Rumors of food shortages quietly spread in Guangning City. The news was not groundless. Not long ago, most of the food and straw transported from the capital was robbed by the Duoyan Guards.

Liang Huiyong immediately came out to stabilize the army's morale, saying that there was enough food and fodder and that there was no need to spread rumors to shake morale. Then he secretly sent a letter to Han Zhaoxing.

Yan Sikong carefully crafted the letter, and in Liang Huiyong's tone, he explained the reasoning and appealed to Han Zhaoxing's emotions, so that Han Zhaoxing could persuade Zhuoletai to negotiate.

When Han Zhaoxing was still the general of Liaodong, Liang Huiyong's life was not satisfactory. In the first ten years, he was of low rank and did not attract Han Zhaoxing's attention. In the second ten years, he was promoted slightly because of his intelligence and prudence, but he was not reused as a former subordinate of Yuanmao. It was only after Zhao Fuyi came that he was allowed to show his strengths. However, he and Han Zhaoxing had been colleagues for many years, and only he could write this letter.

When Han Zhaoxing received this letter, he must have thought that the original intention of this letter was not from Liang Huiyong, but from the actual defender of Guangning today - Feng Ye. The peace terms mentioned by Liang Huiyong in the letter could only be afforded by Feng Ye.

A few months ago, Feng Ye had just ordered the extermination of more than 400 people from Han Zhaoxing's nine clans. Han Zhaoxing hated him to the core, and this letter would only be used to seek credit from Zhuoletai.

This is their purpose. What they need to do now is to guide Zhuoletai step by step. They believe that they will reach the end of the road.

They had also long since targeted Han Zhaoxing's spy in the city, and had unnoticedly leaked some information about food and fodder to him, all of which was detrimental to Guangning.

At the same time, they worked day and night to build the gable.

After making these preparations, they did not think that Zhuoletai would be easily fooled. Making Zhuoletai believe that Guangning was going to cut off the food supply was only the first step. As long as Zhuoletai could delay until the food supply was really cut off, he could take the city with the least sacrifice. To force him to attack by force, they had to lure him and force him. They had prepared both for Zhuoletai.

The New Year is approaching, but the city is in a state of desolation. The red added by window grilles and couplets barely adds a bit of color to the gloomy Guangning, but it cannot hide the panic of the people.

On this day, Yan Sikong was at home ordering the servants to clean the house inside and out. No matter how beset with enemies on all sides, the New Year had to be celebrated. If this was the last one, then he had to try his best to celebrate it well.

Normally Yan Sikong disguised himself in front of others. The servants and guards in the mansion were selected by Yuan Nanyu himself. They all knew Yan Sikong's background and identity. Only in this home could Yan Sikong temporarily take off his disguise and be himself again.

While they were busy, the doorman suddenly came to report that the Wolf King had arrived.

Yan Sikong saw that the doorman had a frightened look on his face and guessed that Feng Ye must have brought Feng Hun with him.

Sure enough, Feng Ye walked into the Yuan Mansion with the one-eyed giant wolf. Although Feng Ye's "One-eyed Wolf General" was as famous as the Feng Family Army, it was inevitable that people would be afraid if they saw a wolf as big as a tiger at close range.

"I've met the Wolf King." Yan Sikong bowed.

Feng Hun strolled around the courtyard by himself, and perhaps because he thought the space was too small, he quickly circled back between Feng Ye and Yan Sikong, scaring the servants in the courtyard so much that they dared not move.

"It's so cold, what are you doing standing outside?" Feng Ye looked at Yan Sikong with calm and gentle eyes, "Come with me into the house, I brought some good wine." He shook the thing in his hand, and it seemed that it was not just wine.

Yan Sikong didn't want to be alone with Feng Ye, but he had no other choice. Fortunately, Feng Hun was there. In front of the servants, he could only say, "Please, Wolf King."

The two of them entered the house. Feng Ye warmed up the wine himself, and then sat down on the warm kang. Feng Hun lay down on the warmest ground next to the fire pit. The man and the wolf felt like they had returned to their own home.

Yan Sikong stood aside: "I don't know if the Wolf King..."

"Come and sit down." Feng Ye pointed to the opposite side.

Yan Sikong hesitated for a moment and had to go and sit down.

Feng Ye's gaze fell on Yan Sikong's feet. Yan Sikong also lowered his head subconsciously and found that his boots were covered with a layer of snow and mud, and the toes were slightly pierced.

Feng Ye stood up, and before Yan Sikong could react, he bent down and squatted.

Yan Sikong was startled and was about to stand up, but Feng Ye held him back. He took off Yan Sikong's shoes and scolded him, "You are afraid of the cold, why don't you stay in the house?"

"Wolf King..." Yan Sikong felt uncomfortable and wanted to hide but there was nowhere to hide.

Feng Ye took off Yan Sikong's shoes, held his cold feet with his big hands, frowned and said, "Look at how frozen you are." He put Yan Sikong's feet on the kang, "Warm them up well."

Yan Sikong sat cross-legged, hiding his feet under the hem of his clothes, and whispered, "Why did the Wolf King come to my humble abode today?"

Feng Ye placed a large cloth bag on the table: "These are the rare medicinal herbs I ordered people to collect."

Yan Sikong looked at Feng Ye steadily. He had seriously warned Yuan Nanyu not to tell anyone, especially Feng Ye, about his injury.

Feng Ye explained, "I found out that Que Wang was looking for medicine everywhere. Those were all internal tonic herbs, not what he would use himself, so..." He looked at Yan Sikong with a worried look on his face, and said softly, "Kong'er, when I held you, I felt that you were much thinner than before. I was worried about your health."

"It's nothing serious." Yan Sikong said calmly, "He just thinks I'm too thin and wants to give me some conditioning."

"Just tell me what you need. Even if it's a dragon scale phoenix feather, I'll find it for you."

"Thank you, Wolf King. It's really not a big deal." Yan Sikong looked down at Hun'er on the ground.

Feng Ye sighed almost inaudibly: "How about we celebrate the New Year together this year?"

Yan Sikong did not answer.

"It's been a long time since we've celebrated the New Year together."

"I'm afraid no one will have a good New Year this year," Yan Sikong said.

"Good or bad, it's all one year." Feng Ye said bitterly, "Year after year, I'm almost thirty years old. From my youth to today, everything seems like a dream."

Yan Sikong felt a tightness in his chest.

"Last night, I received a reply from my uncle. He said he was trying to find a way to transfer grain, but the snow was too heavy this year. Even if he could transport the grain and fodder immediately and not be blocked by Zhuoletai again, by the time he got there..." Feng Ye shook his head, "it would be too late."

They had expected this, but Yan Sikong still felt heavy after hearing it in person. He asked, "Is there any movement in Taiyuan?"

"Always." Feng Ye said in a deep voice, "Chen Yi is obviously waiting for me to start a battle with Zhuoletai."

Yan Sikong nodded, not surprised. Everyone knows how to take advantage of someone's misfortune, but not everyone can be as ruthless as Chen Yi, who can sacrifice the vast territory of Liaoning and hundreds of thousands of people for the throne.

Perhaps Chen Yi was thinking that after becoming the emperor, he would deal with Zhuoletai at a later time. If he could mobilize the power of the whole country at that time, he would be more likely to defeat Zhuoletai than Feng Ye. However, no one could imagine what kind of poisoning and abuse would be suffered by Liaoning, which was occupied by Zhuoletai.

Looking back now, Yan Sikong couldn't tell whether Chen Yu was born like this or was he trained to be like this? In any case, the boy who once relied on him wholeheartedly and whose eyes would light up when he saw him was completely dead.

Feng Ye stood up and brought the warmed wine over, put it on the table, and slowly poured two cups: "Kong'er, try it. Take a sip and your body will be warmed up immediately."

Yan Sikong picked up the wine glass and drank it without hesitation. The strong liquor burned his throat, and after it went into his stomach, it was as if a fire had set his entire abdominal cavity on fire. His body suddenly felt hot and he felt very refreshed.

Yan Sikong said, "Good wine."

Feng Ye smiled slightly: "It's been a long time since we last had a drink together."

Yan Sikong felt that Feng Ye's mood today was a little strange, and he became suspicious: "Such good wine, why not save it for the New Year."

Feng Ye smiled at Yan Sikong, his eyes full of affection: "Being with you, every moment is as happy as the New Year."

Yan Sikong lowered his head and remained silent.

"Actually, I came here today to discuss serious matters with you." Feng Ye picked up the wine jug and filled two more glasses.

Hearing this, Yan Sikong looked at him again.

"Even if Zhuoletai believes that we have cut off the food supply, he will not attack the city. If we want to catch big fish, we must lay heavy bait."

Yan Sikong frowned. He didn't know how heavy the "bait" Feng Ye mentioned was, but his tone was very heavy. He felt nervous when he heard it: "What the Wolf King meant was..."

Feng Ye picked up the wine glass with his slender fingers and slowly brought it to his lips. He stared at Yan Sikong with his sharp wolf eyes and said fearlessly, "I." After that, he drank the wine in the glass.

Yan Sikong's expression changed. He grabbed the fabric of his gown tightly under the table with both hands and looked at Feng Ye deeply.

"Only if I tempt him with my benefits will he do something difficult instead of something easy."

Yan Sikong narrowed his eyes: "So many years have passed, and you are already the regent, but you still haven't restrained your arrogance in taking risks?!"

Feng Ye smiled slightly: "Are you worried about me, Kong'er?"

"You are the only hope of Liaodong. If anything happens to you..."

"Are you worried about me?" Feng Ye stared intently into Yan Sikong's eyes. "Not the Wolf King, not the Regent, but Feng Ye. Are you worried about 'me'?"

Yan Sikong clenched his fists.

Feng Ye's eyes were filled with unspeakable emotions. He whispered, "If you are worried about me, even just a little bit, can you tell me?"

Yan Sikong gritted his teeth secretly: "You can't be the bait, we can't take such a risk."

"This is the only way, otherwise Zhuoletai will not take the bait."

"There must be another way. Let me think about it..."

"Kong'er." Feng Ye emphasized, "I don't care about the risk. I promised you to guard Liaodong, and I will never break my promise to you. I just want to know if you are worried about me. Why do you keep avoiding the question and dare not tell me?"

Yan Sikong stared at Feng Ye in a daze, and for a moment he really didn't know how to answer.