Go tricks
The border between Huan Dynasty and Xuanmo and Donglan is long and the terrain is complex, making it difficult to achieve comprehensive defense.
The Xuanmo people took advantage of this rugged and difficult-to-travel but easy-to-hide terrain to slowly send spies into the surrounding villages and eventually penetrate into various parts of the country to steal the information they wanted to know.
After obtaining the intelligence, they planned to capture Huandu in one fell swoop in the Battle of Shenjiang. However, they failed in the end. The Duke Xian volunteered to turn the tide with a dangerous strategy and resisted their offensive.
The halberd was lost but the spear was found, and the late Duke also died heroically on that border.
After the turmoil subsided, Emperor Changde changed the way borders were guarded because of this battle. He selected several villages that needed to be strictly guarded and ordered heavy patrols. The border guarding around Huan Dynasty was much stricter than before.
This change reorganized many remaining party soldiers, and the people lived in peace and stability for several years, but then another incident occurred.
There were problems in the villages that were under close guard on the border.
One of the heavy soldiers was the first to discover the abnormality in one of the villages when he was changing shifts. As the matter was of great importance, he immediately reported it to his superior.
A group of young and middle-aged people disappeared from a strictly guarded village overnight. Isn't this a case of poor supervision?
To make matters worse, the commander was racking his brains over how to report this terrible incident to the emperor. He thought of conducting a secret investigation himself and finding a good way to tell the emperor, but then a heavy soldier on the other side reported a similar incident to him.
With several incidents happening at the same time, if the disappearance was not reported, the officer would be in trouble. So he wrote a document overnight and took the information to the official who was delivering the information in the middle of the night, reporting the events that had happened in the past few days to the capital.
The information was transported extremely quickly and was delivered to Chongde Hall not long after.
The thick ink characters on the yellowed paper were reflected in Emperor Changde's pupils.
“My supervision was not strict enough, which led to the attack on the village and only a few people remained.
We are now requesting reinforcements to search for the bandits and ensure peace in the area."
The official who went to report was aware of the seriousness of the matter and was afraid that Emperor Changde would get furious and implicate him after seeing it. After delivering the border intelligence, he didn't even dare to raise his head and knelt down.
The location of the village where the accident occurred was next to Donglan, with whom the relationship was tense. The content written on the paper was like a provocation from Donglan, and the missing villagers were the palm after the provocation, which hit Emperor Changde's face hard.
Emperor Changde was furious all night, but the army he sent to search could not find any trace of the murderer. In the end, the matter was forgotten and no one dared to bring it up again.
Five years have passed in a flash.
Although Xi Zhen had never seen the appearance of the people who disappeared that year, he had also looked up some relevant documents at Xiao Yingzhu's instruction.
Having witnessed Xizhen's photographic memory in the past few days, Xinfeng now dug up this old story that had been forgotten for many years from his memory. When he connected the two, he opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"Is this true? What a coincidence?"
Why did you appear at this time?"
“Why do they take villagers as believers?”
If the followers of this kind of rabble cult were to be placed in the relevant military, they would probably be people who would not rebel and had been adopted since childhood.
But these villagers are originally from Dahuan, so why would they think of using them as spies?
Xizhen's gaze slightly shifted away from the villager and turned his head to look at Xinfeng.
The torches on the stone wall flickered with bright light, and his flawless eyebrows were covered with a very light shadow under the light and shadow. The trade wind shone through the light and met the black and white pupils of Xizhen, and from the bottom of his heart he had the illusion that he had seen a ghost.
“…”
The basement was already so quiet that no one could hear his voice. After he asked the question, the silence became even more terrifying. After the two looked at each other for a moment, Xinfeng felt his whole body go cold at Xizhen's cold and lonely gaze like a snake.
Seeing that the other party had no intention of talking, Xinfeng supported his arm uncomfortably, with a tentative confusion in his eyes.
"...Xi Changshi, I'm asking if there is anything wrong?"
The crackling of firewood was accompanied by the shallow breathing of the person in front. Xizhen stared at Xinfeng for a few seconds, and after making up his mind, he slowly curled his lips.
"These people only serve as insiders, arranged to facilitate the infiltration of spies. Naturally, there is no need to spend money on carefully cultivated believers."
"As for being discovered, they can simply commit suicide. This will not leave any traces for investigation."
The information contained in the extremely light words is of paramount importance. Even the breathing that is clearly audible due to the extreme silence is like a drumstick, hitting the eardrums of the trade winds again and again.
Inside?
Then who came in?
Enemy spy?
Then what's the point of blocking important information routes at this time?
Does the master want to lure you into a trap and catch you all in one fell swoop?
His head was in a mess. Xinfeng opened his mouth and was about to say something when the door of the interrogation room behind him creaked.
Matsukipe raised his hand to pick up the veil and shook his head silently. The secret guards at the side carried out the spy, whose mind was gradually becoming unclear, and locked him up in a cell nearby.
This means that no useful information is obtained.
Xizhen looked as if he had expected this. He lowered his eyes to glance at the other spies who were slumped on the ground, sighed softly, and there was no trace of pity in his tone.
"These people are just left here, they are useless."
After being away from the forest for a long time, most of the spies in the cell seemed to have turned on a switch to scratch their heads. They all leaned on the ground and rubbed the stone slabs, as if they had a strange itch on their bodies and tried to relieve the itch through the rough pain of friction.
Thinking of the young and middle-aged people who disappeared mysteriously after the attack, leaving only lonely old people and an empty village, Xinfeng's eyes flashed with a trace of pity.
"The Wumi people are divided into different levels. Low-level believers who are not recognized by the leader are treated like livestock. They are usually only given a few secret pills made by Donglan witch doctors to keep them alive, and they do dirty and heavy work.
They normally look normal, but once they fail to take the secret pills on time, their bodies will experience abnormal symptoms, including coughing up blood, itching, convulsions, and abdominal pain..."
"Only Mimaru can save them."
Xizhen could guess what was in his mind, so she started to explain more, but there was an unstoppable chill in her words, like a basin of cold water poured on a heart that had just warmed up a little but was full of compassion.
There was no secret pill and the iron door to the basement was locked tightly.
They had no chance to escape.
Xinfeng glanced at the spy who was originally a citizen of the Huan Dynasty again, and his slightly moved expression returned to his original indifference.
He turned around and signaled the secret guard who had just assisted Matsukuni in the interrogation to check the door lock again. Then he calmed down and did not stay here for a moment. He went straight back to the ground along the stone stairs he had just come down.
——
After blocking the information on several important routes and completing the mission of this trip, Xinfeng was about to say goodbye to Songchui and Xizhen, and return to report to Xiao Yingzhu with the information on the completed mission.
Songchui will then follow the other clues obtained during the blockade of the route to track the spy and reunite with Mo Qing.
Xizhen will go to Cang County to continue investigating the Wu Mi people with Xuangui.
Before leaving, Xinfeng seemed to remember something and turned to Xizhen, who had only been on the mission with him for a few days, and asked:
"By the way, I was just about to ask you. How do you know so much about the Wu Mi people?"
Xizhen had her back to the bright moonlight, and her beautiful face seemed a little dull in the dimness due to the angle of the light.
As soon as the question was asked, the tone of his answer seemed to have put away the unfathomable viciousness, and it was a little bit calm and gentle, with a dark and profound meaning that was difficult to explore.
"I grew up among the Wumi people."
——
The tea on the table is cooling.
Jiang Nian listened quietly to the general reasons of the Wu Mi people, and finally his thoughts returned to the original topic.
"Your Excellency is saying that those outsiders are ordinary people from the Huan Dynasty who believe in the Wumi Sect. They came to Pingzhou because they believed the words of the Wumi Sect's goddess and are preparing to spread the concept of their sect?"
These people actually believed that a war was going to start because of a word from the goddess Xuzi Wuyou, and ran across most of Huandu to Pingzhou, hoping to spread the news at some point and cause panic.
But this is from her perspective.
If we look at it from the perspective of ordinary believers, it is probably because the goddess has designated Pingzhou as a holy place, and the sect's philosophy needs to be brought there to inspire people, so that everyone can believe in Wumi religion, listen to the oracles that the goddess heard from the gods, and gain immortality.
The oracle read, "The drums of war are about to beat, gentlemen, do not be afraid. We, the Wu Mi people, wish to share what we have learned and reveal the secrets of the heart, so that you may obtain the secret of immortality before the battle."
So these outsiders came to Pingzhou to send "blessings".
Outside, the cool wind caused the raindrops to break off and scatter on the table. Jiang Nian suddenly shivered, and the window beside him was closed.
The inadvertent sound of the window closing brought her back to her senses, and she suddenly saw Xiao Yingzhu in front of her, looking at her nonchalantly with her head tilted.
That beautiful face that usually had an extremely aggressive look had softened a little on her face. At this moment, she looked like the jade-like cat that one occasionally saw in the courtyard, lazy and leisurely, beautiful and pretty.
But in a moment of distraction, it seems like the bright red poppy, hiding a dangerous poison.
Jiang Nian thought it was just an illusion, but seeing his dark, nonchalant eyes with a hint of tenderness, she couldn't take her eyes off him.
The thoughts that were just mixed up in my mind became inexplicably clear at this moment.
——Since he is aware of the identity of the outsiders, he also has corresponding countermeasures.
That is the same position as Emperor Changde.
And he would use another piece of information to tell her his position in the court. Was it because he wanted to reassure her that he was using facts to prove himself?
As soon as this thought came to mind, Jiang Nian felt inexplicably confused, and the well-organized thoughts in his mind suddenly became chaotic and difficult to follow.
Not knowing why he had such a misleading thought, Jiang Nian blinked and then gently shifted his gaze to the side.
Halfway through the conversation, the moonlight outside the window gradually moved from the opposite side to Jiang Nian's side.
Her fair, smooth face was as flawless as jade. Her slender, long eyelashes, slightly drooped due to the turbulent emotions in her heart, cast a very light shadow under her eyelids, making her soft face look like peach.
The bone-chilling cold in the room seemed to warm up because of her changing expression. The sudden silence on the table seemed to be trying to conceal someone's thoughts, just like the tea in the cup, which was bitter at first and then sweet, growing secretly in the tacit tranquility between them.
Perhaps realizing that her reaction and expression might make the relationship between her and Xiao Yingzhu become intimately intertwined and ambiguous, Jiang Nian straightened her face, suppressed her suddenly beating heart, ignored the quietly changing atmosphere, and returned to the main topic.
Since Xiao Yingzhu and Emperor Changde have the same stance, the court officials should not be afraid of him. After all, no matter how cruel he is, they will not be the ones to do it.
But why are those officials afraid?
And the spies from Yuejiang Pavilion.
Since he came to inquire for a purpose related to Xiao Yingzhu, the information he said would not be as thin as a wing that would break with a single poke.
Instead, they are using this statement to sow discord based on existing reality.
Considering the reactions of court officials, the spy's words do have a certain degree of truth.
From Xiao Yingzhu's perspective, he and Emperor Changde were on the same page. And since Emperor Changde had entrusted him with the mission, he also recognized Xiao Yingzhu.
However, those officials would think that Xiao Yingzhu had a bad relationship with Emperor Changde.
Jiang Nian suddenly remembered a word that he hadn't thought of for a long time.
Fierce battle in Shenjiang.
But now is not the time to ask this question.
Since Xiao Yingzhu can prove his position with Emperor Changde from other sources, then asking this question in the past tense would be a bit lenient.
What's more, this battle...also involves the former Duke.
Although he was getting closer to Xiao Yingzhu, since this was related to family matters, it was better not to ask.
Jiang Nian's chaotic heart calmed down because of these thoughts, and he raised his eyes again.
Xiao Yingzhu was still nonchalantly waiting for him to ask a question, but in vain he met his dark, seemingly substantial gaze. Jiang Nian resisted the urge to look away again, pondered for a moment, and then asked:
"Jiang Nian is very grateful that you are willing to answer three points of my questions today."
"Now Jiang Nian has another question to ask."
Her eyes met with Xiao Yingzhu's across the table. Jiang Nian understood that he still wanted to ask the question herself, and there was a hint of sharp inquiry in her eyes.
"My insect repellent is in your bureau."
"Can it be described as a complex chess game?"
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