Chapter 817 The opportunity Ye Mingsheng is waiting for!

"Master Kratos, the torches are not completely extinguished yet, and the haystack is still warm. He should not have gone far. I will chase him out right away..."

Listening to his subordinates' request, Wu Kui glanced at the mountain temple in front of him and nodded slightly.

After getting Wu Kui's consent, his two subordinates immediately chased out of the mountain temple, leaving only Wu Kui alone in the temple.

After receiving the order from the middle-aged Confucian scholar a few days ago, Wu Kui has been keeping an eye on Zhang Chengzhe's movements. After discovering that Zhang Chengzhe had left Yijing yesterday, he immediately followed him out with two subordinates, preparing to kill Zhang Chengzhe on the way.

They were planning to take action last night in the hotel. One of their subordinates sneaked outside Zhang Chengzhe's house and wanted to kill Zhang Chengzhe quietly while he was sleeping. However, they did not expect that Zhang Chengzhe was very vigilant and they were discovered as soon as they got outside the house.

Although he really wanted to kill Zhang Chengzhe as soon as possible and avenge the last time, considering the presence of other people in the hotel, if he killed Zhang Chengzhe in public, then unless everyone in the hotel was killed, their identities would be exposed, so Wu Kui had no choice but to give up.

This morning when they were in the wild, they saw Zhang Chengzhe had found the traces of their group of three, and Wu Kui was ready to take action. However, he was not strong enough to be thrown away by Zhang Chengzhe. However, they did not give up and followed the horseshoe prints to this mountain temple...

After being chased all the way, Wu Kui was tired and hungry, so he sat on the haystack, taking a sip of dry food and a sip of water. At this time, Zhang Chengzhe, who was hiding behind the statue of the mountain god, looked at Wu Kui alone, with a hint of coldness in his eyes. He jumped out from behind the statue of the mountain god and slashed Wu Kui's neck with the dagger in his hand.

Faced with Zhang Chengzhe's sudden attack, Wu Kui was also surprised, but as an old spy from the Supervisory Office who had been hiding in the Fengwu Army's territory for many years, Wu Kui's kung fu was also very strong. He reacted quickly and took the opportunity to throw the water bag and dry food in his hand at Zhang Chengzhe, hoping to buy some time for himself.

Facing the flying bag of dry food and water, Zhang Chengzhe quickly flicked the short knife in his hand, and then continued to kill Wu Kui. Wu Kui was about to draw his knife to fight, but he had no time to do so and dodged again. Zhang Chengzhe was not discouraged when he missed the first attack, and continued to kill with his courage.

Even though Wu Kui was very agile in dodging, he was still careless in the face of Zhang Chengzhe's continuous pursuit, and his right arm was cut. Wu Kui kicked Zhang Chengzhe several steps away in pain.

Taking advantage of this gap, Wu Kui endured the pain in his right hand and pulled out the knife from his waist, sneering and saying to Zhang Chengzhe in front of him:
"You're quite good at hiding, you bastard!"

Listening to Wu Kui's words, Zhang Chengzhe snorted coldly and then rushed forward with his sword again. Facing Zhang Chengzhe's charge, Wu Kui also swung his sword to meet him. In a flash, the two of them had already fought for several moves. These moves also allowed both sides to have an understanding of each other's strength...

In terms of experience and skills, Zhang Chengzhe and Wu Kui are on a different level. If the two fought in their prime, Zhang Chengzhe would not last ten rounds against Wu Kui and would probably be beheaded by Wu Kui.

However, in the sneak attack just now, Zhang Chengzhe took the initiative and injured Wu Kui's right hand. The cut was so deep that the bone was visible and blood was flowing. It deeply affected Wu Kui's performance. In this way, the strength of both sides is on the same starting line.

Looking at Wu Kui, who was still calm despite his injured right hand, Zhang Chengzhe understood that Wu Kui was waiting for his two subordinates to come back. If they couldn't catch him outside, they would definitely return to the mountain temple. At that time, it would be three against one and he would definitely die!
Thinking of this, Zhang Chengzhe also had the idea that among the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best one. As long as he could run away and find the government officials, these two people would be unable to escape. However, seeing the gleam in Zhang Chengzhe's eyes, Wu Kui also saw what he was thinking, and immediately rushed over to kill him. He did not ask to kill Zhang Chengzhe, but only to delay Zhang Chengzhe.

After trying several times in a row to no avail, Zhang Chengzhe realized that he couldn't kill Wu Kui, so he made up his mind. He swung the short knife in his hand in a wide range of movements, and turned it into an invincible strategy of exchanging injuries for injuries. As a result, Wu Kui became afraid to use his weapons...

After a few more moves, Zhang Chengzhe seized a moment when Wu Kui was hesitating and slashed at him three or four times in succession. Wu Kui, whose right hand was already injured, lost the initiative and was completely at a disadvantage. Finally, in another fight, the dagger in Zhang Chengzhe's hand cut Wu Kui's throat.

Feeling his strength quickly disappearing, Wu Kui looked at Zhang Chengzhe in front of him with some disbelief. He seemed to have never expected that he would die in the hands of this young man. He struggled and waved his hands forward, but eventually fell to the ground with a bang!

Although Wu Kui was killed, the situation on Zhang Chengzhe's side was not optimistic. He was hit on the shoulder by Wu Kui during the fight, and the wound revealed the bone fragments. Wu Kui originally intended to cut Zhang Chengzhe's throat. Fortunately, Zhang Chengzhe was quick-eyed and quick-handed, otherwise both of them would have died together.

Although he killed Wu Kui, Zhang Chengzhe knew that Wu Kui's two subordinates would return soon. He had no time to be happy. He applied knife wound medicine on his wound and then began to search Wu Kui's body.

Wu Kui's position in the Supervisory Office is not low. If we can find out something from him, maybe Zhang Chengzhe won't have to go all the way to Liaoyang!
After searching carefully for a stick of incense's time, Zhang Chengzhe finally found a secret letter in a layer of Wu Kui's clothes.

Looking at the contents of the secret memorial, Zhang Chengzhe’s eyes showed a hint of surprise. The next second, he beheaded Wu Kui and then walked out of the temple. He wanted to return to Yijing overnight. He believed that with Wu Kui’s head and this secret memorial, he would not need to go to Liaoyang anymore...

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Yijing, Ye Mansion

Listening to Su Yi's story, Ye Mingsheng said in a deep voice:
"So the peace talks between Sun Chenggong and Xu Zhaojie have been completed, right?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Su Yi nodded and said:
"Reporting to the Marshal, according to the information we have received so far, Sun Chenggong and Xu Zhaojie have agreed to use Beiche County as the border. The area north of Beiche County belongs to Sun Chenggong, and the area south of Beiche County belongs to Xu Zhaojie. The two sides will no longer invade each other! Xu Zhaojie is now starting to withdraw his troops from Jingchu!" After hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng also found the location of Beiche County on the map of Jingchu. After a simple calculation on the map, Ye Mingsheng had only one thought left in his mind - Xu Zhaojie is so lucky!

I had just taken half of Huainan including Kangyin from him, and this guy obtained three prefectures and five counties from Jingchu. Although Jingchu is not as wealthy as Huainan, the territory Xu Zhaojie obtained this time is also a traditional land of fish and rice, with 100,000 acres of fertile land and a population of 700,000 to 800,000!

With this foundation and the cooperation with the Huainan territory under Xu Zhaojie's control, Xu Zhaojie also has the possibility to recover!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but narrow his eyes. It seems that some things must be put on the agenda. If Xu Zhaojie is allowed to continue to get away with it, he is afraid that even the whole Jingchu will be swallowed up. By then, he is afraid that he will become a big threat to him...
After thinking for a long time, Ye Mingsheng asked:
"What does the Luoan court think about the peace talks between Xu Zhaojie and Sun Chenggong?"

Unlike Ye Mingsheng who had been keeping his troops inactive, the Luoan court squeezed out a lot of resources for Sun Chenggong, including
One thousand Shenwu guns, which were scarce even for the Luoan court itself, were invested so heavily in Sun Chenggong, but it was not just a calculation, it was just to subdue Sun Chenggong in name only.

If it turns out to be as Ye Mingsheng expected, the old fox Shangguan Hongyuan most likely wants to let Sun Chenggong and Xu Zhaojie fight to the death, and then wait until the beginning of next spring to reap the benefits and put the entire Jingchu under the jurisdiction of the Luoan court.

But now that Sun Chenggong and Xu Zhaojie have made peace, Shangguan Hongyuan's plan has failed, and most of the previous efforts have been wasted. Ye Mingsheng is still looking forward to how the Luoan court led by Shangguan Hongyuan will react to this.

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Su Yi spoke without hesitation:
“The Luoan court initially firmly disagreed with the peace talks between Sun Chenggong and Xu Zhaojie. However, the young commander Sun Chenggong was very resourceful. He personally wrote a letter to Shangguan Hongyuan. I don’t know what kind of magic potion he gave Shangguan Hongyuan, but in the end, Shangguan Hongyuan agreed to the peace talks…”

"According to our secret agents in Luoan, there is a voice in the Luoan court that wants to transfer Sun Chenggong to Luoan to serve as the Minister of Justice. Sun Chenggong has also released the news that Sun Chenggong is ill. In addition, there is news that Shangguan Hongyuan has some health problems and may not have much time left!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng's eyes lit up. It was no secret that Shangguan Hongyuan was in poor health. After all, Shangguan Hongyuan was already over sixty years old this year, which was already an elderly person in this era. It was not surprising that he died now.

However, according to previous news from various news channels, Shangguan Hongyuan's health should be able to hold on for another one or two years. It is really surprising that he is suddenly going to die!
After pondering for a moment, Ye Mingsheng asked:

"How true is this news?"

After a slight hesitation, Su Yi spoke very carefully:
"This news is still in the verification stage, but our team is working hard to verify its authenticity. I believe that once it is confirmed, it will be sent back immediately!"

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng was slightly dissatisfied and immediately ordered:

"Shangguan Hongyuan's physical condition is the top priority. I want to know the latest news..."

In the past few battles with the Luoan court, although the Fengwu Army had gained certain advantages, it was difficult to expand the advantages as in previous expeditions. The two sides fought several battles in Yunbing, with a total of nearly 200,000 casualties, but the battle line did not change at all.

Although this cost the Luoan court a lot of money, it also made Ye Mingsheng very wary of them. At the suggestion of a group of staff, Ye Mingsheng also advocated diplomacy, hoping to exert enough external pressure on the Luoan court to force changes within the Luoan court.

In Ye Mingsheng's view, he has done everything he can do now, and all that remains is to wait for an opportunity!
An opportunity that can change the entire world!
The opportunity was the death of Shangguan Hongyuan. The Luoan court was originally a complex web of forces with many divergent interests. The only reason they could come together now was because of Shangguan Hongyuan who was leading the way.

Once the big tree of Shangguan Hongyuan falls, it would be an exaggeration to say that the Luoan court will collapse, but it is also a fact that people's hearts are in chaos!

Once that time comes, it will be a great opportunity for the Fengwu Army to march westward and overthrow the Luoan court...
So Ye Mingsheng has been silently paying attention to Shangguan Hongyuan's physical condition. He originally thought that he would have to wait another two or three years, but now it seems that Shangguan Hongyuan really can't hold on any longer!
Feeling the dissatisfaction in Ye Mingsheng's words, Su Yi nodded in fear and trepidation. Ye Mingsheng did not make things difficult for him. He just instructed him on some details and let Su Yi leave the study.

After Su Yi left, Ye Mingsheng thought for a moment, then called Ye Cheng over and asked:

"Is Cui Desheng back?"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Ye Cheng thought for a moment and said:
"According to the date, we should have arrived in Yijing today!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng's eyes revealed a complicated look. Cui Desheng was the former deputy commander of the Third Army and the deputy of the former Third Army commander Guo Zhiping. During the Battle of Yunbing at the beginning of the year, everyone thought he had died in the battlefield. After they held a grand funeral and a cenotaph for him, they never received the news that Cui Desheng was not dead!
Not only did this guy not die, but after being captured by the imperial army, he even became Shangguan Hongyuan's guest of honor for a time. Although Ye Mingsheng understood that Shangguan Hongyuan did this in an attempt to use Cui Desheng's identity to alienate himself from the Cui family, to be honest, this still made Ye Mingsheng very uncomfortable...

(End of this chapter)