Chapter 142: Reunion

Wei Qing'an looked a bit haggard, but his eyes remained clear and determined. He sat at the main seat, speaking to the person beside him.
"In your opinion, is the situation in the south a trap that was premeditated?"
"Not necessarily, this person may have been active in the south a long time ago, and that incident a few years ago might have had a hidden purpose, but it failed. This time, my father went to the Moon Palace, and soon after, there was a rebellion in the south. Right after that, you led the troops here, but news was blocked and we were trapped in this place. This person dares to do such a taboo thing, so he must have complete control over every step, with a great plan."
The speaker is Yan Nan, the eldest son of the Lord of Zhen Nan. He sighed and said, "It's a pity that I don't understand the situation in the capital, so I can't guess who the person behind this is. But General Wei should have a good understanding of it."
He stared intently at Wei Qingan, not missing any changes in his expression.
Wei Qingan didn't hide it either, and snorted coldly: "They are too impulsive in their actions to eliminate any evidence. It is obvious who is behind them, but I can't be sure which level they have risen to."
Yan Nan showed a curious expression: "How do you plan to do it?"
"We'll wait and see what they want to do, and not make any moves for now."
"But do we still need to deploy troops and supplies from Yunzhou?"
"Be prepared in advance, before they arrive. As for the supplies, doesn't someone send them over from miles away?"
Both of them remained silent afterwards, until a voice was heard, breaking the silence.
"General Wei, it's great to see that you're not dead! Just now, I was thinking that if you really died, how could I avoid being killed by the princess and accompany you in death!"
Wei Qing'an saw a familiar face and his expression relaxed a bit.
"How's the princess doing?"
The tone was gentle and the expression in the eyes and brows of Yan Nan, who had been exposed to the cold wind and rain for several days, made him tongue-tied for a moment.
Zhou Shi pushed Zhou Sanquan away and warned him, "Watch out, he might report to the princess."
On Wednesday, Zhou was sitting there with drooping eyes and brows, feeling lethargic. Curiosity engulfed Yan Nan, who immediately approached him.
After Zhou stopped his younger brother's unwise behavior, he himself went to seek his own demise without anyone stopping him, lifting his chin.
"The young master of the Yu Yang Marquis's family came to the capital to visit his elder sister. He has a close and affectionate relationship with the princess, like honey mixed with oil. For the sake of our acquaintance, I advise General Wei to stay in the south and not go back. There is no place for you in the capital anymore."
Weiqing'an, however, interpreted it differently and smiled, saying, "She's worried."
Zhou Shi, full of anger, walked away and joined in the conversation of the other two.
Xue Zuoran, who had been ignored by many people for a long time, turned pale and smirked when he finally noticed Wei Qingan's attention. He met his gaze arrogantly, with fierce determination in his eyes.
He was confident in his exceptional talent and military abilities, not inferior to his father Xue Yuguang. He was determined to bring the Xue family back to its peak. He had always been dissatisfied with Wei Qingan, who was acclaimed as the number one young general, thinking that he was just someone who had gained some fame and reputation.
But due to the constraints of the family, he has never been able to face the battlefield directly, so he cannot let the world see the true face of Wei Qing'an. Two years ago, he was sent to the Northern Region, originally intending to make a big impact and show off his power, but my father had already sent someone to clean up, and the remaining enemies were not worth mentioning, which instead made people believe that he was truly incapable. It was Wei Qing'an who made a big fuss in Jiezhou and gained all the attention.
At this moment, the enemies met and became extremely jealous, naturally showing a displeased expression.
"General Xue," Wei Qing'an spoke first.
"Yesterday, a small army arrived outside the city. Judging by their appearance, they are not nearly as powerful as the soldiers under General Xue's command. Their fighting prowess is fierce, truly worthy of being trained by General Xue."
Xue Zuo Rang, since he dares to enter the city, he must have been mentally prepared and prepared a suitable excuse.
"I did send out a vanguard army yesterday, but I lost contact with them afterwards. Do you know where they are now?"
"They seem to be harboring ulterior motives, wanting to kill us as soon as they arrived to keep us quiet. Fortunately, Master Yan Nan arrived in time and came to our rescue."
Yan Nan bowed his hand to Xue Zuoran not far away and said, "I dare not take credit. Even without us, those small fry would not be able to do anything to General Wei."
Wei Qing'an nodded slightly and did not refute.
Xue Zuo was surprised in his heart. He thought that after Wei Qing'an and the others were trapped for over a month, they would have exhausted their resources and had no strength to counterattack his one thousand elite soldiers. However, he didn't expect that they still had the ability to fight back.
But now is not the time to dwell on this, he pretended to be surprised and showed anger on his face.
"Every soldier under my command is loyal to the imperial court, it must be that the traitor has replaced the crown prince and used soldiers pretending to be under my command to sow discord between us, in order to break us apart one by one."
Weiqingan smiled and said, "I also have the same idea. After all... General Xue and Lieutenant Xue are both well-known for their loyalty to the emperor and love for the country."
Xue Zuo let out a satisfied nod and then said, "Looking at the situation in the southern region, although the rebels have been eliminated, there are still disorderly factions remaining. It would be better for us to stay here for a while longer, assisting in the repair of the cities and the reorganization of the government, until someone from the court comes to take over."
"Okay," Wei Qingan agreed.
"Communication between the southern region and the imperial court has been restored," and at the same time, the emperor received three versions of the letter, although they had different styles, their content was similar.
"...In the uncivilized land outside the south, the rebels are exceptionally fierce, using the common people as shields... We, as loyal subjects, will give our all, sacrificing ourselves for the country, even until death!"
He read through it a few times, compared them, and confirmed without a doubt that it was written by himself. With a scoff, he casually tossed the letters aside.
"I am becoming increasingly curious."
Grandfather Mu withdrew his gaze and stood quietly, not saying a word, as if he didn't exist at all.
"A conspiracy, interconnected and meticulously planned."
"Difficult to predict, impossible to guard against."
"Hmph." Yan Jue sneered, "They have invested heavily, how would they dare to let us know."
Mu Liuyun asked, "What do you want to do?"
After contemplating for a while, Yan Jue shook his head and said, "Let's take it one step at a time."
Xia Yu City in the southern part.
Gao Da held a sword and held it against the neck of an expressionless official.
Wei Qing'an lowered his gaze and stood in the corner against the backlight, unable to see his expression clearly. He took a few slow steps forward and accidentally bumped into a box filled with gold and jade. There were countless boxes and cages around this box, with numerous gold and silver artifacts and precious treasures. Even though they were placed in this dimly lit basement, they couldn't hide their brilliance.
In the next three rooms next to this basement, there are plenty of food.
"Is there anything else to say? Is this your so-called loyalty? Your so-called love for the people?"
The official's sweat poured down like thick syrup, and his legs involuntarily weakened as his neck lightly grazed the blade. A nearly invisible tiny wound appeared, oozing a thread of blood. The official let out a miserable scream and fainted.
Gundam withdrew his longsword, kicked it, and seeing no response from the person, cursed, "Worthless like a beast!"
"Alright, let someone handle this, and let's go somewhere else to see how many maggots are still lurking in the southern region."
Looking for stolen goods for quick consumption has had a great effect on rallying public support, but soon the side effects become apparent.