The Brocade Guard quickly spread the news that Mu Changtian and Wenren Lie were in Lingyun City. To avoid arousing suspicion from Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong, there was a noticeably larger number of soldiers stationed near Lingyun City than usual.
At this ti, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were still unaware that Lingyun City was a trap. Upon learning that Mu Changtian and Wenren Lie were there, they were very pleased, as they were just about to pass through Lingyun City.
Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen imdiately began to prepare. They selected so elite soldiers and then disguised themselves as rchants, heading towards Lingyun City.
To make themselves look more like rchants, they directly robbed a rchant caravan and even killed all of the caravan's people.
Perhaps it was because their caravan did have goods, when they passed through the gates of Lingyun City, the soldiers only briefly checked and then let them through.
Seeing how easily they had entered Lingyun City, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen felt sowhat strange. It was a ti of war; shouldn't there be strict inspections? Instead, why were they allowed to pass through so easily? As they were puzzled, they overheard the conversation of the North Country soldiers at the gate.
"Recently, more and more rchant caravans have been coming to Lingyun City."
"Yeah, the shortage of supplies in Lingyun City will soon be resolved."
"It's really enviable for these rchants, wherever there's war, that's where they go to make big money."
"Don't say that. Now that Youping County is under our North Country's control, the Prince won't let them raise prices at will."
...
Hearing the discussion of the North Country soldiers, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen realized why the soldiers had so easily let them in; it turned out that Lingyun City was facing a recent shortage of supplies.
This made sense. After all, following the outbreak of the war, the rchants and aristocratic families would have fled with their belongings. Previously, the rchants and aristocratic families played a role in the distribution of goods, and their departure would inevitably lead to a shortage of supplies in the city.
After the North Country occupied Youping County, in order to rule over it, they couldn't afford to ignite the anger of the common people, so they sought ways to restore prices to their previous levels. To bring prices back down, naturally there was a need for rchants to transport supplies, such as food, from other places.
The reason the North Country soldiers inspected so loosely was likely to speed up the entry of rchant caravans into the city and suppress the prices within the city.
With this in mind, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen did not suspect anything further and then blended into Lingyun City, staying at an inn.
Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were confident in their strength, but to be cautious, they planned to take action at night. In the event of any mishaps, with the strength of the two Grandmasters, they would be able to easily escape from Lingyun City.
Their caution was mainly due to their worry that the North Country might possess weapons even more formidable than cannons.
In the evening.
Inside the Prefectural Governnt, Wenren Lie and Mu Changtian sat in the pavilion in the courtyard, with Xuanyuan Chaoge sitting beside them, engaged in discussion.
At this ti, Liu Huaiming of the Brocade Guard entered the courtyard and approached the three of them, "Master Xuanyuan, Generals, the fish have entered the net."
Upon hearing this, the three n showed a hint of subtle smiles. Eliminating Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong, the two Grandmaster Military Generals, would be an absolute disastrous blow to Great Wu.
The remaining troops led by Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen would also quickly disperse due to the lack of leadership.
Xuanyuan Chaoge then said, "I need to hurry back to Yan County, so let's not waste any more ti and take action now."
Upon hearing this, Wenren Lie said, "Master Xuanyuan, if we take action now, I'm afraid it will reveal your Celestial powers."
Xuanyuan Chaoge casually replied, "There are not many people in this world who have seen a Celestial. Besides, those people disguised themselves as rchants to enter Lingyun City, and no one knows that there are Grandmasters among them."
Xuanyuan Chaoge thought, as long as they could deal with those two swiftly, no one would know that the slain Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were Grandmasters. If people do not know they were Grandmasters, how could they deduce that the one who acted was a Celestial?
Mu Changtian said, "Senior Xuanyuan makes sense. We are in your hands then."
As soon as the words fell, Mu Changtian and Wenren Lie imdiately led their troops to the inn where Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong were staying, giving the reason that spies had infiltrated and they were there to capture them.
The common people of Lingyun City, seeing the soldiers coming and going, did not take it to heart, as they had observed the conduct of the North Country soldiers in recent tis.
Besides targeting so of the aristocratic families, the North Country soldiers hardly made life difficult for small rchants and peddlers, and the ordinary common people had not suffered at the hands of those soldiers. This convinced the people of Lingyun City that the initial claims of North Prince's benevolence, made by Wenren Lie, were true.
At this mont, Xu Xingwen and Zhan Hong were still on the second floor of the inn, discussing how they would proceed that night when they suddenly heard the clamor of armor outside.
Then, a soldier by the window imdiately said, "It's not good, the soldiers of Lingyun City have surrounded the inn!"
Hearing this, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were taken aback. They had only just entered Lingyun City, and they did not expect that their lodging would be surrounded so quickly.
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