"… Zhao Deyan … Tuberculosis prescription …"
A moment later, in the back hall of the Provincial Governor's Mansion, a handsome young man with resolute facial features stood in front of Wang Liaoyuan and Fang Gongteng. Holding his chin, he asked thoughtfully, "I wonder if Provincial Governor Wang and Adjunct Fang have heard of Zhao Deyan before?"
"… General Li, this official has never heard of this person!"
Wang Liaoyuan thought for a few moments before shaking his head.
"This general has also never heard of him!"
Fang Gongteng frowned and shook his head.
This young man was none other than Li Junxian!
When Li Tai's group had left the courier station for the yamen, Li Junxian had been following them from a distance. Not even the peak Qi Transformation Dugu Feiying had noticed him, much less anyone else.
Ever since they had entered Taiyuan City, Li Junxian had been secretly protecting Li Tai. He had not appeared to meet Li Tai primarily because he was afraid that the factions hidden in the city would notice. After all, someone had eavesdropped on Li Tai and Ink Chui's conversation at the courier station at noon. Li Junxian had no choice but to be even more cautious!
After Li Tai's group left the Governor's Residence, Li Junxian did not leave with them. His primary goal was to understand what information Li Tai had gathered from Wang Liaoyuan.
"In a little while, I will send a message to Chang 'an and have the Hundred Cavalry in the capital review the files and find out Zhao Deyan's identity as quickly as possible!"
Li Junxian said after a few moments of thought.
The Hundred Cavalry Division was the Great Tang's most mysterious and elite 'spy' organization. Although it had not been established for very long, it was filled with experts skilled in gathering intelligence. The files of the Hundred Cavalry Division not only recorded the people and events within the Great Tang, it also had information on the surrounding countries, especially the Turks!
"Then I must trouble General Li!"
Wang Liaoyuan clasped his hands at Li Junxian.
After all, Li Er had given him a deadline of three days to find out Zhao Deyan's identity. Li Junxian was helping him!
"Governor Wang is too polite!"
Li Junxian indifferently replied. He then turned to Fang Gongteng and said, "Advisor Fang, since we already know that the assassin the Imperial Army captured this afternoon has a severely ill mother, the scope of our investigation has been greatly reduced! Today, the soldiers of the Bing Province Barracks are searching the entire city. After Adjunct Fang returns to the barracks, you can ask the soldiers who participated in the search today to recall whether or not they encountered any elders with tuberculosis in their homes. I believe there will definitely be some results! "
Hearing this, Fang Gongteng's eyes lit up. He nodded and said, "General Li is right. After this general returns to the camp, I will immediately gather all the generals to inquire!"
Fang Gongteng was temporarily acting as the commandant of the Bing Province Army. Although in terms of rank, Li Junxian was on the same level as him, and there was no direct relationship between them, Li Junxian was still the Commander of the Hundred Cavalry Division and an official of the capital. Even Wang Liaoyuan treated him with respect, so how could he dare to act rashly?
Moreover, Li Junxian's suggestion truly was feasible. If he could find out the assassin's identity through this method, he would have done a great service, so how could he not agree?
Li Junxian nodded and said, "Tuberculosis is not a common disease, and ordinary people can't last very long with it. Thus, once we find out if there are any families in the city that suffer from this disease, I must trouble Advisor Fang to immediately send men to investigate to prevent any undue delay!"
"Undue delay? General Li is worried … "
Fang Gongteng's heart trembled as he sternly asked.
Li Junxian nodded and said, "Correct! The power behind this assassin is extraordinary. It is possible that the other party will send someone to kill him or hide him! "
Li Junxian did not directly voice his suspicions about the Wang Clan. Firstly, he had no evidence, and secondly, this matter involved the Wang Clan, so he did not completely trust Fang Gongteng and Wang Liaoyuan.
Fang Gongteng solemnly clasped his fist and said, "This Fang understands! This one will return to the barracks and gather the officers to investigate. If there are any suspicious targets, this Fang will personally bring men to investigate! This one will take his leave first! "
"Advisor Fang, take care!"
Wang Liaoyuan and Li Junxian clasped their fists to Fang Gongteng in return, and Fang Gongteng left.
Only Wang Liaoyuan and Fang Gongteng were left in the room.
"Since Governor Wang is busy, this general will not disturb you any longer! If Governor Wang wishes to find me in the future, you can send men to the second residence on the east side of Tongfu Inn! "
Through their conversation just now, Li Junxian knew that Li Er had given Wang Liaoyuan another imperial decree. Wang Liaoyuan would be very busy in the coming days, so he clasped his fist and bid farewell.
But before leaving, he told Wang Liaoyuan where the hundred cavalry were staying in the city. After all, he was only protecting Li Tai from the shadows, so he did not know the latest reports that Li Tai had received. Moreover, he could not have too much contact with Li Tai, so he could only keep in contact with Wang Liaoyuan and exchange intelligence at any time!
"Okay! This official will remember! "
Wang Liaoyuan silently noted down the order and clasped his fist.
Li Junxian left the room, jumped onto the eaves, and then vanished into the darkness.
… … …
On the steppe, in Tuli's camp …
Tuli's camp was completely different from how it had been during the day. The camp was a complete mess, and some of the tents had been destroyed or even set alight. Moreover, the ground was littered with severed limbs. This was a living hell!
It was clear that this place had just been through a bitter battle!
Tuli's old face was as dark as ink as he listened to Ni Shituo's report on the casualties in the Tooth Courtyard. Tang Jian was also present in the Tooth Courtyard. However, Tang Jian's face was devoid of any expression. He was still as confident as before.
Bam ~!
After hearing Ni Shituo's report, Tuli finally couldn't hold back any longer. He slapped the table in front of him and angrily roared, "They're going too far! These tribes have suddenly increased their offensive! Someone must have ordered them to do so! Are you trying to kill this khan?! "
(Tughu, Xieli Khan. Xieli Khan's full name was Ashina Tughu.)
Speaking to this point, Tuli looked at Tang Jian, who was sitting calmly below. A trace of anger flashed through his eyes. Soon after, he coldly said, "Duke Ju, we just released the news of the seventh month's frost this morning. In the evening, we suffered a fierce attack from various tribes. What do you think ~?"
Tang Jian's face turned serious, and he stood up and clasped his hands to Tuli. "Is Khan blaming this Tang for dividing the tribes?"
"Hmph!"
Tuli snorted. He didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it either.
Indeed, in the evening, the various tribes around Tuli's camp had suddenly launched an extremely fierce offensive against Tuli's camp. This truly did seem to be related to the news that Tuli had sent in the morning to spread on the steppe that 'Xieli has lost his virtue, incurring the wrath of Longevity Heaven, and frost will fall in the seventh month'.
But …
"Does Khan think that the Great Khan will let you go if you don't follow this Tang's instructions and spread the news on the steppe?"
Seeing Tuli's cold face and silence, Tang Jian wasn't afraid at all. He directly retorted, "Forgive this Tang for speaking bluntly, but a mountain can't accommodate two tigers, and a country can't accommodate two rulers. The conflict between the Little Khan and the Great Khan has long been irreconcilable. Now that the Little Khan is even besieged by the Great Khan, shouldn't you give up the fantasy in your heart and face reality?"
"How dare you!"
After being angrily rebuked by Tang Jian, Tuli's old face was so gloomy that it could drip water. Before he could speak, Ni Shituo, who was standing beside him, couldn't hold back anymore. He took two big strides and came in front of Tang Jian. He said aggressively, "How dare you speak to the Khan like that? Believe it or not, I'll chop you up! "
Tang Jian met Ni Shituo's gaze. There was no fear in his eyes, but he didn't say anything to provoke him.
It wasn't the first time he dealt with the Turks. He knew very well that when facing these people, the more timid you were, the more arrogant they would be and the more they would look down on you from the bottom of their hearts. Now that he was the Tang Empire's envoy and represented the Tang Empire's imperial court, he had even less reason to bow and scrape to Tuli, Ni Shituo, and the others. When he encountered people he couldn't stand or didn't like, he wouldn't be afraid. He would just confront them head-on!
He really didn't believe that Tuli and Ni Shituo would dare to do anything to him! At the very least, that would be the case until Xieli's troops trampled on Tuli's house!
"General Ni Shituo, don't be rude to the Tang Empire's envoy!"
The two men stared at each other for a moment. At this time, Tuli, who was sitting at the head of the table, finally opened his mouth.
"Hmph!"
Ni Shituo snorted coldly, but in the end, he still obeyed Tuli's order. He glared at Tang Jian unwillingly and stood aside.
At this time, Tang Jian looked at Tuli, cupped his hands and said, "What this Tang said just now may be offensive, but it's an indisputable fact. If the Little Khan wants to break out of the encirclement, his only chance is to wait for the prophecy to come true and frost to fall from the sky. At that time, rumors will spread everywhere in the grassland tribes, and everyone will be in a panic. The Great Khan will be too busy to take care of himself, so he won't have the energy to encircle and annihilate the Little Khan! This evening, the allied tribal forces around Yating suddenly intensified their attacks. This shows that the Great Khan is already anxious! He's more afraid than anyone that the prophecy will come true! "
Tuli's eyes slightly narrowed. After a moment of silence, he said expressionlessly, "Envoy Tang's words are reasonable, but this Khan has lost more than 40,000 men in this evening's battle. According to this kind of offensive, does Envoy Tang think this Khan will first wait for frost to fall from the sky or be completely wiped out?"
In fact, this was the problem that Tuli was most worried about!
Upon hearing this, Tang Jian pondered for a moment. Then, he cupped his hands and said, "It's only two days until the eighth lunar month. Life and death will depend on these two days. This Tang believes that as long as the generals and soldiers under the Great Khan's tent unite and fight to the death, we will certainly be able to wait until the prophecy comes true! Moreover, although the allied forces' attacks this evening were strong and our army also suffered more than 40,000 casualties, among these 40,000 soldiers, 50% were lightly injured, 30% were seriously injured, and only 20% were dead!
This shows that although the tribal leaders under the Great Khan's tent have intensified their attacks on us according to the Great Khan's order, they haven't used their full strength. They even deliberately showed mercy to us. Because even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a tiger. If we are forced into a desperate situation, the warriors under the Great Khan's tent will certainly fight back with all their might. As for those tribal leaders who are attacking us, none of them will be willing to bear our desperate counterattack! Under this kind of situation, they are more afraid of death than us! Therefore, this Tang believes that we will certainly be able to hold on until frost falls from the sky! "
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
