In a guesthouse in southern Jiangsu.
A man in black said, "Master, Second Master and the others have been killed, the Prime Minister and his wife have been imprisoned, and the Prime Minister's residence has been destroyed."
Snap!
Li Chengye's face turned ashen, and he slammed his hand heavily on the table.
What a Ye Zhen! What a Shi Yan! What a great emperor!
These damned things have driven the Li family to such a state.
The man in black tentatively asked, "Master, are we going to rescue the Prime Minister?"
They were originally heading to the capital, but unexpectedly learned halfway there that their master had encountered an accident. Only then did they realize that the letter was fake, and their master immediately withdrew.
As for why they came to southern Jiangsu, it was because this was Ye Zhen's fiefdom, and Ye Zhen was the culprit who harmed the Prime Minister's mansion.
The master wants to take revenge on Ye Zhen!
But he also worried that his master might act impulsively and go to the capital to rescue people, which would be very unwise.
With hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the capital and the Prime Minister imprisoned on death row, rescuing him would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Li Chengye understood the difficulties involved, fearing that the emperor was keeping his parents alive just to lure him into a trap.
"Have you found out where Ye Zhen's estate is? How many people are still there there?"
The man in black hurriedly said, "I've found out. The manor isn't far from this inn. It's now under Ye Zhen's name, and everyone there is someone she trusts."
Over the years, in addition to her time on the estate, she also frequented the nunneries nearby, where she raised many children.
However, some time ago, she took everyone from the nunnery to the capital, leaving only two elderly nuns who were unwilling to leave their hometown to guard the nunnery.
"In other words, whether it's Zhuangzi or the two remaining at the temple, they are all Ye Zhen's people."
The man in black hurriedly agreed.
Li Chengye then asked, "Are there any other families who are on good terms with them?"
"During the years Ye Zhen lived in the manor, she did some business and had some business dealings, but I haven't found out that she has any other friends."
"Make preparations, we will capture Suzhou in three days."
If his father's affair is exposed, it will soon reach Xiyue, making it very difficult for him to secretly infiltrate Xiyue again.
Since we can't return to Xiyue, we might as well take a gamble in Dayuan, which is the only option we can take.
Over the years, to avoid attracting attention, his father kept him in the deep mountains, where he served as the leader of a mountain stronghold for many years, raising an army of 30,000.
Now that his father has fallen and the money supply has been cut off, the emperor will also be looking for him. He can't hide in the mountains any longer, and his 30,000 men need a place to survive.
Ye Zhen's back cover is a good choice.
"After entering the city, arrest all those connected to Ye Zhen, kill half of them as a deterrent, and keep the other half to exchange with the court for my father and mother."
"They're just people who know Ye Zhen. Will the court replace them?"
The man in black wasn't entirely sure.
Li Chengye narrowed his eyes. "If you won't exchange, kill me!"
But I felt that the possibility of changing was higher.
He had heard that the Emperor and Huo Zhan were both trying to curry favor with Shi Yan, and since Ye Zhen was Shi Yan's daughter, the Emperor naturally dared not underestimate her.
Besides, those people are still citizens of Dayuan, and the emperor cannot openly ignore their lives.
We have to give it a try!
Those below received the order and began preparations in earnest.
Li Chengye, however, remained disguised at the Sunan Inn.
That day, he received a reply from his subordinates that 30,000 troops had secretly arrived in the deep mountains outside the city of Su Nan, and were just waiting for nightfall to attack the city.
To be on the safe side, Li Chengye planned to personally go to the city to check everything to ensure that nothing went wrong.
After investigating, there was nothing unusual in the southern Jiangsu region, so Li Chengye went to the manor where Ye Zhen grew up.
Zhuangzi was an ordinary man. Now that winter was approaching, although the winter in the south was not as cold as in the north, the fields could not be cultivated and most people stayed indoors.
Li Chengye pretended to be a merchant buying grain and inquired about the situation on the estate with the estate owner. There were about forty people on the estate, with about twenty able-bodied men, who were not a threat.
Then they went to the nunnery, and indeed, just as the servants had said, there were only two old nuns there.
They all looked quite old, and their legs seemed heavy.
Li Chengye was about to return to the inn when one of the old nuns said, "Would you like to stay for a meal, benefactor?"
"Thank you for your kindness, Master, but there are quite a few of us, and we came at the last minute. Can the nunnery prepare so many vegetarian meals in such a short time?"
He suspected something was amiss; why would someone suddenly offer to keep a guest?
The old nun chanted a Buddhist prayer and smiled slightly, "Have you forgotten, benefactor? Today is New Year's Eve. Although there are only the two of us left in the nunnery, we have prepared a lot of food as usual."
This year, however, southern Jiangsu was designated as the fiefdom of Princess Zhaoning. The princess, showing compassion for the people, exempted them from taxes for the first year, making life easier for everyone. Therefore, they no longer came to the nunnery as often as in previous years.
Li Chengye understood.
The extra food was originally intended for the poor, but this year everyone is doing well, so fewer people are coming to the temple for meals, and there's an surplus of food.
He was displeased that the old nun had offered him alms, and he thought that once his army invaded southern Jiangsu, he would kill the old nun first.
But on her face she smiled kindly, "Thank you for your kindness, Master. Then we'll continue our chat."
Having just heard the old nun mention Ye Zhen, he must be quite familiar with Ye Zhen. He could take this opportunity to stay and learn more about Ye Zhen's situation, so as to know himself and his enemy.
Old Ni said that the people in southern Jiangsu were living so well that no one even cared about free food, something his men hadn't discovered before.
He also needs to figure it out.
But they didn't see the smile that appeared on the teacher's lips as she turned around.
“Benefactors, the food is all here. Please help yourselves to whatever you would like to eat. There is no need to be polite, but please do not waste food.”
Seeing that she seemed to be leaving, Li Chengye quickly pulled her aside to try and get information out of her. The nun didn't know if she was originally a mild-mannered person or if she had become like this after practicing cultivation.
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