Chapter 505: Oriole (1)
Editor: Atlas Studios
In the end, Liu Dahei did not help Qi Haoran, but he did not stop Lin Man from doing so either. In his words, he wanted to let things develop freely and whether they would find those people would depend on his ability.
After worrying for a while, Lin Man stopped worrying about it and went to have fun by himself. It was better to leave such worrying matters to others.
Qi Haoran was arranged to enter Liu Dahei’s camp and lead his group alone. They could enter and exit Huaiyuan County freely. The regiment commander was extremely surprised. “General, why did those bandit leaders agree?”
Qi Haoran glared at him and said, “Call them Chief Liu and Chief Lin while you’re here. Don’t forget where you’re standing now.”
“Yes.” The regiment commander lowered his head slightly, but he still asked curiously, “General, what conditions did you agree to for them to let us walk freely in Huaiyuan County?”
“They are very righteous. After learning that we are looking for the Tartars of West Xia, they agreed,” Qi Haoran said casually.
The regiment commander didn’t believe it, but Qi Haoran had already drawn several circles on the map and gave orders for the search mission. Qi Haoran decided that if they couldn’t find those people in Huaiyuan County, he would ask Liu Dahei to casually arrange an identity for them to search in other county cities…
Qi Haoran was searching the world for the West Xia soldiers who had infiltrated. At this moment, the West Xia soldiers had just finished fighting with an army of the Imperial Court. After cleaning up the battlefield, they dragged out more than ten bandit corpses from behind a cluster of trees and scattered them on the ground. After setting up the scene, they quickly retreated…
In a place where Qi Haoran could not see, the battle between the Imperial Court’s army and the bandits was gradually intensifying. Even the Emperor and the Imperial Court were unaware of this. Meanwhile, the peace negotiation team that the Imperial Court had arranged was prepared to set off once they received news from the front line.
At the same time, there were also constant conflicts at the border between the Jin Kingdom and the Great Zhou. The situation was getting more and more tense. Having interacted with the Jin Kingdom for more than 20 years, General Yuan was vigilant. He was the first to discover the danger and called Shen Mu over for a discussion.
Shen Mu pondered for a moment and said, “Why don’t we be on guard first and report to the Imperial Court only after we obtain a certain amount of evidence?”
General Yuan took a deep breath, knowing what Shen Mu meant. Right now, the Imperial Court’s attention was mainly focused on the south road of Jinghu. So, they probably wouldn’t pay too much attention to this. Furthermore, the Emperor had always been fearful of the Jin Kingdom. From past experience, not only would they not receive support if they reported it, but they would also be warned not to clash with the Jin Kingdom’s army.
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General Yuan walked around a few times and said, “We can delay the reporting of this to the Imperial Court, but we have to inform Qi Xiuyuan and the other generals to prepare early.”
Shen Mu nodded and personally wrote a letter to Qi Xiuyuan.
Qi Xiuyuan also realized that the Jin army had been making a lot of moves recently. However, because they were all small-scale conflicts, he’d thought that it was just an ordinary plundering of resources. Hence, he’d only asked people to pay attention to and protect the lives and assets of the people at the border. He did not make any additional moves. However, after receiving Shen Mu’s letter, Qi Xiuyuan immediately increased his guard and adjusted his defenses.
“Why are they starting a war now when the battle for imperial power in the Jin Kingdom has just ended?” Rong Xuan was very puzzled.
“I’m afraid it’s to divert the attention of their people,” Qi Xiuyuan said in a low voice.
“That doesn’t mean they have to gamble with the entire country at stake. If they lose, we might take back the Central Plains.”
Qi Xiuyuan’s expression was solemn. He didn’t believe that the Jin Kingdom’s ruler was a fool. “Did they think that they could take advantage of the situation because of what happened at Jinghu South Road?”
Rong Xuan said, “But Jinghu’s south road only has 200,000 troops, and our northern troops haven’t decreased in strength at all. Moreover, the Emperor has no desire to fight those bandits to the death, only wanting to beat them up before offering them amnesty. Those bandits aren’t fools. They won’t fight to the death with the Imperial Court’s army, right?”
Qi Xiuyuan’s heart skipped a beat as a thought suddenly flashed across his mind. “You said that the south road of Jinghu only contains 200,000 troops, and not a single soldier has been transferred from our north?”
“That’s right.” Rong Xuan looked at him strangely. “Didn’t the Emperor draw troops from the southwest and northwest?”
Rong Xuan paused and watched as Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes gradually widened. He said in surprise, “You mean…”
Qi Xiuyuan’s expression was solemn as he sat on the chair with a deep gaze. “Although it’s just a guess, we must inform General Yuan and the generals guarding the northwest and let them strengthen their defenses.”
“Then the Emperor…”
“There’s no need to report it to him first. We don’t have any evidence, so it’s useless even if we report it. Get someone to pay attention to the news on the south road of Jinghu. Haoran might find something there. Once there’s a letter, send it over immediately.”
Rong Xuan nodded in agreement.
Just as everyone was working hard towards their goal, the team sent by Qi Haoran finally found the Imperial Court’s army and told the generals leading the troops about the massacre and Qi Haoran’s speculation, hoping that they could send a team out to reinforce Qi Haoran and the others and try their best to find the West Xia soldiers who had infiltrated the Great Zhou.
However, this matter did not attract the attention of the Imperial Court’s general, who only agreed to meet with the regiment commander of the camp as a formality. In his opinion, West Xia army infiltrating Jinghu was complete nonsense. One had to know that there was still Guizhou and Yunnan in the southwest. It was impossible to pass through these two places while avoiding the Imperial Court’s eyes and ears.
He felt that this was entirely Qi Haoran’s way of gaining the Emperor’s favor, so he only left Qi Haoran’s men to his subordinates to arrange. He was entirely unconcerned about Qi Haoran’s whereabouts.
Qi Haoran had overestimated the generals of the Imperial Court’s army, as well as the foresight of the Imperial Court’s ministers and the Emperor. The memorial he sent to the Emperor finally reached the Emperor after much hardship. It emphasized the fact that the West Xia army had infiltrated the south road of Jinghu and clearly stated that the West Xia army was ambitious.
However, even the Emperor was dismissive of it after reading it, and the ministers in the Imperial Court also did not take it to heart. Everyone agreed that Qi Haoran was thinking too much. Recently, there had been continuous good news on the south road of Jinghu. The Emperor really wasn’t in the mood to read such memorials.
Therefore, it was already the evening of the second day when the memorial was copied and sent to Minister Qin and Grand Tutor Yan.
Minister Qin read the memorial twice and sighed. “Great Zhou is in danger.”
Minister Qin’s aide asked, “Then, Prime Minister, should we persuade the Emperor to pay more attention to the southwest and northwest?”
Minister Qin shook his head. “The Emperor is very suspicious of me now. This matter can wait for a while. Although West Xia is ambitious, the 800,000 troops of Great Zhou are not for show.”
Grand Tutor Yan also held the memorial and said worriedly, “I’m afraid Qi Haoran’s report is true.”
Yan Du asked, “Father, should we give a reminder?”
Grand Tutor Yan nodded. “Find one or two more colleagues. Only with more people will you be able to attract the attention of the Emperor.” However, Grand Tutor Yan did not harbor much hope. At this moment, the Emperor was smug and probably could not heed other voices.
Yan Du was a noble person who never formed alliances. At this moment, his father asked him to invite a few officials to submit the memorial together with him. He was troubled for a moment before he considered all the officials he was on good terms with. In the end, he visited them one by one. However, there were only five people who were willing to submit the memorial with him. Yan Du felt that this number was pitifully small, so he thought of Qi Feng and Fan Siwen.
