On the river bank stood a tall man in a fox fur cloak, with his hands behind his back, facing the surging river.
Lin Chuang shouted twice, "Commander Shen! Commander Shen!"
The man turned around, his face handsome and thick with thick eyebrows. Seeing that it was City Lord Lin, he smiled cheerfully and greeted, "City Lord Lin, how did you find time to come here? Who is this?"
Lin Chuang said seriously, "This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Commander Shen clasped his fists and saluted, "I am Shen Yuan, your Highness." How could this person, who was exiled to the frontier, suddenly appear here?
"No need to be so polite. I'm here on important business."
"Why don't we go inside and talk?" Shen Yuan took His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and City Lord Lin into the house and sat down, pouring tea and water.
Gu Zhen directly stated the purpose of his visit, "Commander Shen, has anyone come to you with a tiger talisman?"
Shen Yuan was a little nervous. He had indeed received a Lord Yin holding a tiger talisman not long ago, but how did His Highness know about this?
He turned around and looked at Lin Chuang, who held a folding fan all year round, without saying a word.
Lin Chuang said, "You've never cared about court affairs, focused solely on governing the He region. Therefore, you might not be familiar with Yin Guangfa. When the late emperor was young, he once controlled government from behind the scenes, persecuting loyal officials. Later, the late emperor confiscated his property and executed him. Unexpectedly, he bribed many people at all levels and found a scapegoat. Now, many years later, he has stolen the tiger talisman and joined forces with the Wusun Kingdom to launch a rebellion and destroy the country."
Shen Yuan was a little confused for a moment and said hesitantly, "He did come with the tiger talisman... He said there was unusual movement in the Wusun Kingdom and asked his subordinates to send troops to support him."
This was similar to what they had discussed. Lin Chuang thought for a moment and said, "Yin Guangfa's goal is to divert your 50,000 elite troops. If the river region is lost, the Wusun army will arrive by boat to attack Tonghe City. By then, you and your elite troops will be stationed at the border, and Tonghe City will be plunged into dire straits."
Shen Yuan frowned for a long time. "Then how do you know he's not using your tricks against you? Maybe he's already expected you to stop him, so he'll really attack from the border. If I don't go to support him then, the border troops alone won't be able to hold out for long."
Gu Zhenyan said, "The tiger talisman they stole was fake."
Fake tiger talisman?
Your Highness secretly made a fake tiger talisman?
Shen Yuan was stunned. Did he know something terrible that would kill him later? It was obvious that His Highness was not a man to be talked to.
Seeing his surprised expression, Lin Chuang knew what he was thinking, because that was what he thought when he first found out.
"Don't worry, His Majesty also knows about the fake tiger talisman."
Gu Zhen continued, "I've met Yin Guangfa several times. He's an arrogant and unruly person. He's been hiding his identity and training assassins for years, and he's long been impatient. The Wusun Kingdom is offering him an olive branch, so he thinks he can mobilize his troops with the tiger talisman. Little did he know that the tiger talisman stolen by the Wusun Kingdom was a fake."
Shen Yuan couldn't help but mourn for Yin Guangfa and the Wusun Kingdom. "Then what should I do? Should I stay in Tonghe City and protect the river area?"
Gu Zhen was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "No, you have to pretend to set off for the border. Count the troops and warships, leave half of the elite troops behind, and send the other half along the river towards the border. Then turn around midway and surround the Wusun Kingdom in the middle of the river, catching them off guard. I'll have General Luo stationed at the border, so nothing will happen."
Shen Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, let's act according to your highness's plan."
"Then...what about Madam's poison? Is this Yin Guangfa threatening Your Highness?" Lin Chuang said hesitantly.
Gu Zhen glanced at him and said coldly, "I poured the bowl of poison into the vase. The so-called poisoning was just a deliberate act for others to see."
Lin Chuang frowned, thinking about the suspicious people besides the maid he had already captured. His mind went blank, and he couldn't think of anyone else who was suspicious. "Your Highness... My subordinate and my wife are absolutely innocent..."
"It's Cui." Gu Zhen stared at him. If the soldiers who followed him had not investigated clearly, he really didn't know that Cui was Yin Guangfa's spy. No matter whether she was controlled by others or had some difficulties, it was a headache for Lin Chuang.
Lin Chuang stopped fiddling with his folding fan and held his forehead with his hand, looking like he had a headache. "How could Cui... her marriage was granted by the emperor?"
Gu Zhen half-closed his eyes and slowly said, "Cui is just one of the many legitimate daughters of the Cui family. It's not uncommon for the Cui family to favor concubines over wives. The legitimate daughters have all been used by the Cui family for marriage alliances, and they never care about them. That's why Cui had Yin Guangfa's leverage over her, so she took the risk of becoming his spy."
After a pause, he explained, "This is your family affair, so I won't say anything more. It's only because it concerns Yin Guangfa that I'm sending someone to investigate."
The reason why Gu Shen arranged the marriage between Lin City Lord and Lin was because a girl from the Cui family had already entered the palace as a concubine. Gu Shen did not want the sisters to enter the palace together, so he promoted Lin Chuang to be the city lord and then arranged the marriage for him.
Just like the many concubines in Gu Shen's harem, she was just a link between the court and the officials, like a chess piece that was placed there and then left alone.
Lin Chuang took a sip of tea to calm himself down. He really didn't know about these things about Cui. He was always busy with Lin's affairs and had never paid any attention to her. Since she came in, he just treated her as an extra pair of chopsticks. Everything else was taken care of by Lin. Although they were both his wives, he was more biased towards Lin.
Thinking of this, he had some realizations. He was indeed a little sorry for Cui. He already had Lin in his heart, but he had to marry Cui. Now that such a thing happened, he was also responsible for not caring enough about Cui.
Shen Yuan interrupted his thoughts and asked, "Why did Yin Guangfa do this?"
Gu Zhen said in a deep voice, "He knows how much I care about the Song family, so he used her as a threat three or four times to tell me not to interfere in this matter. He seems to think everyone is like him, someone who can betray the country with peace of mind. Therefore, he thinks that if he poisons the Song family, I will stop. He doesn't understand me at all."
It is precisely because he can threaten Song Jiaren's life that he cannot be allowed to live!
Gu Zhen and Lin Chuang went back before dark. Lin Chuang called Lin and Cui away with a dark face. He felt an inexplicable anger in his heart. He returned to the main house and gulped down a pot of tea to dispel his depression.
"Cousin, please sit down." He glanced at Cui and said, "You...sit down too."
Cui lowered her eyes. Lin Chuang must have known everything. She slowly knelt on the ground and said with a slight sob, "I know that my husband and your cousin are a harmonious couple and won't tolerate anyone else. But what can a woman from an aristocratic family do? She can't make her own decisions."
She looked up at the two people sitting on the chairs with tearful eyes. They were a perfect match. She knew from the day she got married that her life would have no meaning anymore. Therefore, she never talked back when Lin ridiculed her, and she kept a low profile in her daily life.
"Before I married you, I had a secret crush on a guard in my family. No one knew about it except Yin Guangfa. He even kidnapped him and threatened his life. I had no choice but to take the risk of being his spy."
“…Now that you know everything, can I ask you to save him? As long as he can live, I am willing to die for him!” Cui's tears fell, and she lowered her head and kowtowed again and again, which made Lin, who usually disliked her, feel a little bit of pity.
"Don't kowtow. You said you are the same. Is there anything you can't say? Someone is threatening you. Why don't you tell Lin Chuang? He will naturally find a way for you."
Cui smiled bitterly. "Of course he would go through fire and water for your sake, but he wouldn't do that for me. Only that guard would treat me the way he treated you."
"This..." Lin was speechless, because she and Lin Chuang had never cared about her at all.
"Yin Guangfa is a vicious person. I'm afraid your guard is already dead. You have committed such a great disaster and colluded with traitors. The entire Cui family may be implicated. Come! Take Cui away and keep her under strict watch!" Several servants came in from the door and took Cui, who was lying on the ground, away.
Lin frowned and said softly, "What are you going to do?"
Lin Chuang sat in a chair in a depressed mood, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Although Cui was coerced, it is true that she communicated with the traitor. Once this matter is over, let Your Highness make the final decision."
Although Mrs. Lin regarded the woman who shared her husband as a thorn in her side, it was obvious that she felt a little reluctant to do so. She also knew that Lin Chuang was right and that everything had to be decided by His Highness.
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you that the lady was not poisoned. The bowl of poison that the maid brought was poured into the vase by His Highness."
Lin Chuang sighed secretly, relieving the depression in his heart. "I already know. You should stay in the mansion with your wife for the next few days and don't run around."
Seeing that he was still in a low mood, Lin replied softly, "I know, don't worry."
Early that morning, Shen Yuan led a group of elite soldiers on a warship towards the border. Gu Zhen asked Cui to pass a message to Yin Guangfa: "Commander Shen is leading his troops to the border. Your Highness is worried and has no time to think about anything else."
Yin Guangfa wrote back to her, "That's very good. Your guards are on the river bank and are no longer useful."
Lin Chuang and his men accompanied her there. The man was lying in the weeds on the shore, covered in blood. His eyes were gouged out, his tongue was pulled out, his hands and feet were all broken, and his chest was ripped open.
Cui fainted on the spot, and the servants that Lin Chuang brought with him couldn't help but vomit all over the floor. They covered their noses and mouths and buried the man bit by bit.
It's so miserable.
Lin Chuang was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat, and at the same time felt that Yin Guangfa, this scourge, must be eliminated.
"How is Cui?"
Cui has been in a coma since she was carried back from the river bank two days ago. The doctor who visited her said that she was so shocked that she had no desire to live and was unwilling to wake up.
Lin would come and ask this question every day, and the answer she would get was always "Still the same." Then she would sit beside her couch for a while and then leave.
On the warship, Yin Guangfa and the female general sent by the Wusun Kingdom looked at the turbulent river surface, and the shawls behind them were blown by the cold wind.
"General, we will soon reach Tonghe City."
The female general didn't even glance at him. In her eyes, a man was someone who took care of the family and children. This old and ugly man was not worthy of talking to her.
So she turned around and walked back, when suddenly a sharp arrow cut through the biting cold wind and came straight towards her. She barely dodged it, and immediately became alert.
"There are enemies! Everyone get ready!"
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