After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

For the next ten days or so, Wushuang would go out every day under the identity of Lin Yunche.

The people of Huaizhou City gradually became familiar with this different Lord Lin, and slowly grew to like this amiable Lord Lin.

Many ordinary people are always concerned about when Lord Lin will return to the yamen to serve as an official!
Within the yamen, some hoped for Lord Lin's return, while others did not.

The one who hopes for Lord Lin's return is Lord Feng, who is currently acting as the prefect of Huaizhou!

He was transferred here just a few days before Lord Hai left. For Lord Feng, the position of prefect of Huaizhou City is a hot potato.

Upon learning that he was to come to Huaizhou, he immediately asked the Emperor for leave! But to everyone's surprise, even knowing that he was unwell, the Emperor still ordered him to come to Huaizhou immediately.

Now, it is widely rumored among the ministers that the Emperor's suspicion of the Prince of Huai is growing stronger, and that his arrival in the north at this time will inevitably involve dealing with the Prince of Huai.

At this point, if one is not careful, he might be accused of defecting to the Prince of Huai.

He, Lord Feng, is not worthy of the title, nor is his Feng family.

Therefore, as soon as he took office, Lord Feng pretended to be sick and stayed at home, never showing his face.

Apart from Bi Yi and Meng Zhan, no one else in the entire government office knew that their prefect had already taken office.

Even when the Prince of Huai came to Huaizhou City last time, Lord Feng stubbornly refused to show his face.

Lin Yunche is now living a carefree and energetic life outside, while he has to hide at home all the time, which makes Lord Feng very uncomfortable.

"Sun You, is there any news about the memorial I submitted a couple of days ago recommending Lin Yunche to take over as the prefect of Huaizhou again?"

Sun You was a guest of honor in the Feng family. He had been by Feng Mu's side since Feng Mu was born, and Feng Mu trusted him very much.

"Master, our memorial was only sent out three days ago, it probably hasn't even entered the capital yet."

"But don't worry, I've already written to people in the capital to keep an eye on things. If there's any news, we'll be the first to know."

"Only three days? It feels like ages have passed." Feng Mu sighed softly.

Although he hasn't shown his face these days, he has sent people to keep an eye on Prince Huai and Lin Yunche, and both of them have puzzled him greatly.

Let's start with Prince Huai. Normally, Prince Huai is the most respected person in Beifeng City.

He has always lived a high-profile and extravagant life, but in the past two days, his men in Beifeng City have not been able to find out any news about the Prince of Huai!
Feng Mu was worried about what the Prince of Huai might do!
Lin Yunche found it strange that although the Lin family members had all been captured by the Prince of Huai, Lin Yunche acted as if nothing had happened, swaggering around every day.

Was it simply to annoy the Prince of Huai?
Feng Mu would never believe that reason, even if you beat him to death!

Both of them were acting strangely, and Feng Mu felt he had to leave as soon as possible.
But where could he go without the emperor's order?

Sun You clearly understood Lord Feng's thoughts best. "My lord! Why don't we do what Lord Hai did and act first and report later?"

Feng Mu appeared startled, but inwardly he was delighted. The idea was a bit wicked, but not entirely impossible.
"After Hai Daren left, who temporarily took over the position of prefect of Huaizhou?"

Sun You thought for a moment and said, "It's Meng Zhan!"

"I heard that Lord Hai originally favored Lord Bi, but Meng Zhan volunteered several times, so Lord Hai just went with the flow and gave the position to Meng Zhan!"

"Now that you're not here, Lord Meng is doing all the work in the government office!"

Feng Mu's mind raced with conflicting thoughts, but he nodded with a smile. "In that case, go and make preparations now. If things don't look good, we'll leave Huaizhou as soon as possible."

"As for Huaizhou City, I will follow Lord Hai's example and write a letter, which I will then send to Meng Zhan."

Sun nodded in agreement, which made Feng Mu feel much more relieved.

People of Huaizhou City! It's not that I lack compassion, but the Feng family's temple is simply too small to bear the weight of Huaizhou City!

Meanwhile, the army of the Prince of Huai was already on its way to Youzhou.

Seeing that the soldiers he had raised over the years were all strong and healthy, the Prince of Huai not only gained more confidence but also felt much better.

"Men, let's travel another ten miles and then set up camp to rest."

"Give the soldiers some wine!"

As soon as the King of Huai's order was issued, cheers from the soldiers echoed throughout the foot of the mountain.

Zhuang Qi was very satisfied with the soldiers' high morale.

Seeing that the Prince of Huai was in a good mood, Zhuang Qi reported the news he had just received.

"Your Highness, it's been a few days since we sent a letter to General Luan."

"Our men just reported that there has been no response from General Luan, and the Northern Dynasty's army has also made no move!"

Upon hearing this, the Prince of Huai's expression hardened, and he felt a slight sense of panic.

Seeing the strange expression on the Prince of Huai's face, Zhuang Qi quickly voiced his guess, "Your Highness, even without the help of the Northern Dynasty, we can still achieve great things with our current strength."

"Now that General Luan has suddenly stopped replying to messages, I think it's probably related to how we handled the Lin family's affairs a while ago!"

The Prince of Huai recalled that he had learned from General Luan Heng a few days ago that Lin Yunche was in the Northern Dynasty, but in the blink of an eye, Lin Yunche had reappeared in the Shang Dynasty.

It was clearly the Northern Dynasty that provided the wrong information, so why should he be blamed for that?
“Zhuang Qi, write another letter. Look at how big a piece of the pie that is Shangguo is.”

"I refuse to believe that the Northern Dynasty is unmoved!"

"Although I am currently leading a strong and well-equipped army, I am still capable of dealing with my nephew."

"If that brat Luan Heng really has some wicked intentions and tries to harm my Beifeng City, how can I possibly resist?"

When Zhuang Qi heard the Prince of Huai mention this, he was delighted and took out a map of the northern lands to show the Prince of Huai.

"Your Highness, you are right. Our main force is here now."

Zhuang Qi pointed to the mountain road leading to Youzhou and said.

"Then we won't have many people left to guard our rear!"

"This matter isn't just known to the Lin family. Once our uprising is discovered, the Emperor will also find out, and Luan Heng in the Northern Dynasty will know even more." The Prince of Huai frowned and said angrily, "Zhuang Qi, why didn't you say anything when I raised my troops!"

"What's the point of saying this now?"

"Do you expect me to send the army back to Northwind City to defend it now?"

Zhuang Qi knew that the Prince of Huai would be angry, so he reassured him, "Your Highness, there is no need for that!"

"I have a plan that can both dispel Luan Heng's suspicions and allow us to have no worries about the future."

"Then why don't you hurry up and tell me?"

Zhuang Qi smiled and pointed to the name of Huaizhou City, "Send an elite force to quickly take Huaizhou."

“Huaizhou is different from Beifeng City. It has a steep terrain and is separated by a mountain. It will not be easy for the Northern Dynasty army to attack Huaizhou.”

"Moreover, now that Huaizhou is without the Lin family army, Lin Yunche alone is obviously no match for us! We only need to send an elite force, and we can take Huaizhou City in less than five days."

"At that time, we will order the garrison of Beifeng City to move to Huaizhou City."

"Then our rear is a mix of reality and illusion, offering a lot of room for maneuver."

"We will definitely become the prince's strongest support."

As the Prince of Huai listened to Zhuang Qi's plan, he secretly admired Zhuang Qi's thoroughness. "But why didn't you tell me this before?"

Zhuang Qi smiled and said, "Your Highness, isn't this the perfect time?"

The Prince of Huai glanced at the map and immediately understood Zhuang Qi's meaning.

Their army will be at the gates of Youzhou in five days, and the men they have sent to attack Huaizhou will also arrive in about five days.

Luan Heng thought that he would not send troops to the north, and that once a war broke out, he would take advantage of the situation to invade.

With this arrangement, Luan Heng might have doubts when he sees him fighting on two fronts, and he might actually be able to pull off this plan!

"Okay! Let's do it!"

The King of Huai made his decision, but an unusual atmosphere permeated the military tent of the Northern Dynasty.

"General Luan, Princess Yunni's letter does indeed say that Lin Yunche is in Xiao City!" General Mingwei knelt on one knee and respectfully presented the letter to Luan Heng with both hands.

But Luan Heng didn't believe it. "General Mingwei, if it were a letter from Princess Yunni, it would surely be delivered directly to this general."

"How did this letter end up with you?!"

"Furthermore, my informant in the Shang Kingdom has sent a secret report that Lin Yunche is currently in Huaizhou City. So many eyes are watching him; how could it be false?"

General Luan Heng was very unhappy to see Mingwei's prestige growing day by day, so he resolutely rejected his petition.

"General Luan, we have been dealing with the Lin family for so many years."

“The Lin family has always been cunning. Now, Lin Yunche’s position is a smokescreen to mislead us. We are the ones who have watched him enter the Northern Dynasty.”

"How could we be in the Shang Kingdom now! There must be a trap here, we must be on guard!"

"Besides, Princess Yunni is a princess of our Northern Dynasty. How could she speak in favor of the Shang Dynasty? It must be because the princess has won over Lin Yunche that she says such things!"

Luan Heng has always been a man of his word in the army, and it has been a long time since he has been contradicted in front of everyone like this.

At this moment, Luan Heng felt that his authority had been challenged!

Lin family! Lin family! Lin family!

"General Mingwei, although Lin Yunche is important, the Lin family army has been gone for almost twenty years!"

"Does it matter where he is right now? Even if he's in the Shang Kingdom, I can still lead my iron army to crush him under my feet. Why do you always have to boost the morale of others and diminish our own?"

"Not only that, you said your information came from Princess Yunni."

"Then I'd like to ask General Mingwei, don't you know who the consort of Princess Yunni's household is?"

"If you are so afraid of the Lin family, you should write to Princess Yunni right now and ask for Lin Sishu's head first."

"If you can't do it!"

"From now on, don't mention any messages from Princess Yunni to you."

"This news might be from the Lin family. Don't believe it!"

General Mingwei knew that his actions had angered Luan Heng, so he had no choice but to remain silent.

Luan Heng snorted coldly and summoned all the military advisors to gather together for a banquet.

He declared boldly, "Generals, what we want this time is not just a few cities, but the entire Shang Kingdom."

"The Prince of Huai is now our pawn! Once he's worn down the Shang's forces, we'll just go in and feast, shall we?"

The soldiers had long been eager to earn military merit, and now that they had such an opportunity, they were even less likely to let it slip by.

"Eat meat!"

"Eat meat!"

For a moment, shouts filled Luan Heng's military tent, and only Mingwei ran out while everyone was drinking and making merry.

"General Mingwei, is there something amiss?"

The one asking the question was a junior officer who had always been by General Mingwei's side.

General Mingwei shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with it!"

"Since it's a military order, we must obey!" (End of Chapter)