knife

Chapter 720 Arrangement
For wealthy and powerful families, betrayal and backstabbing are practically commonplace.

If it weren't for these methods or cunning tactics, which have been passed down for thousands of years, they would have been devoured alive long ago.

Everything was done to ensure the survival of the family. They felt that whatever means they used were justified and that they felt no moral guilt.

Moreover, Li Guohua is currently eyeing them covetously, and his intention to devour them is obvious. Therefore, it is all the more natural for them to launch a fierce counterattack.

Li Guohua wants to raise a poisonous creature, absorbing the power of the Cui family and others to become a poison king, but it depends on whether the Cui family is willing to get involved.

“Li Guohua will be coming to pay respects to the old patriarch in a few days. At that time, he will inevitably be the one to pressure us. So our first step now is to have some means of self-defense!” Cui Shu said, “Cui Tu, how is the task of retraining the armored men going?”

"Second Brother, oh no... Patriarch, we have now trained three thousand people. More than two thousand of them are new recruits, and five hundred of the other one thousand are old armored men who have survived by chance. No, five hundred are those old armored men who are over fifty years old. They have the basic structure, but their strength is still much weaker than before!" Cui Tu said.

Cui Shu looked at everyone in the room and said coldly, "I know that each branch still has some hidden methods. Now, stop hiding them. The principle of 'if the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?' I don't need to explain it again. Each branch leader should hand over all these forces to Cui Tu. If we lose this battle, the Cui family will truly perish. Then, all the people you keep will be of no use."

There was an awkward silence in the room for a moment, but eventually, under Cui Shu's intense gaze, someone gave in.

Once someone takes the lead, the rest becomes much easier.

The number of personal guards in each branch was not large, but their strength was first-rate. Excluding the third and fifth branches, the twelve branches quickly gathered nearly a thousand skilled fighters.

"Cui Tu, we've entrusted our lives to you!" Cui Shu looked at the fourth brother, Cui Tu, and said, "How much combat power they can unleash in a short time depends on you!"

“My brother swears on his life, but can he guarantee that reinforcements will arrive in time?” Cui Tu asked.

Cui Shu took a deep breath and said, "Cui Peng, you need to go to Huxiaoyuan immediately to make contact with them. Li Dachui and Lu Xin should be in Huxiaoyuan right now. With our strength alone, we can't possibly deal with Li Guohua, but if Li Dachui can cooperate with us from the inside, things will be much simpler!"

Cui Peng cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Yes, I'll go right away!"

After saying this, without the slightest hesitation, he turned and walked towards the door.

Cui Shu walked to the center of the room, looked at everyone, and said, "Uncles, brothers, and nephews, I believe you all understand that what we are about to do concerns the lives and futures of the entire clan. For thousands of years, every few years, our clan has always made important choices. Success brings decades, centuries, or even longer of wealth and honor; a wrong choice leads to the destruction of the family and the extinction of the clan. Fortunately, we have never made the wrong choice before, and I hope it will be the same this time!"

Everyone nodded repeatedly. Of course, we have to succeed! If we fail, we'll all lose our heads.

“Since everyone understands, from now on, except for those who are on official business, no one is allowed to leave this shed!” Cui Shu said.

"Patriarch, is this a sign of distrust?" someone shouted in dissatisfaction. "Better safe than sorry. You can't see into someone's heart. No one can see what's really going on in someone else's mind!" Cui Shu said coldly. "Our Cui family used to have eighteen branches. Now, only twelve are left. Where did the other six go? Heh, the heads of each branch should know that the six branches that disappeared didn't die out because they had no descendants over time. They were wiped out by the clan, leaving no one alive."

Some people in the room remained calm, while others looked horrified. This wasn't how it was written in the family history!

"This time is no different. If anyone makes a mistake and ruins our important plans, I don't mind having a few less of the twelve heads of the households. Keeping everyone here is for everyone's good!" Cui Shu said.

Having said all that and done all that, everyone in the room understood that Cui Shu had probably been planning this all along and had already been in contact with Li Dachui. Otherwise, how could such a thing have been accomplished so quickly? And the middleman who acted as the liaison between the two parties was very likely Lu Xin from Fanyang.

The crowd was imagining various scenarios, but they could hardly imagine that everything was orchestrated by Li Dachui himself. He had been planning this for a long time, and now they were simply pushing things forward step by step according to his plan.

The way everyone looked at Cui Shu was somewhat peculiar, but their admiration was even greater.

Regardless of the circumstances, the serious injuries Cui Shu is currently suffering are the result of Li Dachui's actions. From Cui Shu's perspective, he must hate Li Dachui to the extreme. However, for the sake of the family's survival, Cui Shu is still able to put aside his pride and grudges to beg Li Dachui for his life. He can still be considered a qualified family leader.

As for Cui Shu, as long as Li Dachui keeps his promise and heals his injuries after the matter is settled, allowing him to remain firmly in his innate position, and with the help of the family through the crisis, his status within the family will be as stable as Mount Tai. Losing an arm is nothing, and it won't hinder his work.

In Boling County, intelligence reports from all directions converged on Li Guohua.

On Tiger Roar Plain, within Fanyang County, and in Yangguan Pass, the army under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Protectorate was undergoing a series of reorganizations and mobilizations. The allocation of military equipment, provisions, charcoal, vegetables, and other supplies directly indicated that the enemy was preparing for a major battle.

And the target, naturally, is Boling County.

"Master Yang, let's set off for the Cui family's old residence tomorrow! Time waits for no one. I heard that the new armored warriors at the Cui family's old residence have been assembled. Shouldn't we go and see if they're of any use?"

"Does the General intend to take over these new recruits in one fell swoop?" Yang Rong asked with a smile.

"Yang Gong readily handed over Bai Yu to me, so it's not unreasonable for the Cui family to offer up armored men, is it?"

"My Yang family's Baiyu only has a few hundred people left. It would be better to do them a favor. But this is Cui family territory, and they have several thousand newly recruited armored men. It won't be easy to get them to hand over their troops willingly!"

"So tomorrow I will take five thousand men with me to show Cui Shu the huge gap between his so-called armored men and the real elite army," Li Guohua said with a smile. "I'll teach him a good lesson."

(End of this chapter)