Eat the plaintiff and then the defendant

Nobles immediately stood up. They were landlords from the two regions of Location and Location. With their regions under attack, they suffered the greatest losses and were the most anxious.

"Great King, I believe the Second Prince's words are reasonable. We should immediately mobilize troops to expel the Han people and recover the lost territory."

"Indeed, Great King. There are over ten thousand elite troops in the royal capital, which is perfect for this mission."

Wu Hean immediately objected.

"The royal capital is the foundation of the nation. If there are no troops stationed here, how can we ensure the safety of the capital and the Great King?"

For Wu Hean, most of the troops in the royal capital were under his control; they were his backbone. How could he possibly send them away?

"If Location and Location are lost, the royal capital will have no natural defenses."

The grand hall suddenly became noisy and clamorous. Fawang felt a headache coming on, and for a moment, he didn't know how to make a decision.

At this moment, Wen Huan spoke up again, his words piercing straight into Wu Hean's heart.

"Now that the nation is in danger, why is my royal brother still so reluctant to part with those few troops of his?"

This sentence left Wu Hean stunned, and Fawang suddenly realized the truth.

This son of his, whom he loved the most, didn't care about his safety at all; he was just worried about his own core troops being depleted.

Giving Wu Hean a vicious glare, Fawang spoke.

"Mobilize five thousand troops under Wu Hean's command to reinforce Location, and have Wen Huan lead three thousand troops to reinforce Location. Order Khon Kham to make up for his crimes by reinforcing Location."

He paused, scanned his two sons, and said in an icy tone,

"I hope the two of you will work together in good faith and not let me down."

Both men immediately understood that their father was using this opportunity to test them.

The two exchanged a glance and secretly made up their minds.

Three days later, ten thousand troops set out from the royal capital under the leadership of the two princes.

A fast horse galloped towards a valley fifty miles outside of Vientiane City.

"Your Highness, Wu Hean and Wen Huan have already taken their troops and left. Now, there are at most five thousand troops left in the royal capital."

"What about the Nangiao family's troops?"

"They haven't left; they are still in Vientiane City, currently responsible for guarding the West Gate."

Khon Kham slapped his palm with his fist in excitement.

"Good, good! Heaven truly helps me. Let everyone get a good rest; we act in three days."

Hearing that the enemy had arrived, Gao Yuan did not linger in battle. His experience from playing Monster Hunter in his past life told him that greed for kills leads to death.

The thousand troops quickly retreated. Any spoils they couldn't carry were buried on the spot, and the entire army gathered to prepare for the second phase of the plan.

If he wanted to keep the Lan Xang reinforcements firmly attracted to Location and Location, he had to make a show of force.

As for which side to attack, it naturally depended on which of the two princes was the bigger fool.

Just as Gao Yuan had finished hiding his troops and was lurking with malicious intent to find an opening, a secret letter arrived from Luang Namtha.

After reading the secret letter, Gao Yuan was stunned.

It was a secret letter from the Second Prince of Lan Xang, Wen Huan. Because he couldn't find Gao Yuan, he had sent it directly to Luang Namtha.

The content of the letter was simple: he hoped to use Gao Yuan's hand to get rid of his own royal brother.

"Good heavens, there isn't a single good person in this family!"

Gao Yuan couldn't believe his eyes after reading the letter and couldn't help but exclaim.

Fawang, in his dual role as King and father, wanted to use foreign enemies to weaken his legitimate son's strength.

With just a little instigation from him, that Khon Kham had decided to follow Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin's tactics.

This Second Prince was even more ruthless, directly sending an invitation to eliminate his own older brother.

For Gao Yuan, this was a welcome development, so there was naturally no reason to refuse.

However, since he had to do the work, the payment had to be negotiated first.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yuan took out a piece of silk and wrote down his demands.

He could help weaken Wu Hean's forces, but the final blow would need to be dealt by Wen Huan himself.

Once the deed was done, Gao Yuan demanded one thousand sets of leather armor, fifty thousand shi of grain, and the people of Location.

That's right, this time Gao Yuan planned to relocate the entire population of Location.

He had originally expected some pushback, but he hadn't expected the Second Prince, Wen Huan, to agree immediately.

However, what Wen Huan didn't expect was that his promptness actually aroused Gao Yuan's suspicion.

"Is this kid trying to play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?"

Gao Yuan's prediction was correct; that was exactly what Wen Huan was planning.

In Wen Huan's view, cooperating with Gao Yuan was no different from bargaining with a tiger, with endless future troubles.

Moreover, such an operation would inevitably leak.

He hoped to use great profit to lure Gao Yuan and Wu Hean into a fight to the death, leaving both sides crippled.

Then he would appear as a savior to reap the rewards. This way, not only could he weaken Wu Hean's strength, but he could also claim the greatest credit.

Gao Yuan hadn't anticipated these calculations, but he couldn't be bothered to verify them anyway.

To him, it didn't matter who he sold his services to, so he directly sent someone to deliver the contract Wen Huan had sent into the city of Location.

"Good, good indeed. Truly my good younger brother."

After reading the document sent by Gao Yuan, Wu Hean was so angry his lungs were ready to explode, his face cold and grim.

"Help me relay a message to General Gao: I have received his goodwill. Please ask him to cooperate with me in a play, and there will be a generous reward once it is done."

Before the messenger arrived, Gao Yuan had already given strict instructions, so he didn't believe a word of Wu Hean's empty promises.

"I must ask His Highness the Prince to write a contract. My General said, in business, how can there be no deposit?"

Wu Hean was clearly stunned; he hadn't expected this tactic to fail.

But he really didn't want to pay any price, nor did he want to hand over any leverage to others.

Wu Hean also understood the logic that you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child, knowing that he couldn't get away without paying something today.

After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said,

"Then please have the honorable envoy stay for a few days. I will go and prepare, and I will definitely give General Gao a satisfactory answer."

However, as soon as Gao Yuan's envoy left, he immediately summoned several confidants.

"You must immediately send people to continue searching. You must find the place where that Gao Yuan is hiding."

Wen Huan in Location didn't know that he had already been sold out by his partner and was busily making preparations.

Soon, the deposit Wen Huan promised Gao Yuan was delivered to Luang Namtha: ten thousand shi of grain, five thousand catties of raw iron, five hundred plow oxen, five hundred young women, and five hundred pack horses.

Both sides also agreed on the method of cooperation: Gao Yuan would first weaken Wu Hean's strength, and then Wen Huan would suddenly appear at the critical moment to deliver the final blow to Wu Hean.

Seeing this plan, Gao Yuan finally confirmed his suspicion: this grandson wanted to play the fisherman.

On the other side, Wu Hean's search for Gao Yuan's tracks also yielded nothing, and he could only honestly pay up.

Twenty thousand shi of grain, one thousand young women, five thousand catties of raw iron, and one thousand pack horses.

Wu Hean had originally wanted to struggle one last time, tracking the messenger and the gift-bearing party to find where Gao Yuan was located.

He just hadn't expected Gao Yuan to have him deliver the goods directly to Luang Namtha.

Since the first plan failed, he could only use the second.

That was to pretend to be defeated by Gao Yuan, hold up in one place, attract his good younger brother to come and pick the peaches, and then join forces with Gao Yuan to catch them all in the trap.

He had even chosen the Location: inside a canyon.

When the time came, as long as he blocked both ends of the canyon, whether it was Gao Yuan or Wen Huan, they would just be turtles in his jar, ready to be manipulated at will.

After Gao Yuan led his men to scout the terrain, he roughly guessed Wu Hean's intentions.

"They really are two of a kind. Both grandsons want to play the fisherman! Since you both want to scheme against me, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Gao Yuan had originally felt some guilt for playing both sides, but at this moment, all his guilt was swept away.