"Big Brother! You've finally arrived! "
On the road two li to the south of Taiyuan City, Dugu Feiying had arrived with three Imperial Army soldiers and was about to welcome Dugu Xin's group. Dugu Feiying hurriedly stepped forward.
Upon seeing his big brother, Dugu Feiying inexplicably felt a sense of relief. This was the trust he had built up in Dugu Xin as a child! Although Sourcepeak City was in a perilous situation, he was confident that with Dugu Xin here, those demons and monsters hiding in the shadows would be exposed!
"Mm!"
Dugu Xin nodded and went straight to the point. "What is the situation in Sourcepeak City?"
Dugu Feiying's face instantly turned grim, and after a few moments of silence, he said, "Big Brother, the situation in the city is not optimistic! Yesterday, after we entered the city, we began to secretly investigate the new guests of the inn. In the end, we discovered a Turkic merchant disguised as a Han. His name was Zhu Hongsheng, and his movements were extremely suspicious, so I sent people to keep an eye on him.
"Today, that Turkic merchant went to an ironware shop in the city, but not long after, that merchant and the shop's owner and workers all disappeared into thin air under the eyes of our brothers. Later, through investigation, we discovered that there was a secret passage in the ironware shop that led directly to another house to the west of the ironware shop. The Turkic merchant and the ironware shop's workers had escaped through that secret passage, but by the time our men reached the house on the other side of the secret passage, there was not a single person inside!
At the time, I felt that there was something wrong with that Turkic merchant and the shopkeeper of the smithy, that they were probably spies the Turks had planted in Sourcepeak City. Thus, I had Zhang Dafu and the others pursue the two of them! But my manpower was limited, and finding the two of them in Taiyuan City in a short amount of time was far too difficult. It just so happened that at noon, the head of the Wang Clan, Governor Wang Yu of Suizhou, returned to Taiyuan. Thus, I went to the Wang Clan to request assistance from Wang Yu, hoping that the Wang Clan's guards could join us in pursuing that Turkic merchant and the shopkeeper of the ironware shop … "
"What? You went to the Wang Clan to ask for reinforcements? Does this mean that Governor Wang already knows that Your Highness has come to Sourcepeak? "
Hearing this, Dugu Xin's face was filled with shock. He interrupted Dugu Feiying and questioned.
Hearing Dugu Xin's unfriendly tone, Dugu Feiying couldn't help but shrink his neck in fear.
"Eh, Big Brother, Provincial Governor Wang is a member of the Imperial Family, and his son, Wang Renbiao, is on good terms with the Marquis of Yong 'an. Be it for public or private reasons, he should stand on our side on this matter! Moreover, the situation at the time was truly urgent. If I hadn't been able to quickly track down that Turkic merchant and the owner of the ironware shop, they might have escaped the city, making it even harder to capture them … "
At this point, Dugu Feiying didn't dare to continue because he noticed that Dugu Xin's face was ashen.
"Nonsense!"
Hearing this, Dugu Xin couldn't help but reprimand in a low voice, "The objective of His Highness's expedition to the north is a top secret among top secrets. How could you tell others so easily? If Your Highness falls into danger because of this, not to mention me, even Father won't be able to protect you! "
"Uh … Big Brother, what should we do now?"
Dugu Feiying hesitated for a few moments before asking.
Dugu Xin helplessly said, "Now that things have come to this, there's no point in saying anything more. For now, we can only take things one step at a time! Continue speaking. After you asked the Wang Clan for help, did you manage to capture that Turkic merchant called Zhu Hongsheng and the owner of the ironware shop? "
Seeing that Dugu Xin had no intention of pursuing the matter, Dugu Feiying breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Strangely enough, after Provincial Governor Wang agreed to help us, quite a few factions appeared in Taiyuan City, both on the surface and in the shadows. Countless people were searching for the Turkic merchant and the owner of the ironware shop, but even so, we were unable to capture them. However, we managed to capture their retainers!
Through torture and interrogation, we learned from those retainers that the Turkic merchant was called Zhu Xicheng, a member of the Shatuo Tribe. The owner of the ironware shop was called Kang Changan. This man has always been mysterious, and very few people know of his background. In the end, with the help of the bookkeeper of the ironware shop, we managed to obtain the books of the ironware shop, but … but the process did not go smoothly … "
At this point, Dugu Feiying briefly told Dugu Xin about how the key witness, Zhu Huaiqing, was killed and the account books were almost completely burned. After listening, Dugu Xin deeply furrowed his brows. At this time, he realized just how complicated the current situation in Sourcepeak City was. It was as if there was an invisible hand controlling everything in the dark. The other party had probably laid down a dark net in Sourcepeak City and was just waiting for them to crawl in!
Seeing Dugu Xin's frown and silence, Dugu Feiying, who believed that he had messed up, didn't dare to say anything. The two brothers rode at the front of the convoy. Suddenly, Dugu Xin's eyes focused and he sternly said, "Feiying, quickly enter the city and seek an audience with the Bing Province Governor. Say that the Northern Yamen Imperial Army has been ordered to protect His Highness King Wei's group and needs to enter the city!"
"Ah?"
Dugu Feiying was alarmed. It was true that the one thousand Imperial Army soldiers had been protecting Li Tai's group, but when Li Tai's group was resting in the county, the main force of the Imperial Army would camp outside the city and not follow them into the city. Only a small portion of the Imperial Army would be led by Dugu Xin to protect Li Tai. If there was an emergency inside the city, Dugu Xin would use fireworks as a warning, and only then would the soldiers outside enter the city. Dugu Xin was now ordering all one thousand Imperial Army soldiers to enter the city. This abnormal action left Dugu Feiying very confused.
"Big Brother, why do you want to do this? With so many of us entering the city, the Turkic spies will definitely notice us! Isn't it said that spears are easy to dodge but arrows from the shadows are hard to guard against? "
Dugu Xin snapped, "The reason we didn't allow anyone to enter the city in the past was indeed to avoid being noticed by the Turkic spies, lest they cause trouble for us on the road. But now that you've caused such a huge commotion in Taiyuan City with the help of the Wang Clan, unless the Turkic spies in the city are deaf and blind, they will definitely notice that something is amiss! We've already moved from the shadows to the light. I even suspect that the Turks already know part of the goal of the Academy's group! "
At this point, Dugu Xin could not help but feel a headache coming on. He had sent Dugu Feiying to Sourcepeak City first, intending to let him operate in secret. However, Sourcepeak City had been turned upside down by Dugu Feiying and the Wang Family's forces. It was impossible for him to operate in secret like before! They had been forced from the shadows into the light, and they were now in a passive position. They didn't even know who their enemy was or what their goal was!
"Ah? Then what do we do? If the Turkic Khagan learns of the goal of Your Highness and the Academy's group, won't he go mad and send soldiers to Taiyuan City to capture Your Highness and the Academy's teachers and students? "
Dugu Feiying inexplicably panicked at Dugu Xin's words.
A little more than a month ago, the State Teacher of the Turkic Khaganate, Wu Jie, had risked his life to infiltrate the Cloud Mountains for the sake of obtaining confidential information from the Academy. If the Turkic Khagan learned of the goal of Li Tai's group, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't send elite soldiers to cause trouble. When the time came, Li Tai and the Academy group would either be captured or killed!
No matter what the outcome was, it was not something they could bear!
"So before you left, I warned you that no matter what, you were not allowed to tell anyone about the mission of Your Highness's group!"
Dugu Xin glared at Dugu Feiying and angrily said, "At this point, the spies the Turks have planted in Taiyuan City must know something, but Taiyuan City is several hundred li away from the Turkic Khaganate, so they won't have time to send back the news. Since this is the case, there is no need for us to continue hiding. We might as well bring out all our strength. This is Taiyuan City, not the border of the empire. Even if the Turks have some spies in Taiyuan City, as long as we protect Your Highness and the Academy, they won't be able to find us!
Immediately enter the city and head to the Provincial Governor's Residence to inform the Bingzhou Governor! Since the danger in Tongfu Inn has yet to be eliminated, once we enter the city, we won't stay in the inn. We'll stay in one of the relay stations in the city. It will be easier for our brothers to set up defenses there! "
Dugu Feiying felt that his brother's words were reasonable and hurriedly cupped his fists. "Yes! Big Brother! I'll go to the Provincial Governor's Residence! "
Seeing that Dugu Xin had nothing else to say, he urged his horse to leave the group and gallop toward the city gate.
Actually, with Dugu Feiying's personality, he preferred to fight in the open. Hiding in the dark was not his forte. Now that Dugu Xin had decided to reveal his identity and lead the army into the city, this was exactly what he wanted!
After Dugu Feiying left, Dugu Xin rode his horse to Li Tai's carriage. After briefly introducing the complex situation in Taiyuan City to Li Tai, Dugu Xin proposed to lead his army into the city and move to a relay station instead of an inn. The mood in the carriage suddenly turned solemn. Iron Egg, Qin Huaiyu, and Meng Wenhao all turned to Li Tai, waiting for his decision. After a few moments of silence, Li Tai sternly said.
"Since that's the case, we'll follow General Dugu's arrangements. We have to be extremely careful in these unusual times!"
Seeing that Li Tai was willing to cooperate, Dugu Xin let out a sigh of relief. If this was the Li Tai of two years ago, he would definitely not be so understanding. After all, in terms of comfort, a relay station was definitely far inferior to a large inn like Tongfu Inn.
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. Please rest assured, Your Highness. We will protect Your Highness and the others with our lives!"
Dugu Xin cupped his fists.
"General Dugu is too polite!"
Li Tai smiled and said softly. A trace of worry appeared between his brows.
Li Tai of the past was indeed a person who only cared about his own enjoyment, but it was different now. As the commander-in-chief of this northern operation, he had the responsibility and obligation to ensure the safety of these people from the Academy!
…
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