Xie Zhen was slightly startled when he heard this, but he quickly calmed down from the surprise. After calming down, he thought of the key point, but he did not say it, but asked: "Why?"

Su Xinyang's face was tense and he analyzed seriously, "Xu Tao was right about one thing."

When his first sentence came out, Xie Zhen's eyebrows jumped violently, and sure enough, the next sentence made him want to cover his grandson's mouth.

"The one sitting on the throne is indeed incompetent."

Xie Zhen couldn't help but remind him: "Be careful with your words!"

Su Xinyang lowered his voice and said, "Grandfather, it's not that there is no one around, it's just the two of us, the grandson, that dares to be so presumptuous."

Xie Zhen knew that the child was sensible, so he was not too worried that he would talk nonsense when he went out.

"The emperor is incompetent and has many concerns about our Xie family. The officials in the court have complicated thoughts. If the crossbow is used in front of them, I am afraid it will not take long for this thing to spread to Darong, Nanzhao, and the surrounding countries."

"The original intention of designing the crossbow was to increase our dynasty's combat power and reduce the death rate of soldiers. I don't want to be a scapegoat for others."

Xie Zhen listened carefully, and his eyes encouraged him to continue.

"My grandson's idea is that we should secretly train a group of soldiers who can use crossbows, and then give the Darong Kingdom a surprise."

Xie Zhen nodded, "What about production? What are your plans?"

"You can look for a family of weapons, the Nangong family."

"The head of the Nangong family is the Minister of War."

Su Xinyang shook his head, "Don't look for him, grandson has another candidate here. His name is Nangong Jingzhi. He is a member of the Nangong family and is proficient in all kinds of weapons. He is not on good terms with the direct lineage. It is said that he was injured some time ago and almost died. This move was made by the head of the Nangong family."

"When someone from Wan's Trading Company delivered food to me a few days ago, I learned from him that Nangong Jingzhi was in our northwest area."

"My grandson thinks we can cooperate with each other, and I think he will be happy to do so."

Xie Zhen naturally knew something about the Nangong family's situation. If Nangong Jingzhi wanted to survive under the suppression of the direct lineage, he had to find a backer.

It just so happens that they need someone to help them secretly manufacture weapons, so it can be said that this is a mutually beneficial thing for both parties.

"Grandfather, I want to go to Tangquan City in person to discuss this matter with Nangong Jingzhi."

Xie Zhen looked at his grandson with relief in his eyes.

In a few years he will be able to start a family and build a career, but right now his grandson is so mature and calm that people often overlook his age.

"good!"

"It's better to be early than late. My grandson wants to leave as soon as possible."

Xie Zhen is not a fussy person. Since he has made a plan, the sooner the better.

Su Xinyang looked at the wound on his grandfather's shoulder, thought of what his elder sister and younger brother had said, and said, "Grandfather, the Northwest Army has not been under the command of our Xie family for a while. How many of these generals are still truly on the same page with us? You can't know, and your grandson can't see through it either."

"What do you want to do?" Xie Zhen probably guessed what his grandson was thinking.

Su Xinyang's eyes fell on his injured arm. "Grandfather, why don't we pretend that you are critically ill? This way, I can leave the barracks under the pretext of going out to find a miracle doctor for you, and it won't arouse suspicion. This will kill two birds with one stone."

Taking advantage of Xie Zhen's critical illness, we can lure out all those evil spirits, which will be a good opportunity to wipe out the Northwest Army. This will prevent my father and his men from being stabbed by those hiding in the dark when they start a rebellion.

Secondly, he could use this incident to leave openly without attracting attention.

Xie Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Okay! I'll do as you say."

The grandfather and grandson discussed it carefully again and finally implemented the plan.

In front of others, Xie Zhen pretended nothing had happened and just did what he was supposed to do. But behind others' backs, his personal soldiers would secretly bring the black blood out of the tent, and some people even saw the young master secretly wiping away tears.

Before anyone knew it, word spread among the Northwestern Army that Xie Zhen had been poisoned and would not live long.

"Have you heard? The general has been poisoned and will not live long."

"I saw the young master secretly wiping away tears yesterday."

"Yes, I saw it too. It was clearly New Year's Eve when we won a great victory and the young master was awarded merit. He should have been happy, but in the end I saw him secretly wiping away tears."

"The arrow that hit the general was extremely poisonous!"

"Don't talk nonsense."

Such rumors naturally reached the ears of the generals of the Northwest Army.

Inside the commander's tent, Xie Zhen's voice was full of energy.

"Don't listen to the nonsense outside. This matter must be investigated thoroughly. It must be the people of Darong who are behind this." As soon as Duke Su finished speaking, he coughed. Someone with sharp eyes noticed the blood flowing from the corner of Xie Zhen's lips, but it was quickly blocked by Xie Zhen's hand.

Those who noticed it tacitly understood it, while those who didn’t notice were outraged.

"Don't worry, General. I will definitely find out who is hiding behind the scenes and spreading rumors."

Su Xinyang spoke at the right time, "My uncles, I have something to say to you, grandfather."

Upon hearing this, the others stood up and left.

After leaving the tent, everyone had different thoughts.

Late at night, in a tent, two generals were talking in low voices.

"The news your Highness received is true. Xie Zhen is really going to die soon. Next, we will proceed according to the plan."

"Not right." Another person said in a low voice.

"What's wrong? This matter concerns the prince's important plan. If anything goes wrong, how can we explain to the prince?" the man warned.

"Because this matter concerns the prince's major plan, we must be more cautious. Duke Su has been able to lead the Northwest Army for so many years, he is definitely not an ordinary person. It is best to be cautious in this matter."

"What are you going to do?" the man said unhappily.

"Let's observe him for a while longer. Once we are sure that he is really going to die, it won't be too late for us to take action."

"If you have delayed His Majesty's business, I will certainly report it to His Majesty truthfully."

The conversation between the two was interrupted.

The news about Duke Su's poisoning was spread to different forces and different people at the fastest speed through spies from all sides.

Three days later, Duke Su appeared in public and broke the news that Duke Su was poisoned.

Some people were glad, while others regretted being too abrupt.

That day, Su Xinyang left the military camp under the pretext of returning to Beijing to visit his grandmother. When everyone heard the news, they became excited again.

In a tent, two sneaky people met again.

"This is the latest news from the front. Xie Heling secretly left the team and is now missing."

"His original team continued to head towards the capital."

I have to say that this matter is weird in every way.

True and false, false and true, it's hard to tell.

"Some time ago, there were reports that the old man Xuwu from Medicine Valley appeared in the south. It is very likely that Xie Heling is heading that way."