Chapter 499: Removing the Firewood from Under the Cauldron

But thinking about the urgent situation, there was no time for Zhao Shen to convince those people in the army step by step.

Qian Qian still wanted to pin her hopes on Ji Yunshu: "The general really didn't know you were here?"

She felt that it was unlikely. Even if she didn't know before, Linyuan had fallen for so many days now. It was impossible for the general not to send people to investigate the situation in Linyuan.

Ji Yunshu stopped teasing her. "You should know by now, but I guess he can't spare the effort to save me right now. Otherwise, why do you think the Mobei Fifth Prince would let me go so easily?"

Even if Bilige was about to die, he would not stop doing what he had to do.

No matter what his plan is, even if it is just a show, he will continue to attack Daxia.

After staying in Lin Yuan for such a long time, Ji Yunshu didn't believe that he had done nothing.

So her father and elder brother must have been stuck at this time.

Ji Yunshu didn't ask for anything else, as long as the two of them were safe and sound.

Qian Qian was indeed a very smart girl. Even though she didn't know the inside story, she understood what Ji Yunshu meant.

He even thought more: "That fifth prince of Mobei is very insidious and cunning. He started plotting against my father a few years ago. It seems that he doesn't want to fight us head-on. If that's the case, will he use those same conspiracies and tricks on the general as well?"

Ji Yunshu said appreciatively, "You're right, so I'm a little worried about my father. As for Lin Yuan, don't worry, the prince can handle it."

Qian Qian felt relieved when he saw that Ji Yunshu's words were full of trust in Zhao Shen.

She quickly realized that the emperor would never send an incompetent person to handle these matters.

And so far, Zhao Shen does seem to be doing it with ease.

He even dared to personally take Ji Yunshu to find the fifth prince of Mobei.

On the other side, Jingzhe was also telling Zhao Shen about the situation in the past few days: "The defenders of Linyuan are holding their breath. They haven't been at a disadvantage in the past two days, but if there is no reinforcement, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Zhao Shen frowned. "How could that be? Linyuan is such a small town, it can't accommodate even a large number of people. Didn't the Mobei people mobilize troops in the past few days?"

He guessed that Bilige was about to leave. Before that, he should take advantage of the fact that people's attention was on Lin Yuan and attack other places.

There was no division of troops?

Jingzhe shook his head: "There has been no movement of the Mobei people in Linyuan. As for other places, our people have not sent any news yet."

Zhao Shen thought for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes and said, "No, Bilige's goal is to take over Linyuan, Gukou, and Yangshuo in one fell swoop."

Jingzhe was also stunned: "This is impossible, where did he get the troops?"

The three border cities were taken in one fell swoop. Among them, Yangshuo was a fortress with 10,000 troops stationed there, making the attack even more difficult. It would have been impossible without 30,000 troops.

As far as they know now, Bilige did not mobilize so many people.

Zhao Shen's expression turned cold. He stared at the map for a long time and drew a route on it with his finger.

"He wants to open this road as quickly as possible."

Jingzhe looked in the direction his finger pointed and saw that it was a road starting from Linyuan and leading directly to Wuning where General Ji was.

"How is that possible? He doesn't have that many troops, so why would he choose to advance alone?"

Zhao Shen stared at the map, his face heavy. "Who knows if what happened to Lin Yuan will happen again? Oh, no, even if it happens again, his chances of winning are slim. So someone will really rebel, and bring their own soldiers with them. Only in this way can we solve the problem of insufficient troops."

Jingzhe never questioned Zhao Shen's words, so his first reaction was shock: "Then this person's prestige and rank in the army must be high. If that's true..."

Putting aside the safety of Youzhou, General Ji is probably in trouble.

Zhao Shen didn’t think so originally. What happened to Lin Yuan was enough for it to happen once.

But in the current situation, he couldn't think of any other possibility except this.

Moreover, Suzhou has been corroded to that extent, how can Youzhou be clean?

Huo Chong's brother died ten years ago, which means that at least at that time, people from Prince Yong's Mansion had already begun to make plans in Youzhou.

Zhao Shen suddenly felt uneasy when he thought of the death of the father and son in the previous century.

He felt he couldn't linger here any longer, but the matter at hand still needed to be dealt with. He gave the order, "Pass the word down. Every city along this route must mobilize its forces. If anything seems amiss, report it immediately. This is especially true for high-ranking generals, who must be given special attention. Also, send a message to Huo Cong, asking him to bring his men to Linyuan."

Jingzhe was puzzled and asked, "Huo Cong only has a few thousand men under his command. Coming to Linyuan now will not help, right? Mobei may send reinforcements at any time. Why doesn't the prince transfer troops from nearby?"

He knew that the emperor had given Zhao Shen a gold medal, which gave him the power to act at his own discretion and mobilize any army.

Zhao Shen shook his head. "Not to mention that a general is not subject to orders from the outside, those generals may not even pay attention to me. Even if they do, in this situation, we can't even tell who is loyal and who is treacherous. Who should we mobilize?"

This is why, even though the royal family knew it was inappropriate for General Ji to hold the military power alone, they still had no way to deal with it.

The situation in Youzhou is complicated, and Mobei may invade at any time. As long as the emperor is not too foolish, he should know that the invasion of foreign tribes is more difficult for them to accept than being afraid of his own general.

Jingzhe also knew that things were not that easy, so he had to ask: "What are your plans, Prince?"

Zhao Shen smiled. "My plan is, of course, to cut off the firewood from under the cauldron. But before that, we have to ensure that the people from Mobei can't attack."

He looked up at the sky and said, "Don't worry, the Mobei people's goal is Yangshuo. They won't reinforce Linyuan. Just let Huo Chong come."

Jingzhe looked at the prince and knew that he had already thought of what to do, so he went to deliver the message.

When Ji Yunshu came in to look for him, he saw him looking at a map and came over: "I saw Jingzhe went to deliver a message. Did something happen?"

Zhao Shen pulled her to sit next to him. "Did Wujina tell you how many people in Mobei are on Bilige's side? Are there any large tribes near Youzhou?"

Ji Yunshu shook his head. "I'm afraid Wu Rina doesn't know about this kind of thing either. After all, Bilige's identity is really not something that can be tolerated. Even the King of Mobei doesn't dare to publicly declare him as the heir."

The King of Mobei paved the way for Bilige in secret, and even the queen didn't find out for so many years.

How could Wujina really find out which tribes had defected to Bilige?

After saying that, seeing Zhao Shen lost in thought, Ji Yunshu asked, "What's wrong? How about I send a message to Wu Rina and ask her now? Who knows."

They may not know everything, but it is definitely more reliable than their own guesses.

Zhao Shen shook his head. "No need. You're right. Wujina might not know the truth, and sending a message isn't safe. It might even alert the enemy. I suspect there's a large tribe nearby providing support to Bilige."

Ji Yunshu laughed and said, "Isn't this a perfectly normal thing? The nearby grassland tribes often cross the border and plunder the people of Great Xia. Now that we've given them a legitimate opportunity, why wouldn't they do it?"