded by personal guards who have been following him for many years. If he doesn't do it right, will it be counterproductive and force him to jump over the wall?"
After hearing this, Li Yan couldn't help but hesitate. He pondered for a moment, and then said angrily: "I can't control that much! Bao Yuchun has not been on the same page with me from the beginning. Now that the situation is extremely critical, he is absolutely unwilling to advance and retreat with us. Instead of letting him Do whatever you want, it is better to take a risk. It would be best if you can get back the 50,000 troops. Even if you can't get it, the situation will not be worse. "
Ye Rongcheng thought about it for a while, and also made up his mind: "Okay, just listen to your highness! I will immediately arrange for capable generals to go to Tongxiang with your order, ready to take over the army at any time. Please send your highness the experts from Huben Camp at the same time, Kill Bao Yuchun secretly!"
