Chapter 22 Betrayal
Because of his "romantic affair" back then, Shen Jianzhong could no longer serve in the military and could only continue to seek development in the Supervisory Office. However, his personality was not suitable for staying in the capital to work.

So he has been seeking to be transferred to another position. This time, Jin Yingquan's retirement is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Shen Jianzhong. Therefore, he used a lot of connections and sought the position of a thousand households in the Liaoyang Supervisory Office to compete with Wang Zhongsen.

As for the content of the competition, it is about who can complete the task assigned by Shangguan Hongyuan, to cause a conflict between the Great Zhou Imperial Guards and the Palace Capital Army without leaving any trace, forcing Xu Zhaojie to take over the Palace Capital. Whoever completes this task will be the new fourth-rank pacification envoy of the Liaoyang Supervisory Office!

Liu Shaolin and the Liu family he represents have chosen to side with Shen Jianzhong because of some interests, and have carefully planned this plan with Shen Jianzhong.

Ye Mingsheng, who was stationed in Ruishan County, a major transportation hub, naturally became the target of competition between Wang Zhongsen and Shen Jianzhong!

However, the difference is that Wang Zhongsen chose coercion, while Shen Jianzhong, who had a master-disciple relationship with Ye Mingsheng, chose bribery!

After thinking over the conspiracy carefully, Ye Mingsheng clenched his fists, and a sinister look like a lone wolf appeared faintly on his angular face.

Being a chess piece in someone else's hand, having your destiny controlled by others is extremely frustrating. Ye Mingsheng must firmly control his own destiny in his own hands and be the chess player on this chessboard called the world!
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Since meeting Shen Jianzhong, Ye Mingsheng stayed in the military camp day and night for five consecutive days and rarely returned to Liu Mansion.

Staying in the military camp was naturally not as comfortable as staying in Liu's mansion and being served by maids, but it also allowed Ye Mingsheng to have a clearer understanding of the capabilities of the more than a thousand-man Great Zhou Imperial Guards under his command.

Just when Ye Mingsheng was about to continue and get familiar with his subordinates, what was supposed to come finally came!
"Reporting to Lord Ye, my master has decided to take action on the 25th of this month. I hope Lord Ye will be prepared by then!" The messenger sent by Wang Kangxin was very sensible after he said this. He took out an envelope from his arms and handed it to Ye Mingsheng.

Taking the envelope, Ye Mingsheng initially thought that this was a letter written to him by Wang Kangxin, but when he opened it, he found that he was wrong. Inside was a silver note for one thousand taels issued by Guangshengyuan, one of the three major banknote houses in the Great Zhou Dynasty. This silver note could be exchanged for cash at any Guangshengyuan banknote house under the jurisdiction of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Seeing that Wang Kangxin actually kept his word and gave him the 1,000 taels, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat surprised. He pondered for a moment and said with great confidence:
"Go back and tell Brother Wang not to have any scruples. With me, Ye, here, he can act with confidence!"

The messenger was overjoyed when he heard this. After bowing deeply to Ye Mingsheng, he turned around and left to report to Wang Kangxin.

After the messenger left, Ye Mingsheng was still a little bit unconvinced that Wang Kangxin would give him the one thousand taels so readily. He took out the silver note again and checked Guangshengyuan's unique anti-counterfeiting mark and the Ministry of Revenue's seal on it. After not finding any flaws, Ye Mingsheng felt relieved. He kept the silver note close to himself and arranged for his men to send the time of Wang Kangxin's action to Jufeng Tower.

In the evening, in the secret room of Jufeng Tower, Shen Jianzhong sat in the main seat, and below him, Ye Mingsheng and Liu Shijie sat on the left and right opposite each other. "They will take action on the 25th, which is still three days away. Mingsheng, how are your subordinates preparing?" Looking around at the two people on his left and right, Shen Jianzhong pondered for a moment and asked:

"Master Shen, please rest assured. Although I haven't told them the action plan for confidentiality, I have been in the military camp these days and I have already prepared everything!" Ye Mingsheng said without hesitation:

In response to Ye Mingsheng's answer, Shen Jianzhong took out a small wooden box and handed it to Ye Mingsheng.

Ye Mingsheng opened the wooden box with some curiosity, and saw a secret letter inside.

The general meaning of the secret letter was that the Eastern Expedition Army discovered that the King of Gongdu, Li Zaiyuan, and the Luobi people were conspiring to betray the Great Zhou and drive the Great Zhou's imperial guards out of Gongdu. Therefore, Xu Zhaojie ordered Ye Mingsheng's troops to cooperate with the Gongdu local militia to secretly attack the Gongdu army and thwart the enemy's conspiracy.

At the end of the secret letter, there was the seal of General Xu Zhaojie of the Eastern Expedition. If Ye Mingsheng hadn't known that Xu Zhaojie would never give him this order, he would have really believed that this secret letter was real!
After putting the wooden box away properly, Ye Mingsheng bowed to Shen Jianzhong and said, "With the help of this letter from Master Shen, I can mobilize troops and take action at any time!"

Shen Jianzhong nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at Liu Shijie, who immediately began to speak: "Heishanfeng currently has 2,300 troops, who have been strictly trained for three months. Although their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the Imperial Guards, they are able to follow orders and have the strength to fight!"

After listening to the report, Shen Jianzhong smiled faintly and immediately made a decision:

"Since everything is ready, let's proceed according to the plan. Set out from Ruishan County on the 23rd, two days in advance, and attack Liujing on the 25th!"

Ye Mingsheng and Liu Shilin looked at each other and nodded. After the general direction was decided, the three of them discussed some details before Ye Mingsheng and Liu Shilin left the secret room and went back to prepare.

However, what Ye Mingsheng would not have expected was that as soon as he walked out of Jufeng Tower, Liu Shilin returned to the secret room the next second.

(End of this chapter)