Chapter 554: Deliberate Deception, Lure the Enemy into a Trap
Zhao Yi heard the anxiety in the spy's tone and realized that something was wrong. He immediately felt uneasy and summoned the spy into the tent to ask, "What happened to the princess?"
The spy reported back, "Your Highness, news has come from Yuncheng that the princess lost consciousness after taking a few sips of soup a few days ago. We called in the palace physician and a doctor from outside, and they say she's been poisoned, but they're all helpless."
There was a chilling chill between Zhao Yi's eyebrows, and he already had someone he suspected in his mind.
Before, when Lin Youwei surrendered to him, he discovered that Lin Youwei had ulterior motives and intended to get rid of him.
Shen Qingtan said to him, "My dear, the master behind Lin Youwei has ordered him to lurk beside you, waiting for an opportunity. Since you have seen through Lin Youwei's intentions, why not keep him by your side? At the critical moment, we can use him to counterattack them."
The reason why Zhao Yi wanted to get rid of Lin Youwei was because Shen Qingtan stayed in Yuncheng, and he was worried that Lin Youwei would do something bad to Shen Qingtan.
Shen Qingtan noticed his hesitation and continued to persuade him, "Where I live, there are many secret guards protecting my safety. On weekdays, apart from going to the granary to check the grain, I don't go anywhere else. I'll just wait for your victory news in the mansion."
Then, she raised a few fingers to assure him, "Also, I test every meal for poison with a silver needle. If you're worried that the silver needle can only detect a few types of poison, then I'll have someone catch a few more rats and let them test the poison first."
It was precisely because of Shen Qingtan's guarantees that he spared Lin Youwei's life.
Now that Shen Qingtan is in trouble, was it her deliberate attempt to confuse the situation, or was it her negligence that caused her to be poisoned?
Zhao Yi didn't dare to think too much about it, and immediately opened the bundle, only to see several letters inside.
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At the same time, the commander of Ningcheng also received a letter sent by Lin Youwei. After reading the contents of the letter one by one, he went to the city wall in person and boarded the nest car to observe the enemy situation.
The nest car can accommodate two people and has twelve observation holes on all four sides.
The commander-in-chief observed Zhao Yi's army from the lookout hole and set up a number of tents on the open space nearby.
The guards nearby also saw this and asked anxiously, "Sir, could it be that Prince Guangling has expanded his army again? He's pitched dozens of new tents, and has added hundreds or even thousands of soldiers, right?"
Suddenly, the garrison saw that the horse pen opposite was full of darkness, as if there were many more war horses, and he couldn't help but curse in his heart.
The garrison commander wondered, "How could the Prince of Guangling, a mere prince, have so much money to buy food and war horses? Could it be that the Great Zhou is secretly supporting him?"
When the commander-in-chief heard the garrison's words, he took a closer look and found that the animals in the stable were not war horses, but cows.
The first thing he thought of was Lin Youwei's letter, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought: Could it be that Zhao Yi was worried about Shen Qingtan and had secretly returned to Yuncheng with a group of people?
Were they just worried about being discovered, so they deliberately arranged for the soldiers to set up tents and used large yellow cattle to pretend to be war horses in order to bluff and frighten them?
So that they dare not act rashly?
Thinking of this, the commander-in-chief ordered: "Continue to observe. If the enemy shows any abnormality, report to me immediately."
In his opinion, the war was so intense that even if Zhao Yi valued Shen Qingtan very much, he would not abandon his soldiers and return to Yuncheng. Even if he returned to Yuncheng, it would be for food and fodder, and because he was worried about the loss of the rear area, so he rushed back to redeploy.
After all, apart from fighting with them at the beginning, Zhao Yi and Wang Qiaoxin kept their troops inactive, clearly wanting to drag the battle until their food and supplies were exhausted so as to achieve victory without fighting.
In this case, Zhao Yi must ensure that they have enough food and supplies.
However, it cannot be ruled out that Zhao Yi took advantage of Shen Qingtan's accident, pretended to leave the front line, and tricked them out to kill them.
Therefore, before finding out the specific enemy situation, the commander-in-chief planned to keep his troops in place.
The garrison commander responded, "I obey your orders."
The commander ordered the soldiers to place all the crossbow carts and catapults on the city walls. He then arranged for some soldiers to be divided into four groups and ambush on the small roads around the city to prevent the enemy from outflanking them.
After making all the arrangements, the commander-in-chief returned to his residence and wrote a letter to Lin Youwei.
"Report—" the spy reported from outside the house, "Sir, the enemy has brought in heavy siege weapons and sent cavalry to challenge us before the battle, attempting to undermine our morale."
The commander-in-chief had a solemn expression on his face, and he was increasingly inclined to believe that Zhao Yi had secretly returned to Yuncheng. He deliberately asked Wang Qiaoxin, who stayed at the front line, to create confusion in order to confuse them.
Although he thought so in his heart, he knew very well that there was no room for error in marching and fighting, and he needed to be extremely cautious and not act rashly.
So he ordered: "Explore again."
In the evening, the spy reported: "Sir, I have discovered that the Prince of Guangling led a group of troops away from the front line at 3:00 PM."
After hearing the spies' report, the commander-in-chief was almost certain that the enemy was bluffing. He acted decisively and immediately summoned his officers and men to discuss battle strategy in front of a sand table, preparing to seize this opportunity to capture the enemy camp in one fell swoop.
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