After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

This sentence is somewhat incoherent.

Mu Shu, as a first-rank official in charge of the Sticky Rod Office, naturally understood the Emperor's meaning.

Mu Shu had a short beard, and his eyes were still bloodshot, probably because he hadn't slept well for many days.

He quickly bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, Lord Ortai and Huang Zhongcai have forced the traitors Ning Jiexiao and Su Lang of the Heavenly Principle Sect into Shanxi. Ning Jiexiao is currently besieged in Yangyuan."

"Lord Ortai has mobilized the Green Forest Army and the garrisoned Eight Banners in Shanxi to jointly encircle and suppress them. Huang Zhongcai has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away, saying that this time he will surely present the rebel's head to His Majesty!"

Today is April 5th, and Huang Zhongcai's last battle report arrived three days ago.

Calculating the time, Mu Shu's palms broke out in a cold sweat. If nothing unexpected happened, Huang Zhongcai would be able to deliver the head of this notorious traitor to the capital tonight or tonight.

Yinzhen, seated on the dragon throne, raised his somewhat thin eyebrows and sneered:

"He led 20,000 men, and for a full twenty days, twenty days!"

Yinzhen's voice became low and hoarse, his eyes almost spitting fire:

"Does he know how much I want to chop off his head, with his men eating and his horses feeding him?!"

Bang!

The emperor slammed his hand on the table, revealing a set of gleaming teeth, and said:

"If it weren't for that bastard letting Ning Jiexiao escape at Miaofeng Mountain, and letting those bandits from the Heavenly Principle Sect escape, how could I have ended up like this?! How could I have ended up like this!"

Mu Shu's face turned pale, and she hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Huang Zhongcai still has merit. When Ning Jiexiao's troops set fire to Miaofeng Mountain, Huang's troops, fearing the fire would reach the golden roof of the Niangniang Temple bestowed by the late Emperor, hurriedly arranged for people to put out the fire, which gave the bandits an opportunity to escape. Later, when Ning Jiexiao and Su Lang captured Zhuolu County, it was he who rushed there day and night to recapture the county town..."

"Lord Mushu..."

Just then, a clear voice came from behind.

"Heh, there's something wrong with what you're saying."

Thump, thump, thump, footsteps sounded at the same time.

Mu Shu turned around and saw a figure wearing a blue striped mandarin jacket stepping into the hall.

The figure quickly passed him and kowtowed to the emperor at the head of the table, saying:

"Your subject Hongli greets Your Majesty."

Upon seeing that it was his son, Yinzhen's expression softened a bit, and he hummed in response.

Mu Shu bowed to the other party and said, "This servant greets the Fourth Prince."

If they met outside, Mu Shu would naturally kowtow respectfully.

But right there in the Golden Hall, the Fourth Prince was practically the crown prince. It was just a matter of seeing if the Emperor's most beloved Eighth Prince, Fu Hui, could rival the Fourth Prince when he grew up.

He naturally wouldn't kowtow to the other party, lest he displease the emperor. Ultimately, he was the emperor's servant.

Hongli glanced at Mu Shu, raised his long, slender eyebrows—just like his imperial father's—and smiled:

"Lord Mu Shu, Huang Zhongcai brought back 2,000 Eight Banner soldiers in rotation, including Ji Ge, the commander of the Imperial Guard Battalion. He personally witnessed the siege of the Heavenly Principle Sect at Miaofeng Mountain and the recapture of Zhuolu County. What he said is somewhat different from what Lord Mu Shu said."

A chill ran through Mu Shuxin, and he quickly kowtowed to the emperor at the head of the table:

"Your Majesty, I deserve ten thousand deaths!"

No matter what the Fourth Prince said, he could not say that the Fourth Prince was wrong; he could only say that he deserved to die a thousand deaths.

Yinzhen looked at Hongli, stared at him intently for a moment, and said calmly:

"What do you want with the guard battalion?"

"Write a newspaper article!"

Hongli said in a loud voice:

"Your subject wanted to write about what happened at Miaofeng Mountain and Zhuolu County that day, so I went to ask Jige."

Yinzhen glanced at his son again, frowned, and slowly said:

"Nonsense, you're not allowed to write that."

"Huh?" Hongli choked for a moment.

"What did Jige say?" Yinzhen coughed lightly, changing the subject.

He said:

Hongli smiled.

"Huang Zhongcai, that Han Chinese, was played like a dog by Ning Jiexiao. An incompetent general caused the death of his entire army."

"Jige was in tears, drinking and cursing, saying: 'If it weren't for Huang Zhongcai's nonsense, how could we have failed to catch Ning Jiexiao! Ning Jiexiao has been on the run for who knows how long, and Huang Zhongcai even told us to burn the mountain and search the mountain, but we couldn't catch a single rabbit... It wasn't until we interrogated some of the captured thieves that they said their leader Ning Jiexiao had come and told us to wait to die, that I realized who was playing me for a fool...'"

"Ahem." Su Peisheng coughed lightly, trying to remind the Fourth Prince to be mindful and not to behave improperly in front of the Emperor.

But Hongli, caught up in the conversation, didn't notice and continued gesturing with his hands:

"Jige and several of his lieutenants were drinking with me, complaining that Ning Jiexiao was elusive and unpredictable. After the Heavenly Principle Sect bandits were surrounded on the west side, Ning Jiexiao arranged for the mountains to be burned. Then, he arranged for people to break out on both the west and east sides."

After hearing a few words, Yinzhen suddenly realized that he had only read the report and was furious. He ordered Huang Zhongcai to quickly capture Ning Jiexiao, who did not know how he had escaped from the city, but he was unaware of some details.

I understand a little better now.

He sneered and cursed Huang Zhongcai:

"Huang Zhongcai actually fell for such a simple feint attack?!"

"A bunch of idiots! Didn't they set up sentry posts around the mountain? As long as the sentry posts don't move, how can the bandits break through?"

"Once they break through, the sentry posts will signal, and the cavalry will give chase and slaughter them. Why did he transfer the men from the east to the west? It allowed the rebels to break through from the east!"

Since the initial breakout from the west was a ruse, the thieves must have broken out from the east.

It's just using the feint attack in reverse.

After thinking for a moment, a murderous aura appeared between his brows. Ortai's secret report said that Ning Jiexiao broke through from the north! Huang Zhongcai, that dog, is deceiving his superiors and subordinates?

"The sentry post hasn't moved."

Hongli shook his head.

"The people from the east were not transferred to the west, and Ning Jiexiao did not break out from the east."

"Hmm?" Yinzhen's cold smile faltered slightly, and he subtly withdrew it, uttering a soft "Oh?"

Hongli said, "Ning Jiexiao sent people to break out from the west, but it wasn't a breakout. Instead, they destroyed two outposts. Before the cavalry arrived, they retreated back into the mountains, continued to set fires, and then went down the mountain from another location. Sometimes, several groups would go down the mountain at the same time, only attacking the outposts, and then returning... This process was repeated."

Su Peisheng nodded slightly and said calmly, "It's just a strategy to wear down the army."

After listening for a moment, Yinzhen understood and smiled:

"Huang Zhongcai is not even as good as a eunuch who has lost his testicles."

Su Peisheng bowed and smiled, "Your Majesty flatters me." He laughed, "This servant only read some plays, and the plays only made it seem clever. The plays said that breaking this strategy of exhausting the army is not difficult; it's simply a matter of responding to all changes with constancy."

Yinzhen snorted and said, "Is Huang Zhongcai being played like this by Ning Jiexiao, making my Eight Banners and Green Standard Army run back and forth in the mountains?"

"No, that's not the case." Hongli shook his head: "Huang Zhongcai withdrew several thousand troops from the mountain to fill the western outposts. In this way, the bandits will not be able to easily destroy the outposts."

"Oh?" Yinzhen and Su Peisheng both looked slightly taken aback.

Some surprises.

"Hmm," Yinzhen pondered for a moment and then slowly nodded, "That's right. The rebels want to break through to the west, so it's only right to reinforce the outposts at the foot of the western mountain. Otherwise, once the plan to exhaust the enemy succeeds, the rebels might really break through from the west."

"Father!"

Hongli's tone became somewhat excited:

"Huang Zhongcai fell for that trap!"

Jige slammed his fist on the table and cursed, "Huang Zhongcai, that idiot! The fire on the mountain was Ning Jiexiao's plan to wear down the army! Our advisors looked into it afterward, and they realized that the smoke Ning Jiexiao lit was all carefully planned, using the wind to blow the smoke over."

"‘When Huang Zhongcai ordered us to chase the black smoke from Shanyin, it was fine as long as he didn't withdraw his men. But once he did, with such a huge mountain and so much smoke, it was choking people to death. Who could hold out? That's how he managed to lead half his men to the east, which is right here, to break through!’"

"..."

…………

at this time.

The sound of horses' hooves echoed through the side gate of Zhengyang Gate.

An urgent battle report from Huang Zhongcai, the governor-general of the Heavenly Principles Sect in Yangyuan, Shanxi, was delivered to the capital by express courier, which killed three horses along the way.

Along with this were several secret memorials from different officials in Shanxi, as well as several secret reports from the Sticky Rod Office...

Six days ago.

Huang Zhongcai's troops and Ning Jiexiao's more than 3,000 men were trapped in Yangyuan.