Aoyama

Chapter 282 Assassination
Li Xuan looked at the fire and then at the traces.

Previously, Chen Ji said that Guyuan was a trap set by someone for the Tiance Army, but he did not believe it.

Just because half of the people in Guyuan City were slaughtered and countless border troops were killed and wounded, how cruel must the chess player be to set up such a "guillotine game"?
In this day and age, the capital has a population of one million, Luo City has two hundred thousand, and Guyuan has at least 130,000 or 140,000 people. Half of the city’s population means tens of thousands of lives!

How vicious and cruel!

However, now, Li Xuan looked at the flames rising into the sky from the city gate and the rock-solid Guyuan City collapsed, blocking all the retreat routes of the Tiance Army. He had to believe it.

Li Xuan turned his head to look at Chen Ji. No matter how calm he was, he couldn't help but asked in panic, "Who set this up? What other tricks do they have? Which army were those armored infantrymen I saw earlier? How dare they go against the will of the world and use tens of thousands of civilians as bait?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "More than that."

Li Xuan was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Chen Ji said softly: "The bait is not only the people, but also the granary, weapons, well water... the prince."

No wonder the imperial court suddenly sent the prince to Guyuan with a ceremonial guard that had never fought a war; no wonder Bai Long wanted to transfer and eliminate the prince's staff; no wonder the Tian Ce Army was able to break into the secret passage of the inn; no wonder the prince was found even when he was hiding in the cellar.

Just because the prince is the last link in the pledge of allegiance! Without the prince, how could the Tiance Army walk into an ambush?

Only in this way does it make sense.

At this time, another roar was heard, and even the East Gate was destroyed by firearms.

Amid the fire and roar, the Tian Ce Army's horses were frightened and ran around.

Yuan Zhen's warhorse seemed to want him to stand up, almost throwing him off the horse.

The commander of the Tiance Army was a second-rank official of the Jing Dynasty, and Yuan Zhen was just an ordinary man. How could he control a frightened warhorse? Fortunately, an armored soldier flashed over, grabbed the reins tightly, and pulled the warhorse back to its original position.

As he finished speaking, intensive shouts and cries of killing were heard from the north. A group of armored infantrymen who had been hiding in the city long ago, holding a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, counterattacked southwards from Xuwei Lane.

An armored soldier said urgently: "It's an ambush, escort the commander-in-chief away!"

Yuan Zhen whipped him in the face with a whip: "Why are you panicking? Anyone who disturbs our army's morale will be killed!"

After that, he narrowed his eyes and looked towards the north in deep thought for a long time, then looked at the prince and sneered, "What a big move, using half of the city's people and the current crown prince as bait. Let me ask you, do you know about this?"

The prince was silent.

Yuan Zhen laughed loudly: "So you didn't know! The literati of the Southern Dynasty are indeed cruel. They steal the country in the name of family and country. Now they even treat the crown prince as a toy! If the Zhu family's Taizu sits up from the coffin, I'm afraid he will kill all these Confucian literati!"

A confidant rode over and whispered, "General, should we leave or stay?"

Yuan Zhen said in a deep voice: "They blew up the South Gate and the East Gate in order to force us to escape from the West Gate. There must be an ambush waiting there. Send the military order, attack north! The Southern Dynasty Military Intelligence Department has sent news that the three major camps of the Ning Dynasty are all at Chongli Pass. I want to see what Hu Junxian can use to kill my Tiance Army!"

As soon as he finished speaking, flag orders were passed down layer by layer, and the main force of the Tian Ce Army's central army immediately broke up into small pieces, like a closed fan that suddenly opened, and spread out towards the north.

Li Xuan watched the prince and others being taken away by the Tiance Army's cavalry, and immediately said in a hurry: "I am going to save the prince. If you don't want to take the risk, then stay here..."

When he turned around, he was shocked to find that Chen Ji had already left.

Chen Ji wiped his cheek with the hem of his clothes while moving towards a cavalryman of the Tian Ce Army.

Just as another roar of firearms was heard, he suddenly leaped up, landed lightly behind the opponent's saddle, covered his mouth, and broke his neck.

He threw the corpse of the Tian Ce Army to Li Xuan, who hurriedly caught it in his arms. Even though he was extremely careful, he could not cover up the friction sound of the corpse's armor. Someone heard the noise and immediately looked over, but then saw Chen Ji wearing a black pheasant tail helmet and Tian Ce Army armor, and then turned back.

Chen Ji rode his horse to join the Tian Ce Army and marched northward with the Imperial Guard Battalion.

……

……

Chen Ji mixed in the team and observed quietly.

The ranks of the Tian Ce Army were divided by the pheasant tails on their heads. Ordinary soldiers had no pheasant tails, while sharpshooters, guards, and centurions wore a black pheasant tail. Thousand-man commanders wore a long pheasant tail and a short pheasant tail, and the "Wanhu Mansion Chief" wore a long pheasant tail and two short pheasant tails.

Chen Ji saw Yuan Zhen riding his horse forward slowly, while the elite scouts kept reporting military intelligence from various directions, and then left with new flags.

The Tian Ce Army infantrymen escorted the prince and others and followed behind Yuan Zhen. Yuan Zhen was closely guarded by the Guards. Chen Ji just took a look and then looked away without further inquiries to avoid arousing suspicion.

He looked at the figure beside Yuan Zhen, the owner of Longmen Inn.

At this time, the other party had already changed into the armor of the Tian Ce Army and wore a pheasant tail cap on his head, and his status was extremely high.

Just as Chen Ji was looking at him secretly, the shopkeeper seemed to notice something and slowly turned his head.

In the flickering firelight, Chen Ji saw the word "surrender" tattooed on the left cheek of the other person. His eyes were cold and murderous. How could he look like the innkeeper he used to be?
He lowered his head before the other party's eyes swept over him and followed the team silently.

The shopkeeper was suspicious and wanted to turn his horse back to check, but he saw several scouts coming back together to report military intelligence.

"Report, there are elite infantrymen on Kule Street, engaging the Vanguard Battalion, 500 in number!"

"Report, there are 500 elite infantrymen moving westwards in Qiemo Street!"

Yuan Zhen frowned while sitting on his horse and asked, "Which group of elite infantry have we discovered? The eleventh or the twelfth?" His confidant beside him whispered, "General, the twelfth."

The shouting and screaming at the front line became louder and louder, and from time to time there was the roar of firearms, as if the border troops were killing more and more people.

Yuan Zhen looked at the darkness, his expression becoming more serious: "Where did Hu Junxian get so many people? Send the main force of the central army to set up a trap in Xuwei Lane and let them in!"

At this time, another scout ran back, knelt on one knee ten steps away from Yuan Zhen, and shouted: "Report, the centurion Yuan Zhong in Longmen Inn was killed, and the whole army was wiped out!"

Hearing the words "Longmen Inn", the shopkeeper suddenly turned around and no longer cared about the gaze that was staring at him before.

Yuan Zhen waved to the person behind him nonchalantly, and the guards immediately made way for him, allowing the shopkeeper to come within ten steps to answer.

Yuan Zhen didn't look at the shopkeeper, but just stared ahead, and asked calmly, "I sent Yuan Zhong there because I got the news from you. Now that Yuan Zhong is dead, how do you explain it?"

As he was speaking, the guards beside the shopkeeper suddenly attacked. Five or six of them grabbed his arms and forced him to his knees.

The shopkeeper raised his head and said loudly, "Reporting to the commander, I have reported before that there are Yulin Army guards in the inn, and there is also a Yulin Army commander in the Dao Seeking Realm beside the prince. Now the prince is also here, you can confront him face to face."

Yuan Zhen nodded, and waved behind him without turning his head. Immediately, people from the Guard Battalion brought the prince and others forward.

Along the way, Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia struggled hard, but to no avail.

Everyone stopped ten steps away from Yuan Zhen, and heard Yuan Zhen ask: "I ask, you answer, and those who can answer well can live."

Chen Wenxiao quickly said, "Marshal, I'll answer!"

Yuan Zhen raised his lips slightly: "Have you ever met my Tiance Army Vanguard Battalion in the inn?"

Chen Wenxiao nodded his head rapidly, "We did. They rushed out from the secret passage of the inn and killed all the dozens of Yulin soldiers who were left behind. We were trapped upstairs and almost died."

Yuan Zhen turned around and said, "Since we met, why are your clothes clean and there is not even a drop of blood on your body? How did you escape to Taohuaifang?"

Chen Wenxiao explained: "At that time, it was Chen..."

Halfway through his words, Chen Wenzong began to struggle like a madman: "Shut up, beast!"

Yuan Zhen laughed: "Who is this person?"

Chen Wenxiao lowered his head to avoid Chen Wenzong's gaze: "This is my elder brother, Chen Wenzong."

Yuan Zhen waved his hand: "Shut up this guy and continue talking."

However, at this moment, Xiaoman shouted loudly: "Let me tell you!"

Yuan Zhen smiled and asked, "Oh? Who are you?"

Xiaoman struggled to take two steps forward: "I am a maid of the Chen family. As long as you give me a way to live, I will tell you anything..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiaoman suddenly broke free from the guards beside him and slapped Chen Wenxiao on the temple.

This palm had the power of wind and thunder, but it stopped just in front of Chen Wenxiao's temple and was caught by a strong hand.

A burly black shadow enveloped Xiaoman. She looked up in surprise and saw that it was a centurion beside Yuan Zhen who came up to her like a ghost and stopped her.

The captain laughed grimly and said, "You dare to play such a trick in front of the commander-in-chief, you are courting death."

Yuan Zhen said calmly: "It doesn't matter. If someone tries to stop him, his words will be more credible. Let him continue."

Chen Wenxiao said, "My bastard son Chen Ji blocked the stairs and prevented your vanguard from going upstairs to capture the prince. Then we hid on the roof of the inn. When we came down again, he and the little maid had killed all the vanguards!"

Yuan Zhen was also stunned: "Kill them all? The two of them?"

He looked at the shopkeeper coldly: "Why didn't you mention these two people?"

However, Yuan Zhen found that the shopkeeper was also stunned and muttered to himself: "I saw him leave the house in the morning, how could he be in the inn..."

Chen Wenxiao added, "Reporting to the commander, my half-brother did go out this morning and did not return until the border troops opened the city gates."

Yuan Zhen hummed and sneered at the shopkeeper, "Even if he left, you should have reported everything to me. Tell me, why didn't you report it?"

But the shopkeeper ignored him and looked at Chen Wenxiao: "Where is Chen Ji? Why is he not among you?"

Chen Wenxiao was shocked and said, "He left us in the cellar and I don't know where he went."

Yuan Zhen looked down and asked, "What realm is the Chen family's bastard at? Does he have any weaknesses?"

Just as Chen Wenxiao was about to speak, the shopkeeper suddenly knelt on the ground and walked forward to Yuan Zhen, saying, "General, it is my fault that I failed to do my job well and leaked such crucial information. I am willing to accept the punishment."

When the shopkeeper was only seven steps away from Yuan Zhen, he suddenly jumped up and pounced on Yuan Zhen.

Yuan Zhen's expression remained unchanged as he coldly watched the shopkeeper getting closer and closer. The Guards formed a human wall in front of him. The centurion who was holding Xiaoman kicked Xiaoman away and dodged back to defend.

The shopkeeper and the captain fought like thunder, and a strong wind swept around them, making it almost impossible to open their eyes.

(End of this chapter)