Ever since Chen Yi sent out his troops from Yongzhou, they have been ready for battle at any time, so the speed of preparing the troops this time was also very fast. Yan Sikong felt uncomfortable seeing that his troops were so well-trained, because this was all thanks to him and Yuan Nanyu, but now they were the ones who had to fight with Yuan Nanyu.

However, when he arranged for Yuan Nanyu to train soldiers for Chen Yi, he also left a lot of backup plans. Among the generals, Yuan Nanyu placed his own people. The recent news that Chen Yi was stepping up military preparations should have reached Yuan Nanyu's ears, and he could also pass the message through this person. Unfortunately, even he doesn't know Chen Yi's specific plan now.

Yan Sikong increasingly felt that Shen Hexuan's existence was a threat to him. Without Shen Hexuan, he could better control Chen Yu. He must wait for an opportunity to get rid of Shen Hexuan.

Within two days, Chen Yu came to Yan Sikong with a gloomy face and said that Feng Ye had sent someone to deliver a letter, willing to exchange Pingliang for Yan Sikong.

Hearing this name, Yan Sikong's heart twitched, but his eyelids did not blink and his expression remained normal.

"How dare he publicly ask for someone? This is ridiculous." Chen Yu said angrily, "Don't say that I can't hand the master over to him. Throughout history, I have never heard of anyone doing such a frivolous thing as asking for a city in exchange for a person. He is clearly cheating."

"Of course he is cheating." Shen Hexuan said, "Feng Ye will never hand over the city to Your Highness."

"How does he want to exchange?" Yan Sikong asked back.

"Why are you asking this, sir?" Chen Yu asked loudly.

"I just want to know what he's up to."

"I don't want to know." Chen Yu snorted coldly, "Maybe he is deliberately trying to provoke me."

Yan Sikong and Shen Hexuan looked at each other and roughly knew what the other was thinking.

Feng Ye's move was indeed to irritate Chen Yi and also to hint at him. It was up to Chen Yi to decide which city to take, Pingliang or Fengxiang. But now Feng Ye had pushed the word Pingliang in front of Chen Yi and even proposed to exchange this city for people. Chen Yi would naturally not agree and would feel deeply insulted. So he would most likely attack Pingliang and defeat Feng Ye's army.

Even though Shen Hexuan knew it, he would not remind Chen Yi in front of Yan Sikong. Once he reminded Chen Yi, Chen Yi might give up Pingliang, and then only Feng Xiang would be left.

Even if Chen Yi could think of this, he was afraid that Feng Ye would think the opposite and guess that he would abandon Pingliang and attack Fengxiang. Since no matter which one he attacked, the enemy might guess it, under such a hint, Chen Yi might simply choose Pingliang. If he captured Pingliang, he could also severely humiliate Feng Ye.

This move of attacking the heart is really amazing.

After Chen Yu calmed down, he seemed to realize something, and his brows furrowed even deeper: "Could it be that Feng Ye already knew that I was going to raid?"

"It can't be that fast. We just agreed on it."

"He doesn't know, but he may have a slight guess." Shen Hexuan said, "We can't take this person lightly. From today on, we must strictly check everyone entering and leaving the city. During the surprise attack, the news must not be leaked."

Chen Yi nodded: "It's freezing cold, so the march is slow, but it's also difficult for scouts to detect military intelligence, which is good for us."

"When does Your Highness intend to attack?" Yan Sikong asked.

Chen Yu replied: "Recently, the time has not been determined yet."

Yan Sikong sneered in his heart, it seemed that it would not be easy to get any information from Chen Yu. But it didn’t matter, as long as he was there, he would definitely protect Yuan Nanyu.

——

A few days later, when Chen Yi sent out his troops, Yan Sikong learned that Chen Yi's vanguard troops had already set out three days ago.

When they set out on the expedition, Yan Sikong had a blank expression on his face the entire day. After setting up camp, Chen Yi dismissed everyone in the central army tent, leaving only Yan Sikong, and asked tentatively, "Sir, are you irritated by me?"

Yan Sikong bowed and said, "If Your Highness does not trust me, why would you force me to stay by your side?"

"Sir, you misunderstood. I was really afraid that people would gossip and leak military secrets, not that I was on guard against you."

"Your Highness, you are probably treating me like a fool." Yan Sikong whispered, "I can guess what Shen Hexuan said to you."

Chen Yu sat down next to Yan Sikong. "Sir, you have been planning for Feng Ye for so long. It is understandable that Shen Hexuan suspects you. But I don't want to suspect you. It's just that the military situation is too dangerous this time. In order to ensure that everything is foolproof, I didn't tell you, nor did I tell anyone else."

Yan Sikong stared at Chen Yu and said softly, "Your Highness, I'm just... just scared."

"What are you afraid of, sir?"

"I'm afraid you'll treat me like Feng Ye did." Yan Sikong said with a wry smile, "On the one hand, you're on guard against me, and on the other hand, you want to use me. I really don't want to go through that kind of torture again, so I'd rather have nothing and just stay away from disputes."

Chen Yu looked at Yan Sikong's desolate expression and couldn't help but feel heartbroken: "I will never hurt you like Feng Ye did. I said that I treat you like a treasure, but... I just hope that you can respond to me."

Yan Sikong turned his face away slightly.

"Sir, you are a smart man." Chen Yu held Yan Sikong's hand, "You won't think about the people who hurt you, but will push away the people who are sincere to you."

Yan Sikong pulled Chen Yu's hand away and said, "Your Highness, there has always been only a teacher-student relationship between you and me. I no longer wish to have such entanglements with others. I hope Your Highness will keep your promise."

Chen Yu lowered his head in disappointment, with anger and unwillingness flashing in his eyes. As his power and military strength grew, he could no longer tolerate Yan Sikong's repeated rejections, especially when his opponent was Feng Ye.

Chen Yu took a deep breath and said, "In short, please don't worry about it. You are the person closest to me and no one can replace you."

"But His Highness refuses to let me know the military situation." Yan Sikong laughed mockingly, "Since I have decided to stay and help His Highness, how can I let His Highness win? But His Highness is hiding everything from me. What can I do?"

Chen Yu hesitated for a moment: "Actually, there is nothing to hide from you, sir. The vanguard has already led 30,000 soldiers and horses to transport food and fodder. After leaving Jiuhuai Mountain, I will decide whether to go to Pingliang or Fengxiang. I can't tell you this, sir. It's not that I'm deliberately hiding it, but I haven't decided yet."

Yan Sikong nodded: "Where are the enemy troops?"

"The scouts just brought back new news. Yuan Shaoxu has been promoted to lieutenant general of Quewang. He is finally being reused."

"What?" Yan Sikong's face changed.

Chen Yu thought Yan Sikong still had a grudge against Yuan Shaoxu: "I know you must want to know about him, don't worry, I will lead them to try to capture him alive and leave him for you to deal with."

Yan Sikong clenched his fists tightly in his sleeves, and felt a tightness in his chest.

A lieutenant general is a deputy general, and is extremely important in an army. How could Yuan Nanyu give his deputy position to Yuan Shaoxu? !

He didn't think that Yuan Shaoxu's actions were inappropriate because he hated him - he did hate him, but what worried him most was that Yuan Shaoxu was too ambitious and unworthy of his position.

Letting Yuan Shaoxu be the lieutenant general is definitely not a good thing for Yuan Nanyu.

But he could also imagine why Yuan Nanyu did this. Yuan Nanyu's former lieutenant general was promoted and was assigned to Fengxiang to defend the city. With the position vacant, Yuan Shaoxu would certainly use family ties to demand it. Yuan Nanyu valued friendship too much, and he also felt that Yuan Shaoxu was not incompetent and could be trained, so...

If Yuan Shaoxu could really follow orders, perhaps nothing would go wrong, but I'm afraid this person has evil intentions.

Yan Sikong asked, "Your Highness, have you bought Tong Yuan Shaoxu?"

"But at that time..." Chen Yu felt a little guilty, "Shen Hexuan colluded with him to alienate you and Feng Ye, but Yuan Shaoxu had no intention of betraying his master."

Yan Sikong stared at Chen Yu: "Your Highness did not lie to me, did you?"

"Absolutely not." Chen Yu said hurriedly.

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and said, "That's good. Otherwise, if this person is still useful, it would be difficult for me to deal with him."

"This person is jealous of the virtuous and capable, and he even betrayed his sworn brother. Even if such a villain wants to surrender to us, we cannot trust him."

Yan Sikong sneered, "When I was young, I respected him as my elder brother and obeyed his orders, but he never treated me well. I was always blamed in front of him, and he even kicked me out of the house when I was only thirteen years old. I let him work for Feng Ye out of brotherhood, but he couldn't change his nature. He thought I hindered his future and framed me..." At the end, the half-truths in his words also made Yan Sikong angry, "If he falls into my hands this time, I will never let him off."

Chen Yu comforted him, "Sir, please calm down. I will do my best to catch him alive and send him to you for punishment."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Yan Sikong thought for a moment and then said, "By the way, how did Your Highness reply to Feng Ye?"

What Yan Sikong was referring to was, of course, the incident in which Feng Ye asked to exchange Ping Liang for him.

"I ignored him." Chen Yu asked, "Sir, how do you think I should respond?"

"Why not promise him to withdraw his troops from Pingliang immediately, and then you can send me to him tied up."

"Cheat him?"

Yan Sikong sneered and nodded: "Just tell him that as long as he withdraws his troops, I will be sent to Pingliang immediately. In this way, he will be full of suspicion. Maybe while he is still thinking, our army will arrive and kill him by surprise."

"Okay, let's confuse his mind. I'll send a messenger right away."

Yan Sikong saw Chen Yi's worried look and thought that Chen Yi was almost certain to attack Ping Liang. People have the habit of preconceived ideas. Feng Ye and he have repeatedly mentioned Ping Liang in front of Chen Yi many times, making Chen Yi feel that Ping Liang is more important than Feng Xiang. Taking Ping Liang can severely humiliate Feng Ye, and Ping Liang is even 30 or 40 years closer to Feng Xiang. No matter how he weighs it, it is difficult for Chen Yi to bypass Ping Liang and choose Feng Xiang.

What he has to do now is to find a way to reveal the news to Yuan Nanyu, and at the same time remind Yuan Nanyu to be careful of Yuan Shaoxu.