Chapter 875 The World as a Chess Game

Prince Hui stared at Tang Ning intently and said in a hoarse voice, "Since the outbreak of the North-South War, no other generals have been dispatched from the court, and no troops have been mobilized. How can you suppress the various tribes in the Western Frontier?"

"The Southern Qi incident must be fake. With Western Xinjiang involved, how could Southern Qi back down? You are lying to us."

He hissed to the others:

"Don't believe her, Song Tangning is lying!!"

The court officials in the hall all looked hesitant upon hearing this, especially the military generals. No one knew more about the troop deployments in the capital and the generals leading the troops in the court than they did.

But they had indeed never heard of anyone going to the southwest.

Moreover, all the military forces in the court are now concentrated in Southern Qi and Luoyan Pass in the northwest. The continuous fighting in the two places is already difficult to cope with. How can the court have extra troops to suppress the western border in advance?

Could it be that the Queen really just wanted to appease the court and deliberately weaken the crisis of Southern Qi?

Prince Hui naturally noticed the expressions on the courtiers' faces, and he couldn't help but speak louder, "You and Xiao Yan used the border war to set up a trap. Munan Pass might be in danger. You only concealed the military information to appease the people in the capital."

"Song Tangning, don't try to deceive us!"

Tang Ning looked at Prince Hui, who seemed to have caught her weakness and was holding on to her tightly, with her eyes slightly raised and a mocking expression on her face.

"Lie to you?"

She sneered, "You're nothing but a lost dog now. What else is there for me to deceive you about? I can kill you at any time, and the capital is completely under my control. Do you think there's anything else in you that's worth my bothering to deceive you about?"

"you!"

Prince Hui was so ridiculed by her that he wanted to tear her apart.

Tang Ning ignored his cannibalistic look and said sarcastically, "Besides, who told you that there were no military officers being transferred from the court? Long before Your Majesty went south, some had already gone to the Western Frontier..."

"impossible!"

Prince Hui retorted without hesitation, "There are a limited number of generals in the court. My father and I have been keeping an eye on them. Aside from Marquis Wenxin going to the northern battlefield and Xiao Jinan and his men going to Munan Pass to fight the enemy, the others haven't been mobilized at all..."

His father had long aspired to become the king, and so did he.

Especially after Xiao Yan left Beijing, Song Tangning did not hold back at all and dealt with the King of Ying's family without hesitation. They wanted to use him as a warning to others, and their desire to seize power became even stronger.

In the past, when Xiao Yan was in charge of the capital, they did not dare to take action. However, now that the court is leaderless due to external and internal troubles, they will naturally seize the opportunity.

Compared to King Hui who was keen on court power, Prince Hui was more inclined towards military generals. He was familiar with all the generals in the court who were capable of leading troops. Because of the war between the North and the South, he kept a close eye on the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the troops that could be mobilized from various places.

The Ministry of Revenue hadn't allocated any food or fodder to other areas besides the northern and southern battlefields, and the Ministry of War hadn't even dispatched any troops. How could anyone have gone to the Western Frontier so early?!

Tang Ning looked at Prince Hui with a half-smile: "Really?"

"Of course not! If there were any troop movements, even if you could hide it from me and my father, you wouldn't be able to hide it from the aristocratic families' spies outside."

After Prince Hui finished speaking, he saw the man's smile grow even wider, and the mockery in the smile made him angry and embarrassed.

"What are you laughing at? Am I wrong? There's no one in the court leading troops to the southwest. What you said is all lies. The war in the south hasn't ended yet. Xiao Yan might have been in trouble a long time ago. Otherwise, you would have given up Mu Nan Pass..."

"Okay, shut up!"

Before Prince Hui could finish his words, Prince Ji, who had been standing beside him, suddenly shouted, "Stop embarrassing yourself!"

Prince Hui glared: "What do you mean?"

Prince Ji said expressionlessly: "What I mean is, if you are stupid, don't think everyone else is stupid. The Queen didn't lie to you."

"Impossible, you're lying!"

Prince Hui was stunned. "All the generals capable of leading troops in the court are in the capital..."

"Apart from these people?"

Seeing that he was stunned and still looked like he hadn't figured it out, King Ji felt that King Hui and his men's failure was indeed justified.

He said to the Prince of Hui with a blank expression, "You and the King of Hui are so ambitious, but you only focus on the military commanders who have come to court. Have you ever paid attention to others? Those who can lead troops to fight in this court are not limited to these veteran officials who remain in the capital."

Prince Hui still didn't react, but Prince Hui was stunned for a moment as if he thought of something, and his pupils suddenly dilated.

The military generals in the capital are mostly idle on weekdays unless they lead troops in times of war. They are known in the court. Once they lead troops to fight, the mobilization of troops and the arrangement of food and fodder cannot be concealed.

But this does not mean that they are the only ones who can lead troops in the capital.

King Ji saw that King Hui seemed to have realized what was happening and said unhappily:

"When the deposed emperor was in power, after Di Shuangcheng's son entered the capital, the deposed emperor, in order to check and balance the Zhen'an Army, allowed him to join the four camps outside the capital. Later, after Your Majesty ascended the throne, he even gave him control of the four camps."

"Di Shuangcheng and his son are loyal to Your Majesty. Logically, since he is valued by Your Majesty, he should attend the court. But do you remember how long it has been since you last saw Di Tao? Do you remember where he is?"

Everyone in the hall looked shocked, and someone suddenly spoke.

"I remember two months ago, a small town near the border was plagued by bandits. General Di was ordered to lead several thousand troops to suppress the bandits. It seems that General Qi's legitimate son Qi Cheng was also with them."

Everyone was quiet.

Di Tao was a talented young man who had been following his father in the battles at Luoyan Pass. Qi Cheng, the eldest son of the Qi family, was born into a military family. He was intelligent and brave, and was a natural military talent. Although these two were young, they both had military merits, but their achievements were overshadowed by their fathers, and the deposed emperor had intended to suppress Di Shuangcheng and General Qi.

One became a "hostage" and stayed in the capital, while the other was forced to leave the battlefield and his entire family was trapped in the capital.

Therefore, although the two of them held official positions, they were not as prominent as the veteran generals who came to court every day, and they did not attract much attention.

When they led their troops out of the city to suppress bandits, they did so openly. However, they only had a few thousand soldiers and very little food and fodder. Furthermore, wars broke out between Southern Qi and Beiling, and the noble families and the Empress fought against each other. His Majesty was trapped in Southern Qi...

All these events had already attracted the attention of everyone in the court, and no one noticed that Di Tao and his men had been out suppressing bandits for more than two months and had not returned.

Prince Ji looked at Tang Ning with a complicated expression, and then said to the bereaved Prince Hui:

"Your Majesty and the Empress had already ordered Di Tao and the others to leave the capital long before the war with Southern Qi. Although they only took 3,000 troops with them, after Prince Pingshan's defeat, the garrison in Pingyang County surrendered to the government, numbering over 60,000 men. Prince Pingshan's palace also had a private army of nearly 20,000 men."

"When His Majesty seized Pingyang County, those people said they were handing it over to the new Pingyang County Magistrate. But if my guess is correct, they've probably already been under the command of Di Tao and the others and followed them to the Western Frontier."

Pingyang County was originally in the south. After the death of King Pingshan, Xiao Yan's people took over there. It was not difficult to secretly hand the person over to Di Tao and others without telling the court.

This situation did not start with the war against Southern Qi, but had already taken shape during the rebellion of the princes.

Others plan ten steps ahead when taking one step, but Xiao Yan plans hundreds or thousands of steps ahead. He treats the entire world as a chessboard and moves across it.