Shao Sansheng walked over. "Eldest Young Master, what's wrong?" He could see the coldness and displeasure on Shao Pingbo's face.
Shao Pingbo replied, "He wants us to try our best not to contact him in the future."
Shao Sansheng exclaimed, "Why?"
Shao Pingbo laughed coldly, "He's already sinking deeper and deeper. Kill me if you dare. If he doesn't dare to fight to the death, then it's not up to him!" He turned back and said, "He's using Liu 'er to threaten me …" He repeated the innkeeper's warning.
Shao Sansheng's face was instantly filled with worry.
…
On a slope, the Qi army made a few tentative attacks before retreating like the tide, leaving behind a few scattered corpses.
A moment later, Gao Pin came to the frontline and personally inspected the defensive effect of his formation.
After inspecting the frontlines and confirming that there were no major problems, he repeatedly reminded the defending general of the important points before returning to the central army's garrison. Now, they had moved to an abandoned town, and the best house in the town was used as a temporary central army tent.
Although the conditions were limited, it was much better than living in a tent.
Returning to the house full of maps, Gao Ping checked the various intelligence reports and saw a report of the enemy's movements provided by the Black Water Station. He seemed to remember something and suddenly asked, "Where is Sir Shao now?"
The deputy replied, "Temporarily unknown. His whereabouts have always been kept secret. Why is Marshal concerned about his whereabouts? "
Gao Ping sighed, "This Sir Shao is indeed capable. After returning to the capital, he swept through everything and settled those troubles in an instant. However, he has offended those people in court quite badly. I have pointed out his weakness to his face and reminded him that he has never been in court before and does not know the true depth of the situation. However, he did not listen to my advice and insisted on competing with those people. Why bother? "
"He may have had a good time this time, but those people in court are not to be trifled with, especially when he has offended so many at once. Once these people join forces, even His Majesty will have to give way. Just wait and see, those people will counterattack soon! This Sir Shao's methods are too extreme and can easily backfire. Unfortunately, he did not listen to my advice! "
The deputy said, "Marshal is worried about his safety? However, it is not easy for us to inquire about the Black Water Station. If Marshal really wants to know, why don't you write to His Majesty and ask? "
Gao Pin waved his hand. "I'm not worried about his safety. He's offended so many people. I can't protect him, and I don't dare to. Otherwise, we'll get ourselves into unnecessary trouble. What I'm worried about now is that once he's forced into a corner by those people in court, I'm afraid he'll seek refuge elsewhere. "
At this moment, a general entered and handed over a message. "Marshal, there's news from the capital."
Gao Pin took a look and sneered suddenly. He passed it to the deputy general and said, "Look, what did I say? The counterattack has already begun. It's much faster than I thought!"
After reading the secret letter, the deputy general shook his head and sighed. "The officials of the imperial court are really fast!"
Gao Pin: "After suffering such a huge loss, even Zhao Gongquan's son was killed by him. If we don't retaliate, if we don't beat down Shao Pingbo's arrogance, where will we put our faces?"
The deputy general said with a serious expression, "It doesn't matter if they fight back and forth, but this is a time of war with the enemy. With the internal strife in the rear, what should we do if the war is delayed?"
Gao Pin pointed at him. "You're still a little too young. Those people are different from us soldiers. To them, if they can't stand firm in the imperial court, even if we conquer the whole world for Jin, what does it have to do with them? If a group of people can't even deal with Shao Pingbo, what will the people below them think? The people below are all fence-sitters. Plus, he has His Majesty's support. Once His Majesty puts this Sir Shao in an important position, the wind may turn one-sided. We'll have the upper hand in an instant! "
The deputy general was deep in thought.
Gao Pin suddenly said in a low voice, "Send a letter to His Majesty immediately. I hope His Majesty can keep a close eye on him. This Sir Shao is a Poison Warrior. I don't want to see him seek refuge in other countries for revenge. I'm afraid it'll be disadvantageous to our army!"
"Yes!" The deputy general cupped his hands and accepted the order. He was swift and decisive, and quickly carried out the order.
…
Wen Sang County of Jin. On the drill ground, among a group of newly recruited young men, a few with crippled arms and legs were counted. Then, there were those who were blind in one eye.
The Prefectural Governor seemed to explode with anger. He paced back and forth angrily for a while. Finally, he stopped in front of a young man. He pointed at his nose and scolded, "Sir Xie, are these the soldiers you're in charge of recruiting?"
Although Sir Xie looked young, his face showed the vicissitudes of life. With a solemn expression, he said, "Sir, it's my oversight!"
The Prefectural Governor scolded, "Is this your excuse? The war at the frontline concerns the life and death of Jin. Yet, you sent these crippled people to the frontline. Are you tired of living, or are you trying to get me killed? "
Sir Xie hurriedly said, "Sir, this has never happened before. Yesterday, I heard that something happened to the newly built canal and rushed over. I didn't have time to check here. After the check, I'll definitely get rid of them!"
"Check?" The Prefectural Governor waved his hand and pointed at the crippled soldiers. "Even a fool can see that there's something wrong with them. Is there a need to check? You're the one who arranged the recruitment. Who else can I blame if not you? Men, take him down! "Immediately, a few bailiffs rushed over like wolves and tigers.
"Sir! Sir … "Sir Xie shouted indignantly. However, the Prefectural Governor didn't listen to his excuses. He waved his hand and had his men drag him away.
Similar incidents happened not only here but also in many places in Jin. Either the person in charge of the recruitment had met with an accident, or the person in charge of money and provisions had met with an accident, or they had said something they shouldn't have and were reported, or they were accused of corruption and bribery.
All in all, these people had one thing in common. They were all students that Shao Pingbo had painstakingly brought from the Northern State.
The news quickly reached the palace. In the imperial study, Tai-shu Xiong knew what was going on the moment he read the report. He was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up. He paced back and forth in the imperial study with a black face.
…
In the depths of the boundless forest, a large bird landed. Jia Wuqun, who was fishing by the stream, looked back and saw that the person who jumped down was Wang Xiao of the Southern State. He immediately put away his fishing rod and stood up.
The person who came was, of course, Niu Youdao.
When he saw Yuan Cong, Niu Youdao first bowed respectfully before walking towards Jia Wuqun.
Wei Duo looked on in a daze. He didn't know who the person was, but he could tell that the other two knew him.
"Mister, you've worked hard." Niu Youdao cupped his hands towards Jia Wuqun.
Jia Wuqun cupped his hands in return and shook his head with a bitter smile. Then, he stretched out his hand. Yuan Cong immediately came in front of him and spoke for him, "I've let down the Prince's trust. There's no need to work hard."
Niu Youdao chuckled and said, "Mister, you're too humble. Shao Pingbo is cunning. It's not surprising that he could escape. We can't succeed in one go. We can fight again!"
Jia Wuqun said, "The Misty Pavilion has intervened. I'm afraid it'll be difficult."
Niu Youdao raised his hand and said, "There's no rush, and there's no need to panic. If there's a problem, we'll solve it. I'm here under the orders of the Prince to understand the situation. I already know that Mister's plan was ingenious, but Shao Pingbo still managed to escape. Have you found out the details? "
Jia Wuqun said, "I've already asked the Kingdom of Song's personnel in Jin to understand the situation." He released his hand and signaled to Yuan Cong.
Yuan Cong took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and passed it to Niu Youdao.
Niu Youdao took over and looked at it. It roughly recorded Shao Pingbo's actions after he returned to the capital. After reading it, he nodded and sighed, "I see. I was wondering how he managed to escape. The opening point was the incense money donated by the families of the various residences."
Jia Wuqun then pointed at Yuan Cong's back and said, "I've miscalculated. I didn't see that there was such a big loophole for him to exploit."
Niu Youdao waved his hand and said, "Mister, you don't have to blame yourself. Who would've thought that? I didn't think of it before and thought that he had nowhere to run. That fellow's ability to adapt to the situation is indeed strong. To be honest, even I admire him. But then again, if he was so easy to deal with, he wouldn't have survived until now. However, I believe that with Mister's ability, a momentary miscalculation is nothing. As long as you regroup, you will definitely be able to defeat him! "
This time, Yuan Cong said, "After Mister Jia received news of Shao Pingbo's escape, he has already counterattacked!"
Niu Youdao said, "The matter of the Misty Pavilion has not been clarified. Is it appropriate for Mister to make another move?"
Yuan Cong said, "Don't worry. It's different this time. Mister only instructed the Kingdom of Song's personnel in Jin to leak some information to those humiliated officials and pointed out the direction of the counterattack. He instructed them to target the students that Shao Pingbo brought from the Northern Province. "
"Students?" Niu Youdao was slightly puzzled. "Shao Pingbo is a ruthless person. Why would he care about those students?"
Jia Wuqun shook his head and smiled. He then pointed at Yuan Cong's back and said, "Of course! When Shao Pingbo was in charge of the Northern Province, he swept away the corrupt and ruled the officials with an iron fist. I paid attention to some of his new actions in the Kingdom of Song. He established an academy to nurture new students and sent them to various places in the Northern Province to gain experience. He fled the Northern Province at all costs, but he still did not forget to bring some students with him. Those who took away should be the elites that he carefully nurtured and was unwilling to give up! "
"Looking at all these, Shao Pingbo is a person with ideals and ambitions. Although he is unscrupulous, he has the ambition to help the world."
"Those students have gone through hardships and have been tempered for a long time. They have already become capable people. Once Shao Pingbo grasps power, they can become the foundation of his ambitions. Since they are things that Shao Pingbo is unwilling to give up when he fled the Northern Province, we should attack them. Shao Pingbo is an old horse, but he has the ambition of a Qilin. After years of hard work, his mind is already haggard and he can't take it anymore. Since we know his weakness, we don't have to kill him in one strike. We can continue to find trouble with him. Many a little makes an ocean, and we might be able to defeat him. If we attack him reluctantly, we might have an unexpected move. "
"Also, the people that we captured refused to reveal the truth. We can't confirm that Shao Pingbo is from the Misty Pavilion or that he borrowed the Misty Pavilion's power to do this. Let's see if anyone can help us. Maybe we can find out the truth and provide some evidence for our future plans!"
Niu Youdao nodded slightly. With Shao Pingbo's ruthless style of doing things, he didn't really believe that those students could restrain Shao Pingbo. However, since Jia Wuqun said so, there was no need for him to argue. Anyway, it wouldn't affect anything. He would just wait and see what would happen next.
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