fake prince

Chapter 1424 Human Hair Murderous Intent

As night fell, the moon was half hidden in the clouds, and from time to time the clinking of armor and the sound of gongs from patrolling camps could be heard.

Zhong Cui tightened his lips and glanced at the night sky without saying a word. He saw the lush mountains and the military tents complementing each other, but there was still a dead air in the air.

"Is it going to rain again? Big things are so difficult, the autumn wind and rain make people depressed!"

Zhong Cui originally thought that although the great cause was difficult, Ying State had been preparing for many years, and Cao Yiyan was not an ordinary monarch. More importantly, there were problems with the inheritance of Emperor Zheng, and there were many twists and turns, and there were even rumors of emperor and ancestor murder.

There was also the rebellion of the King of Qi and the internal cooperation of the King of Shu, which always managed to open up the situation. However, after a short period of opening, it was like falling into a quagmire. The more they struggled, the deeper they sank...

The army of 100,000 elite soldiers has recently experienced several incidents of desertion by members of its grain-collecting troop.

The army's morale is like this. What should we do?

Perhaps, we have no choice but to go all out as the king said?
I don't know how long it took, but a few drops of rain fell, and a soldier came out and said, "Sir, the king wants you to come into the tent to discuss matters!"

"I understand"

Zhong Cui responded, and soon after entering, he saw the personal soldiers standing on both sides of the tent, all of them holding their swords, looking solemn and murderous.

Fortunately, the morale of the personal soldiers is relatively stable.

Zhong Cui gathered himself at the entrance of the tent and said, "Military officer Zhong Cui, the chief priest, is here to see you!"

There was some noise in the tent, but now it was completely silent. After a while, Cao Yiyan's slightly hoarse voice was heard: "Come in!"

"Yes!"

Zhong Cui agreed and stepped into the tent. This was the main tent, which was very large but had no windows, so it looked dark and gloomy.

After calming himself down and bowing, he realized that Cao Yiyan was sitting in the middle with two guards standing behind him.

Next is the King of Shu.

The King of Shu seemed to have spoken, but at this moment he had no expression and his face was pale. However, Zhong Cui keenly noticed that his calves seemed to be trembling a little.

"Mr. Zhong!" Cao Yiyan looked quite calm and said slowly, "Please sit down. Continue talking!"

"Yes!"

The person who spoke was a general, with a stab wound on his face, and the scabs were still there: "The wolves of the pseudo-Zheng are biting hard, especially the two thieves Li Qian and Tian Wei, who are looking for opportunities to fight everywhere. When our main army retreats, our small forces fight. It's a headache."

"The key is that the king requires us to reach the capital quickly, but the army has no food. We have to collect food to eat. Once the food is collected, it will be dispersed, and there will be no small losses."

"If we stay and fight, we will be dragged down there"

"What's even more abominable is that the centurion Qian Gun rebelled and was promoted to a thousand-man by the pseudo-Zheng, causing some officers to go out to fight and never return."

"So far, more than 7,000 people have been dispersed!"

"Your Majesty, this has to be dealt with!"

"There are two centurions under my command who are shaking the morale of the army. I will immediately execute them in public!" The general said this with a vicious light in his eyes. After that, he saluted, but there was no response from inside the tent. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"I understand. You leave first!" Cao Yiyan said after a long time. When he saw everyone leave and there were only three people left in the tent, he spoke quietly.

"I have to say that Emperor Zheng is indeed intelligent"

"We can't advance, retreat, or defend, and even food is hard to collect."

"If this goes on, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the capital before our entire army is dispersed." Cao Yiyan said quietly with his eyes narrowed. Although his tone was calm, the King of Shu and Zhong Cui felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

Cao Yiyan asked Zhong Cui again: "Mr. Zhong, do you have anything to add?"

"I dare not!" Zhong Cui was deep in thought. At this moment, he leaned forward and said, "There is no good news, but there is some bad news."

"The false emperor said that Ying State has been conquered, but I don't believe it."

"But the false emperor said this, which clearly shows that my country has mobilized all its troops and is internally empty, so he attacked by sea. This has indeed hit the vital point. It is still okay now, but as time goes by, I am afraid that the false will become true."

"The current situation is like a Chinese chess player. It seems like he can still make a few moves, but in fact, the dragon has already been locked."

"We must fight tooth and nail to break this situation, otherwise, we will surely die."

Cao Yiyan waited for Zhong Cui to finish speaking, then gently said to the King of Shu: "We discussed all night last night, and we all feel that this is a matter of life and death. What do you think of my suggestion just now, King of Shu?"

The King of Shu turned pale and was stunned for a long time. He murmured, "Isn't this too dangerous?"

"Your Highness, this is of course dangerous, but there is no other way. Moreover, as the king of Ying, I am more dangerous than you."

"look"

Cao Yiyan pointed at the map with his stick and said, "All the counties along the way have stationed troops. We can capture them if we want, but we will suffer heavy losses if we do."

"If you want to leave, but you don't have any food, you have to requisition it. If you can't occupy the granary, you have to disperse your troops and requisition food from the people."

"Not only is there not enough food for the people, but each household only has about 100 kilograms, which is totally insufficient to supply the army. We have to send soldiers to collect food from large areas. This is also the main reason why our grain collection team has been ambushed many times."

Zhong Cui was speechless for a moment. It was indeed true.

If they could occupy a large granary, there would naturally be no need to send troops to collect grain. However, the large granaries were basically inside the city. Even if there were some outside, they would have been moved or even burned down.

If we want to collect grain from the people, we have to collect it from each village one by one. If the situation spreads too far, it will naturally give wolves the opportunity to attack us.

If we really want to conquer the county city, with the city, soldiers and food, it will take at least a month to finish the battle. By that amount of time, the army would have been worn out long ago.

Cao Yiyan paused, his voice becoming hoarse: "This is an open conspiracy, so I feel that Emperor Zheng is more sinister and cunning than the old emperor."

"We have to break this situation," Cao Yiyan said with a sneer, "To break this situation, you have to become emperor and share the imperial power of Zheng."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a muffled sound in the sky, dark clouds rose, and a gust of wind blew in, making people shudder all over. In the blink of an eye, a burst of rain swept by, followed by heavy rain, and it was dark inside and outside the tent.

"Is this a response from heaven?" The heavy rain hit the tent, making a loud noise. Then there was a flash of lightning, followed by a muffled thunder, which made people shrink in their hearts.

Cao Yiyan took a deep breath, looked up at the sky and saw the formation god appear. Then he continued calmly, his voice clearer in the rain: "I will take down the county city, and you will be crowned emperor in the county city. This will surely attract the attention of Emperor Zheng!"

"The fate of the world depends on Emperor Zheng alone. I will lead my own soldiers into the capital and kill this man. This will fundamentally break the dilemma!"

"As a king of ten thousand chariots, his guard is so strict that it is impossible under normal circumstances."

"But if you don't get the right position, there will be loopholes. I have already set up operations and ambushes in the capital, and there is also you - Your Highness the King of Shu - at this point, you have to pay out all your family assets!"

This means that the King of Shu will mobilize all his internal forces.

The King of Shu turned pale and swallowed his saliva. Under Cao Yiyan's gaze, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking out a piece of paper from his arms.

The paper was spread out on the table, and it turned out to be a list with hundreds of names and current positions densely written on it.

After unfolding it, the King of Shu calmed down. He picked up the pen and pondered for a long time, circled and drew on the paper, and then handed it to Cao Yiyan, saying: "These people can be used at ordinary times, but in such a big event, most of them are useless. It's not a matter of backbone or backbone, but a matter of life and death for each family."

"The people who drew the lines are in deep collusion with me, but without seeing me, I am afraid you may not be able to command them. At this juncture, it is hard to say if they have betrayed me. It all depends on the person."

"The people in the circle can't be separated from me at all. I can only sell my life to them, but there are only three or five people I can trust."

The King of Shu now understood that the situation had deteriorated to the point where the real intentions were exposed, so he said frankly: "I have hidden more than a dozen pawns in the palace, but now I don't know how many are left, and how many of them are trustworthy."

"You can try to contact him."

"What a great King of Shu!" Cao Yiyan read the list very quickly and lied secretly that the King of Qi had infiltrated the Wei Army, so the King of Shu was actually not a simple person either.

This list includes both internal and external parties. A small coup will be enough at a critical moment - the King of Shu also has the intention of coup!

After the King of Shu handed over the list, he asked, "To ascend the throne, you must at least have a county city. Which prefecture city is available now?"

"Don't worry about that. I saw that the situation was not right, so I handled it in advance. We had some accomplices along the way, and we also captured prisoners in battle. We also had a batch of Zheng army armor and flags. Due to frequent mobilization, it was impossible for the city to immediately inspect their authenticity."

"We only need to send some troops, disguised as reinforcements, to enter the palace."

"Most of them are suspected. Although they are only suspected and have not been captured yet, they have only sent people to investigate through the post station, but they are already useless."

"Only Shuyang Prefecture, the prefect is a loser, he didn't suspect anything, and he asked my detachment to guard the city gate."

"Shuyang Prefecture is not far away. We can slightly change our route, and then when we pass by, we can suddenly join forces inside and outside to occupy the prefecture, and then immediately declare ourselves emperor."

"With a city, troops, and food, we will be invincible in a short period of time." Cao Yiyan said, "And by becoming emperor, we can attract and cover up all targets, giving us the opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

At this point, Cao Yiyan's expression turned cold: "If I go down, I will die. If I fight like this, I still have a chance."

"As long as you can kill Ji Zizong, you will be the last prince of the late emperor."

"The imperial court's offensive will immediately ease or even collapse, and we can divide, recruit, and advance."

The King of Shu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then he breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, at this point, he had no choice but to fight.

Moreover, everyone took risks, but Cao Yiyan took a greater risk.

His life or death is uncertain when he goes to the capital. What else can I say?

The King of Shu thought about it and smiled through gritted teeth: "Since Your Highness Prince Ying has made up his mind, then it is settled. I wish Prince Ying success!"

A smile flashed across Cao Yiyan's face.

"Boom!!" Suddenly, there was another terrifying thunder, which shook the tent and made the King of Shu tremble all over!
Cao Yiyan, however, laughed loudly, looking up to the sky: "When the sky is filled with murderous intent, the stars will move and change their positions; when the earth is filled with murderous intent, dragons and snakes will rise from the land; when people are filled with murderous intent, heaven and earth will turn upside down!"

"Good rain, good wind, good thunder, just in line with the changing fortunes of heaven and earth!"

As he spoke, Cao Yiyan walked out of the tent quickly, looked up at the dark sky, and without hesitation, ordered: "Prepare my horse! Call up my personal soldiers immediately and follow me!"

"Yes!"

"The maintenance of the army is up to you, Mr. Quanzhang." Cao Yiyan's face was soaked by the rain, but he was as strong as iron: "I handed over the command to you and also gave you a warning. No one will disobey you."

"Yes, leave it to me!" Zhong Cui knelt solemnly and accepted the order. Cao Yiyan stopped talking. In the heavy rain, hundreds of riders quickly disappeared on the road.

"May God bless you, may our ancestors bless you!"

Zhong Cui did not stand up, but just murmured and kowtowed to the sky, leaving his forehead covered with mud and blood.