Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Several days later, at the Wenhua Hall.

Lu Chen sighed and casually tossed the waist token onto the table.

The situation I least wanted to see has finally happened!

Just as he sat down in the Wenhua Hall, before he even began reviewing the memorials, Lu Bing sent him a secret report.

This was sent from the Taiyuan Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office to the Northern Garrison Command last night.

A secret report stated that someone carrying the waist token of Xue Ting, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, tricked the city of Taiyuan into opening the north gate at night by falsely claiming to be on official business.

Not long after this man rode out of the city, Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, personally led dozens of his personal guards to chase him to the north gate.

Upon learning that the gatekeeper had secretly opened the city gate and let people out of the city, Zhang Yin publicly declared that the man was a Mongol spy.

The purpose of impersonating a member of the Imperial Guard was to trick people into opening the city gate.

Subsequently, Zhang Yin executed the military law on the spot, beheading the gatekeeper and displaying his head to the public, and then led his personal guards out of the city to pursue him.

The Mongol spy, posing as a member of the Imperial Guard, fled north for about forty miles before his horse collapsed and died. He had no choice but to walk into the mountainous area near Yangqu County.

Zhang Yin mobilized over a thousand men from Taiyuan Zuowei and searched the mountains for several days. Finally, they found the body of the Mongol spy at the foot of a cliff.

Unfortunately, the body had been gnawed to pieces by wild beasts and was unrecognizable, making it impossible to identify the person.

Near the body, a waist tag inscribed with "Xue Ting, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard" and a secret letter were found.

The secret letter was written by Jinang, the chief of the Right Wing Mongol Three Myriad Households, to Deng Huai, the deputy commander of the Taiyuan Vanguard.

In the letter, Jinang told Deng Huai that he would lead 100,000 troops of the right wing of the Mongols into Shanxi in two separate routes at the beginning of next month.

Jinang himself led the left wing army to attack Baiquankou, while his brother Anda led the right wing army to attack Ningwuguan.

Deng Huai then acted as an inside agent within Taiyuan City. After the armies of Jinang and Anda joined forces outside Taiyuan City, he launched a mutiny to seize a city gate and let the Mongol army into the city.

Just as the secret report was sent out, Ouyang Hong, the commander of the Imperial Guard in Taiyuan, had already arrested Deng Huai and imprisoned him in the prison of the commander's office.

However, Deng Huai refused to admit any collusion with Ji Nang and insisted that he had never seen the secret letter.

Ouyang Hong also consulted Lu Bing on how to deal with Deng Huai.

The secret letter found on the body of the deceased "Mongol spy," along with the waist tag, were also sent to the capital.

The Northern Garrison Command has examined the waist tag and confirmed that it belongs to Xue Ting and is definitely not a forgery.

Lu Bing knew that Xue Ting had been sent out by Lu Chen to carry out a secret mission.

Ouyang Hong's secret report not only involved Xue Ting, but also the important military intelligence that the Right Wing Mongols were about to invade.

After reading the secret report at the Northern Garrison Office, Lu Bing dared not delay for a moment.

He directly ordered someone to send Ouyang Hong's secret report, along with the waist token and the secret letter written to Deng Huai in the lucky bag, to the Wenhua Hall.

Xue Ting is in trouble!

This was Lu Chen's first reaction upon seeing the secret report.

The night of the incident was the time when Xue Ting and Tang Zhe had agreed to sneak into the Taiyuan Left Guard Commander's residence alone.

What utter nonsense about Mongol spies impersonating Imperial Guards to trick their way into opening the city gates?!

The man who showed his Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) commander's badge at the North Gate of Taiyuan and claimed to be on official business was undoubtedly Xue Ting himself!

Xue Ting personally instructed Lu Chen on how to practice internal martial arts and also demonstrated martial arts to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen knew perfectly well how skilled he was in martial arts.

Tang Zhe was right. With Xue Ting's martial arts skills, it would be easy for him to sneak into the residence of a garrison commander at night, without any danger whatsoever.

But the premise is that the Taiyuan Left Guard Commander's Mansion was really just an ordinary third-rank military officer's residence.

Unfortunately, that's not the case!

What exactly did Xue Ting encounter at the Taiyuan Left Guard Commander's Mansion that night?

How could they possibly force such a master of internal martial arts to flee on horseback?

wrong!

Before leaving the capital, he had instructed Xue Ting and Tang Zhe not to reveal their identities.

Xue Ting's use of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's command token indicates that he must have encountered a desperate situation.

Since they've already used their waist tokens to identify themselves, why would a high-ranking official of the Imperial Guard, a fourth-rank official, still try to escape outside the city?

Lu Chen felt there was only one possibility!

In Xue Ting's view, there was no safe place in the entire city of Taiyuan!

A few days after hearing Tang Zhe's report, Lu Chen asked someone to inquire about the garrison situation in Taiyuan.

Taiyuan was a major city in the country, with three garrisons stationed within the city, and a total of 16,800 soldiers on record.

As for how much salary the generals received without actually working, and how many vacancies there were in the Three Guards, that's hard to say.

It was Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, who tracked Xue Ting to the north gate of Taiyuan and accused him of being a Mongol spy.

Based on this alone, it is certain that Zhang Yin has colluded with the time travelers from "Blackwood Cliff" and intends to rebel.

Since the intention was to rebel, the 5,600-strong Taiyuan Left Guard was the best cover, and there was absolutely no possibility of any shortage of personnel.

The Taiyuan Right Guard and Taiyuan Front Guard, which were also stationed in Taiyuan City, would suffer from severe staff shortages, just like most other guard posts, if they were not allies of Zhang Yin.

Even combined, the two guards were no match for Zhang Yin's Taiyuan Left Guard in terms of troop strength, training, and equipment.

If the three guards of Taiyuan are all accomplices, then it goes without saying.

After Xue Ting discovered that Zhang Yin had a problem, he naturally realized that the other party had the ability to control the entire Taiyuan City, which is why he dared not stay in the city.

Unfortunately, they still couldn't escape.

The corpse at the bottom of the cliff was most likely Xue Ting himself.

As for Ouyang Hong, the commander of the Imperial Guard in Taiyuan, there shouldn't be any problem!

In this secret report, all the information obtained from Zhang Yin was marked as being from Zhang Yin, and Ouyang Hong's own subjective judgment was not added at all.

If Ouyang Hong was also Zhang Yin's accomplice, he would have been fully capable of concealing the matter, and the imperial court would never have known that Xue Ting had shown his Jinyiwei Commander's badge at the north gate of Taiyuan.

Hmph, it seems this mysterious time traveler, who uses "Blackwood Cliff" as his base, has indeed infiltrated the Taiyuan military!

At least half of the troops in Taiyuan City are already under their control.

Moreover, this person should have also developed weapons that are ahead of their time.

Even though masters of internal martial arts are powerful, they are not invulnerable to swords and spears.

Back then, in the dilapidated temple on Tongbai Mountain, Lu Chen had personally witnessed "Guoshanfeng" being ambushed with a dagger by a little beggar.

That night at Zhang Yin's residence, Xue Ting may have encountered some weapon he had never seen before, and was seriously injured without warning!

It seems that this ambitious time traveler, the master of "Blackwood Cliff," is already quite powerful!

That unfortunate Taiyuan Vanguard Commander Deng Huai was likely a general who had not yet been won over, and they were taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.

If he were to have Lu Bing order Deng Huai to be escorted to the capital, it would be almost certain that the man would be robbed or die en route, and would never have the chance to reach the capital.

"Your Highness!"

Just as Lu Chen was considering how to deal with the matter, a eunuch, looking extremely apprehensive, entered the rear hall of the Wenhua Hall where Lu Chen was working, carrying a memorial with a draft attached.

"There is urgent military information. Your Highness, please give your reply as soon as possible and do not delay."