Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 421 A Shocking Change in the Hidden Shadow
Lu Youan then realized that the girl had planned this all along.

The "troubling him with his troubles" that I mentioned earlier actually refers to this.

"Sixth Miss, His Highness the Crown Prince is angry—"

“He won’t blame me.” Xue Sui’s lips curled up slightly, his eyes radiating a calm yet sharp light.

"I will take Xiao Yan's life myself."
-
The forests of Yunling are truly a place that even ghosts fear.

Withered vines and old trees intertwined, blocking out the sky and the sun. The decaying leaves had piled up to half a foot thick, and stepping on them felt like sinking into soft mud...

The group walked forward on the decaying leaves, the chill seeping into their inner garments, making their bones ache.

Xiao Zhao followed behind Xue Sui, her short crossbow always cocked.

“Girl, this forest is very strange. We’ve been walking for a long time and it feels like we’re going around in circles…” Xiao Zhao’s voice was very low, and the sound of her boots rolling over the dry branches was particularly jarring in the silence.

Xue Sui gestured for her to be quiet.

Slowly, I bent down and brushed away the footprints half-buried in the mud.

The footprints were large, with rough treads on the soles, each step sinking deep into the rotten mud, stained with dark red blood.

"It looks like it was left by a heavily laden soldier..."

Xiao Zhao leaned closer to observe and murmured softly.

Xue Sui's gaze had already extended along the footprints...

Finally, it landed under an old oak tree.

"Strange." Xiao Zhao quickly walked to the tree. "The footprints stop here. Where did the person go? Could they have flown away...?"

"Be careful." Xue Sui suddenly grabbed her and pulled her back.

Before he could finish speaking, a rustling sound came from above.

Xiao Zhao reacted extremely quickly, raising her hand to pull the trigger of the crossbow, and a short arrow flew out swiftly.

The man in black on the tree branch, his wrist pierced by an arrow, fell heavily onto the withered leaves, grimacing and cursing.

Xue Sui approached and took the waist tag off him.

The front is engraved with the character "萧".

Which battalion?

The man stiffened his thick, red neck and remained silent.

"Looks like Xiao Yan's personal guards. Dressed like that, are they out gathering information? Scouts?"

The man clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with panic, but he remained silent.

Xue Sui weighed the waist token in his hand and gestured to his left and right, "Since he's mute, there's no use keeping him alive. Kill him."

"Yes!" Xiao Zhao perked up and deftly drew the short sword from her waist.

Seeing this, the man in black suddenly struggled to loosen his fist and was about to stuff something into his mouth...

"You're asking for death!" Xiao Zhao reacted quickly, slashing his wrist with her short sword.

The severed finger, along with the wax pellet, flew out and rolled to the ground. Xiao Zhao stepped forward again and kicked him hard in the chest.

"You bastard, you want to commit suicide? Do you even know which way the gates of the underworld face?"

"Impressive skills," Qin Feng murmured in praise, then beckoned his companions forward.

The two of them worked together to tie up the man in black and searched him thoroughly.

Apart from some scraps of dry food, a small packet of pitch-black powder was found inside the oil paper package lining his clothes.

Xue Sui picked up a little bit, smelled it, and frowned.

"It's gunpowder."

"They want to burn the mountain?" Xiao Zhao exclaimed in surprise.

Qin Feng said as if he had just realized something, "No wonder... I was wondering what I was sending inside, it turns out there was such a deadly move hidden there..."

"Old Bear Gully is in the southeast. If a northwest wind rises, it can take advantage of the wind's force to sweep across the entire Old Bear Gully battlefield..."

"But this move is also extremely dangerous. Once the fire starts, no one can control it... Could it be that Xiao Yan intends to send the Liang army, along with his own people, to perish in the inferno?"

I knew Xiao Yan was ruthless, but I never expected him to be this ruthless.

The so-called decisive battle with Liang Jun at Laoxionggou was nothing more than throwing all of their forces into that narrow valley to cover the gunpowder array they had set up, and then using their own flesh and blood to perish together with Li Zhao's army, while at the same time becoming a smokescreen for his escape...

"How many men do you have? How much gunpowder have you stockpiled? When are you going to make your move?" Xue Sui kicked his knee.

"Say!"

The man gritted his teeth, neither crying out in pain nor begging for mercy, but glaring at her with fierce eyes.

Xiao Zhao was enraged and slashed his face with a knife.

"What kind of ungrateful bastard came from? Don't you want your eyes out? How dare you glare at our girl?"

Screams echoed through the woods.

Xue Sui crouched down and looked at him, his voice eerily calm.

"I know your rules: swallowing pills to commit suicide avoids torture. But unfortunately, you've fallen into my hands. Being skinned alive and tortured for three days and three nights is the least of your worries. Do you think it's worth it?"

Xiao Zhao stepped forward in response, "Miss, let me do it! It's been so long since I've stretched my muscles... I've almost forgotten all the techniques I learned in the Old Mausoleum Swamp. I guarantee I'll make him wish he were dead..."

The man trembled.

Hearing the name of the Old Mausoleum Swamp, he was already terrified. Seeing Xiao Zhao fiercely raising her knife to scrape, he finally broke down in pain.

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, we have over three hundred men hiding in a group of karst caves deep in the dense forest south of Laoxionggou. We’ll wait for the wind to change direction, then detonate the gunpowder and use the wind to attack Liang’s army camp…”

What if the northwest wind doesn't blow?

"The Crown Prince is shrewd. If he can't find our lord in Old Bear Gully, he'll surely find our trail. Then we'll fight to the death and make sure he doesn't return..." The man paused, his voice trembling, "...Our lord is there too, personally overseeing the operation..."

There are those who are not afraid of death, but there are none who are not afraid of ruthlessness.

The man in black was intimidated and spilled all the secrets.

Xue Sui gave Xiao Zhao a look.

Xiao Zhao spat, "Spineless coward, I'll give you a good death."

The dagger pierced his heart, and blood spurted out.

"We need to inform Li Zhao immediately." Xue Sui turned to leave, but Xiao Zhao stopped him.

“Girl, look…” Xiao Zhao pointed to the scar on the tree, where someone had carved a crooked mark with a knife.

"This mark points inwards; is it a deliberate attempt to lure us here?"

“Not necessarily!” Xue Sui touched the carving mark, the wood was fresh. “The southern slopes are densely forested and filled with miasma, making it easy to get lost. They might lose their way even without marking the way.”

She led Xiao Zhao and Qin Feng, and the others, following the signs forward.

The deeper you go, the more unpleasant the air becomes, carrying a rotten, sweet, and fishy smell...

Cold sweat gradually seeped into the vests of Qin Feng and the others.

Xue Sui remained unfazed, navigating around various traps and continuing to probe forward...

Finally, after passing through a dense thicket of vines, a sheltered mountain hollow suddenly appeared.

They saw the camp the men in black had described—

At the bottom of the mountain wall, several dark cave entrances suddenly appeared.

The cave entrance was camouflaged with branches and vines, making it extremely difficult to spot unless one was specifically looking for it. Scattered around the entrance were some empty wooden crates, and a strong smell of gunpowder wafted over…

"As expected, they're going to set the mountain on fire." Xiao Zhao gritted her teeth, her fingertips tightening on the crossbow.

Qin Feng asked, "Miss, what should we do?"

Xue Sui narrowed his eyes, made a gesture, and silently led his men out.

"Xiao Zhao, take two men and take a shortcut to Lao Xiong Gou to inform the Crown Prince that Xiao Yan is planning to use the northwest wind to set fire to the Liang army."

After saying that, she stuffed the dagger into her boot. "I'm going to meet Xiao Yan."

Xiao Zhao's eyes widened. "Miss, you mustn't!"

Qin Feng tried his best to dissuade him, but Xue Sui interrupted him, saying, "I have to do this."

Xiao Zhao wanted to say something, but Xue Sui pushed her.

"Go quickly."
-
Li Zhao had been standing on the lookout tower in Laoxionggou for half an hour.

As promised, Prince Xian Li Shao's troops flanked from the right flank, while Qi Mingyang's main force also pressed forward forcefully, annihilating the garrison at the forward stronghold and trapping the remnants of the Xiao clan at the mouth of the ditch a mile ahead.

The two sides are engaged in fierce fighting.

He stood on high ground, taking in the entire battle situation.

If the battle continues, the remaining enemy can be wiped out by dawn tomorrow.

Everything proceeded as planned, even more smoothly than expected.

But Xiao Yan's continued absence left Li Zhao with a lingering unease...

From the start of the siege of Yongding City, he kept a close eye on Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan could not possibly have escaped Yunling...

"It seems to be a spy from the Prince Xian's residence. They were incompetent and failed to accurately convey our plan..."

"Your Highness, should we... divide our forces to search the area around Old Bear Gully?" Yu Qianshan rubbed his hands, which were numb with cold, as his armor clanged against each other with a dull thud.

"Wait a little longer. Killing more henchmen without eliminating Xiao Yan will only waste the lives of my Liang soldiers..." Before Li Zhao's voice had even finished, he suddenly saw a thick plume of green smoke rising from the distant mountains.

The smoke was purple, interspersed with a few wisps of glaring orange-red sparks, standing out starkly against the gray sky.

"It's a sign that everything is safe."

He had heard Xue Sui mention before that the Old Mausoleum Marsh had specially made hidden arrows that could send out different signals depending on the situation.

"Pass down the order to tighten the encirclement. Left-wing cavalry, stand by at all times, archers, take your positions..." Li Zhao turned around, his footsteps crunching on the hard, frozen ground.

Yu Qianshan was about to leave after receiving the order when Li Zhao stopped him.

"You lead your men to hold the position firmly, I'll go and meet Miss Xue."

Xiao Zhao appeared at this moment. She was covered in mud, her hair was disheveled and stuck to her sweaty forehead, her leather armor was loose and torn, but she gripped the short crossbow in her hand very tightly.

"Your Highness!" she cried, rushing over without even bothering to curtsy. "The young lady sent me to report: Xiao Yan has hidden three hundred men in a cave on the southern slope and stockpiled chests of gunpowder, intending to use the northwest wind to set the battlefield ablaze... The young lady has already led men to stop him..."

Li Zhao's breath hitched, and he lowered his voice.

"lead the way!"

　See you tomorrow!! Thank you for reading, ladies...

　　(End of this chapter)