“Your identity has been exposed beyond any doubt. As for how it was exposed, those are minor details that don’t affect the fact that the situation has already taken a sudden turn…” Usually when beside Zhu Yu, Lei Jiuyuan always presented a decrepit and lifeless appearance, but at this moment his eyes revealed an unyielding determination and decisiveness that brooked no rebuttal from Wen Ruilin.
“Yes!” Wen Ruilin also knew this was not the time for him to dwell on such minor details. After the scouts dragged the corpses on the road and injured horses into the forest to dispose of them, they traveled through the night in darkness toward Lianyun Ridge, over ten li to the west.
Shortly after they reached a ruined stockade on the northern face of Lianyun Ridge, the monk Shen Peng also arrived with another group of men to rendezvous.
The monk Shen Peng frustratedly whipped the earthen wall with his riding crop until it cracked loudly, saying: “Two men reacted extremely quickly and actually managed to escape us. We failed to intercept the secret dispatch Li Zhigao sent to Zhongli. Ninth Master, did you have any gains?”
Lei Jiuyuan waved his hand dismissively. The majority of the people in Chao and Chu prefectures had fled elsewhere due to the chaos of war, leaving the land vast and sparsely populated. This was how they could lead small forces to infiltrate, but similarly, they had very few people they could deploy, and nothing they did could be without flaws.
“Should we immediately relocate elsewhere?” someone suggested. Since Shen Peng had failed to intercept all the messengers departing from Liyang in the second wave, their whereabouts had been exposed.
“No matter. Even if Li Zhigao receives the news, he currently has no time to dispatch large cavalry forces to hunt us down,” Lei Jiuyuan said, telling everyone to remain calm. He then passed the secret dispatch they had intercepted to Shen Peng to read.
The secret dispatch did not contain much information. Shen Peng returned the dispatch to Lei Jiuyuan and asked: “How does Ninth Master view this matter?”
His Majesty was three hundred li away in Xuzhou city. Sending someone to request instructions would be too late—they had to make a decision and urge the Shouzhou army to take necessary countermeasures. This was also the main reason His Majesty had Lei Jiuyuan follow them to infiltrate deep into the Chu and Chao heartland—to consider that the situation could change unexpectedly at any moment, requiring an immediate response.
Otherwise, without Lei Jiuyuan here, would Shen Peng or Wen Ruilin, these Crouching Tigers, be able to make the Shouzhou officers and soldiers obey orders without reservation?
Lei Jiuyuan’s gaunt old face showed a grave expression as he looked toward Wen Ruilin.
After all, Wen Ruilin was still most familiar with the situation in Chu.
“Although this secret dispatch contains only a few words, it’s enough for us to analyze the situation.”
During the journey to Lianyun Ridge, Wen Ruilin had thought about many things and had basically clarified many key points, so he said:
“Li Pu is a mediocre, ordinary talent who is also extremely suspicious, and he long ago parted ways with his adopted son Li Zhigao. From when Deng Tai rushed to Liyang to report information to when this secret dispatch was sent from Liyang, the time was extremely short. For Li Pu to so readily sign and seal this secret dispatch in such a short time indicates he has completely submitted to Li Zhigao. To achieve this, there are only a few possibilities. First, Yang Yuanpu directly issued an edict changing the previous order, but this possibility is extremely low. If this were truly the case, Deng Tai could have directly detained me and purged the army, rather than acting worried about alerting the prey. Second, Li Pu has already been forcibly detained by Li Zhigao, but without requesting an edict, under such urgent circumstances Li Zhigao’s control over the Huaixi Forbidden Army officers and soldiers is still severely insufficient. Attempting to directly stage a military coup would only trigger unimaginable chaos. The greatest possibility is that Li Zhigao has actually been with Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er and Lü Qingxia’s side all along, and most likely he has already obtained Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er’s secret edict. Using the secret edict and military force, he compelled Li Pu to submit, and used this to persuade other generals to act according to the Empress Dowager’s secret decree…”
Over these two years by Li Pu’s side, Wen Ruilin had deeply earned his trust and knew how deeply the former Shenling Bureau associates from Wanhong Tower and the Marquis of Xinchang’s residence had infiltrated the Great Chu court.
For Wen Ruilin, who excelled at power schemes and calculations, he had not failed to consider the possibility that Li Zhigao was actually secretly recruited by Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er and Lü Qingxia.
After all, aside from Yang Yuanpu’s trust and support, he had also noticed that Li Zhigao’s ability to withstand such great resistance and command the Huaixi Forbidden Army was actually being promoted by another hidden force.
Lei Jiuyuan nodded, casting an approving and admiring gaze at Wen Ruilin. Truly worthy of being the Chengsi Bureau’s most outstanding Crouching Tiger.
“Then what should we do now?” Shen Peng asked.
The ice layer on the Huai River had only gradually thickened over the past two days, but whether it could support tens of thousands of elite troops crossing day and night had not yet been further confirmed.
Currently, the forces they could definitively deploy south of the Huai River were the one hundred twenty thousand elite Shouzhou troops under Xu Mingzhen who had secretly pledged to Great Liang.
However, to avoid alerting the prey beforehand, aside from twenty thousand or so remnant soldiers under Wen Bo’s command grimly defending Chaozhou city, the main Shouzhou army force was still stationed in Shouzhou and Huozhou, mainly consisting of infantry. Even if they immediately broke camp and set out, in such bitterly cold weather, they would need four days to reach Chaozhou city.
The only force that could be urgently deployed was the twenty thousand elite Shouzhou cavalry stationed at the junction of Chao, Hao, and Shou prefectures, led by Xu Mingzhen.
They actually had two choices at this time.
The first choice was to persuade Xu Mingzhen to lead the twenty thousand elite Shouzhou cavalry to reach Chaozhou city as quickly as possible, tie down the main Huaixi Forbidden Army force, prevent them from withdrawing at leisure, and wait for the Great Liang cavalry and main Shouzhou army force to arrive and annihilate the main Huaixi Forbidden Army force according to the original plan.
The advantage of doing this was that they could ensure their main objective would not be lost, but without sufficient troops to contain and intercept the Right Divine Martial Army, they could only watch as they escaped to Chuzhou city.
The second choice was to initially disregard the main Huaixi Forbidden Army force outside Chaozhou city, persuade Xu Mingzhen to lead the twenty thousand elite Shouzhou cavalry eastward, and on the southern side of the Wujian Mountain Range, intercept the Right Divine Martial Army and remnants of the Chu navy fleeing south, ensuring they could first devour this portion of the victory.
Wen Ruilin, however, favored the first choice.
They had plotted for so long and finally had such an opportunity to deceive Chu’s ruler and ministers into the trap, precisely to annihilate in one stroke the main Forbidden Army force Chu had concentrated in Huaixi. At this time, persuading Xu Mingzhen to lead the Shouzhou elite cavalry to tie down the main Chu army force below Chaozhou city, then annihilate them after the Great Liang troops and main Shouzhou army force moved south—this was the goal they pursued.
Even if the Right Divine Martial Army had now escaped to Chuzhou city, the tower ships and the Liang navy’s light warships could enter the Yangtze through waterways like the Shiliang River, Xiaojin River, and Shitang River to block the Right Divine Martial Army’s passage to the southern bank of the Yangtze.
After Wen Ruilin stated his opinion, Lei Jiuyuan shook his head and said: “It’s not that easy. Li Zhigao’s wisdom and planning run deep. Without sufficient assurance, he would not fail to consider the consequences of acting hastily and alerting the prey. If your speculation is correct and Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er has very likely already secretly issued an edict authorizing Li Zhigao to act at his discretion, then the Xuzhou Naval Camp could enter the Yangtze waterway south of Chaozhou at any time.”
“Lü Qingxia and the others have extreme misgivings about Han Qian,” Wen Ruilin said, raising his eyebrows.
“Where in this world are there hatreds that cannot be resolved, and where are there eternally unchanging friendships?” Lei Jiuyuan said in a hoarse voice. “Although we have had no choice but to concentrate our limited reconnaissance forces in Chao, Chu, and other areas, His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized the need to guard against possible moves Xuzhou might make from Jinling. Two days ago he even sent a message saying that when Han Qian in Xuzhou learned of the Chu navy’s raid on Hongze Lake, he might immediately lead the Xuzhou Naval Camp eastward. If this is truly the case, counting the days, in five or six more days at the earliest, we’ll probably see the sails and masts of Xuzhou warships on the Yangtze.”
“…Han Qian would dare to lightly lead troops out of Xuzhou without an edict?” Wen Ruilin questioned.
“When Han Qian previously entered Jinling to seize Li Pu’s military authority, was his courage greater or smaller?” Lei Jiuyuan glanced at Wen Ruilin and asked.
Wen Ruilin could hear Lei Jiuyuan’s displeasure and quickly said: “Ruilin was rash.”
“You young people single-mindedly want to compete for extraordinary achievements, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Unlike me, who grows more timid with age. His Majesty ultimately must rely on you to serve him,” Lei Jiuyuan said calmly.
“Is it possible for us to first send scouts to Yueyang and Ezhou to investigate intelligence? As long as we confirm signs of Xuzhou colluding with Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er and Li Zhigao and the others, we could completely refrain from action?” Wen Ruilin changed to a humble, advice-seeking tone and asked Lei Jiuyuan.
“You mean to say that as long as you don’t reappear after escaping the Chu camp, Li Zhigao and Li Pu will have no way to explain clearly. If we refrain from action, in the eyes of Chu’s ruler and ministers, the entire affair will completely appear to be a military coup launched jointly by Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er, Li Zhigao, and Han Qian? Given Yang Yuanpu’s extreme temperament, as long as Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang, Zhou Bingwu, Du Chongtao and the others also lean toward Li Zhigao, Han Qian and the others staging a coup, enormous upheaval will inevitably erupt within Chu?” Lei Jiuyuan looked at Wen Ruilin and asked.
“That is precisely Ruilin’s meaning,” Wen Ruilin said.
“How will you persuade Gao Long to refrain from action?” Lei Jiuyuan asked.
Wen Ruilin was slightly startled, secretly feeling this was indeed a difficulty.
After he escaped and rendezvoused with Lei Jiuyuan, everything had been too hasty at the time and he hadn’t considered so much, so he immediately sent someone to secretly notify Gao Long to be carefully on guard.
At this time, they temporarily blocked the passage to Zhongli, forcing the two who slipped through the net to only escape toward the main Chaozhou camp. They could refrain from action here, but Li Zhigao would sooner or later send someone to detain Gao Long. Could they persuade Gao Long to calmly endure Li Zhigao’s torture and interrogation or even go to his death for the sake of Great Liang?
“Should we send someone to see Gao Long?” the monk Shen Peng interjected, simultaneously making a throat-cutting gesture, meaning he advocated taking Gao Long unaware and silently assassinating him to silence him.
Lei Jiuyuan and Wen Ruilin were weighing the pros and cons when suddenly urgent bird calls came as a warning from the southeast direction, as if troops were approaching from that direction.
Lei Jiuyuan, Wen Ruilin, Shen Peng and the others were greatly alarmed. They walked to the broken stockade wall and looked out through the gap, seeing a pile of bonfires about a li away at the valley entrance illuminating numerous human shadows—two or three hundred men, by the looks of it—surging through the valley entrance in an assault. They had only arranged several hidden sentries disguised as hunters to spend the night in the valley, who had now all been killed by the suddenly attacking enemy troops.
“Ninth Master, you go rendezvous with Xu Mingzhen first. I’ll lead some men to stay behind and cover the rear!” the monk Shen Peng said.
“Regardless of who the opponent is, we most likely already exposed our whereabouts when we intercepted the Liyang messengers. If we hastily rush to rendezvous with Xu Mingzhen, we’ll most likely encounter an ambush,” Lei Jiuyuan said. “You send a dozen men to break out separately and find Xu Mingzhen to report, telling him to lead the cavalry in a swift attack on the Right Divine Martial Army. Everyone else will follow us into the mountains!”
Lianyun Ridge stretched for over ten li with terrain that was not treacherous, but their hundred-plus men were all carefully selected elite troops. In flat areas they could not fight many with few, but entering the mountain ridge, escaping would be easy!