Chapter 505: Oriole (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios 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 Daheiâs camp and lead his group alone. They could enter and exit Huaiyuan County freely. The regiment commander was extremely surprised. âGeneral, why did those bandit leaders agree?
Qi Haoran glared at him and said, âCall them Chief Liu and Chief Lin while youâre here. Donât forget where youâre standing now.â âYes.â The regiment commander lowered his head slightly, but he still asked curiously, âGeneral, what conditions did you agree to for them to let us walk freely in Huaiyuan County?â
âThey are very righteous. After learning that we are looking for the Tartars of West Xia, they agreed,â Qi Haoran said casually.
The regiment commander didnât 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 couldnât find those people in Huaiyuan County, he would ask Liu Dahei to casually arrange an identity for them to search in other county citiesâŠ
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 retreatedâŠ
In a place where Qi Haoran could not see, the battle between the Imperial Courtâs 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, âWhy donât we be on guard first and report to the Imperial Court only after we obtain a certain amount of evidence?â
General Yuan took a deep breath, knowing what Shen Mu meant. Right now, the Imperial Courtâs attention was mainly focused on the south road of Jinghu. So, they probably wouldnât 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 Kingdomâs army.
General Yuan walked around a few times and said, âWe can delay the reporting of this to the Imperial Court, but we have to inform Qi Xiuyuan and the other generals to prepare early.â
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, heâd thought that it was just an ordinary plundering of resources. Hence, heâd 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 Muâs letter, Qi Xiuyuan immediately increased his guard and adjusted his defenses.
âWhy are they starting a war now when the battle for imperial power in the Jin Kingdom has just ended?â Rong Xuan was very puzzled.
âIâm afraid itâs to divert the attention of their people,â Qi Xiuyuan said in a low voice.
âThat doesnât mean they have to gamble with the entire country at stake. If they lose, we might take back the Central Plains.â
Qi Xiuyuanâs expression was solemn. He didnât believe that the Jin Kingdomâs ruler was a fool. âDid they think that they could take advantage of the situation because of what happened at Jinghu South Road?â đđłâŻâŻđâŻđ«đđđđđ”.đ€đ°đ¶
Rong Xuan said, âBut Jinghuâs south road only has 200,000 troops, and our northern troops havenât 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 and enlistment. Those bandits arenât fools. They wonât fight to the death with the Imperial Courtâs army, right?â
Qi Xiuyuanâs heart skipped a beat as a thought suddenly flashed across his mind. âYou said that the south road of Jinghu only contains 200,000 troops, and not a single soldier has been transferred from our north?â âThatâs right.â Rong Xuan looked at him strangely. âDidnât the Emperor draw troops from the southwest and northwest?
Rong Xuan paused and watched as Qi Xiuyuanâs eyes gradually widened. He said in surprise, âYou meanâŠâ
Qi Xiuyuanâs expression was solemn as he sat on the chair with a deep gaze. âAlthough itâs just a guess, we must inform General Yuan and the generals guarding the northwest and let them strengthen their defenses.â
âThen the EmperorâŠâ
âThereâs no need to report it to him first. We donât have any evidence, so itâs 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 thereâs a letter, send it over immediately.â
Rong Xuan nodded in agreement.
Just as everyone was working hard towards their goal, the team sent by Qi Haoran finally found the Imperial Courtâs army and told the generals leading the troops about the massacre and Qi Haoranâs 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 Courtâs 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 Courtâs eyes and ears.
He felt that this was entirely Qi Haoranâs way of gaining the Emperorâs favor, so he only left Qi Haoranâs men to his subordinates to arrange. He was entirely unconcerned about Qi Haoranâs whereabouts.
Qi Haoran had overestimated the generals of the Imperial Courtâs army, as well as the foresight of the Imperial Courtâs 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 wasnât 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. âGreat Zhou is in danger.â Minister Qinâs aide asked, âThen, Prime Minister, should we persuade the Emperor to pay more attention to the southwest and northwest?â Minister Qin shook his head. âThe 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.â
Grand Tutor Yan also held the memorial and said worriedly, âIâm afraid Qi Haoranâs report is true.â
Yan Du asked, âFather, should we give a reminder?â
Grand Tutor Yan nodded. âFind one or two more colleagues. Only with more people will you be able to attract the attention of the Emperor.â 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..