Lu Bu's trusted confidant, carrying a secret letter, swiftly left the army and headed towards the capital, but was intercepted within Changzhou territory.
Xia Fan, dressed in black, looked at the young officer lying on the ground and ordered, "Take him away."
Two men in black appeared silently. One of them took a secret letter from the young officer on the ground, then carried him away and disappeared.
Another person brought a confidential letter to Xia Fan and asked, "Captain, how should we handle this letter?"
Xia Fan tore open the letter, glanced at it, and then put it back. "Send it back to the Princess, and tell her that everything is going smoothly here and we can proceed."
"yes"
Another familiar figure appeared quietly. "Lu Bu is already on his way to Jieyang."
Xia Fan said in a low voice, "We'll go too. We'll have to trouble Commander Zhan then."
Zhan Chi raised an eyebrow, "You want me to tie him up..."
Xia Fan touched his nose. "Your Highness still has use for Lü Bu, but Lü Bu is a straightforward person and I'm afraid he won't submit easily. It won't be easy for us to bring him back to Mianzhou..."
Zhan Chi said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, with me here, his safety isn't a problem."
Jieyang did not actually require a garrison, so Lü Bu did not bring many troops, only a few dozen junior officers.
They were stopped by a group of men in black dozens of miles away from Jieyang.
Lu Bu tightened the reins and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you people?"
Xia Fan, who was in the lead, said with a faint smile, "I am Xia Fan. I have met General Lü. My princess wishes to invite General Lü to a meeting..."
Lu Bu glanced around. "I've heard of the Princess Consort of Yan's close associates. Your ability to infiltrate Changzhou is indeed remarkable. However, you don't think you can take us down with such a small force, do you..."
Xia Fan said with a faint smile, "We sincerely wish to invite the general to our home; we have no intention of resorting to force..."
Lu Bu said in a deep voice, "I am only loyal to the imperial court. You may all return."
Located in Jieyang, and without a large army, the enemy, though few in number, was clearly capable of infiltrating this place. Moreover, their words were indeed very polite; he felt there was no need for a life-or-death struggle.
Xia Fan slowly began, “General, let’s not beat around the bush. You should be very clear about the attitudes of the court and the Prince of Yingchuan. Regardless of how this battle unfolds, do you think His Majesty will trust you or his father-in-law? Serving the court will only bury your potential… But our Princess Consort is different…”
Upon hearing this, the young officers behind Lü Buxian all showed some displeasure. The recent events, even they, let alone Lü Buxian, felt disheartened by what they had witnessed…
Xia Fan continued, "I can understand General Lü's loyalty, but how His Majesty obtained his position is something others may not know, but as the commander of Changzhou Guard, does the General not know either? Changzhou borders Yun and Ying prefectures, and the General must know more or less about what happened to the Princess Consort and the late Crown Prince in Yunzhou..."
Lu Fengxian sneered, "His Majesty may have seized the throne illegitimately, but aren't the Prince of Yan and his wife rebelling now?"
Xia Fan added casually, "It's about purging the court of corrupt officials, and suppressing the rebellion..."
Lu Bu waved his hand, "Forget all that high-sounding talk. It all boils down to that position. I only want to guard the place I'm supposed to guard. I have no interest in your power struggles. I won't reveal what happened today. You should leave now."
Xia Fan said with a half-smile, "Could it be that Jieyang is the place the general intends to defend...?"
Disappointment flickered in Lü Fengxian's eyes, but he said calmly, "That's our own business, no need for you to worry about it..."
Xia Fan shrugged helplessly, "It seems the general is determined not to be a guest..."
Upon hearing this, a hint of wariness appeared in Lü Fengxian's eyes. "You should know that with your small number of people, it's easy for you to get in, but it will be very difficult for you to leave if you want to do something..."
Xia Fan nodded. "The general is right, but that's not something for the general to worry about."
After saying that, he waved his hand, "Be polite, don't get hurt."
The men in black behind him then charged towards Lü Fengxian and his group in a well-organized manner. Just as Lü Fengxian drew his long sword, one of them suddenly descended from the sky and struck him in the back with a palm strike.
With their own general knocked unconscious, the junior officers had no will to resist, let alone the fact that they were completely incapable of doing so.
Zhan Chi, carrying Lü Fengxian, approached Xia Fan and said calmly, "Enough with the nonsense, we still have to tie him up."
Xia Fan shrugged. "Being willing is always better than being forced, isn't it? Besides, a few words of nonsense can buy time, so why not?"
Inside the Mianzhou City government office, a guard strode in, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, the secret letters from Captain Xia and Captain Lin have arrived."
Bai Chuxiao took the two secret letters, glanced at them, and then handed them to Yu Fengyang and the others standing nearby. "Pass the word down: attack Fengyun Valley tonight."
Yu Fengyang looked at the letter in his hand and said, "Xia Fan and Lin Huai are quite something. One of them could stop Lü Fengxian, and the other could infiltrate the enemy camp and bewitch Zhang Shaowei. Most importantly, Zhang Yu actually believed it..."
Murong Xuan smiled slightly, "Feng Yang doesn't understand. Smart people enjoy the feeling of outsmarting others and achieving victory by surprise. But the battlefield and the political arena are different. Zhang Yu suffered because of the cleverness of others."
Yu Fengyang said thoughtfully, "Hmm, according to the Princess Consort, this is called a scheme within a scheme."
Bai Chuxiao smiled faintly and remained silent, only turning her head to ask, "Cui Hao, how are your preparations going?"
Cui Hao said confidently, "Don't worry, Your Highness, this is our Azure Dragon Camp's first official appearance, and we certainly won't be underestimated."
Yu Fengyang raised an eyebrow, "Is it really okay for the Azure Dragon Camp to be the vanguard?"
Cui Hao said sinisterly, "Young Master Yu, we'll wait and see. Then you'll know whether my previous humiliating beating was real or not."
Yu Fengyang touched his nose. "You still remember? Do you have to hold a grudge like that?"
Bai Chuxiao smiled faintly, "Alright, given the terrain of Fengyun Valley, there's no better place for the Azure Dragon Camp to launch a vanguard attack than here."
In the dead of night, in the pitch-black Fengyun Valley, a troop of soldiers silently crept into the valley's rugged and narrow paths.
On the other side, another group of men in black moved through the mountains and forests like ghosts, seemingly unaffected by the darkness and the rugged mountain paths.
In the main camp at Fengyun Valley, apart from the footsteps of the patrolling and night watchmen, the entire camp was quiet.
Two young soldiers on the cliff edge stared wide-eyed at the valley floor not far below...
One of them couldn't help but frown at the young officer beside him and said, "I think I heard some noise down there, should we go check it out..."
"Forget it, it's the middle of the night, maybe it was posted by one of the guys down there."
"Too"
At this moment, at a sentry post at the bottom of the valley, several young soldiers had already fallen silently to the ground, each with a faint red mark on their neck, clearly a fatal blow from an extremely fast strike...
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