knife

Chapter 184 Adding fuel to the flames
Li Dachui stepped into the room.

The four people who had been waiting inside stood up abruptly and bowed, saying, "Greetings, young master!"

Li Dachui waved his hand, walked over and sat down at the head of the table, saying, "Sit down, everyone!"

This is a safe house of Zhi Qiu Yuan in Yandu. It was put into use this time because Li Dachui came to Yandu to cause trouble, and many of the big shots of Zhi Qiu Yuan also gathered here.

Zhou Yi, the deputy head of the academy, was in overall command of the funeral procession in Yandu this time, reporting directly to Li Dachui.

The Director of the Intelligence Division, responsible for intelligence gathering, and the Director of the Operations Division, responsible for operations, have both arrived in Yandu. And today, the Director of the Logistics Division, responsible for logistical support, has also arrived in Yandu.

It's fair to say that if this place were to be completely destroyed by the Northern Yuan's Wolf Castle today, it would be difficult for the Chi Qiu Institute to recover its strength for at least ten years.

However, Wolfsburg is currently preoccupied with the murder of Astu, and even its leader Yue Zuo is bedridden. How could they possibly have the mind to deal with Chi Qiuyuan?
Sometimes, preconceived notions can really be deadly.

The people of Wolfsburg had already drawn a circle in their minds, imprisoning themselves within it.

They immediately concluded that Astu's death was a violent act in the struggle for the throne among the princes, and that only the eldest prince, Jebe, could have orchestrated such a violent act.

At this moment, the four large camps surrounding Yandu, with hundreds of thousands of troops eyeing them covetously, are they no joke?

Although these hundreds of thousands of troops were all the emperor's personal guards, directly responsible to the emperor.

The problem is that Jebe has been their direct commander for the past few years. For the past few years, the emperor, Jebe, and the emperor's personal guards have been fighting against the Western Hu and Northern Hu. Who knows how deep Jebe's relationship with them really is?
Even setting all that aside, just considering the area east of Yandu, the five newly settled Northern and Western Hu tribes alone could muster tens of thousands of warriors.

The purpose of settling these barbarian tribes near Yandu was, of course, to keep them under close surveillance and prevent them from causing trouble. However, if a nobleman from Yandu were to use them to create trouble, that would be extremely advantageous.

“Jebe has taken the blame for this whole mess, and even Yingzhuo is starting to suspect that his eldest son is a bit too eager!” Li Dachui laughed. “So Jebe’s time in Yandu is running out. Soon, he’ll be sent to the Southern Frontier, so I need to prepare to go back too! I need to give Yingzhuo an excuse so he can legitimately transfer Jebe away. Otherwise, given Jebe’s current strength, Yingzhuo won’t dare to act rashly!”

"So, we're going to make some gains along the border?" Zhou Yi's eyes lit up.

“Exactly!” Li Dachui nodded and said, “However, you don’t need to worry about the border matters. Zhou Yi, you will continue to stay in Yandu to take charge of the follow-up matters.”

"Understood!" Zhou Yi nodded.

"First, there's the issue of evacuating the 20,000 people from Dragonflame Valley. This is no simple matter! Even with the cooperation of the Tiele, there will inevitably be many obstacles. The route through Bronze Gorge and Wild Boar Ridge is definitely not feasible, as that area will soon become the focus of everyone's attention. Therefore, we can only go through the Black Domain! We must be careful in choosing and arranging the route to ensure their safe return to Anxi!"

The four people in the room nodded repeatedly.

“I will personally coordinate with Gao Qunshu on this matter,” Zhou Yi said. “Once the route is determined, the Black Domain will begin eliminating the enemies along the route.”

“Once the route is confirmed, the Anxi Protectorate will begin its sweep! We’ll also take care of some of Commander Linghu’s henchmen!” Li Dachui laughed. “The court in Chang’an is biased; the areas they’ve allocated to us are mostly the Black Domain, which we have to fight for ourselves. But this time, it’s perfectly legitimate.”

The people inside burst into laughter. After the imperial edict was issued, some forces in the Black Domain were already trembling with fear and began to fawn over Treasure Bottle City. However, some forces, relying on Linghu Ye's support, did not take it seriously. This time, they were going to make an example of them.

Linghu Ye's territory is indeed connected to the Black Domain, but if he dares to send troops directly into the Black Domain to help these people, the Anxi Protectorate will definitely deal with them without hesitation.

At that time, Linghu Ye will suffer in silence and will not be able to speak out.

However, considering that someone like Linghu Ye would never send troops directly for these insignificant lackeys, he would at most give them some silver, weapons, and armor.

"The second matter is the Eagle Bandits!" Li Dachui glanced around at the four people in the room. They were all core members of the Zhi Qiu Academy and naturally understood the importance of the Eagle Bandits. "From now on, the Action Division will directly liaise with the Eagle Bandits. Cao Hui, you will personally oversee this matter. Select absolutely trustworthy subordinates. Once Dragon Flame Valley is evacuated, we will be responsible for the Eagle Bandits' logistical support. You and Mao Jun will work closely together to ensure their combat effectiveness. This force is crucial for our future. And it's very useful, isn't it?"

Of course it's useful! Several top agents from the Action Division in Yandu participated in the raid on the Astu Manor, and they've witnessed the Eagle Bandits' combat prowess and organizational skills firsthand. The thought of having a force of several thousand with astonishing combat power hidden deep within the Yuan people's heartland is incredibly exciting.

Moreover, after this raid, all the top officers from the Operations Division were recalled to ensure the Eagle Bandits' secrecy.

Cao Hui from the Operations Division and Mao Jun from the Logistics Division both nodded in agreement.

Li Dachui stood up, placed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and stared at the four people, saying, "You guys will probably be staying in Yandu for quite a while. If I'm not mistaken, there will definitely be many stories in Yandu, and perhaps some earth-shattering events will occur. We can't be absent. Let's see if there will be any opportunities to fish in troubled waters."

A momentous event?
Several people were staring at Li Dachui.

"Valley Master Fu has already examined Yingzhuo, and Yingzhuo has at most a year to live!" Li Dachui said, "But whether he can live to be a year old is uncertain!"

“Young Master, Valley Master Fu is a god-like figure, you can’t be mistaken, right? Even if Ying Zhuozhen is going to die prematurely, Valley Master Fu can pull him back from the brink of death and keep him alive for a while longer!” Zhou Yi said.

Li Dachui chuckled and said, "Yesterday, Akedun asked me for a few pills, the highly poisonous kind!"

Everyone was somewhat puzzled.

"Young master, could Akdun possibly poison Indra?"

Li Dachui said slowly, "The Valley Master wants to refine a batch of pills for Ying Zhuo. This batch of pills can keep Ying Zhuo alive for a year, so that he can make arrangements for his funeral. Therefore, I also gave Akedun a few pills. These pills look exactly the same as the ones the Valley Master refined for Ying Zhuo, and even their smell is exactly the same. However, one is for keeping him alive, and the other is for taking his life!"

Everyone was stunned.

"In his future assessment of Mo Zhuo, he probably won't choose Akdun as the successor of the Great Yuan. The person he will most likely choose is Tiele!" "What about Jebe?" Zhou Yi asked.

“Something will happen in the Southern Frontier, and Yingzhuo will take advantage of the situation to send Jebe there,” Li Dachui said. “But the Southern Frontier is the old stronghold that the Tiele have been building up for many years. With Jebe’s personality, can he handle the Southern Frontier in a year? Impossible. What’s more, there’s also the possibility that we’ll collude with the Tiele to trip him up. So when the imperial decree is issued, Jebe, who is in the Southern Frontier, will have no choice but to obey, unless he wants to die.”

“Akton won’t just sit here and wait to die!” Zhou Yi suddenly realized.

“The garrison of Yandu has always been in Akdun’s hands. Once Jebe leaves, the defense of the palace may also fall into Akdun’s hands. As for the emperor’s personal guards outside Yandu, apart from those Jebe took with him, the rest will probably secretly fall into the hands of the Tiele!” “The Wutu whom Akdun wanted to recommend to succeed Astu has already been bribed by the Tiele! When Akdun thinks he has succeeded, he may not even know how he died!” Zhou Yi said.

Li Dachui chuckled: "This scheme might have started a few years ago when Princess Changle left the palace to live!"

“But now we have this unexpected factor!” Zhou Yi laughed. “At the appropriate time, we can reveal to Aktun that Wutu is a Tiele person!”

Cao Hui from the Action Division also leaned in: "In that case, Akdun only needs to take out Yingzhuo and then quietly take down Wutu to completely control Yandu and the garrison troops of Yandu. At that time, the emperor's personal guards outside Yandu will be in the hands of the Tiele. Won't they fight each other?"

Zhou Yi chuckled: "That's right. Back then, they fought tooth and nail, and Jebe in Qingtongxia saw this and thought, 'This won't do! I have to go back to protect the emperor!' No matter what banner he raised, if he had even a shred of ambition, he would never sit idly by and watch the Yandu Incident unfold. No matter how many people he could take from Qingtongxia, it would add another variable to the Yandu Incident. You know, there are quite a few people in the Northern Yuan who support Jebe. He has a large number of supporters in the emperor's personal guard. If he goes back, can the Tiele still effectively control the troops outside Yandu?"

Mao Jun from the Logistics Department clapped his hands, making a sharp cracking sound that startled everyone: "That's right! When they've beaten their brains to a pulp, we'll be able to gain a huge advantage. But young master, Linghu Ye will also gain a huge advantage, and with his vast wealth and power, he might gain even more than we do!"

"Dream on!" Zhou Yi said, "We know how things are progressing and will continue to prepare for this. When the time comes, we can act quickly. Linghu Ye is single-mindedly focused on entering the pass, as can be seen from his troop deployment. When he finds an opportunity to gain an advantage, he won't be able to outrun us. He'll just be following behind us and eating our dust!"

"What if he tries to rob us by force?"

"We still have a year left, plenty of time to plan the whole thing. By then, even Commander Linghu might not dare to attack us!" Li Dachui said calmly. "The sentiments of the people outside the pass and the balance of power might change!"

(End of this chapter)