After asking about the situation of her own side and friendly forces, Yuki-onna asked about the most critical thing, which is also the last party involved in the Blue Dragon Plan:
"Have you found out about Ying Zheng's situation?"
Gao Jianli was silent for a moment, then shook his head, "The specific situation is still unknown."
"Songhai has always maintained the highest degree of martial law, and the general's palace was surrounded by shadow guards like an iron barrel, without any loopholes."
It is wishful thinking to let the Shadow Guards keep Songhai City airtight.
Even if you don't take into account the coast to the east and the mountains to the west, the length of the city walls on the east and west sides alone is more than five miles.
How many people would Zhang Han have to mobilize to guard every corner day and night?
But it is much easier to defend the general's mansion alone.
Zhang Han directly drew two defensive circles, one large and one small, inside and outside the general's mansion, and arranged for people to form a circle directly to stand guard twelve hours a day. There was no problem of empty windows caused by staggered patrols, and only fixed-point changing of guards.
.
In other words, unless you fly in from the air, even if the thief comes, he will definitely alert the sentry.
And once the Shadow Guards are alerted, the chance of trying to break in is extremely slim.
Gao Jianli continued, "Judging from the various news currently circulating, I'm afraid Ying Zheng is safe and sound."
Hearing this, the big hammer couldn't help but hammer the wall angrily, and cursed, "This can't even kill that tyrant!"
"Mr. Zhang San doesn't know the inside story either?" Xue Nu remained calm and continued to ask.
Gao Jianli shook his head, "I didn't contact him."
"After he returned to Xiaoshengxian Manor, he never showed up again."
"Is he in trouble?" Sledge Hammer calmed down and scratched his head curiously.
"It's hard to say." Gao Jianli was not sure about Big Iron Hammer's idea, and then put forward his own guess, "Maybe Fu Nian, the head of Confucianism, did something."
No matter what, Zhang Liang, as the third master of the Little Sage Village and Fu Nian's junior brother, will inevitably be controlled by Fu Nian, who is the master.
Songhai is at its most turbulent and dangerous moment, and Fu Nian himself has always been conservative in his behavior. At this time, there is a high probability that he will restrain the disciples of the Little Saint Xian Manor.
Zhang Liang must be the one he focuses on 'taking care of', so it's normal that he can't get out of school.
Gai Nie, who was sitting in the corner and resting, interjected at this time:
"Ying Zheng is fine."
Sledgehammer looked at Gai Nie and asked blankly, "How did you know?"
Everyone has been staying in Xuanwu, why can you still get outside intelligence?
Gai Nie explained, "If Ying Zheng died, he would not be so peaceful."
"It's hard to say, isn't it?" Big Iron Hammer questioned, "Ying Zheng is dead. If the people of the eldest son Fusu want to elect Fusu to the throne, is it reasonable not to announce the funeral secretly for the time being?"
It has to be said that Big Hammer has been thinking about Ying Zheng a lot in the past two days, and his brain can actually analyze it to this point.
But that can only go so far.
It is certainly a reasonable guess that the funeral was not announced secretly and that the son Fusu was secretly brought back to inherit the throne.
But this kind of outrageous move is not something that can be done just by thinking about it.
Gai Nie further explained calmly, "Zhao Gao and Zhang Han are both in Songhai. No matter which party wants to conceal the death of Ying Zheng, it is impossible."
"Is Luo Wang operating normally?"
With that said, he checked with Gao Jianli.
Gao Jianli nodded, "The people in the net are raiding and cleaning up the Songhai area, and Zhao Gao also shows up occasionally."
"In that case, Ying Zheng must be fine." Hearing this, Gai Nie was completely sure of his guess.
Ge Nie didn't know how Gu Xun would react if something happened to Ying Zheng, but the eldest son's faction would definitely start the most brutal fight with Luo Wang immediately.
It might be Luo Yu who started the war, or it might be the eldest son taking the initiative, but there will definitely be a fight.
If Fusu was still in Xianyang at this time and had not been demoted from the capital, even if he was not established as the crown prince, the throne would definitely fall on him.
It was difficult for Zhao Gao to struggle any longer.
But reality is not like that.
Fusu was demoted, which gave all the princes an opportunity, and Zhao Gao would never be willing to give up this opportunity.
Hearing Gai Nie's sonorous tone, everyone understood that he was not aiming for nothing.
Due to Genie's consistently reliable performance, they immediately believed this reality.
After thoroughly confirming the news that Ying Zheng was not dead, Big Iron Hammer sat down slumped against the wall, "In this case, wouldn't our efforts have been in vain?"
Gao Jianli responded with an accentuated tone, "Of course it won't be in vain!"
"No matter what, the smooth implementation of the Blue Dragon Plan will shake the rule of the empire - this has become a reality. How can we say that our efforts are in vain?"
Sledgehammer also knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he nodded and corrected himself, "Yes, yes, I can't speak out of my mind."
"But... it's still very frustrating. Even the Qinglong machine was deployed, but they still couldn't kill the dog emperor!"
Gao Jianli remained calm and said calmly, "The possibility of success is slim. At least we did not suffer too much damage."
"Hmph..." Sledgehammer still sighed unwillingly, and then asked, "What should we do next?"
"Waiting." Gao Jianli replied calmly, "Waiting for news about the mirage."
The storm caused by the Qinglong Plan is just the beginning of all the turmoil that will happen to Songhai.
There will be more excitement next.
………………
Inside Songhai City, inside the General's Mansion and Ying Zheng's residence.
After two days of training, Ying Zheng had already returned to normal, no longer as embarrassed and exhausted as he was on the day of the assassination.
Gu Xun sat opposite him, with a chess game in front of them.
Gu Xun can play Go, but his level is very low.
Such mind-numbing board games are not within his scope of interest.
Ying Zheng knew Gu Xun's level, but he didn't take it too seriously, and his moves were not random.
"What's going on outside now?" Ying Zheng asked casually while playing chess.
Ying Zheng has been resting for the past two days and has not paid any attention to the outside world. Apart from the servants who take care of his daily life, Gu Xun is the first outsider he has met.
"It's quite lively. It shouldn't stop until His Majesty actually shows up." Gu Xun looked at the chessboard, his mind was not on the chess, and he replied casually.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Does the Imperial Master think I should show up?" Ying Zheng Luozi asked at the same time.
"It depends on Your Majesty's own choice. Showing up early has the advantage of being early, and showing up late has the advantage of being late."
If Ying Zheng does not appear, to the outside world, his life and death will be Schrödinger's state.
Even if all signs indicate that Ying Zheng is actually fine, outsiders can still spread the word that he is (most likely) dead.
Anyway, as long as Ying Zheng doesn't refute the rumors, they can spread rumors at will.
If the news of the emperor's death spreads widely, it will further shake the imperial court's control over the local area.
If Ying Zheng shows up in time to quell the rumors that he is dead, this storm can be extinguished as soon as possible and the empire's political situation can be stabilized.
This is the benefit of showing up early.
If, on the other hand, Ying Zheng fails to show up, the chaos in the empire will spread rapidly, but at the same time, many interested people who were originally lurking and waiting for the opportunity will surface.
The court can take this opportunity to get rid of many deep-rooted 'stubborn diseases'.
This is the benefit of showing up late.
Which of the two benefits is more important, but it is difficult to say which one is more important. It still depends on which result Ying Zheng wants more.
Ying Zheng asked again, "Which one does the Imperial Master think I should choose?"
"Hasn't Your Majesty already chosen?" Gu Xun asked casually, as if he was wandering in a trance, making random moves and speaking in a vain tone.
Whether you choose early or late, you must be decisive.
If he had to show up early, Ying Zheng should show up that day to stabilize the situation.
Since he delayed it for two days, he has already made his attitude clear.
"The Imperial Master thinks I shouldn't do this?" Ying Zheng seemed to hear dissatisfaction from Gu Xun's tone, so he asked again.
"The whole world is nothing but the land of the king." Gu Xun chuckled, his tone becoming more and more careless, "How His Majesty the Emperor governs the country has nothing to do with me."
The two choices of early and late represent different routes - seeking stability and taking risks.
There is no distinction between the two, but there is a difference between whether they are suitable or not.
In Gu Xun's view, the current empire is actually more suitable for stability, but Ying Zheng has always liked taking risks.
But he really didn't have any dissatisfaction.
The empire belongs to Ying Zheng, so it is natural for him to make the decision - of course, Ying Zheng should bear the consequences.
Regarding Gu Xun's answer, Ying Zheng said nothing and changed the topic:
"How's the situation on the mirage?"
"Everything is calm." He picked up a chess piece and played with it, and replied calmly, "Of course, I have no involvement in the specific internal situation. If your Majesty wants to know, you need to ask someone from the Yin Yang family."
"Who should I ask?" Ying Zheng then asked a rather unreasonable question.
"Uh..." Gu Xun was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses and replied, "It depends on what questions Your Majesty wants to ask."
"If it's a question related to the mirage itself, it's natural to ask Yun Zhongjun, who is the owner of the ship. If you want to ask questions that go beyond the ship itself, you have to ask the Luna Star Soul."
"I can't guarantee whether the latter can get a satisfactory answer."
Ying Zheng should have known all the information related to the mirage before setting off from Xianyang, and there was no need to ask for it at the moment.
But the reality is that he wants to ask, and it sounds like he plans to ask in private.
This means that Ying Zheng is on guard against Donghuang Taiyi - basically all the information he knew before came directly or indirectly from Donghuang Taiyi.
Even if there are questions, it would be difficult for Ying Zheng to verify them.
But now that he is in Sanghai, thousands of miles away from Xianyang, and beyond the control of Donghuang Taiyi, he can try to get past Donghuang Taiyi and obtain possible more authentic information from other members of the Yin and Yang family.
Gu Xun didn't realize what Ying Zheng wanted to do at first, but after he figured it out...it seemed like it wasn't a big deal.
It is normal for Ying Zheng to be on guard against Donghuang Taiyi, and it is also normal for him to want to obtain more information.
However, Gu Xun deeply doubted whether he could gain anything.
The people of the Yin Yang family are simple-minded and basically don't know anything, but those who know a little more have their own little thoughts, and their purpose most likely has nothing to do with Ying Zheng.
Under such circumstances, it is really unlikely that they would be willing to disclose information to Ying Zheng.
No matter how powerful Ying Zheng was as the emperor, he was in a completely passive position when it came to the mirage's voyage.
After silently playing a few moves of chess, Ying Zheng suddenly made a request, "Is it convenient for the Imperial Master to handle some mirage matters on my behalf?"
"I am at odds with the Yin Yang family, and Your Majesty also knows that. I'm afraid it will be inconvenient for me." Gu Xun refused the request without hesitation.
When Ying Zheng saw this, he didn't force it and returned his attention to the chessboard.
………………
Half an hour later, Gu Xun left Ying Zheng's residence.
As soon as he came out of the yard, Zhang Han immediately came up to him, his face a little anxious and hesitant as he asked:
"Your Majesty, he..."
Before he finished speaking, Gu Xun interrupted him directly, "The emperor was frightened by an assassination before and still needs to recover. You should continue as usual and don't let anyone disturb the emperor."
"...Yes." Zhang Han was forced back, leaving only one word.
Zhang Han actually wanted to ask when the emperor would show up.
Although he built the entire General's Mansion into an iron barrel, he still needed a lot of manpower to maintain this status quo, and he occupied almost all the Secret Guard manpower at hand.
Of course, consuming more manpower is not a problem. The problem is that manpower is still relatively tight, so that every member of the Shadow Guard is working under high pressure - there is rest time, but not much.
This state of continuous high-intensity work is obviously unsustainable.
In contrast, those who wanted to invade the General's Mansion came one after another without any rest or need for rest.
Who can keep spending time with them?
But no matter how difficult it was, Zhang Han couldn't complain.
Since Gu Xun said that the emperor still needs to cultivate, then he has to continue to hold on.
However, Zhang Han felt a little aggrieved - not because of the dilemma he faced, but because while he was trapped in the general's mansion, Zhao Gao was having a great time killing people outside.
The task of protecting the emperor fell entirely on the Shadow Guards, and Luo Wang only provided very limited manpower assistance.
Instead, Zhao Gao took advantage of the turmoil in various places caused by the emperor's lack of appearance, and led the main force of the net to search everywhere, killing and arresting those who should be killed, and took a lot of credit.
Zhang Han didn't care about the issue of merit, because no matter how you calculate the merit of protecting the emperor, it is the greatest, and it is far more important than arresting and killing people.
Even though Zhao Gaoneng went on a killing spree, the fact that he could only trap the small general's mansion was too frustrating.
Especially since the conditions for Zhao Gaoneng to carry out the killing spree were created by him...
Of course, the world's unhappiness often stems from dissatisfaction.
While Zhang Han was feeling aggrieved that he could only defend the general's palace, Zhao Gao was probably also secretly gnashing his teeth at the fact that he was completely unable to intervene in the great merit of protecting the emperor.
Seeing him like this, Gu Xun thought for a moment and then ordered:
"Transfer the defense line outside the General's Mansion to Luowang, keep only the defense in the core area, and free up part of it for the Mirage."
"...Yes." Zhang Han once again turned a thousand words into one word with complicated emotions.
Gu Xun had told him before that he would look after the mirage if he had any spare energy. Unfortunately, he really had no spare energy and it was too late to mobilize manpower temporarily, so he had to give up.
Unexpectedly, Gu Xun would emphasize the mirage thing again.
Zhang Han didn't mind sending people to guard the mirage, but he had already held it for two days, and the defense of the General's Mansion had been honed and perfected. However, he gave up halfway at this time and suddenly gave Zhao Gao some of the credit for protecting the emperor...
I feel even more frustrated.
But he still couldn't say no.
Moreover, Zhang Han also knew that Gu Xun had his own reasons for such an arrangement, and it would most likely be of greater benefit to him.