Chapter 175: Letter from Duke Cheng

Looking at Ye Tie who came in, Ye Mingsheng put down his teacup and asked calmly:
"Is it still about Bae Ji-soo?"

"Master, she hasn't behaved abnormally during this period."

After shaking his head and explaining, Ye Tie lowered his voice and said without Ye Mingsheng asking again:
"Master, when I went to the Marquis of Guangshun's mansion to submit official documents today, I heard a piece of news that half a month ago, the court and Luo Bei's delegation reached an agreement. Luo Bei promised not to invade the palace. The Xuanwu Army and the Iron Cavalry Army have already started to prepare to return to the court. At this time, they have already arrived in Youyan."

Upon hearing this news, Ye Mingsheng's expression changed slightly. He pondered for a moment and said, "Who told you that?"

"Young Master, you asked me to present the official document to Lord Chen in person, so when I was waiting for Lord Chen to summon me in the side room of the mansion, I heard a commander named Qin and a lieutenant general talking about it." Ye Tie said everything in detail:

Ye Mingsheng did not say anything after getting the answer, and continued to ask: "Besides this, is there any other news?"

"They also said that the Zhenwu Army's range of activities may not be limited to Liaoyang. In all likelihood, they will have to station a portion of their forces in Gongdu to ensure the court's control over Gongdu State..."

"Not long after, the commander surnamed Qin and the lieutenant general were called into the study by Lord Chen, so this is all I heard!" Ye Tie recalled the situation at that time and introduced it to Ye Mingsheng:

Ye Mingsheng nodded and said with a smile: "I understand the situation. Thank you for your hard work."

"As long as I can contribute to the young master's future, Ye Tie will not work hard at all!" Ye Tie bowed and said:
After praising Ye Tie's loyalty, Ye Mingsheng asked him to go down to work. He came to the center of the yard alone, and walked slowly around the lush jujube tree...
The Xuanwu Army and the Iron Cavalry Army returned to the capital, which meant that his old boss, Xu Zhaojie, Marquis of Zhenyuan, was coming back. When Ye Mingsheng heard the news, he felt it was a bit sudden.

But if you think about it carefully, this is actually something that makes sense. After all, Ye Mingsheng has been back in Luoan for several months.

The two imperial guards under Xu Zhaojie, with tens of thousands of soldiers, have already wiped out all the opposition forces in the palace capital and taken control of the palace capital. If they were not worried that the Luobi people on the grassland would invade the palace capital again, the palace capital army without the support of the imperial guards would not be able to stop the offensive of the Luobi people. The imperial guards would have returned to the capital long ago and would not have waited until now.

Now that an agreement has been reached with the Robe people, the withdrawal of troops will be a natural outcome!
If what Ye Tie heard was correct, Xu Zhaojie's army had already arrived in Youyan, so it would take less than ten days to return to Luoan!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng looked up in the direction of Dongfang Youyan, and a sneer appeared on his face.

Because he was appointed by Chen Dechang as the vanguard of the Zhenwu Army and had to go to Liaoyang on the seventh day of next month, he thought he would not have the chance to meet his old boss Xu Zhaojie. But now it seems that he and Xu Zhaojie may have another chance to meet in Luoan...
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Late at night, in Pingyang Prefecture City, in the Xuanwu Army’s central camp.

Xu Zhaojie put down the letter in his hand and looked at the person who delivered the letter. A black-clad warrior asked
"What else did Duke Chengguo say?"

The black-clad warrior shook his head and said, "Before leaving, Duke Cheng told me that he had done everything he could do, and that the rest was up to you, Lord Xu, to decide. He didn't tell me anything else." Xu Zhaojie pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Go back and tell Duke Cheng that I will arrive in Luo'an in seven days!"

The black-clad warrior who was in charge of delivering the letter naturally had no objection to Xu Zhaojie's decision. He bowed to Xu Zhaojie, then walked out of the tent and disappeared into the dark night...
After the black-clad warrior left, Xu Zhaojie picked up the handwritten letter written to him by Duke Chengguo Zhao Yuanan and read it carefully again.

Xu Zhaojie spent a whole cup of tea reading the book of more than a hundred words before he put it on the desk and rubbed his nose tiredly.

After massaging for a while, Xu Zhaojie felt better and ordered in a deep voice: "Please ask Taoist Mingcang to come over to me!"

"Yes!" The guard outside the tent immediately responded.

A moment later, a thin old man wearing a gray Taoist robe, holding a whisk and with kind eyes, came in front of Xu Zhaojie.

Looking at Xu Zhaojie's gloomy face, Taoist Mingcang smiled slightly. Before Xu Zhaojie could speak, he said, "It seems that the Marquis has already met the envoy of Duke Cheng!"

Xu Zhaojie did not refute the old Taoist's temptation, which was considered as tacit acceptance of his guess.
Seeing his expression, Taoist Mingcang seemed a little disappointed and said calmly, "I didn't expect that Lord Xu, you would finally choose to return to the capital and surrender!"

This time Xu Zhaojie finally stopped being silent. He smiled bitterly and said, "Governor Zhao and Taoist Mingcang really overestimate me, Xu Zhaojie, and underestimate Shangguan Hongyuan..."

When the old Taoist heard this, he raised his eyebrows as if he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Xu Zhaojie shook his head and said:
"Before I received the letter from Duke Cheng, I was almost ready to join forces with Governor Zhao to defeat the Iron Cavalry."

"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Taoist Mingcang. Duke Chengguo sent me news that my subordinate Cai Pengbo accepted money from the Supervisory Office..."

After hearing the last part, Taoist Mingcang, who originally wanted to persuade Xu Zhaojie, had a flash of surprise in his eyes. Since he was able to meet Xu Zhaojie on behalf of Youyan Governor Zhao Fuqu, it was natural that Xu Zhaojie had conducted a thorough investigation and understanding.

If he remembered correctly, Cai Pengbo was Xu Zhaojie's trusted and beloved general, and the 3,000 troops under his command were all the elite troops of the Xuanwu Army.

After thinking for a while, the old Taoist priest swung the whisk in his hand, a trace of cruelty flashed in his eyes, and said in a low voice: "Since we already know that Cai Pengbo is unreliable, why not get rid of him!"

"I have thought about what you said, but you should know that Cai Pengbo is one of my trusted subordinates. If he could be bribed by the Supervisory Department, what about the others under my command?" Xu Zhaojie shook his head and said sadly:

(End of this chapter)