Xu Di couldn't sit still any longer. Taking advantage of Wei Lang's arrival in Hexi County, he went to talk to Wei Lang for a long time. No one knows what they talked about. After returning, Wei Lang sent a team of men to Xu Di. After Xu Di gave these men a brief training, they began to take action.

With one arm stiff, Xu Di set up an office in the county government. His men visited many households around the pancake shop owner. Xu Di drew a simple relationship diagram on the wall with charcoal, and slowly the pancake shop owner's network of relationships emerged. After finding these people, they started to check the original household registration data in the county, and surprisingly, Xu Di found some clues.

Adhering to the principle of "better to arrest the wrong person than let one slip through," a group of people were arrested that very night.

Wei Lang was surprised that Xu Di had accomplished this in just one day. The Northern Di people outside the city remained inactive, and although the city appeared calm on the surface, everyone knew that people's hearts were somewhat unsettled.

How to get these spies to tell their stories? Wei Lang had special interrogators. Through coercion and bribery, they finally figured it out: the one who led the troops was the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince was the most beloved prince of the Northern Di King. In order to give the Fifth Prince a convincing reason for ascending the throne, he helped plan this operation.

Last year's sneak attacks were led by the third prince of the Northern Di, but they met with a brick wall. Later, because the Northern Di court officials clamored for the Northern Di king to establish a crown prince, and the several princes who were capable of succeeding to the throne all had their own supporters, they argued back and forth. Finally, they decided that whoever could break through Yanmen Pass would become the next Northern Di king. Because of this, the princes of the Northern Di began to rack their brains to figure out how to take Yanmen Pass.

The Northern Di King was a powerful figure in his early years. The current Prince of Yan was able to ascend the throne with the help of the Northern Di King. Therefore, the Prince of Yan owes the Northern Di King a huge favor. Now, because the Northern Di King wants to help his fifth prince, he borrowed a passage through this favor and gave the fifth prince several spies that had been buried in Hexi for more than ten years. These spies can play an unexpected role at crucial moments.

Who knew that the owner of the pancake shop, who had been the most deeply hidden, was arrested, and then several spies who had been in contact with the pancake shop owner were also arrested. They also learned the story behind this operation. Xu Rao felt at ease. As long as they could guard the city gate and prevent the Northern Di people from entering, that would be considered a success. It was still the age of cold weapons. If they had cannons or pistols, it would be quite difficult to guard the city gate.

Xu Di made a simple megaphone. Although it couldn't compare to modern megaphones, it could still carry messages far when used while standing on the city wall.

Xu Di found a man with a loud voice, explained what to say, and then began to shout: "Fifth Prince of the Northern Di, we have already removed several of the Northern Di's thorns. We also know why you came to attack Hexi. Now we will show you a way out. You should take your men and leave quickly. Just now, your Northern Di's eldest prince, who was besieging Yanmen Pass, has been persuaded to return by our General Wei. We heard that your Northern Di king is ill, very ill. Perhaps your eldest prince can ascend the throne after returning."

These were all lies fabricated by Xu Di, but the one surrounding Yanmen Pass was indeed the eldest prince of the Northern Di. This eldest prince and the fifth prince were brothers born of the same mother. The eldest prince was not as favored by the king of the Northern Di as the fifth prince. This time, the king of the Northern Di personally deployed the eldest prince to surround Yanmen Pass to contain the troops stationed there.

There are no instant communication tools available now, so we can only send someone back to check to find out if it's true or not. But it's so far away, is that even possible?

This loudspeaker was a novelty. Not only the people in Hexi City, but also the Northern Di army outside the city, heard such a loud noise and naturally stopped what they were doing to listen carefully to what was going on. As they listened, the fifth prince of the Northern Di could no longer sit still.

He quickly summoned his staff to discuss the matter.

The fifth prince of the Northern Di was named Uliji. He was over thirty years old and looked like a very strong young man from the grasslands. However, he was very shrewd and loved the culture of Daliang. He had once smuggled himself into Daliang from Yan to travel.

Accompanying Uliji was a former advisor from the Liang Dynasty named Su Zhiguang, a failed scholar who was frustrated in his career. By chance, he met Uliji, who was traveling in the Liang Dynasty. The two hit it off immediately and later followed Uliji to the Northern Di.

Su Zhiguang played a significant role in Uliji's gaining the favor of the Northern Di King. He taught Uliji step by step, carefully analyzed the Northern Di King's thoughts, and catered to his preferences, which is why Uliji became the Northern Di King's most beloved prince.

Uliji asked Su Zhiguang, "Mr. Su, do you think what that person on the Hexi city wall was shouting was true?"

Su Zhiguang frowned and said, "I think this is a trap. The eldest prince won't go against our agreement. Let's wait a bit longer. Once we've captured enough people from Daliang, we can use them as vanguards and then we can storm into Hexi City."

Uliji was a little irritated and said, "Mr. Su, but it's true that the King is not well. We've been out for so many days now, and I'm afraid that the King is really not going to make it, and that the other brothers will seize the opportunity first."

Mr. Su said, “We’ve brought the most elite troops of the Northern Barbarians. Even if we seize the initiative, so what? We can just fight back, right? Listen to my advice, I think they are trying to shake our morale and make us lose our composure first.”

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