In the champion house, when the sky was dark, Liu Qing opened his eyes from the couch, stood up and asked: "What time is it?"
The maid was not far from the couch, waiting for instructions at any time: "It's not yet past midnight, and a reward has come from the palace. I knew that the princess was not awake, so I didn't dare to come and call. There was some commotion in the front yard while moving the things that Your Majesty had given as a reward.
Did you disturb the princess enough to rest?"
"Reward?"
Liu Qing has personally been tending the fire these days, refining elixirs for treating apathy, and has not heard anything going on outside the window. He is not aware of the changes in the outside world.
She was practicing cultivation, so she came to bed not because she was sleepy, but because she wanted to take a nap.
Liu Qing's eyes lit up when he heard the maid say that the emperor had sent a reward.
...What can make the emperor so excited that he sends people to deliver rewards early in the morning?
"Change, I have to go to the palace."
Liu Qing turned sideways and crossed her legs, stretched out her white feet, pulled on her shoes, and got off the couch.
She quickly dressed up, changed into apricot-colored Hanfu, and came to the front yard with exquisite makeup, and then saw Dong Xu, the chamberlain beside the emperor.
"Your Highness the Princess."
Dong Xu ran nearby in small steps, bowed his head and saluted.
"Why did Your Majesty ask you to come and deliver the reward so early in the morning?" Liu Qing asked.
Dong Xu smiled apologetically and said: "Your Majesty didn't sleep all night yesterday, and even asked the ministers to accompany him to watch Huo Hou defeat the enemy and destroy the city on the front line.
Huainan planned to conduct operations in several counties in the northeast, but was beaten by Huo Hou and was unable to fight back. His Majesty was happy and announced at the court meeting early in the morning that his ministers would come to the mansion to deliver rewards.
There are isolated military books and various utensils that Marquis Huo likes, as well as Taoist scrolls and silks and satins that the princess likes, all of which are treasured in the palace."
Liu Qing also raised his eyebrows: "Let's go, I'll go back to the palace with you."
It’s extremely cold in Chang’an in November.
When Liu Qing entered the palace and passed through the front hall of Weiyang Palace, he heard conversations coming from the emperor's study.
"...these rebellious people claim to be well-arranged, but in fact they are full of loopholes, and their defenses were penetrated by Qu Bing overnight."
Liu Che's voice: "Ru Bohu, I asked you to find out the real location where the rebels are hiding. Have you ever found out?
And where did the rebel troops come from?"
Liu Qing approached the study, raised his crystal ears, and listened.
"I have previously discovered that a large number of people in Huainan have been relocated, with the total number reaching hundreds of thousands, of which the largest proportion are teenagers and young men and women of school age."
Ru Bohu said: "The strange situation in Huainan had not yet appeared at that time, and there were also problems within our secret investigation. In addition, with the cooperation of the forces in the dark, using methods such as bewitching and influencing people's hearts, we were able to accomplish this without anyone noticing."<
/p>
"You mean, they sent the population out and secretly selected and formed an army somewhere outside of my big army?"
"Yes, I have carefully investigated Huainan's income and expenditure over the years, and found that they secretly dug iron mines, built armor preparation facilities, etc., all to support this team."
"Their hiding place should be outside the northeast of our Han Dynasty, that is, on the eastern grassland where the remaining Donghu forces such as Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Fuyu are intertwined. They take advantage of the mixed forces of all parties and the lack of unified ownership to hide." p>
"I suspect that among the more than ten factions that now exist in the eastern grassland, one or several factions are controlled and operated by Huainan.
Their specific location must be not far from the northeastern border of our country."
Ru Bohu’s words are reasonable and well-founded.
It makes sense for Huainan and that secret force to be outside the Han territory, otherwise they would not have been able to hide for so long without being discovered.
Their plot to plot in the Northeast should be based on their understanding of that area, and the fact that it can support each other and facilitate their operations.
At this time, Liu Qing came in from outside, her skirt flying.
After entering the hall, she sniffed inconspicuously, then walked to where Huo Qubing was last time and sat down.
Liu Che looked at his sister and said with a smile: "Pingxian, what did you smell when you came in? Where did Qu Bing sit? Can you smell it?"
Liu Qing smiled lightly, neither denying nor agreeing.
Ru Bohu stopped talking and glanced at the emperor.
"Keep talking, Pingxian knows what's appropriate and can be trusted." Liu Che said.
"Judging from the process of Huo Houqing's suppression of the rebels last night, these rebels have only fought against some tribes and horse bandits on the grassland. They have barely participated in a few actual battles, and they obviously lack combat experience." p>
Ru Bohu analyzed: "Their equipment is very sophisticated. Their armor and weapons are all extraordinary.
I suspect that the rebel team may be related to some old nobles from the Six Kingdoms at the end of the Warring States Period.
Some of their war equipment seemed to have been forged using Korea's sophisticated crossbow and armor tempering methods at that time."
The emperor was thoughtful after hearing this, and soon waved Ru Bohu to retreat.
When there was no one else in the study, the emperor looked at Liu Qing and said, "Do you want to see me?"
"I wanted to ask about the news about my illness," Liu Qing said.
Liu Che stretched out his hand and grasped the map hanging on the wall before his eyes, unfolded it and pointed to the northeast direction of Dahan on the map:
"Look, Pingxian, this is Qu Bing's marching route after leaving Chang'an."
Liu Qing glanced at the map. There were many lines criss-crossing the map.
Liu Che was referring to a red line that ran straight from Chang'an to beyond Beiguan.
"Qubing left Chang'an and marched eastward from Beiguan?"
Liu Che said with a smile: "Exactly, Qubing chose to march from outside Beiguan, contrary to everyone's expectations, and went straight to Youbeiping County. In the first battle, he choked the rebels by the throat and allowed the rebels to stage chaos.
You don’t know how interesting it was for the officials to suddenly realize yesterday when they saw that the one who was attacking Qu Bing was You Beiping County.”
"The other routes on this map were drawn up by me and the ministers last night, and they are also the battle routes for curing the disease."
Liu Chedao: "Last night he defeated a rebel army of 6,000 people.
Just when everyone thought he would take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack Yuyang Pass, he suddenly disappeared, turned his troops around, crossed over, and headed straight for the junction of Liaoxi and Liaodong counties.
This move is designed to test the rebels' true strength and the strength of their defenses."
"It is currently confirmed that the rebels do not actually control several counties in the northeast.
They didn't even dare to rebel openly. The armor they wore imitated the styles of our Han army, making people think they were part of our Han army.
The people in the cities in various places did not even know the reason for the sudden closing of the city gates, and thought that the Huns were attacking. The rebels only controlled a small number of officials, took the opportunity to open the city gates, and wanted to enter the city to seek trouble.
As soon as their plan started, it was foiled by Qubing's attack.
Yesterday night, Qubing used 3,000 soldiers to affect the situation in several counties in the northeast. He defeated the enemy's henchmen every time he marched, crushing the rebels and gaining the upper hand."
Liu Che pursed his lips: "I am really happy to see it.
Even Dong Zhongshu and others, who were originally opposed to the war, rushed to use troops to cure the disease last night and kept cheering.
If the rebels don’t have good generals like Qu Bing, no matter how many plans they make, they will be useless and they will be defeated in one blow."
Liu Qing thought for a moment and said, "I have something to ask Brother Pope."
"Yeah." The emperor said.
"After the Huainan rebellion, the emperor seemed to be a little hesitant about Huainan.
I'm wondering if Brother Huang started making arrangements from then on. You, Xiu Yi Ling, and Qu Bing, have you set a trap to trick Huainan and the secret forces into showing up step by step?"
The emperor looked at his sister in surprise: "Pingxian, why do you have such a guess?"
Liu Qingdao: "I have known the emperor's methods since I was a child.
Although Liu An is our imperial uncle, he has made mistakes, especially the big mistake of treason. I don’t think it’s right that the emperor is not eager to deal with him.
As for the emperor brother, you, Qu Bing, and Ru Bohu all want to dig out the secret forces, but they don't have many clues. So I guess that your majesty is deliberately giving King Huainan a chance and wants to use him to lure out all the secret forces.
?"
Liu Che laughed dumbly: "Your guess is not entirely correct, but it is also correct."
"Qubing should have seen part of my intentions in this matter, but he didn't know much."
Liu Qing responded: "Qu Bing is dedicated to military affairs. Even if he sees His Majesty's plan, as long as Your Majesty doesn't tell him, he won't ask.
So, some of His Majesty’s subsequent performances were indeed intended to confuse other people’s judgment?
Your Majesty is happy or angry in front of some ministers without revealing his inner intentions. Is he worried about the ministers or that there are secret agents in the palace?"
The emperor laughed loudly: "My imperial sister is really smart.
Again, what you said is not entirely correct, but it is not easy to analyze these things.
But you just heard me ask Ru Bohu if he could find the place where the dark force was hiding, and then you thought that I might have been planning to pay attention to the dark force, so Ru Bohu could follow the traces to find the other party's hiding place.
Location?
It’s not like there’s a problem around me, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see it.
I am afraid that some of my ministers may have problems with the people they come into contact with, so it is necessary to hide my thoughts in front of some of my ministers."
The emperor asked Liu Qing: "Pingxian, you have always been indifferent and don't care much about these battles. Why do you show off so deliberately today? You need to analyze my thoughts.
What is your purpose?"
Liu Qing did not answer and asked instead: "Every time Qubing goes on an expedition, the first people to get the news about his expedition are the people who embroider clothes?"
"Huh?"
"Someone under Xiu Yi's command had a problem and was eliminated by him personally. That position has not been replenished yet. He is regarded as the deputy history of Xiu Yi's command.
How about your royal brother giving me this part of the power to embroider clothes?" Liu Qing asked, blinking his beautiful eyes.
Liu Che frowned and said: "You want to control part of Xiuyi's power just so that you can get timely news about the disease during the war?
Nonsense, no way."
Liu Qing is not in a hurry.
This should be done slowly.
She didn't expect to succeed in one go, so she wanted to leave an impression on the emperor first, then changed the subject: "What are Qu Bing doing right now?"
"Take a look?" the emperor said.
Liu Qing's eyes were bright and she nodded gently.
The emperor skillfully took out the bronze mirror and blended it with the national destiny.
The next moment, a picture appeared on the mirror.
Outside Guancheng in Yuyang County, the sun is shining brightly.
Xiong Yanzheng led the remaining defeated generals to the city gate and shouted: "Open the city gate quickly, open the city gate!"
While he was talking, he frequently looked behind him.
When this scene appeared in the mirror, the emperor was surprised for a moment: "It will break the Yuyang Pass to cure the disease."
Outside Yuyang Pass, the city gate slowly opened.
The remaining soldiers led by Xiong Yan rushed into Yuyangguan City.
The momentum of this team suddenly changed after entering the city.
Xiong Yan dismounted from his horse, led his men to the top of the city, suddenly swung his sword, and actually killed the rebel leader guarding the city, and shouted: "Disarm."
At this moment, it was clear that most of the remnant soldiers who followed Xiong Yan were Han troops.
The real Xiong Yan died in front of the battle last night, and now this one is just a puppet that has been resurrected.
Most of the remnant soldiers he brought were Han soldiers in disguise, in order to cover up the attack and enter the city, open the city gate, let more Han troops enter the city, and start fighting for the city gate.
Huo Qubing was also hiding among them. After entering the city, he rode straight to a mansion in the center of the city.
When they arrived at the mansion, Jin An raised his hoof and kicked the door open.
"Surround this house." Zhang Cigong followed Huo Qubing and shouted.
Huo Qubing got off his horse, took out his Overlord Halberd, and strode towards the mansion.
He could feel that there was a very terrifying power in this mansion.
After defeating and beheading Xiong Yan last night, the few fragments of consciousness gained through penetrating into his sea of consciousness pointed to the existence of a mysterious man named Bing Zun, a high-ranking rebel in the mansion.
The details of that secret force rest on this person.
Today may completely reveal the true face of the secret forces.