In addition to the guards from Xichang who were keeping an eye on the movements at Xiashizhai, another group of people also sent people to keep an eye on Xiashizhai.

When Ying Hongxue heard the report from below that someone who was not from the village had gone up to Xiashizhai, his expression turned cold.

"They are still communicating with Marquis An Yuan? They are really determined to do it. Have you found out what they said?"

When she first learned that Shi Hu and An Yuanhou were in contact, and that Gao Youwen was persuaded by Shi Hu to join An Yuanhou and exchange his future for the Red Army, she had strongly opposed it. However, the two men were blinded by the interests and would not listen to her advice.

Just in case, she broke up with Gao Youwen and ran away with He Shan and her direct descendants.

But although the Red Lotus Sect respected Gao Youwen as its leader, she was actually the one who ran it all. Her taking people away did not mean giving up the previous management, but was just retreating to advance, from open to covert, so as to avoid being dragged down by Gao Youwen and Shi Hu.

"Old Yao was afraid of being discovered, so he didn't dare to get too close. He only vaguely heard them talking about Yidu City, and it seemed that they wanted to send troops to attack Yidu City."

"Yidu City?" He Shan was puzzled. "Didn't they say that the prince is in Yidu City now? Are they rushing to seek death?"

The Red Army now looks like it has a lot of people, but in fact most of them are ordinary people who have come to seek refuge because they can't make a living. It looks powerful, but in fact it is useless. At the beginning, the court sent An Yuanhou to quell the rebellion, but it was Ying Hongxue who set up a trap and took advantage of them to underestimate the enemy and won the victory.

If they faced each other head-on, the disorganized Red Army would definitely not be able to defeat the imperial army.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have brought only more than 2,000 people with them this time.

Ying Hongxue's expression was somewhat serious: "They want to use the Red Army to stage a show in exchange for their own rich future. But they don't even consider whether they will live long enough to enjoy it."

The Second Prince and Marquis Anyuan came to quell the rebellion but failed, so the court sent the Crown Prince next.

No matter how you look at it, this seems like a factional dispute between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince.

What's more, Marquis Anyuan is now secretly contacting the Red Army and asking them to attack Yidu City where the prince is. Anyone with a bit of brains would not play along in this drama.

But Gao Youwen and Shi Hu seemed to be blinded by greed and were determined to jump into the fire pit, and no one could stop them.

"Should we take care of it?" He Shan habitually asked Ying Hongxue for her opinion, looking a little hesitant: "There are still many brothers on the mountain."

Ying Hongxue lowered her eyes and thought deeply. To be honest, she didn't want to get involved in this.

Although Gao Youwen was her senior sister, and they had a good relationship when they were in the nunnery, she had already tolerated Gao Youwen's short-sightedness and suspicion in the past two years. However, she was the one who built the Red Lotus Sect, so she had been patient and had not torn her relationship with him.

Now is a good time to go our separate ways.

"If they want to die, don't bother with it."

After saying this, he saw that He Shan seemed to be hesitant to speak, so he asked again, "Why? Are you reluctant to leave your brothers?"

He Shan is a straightforward person, and he can be friendly with anyone.

"A little bit." He Shan sighed, "Watching them go to their deaths, I always feel a little frustrated." After he finished speaking, he carefully looked at Ying Hongxue's expression and said to himself, "But I will listen to you."

Ying Hongxue smiled. She was originally a gorgeous girl, with a high nose, deep eyes, and deep features. Especially her narrow and long eyes, like a fox, always seemed to reveal a bit of demonic aura when she was not smiling or moving, making people feel elusive.

But at this moment, her expression looked somewhat gentle.

"Take your men to guard the Shagu Road in the next few days. If they want to attack Yidu City, they must take the Shagu Road. How many people you can bring back by then will depend on your ability."

He Shan was immediately excited when he heard this and exclaimed, "Ah!"

He looked at Ying Hongxue with a twinkling gaze, and hesitated to leave: "Didn't you say yesterday that your legs hurt again? Should I stay and rub them for you?"

—— Ying Hongxue had a serious leg injury in her early years, and because she did not receive timely treatment, she suffered a hidden injury. Not only does she limp slightly when she walks, but the bones at the injury site also ache from time to time.

It would be fine if they worked less and rested more, but they left Xiashizhai these days and trekked through the mountains to find a new place to stay, which really took a lot of effort. Although He Shan carried people on his back most of the time, it was inevitable that his old illness would relapse when he was tired.

Ying Hongxue knew what he was thinking after just one look at him, and smiled: "I'm busy during the day, come back in the evening."

Yin Chengyu was reading the biographies of important leaders of the Red Lotus Sect in his study.

——The captured rebel was Gao Youwen’s confidant and knew a lot. In order to save his life, he spent the past few days searching his stomach and got all the names of the leaders of the Red Lotus Sect to confess.

Yin Chengyu looked at them one by one, and his eyes fixed on the name of the right protector He Shan - he suddenly remembered where the familiarity of the name Ying Hongxue came from.

Ying Hongxue is He Shan’s wife.

In the previous life, around the spring of the 24th year of Longfeng, there was a rebellion in Shandong.

The rebel leader was named He Shan, who was born with supernatural strength. Although his left arm was broken, he was still very brave. He led 5,000 rebels and fought all the way from Qingzhou in Shandong to Zhending Prefecture in Zhili, and headed straight for the capital.

The number of rebels increased dramatically from 5,000 to 50,000.

At that time, Dayan had been ravaged by the plague, with more than half of its military forces lost and the treasury empty. It was unable to send troops to fight back and could only adopt a policy of appeasement.

He Shan initially refused to accept the amnesty, but later changed his mind and asked for a prince to be sent to negotiate in person to show his respect.

Originally, in order to ensure a smooth recruitment, Yin Chengyu wanted to negotiate with him in person. But at that time, the second prince saw that his position as crown prince was becoming increasingly stable, so in order to compete with him for credit, he took the responsibility of recruiting.

As a result, when the two parties met and everything was agreed, He Shan took action unexpectedly.

He Shan was good at using a spear. To ensure safety during the negotiations, both sides left their weapons outside the tent, including He Shan's spear.

However, no one expected that he had two daggers hidden on him. After the two sides sat down to talk for half an hour, when they saw that the conditions had been agreed upon, He Shan suddenly attacked and stabbed Yin Chengzhang in the chest with a dagger.

If Yin Chengzhang had not worn soft armor under his clothes out of fear for his life, and his subordinates had not risked their lives to save him, he would have been killed by He Shan without Yin Chengyu having to take action later.

Even so, he was seriously injured. After being sent back to Wangjing, four or five imperial doctors took turns to take care of him, and it took him nearly half a year to recover.

The reason why Yin Chengyu remembered this section so clearly was that after He Shan turned against him, he led his troops to attack Hejian Prefecture.

The capital was in danger at the time, but there was no military commander capable of fighting the enemy. In the end, Xue Shu personally led his troops to fight the enemy.

He ordered people to investigate He Shan's background, and found out that during the five years of He Shan's imprisonment, there had been a rebellion in Shandong, and the leader of the rebels at that time was He Shan's wife, named Ying Hongxue.

This record is very brief and vague, only saying that the rebellion was finally quelled by the second prince Yin Chengzhang, who personally beheaded the rebel leader and made great contributions.

As for the rest, no details were given.

He found out about He Shan's life, with the intention of recruiting him.

Unexpectedly, He Shan was determined not to accept the amnesty. Xue Shu was helpless and personally led 24,000 soldiers from the Guards to Hejian Prefecture. After fighting for more than a month, he narrowly defeated the enemy with a larger force and put an end to the war.

He Shan was chopped off by the sword, and Xue Shu was also seriously injured and on the verge of death. He was carried back to the capital by his confidants.

Yin Chengyu still remembers the scene.

Xue Shu was lying on a stretcher, covered in blood, with a long gun stabbed diagonally into his chest. Most of the gun barrel that was exposed had been sawed off, and the gun head, which was shining coldly silver, was deeply embedded in his body, looking very dangerous.

At that time, even the imperial physician said that whether he could survive or not depended on God's will.

By then, he had already regained his position as the crown prince. Although the second and third sons had not yet been eliminated, they no longer posed a threat.

His trusted ministers advised him to take this opportunity to eliminate Xue Shu, a potential threat, without anyone noticing.

Intellectually, he knew that the other party was right, and that he and Xue Shu were simply exchanging interests.

At first, he was weak and had to ask Xue Shu for help and was constrained by him. But as he gradually gained control of power and his position changed, Xue Shu went from being an ally to an enemy who needed to be guarded against and eliminated.

Xue Shu was in charge of the East and West Factories, and had four guard battalions and warrior battalions that obeyed his orders. He was a well-known figure with great power in both the government and the country.

If he ascends the throne in the future, Xue Shu will definitely be the biggest obstacle.

That day he sat alone in the Hongren Hall and pondered for a long time, but what he remembered was the look on Xue Shu's face when he came to ask for his orders.

He said: "Your Highness, don't worry. As long as our family is here, Wangjing City will not be conquered."

He even pinched his chin frivolously and promised with a smile: "As long as I am alive, Your Highness will be the only one who deserves to be the master of the world. Anyone who wants to sit on this dragon throne must first ask the sword in my hand."

The next day, he led 24,000 soldiers from the Guards Camp to Hejian Prefecture to quell the rebellion.

It was the most difficult time for the imperial court, with insufficient troops, an empty treasury, and people's hearts were in turmoil.

However, the rebels numbered 50,000 and were advancing with great momentum and high morale.

After a year of getting along, he already knew that Xue Shu was a cold-hearted person who never cared about the people in the world.

He could have sat back and watched the capital, letting the others die.

It was for him that Xue Shu led the troops to quell the rebellion.

He sat in the Hongren Hall all night, and went to see Xue Shu the next morning.

The unconscious man showed a rare pale and fragile look. His cheeks were flushed due to the high fever, and he even looked a little pitiful.

In the end, he did not follow the advice of his confidant and let the imperial physician do his best to treat him.

Now that I think about it, the imperial physicians had said several times that Xue Shu couldn't make it, but he managed to pull through.

It's really hard to break the bad karma.

Yin Chengyu pondered for a long time, then picked up his pen and circled Ying Hongxue and He Shan.

Now that Ying Hongxue is still alive, He Shan has not yet grown up to be as brave as he was in his previous life. While he is still a child, maybe we can try to recruit him and make him our own.

If it doesn’t work…

Yin Chengyu's eyes turned slightly cold, and he picked up the pen and drew two crosses next to the name.

After putting down the pen, he thought for a moment and ordered someone to take out the soft armor he had brought with him.

This soft armor is specially made by craftsmen. It is thin and light and can be hidden under clothes. Although it is not as hard as armor, it is very tough. Unless it is a person with supernatural powers like He Shan, it is difficult to be broken by ordinary swords and guns. It is a life-saving item. Because of its precious materials and time-consuming craftsmanship, it is only used by the royal family.

This time he came to Shandong to quell the riots, so he brought it out just in case.

Yin Chengyu touched the cool soft armor, but what flashed through his mind was the scene of Xue Shu being seriously injured and on the verge of death in his previous life.

"Go and summon Xue Shu."

When Xue Shu came over, he saw Yin Chengyu standing by the window with his hands behind his back.

He bowed and walked to Yin Chengyu's side, looking at him eagerly: "Your Highness, are you looking for me?"

Yin Chengyu hummed, picked up the soft armor and threw it to him: "You got a new soft armor, which is good. If you need to defend yourself against enemies in the future, I will give it to you."

The author has something to say:

Gou Gou: Your Highness is so nice to me (starry eyes)

Big Dog: Why don’t I?