229: Chapter 0229 Starving

By nightfall, the cleanup within the city was complete, and the Iron Kite Army had been completely annihilated.

A few "clever" Khitan Army officers tried to disguise themselves as Zhenbei Army soldiers or ordinary civilians to escape.

But in front of Lin Xiao, they naturally had nowhere to hide.

When Lin Xiao arrived at the Prefects Mansion, Prefect Lu Wentai came to greet him, covered in wounds.

"Many thanks to Lin Xiao for saving the people of Sanhe Prefecture and avenging everyone..."

Lin Xiao looked at the white cloth bandage wrapped around his head and sighed.

He had learned before arriving that Lu Wentai's wife and daughter had thrown themselves to their deaths in the street, unable to bear the humiliation.

If it weren't for the need to encourage the people to keep living, Lu Wentai might have followed his wife and daughter himself.

"Prefect Lu, this General still arrived too late."

"General Lin, please do not say that!"

Lu Wentai said gratefully, "If not for the Zhenbei Army, not only the people of Sanhe Prefecture, but also those in the nearby counties and villages would have met a tragic end."

"This humble official only hates his own incompetence for failing to hold out for even half a day before the Khitan Army launched a sneak attack..."

"Prefect Lu, your garrison was transferred away; how could you hold the city with only a few hundred men? There is no need to blame yourself," Zhao Caiwei said.

Hearing this, Lu Wentai and the few other surviving officials finally felt a little comforted.

Lin Xiao asked the officials to sit down and said, "This General knows that the fall of Sanhe Prefecture had little to do with you."

"I called you here mainly to ask what has happened in Tai Prefecture and Qizhou in the last few days."

Lu Wentai's expression turned solemn, and he immediately told them everything he knew...

It turned out that on the third day after Zhao Yunting led the Cold Iron Guard on an expedition, Prince Yan ordered the disbandment of the garrisons in the Three Prefectures of Yan.

Logically, a vassal king did not have this authority, as the garrisons were imperial troops.

But the problem was that the world was in chaos, and the soldiers' pay had been in arrears for half a year, causing much resentment.

Once Prince Yan gave the order, it gave the soldiers an excuse to disband, and naturally, everyone went their separate ways.

Therefore, only some dutiful veteran soldiers and officers remained in Sanhe Prefecture.

At first, everyone thought that Prince Yan intended to expand the Yan Kings Army, which was why he issued such an order.

But they never expected that it was actually because Prince Yan had long been held hostage by the Khitan, which was why he issued such an order!

Five days ago, Prince Yan was held hostage by those around him, and the Prince's Mansion was occupied!

General Yelu Chuku, the greatest warrior of the Khitan, personally led the White Wolf Cavalry and an army of twenty thousand to take control of Qizhou!

The seventy-thousand-strong Yan Kings Army, because their Prince had been captured, lost their footing and stayed outside the city of Qizhou, not daring to go anywhere!

"There are Khitan spies around Prince Yan?"

Zhao Caiwei asked, puzzled, "Who are they? Does Prefect Lu know?"

Lu Wentai shook his head, "This humble official is not sure; these things were also mentioned by that beast, General Qu Ke."

"That is impossible... Our Cold Iron Guard has always been on guard against contact between the Khitan and the officials of the Yan Region, especially those around the Prince..."

Zhao Caiwei found it hard to believe.

"The reason you couldn't find it is simple."

Lin Xiao sneered, "The one truly colluding with the Khitan is Prince Bai; the people around Prince Yan only needed to contact Prince Bai."

"General Qu Ke died before, he had already confessed everything."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically!

Everything made sense now!

"How outrageous!! A dignified Prince of the Great Gan, actually colluding with foreign barbarians to seize power and harming the people of the Great Gan!?"

Lu Wentai was so angry that he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, yet still hoping to sit on the throne!? Everyone should rise up and kill him!!"

The group of officials was filled with righteous indignation; they had all been to the gates of hell and back, so they had no fear at all.

Lin Xiao, however, did not find it hard to understand.

Prince Bai was already forty-five, and he hadn't even conquered the North.

If he followed the normal steps, even if he successfully usurped the throne one day, he probably wouldn't have many years left to be Emperor.

To speed up the process, Prince Bai would definitely stop at nothing; as for reputation, he could figure that out after he became Emperor.

He might not even care about the judgment of future generations; he just wanted to "reclaim" the throne that might have originally belonged to him.

Late at night.

After checking on the wounded, Lin Xiao and Zhao Caiwei arrived at a temporary residence.

"Husband, those seventy thousand Yan Kings Army troops are staying outside Qizhou without making a move. Do you think... could they have defected to Prince Bai?" Zhao Caiwei speculated.

"Why do you say that?" Lin Xiao asked.

"The commander of the Yan Kings Army, the Marquis of Ruyang, is Prince Yan's cousin. He has been Prince Yan's study companion since childhood and is deeply trusted by him."

"But my father said that this Li Cong is a fence-sitter. In his early years, when he studied with the other princes, he originally wanted to follow Prince Bai."

"It's just that Prince Bai didn't think much of him and valued "He Yu, Earl of Anyang" more, so Li Cong switched to flattering Prince Yan."

Lin Xiao found it interesting, "Oh? There is such a thing?"

Zhao Caiwei nodded, "My father is a good judge of character, so I am worried that if we attack Qizhou directly, those seventy thousand Yan Kings Army troops might turn against us."

"Seventy thousand Yan Kings Army troops, thirty thousand Khitan Army troops... an army of one hundred thousand, fighting our thirty thousand..."

Lin Xiao smiled, "It's fine, I'm used to it. Let's fight first!"

Zhao Caiwei didn't know whether to laugh or cry; she almost forgot that this man was famous for winning against superior numbers!

In fact, since he first emerged, he had never fought an "evenly matched" battle!

Thirty thousand against one hundred thousand, and he says it's fine?

In all the world, the only person who could say such a thing is probably my own husband!

"Husband... tonight... I will do whatever you want... you can..."

Zhao Caiwei gathered her courage, leaned into the man's ear, and said some bold words...

She wanted to use every means possible to soothe the pain in the man's heart.

Lin Xiao gasped; playing this big?

Looking at the shy cold beauty again, he felt proud, knowing that his little glutton was starving!

Look, she's so proactive!

The romance of this moment will be left unsaid for now.

The scene shifts to E Prefecture, Jingmen.

As the army departed, the city returned to a state of quiet peace.

Late at night, everything was quiet.

A man with disheveled hair, wearing a tattered Taoist robe, appeared in Faming Temple like a wandering ghost.

The Taoist furtively confirmed that no one was around, then darted up the highest pagoda to search.

He lifted up one tile after another, and as he went on, his speed became faster and faster.

In the end, the entire top of the pagoda had been dug up into a complete mess!

"It's not here... how can it not be here!?"

The Taoist's bloodshot eyes were filled with despair and disbelief!

"Clang!!"

The Taoist furiously smashed the tile in his hand!

"Ah!!——"

In the dark night, the Taoist roared and howled at the sky like a ferocious beast!