Chapter 780: Break Through and the Beautiful Lobbyist (IV)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The spy was hiding among the survivors of the Wolong army?
Everyone’s hearts jumped in shock when they heard this. Only Feng Zhen and Yang Si remained calm. It seemed as if they’d already suspected this.
Li Yun was a curious boy who immediately asked questions about topics he didn’t understand. He asked in shock, “If the spy is among the survivors of Wolong, they must be insanely brave. The person drugged people, caused the death of Wolong’s chief, and the deaths of almost 10,000 soldiers… yet you’re saying he’s still confident enough that he won’t be exposed?”
Meng Hun didn’t answer Li Yun’s question and instead said, “Cai Xiang is the only surviving descendant of the Wolong Chief, it’s safe to say that he’s the second most important person besides the chief himself. Did the enemy not ambush at night to kill both the father and son? If Cai Xiang is left alive, there’s no guarantee that Cai Xiang won’t raise his own army and nourish them for a few years, then gather up his father’s old subordinates and seek revenge. If they don’t destroy the root of this problem, there will be more problems later.”
Li Yun listened carefully to Meng Hun’s words.
Even though Meng Hun didn’t normally speak up and had a very weak presence around people, his knowledge was vast and he was very experienced. This made him a great model for younger soldiers to follow.
Meng Hun continued, “It’s one thing if the battle turns into a stalemate. It’d still be possible to break through with a win-or-die attitude if you can find a weak spot. However, according to what that person said earlier, the enemy is very aggressive and is clearly much stronger than their troops. In order to find a way to break through this situation, they would need to bring several elite soldiers to escort the young master, which means that the possibility of successfully breaking through the battle is much lower. Even if they do manage to get out of the situation, the pursuing troops from behind would not let them go easily…”
If the differences in power between the two troops weren’t too great, centralizing the troops for a more aggressive counterattack could bring the chance of success of breaking through to over fifty percent.
If the difference was too great, one side would beat down the other. If the weaker side tried to break through the ambush, it would only accelerate their eventual fall.
Aside from talking about success rates of breaking through an ambush, even if they did break through, the troops that followed behind them would not let them go very easily.
Killing the Chief of Wolong wasn’t enough. In order to fully annihilate this military force, they could not let Cai Xiang escape.
If they let Cai Xiang go, Cai Xiang could reorganize his father’s old army. Even as a young master, he could still bring a lot of trouble to his enemies.
Li Yu finally realized this and attempted to get a confirmation from Meng Hun. “So what Officer Meng is saying is that when we found the survivors of Wolong, it was abnormal that we didn’t also find any signs of pursuers. That’s why Officer Meng suspects that there’s a hidden agenda, correct?”
Meng Hun nodded and said, “If it was me, I’d most definitely send out troops to chase after Cai Xiang. If they let a small team of only a few dozen men escort the young master to safety, it will seem a little too obvious. However, I still suspect that the spy is hiding among them. That would explain why the enemy troops aren’t worried about Cai Xiang’s whereabouts, and why they let him escape. If Cai Xiang and his group ran into other allied forces and asked for help, would the forces that took them in suspect that there was anything wrong with the group of survivors?”
Chills ran down the spines of the generals that were present. It that was the case, they naturally wouldn’t suspect that anything was wrong with Cai Xiang’s group.
To put it bluntly, Cai Xiang was merely a pitiful child who could only survive with the help of others. Who would ever suspect him or his servants?
Many audience members in the livestream also felt like they didn’t have enough brain cells to comprehend this. The tricks were getting more and more complicated.
Sanlintang Pickles: Wait, really? There’s a spy among the people the host saved?
Liulian Guihua Cake: Normal people naturally pity the weak and don’t usually guard against them. Who would think that there would be an enemy spy hiding within the survivors they saved? If they aren’t careful, they might end up falling into the same trap and face the same fate as the Chief of Wolong.
Coconut Juice Dadan: If that’s the case, the host needs to be careful. If she doesn’t find that spy, she’ll never be able to sleep soundly again!
There was a lingering fear in the hearts of the audience members as they imagined their beloved Jiang Pengji falling into a trap and getting stabbed in the back.
Li Yun’s face turned pale as cold air ran up his body. He said, “If that’s true, then they really won’t have their guards up.”
“Hmph.” Dian Yan let out a rough snort. “Those traitors want to do the same thing to us and use the same shady strategy against.”
“The strength of a plot isn’t in whether it’s a brilliant plan or not. As long as it works in the end, that’s all that matters.” Feng Zhen’s gaze landed on Jiang Pengji as he said, “My lord, we should send someone out to investigate Cai Xiang’s group. Maybe we can find out if anyone brought sleeping herbs and powder made from datura metal with them. That person must be the spy!”
Jiang Pengji nodded and said, “Let the medics check. Remember to not create a commotion. No one should know what we’re doing.”
Just as the strong wouldn’t purposely keep their guards up against the weak, the injured soldiers wouldn’t purposely keep an eye on the medics who had saved them.
The medics working for Jiang Pengji were mostly female soldiers. They were just as tough and strong as men. As women, they could use the fact that people dropped their guards around them more easily to their advantage.
Not long after, their reports were sent back.
“My lord, these are cloth packets that we found inside the clothing of two people. The two were quite alert, so it took us a bit of effort to retrieve these.” A female doctor pulled out two small gray packets from her sleeves and opened them up to reveal their contents. “The palace commander already looked at it. These are powders created from sleeping herbs. They’re much stronger than normal sleeping herbs.”
The other packet was filled with a different colored powder. Of course, it was powdered datura metal.
Now, they had the evidence they needed to support their suspicions. There were indeed spies among the survivors.
Dian Yan frowned as he asked, “My lord, if we throw all this powder into some food, how many people could we drug with it? The smell is quite strong, won’t the soldiers notice it? If the food has a strange taste, they will most definitely grow suspicious…”
Jiang Pengji smiled and said, “When soldiers cook, they always use big bowls and pans. Plus, they eat rough food, nothing too fancy. Why would they bring up a bit of weird taste? What’s more, the enemy doesn’t need to drug everyone in the army, they just need these people to feel physically exhausted. They must have been very careful to avoid being found out. That’s exactly why the Chief of Wolong fell prey.”
“Is my lord planning on capturing the spies?” Li Yun asked.
“We don’t want to alert the enemy.” Jiang Pengji shook her head and gestured for Li Yun to remain calm. “The spies are our enemy’s tools to infiltrate us, but if we use them properly, they can also be tools for us. It simply depends on how we play this game from now on.”
Jiang Pengji secretly sent someone to keep an eye on the spies while they continued onward in their journey. They didn’t notice anything strange along the way.
Not long after, she ran into a difficult problem.
“Jiamen Gate has fallen…”
Jiang Pengji’s expression darkened and grew grim as she saw the flag hanging above Jiamen Gate’s entrance.
Everyone was shocked. Jiamen Gate was a considerably safe gate in Dongqing. It was easy to defend and difficult to invade.
Within only a few months, it had turned into a heated battlefield for Prince Changshou, the allied troops, and the enemy troops before them. Their warfare had completely stripped it of its reputation as an impenetrable fortress.
“My lord, what should we do? Jiamen Gate wasn’t just a required passage into Chenzhou, it was also a passage for us to return to Wanzhou. Jiamen Gate had already fallen! If we want to pass through, we may have to force our way in.” Meng Hun suddenly felt a headache starting.