knife

Chapter 486 The tree fell and the hozens scattered
Husband and wife are originally birds of the same forest, they fly separately when disaster strikes.

If this is the case for couples, one can only imagine what it's like for others.

So, on the eve of Linghu Ye's army's attack on Chang'an, a series of dazzling and even astonishing scenes unfolded throughout the city.

Loyalty and betrayal, affection and self-interest, trust and suspicion—all are undergoing a cruel test in the face of reality.

But human nature is the most vulnerable to test.
Especially relationships linked by shared interests.

They are even more vulnerable in the face of reality.

Even those forces that were originally closely connected with the Wei family are now each using their own methods to find their own way out.

Chang'an City appears to be heavily guarded, with strict restrictions on entry and exit, but in reality, it's like a sieve. Anyone with even a little bit of power is trying to escape or find a powerful backer.

The vast majority of them sent people directly to contact the Linghu Group, preparing to raise their flags and provide support when the main force arrived, hoping to gain some credit in the process.

Another group of people, with more accurate information and a longer-term vision, were contacting Linghu Ye while also sending someone to contact Zhang Qingyun.

After all, the Beiting Protectorate is currently in a strong position, and it is certain that Li Dachui and Xiao Changche will lead their troops south. It is unwelcome to be left out, so it is better to warm things up now and build relationships in advance so that we can be more at ease when trouble comes in the future.

Those who lacked direct access to these two major powers began to flee.

These days, if you pay the soldiers guarding the city gates enough, they'll open a small gate for you to escape, and that's no big deal.

The current state of Chang'an perfectly illustrates the saying "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter."

The reason Zhang Qingyun didn't leave was that he wanted to seize the greatest possible benefit in this final chaotic state.

Linghu Ye was the first to enter Chang'an; this is an undeniable fact.

It is a foregone conclusion that Li Dachui will soon lead his troops south to compete with Linghu Ye, so doing some preparation now is even more important for the future.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Qingyun was planting nails.

Linghu Ye was no fool. His subordinates had many dealings with Li Dachui and were quite familiar with each other. It wouldn't be easy to plant these spies and make them effective later.

The only people Zhang Qingyun could scheme against were those who had nothing to do with Beiting.

To persuade these people, a proper combination of timing and interests is needed.

Zhang Qingyun believed that this opportunity lay in the final moments before the collapse of the Wei Group, so she refused to leave early and insisted on staying until the very last moment.

Of course, Zhang Qingyun hadn't been idle before that.

Those soldiers and officials who were unwilling to join Linghu Ye or had conflicts with the Linghu family were the targets of his mobilization. Many of them were then arranged by Zhang Qingyun to become bandits around Chang'an.

Yao Zhen was the one Zhang Qingyun cared about the most.

This man has several thousand men under his command, and the Yao family and the Linghu family have a feud. Simply sending Yao Zhen to lead his troops out, whether to Xing County or Shu, is not impossible. However, Shu does not need more troops at the moment, and places like Xing County and Ning County are too small to accommodate too many troops. Moreover, these two places are too conspicuous and could easily attract the attention of the Linghu family or even He Zudao.

So a year ago, Zhang Qingyun arranged for Luo Ying to begin making preparations on Mount Li.

Large quantities of grain and military equipment were transported out under various pretexts and eventually ended up in the mountains.

The existence of such an army on Mount Li, just a stone's throw from Chang'an, was enough to keep Linghu Ye awake at night after he entered Chang'an.

Around Chang'an, Zhang Qingyun had set up several such teams, large and small.

Having taken control of the Black Ice Platform, possessed the political legacy left by Zhang Songlin, including the Machinery Division, and benefited from the vast network of connections of Master Yu Entai, Zhang Qingyun handled these matters with remarkable ease.

Each unit was staffed with skilled individuals from the Chi Qiu Institute and the Black Ice Bureau to ensure effective control over them.

Wei Zhengdao and his son Wei Yi were aware of the current state of Chang'an, but they didn't care much about it anymore.

The Wei family's vast wealth and personnel have been transferred to Hanzhong. Now, only the father and son, along with Emperor Li Ping, their greatest weapon, remain in Chang'an.

Chang'an was definitely beyond their control, so they naturally prepared to leave.

They wouldn't enter Sichuan, since Sichuan had completely become Li Dachui's territory. How could they possibly survive there? Even though they were allies, without their own territory, they would be at the mercy of others.

Therefore, their destination was Hanzhong.

The importance of Hanzhong to Shu Commandery is self-evident.

If Shu Commandery wants to launch an attack on the Central Plains in the future, then Hanzhong will be an indispensable strategic passage.

The Wei family wanted to control this vital passage so they could use it to negotiate with Li Dachui.

Before Li Dachui seized Shu Commandery, Wei Zhengdao's confidant Zhou Xuan had already been appointed as the governor of Hanzhong Commandery, and had been laying the groundwork for this day for the past few years.

"Father, the emperor must be in our hands; we absolutely cannot let him go to Shu!" Wei Yi said. "If the emperor falls into Li Dachui's hands, wouldn't they be able to do whatever they want to us? We cannot lose our righteous cause!"

"Shu Commandery has a point. We can't let the emperor stay in a dangerous place. If Chang'an is lost, Linghu Ye will definitely try to seize Hanzhong!"

Wei Yi sneered, "If Shu Commandery doesn't want the emperor to fall into the hands of the Linghu family, then they must provide strong support to Hanzhong. As long as they are willing to provide continuous support, we can hold Hanzhong!"

“That makes perfect sense!” Wei Zhengdao nodded and said, “But in doing so, my son and I will inevitably be criticized by the world.”

“Father, how can we worry about these things now?” Wei Yi said, “Look at the situation now. Linghu Ye seems aggressive, but compared to Li Dachui, he is clearly lacking in stamina. Li Dachui entered the pass with the momentum of destroying the Yuan Dynasty. I wouldn’t say he was unstoppable, but he was definitely not someone Linghu Ye could withstand. The emperor is in our hands. In the future, we will still have the capital to bargain with him. After we re-establish the world, this will be our capital. If we send the emperor to Shu, what will we, father and son, have left in the end? Won’t we be at the mercy of others?”

“Indeed!” Wei Zhengdao laughed. “We’ve been cursed by the world for so many years, what’s a little more? No matter who wins in the end, the emperor is an obstacle they can’t get around. If they want to ascend to the throne, they have to get past this obstacle. That’s our last bargaining chip!”

“Father, you take the Emperor and go first, I will cover the rear!” Wei Yi said.

(End of this chapter)