Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 197

Lu Wei was always approached by the Moon Goddess and Star Soul, so he had no way of turning the tables and searching for the whereabouts of these two protectors.

Since the two sides could not establish a communication channel, he was unaware that the three people, Riyuexing, were also targeting Shouchun.

However, this does not prevent them from speculating about the progress of the Mirage Project.

In the next few days, you can further deepen your friendship with Yu Ziqi and establish a good relationship. After that, you will meet again on the mirage in the future.

However, before that, Master Lu still had important matters to attend to in the Yunmeng Market tonight.

Before Yu Ziqi stopped him, he happened to see a group of Xiang family guards on the street from the fifth floor of the music and dance hall.

One of the faces was that of Xiang Yan's personal guard, whom Lu Wei remembered from when he and Xiang Bo went hunting together with the Xiang clan.

When they arrived at Yunmeng Market, the Hall Master seemed to be secretly following a young child.

After a little thought, and considering some of their forward movements, it's easy to guess that it's highly likely to be Xiang Yu, the future hope of the Xiang clan.

The fact that the Hall Master could spot the young master of the Xiang family with just a casual glance at the street from a high vantage point suggests that certain forces that are paying special attention to the General's Mansion must also be aware of this matter.

Therefore, by following the area around Xiang Shaoyu, we should be able to gather a lot of valuable information.

With the floor plan of Yunmeng Market laid out in his mind, Lu Wei calculated the time and the distribution of shops within the market, roughly confirmed the direction the other party was heading, and then followed them.

However, after turning just a few corners, he keenly sensed a peculiar atmosphere in the street and stopped in his tracks.

He is a true hermit in the city, Chu Nan Gong!

Following this scent, Lu Wei changed direction and arrived at a pitch-pot stall. The figure of the short old man was very conspicuous in the sparse crowd.

The old man stroked his beard, chuckling as he mingled in the commotion, his figure unchanged from when they first met many years ago.

However, the "hidden in plain sight" technique he used at the moment was too deliberate in its hidden meaning, which made it seem unnatural. This is why Lu Wei could detect him even from a great distance.

This kind of "hidden in plain sight" seems more like a special kind of "bait"...

"Is Master Nan waiting for me?"

Stepping forward quickly, Lu Wei blended into the other person's 'hidden in plain sight' demeanor and asked lightly.

The unusual behavior of Chu Nan Gong Suo is likely an attempt to attract special individuals in the Yunmeng market, and it is by no means solely aimed at Lu Wei.

However, from another perspective, Lu Wei is also a special person. He rarely meets Master Nan, so he naturally wants to have a chat with the old man.

"Hmm...so it's young Lu." Chu Nan Gong was startled as he looked at the figure that had suddenly appeared beside him. He chuckled and stroked his beard in response, while also expressing some感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, including admiration and reflection).

This kid's strength has improved again...

"Why is Lu boy here in Shouchun again, and dressed like this? Isn't the Farmer School supposed to protect itself in the grand scheme of things in order to preserve its strength?"

Chu Nan Gong gently tapped the ground twice with his cane. The cane he was holding now was not the jade cane that Lu Wei had given him a few years ago, but another ordinary jujube wood cane.

Jade artifacts have always been said to be "to be admired from afar but not to be touched or handled." Although they are indeed beautiful to look at, using them as a walking stick to "clash" with the bluestone on the ground is a terrible waste of such a precious material.

While Chu Nan Gong was speaking, someone in the center of the pitch-pot game hit the bullseye with all their arrows, which made the onlookers cheer and applaud.

The sound was so loud that it drowned out the last two sentences spoken by Nan Gong.

Lu Wei, possessing profound inner strength, naturally heard everything clearly without being affected, but he pretended not to hear, and after clapping along with the crowd, he smiled and met Nan Gong's gaze:

"When I was young, I was impetuous and didn't know how to back down; I just kept pushing forward. Now that I'm older, I naturally want to dress more peacefully."

"You're only in your early twenties and you're already lamenting that you're old? Then shouldn't I be bedridden by now?"

Chu Nan Gong shook his head and laughed at the former's feigned madness, but did not repeat his question.

Firstly, it's meaningless, and secondly, the other party has already answered.

The farmers now want to make concessions to the Qin state.

Chu Nan Gong neither agreed nor disagreed with this choice, but he himself would make the same choice in the future.

The same applies to the many newcomers in the city, each with their own thoughts and ambitions.

The Qin state is powerful, and a direct confrontation would indeed easily break it.

Chu Nan Gong had once advised Lu Wei on the alliance between Changping Jun and Xiang Yan, intending to get the Farmers to join as well. However, the Farmers chose to preserve their strength, and he didn't feel that his investment in someone had gone down the drain.

Judging from Lu Xiaozi's character, he was fully capable of becoming a lackey of the Qin state to gain greater power and status, but he did not. He simply adhered to his peasant ways, which clearly indicated that he had a different set of self-judgments about the situation.

Chu Nan Gong was unsure whether this set of judgments was right or wrong, but he was certain that he could not misjudge Lu Wei's path.

"Master Nan, I bought some sesame seed cakes!"

Just as Lu Wei and Chu Nangong were chatting, a young man in a gray linen shirt, carrying a piece of black cloth in his chest, hurriedly squeezed into the "Hidden in the City".

He watched in astonishment as Chu Nan Gong spoke with a rich young man dressed in fine clothes, and couldn't help but shut his mouth.

The boy's patched clothes were not thick, and beneath his messy bangs, his eyes held an incredulous calm that was completely opposite to the surprise on his face.

This is a child with an extremely strong will.

Lu Wei dropped his feigned weakness and glanced at him. Under his gaze, the boy couldn't help but tremble, but the calmness in his eyes remained unchanged.

"Is Han Xin back? Quick, give me the sesame seed cake, the old man has been starving for ages."

Chu Nan Gong tapped his cane again, this time with much more force, causing the boy, who had been locked in place by Master Lu's internal energy, to snap out of his daze. He hurriedly opened the black cloth he was holding to his chest, revealing two slightly burnt white pancakes...

Han Xin?

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Li Xin had been praised as brave and strong by the King of Qin on several occasions, and he liked this compliment very much.

This time, Qin did not use Wang Jian but instead appointed Li Xin as the commander-in-chief to attack Chu. This was not only because King Zheng of Qin had high expectations for Li Xin, but also because Li Xin himself had high expectations for himself.

Two hundred thousand troops were indeed not many for the vast Chu state, but he still chose to divide his forces, with himself and his deputy Meng Wu each leading a large army to attack the Chu army along two different routes.

Li Xin's battle strategy relied on his own bravery to launch fierce attacks and achieve a swift victory in a one-on-one battle!

Unlike his confident demeanor in the palace, he was well aware that 200,000 troops were definitely not enough to reliably annihilate the Chu Kingdom. Just the issue of leaving troops to occupy and maintain order in each conquered city was a major problem.

At the same time, the deeper they penetrate into Chu territory, the more resources will be needed to protect the supply lines.

The longer the delay, the greater the risk to the Qin army.

However, 200,000 men were more than enough to defeat the Chu army, which was the source of Li Xin's confidence in destroying Chu.

If we can defeat the main force of the Chu army, advance directly to the walls of Shouchun, and capture King Fuchu of Chu, then the Chu state will nominally be destroyed.

He could then request reinforcements from Xianyang to attack other stubborn territories, which would be legitimate and would not interfere with the slogan of "200,000 men to destroy Chu".

This battle must be fought with lightning speed from the very beginning!

"General, Lord Yan Ri of the Luo Wang requests an audience."

"Covering the sun?" Li Xin and Meng Wu had already divided their forces, and on the eve of entering Chu territory, a message reported by his personal guard surprised him.

The Luo Wang is a Jianghu assassin organization affiliated with the King of Qin, so they are indeed his colleagues.

However, the two sides are responsible for completely different areas, so theoretically there should be little overlap.

However, considering that the Luo Wang organization was directly under the powerful Lord Li Si, and that the Luo Wang organization was quite valuable as a scout, Li Xin met with Yan Ri.

A top-tier assassin from the Luo Wang organization, disguised as an ordinary Qin soldier, entered the side tent. Upon meeting Li Xin, the first thing Li Xin said was quite valuable:

"General Li, are you aware that the State of Chu has colluded with the Mohist rebels this time, and the Mohist mechanical beasts have been secretly planted in Xiang Yan's army!"

"The Mohists!" Li Xin's heart stirred slightly, but he wasn't too surprised. "I've dealt with these rebels before in the Yan Kingdom. I'm prepared and not afraid of them. I wonder if you've found out how many white tigers the Mohists have prepared this time?"

"This matter is of utmost importance. The Luo Wang organization is still investigating. As soon as any clues are found, the Luo Wang organization will notify the general immediately."

The weathered voice of the sun continued: "In addition, the Luo Net has also discovered that the Chu Kingdom may be making moves in Chenying."

"What is the scale?" Upon hearing this news, Li Xin frowned slightly: "Chen Ying's Lord Changping is currently pacifying the people, and the number of soldiers he has brought is limited."

“It’s a very small operation and lacks military offensive capabilities. However, the Chu Kingdom is keeping its operations there extremely secret. Luo Wang believes there must be something wrong with it, so we’ve informed the general,” Yan Ri said calmly.

"I will write to Lord Changping to warn him to be careful. The Luowang network is doing a good job of monitoring the Chu army. After the battle, I will ask the King to recommend Lord Li Si for credit."

"Thank you very much, General!"

Chapter 221 Arresting Lu Wei

While at a banquet in Chenying, Lord Changping received a letter from Li Xin saying that "the State of Chu is acting strangely in Chenying." He glanced calmly at the Qin officials who had come from Xianyang and were raising their cups in a toast below, and then stuffed the silk into his sleeve.

In this attack on Chu, Li Xin was in charge of the front-line battles while Xiong Qi was in charge of pacifying the people in the rear. Although the two were cooperating, generally speaking, Lord Changping really did not expect that the other party would write to him about the matter of Chen and Ying.

And the contents of the letter are so shocking.

As for the authenticity of the content... Chen Ying would certainly have doubts, after all, the person behind these doubts was none other than Lord Changping himself.

However, the problem is that Li Xin was able to obtain this information from the Luo Wang... There's definitely something wrong with that!

Ever since Lord Changping returned to the Chu homeland he had longed for, the moment he stepped into Chenying City, he couldn't help but clench his fists, a testament to his twenty years of flawless emotional concealment.

On the surface, Xiong Qiming entered the old capital of Chu under the identity of the Right Chancellor of Qin, but his purpose in coming here was to openly and legitimately restore his identity as a Chu citizen.

While Lord Changping was in Chenying, his contact with Xiang Yan was indeed more frequent than when he was in Xianyang, but the people he used were still his trusted confidants and loyal followers.

And only one trusted assassin was responsible for running back and forth between the two sides, eliminating any possibility of being exposed halfway.

Their own assassins are still there, and they haven't reported finding anything unusual. Xiang Yan will only reply to messages from the General's mansion in a secret chamber.

The existence of the secret room was known only to Xiang Yan; even Yan Dan would not know the contents of Xiang Yan's reply.

So here's the problem: since nothing went wrong from beginning to end to the middle, either the net couldn't be discovered, or if it was, it would directly expose the entire scheme.

With the news of this "abnormality," the situation can only be the latter.

What do you mean by "something unusual"? The specific details of the unusual thing that Li Xin mentioned in his letter were that the State of Chu had launched a secret operation against Chen Ying. This is completely unfounded. Lord Changping and Xiang Yan have never taken any action against Chen Ying in the name of the State of Chu recently.

The King of Chu was unaware that Chu had a desire to return to Chu. After all, the Chu royal family had undergone drastic changes in recent years, making it difficult to choose which King of Chu to inform.

The reality now is that Luo Wang has already pointed out Chen Ying's suspicious behavior. So, regardless of how he was exposed, the exposure itself has certainly already happened.

In such situations, one cannot rely on luck; an immediate response is necessary.

Chen Ying's situation seems remarkably similar to the chaos in Xinzheng...

The problem with Xinzheng was that secrecy there was not strict to begin with, while the content of his and Xiang Yan's communications was absolutely top secret.

'It's time to make a move...'

Changping Jun publicly beckoned to his trusted confidant to come closer and whisper in his ear, instructing him to bring up the several jars of Qingguang wine that he had carefully prepared.

Although it was unplanned, it had to be done.