Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 246 Traitor? This one must be killed.

The situation was strange. The vassal states closest to the Han people's great enemy, the Guifang, were fighting amongst themselves, while the Guifang people, who should have been paying attention to the movements of these vassal states, seemed to have disappeared.

Every autumn is a good time for the Guifang people to raid the grasslands along the coastline to the south. This year, however, there is no such time. Dongzhou, which suffered the most from the raids, no longer needs to deploy a large number of troops to guard against the Guifang people. Instead, they have sent their troops to the area bordering Qiuhezhou.

Not only Dongzhou did this, but Haizhou and Taizhou did the same.

Do they really think the Guifang people won't head south this year?
Anyway, Yun Ce wouldn't dare to think that way.

Therefore, the fact that they could so calmly transfer their troops from the northern front to the western front to defend against the Gui Fang must have been based on something, such as obtaining a guarantee from the Gui Fang people.

Cao Kun thought this was impossible, but he still insisted on making a bet with Yun Ce. Yun Ce would not take the bet, because even if he won, it would be meaningless.

Ultimately, it's because Cao Kun and his group lacked experience. If this situation were told to the high school students in the ancestral land, they would immediately conclude that the Gui Fang people harbored ill intentions.

A smarter child might even tell you that those governors might have already defected to the Guifang people—an answer that Cao Kun would never have dared to imagine.

Yun Ce also informed Wu Tong, who was far away in Chang'an, of the news...

Ever since discovering this possibility, Yun Ce has wanted to kill someone, but the defense system of Yun Clan Manor is still in its infancy, and he cannot leave for the time being.

Then, disregarding the fact that the people in Yun Family Manor had just endured the hardships of the autumn harvest, he quickly put them back into the even more arduous task of digging ditches.

In autumn, the Qingshui River swelled, overflowing into the dug ditches. In addition, Yun Ce ordered large stones to be continuously thrown into the Qingshui River, causing the river to rise again and submerging the first eddy of the Qingshui River, which was the eddy where Yun Ce discovered the radioactive material.

The first bay was submerged, forming a large swamp around the Yun Clan Manor. This temporarily shielded the Yun Clan Manor from the threat of being directly confronted by the Gui Fang's iron hooves.

Once these tasks were completed, the weather turned cold. The sweeping north wind arrived earlier than the Ghost Fang cavalry, tearing away the remaining leaves from the branches and adding a touch of gray to the earth with frost.

As the weather turned cold, the Cao family's attack on Lingzhou was abruptly halted due to the pressure of troops stationed on the border of the three provinces. Cao Bing returned to Qiuhe Province, Cao Kun guarded Pingzhou, and Cao Ying and Cao Ben, with 150,000 troops, remained in Lingzhou to confront He Tian.

The two sides ceased fighting and each guarded their own territory, becoming completely silent.

After harvesting the last batch of ripe baby beans at Yun Family Manor, the family gradually entered the winter rest period. Everyone in the Yun family was extremely busy that year, and once the winter rest period arrived, almost everyone fell into sleep.

"The emperor has married a new concubine named Shen Lexi, who is said to be an unparalleled beauty."

Zhang Min, who had just returned on the chestnut horse that originally belonged to Shen Tingyu, took off her leather boots as soon as she entered the house and put her feet on the charcoal brazier in front of Yun Ce to warm them.

wisps of white steam rose from the thick woolen socks, and a not-too-strong sour smell wafted into Yun Ce's nostrils at the same time.

He took off Zhang Min's thick socks and warmed her cold feet under his arms.

"Don't you find it smelly?"

Frustrated, Eji kicked Zhang Min's smelly socks out the door.

Yun Ce poured Zhang Min a cup of hot tea and said, "A pregnant woman like you has traveled more than 300 miles in a day. Let's spend some more time together so you won't complain later."

Eji said, "Why is the emperor also thinking about getting married?"

Yun Ce sniffed and said, "That Shen Lexi is a woman from the Guifang people, and she's Shen Tingyu's sister, whom I've told you about before."

Eji asked in bewilderment, "One Yuheng is not enough, so he also married a Guifang woman. Is this emperor a Han emperor or a Guifang emperor?"

Zhang Min stretched her foot towards Yun Ce's lower abdomen, then, holding her teacup, said, "The Emperor has gone to great lengths to deal with the Grand Marshal."

Eji clapped her hands and said, "That's terrible! The emperor is going to cooperate with the Guifang people. Who will we listen to from now on?"

Zhang Min chuckled and said, "Of course I'll listen to my husband. Now, we've cut off the Guifang cavalry's route to Jingkou Pass. Unless they send infantry over the Black Mountain, they won't be able to get here."

Eji leaned closer to Yun Ce and said, "My husband said that flooding the roads with water is only a temporary measure and cannot last long. In the future, we will still have to face the Guifang people."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "What we need to do now is to protect ourselves and see the situation clearly while protecting ourselves. At the beginning, the situation will definitely be chaotic, and you won't be able to tell the difference between people and ghosts."

Once the situation has stabilized, we'll consider our next steps.

Zhang Minmo touched her already protruding belly and nodded, saying, "Yes, I'm not doing anything now, I'm just waiting for my child to be born."

Eji pulled Yun Ce's hand over and placed it on her swollen belly, saying, "Yes, yes, it's time to calm down."

As they were going to bed that night, Zhang Min whispered in Yun Ce's ear, "Should we ask Wu Tong to help us investigate the relationship between the three governors of Dongzhou, Taizhou, and Haizhou and the emperor?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I won't investigate, but I plan to travel to the three states."

Zhang Min said softly, "Should we investigate personally?"

Yun Ce gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go kill them myself."

"There's no evidence. What if we get caught..."

"Killing traitors never requires any evidence." "Even if they're royalty, you'd still kill them?"

"Even if it's a pig in a pigsty, if it betrays the country, it must be killed."

“Even if it is to be killed, it is a matter for the imperial court, and it is not my husband’s place to take the risk.”

Yun Ce sat up from under the covers, leaning against the bed, and said, "Killing traitors must be done as quickly as possible, otherwise more people will betray us."

Only by making those who want to betray us hesitant can we effectively stop the trend of surrender from spreading further.

"How could you possibly kill them all by yourself?"

"The Han people are rather stupid. As long as I set an example for them and make killing traitors a way to gain fame, countless people will follow suit."

"They won't use Yun Ce's name, will they?"

“This name isn’t catchy enough. The identity of Liu Chang’an, the heir of the Prince of Changsha, is much more useful. His title is high enough, his reputation is resounding enough, and he’s mysterious enough. At least, there are no more than fifteen people who know that I, Yun Ce, am Liu Chang’an.”

"Cao Kun knows that too."

“He won’t talk nonsense, and he might even help me cover it up. After all, the person I killed was the same person he wanted to kill.”

Before Zhang Min could say anything more, a smooth body rolled off Yun Ce and between her and Yun Ce.

Eji stared with her big eyes and said, "Go on, I'm listening."

Yun Ce patted her back and said, "Weren't you asleep?"

Eji snorted and said, "How would I know you were whispering behind my back if I wasn't asleep?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "You and Zhang Min are moving to Jin Suo Guan tomorrow to spend the winter. I won't be coming back, and you shouldn't go back to the manor either."

Eji sighed and held Yun Ce close, saying, "Remember to come back."

Yun Ce didn't say anything, but simply placed his arm under E Ji's head so that she could use it as a pillow.

As dawn broke, Yun Ce watched E Ji's carriage enter Jin Suo Guan under the protection of An Ji and her maids. He then said to Zhang Min, who was riding alongside him, "Take good care of yourself, and also take good care of our child."

Zhang Min held Yun Ce's hand and said, "I'll be giving birth in two months. E Ji will be giving birth around the same time. I hope you can come back then."

Yun Ce narrowed his eyes and said softly, "Killing a few bastards won't take more than two months."

Watching Zhang Min enter Jin Suo Guan, Yun Ce turned his horse around and said to the chestnut horse, "Let's go to Taizhou first. I've heard that the governor of Taizhou, Han Qi, is famous for his integrity, honesty, and philanthropy."

I really want to see what kind of upright, honest, and charitable person he is. You should know that these eight words have absolutely nothing to do with nobility.

Therefore, he is the most suspicious.

The chestnut horse roared, seemingly also angry, and ran as fast as the wind.

“Yun Ce suspected that the governor of Taizhou was colluding with the Guifang. I didn’t believe him, so he called me a fool.”

Cao Kun, whose injuries had long since fully recovered, still had a gauze bandage wrapped around his waist and ribs. There were still a few specks of dark blood on the bandage, indicating that his injuries were not completely healed.

Zheng Tianshou slowly opened his eyes and said, "The emperor has taken a new concubine named Shen Lexi. I vaguely heard that this woman is a woman from the Guifang tribe."

Cao Kun asked, "Does the emperor taking concubines have anything to do with what we're talking about?"

Zheng Tianshou looked up at the algae-covered ceiling and said, "Dongzhou, Haizhou, and Taizhou were originally subordinate states of the Han Dynasty. Since Emperor Liu Mu ascended the throne, these three not-so-outstanding subordinate states have become native states of the Han Dynasty in just twenty years. If you think about it carefully, this is one of the few good things the emperor has done since he ascended the throne."

In this struggle between the Grand Marshal and the Emperor, apart from some royal provinces that stood firmly behind the Emperor, only these three provinces disregarded their own interests and resolutely supported the Emperor.

Since they were the emperor's staunch supporters, the fact that the emperor could take a Guifang woman as a concubine gave them ample reason to contact the Guifang people.

However, it remains uncertain whether they are loyal to the emperor, to the Guifang, or even to the Guifang themselves.

Cao Kun whispered, "I spent some money and found some people to do some things that are not for outsiders to know."

Zheng Tianshou was startled and straightened up to look at Cao Kun, asking, "Was the matter handled discreetly? Did it cost a lot of money?"

Cao Kun said, "Ten thousand taels of gold, sixty-seven assassins from Chang'an, and the person in charge of leading them is Uncle Ya."

Zheng Tianshou said with some dissatisfaction, "You know perfectly well that your mute uncle doesn't have much time left to live."

Cao Kun said, "It was Uncle Ya who asked for it. He told me that he was tired of living."

(End of this chapter)