Chapter 553: A spy sneaked into the mansion
After Shen Qingtan sent the letter, he lowered his eyes to look at the map unfolded on the table, picked up the pen and circled Ningcheng.
Ningcheng is a mountain city with steep terrain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin's armies were blocked here, and it was too difficult to capture the city in a short time.
At this time, Tingxue ran in from outside, folded an oil-paper umbrella, and reported to Shen Qingtan: "Princess, the food has arrived, do you want to go and take a look?"
"I have to go take a look." Shen Qingtan slowly rolled up the map on the table. He inadvertently caught a glimpse of the oil-paper umbrella standing by the door and asked in surprise, "Is it raining outside?"
"Yes. The rain came suddenly, without any warning." Tingxue wiped her wet sleeves with a handkerchief and said with a look of relief, "Thankfully, you had the foresight to instruct your people to gather the food and store it in the warehouse. Otherwise, we would have been soaked by this heavy rain."
Shen Qingtan came to the door of the study and saw rain flowing down from the roof and falling into the patio.
Their mansion in Yuncheng burned down, and they are now housed in another residence.
It turned out that Shen Qingtan planned to go north with Zhao Yi, but Zhao Yi said that the conditions of the march were not only difficult but also dangerous, so he asked her to stay in Yuncheng to guard the rear for him and raise food for the army.
But Shen Qingtan knew very well that this was only part of the reason. Another reason was that Zhao Yi was worried that the plan would fail and the King of Zhenbei would take her back to Da Zhou.
Although the people were extremely dissatisfied with the court's exorbitant taxes and levies, and they all pleaded with Zhao Yi to eliminate the corrupt officials and rescue the Northern Qi emperor, the cities where these people lived were all very far away from the capital. Only those who had been exploited the most dared to fight against the government in order to survive. Together with Zhao Yi, they quickly captured the cities.
But the closer to the capital, the harder it is to capture the city.
Not only because these people have not been extremely exploited by the government and will not lend a helping hand to Zhao Yi like other people, but also in the eyes of some wealthy gentry, the actions of Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin have damaged their interests.
Not every court official supported Zhao Yi. Each of them had his own plans, so they would naturally join forces with the Right Pillar State to resist Zhao Yi.
There are also some relatives who are waiting to reap the benefits.
Shen Qingtan waited until the rain subsided before going to the granary to check the food. These grains were provided to the soldiers on the march, so she couldn't afford to be careless. She carefully inspected each bag and made sure there were no problems with the grain. Then she asked the people below to stop the rain and transport it to Ningcheng.
When we returned to the main courtyard from the granary, it was dark.
Although it was raining heavily outside and the weather was not so hot, Shen Qingtan felt that the room was very stuffy, his body was wet and sticky, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.
So she told Liu Yue to go to the ice cellar to get some ice and put it in the house. Then she sent Ting Xue to get a bucket of hot water. She took a warm bath and only then did she feel refreshed.
Shen Qingtan had been busy all afternoon and was exhausted. The pain in his waist and the heaviness in his abdomen became more and more obvious. He leaned on the couch uncomfortably and ordered Tingxue beside him, "It's hot out, I don't have much of an appetite. Ask the kitchen to prepare a bowl of four-red soup and send it over later."
As soon as Tingxue heard about the Four Red Soup, she immediately thought of her master's upcoming period. "When you were in the Great Zhou, your period always came on the same day, either two days early or two days later. After coming to Northern Qi, your period has become a little unreliable, either four or five days early, or ten days later."
This time, it was postponed for several days compared to last month.
Shen Qingtan picked up the "Art of War" on the bookshelf and read it while replying, "I haven't had a good night's sleep since coming to Northern Qi, so it's natural that this has affected me."
"Isn't it?" Tingxue muttered. "You and the prince were attacked from all sides in Northern Qi, surrounded by wolves and tigers, and not a single one was friendly with you. Although the Great Zhou had its share of enemies, you had helpers around you. How could you be so isolated and helpless like you are now?"
Shen Qingtan seemed to be inspired by these words and immediately sat up: "Tingxue, prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone for me." After a pause, she added: "Also prepare some cinnabar and blue copper."
"Yes." Tingxue immediately prepared the items Shen Qingtan needed and placed them one by one on the curved table on the couch: "I will grind ink for you."
Shen Qingtan spread out a piece of rice paper and outlined Ningcheng with simple brushstrokes. He used several different pigments to mark the routes in several directions around Ningcheng, and then compared it with the original map and checked it carefully.
After confirming that there was no mistake, Shen Qingtan put down the two drawings in his hand and wrote a letter to Zhao Yi.
All her inspiration came from books on military strategy. If she actually used it on the battlefield, it would most likely be just talk. But what if it could give Zhao Yi other inspiration?
With this idea in mind, Shen Qingtan wrote down all the tactics she had thought of.
First, the mountain city is easy to defend but difficult to attack. They can find the small path behind Ningcheng where the defense is weakest, and then send elite troops to encircle it and launch a surprise attack from different directions, so that Ningcheng will be attacked from the front, back, left and right, breaking their original defense deployment.
However, this strategy also has some risks, as it is easy to get lost in the mountains and forests, and encounter an ambush.
Secondly, after encircling Ningcheng, to some extent, it also cut off the supply of materials to the city. If Ningcheng was short of supplies, it would certainly make it difficult for the defenders to hold on, and the city gates would naturally fall without a fight.
After Shen Qingtan finished writing these two strategies, he frowned slightly and was a little hesitant. In the end, he wrote down an incomplete strategy and asked Zhao Yi and others to adapt to the situation.
She put all these into an envelope, wrapped it in a layer of oil-wrapped paper, and asked her confidant to deliver it to Ningcheng as quickly as possible.
At this time, the servant from the kitchen brought a bowl of four-red soup and handed it to Liu Yue who was guarding outside the door.
Liu Yue brought in the Four-Red Soup, scooped a spoonful and placed it on a saucer. Then he went to a corner and lifted a piece of brown cloth, revealing an iron cage. Inside the cage, there was a mouse.
She opened the cage slightly, just enough to fit a dish of food in, and quickly closed it. She waited beside the cage for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the mouse chewing softly.
Liu Yue was just about to serve the Four-Red Soup to Shen Qingtan when she heard the mouse in the iron cage moving around restlessly, even making a squeaking sound. But after a while, there was no movement.
Her heart sank and she quickly lifted the cloth covering the cage, only to see the mouse lying in the cage foaming at the mouth.
Liu Yue was so frightened that her face turned pale. The bowl of four-red soup was almost going to end up in the princess' stomach.
"Princess, the soup is poisonous." Liu Yue felt a chill down his spine, and his hands and feet were cold as he said, "There are spies in our palace."
Shen Qingtan wasn't surprised. She had been constantly trying to murder her, but she had managed to fend them off. Now that the situation had changed dramatically, with Zhao Yi attacking the capital under the pretext of clearing out the corrupt officials, even more people were trying to harm her.
She was about to say something when she heard someone at the door announce, "Princess, the Governor Lin is here."
Shen Qingtan frowned slightly. After Wang Qiaoxin defected to Zhao Yi, Lin Youwei also surrendered to Zhao Yi. At that time, Lin Youwei provided Zhao Yi with money and food to show his loyalty.
Zhao Yi accepted Lin Youwei's goodwill on the surface, but in fact he did not trust Lin Youwei very much, so he let Lin Youwei stay in Yuncheng to continue raising money and food.
Liu Yue, standing by, hadn't recovered yet, still feeling apprehensive. She lowered her voice and asked, "Princess...Princess, is this poison...related to Lord Lin?"
Tingxue took over the conversation, "Lord Lin is a smart man. He should have protected himself first. He should have publicly appeased the court and secretly stabilized the prince, not siding with either side. No matter which side wins, he can keep his official hat. By poisoning the princess, wasn't he courting death?"
Liu Yue thought about it carefully and felt that Lin Youwei was not such a fool. He guessed, "Could it be... that Lord Lin is here to deliver money and food?"
"We'll know what we're here for once we try." Shen Qingtan waved his hand, motioning Tingxue and Liuyue to come closer and whispered a few words.
When Liu Yue and Ting Xue heard this, they looked at each other.
The next moment.
The two men pinched each other's thighs hard.
Tears flowed down my face.
Even his face turned pale with pain.
Liu Yue grinned and knocked over the four-red soup. With a "crack", the porcelain bowl broke into pieces and the soup spilled all over the floor.
The maid standing outside was waiting for Shen Qingtan's reply when she suddenly heard a noise coming from inside the house. Before she could figure out what was going on, she heard Liu Yue calling out "Princess" several times in panic. Then she saw Tingxue rushing out with tears on her face and running out of the yard in a panic.
The maid didn't understand what was going on. She looked through the half-open door and saw Shen Qingtan lying on a wide couch. In the dim light, she couldn't tell whether the stain on Shen Qingtan's chin was blood or red soup spilled on the ground.
But Liu Yue and Ting Xue looked so anxious that they cried, which clearly showed that Shen Qingtan's condition was not good.
The maidservant didn't dare to go into the house to investigate. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she ran after Tingxue to the south room.
Upon entering the house, the maid saw Tingxue crying and sniffling as she spoke to the court physician, "Doctor Qin, the princess took a few sips of the Four Red Soup, and her face paled and she broke out in a cold sweat. In the blink of an eye, she lost consciousness. Please go and see what happened to her."
Upon hearing this, the court doctor hurriedly picked up his medicine box and followed Tingxue to the main courtyard.
The maid stared at the backs of the court doctor and Tingxue for a long time, then went to the front hall with a lot on her mind.
Lin Youwei looked at the maid coming over alone and asked, "Where is the princess?"
The maidservant thought of Shen Qingtan's situation and felt anxious. She said tactfully, "Master Lin, the princess... the princess is not feeling well and is not suitable to see guests."
"The princess just went to the granary to check on the food, how come she's already taken ill?" Lord Lin said with a displeased look, "It seems I arrived at an unfortunate time."
As he said this, he placed the teacup on the table with a bang.
This sound seemed to strike the maid's heart hard. She trembled with fear, her face pale, and she hurriedly explained, "When I went to the main courtyard to pass on the message, I saw Sister Tingxue coming out of the room and hurried to the south room to call for the palace doctor."
She hesitated and secretly glanced at Lin Youwei. Seeing that he still looked sullen, she continued, "When Sister Tingxue came out, the door to the main room was open. I took a curious look and saw the princess lying unconscious on the couch with blood on her chin. She didn't look well."
Lin Youwei got what he wanted, glanced at the maid who was frightened by him, and his expression softened a little: "Since the princess is ill, I will visit again another day."
After leaving these words, Lin Youwei stood up and left.
Just as he reached the door, he saw a servant passing by him. The servant untied the reins tied to the doorpost with an anxious look on his face and rode away on a fast horse.
Lin Youwei stopped and stared thoughtfully in the direction where the servant left. Not knowing what he was thinking about, he got on the carriage, gave a few instructions to his followers, and then knocked on the wall to signal the coachman to drive.
After returning to the Lin Mansion, Lin Youwei went straight to the study, took out a letter from his sleeve pocket and placed it on the desk.
This was a letter from the Ningcheng Commander-in-Chief, asking him to find a way to cut off Zhao Yi's food supply. But Shen Qingtan was very thoughtful, specifically choosing a fireproof granary made of stone and brick, with iron doors and windows.
So he came up with a plan and sent someone to secretly poison Shen Qingtan.
Given how much Zhao Yi valued Shen Qingtan, he would have rushed back to Yuncheng from the battlefield as soon as he heard about Shen Qingtan's accident. Even if Zhao Yi didn't return to Yuncheng because of Shen Qingtan's death, after losing Shen Qingtan's control, the control of Yuncheng would have fallen into his hands.
By that time, he would no longer need to supply food and fodder to Zhao Yi's army.
“Knock knock—”
There was a knock on the study door, and the attendant's voice rang out from outside: "Sir, I have something important to report."
Lin Youwei said in a deep voice: "Come in."
The attendant pushed the door open, closed it behind him, and came to Lin Youwei's side, reporting in a low voice: "I lost the person and then returned to the princess's residence and found a secluded place to hide. After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, I saw the servant returning home with a doctor."
Originally, Lin Youwei was worried that the maid was lying to him, but when he heard that the servant had gone outside the mansion to ask for a doctor, he was certain that something must have happened to Shen Qingtan.
He pondered for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote a reply to the Ningcheng Commander.
After thinking about it, Lin Youwei felt that the matter was not handled properly, so he ordered people to spread the news of Shen Qingtan's accident secretly.
-
Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin were in the tent, discussing strategies to capture Ningcheng. The only way they could think of at the moment was to encircle Ningcheng.
This is because most of Ningcheng’s troops are stationed at the city gates, and heavy defensive weapons are all placed on the city walls, so the defenses in other places are relatively weak.
But Zhao Yi had other concerns. Once they divided their troops into several groups to encircle Ningcheng, the troops guarding the city gate would be dispersed.
If the soldiers of Ningcheng took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, their camp would be lost.
By then, when their soldiers took a shortcut to attack Ningcheng's weakly defended rear, I'm afraid Ningcheng's soldiers would be able to quickly turn back and beat them back step by step.
At this time, Jiang Mu walked into the tent and handed a small bundle to Zhao Yi: "Master, this is something the princess gave you."
Zhao Yi took the bundle and was about to put it aside and open it later.
"Report—" A soldier's rough voice came from outside the tent: "Your Highness, something has happened to the princess."
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