Chapter 444 Gu Shouting!
As if he had thought of something, Ye Mingsheng, who was lying on the armchair with his eyes closed, finally opened his eyes and asked Qi Dechao:

"What is Xu Zhaojie doing in Anqing?"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Qi Dechao thought for a moment and said:
"Xu Zhaojie led 5,000 soldiers from Sichuan and arrived in Anqing more than half a month ago. He has now completed the handover with Duan Yuting and officially became the new Anqing Inspector General. Duan Yuting has also officially retired and returned home..."
"But it is said that Cao Changping has ideas about Anqing. He wants to take advantage of the fact that Xu Zhaojie has just taken over as the Inspector General of Anqing and has not yet established a firm foothold, to kill Xu Zhaojie and take over Anqing's territory!"

As soon as these words came out, Ye Mingsheng immediately became interested and continued to ask:

'What is the specific situation? Do you have any detailed information?'

Qi Dechao was a little embarrassed when he heard this and said:
"I'm sorry, sir. The information provided by the Coordination Office is not much. I only know that Cao Changping has about 70,000 soldiers and Duan Yuting left about 30,000 soldiers for Xu Zhaojie. Apart from that, there is no other news!"

Hearing Qi Dechao's reply, Ye Mingsheng's face darkened slightly, but he didn't say much. The information in Qi Dechao's hands also came from the Coordination Office. Since he took over Liaoyang, the Coordination Office has been extending its intelligence network beyond Liaoyang at his instruction.

However, due to the limited finances of Liaoyang, Ye Mingsheng approved limited funds for the Coordination Office. In addition, the next step of the Fengwu Army was Youyan. Therefore, as an intelligence agency, the Coordination Office naturally regarded Youyan as a key area and invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the organization. Therefore, although intelligence bases have been established in places south of Youyan, the specific intelligence network still needs to be further built...

"Pen and ink are ready!" Ye Mingsheng said in a deep voice:

Before he finished speaking, Qi Dechao quickly spread out the paper for Ye Mingsheng and began to grind ink. He dipped the brush in ink, and Ye Mingsheng did not hesitate and immediately started writing on the paper.

After a moment, Ye Mingsheng put down his brush, stamped his seal on the written note, handed it to Qi Dechao and instructed:

"Give this to Huo San and ask him to get 10,000 taels of silver from Zhang Juning. This 10,000 taels of silver will be used to deal with Xu Zhaojie. If Xu Zhaojie makes any move in Anqing in the future, I want to know it first!"

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In the private room of the Lu'an teahouse in Liaoyang, Guangning Prefecture.

Huo Sanzheng was sitting opposite a handsome young man in coarse linen clothes.

After taking a deep look at the young man, Huo San asked:
"Are you Gu Shouting?"

"Yes, it's genuine!" The young man Gu Shouting nodded and said with a smile:
After hearing this answer, although his identity had been confirmed through some channels, Huo San still found it hard to believe that the young farmer in front of him was the legendary young genius Gu Shouting, who was famous in Youyan and was proficient in both literature and martial arts!

Although Huo San was from Liaoyang, he had heard about some of Gu Shouting's deeds because he had traveled to the north of the Great Zhou in his early years.

Gu Shouting was born into a prominent family and was a direct descendant of the Yuyang Gu family. He had a high level of attainment in the scriptures and was a famous talent in Youyan when he was young. He was extremely talented and even passed the imperial examination in the fifth year of Anhe. However, it was rumored that he felt that it was difficult for civil servants to make a difference in today's world, so he gave up literature and joined the army.

Almost everyone was pessimistic about Gu Shouting's move, but Gu Shouting resolutely insisted on his own idea. Relying on his family's influence, he secured a position as a sentry leader in Zhao Fuqu's Yan army. Just when everyone was waiting to laugh at him, Gu Shouting, gave them a big slap in the face!

It was the spring of the sixth year of Anhe. The Luobei people in the north were in civil strife, killing each other and blood flowing like a river. Finally, Baodezabu came to power. Perhaps it was to bridge the internal differences, or perhaps it was to enhance his prestige within the tribe through a war. In short, less than two months after Baodezabu came to power, he decided to lead 50,000 elite cavalry to invade Youyan in the south...
At the beginning, no one on Zhao Fuqu's side expected that Baodezabu would be so bold that he would dare to send troops south after such a short time in office. As a result, Youyan was caught off guard and suffered defeats one after another. For a time, the casualties of Youyan officials and civilians were very heavy. Just when Baodezabu led his troops to besiege Yuyang and designed to kill Yuyang defender Dong Dashan, Yuyang was leaderless and in great crisis. At this time, Gu Shouting stood up!
Relying on his family's influence in Yuyang, he immediately formed alliances among all parties in Yuyang and nominated his father Gu Zhongshi, who was once the deputy provincial governor of Youyan. Then he personally led 3,000 death-defying warriors to attack Baodezabu's camp at night, turning the enemy camp upside down and forcing Baodezabu, who had already besieged the city, to retreat 30 miles!
In this way, Gu Shouting bought a lot of time for Yuyang, and it was during this time that Zhao Fuqu assembled the main force of the Yan army and drove Baodezabu back to the grassland. If Gu Shouting had not done this at the beginning, then Yuyang City would have been broken and Zhao Fuqu would have had no time to integrate, and the entire Youyan would have faced the iron hoof of the Luobei people...

Gu Shouting became famous after this battle, and in the following year or so, Baodezabu did not invade the border on a large scale because he was afraid. However, because he was always thinking about Gu Shouting, he arranged elite cavalry to harass Yuyang several times, trying to seek revenge on Gu Shouting, but he was defeated by Gu Shouting every time!

With his brilliant record against the Luobi people, Gu Shouting, who gave up literature and took up military affairs, became a rising star under Zhao Fuqu. Before long, he rose like a rocket from a sentry chief to a general commanding tens of thousands of people.

Logically speaking, Gu Shouting's future life trajectory would be for him to become the right-hand man of Youyan Governor Zhao Fuqu, and do his best to realize Zhao Fuqu's ambitions!

However, life is often dramatic, with ups and downs happening overnight. If nothing unexpected happens, an accident will happen!

In the eighth year of Anhe, for some unknown reason, Gu Shouting, who was full of energy and vigor not long ago, suddenly fell seriously ill and had to resign from Zhao Fuqu and return to his hometown in Yuyang to recuperate. Zhao Fuqu readily agreed to Gu Shouting’s resignation...

Since then, the famous young hero Gu Shouting, a man of both literary and martial talents, has disappeared for more than two years!
What no one expected was that just half a month ago, Gu Shouting, who had been silent for two years, suddenly found the secret base set up by the Coordination Office in Yuyang. He said that he had important intelligence to give to Liaoyang and proposed to meet with the senior officials of Liaoyang!
When he first got the news, Huo San was a little confused. He didn't know what Gu Shouting was trying to do!
Although he was a little worried that Youyan was using Gu Shouting to set a trap for him, the Gu family, to which Gu Shouting belonged, was very powerful and influential in Youyan, and Gu Shouting himself was a talent, so Huo San couldn't help but be tempted to know what the so-called important information Gu Shouting was talking about was. After confirming through various channels that it was Gu Shouting himself and not an imposter, Huo San made up his mind after weighing the pros and cons and decided to meet with Gu Shouting. However, just in case and to test Gu Shouting, Huo San decided to meet in Guangning Prefecture in Liaoyang...
After Huo San conveyed his decision to Gu Shouting, Gu Shouting remained silent for a few days. Just when Huo San thought Gu Shouting would give up, Gu Shouting suddenly came again, agreed on a meeting time, and appeared in front of Huo San on time.

Although he still felt a little confused, Huo San did not dwell on this aspect, but went straight to the point and said:

"Mr. Gu, since we have met now, can you show me your important intelligence now?"

Facing Huo San's question, Gu Shouting smiled and took out a drawing from his arms, handed it to Huo San and said:
"Master Huo, please look!"

With a skeptical mentality, Huo San took the blueprint from Gu Shouting. After taking a look at it, Huo San realized what the blueprint was. His expression changed slightly. Noticing the change in Huo San's expression, Gu Shouting said lightly:
“I believe Director Huo has already figured out that what is recorded on this blueprint is the deployment map of Shen Zhuo’s troops in the Jizhou area. It records in detail the terrain conditions of the area where Shen Zhuo is stationed, as well as the number of garrison troops. I believe this is exactly what you want, Director Huo? How about this gift from me? Do you like it, Director Huo?”

Upon hearing this, Huo San looked at Gu Shouting deeply and did not answer Gu Shouting's question. Although based on his own experience and the information collected by the spies in Jizhou before, Huo San believed that the things on the blueprint were true, he still could not answer Gu Shouting's question!
Because Huo San realized that Gu Shouting's question was a test of him, trying to determine from him whether the Fengwu Army would enter the pass.
He is the director of the Liaoyang Coordination Office. No matter whether he answers like or dislike, Gu Shouting will get some useful information!

Therefore, before confirming Gu Shouting’s origins, the best way is to simply not respond!
Seeing Huo San remained silent, Gu Shouting shook his head and said:

"I came to Liaoyang to give this to you, Director Huo. I believe you have guessed that I want to surrender. So I wonder if you have reported my situation to Governor Ye before?"

After hearing Gu Shouting speak directly, Huo San hesitated for a moment and said:
"Before I met you, Mr. Gu, the matter was still unresolved, so how could I dare to report such a thing to the commander-in-chief?"

Having said that, Huo San looked at Gu Shouting again and continued:

“Of course! Mr. Gu, if you can explain the whole story clearly and show your sincerity, then I can report to my Lord Commander at any time…”

Gu Shouting immediately understood what Huo San meant when he heard this. He took a deep breath and said frankly:
"Since Gu is already here, I will tell you everything I know. Director Huo, if you have anything to ask, I will definitely tell you what I know!"

"readily!"

Huo San nodded with satisfaction, and then asked directly without being polite to Gu Shouting:
"I wonder why you, Mr. Gu, betrayed the Yan army and joined my Fengwu army?"

Gu Shouting was not surprised at all when he heard this. He did not directly answer Huo San's question, but asked Huo San in return:
"Director Huo, you should know about my situation, right?"

Huo San did not hide this, nodded and said:
"Yes!"

Before Gu Shouting came to him, Huo San had heard some rumors about Gu Shouting, but he did not know all of them. It was not until Gu Shouting came to him that Huo San learned about Gu Shouting's experience in its entirety...

After receiving a positive answer from Huo San, Gu Shouting was silent for a while before he raised his head and unbuttoned his shirt in front of Huo San. Gu Shouting's action shocked Huo San immediately, but what surprised Huo San even more was that Gu Shouting, who was born in a noble family, had his upper body covered with long and thin scars and marks.

Because he was a top intelligence chief, Huo San immediately determined that the scars on Gu Shouting's body were caused by flogging and branding. Although it had been a while since the scars appeared, it could still be seen how much cruel and inhuman abuse Gu Shouting had suffered at that time!
Seeing this and thinking of what he knew about Gu Shouting's energy, Huo San's eyes suddenly flashed with a gleam, and he realized something.

At this time, Gu Shouting said in a low voice:
"Two years ago, I was in high spirits in the Yan army, and I had a grudge with Zhao Yong, the nephew of Zhao Fuqu. In order to retaliate against me, Zhao Yong hired someone to imitate my handwriting and wrote a letter of surrender to Shangguan Hongyuan, and then framed the letter on me. When Zhao Fuqu found out, he believed Zhao Yong and put me in jail without me having to say anything..."

At this point, Gu Shouting paused, a flash of pain and hatred flashed across his eyes, and then he continued in a deep voice:

"They tortured me and tried to make me confess, but I endured it because I refused to confess. They couldn't find any other evidence, and my family had been trying to rescue me, so Zhao Fuqu had no choice but to let me go!"

“Later, Zhao Fuqu knew clearly that all these were Zhao Yong’s frame-ups against me, but he still chose to protect Zhao Yong, pretending that he knew nothing and trying to smooth things over, allowing the matter to be left unresolved, and he was unwilling to even give me an explanation…”

(End of this chapter)