Liangzhou City, Dong Family Palace.
The traitor who escaped from Liangzhou made Dong Wen very unhappy for a time. Even his military advisor analyzed it carefully. But no matter what, he is still full of hatred.
"Don't let me catch that thief. He is so brave and dares to ruin my affairs in Liangzhou!"
"Xia'er? Could it be that he had a rivalry and recognized the commoner thief as the helmsman?"
Sima Mao heard words like this several times. But very wisely, he did not persuade him. He only waited for Dong Wen to say enough before calmly speaking.
"Master, don't be anxious, there is still a chance."
Dong Wen calmed down his expression and stopped his voice.
"I'm good at discerning people's hearts. With Xu Buyi's cautious temperament, he has been as close to his subordinates as brothers along the way, so he can't bear betrayal. I said before that you can bury a hidden clue to let Xu Buyi destroy himself. An arm, at the same time, also covers the internal agents in Shuzhou."
"I already have a candidate." Sima Xiu narrowed his eyes.
"Military advisor, who is he?"
"The little general of the wolf tribe, Chao Yi."
"This guy... is fighting to the death with Liangzhou. The civilian thieves may not believe it."
"Chao Yixintou, although he made great contributions last time, no matter what, he is a very strange existence in the Shuzhou Group. People like Yu Wenchaizong followed Xu Buyi to conquer the world. Apart from these , they are the local factions in Shuzhou, such as Dou Tong, Chen Zhong and Han Jiu. Chao Yi does not belong to these two camps, plus he is a new recruit, with no one to help or argue for him, so he is very lonely. At first glance, You are the one who is easiest to betray."
"What the military advisor said is true to the core."
Regarding Dong Wen's compliment, Sima Xiu showed no joy and continued to speak.
"My lord only needs to do one thing, and Chao Yi will fall into a trap."
"whats the matter?"
"First send an army of three thousand people into the Shuzhou walled city outside Yuguan to invade Chao Yi's headquarters. With Chao Yi's ability, he will definitely not be afraid and will raise men and horses to fight."
"Military advisor, what happens next?"
Sima Mao paused, "After letting these three thousand people fight, they pretended to be defeated and fled, delaying the whole journey. They only waited for Chao Yi to pursue them and chased them thirty miles away, then they rallied their troops and quickly rushed back to Liangzhou."
Dong Wen was a little stunned and didn't understand what he was saying.
"In this way, the Shuzhou military staff in the walled city will definitely be a little surprised when they see Chao Yi chasing the defeated army all the way and finding nothing when they come back and not confiscating anything."
"Three days later, the lord will send another dead man, disguised as a secret messenger, to approach the walled city at night."
"Military advisor, this is wrong. If the messenger comes close to the walled city, he will definitely be caught with the intensity of the patrol there."
"That's why I said he was a dead soldier. After being caught, the dead soldier should bite himself with poison. Of course, he should leave a letter in the compartment of his clothes."
"Could it be that Chao Yi's name should be written on the letter?"
"If you don't write it, you can't sign Chao Yi's name." Sima Xiu shook his head. "If you write it, it will feel mysterious. Just write a date."
"What date..."
"There is still more than a month left before winter begins. My lord, just write down a date in the middle of the year. The military staff in the walled city got the secret letter. Needless to say, the first person to suspect must be Chao Yi, the commander of the walled city. , and thinking about the long delay in pursuing the remnant army and the failure to capture it, Chao Yi's reputation as a traitor is basically confirmed."
"That date will make people think that it is an agreed time for an uprising."
Dong Wen took a breath of cool air, without hesitation, quickly bent down and poured a cup of tea for Sima Xiu.
"Over at Qidao, my lord, don't worry too much. I have a second plan in mind. However, I need to think about it some more."
Dong Wen stood up respectfully, raised his hands and bowed to Sima Xiu.
"The slain messenger who committed suicide by biting poison, my lord needs to give him an extra pension, at least so that his family will be safe and worry-free for the rest of their lives."
"There is nothing wrong with being an overlord in troubled times. But if you can do some small kindness within your power, you should do it."
He lowered his head, probably thinking about Dong Wen's father-killing and brother-killing incident again, and remained silent for a long time.
The people he wants to help have a long way to go.
…
"Liang Gou has come to harass the village again! Sons and gentlemen, follow me on the expedition!" Chao Yi's face was full of fighting intent as he shouldered his carbine.
"General Chao, you must be extremely careful when you go out of the city to fight!" Two Shuzhou military officers raised their hands and warned.
"Don't worry, you two, I will definitely kill the cold dog and run away!"
Small-scale intrusions like this have occurred several times during this period. Chao Yi only thought that it was still the same as before.
…
A few days later.
In the Shuzhou Palace, the first batch of generals who came to Chengdu to report their duties were all sitting below.
Xu Mu did not speak immediately. He sat silently on the throne and looked at the list of generals in his hand. In addition to the generals such as Yu Wenchai Zong, there are more than 40 assistant generals on the list. And among the more than forty generals, at least half will lead a battalion of troops.
The densely packed names made Xu Mu frown.
"Everyone, I have called you back to Chengdu this time to discuss important matters——"
"Lord!"
At this time, Sun Xun hurried in from outside.
"A secret message was sent from the front line. I heard that the scout who sent the message lost a horse and rushed back all night long."
"Understood."
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mu opened the letter in front of many generals. The first batch of generals to return to Chengdu, and the largest general, should be General Poliang Han Jiu.
Han Jiu was an old rough man. When he saw Xu Mu looking at the secret letter and his face suddenly filled with anger, he anxiously asked, "Lord, what's going on? Liang Ren is here to attack again?"
"No." Xu Mu quickly put away the letter with trembling hands.
"My lord, you look like this, I'm worried about Old Han."
"Han Jiu...if it were you, could you defend the city outside Yuguan?"
“It’s not that Chao Yi is guarding——”
Han Jiu stopped talking, his eyes full of disbelief. This time when I entered Chengdu, I had probably received rumors. I heard that there was a damn insider in the fourteen counties of Shuzhou.
"Lord, is it Chao Yi?" Han Jiu stood up anxiously.
Xu Mu didn't answer and wanted to pick up the tea cup, but unexpectedly he missed it and the tea cup crashed to the ground.
"Lord, I have something to say, I don't know whether to say it or not!" At this time, Sun Xun came over with fists clasped.
"Speak." Xu Mu gritted his teeth.
"Chao Yi is not from my Central Plains tribe. He is different from the Pingman camp. The Pingman camp has been in Shuzhou for a long time and has a docile temperament. It is not an exaggeration to call him a brother. But these wolf tribe members suddenly entered Shuzhou! They are not from our tribe. Human beings, their minds must be different. My lord, we are members of the wolf clan, we must not bring wolves into the house!"
"Sun Xun, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Sun Xun cried bitterly, thinking that he was admonishing him. After finishing speaking, he hurriedly stepped aside.
Many of the generals present were silent and did not help Chao Yi argue. Han Jiu's mouth trembled, he looked at Sun Xun, then at Xu Mu, but finally said nothing.
"Come here, pass this king's order to summon Chao Yi to Chengdu immediately. No delay! In addition, inform General Chen Zhong of Yuguan to rush to the front line and temporarily lead an army of 20,000 soldiers to resist the invasion of Liang people!"
