If I made you cannon fodder, how did you manage to achieve your goal of conquering the wolf's l

The wind and snow in Yunzhou City lacked some of the howling wildness of the northern wilderness, but it had an extra layer of gloomy coldness and oppression.

Before dawn, the entire city was shrouded in a thick, leaden-gray morning mist. The grand gates and courtyards on both sides of the street were all tightly shut, with only the armored guards patrolling the street corners, their iron boots making a regular, muffled sound as they trod on the bluestone slabs and thin ice.

The atmosphere around the Imperial Envoy's Residence in the east of the city was particularly somber.

This elegant courtyard, originally intended for high-ranking officials of the imperial court, is now filled with dozens of burly soldiers with swords at their waists, scattered around the alleyways, corner towers, and even the tea stalls along the street. They wear the uniforms of the Yunzhou General's personal guards, their eyes scanning any passersby as if they were hawks.

Under the guise of "protecting the imperial envoy's safety," it was in reality an impenetrable iron net that turned the entire post station into an invisible cage.

In the study in the backyard, candlelight burned quietly on a bronze lampstand.

Border Inspector Tang Su, dressed in plain clothes, stood with his hands behind his back by the window, looking at the few shadowy sentry figures that were faintly visible in the cold wind outside the window, his brows furrowed with an unyielding frost.

"Chen Huaishan..." Tang Su murmured to himself, his voice deep and cold, "Your 'retreat to advance' technique is truly masterful."

Ever since news of the disturbance at Grey Bear Ridge reached Yunzhou, Chen Huaishan rushed to the mansion that very night to "plead guilty," tearfully accusing his cousin Chen Huaiyi of harboring malicious intentions. Then, under the pretext of "preventing the remnants of the rebel party from harassing the imperial envoy," he transferred five hundred personal guards to take over the defense of the post station without further explanation.

Tang Su was nominally still the Imperial Censor on behalf of the Emperor, but in reality, all his orders, official documents, and even the daily food purchase list had to be reviewed by layers of officers in the General's Office. He was under house arrest in this small area, unable to hear even the slightest movement outside the city gates.

Just then, a crisp sound of wooden wheels turning came from the alleyway behind the back gate.

A large wooden cart carrying winter-stored vegetables left two deep ruts in the thick snow and slowly came to a stop outside the side door of the inn's kitchen.

"Halt! Routine search!"

Two officers from the General's Mansion, their faces grim, strode forward, their long swords drawn half an inch from their sheaths, and stopped the man pushing the cart.

The man pushing the cart was an old farmer with a wrinkled face, wrapped in a thick sheepskin coat, and a thin young man with a tattered headscarf beside him.

"Oh, you two officers have worked hard, you've worked hard!" The young waiter was none other than Hou San in disguise. His face was plastered with a fawning smile as he pulled two pieces of silver from his sleeve and stuffed them into the officer's hand, bowing low as he said, "These are fresh cabbages and carrots from Zhang's Vegetable Shop in the south of the city, sent to Lord Tang. It's freezing cold, gentlemen, please have some hot soup."

The leading officer weighed the silver in his hand, his expression softening slightly, but he still drew an iron shovel and stabbed the mountain of vegetable baskets piled on the cart several times.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The iron spike pierced through layers of dry grass and frozen cabbage leaves, making a dull sound.

At the bottom of the cart, there was a thick layer of old, dry straw, and beneath the straw was a shallow, cleverly modified hidden compartment.

At this moment, Zhao Wu was curled up in the cold, narrow, dark compartment. His body was wrapped in blood-soaked burlap, and he had a wad of cloth tightly clenched in his mouth, enduring the chill of the iron shovel almost grazing his scalp. The excruciating pain from his wounds made him break out in a cold sweat, but his eyes showed no sign of retreat, only a burning fire of revenge.

The officer stabbed him several times but noticed nothing amiss, then waved his hand: "Go in. Hurry up, don't look where you shouldn't, and don't ask where you shouldn't!"

"Alright! Thank you for your consideration, sir!"

Hou San nodded repeatedly, and together with the old farmer, they pushed the cart smoothly through the back door and turned into the kitchen and woodshed of the inn.

……

The moment the door to the woodshed closed and the bolt fell, the fawning smile on Hou San's face vanished completely.

He deftly flipped over the stacked vegetable baskets, lifted the thick straw, and pulled up the wooden board of the hidden compartment.

"Commander Zhao, we've arrived."

Aman was already in the woodshed providing support. He stepped forward, used his arms to lift the weak Zhao Wu out of the hidden compartment, and casually draped a large black cloak over his shoulders.

A short while later, the hidden door leading to the study was gently pushed open.

Tang Su's trusted old servant led the three of them quickly through the corridor and into the brightly lit inner room.

When the blood-stained cloak was lifted, revealing Zhao Wu's haggard face covered in scars and bloodstains, Tang Su, who had been sitting upright behind the desk, suddenly stood up. The blue-and-white porcelain covered bowl in his hand fell to the table, spilling tea onto the official documents, but he didn't care.

"Zhao Wu?!"

A rare look of shock appeared on Tang Su's usually calm face.

He quickly walked around the long table and stood in front of Zhao Wu. His gaze lingered on the shocking wounds, and his hands trembled slightly with disbelief.

"You...you're still alive?!"

In Tang Su's estimation, Zhao Wu was ambushed and disappeared halfway through the journey of escorting prisoners from Black Wind Stronghold. The news from the Yunzhou camp was that he "was ambushed by a large group of remaining bandits, fell off a cliff and died, and his body was never found." Tang Su had even suspected that Xu Qingshan was the one who secretly assassinated him, but he never expected that this former vanguard battalion captain would reappear before him in such a tragic manner at this critical juncture.

Zhao Wu looked at the imperial envoy before him, his eyes instantly reddening. He struggled to kneel and pay his respects, but Tang Su grabbed his arm.

"My lord!" Zhao Wu's voice was hoarse, filled with endless humiliation and resentment. "This humble general is innocent! More than twenty of my personal guards died unjustly!"

Panting heavily, Zhao Wu recounted in detail, without reservation, the events of that day when he was escorting the Black Wind Stronghold's account books: how he was ambushed by Chen Huaiyi's assassins, how his personal guards were slaughtered, and how he was captured alive and imprisoned in the underground horse cellar of Luoyan Valley, where he was forced to write a false confession.

"Chen Huaiyi spared my life so that, after the incident, he could pin all the charges of illegally transferring border troops and reselling weapons on me and the Northern Army of Beiqiang Town!" Zhao Wu gritted his teeth, each word dripping with blood. "They want to make me a scapegoat, and they want to portray you, Lord Tang, as a corrupt official who protects his subordinates!"

After hearing this account, Tang Su's face darkened like the sky before a storm.

He turned around and looked at Hou San, who was standing to the side.

Hou San stepped forward, took out a package tightly sealed with waterproof tarpaulin from his pocket, and solemnly placed it on the table.

The layers of tarpaulin were peeled away one by one, revealing what was underneath:

That complete copy of the detailed accounts of smuggling in Beicang, Yunzhou over the years;

Delivery documents and rubbings of Chen Huaiyi's private seal were seized at the Grey Bear Ridge delivery site;

Han Zhong, deputy captain of the patrol battalion, signed and identified the bronze plaque from the General's Mansion indicating the temporary troop deployment.

In addition, there are 300 sets of military armor rubbings made by Bai Zhi herself, bearing the "battle damage batch numbers" of Qingya Fort and Tiemen Fort.

"Lord Tang, my garrison commander, Lord Xu, said that the original documents, along with the three hundred sets of lamellar armor, two thousand heavy arrows, and dozens of patrol soldiers, are all under strict guard at Duanhe Fort." Hou San bowed respectfully, his tone neither humble nor arrogant. "Please take a look at these copies, sir."

Tang Su sat back in his chair and, by the bright candlelight, turned the pages of the shocking evidence one by one.

The Black Wind Stronghold's secret accounts for selling stolen goods correspond to the North Granary's silver accounts;

The captured weapons at Grizzly Ridge correspond to the so-called "snow-covered carts and damaged on the way" in Sibao over the years;

Han Zhong's confession confirmed that the regular patrol battalion had been illegally transferred out of the pass.

The presence of Zhao Wu, alive and well, completely shattered the Chen family's plot to frame him!

The proof is like a mountain!

Interlocking and perfectly fitted!

Tang Su closed the account book, exhaled a long breath, and his chest heaved violently. He had been an official for decades and had investigated countless major corruption cases, but a case as audacious as the Chen family of Yunzhou, who even treated the entire border defense line as their own business, still sent chills down his spine.

"What a remarkable Xu Qingshan!" Tang Su looked up, his eyes filled with amazement. "In the face of a desperate situation with no food and snow, not only was he not crushed by the Chen family, but he also followed the clues and managed to tear a huge gap in the seemingly impenetrable Yunzhou border defense line!"

However, after the initial surprise, Tang Su's expression did not relax at all; instead, it became even more solemn.

He stood up and paced back and forth in the study, finally stopping in front of Zhao Wu and Hou San.

"However, you're oversimplifying things."

Tang Su pointed to the evidence on the table and said in a deep voice, "These things—witness accounts, physical evidence, accounts, and seals—are all there. Killing Chen Huaiyi and exterminating his entire clan would be more than enough. But… it's still not enough to directly bring down Chen Huaishan!"

Zhao Wu was taken aback, then exclaimed urgently, "My lord! Chen Huaiyi is his own brother! The troop mobilization token came from the General's Office! The damage transport office is directly under the jurisdiction of the General's personal guard! How can this not convict Chen Huaishan?!"

"It's not a certainty." Tang Su's voice was cold and cruel. "In the struggles of officialdom, what matters is the written laws and procedures. Chen Huaishan has been operating in Yunzhou for fifteen years, and his influence is deep-rooted. He commands tens of thousands of elite border troops, and he has powerful and influential backers in the court."

"Look at this ledger. It has Chen Huaiyi's seal, Sun Kui's handwriting, and the signatures of the various battalion commanders. But from beginning to end, is there a single signature from Chen Huaishan himself? No!"

Tang Su's eyes were sharp as knives: "I have already read the official document that Chen Huaishan sent this morning. He beat everyone else to the punch, threw Chen Huaiyi into a death row cell, and petitioned the court to plead guilty, requesting a three-year salary reduction and demotion while retaining his post! This move of 'sacrificing family for the greater good' has placed all the blame on Chen Huaiyi alone!"

"As long as Chen Huaishan insists that he was 'lax in military discipline and misled by his cousin,' the imperial court, without irrefutable evidence of direct treason, would never easily move a high-ranking general at this critical juncture in border defense!"

"Even..." Tang Su pointed to the guards patrolling outside the door, "If I make the slightest move, he can use the excuse of 'purging the emperor's inner circle' or 'military turmoil' to make all the evidence, including mine, disappear completely in this snowstorm!"

A deathly silence fell over the study.

Zhao Wu's face turned deathly pale. He knew full well that Tang Su's words were true. Chen Huaishan, this tiger entrenched in Yunzhou, was far more ferocious and cunning than he had imagined.

Just then, Hou San, who had been silent all along, suddenly chuckled softly.

Tang Su frowned and looked at Hou San: "What are you laughing at?"

Hou San raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a cunning and confident light: "I am smiling because my garrison commander had already anticipated Lord Tang's concerns before he left."

Tang Su's expression shifted: "What else did Xu Qingshan say?"

Hou San straightened his back and relayed Xu Qingshan's original words, word by word:

"My family said: Since Chen Huaishan wants to be an honest official and wants to play the role of putting righteousness before family, then let him play it."

"We're not in a hurry to tear off Chen Huaishan's python robe, because his skin is too thick. What we need to do is light a fire and roast Beicang over it."

"Chen Huaiyi can die, but the military pay 'wasted' in Beicang over the past ten years, and the fine iron weapons buried by the 'avalanche,' must have their whereabouts determined. As soon as the imperial envoy's order reaches the gates of Beicang, Chen Huaishan will inevitably panic and take action to cover up an even bigger hole!"

A chilling glint flashed in Hou San's eyes: "Once he makes a move, his true colors will no longer be able to be hidden."

"Then let him move on his own for now..."

"Using someone's strength against them, luring the snake out of its hole..." Tang Su clapped his hands in admiration, "Xu Qingshan's move truly understood the essence of human nature and the overall situation!"

What Chen Huaishan fears most right now is not Chen Huaiyi being arrested, but that someone will follow Chen Huaiyi's lead to uncover the real "dead man's ledger" in Beicang!

If Tang Su were to forcibly intervene in the Beicang under the guise of a border patrol commissioner, Chen Huaishan would have to do more behind the scenes to cover up the accounts in order to protect himself. And the more he did, the more flaws would emerge!

Without further hesitation, Tang Su strode back to his desk and snatched a piece of official document made of yellow silk bearing the imperial seal bestowed by the emperor.

Pick up the brush and dip it in ink.

With each stroke of the brush, a noble spirit belonging to a high-ranking official of the imperial court leaps off the page!

Stamp!

The bright red border patrol seal slammed down heavily, producing a dull thud.

Tang Su swiftly picked up the official document and handed it to Hou San, his eyes blazing and his voice booming:

"With this official's order, dispatch two hundred Yunzhou guards to accompany you, and immediately issue a proclamation to the General's Office and all major camps—"

"I have been ordered to inspect the border defenses. My first task today is—"

"Immediately seal off the North Granary in Yunzhou!"