Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Taiyuan Left Guard Camp.

As soon as Li Dali entered the central command tent, he saw Zhang Yin giving orders to several commanders.

"The big gift is back!"

Zhang Yin raised his hand to indicate that Li Dali and the two elders should sit down first, while he continued to assign tasks.

Only after several commanders had received their orders and left did Zhang Yin dismiss his subordinates and sit down on the tiger-skin chair in the center of the tent.

"Man proposes, God disposes!"

To Li Dali's surprise, Zhang Yin did not first ask about the results of their operation in the capital.

"Someone actually wrote an anonymous letter to Ouyang Hong of the Taiyuan Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, falsely accusing me of buying the head of the Mongol that I sent to the Governor-General's Office in Shuozhou with silver!"

I never imagined that no matter how perfectly I kept the deal between Altan Khan and me secret, it could only prevent those with ulterior motives from spying on it.

You can't guard against petty people who are simply jealous of me!

It's true that Altan Khan gave us those Mongol heads, but we certainly didn't pay for them.

What we told Anda was clearly to let 30,000 followers go out of the pass with him under the guise of being prisoners, and to settle down in Fengzhou Beach of the Tumed tribe.

These things were not mentioned at all in that anonymous whistleblower letter!

The villain who reported me didn't find any evidence at all; he was simply jealous of my large number of heads and fabricated a charge to frame me!

Ouyang Hong sent the anonymous letter to Shuozhou.

Fan Jizu was actually skeptical when he saw the letter.

That old scoundrel suspects that the Mongolian head I sent was actually bought with money, but he's also afraid that in the end there will be no evidence and he'll make a fool of himself!

As a result, Fan Jizu played a trick, summoning me to Shuozhou to report my achievements, and having the Ministry of War official in charge of verifying the heads find fault with me and delay me.

At the same time, he sent an advisor to Taiyuan to meet with Ouyang Hong, wanting to work with the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate the matter by starting with the officers of the Taiyuan Left Guard.

This has completely derailed our original plan!

"It turns out that during the time I was away from Taiyuan, my father also went to Shuozhou."

Li Dali looked at Zhang Yin.

"But some of the information that Father mentioned is only known to Ouyang Hong and Fan Jizu."

How did the father find out?

"It was Fan Jizu who told me this himself!"

Zhang Yin snorted coldly.

"Just two days ago, I received a secret letter from Li Tong in Shuozhou, saying that the Three Guards' Guest Army stationed at Jingxing Pass had sent scouts to sneak up on Blackwood Cliff."

I immediately realized that this matter was related to Fan Jizu summoning me to Shuozhou.

But Fan Jizu clearly didn't know my true identity and had little guard against me.

Since that's the case, I might as well go all the way and personally sneak into the Governor's Office's back office in the middle of the night, kill this old scoundrel, take away his Governor's seal, and even set the back office on fire.

Then he immediately led Commander Wan and others and left Shuozhou City overnight.

The information about the whistleblower letter was something I extracted from Fan Jizu before he died.

However, when I asked Fan Jizu about the spies from the Three Guards of Jingxing Pass spying on Blackwood Cliff at night, he seemed to know nothing about it.

At that time, he only wanted to die quickly, and he even told Ouyang Hong about the anonymous letter of denunciation. There was really no need to hide this matter, and I think he probably really didn't know.

On my journey south, I pondered the matter and concluded that the two events were likely just a coincidence.

However, none of that matters anymore.

Soon the imperial court will know that Blackwood Cliff is the headquarters of our sect, and will also know my true identity.

The best course of action now is to make a decision immediately!

I arrived here an hour earlier than you, and upon discovering that the gates of Taiyuan were closed, I immediately rushed here.

"You all came to the military camp because you couldn't get into the city, right?"

"That's right. I inquired outside the city gates and they said that the Prince of Jin ordered the city gates closed so that he could search for stolen rare treasures inside the city."

Li Dali nodded.

"This is utter nonsense to deceive the people. The Prince of Jin's power is limited to the palace. Outside the palace, whether he listens or not is up to the local officials."

To close the eight gates of Taiyuan and isolate the city from the outside world for two days, only an order from the governor of Shanxi could be given!

How could Liu Nie possibly take the King of Jin's chaotic orders seriously?

This order was actually issued by Liu Nie.

Something must have happened in the city!

"I've already asked several commanders, and our Taiyuan Left Guard's camp outside the city hasn't received any notification whatsoever!"

Zhang Yin said in a deep voice.

"I deduce that Liu Nie has already received intelligence about the start of the war at Blackwood Cliff, and even the advisors sent by Fan Jizu have arrived."

Liu Nie, that old fox, will naturally act decisively within the city!

Neither you nor I, father and son, are in Taiyuan. Li Tong is completely unable to handle this situation and is no match for Liu Nie.

Ma Yi and Luo Wenyuan are wavering. With me gone, they've concluded that Li Tong can't handle the situation and wouldn't dare stand on our side.

On the contrary, in order to distance themselves from me and show their loyalty to Liu Nie, they might be even more ruthless than Liu Nie's own garrison.

At this point, it was certain that the six hundred men of our Taiyuan Left Guard in the city were all gone, and Li Tong and his pregnant concubine had most likely also fallen.

Over the years, most of my descendants have died in battle, and you are my only son left.

Whether Li Tonghe's great-grandson can survive is up to Maitreya Buddha.

Taiyuan is a well-fortified city, and Liu Nie has two days and three nights to prepare. With our mere four thousand men, it is virtually impossible for us to breach the city.

There was no point in the army staying here any longer; they would only be surrounded by the Ming army that was arriving one after another.

I have already ordered several commanders to organize their troops and take everything they can from the military camp.

Once preparations are complete, lead everyone east to Blackwood Cliff, launch a pincer attack from both sides, and first wipe out the thousands of foreign troops at the foot of the mountain.

Don't worry, we have plenty of time. On my way south, I used Fan Jizu's governor's seal to forge orders and tricked all the large Ming troops within hundreds of miles to the north into going far away.

For at least two or three days, no large Ming army will arrive at Taiyuan. We can take all our supplies and head to Pingdingzhou.

Great ceremony! Was the operation in the capital successful? Are the Emperor and the Prince of Ying dead?

Why are only the three of you back?

Where are the four elders, Zheng, Zhou, Wang, and Pang? Did they remain in the capital, or did they return to Black Cliff first?

"Father, both assassination attempts failed!"

Li Dali stood up from the chair.

"Chen Furong's situation is slightly better. The emperor was seriously injured, but he did not die and was saved by the imperial physician."

When we received the message from our inside source, the emperor was still unconscious. We don't know if he has woken up yet.

Empress Fang wasn't stupid; she knew to quickly kill them to silence them. Before Zhu Houyu arrived at the West Garden, she had already executed the sixteen palace maids who had participated in the regicide, along with Consort Wang Ning and Consort Cao Duan.

Chen Furong was also saved and was not affected. She even obtained evidence that Empress Fang was involved in the matter.

However, the assassination attempt on Zhu Houyu was a complete failure!

Guo Xun has betrayed us, selling Duan Chaoyong to Zhu Houyu and setting a trap at the Wuding Marquis's residence, waiting for us to take the bait.

Duan Chaoyong and Wang Ziyan were killed by Guo Xun and the personal guards of the Marquis of Wuding.

The four elders, Zheng, Zhou, Wang, and Pang, also perished at the Marquis of Wuding's residence!