Two days had passed since the five-day deadline set by the girl.

That night.

The Dongshan Camp was responsible for patrolling the northeastern and northern sides of the city. Xing Shi and General Chen found an excuse to stay in the city during the day, and successfully entered a private house in the west of the city under the cover of Lu Shichang and others.

When Xing Shi and General Chen came in, they saw a gentleman in plain clothes with an extraordinary demeanor standing in the room.

I heard that this gentleman is Miss Wei's advisor and he will be fully responsible for the actions in the city.

Xing Shi and General Chen stepped forward and politely greeted him, "Mr. Chu."

"You are so polite, Generals." Chu Yu bowed in return.

Today, nine out of ten houses in the county town are empty, and no one lives in the north.

As for the east, Mr. Hu lived in a house there, surrounded by some generals who tried to establish good relations with him.

The alley over there is very deep and the houses are adjacent to each other.

Hu Chengen lives in a house with two courtyards. It is the house he has lived in since he came to Zhongren County five years ago. The title deed is in his own name.

Later, Yuan Sanlang succeeded to the throne and offered to build a mansion for him, but Hu Chengen refused. He said that he was used to living there and did not want to move.

Yuan Sanlang didn't want to bother with such trivial matters, so he let him do it.

Later, some generals in the city heard the news and moved there, including General Chiang Kai-shek and others, all living on the same street.

Therefore, the focus of the Dongshan Camp's inspections is generally on the east side of the city, and the north side is often just a casual tour. Sometimes they are even lazy and no one comes over, which makes it convenient for them to act.

"Lü Shichang's name was Lü Qingsheng. He fled here in his early years and was rescued by an imperial envoy patrolling the border. He was treated to a meal by the envoy and then settled in Zhongshan, where he became a naturalized citizen and settled down. Later, he volunteered for corvée labor and joined the Dongshan Camp."

General Chen looked at the two people in the room and briefly explained the situation.

The wooden windows of the house were sealed shut, the oil lamps flickered, the view was dim, and there was nothing around. It could be said that the house was truly "bare and empty".

The three of them had no place to sit, so they stood inside the house and talked.

"Lü Qingsheng didn't know the truth about the envoy's death before he contacted me."

As for how General Chen got to know him and learned the reason, it is a long story.

He coughed lightly, somewhat unnaturally, and cut to the chase, "On the Qingming Festival, I accidentally discovered that Lu Qingsheng was secretly offering sacrifices to the envoy."

Xing Shi understood. He thought carefully about what happened on Qingming Festival. It seemed that General Chen had not appeared the whole day.

He said it was "unintentional", but I'm afraid he ran away somewhere to slack off on Qingming Festival and accidentally saw Lu Qingsheng.

Chu Yu nodded slightly, "He is grateful and repays kindness, so he must be trustworthy."

Xing Shi hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Captain Lü Shi has already followed your instructions and aroused Deputy General Zhong's suspicion. Although he is easy to fool, the matter is of great importance. I'm afraid he won't report this to Your Highness without evidence. What do you plan to do?"

"Whether there's evidence or not doesn't matter. It's just about finding someone to take the blame."

Chu Yu said calmly, "Hu Chengen will die within two days."

The two generals looked at each other and waited quietly for what was to come.

The room suddenly became quiet.

Then they found out, it was gone!

Mr. Chu didn't seem to intend to explain it in detail to them.

Xing Shi remained silent and did not ask any further questions, otherwise it would seem that both of them had no IQ.

General Chen had an embarrassed look on his face. "Then let's do as you wish, sir."

It's not advisable to stay here for long.

Chu Yu lived in an inn near the palace. There were patrolling soldiers around him. Going in and out would easily alert the soldiers guarding the palace gate, so it was risky to come out.

He revealed part of the plan to the two generals, hoping that they would cooperate in the action when the time came.

As for the Wei family army outside the city, Chu Yu did not mention a word.

You have to keep something in reserve; you can't reveal all your cards.

After the negotiation was completed, the two generals said goodbye and left.

Cheng Xiu has been guarding outside the door, vigilantly paying attention to any movement around him.

When he saw Mr. Chu coming out, he immediately escorted him back to the post station.

After these days, Chu Yu had figured out the patrol route of the palace guard camp, and they did not alarm anyone when they returned.

The next day.

Deputy General Zhong went to the horse farm in the south of the city to take up duty with a heavy heart, and he didn't even hear the passing soldiers greeting him.

Yesterday evening, Lu Shichang really came to his house.

The two of them cooked a big pot of barley rice, ate and chatted, and did not leave until it was dark.

Deputy General Zhong recalled the speculation that Commander Lu had made during dinner yesterday.

He just found it unbelievable.

Mr. Hu is actually connected to the rebels...

Deputy General Zhong's first reaction was that it was impossible. Everyone in Zhongshan knew that Hu Cheng'en had been following His Highness when he was down and out, and later helped His Highness succeed to the throne. He monopolized power and managed Zhongshan without any official position.

Hu Chengen has become a person above everyone else, how could he possibly collude with the rebels!

Seeing his reaction, Lü Shichang shook his head repeatedly, "If you don't believe me, Master Zhong, come with me to the north of the city tomorrow night and you'll find out."

After much hesitation, Lieutenant General Zhong decided to take a risk and go to the north of the city at night to find out what was going on.

As long as he can get hold of Hu Chengen's handle, his rise to prominence is just around the corner.

Lü Shichang also reminded him, "Your Excellency might as well give His Highness a heads-up first, so that he can hit the target with one strike when the time comes."

Lieutenant General Zhong thought what he said made sense.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned around and left the stables, went to the palace gate and handed over a sign asking to see His Highness.

Commander Jiang came out of the stable and just saw his back as he left, with a hint of disgust in his eyes.

If a commander is suppressed by a deputy general, he has to flatter him in a nice way.

The other end.

Hu Cheng'en learned from the guard camp that Lieutenant General Zhong had entered the palace. He guessed that he might be dissatisfied with what happened yesterday and went to Yuan Sanlang to complain, but he did not raise any alarm.

The two vanguard camps were outside clearing out the monsters wandering over from Xiaqu County. Last night, two generals actually stayed in the city overnight. Hu Chengen felt that something was fishy and was looking for someone to investigate.

As a result, the two generals came to the door early in the morning.

Xing Shi said bluntly, "Mr. Hu, you were too busy yesterday to find anyone, so the two of us stayed in the city just to ask, since it's so hot outside, the soldiers can't stand it. Could you please ask His Highness to send someone out to find a new source of water?"

Hu Chengen's expression softened. It turned out to be because of this matter.

He said, "It's already the beginning of September, almost. The water level will rise by the end of the month. General, please comfort the soldiers and ask them to be patient for a while."

Xing Shi wanted to say something else.

General Chen quickly apologized and took his men away.

Hu Chengen stared at the two men's backs as they left without saying a word.

His Highness has issued an order to expel them, and Lord Wei and Lady Wei have agreed to leave Zhongshan and return to the Wei family fortress in three days.

At that time, they will send 10,000 troops in the name of escort, take this opportunity to implement the plan, and begin to occupy Yizhou.

Hu Cheng'en lowered his head and thought. It was obvious that the two vanguard camps had not completely surrendered. He thought that it would be a good opportunity to let them act as pawns to test the strength of the other counties in Yizhou.

Unfortunately, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

His idea has not yet been implemented.

That night, Lieutenant General Zhong was killed in the north of the city.

The body was soon discovered by patrolling soldiers from the Dongshan Camp, and the news was delivered to the palace overnight.

Motosaburo was furious.