knife

Chapter 350 Let's see whose realm it is today.

Zhang Qingyun was very puzzled.

In recent days, Zhi Qiu Yuan and the Black Ice Guard, which is directly under Wu De, have been basically mobilized. They have only one task: to monitor He Bing's every move.

But He Bing made no move.

Linghu Ye revealed such a shocking piece of news to He Bing, hoping that He Bing would make a big fuss to disrupt the alliance between Li Dachui and the Wei family. Moreover, Linghu Ye also offered He Bing a price. In Zhang Qingyun's view, Li Dachui's identity was about to be revealed to the world.

But He Bing did absolutely nothing.

However, it was discovered that this guy was actually moving his family members away quietly.

No matter how secretive He Bing's actions were, even if they managed to deceive Wei Zhengdao, they could not hide them from Zhi Qiuyuan, who had been monitoring him all day.

"I don't understand what he's doing?" Zhang Qingyun looked at Li Dachui, who had just returned from Sichuan, and asked in confusion, "He seems to be making arrangements for his escape route!"

Li Dachui smiled and said, "There's nothing I can't figure out. He Bing is indeed planning to run away!"

"Why? Where could he run to?" Zhang Qingyun asked.

“He Bing is a smart man,” Li Dachui said. “He’s not really sure about my identity, but he’s just thinking it’s better to believe it than not. He also understands that if I join the ranks of those vying for supremacy, the identity of being the posthumous son of the former crown prince will be very useful. Once I use this identity, whether it’s true or not, it will be a disaster for him.”

Zhang Qingyun nodded in agreement.

Even if Li Dachui's identity is a lie, as long as he wins, it will naturally be the real one.

“The Wei family is unreliable. They are trapped in Chang’an and will eventually be no match for the Linghu family. They will retreat to Shu and there is a high probability that I will swallow them whole!” Li Dachui laughed. “Of course, he will not submit to me, but if he submits to Linghu Ye, whose core strength is a powerful family, he is worried that someone will come after him in the future. So, he will naturally have to find another way!”

Zhang Qingyun's eyes lit up: "Go south and find He Zudao. These two have many similarities and are natural allies now!"

“That’s right!” Li Dachui said, “He Zudao and his son betrayed my parents back then, which directly led to my parents’ failure in the Chang’an coup and caused their deaths. One was the planner, and the other was the traitor. Decades later, one of them planned the massacre of the Hedong and Hexi aristocratic families, and the other carried out the massacre. If He Bing looked down on He Zudao in the past, now the two of them are a perfect match. You don’t mind my scars, and I don’t mind your scars. We’re just perfect for living together.”

“He Zudao has considerable strength in the south, and it’s only a matter of time before he integrates the south!” Zhang Qingyun said. “The people in the south are still struggling, but I’m afraid it’s all in vain. In the end, they will have to compromise. Once He Bing goes there, it will only add another weakness to He Zudao’s team. In terms of intelligence, although He Bing’s strength in the Black Ice Guard is far behind Wu De, he also has his own loyal forces.”

Li Dachui tapped the table lightly and said, "It's not just about having his own loyal subordinates! Qingyun, don't forget, Wu De used to be He Bing's subordinate. He Bing knew about the spies Wu De planted years ago. In the Black Ice Bureau, logistics, finance, and promotions were all controlled by He Bing. This man knows everything about the Black Ice Bureau. Although in the past two years, after cooperating with us, Wu De has gradually cut off related contacts, he can only proceed cautiously and slowly, not daring to make any big moves for fear of being found out by Kou Zhong and He Bing."

Zhang Qingyun's face changed color as he said, "Young Master, I hadn't thought of all this. This He Bing could very well cause us significant damage."

“So, we can’t let him get away!” Li Dachui’s face was stern. “That’s why I rushed back immediately after receiving your letter.”

He Bing must die!
"But what about Wei Zhengdao?" Zhang Qingyun continued, "Right now, he probably only knows that you, young master, were directly involved in the affairs of Shu. As for the fact that you are the posthumous son of the former crown prince, Linghu Ye doesn't want too many people to know publicly. After all, it's a double-edged sword. Whether it will cause more harm or help, I'm afraid Linghu Ye isn't sure. That's why he secretly sent Zhou Gang to meet He Bing in the early stages. His ultimate goal was simply to break our short-lived alliance with the Wei family so that he could take Chang'an more quickly and seize its wealth, population, technology, and so on. But if he fails to achieve his goal, and if He Bing disappears or runs away, will he then directly leak this information to Wei Zhengdao?"

“It shouldn’t be in the short term,” Li Dachui said. “So we need to speed up the process of moving the good things from Chang’an to Shu. I plan to go directly to see Wei Zhengdao and have a good talk with him.”

"Is this okay?" Zhang Qingyun hesitated.

“He doesn’t know this news yet,” Li Dachui laughed. “I’ll meet with him, reassure him, and get him to cooperate with us to speed up the transfer to Shu. Everyone agrees that Chang’an can’t be held for long! So even if he finds out my identity later, what can he do?”

"Take advantage of a time difference?" Zhang Qingyun said with a smile. "Exactly!" Li Dachui replied.

“Then I’ll go ahead and scout ahead for you, arranging the time and place for the meeting!” Zhang Qingyun said. “We’re in the dominant position now, they’re the ones begging us! You can’t lower yourself to go see him!”

Seeing Zhang Qingyun pouting, Li Dachui couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, you go and make the arrangements. Although everyone knew you had a connection with the Beiting Protectorate before, it wasn't public, so everyone could pretend not to know. But once you go, it will be confirmed that you're one of my people. If I fail in the future, you'll be in big trouble! You won't even have a chance to make excuses!"

Zhang Qingyun blushed and bit her lip, saying, "Young Master is the chosen one; the final victory will naturally belong to us."

Li Dachui, oblivious to Zhang Qingyun's unusual demeanor, shook his head and said, "With heroes rising up and vying for supremacy, there's no room for the slightest slackening. The talk of 'chosen ones' and 'divinely chosen ones' is self-deception. A single misstep can lead to utter ruin. Opponents like Linghu Ye and He Zudao are already extremely difficult to deal with, but even more daunting is the young Empress Dowager Jiang Qian of Southern Chu, a true obstacle. For the past two years, she has been relentlessly eliminating opposition within the country. She has already nearly wiped out the opposition within the royal family; next will be the court and local officials, followed by the opposition from the common people, represented by the Demonic Sect. Once she has finished all this, her focus will be directly on our Great Qin."

“It will still take several years to finish all these things, and hasn’t the young master already planted spies in the Demonic Sect?” Zhang Qingyun said.

“These things can only cause her some trouble and delay her from solving the problem, but they can’t stop her from moving forward!” Li Dachui said.

“Young Master, to be honest, I’m not too worried about the Southern Chu!” Zhang Qingyun said.

Why do I feel this way?

"Because, as you said, the way this Empress Dowager of Southern Chu resolved the internal conflicts in Chu was not through reconciliation, unity, or compromise, but through head-on confrontation, killing to stop killing, and violence to stop violence. This might have a temporary effect, and it might seem like the problem has been solved in a short time!" Zhang Qingyun said, organizing her thoughts as she spoke, and her words became clearer and clearer.

"However, this depends on her consistently smooth sailing. If she keeps winning, she can suppress all dissenting voices, but if she loses even once, the doubts will grow louder. Once we reach a stalemate with her, her opponents will emerge. Therefore, we don't need to compete with her from the beginning, but simply adopt a defensive strategy to hold her off. Then, as time goes by, the internal conflicts in Chu will gradually ferment, and the balance of power will naturally shift!"

"The internal conflicts in the State of Chu are severe, but our Great Qin is even worse off!"

"Everything I've seen in the area outside the Great Wall over the past few years has convinced me that wherever you, Young Master, control, internal conflicts have been resolved to the greatest extent possible. And Young Master's methods for resolving disputes are more numerous and more tactful. For example, your handling of people like Linghu Ye, the Chang family, and the Cai family of Xuanwu Prefecture all demonstrate your abilities. Compared to Jiang Qian's methods, they are far superior!"

Li Dachui laughed loudly: "You seem to have more confidence than I do. Very well, I'll take your good wishes! Next, we'll swallow up the Wei family first, and then compete with Linghu Ye, He Zudao, and the like. Haha, let's see whose world it is today!"

Zhang Qingyun stared wide-eyed at Li Dachui, who stood with his hands behind his back, laughing heartily.

This is the kind of upright and honorable man, the Grand Tutor, that she admires!
Chang'an, the Wei family residence.

Wei Yi was travel-worn; he had just returned from Tongguan.

Now, he is stationed at Tongguan, guarding the passage from Henan to Chang'an. At the same time, the entire Hedong County is also under his control. At present, Linghu Ye's army has broken through Huoyi and stationed troops at Longmen Ferry. They may cross the river and attack at any time. He returned this time for two reasons: first, to discuss the next strategy with his father, and second, to supervise the transport of a batch of military equipment and supplies to strengthen the defense of Tongguan.

However, as soon as he returned, he heard that Sichuan had changed hands. But his joyful expression only lasted for a moment before his heart sank because he knew that Li Dachui had orchestrated the events in Sichuan.

Zhang Songlin, Wu De, and others have all colluded with Li Dachui, which is naturally a very bad thing for the Wei family. However, at present, the Wei family seems to have no other choice but to swallow their anger and accept this result, carefully maintaining the tacit understanding between the two sides.

This made Wei Yi quite frustrated.

But what can be done?

(End of this chapter)