Chapter 429: The Net

The birds are scattered in the sky, and the army sets off.

The Jingzhou army divides half of its troops, goes north along the Han River, advances by water and land, and takes Yongzhou directly!

Li Jingxuan was right about one thing.

The Prince of Badong put all his thoughts on dividing the troops, allocating soldiers and generals, and arranging the deployment of the remaining Ying battle, having no time to pay attention to Li Jingxuan.

Even last night, the Prince of Badong was still struggling with whether to withdraw the six dead soldiers buried beside Wang Yang.

Before, when he first heard the bad news from Jingzhou, he was in a mess and had no idea what to do! It was all thanks to Wang Yang standing up, stabilizing people's hearts, analyzing the situation, and opening a path to life, hard-pulling him out of the desperate situation. At that moment, he was truly full of regret and shame, and even felt a sense of unworthiness! He felt that Wang Yang was talented but wasted with him!

He was grateful to Wang Yang! He respected Wang Yang! At that moment, he even denied the decision not to allow Wang Yang to hold power after success!

But when there was reliance on the road ahead and his spirit rose again, those inexplicable ups and downs of emotion receded like the tide, revealing the black and hard reefs inherent underneath.

Human hearts are like this.

When drowning, one sees a piece of wood and sheds tears, stroking it as if it were a boat; when landing, the breathing is settled, and the wood that was once embraced is abandoned by the roadside, as if it were useless.

Therefore, sincerity and heart-to-heart are often in times of distress; alienation and provocation are often in the days when success is near.

No matter how high Wang Yang's means of taming the tiger are, he can only temporarily move human feelings, not change his original heart; he can change his thoughts, but it is difficult to change his pattern.

The Prince of Badong once reflected that he was not as good as Adou, and swore that he would not be slandered, but now even if no one slanders him, he cannot fully trust Wang Yang. The reason he once wanted to withdraw the six dead soldiers was that he was afraid Wang Yang would see his distrust, causing a rift between ruler and subject.

Especially since he had just "made up" with Wang Yang, heart-to-heart, but in the blink of an eye, he continued to let six people guard him day and night, which was really not good-looking.

What's more, the odds of victory now depend entirely on Wang Yang. If Wang Yang becomes resentful because of this, it will be counterproductive.

But if he were to withdraw the six people directly, he wouldn't be at ease. After thinking about it, he decided to create a balance. On one hand, let the six people continue to monitor Wang Yang, but on the other hand, he urged them to pay attention to the method! Don't be inseparable as if under house arrest. Just treat yourself as a normal guard, focus on listening to orders, and just secretly pay attention to Wang Yang's movements.

If Wang Yang stayed in Yingzhou, such an arrangement would be enough. But Wang Yang is going thousands of miles away. Once there is a change, the six people will not be able to report back in time!

Therefore, after repeated consideration, the Prince of Badong decided to secretly grant the leading dead soldier the power to kill on the spot!

Once Wang Yang is found to have different intentions, he can be beheaded on the spot!

At the same time, he ordered Xue Shao to be the supervisor of the Yong expedition, to assist in military affairs and participate in military management, as a check and balance.

One bright and one dark, double-pronged, the Prince of Badong felt more at ease. He wanted to transfer the vanguard general Liu Chaozhi to Wang Yang's command as a backup, but first, Liu Chaozhi was his confidant general, and his subordinates were all elite soldiers, so he could be more at ease if he stayed in Yingzhou. Secondly, the combination of Liu Chaozhi and Xue Shao was a replica of the "Liu Chaozhi as commander, Li Jingxuan as strategist" proposed by Wang Yang before. Doing so would be too obvious, easily causing Wang Yang's resentment and alertness, which would be more than worth the loss.

Fortunately, Xue Shao is from the Hedong Xue family. If something happens, he can directly replace Wang Yang, without having to be a deputy like Li Jingxuan—

Eh?

Where is Li Jingxuan?

The Prince of Badong withdraws his gaze from the army and looks around, looking for Li Jingxuan.

Li Jingxuan cannot remember how many times he has fallen in the mud.

This road in Yunmeng is indeed safe, and he hasn't encountered a single soldier in the past few days, but the difficulty of walking is beyond his imagination!

Moreover, in order to seek stability, he walked in desolate places, which increased the difficulty of the journey.

Especially when he encountered that kind of swamp that couldn't be seen on the surface, the rotten leaves didn't scatter for years, and his feet sank half a foot when he stepped on them. If he wasn't careful, he sank to his knees. The shallow ones were fine, but the deep ones swallowed his horse directly. The horse neighed and struggled, sinking deeper and deeper. He desperately pulled the reins to pull it out, but the mud had already submerged the horse's belly!

Seeing that it was not right, he gave up the horse, tore the bundle he brought from the building ship from the horse's back, and fell out of the mud. The horse behind was still struggling and neighing, and after a while, the sound gradually lowered, and finally only dead silence remained.

He didn't dare to stop, he couldn't stop, he got up and continued to walk north, with only one thought in his heart, that is, to fight for wealth with his life!

"Are kings and nobles born with seeds!" This is the sentence he believes in most in his life! It is also the thing that drove him to where he is today!

He will not give up! He will not!

With a breath, he finally walked out of the Yunmeng marsh! Heaven finally helped him! When he arrived at Dunshuikou, there happened to be a passenger ship going north!

His limbs felt like they were filled with lead, and he was as miserable as a stray dog, but he was incomparably happy because he finally got rid of the danger! Finally, he could take a breath!

There were three people in the cabin, two leaning and sitting with their eyes closed, and one lying down covered with clothes, sleeping with his back to him.

Li Jingxuan's eyelids were too heavy to lift, and he fell asleep holding his bundle, but for some reason, a feeling of something being wrong lingered in his heart.

Where exactly was it wrong?

So sleepy, sleep for a while, sleep for a little while and then—

Luggage!

It's the luggage!

Where is their luggage!

Li Jingxuan sat up suddenly, and then the back of his head hurt, and his eyes went black...

I don't know how long it took, Li Jingxuan woke up!

He was lying on the deck, his hands tied behind his back, and his ankles were also tied tightly with hemp rope. In front of him was a pair of rough hands, tying a rope around his waist. A thick hemp rope went around his waist and abdomen, tied in a dead knot, and the other end of the rope was tied to a bulging sack.

The sack was half-open, and two people were moving stones into it, while the other two were drinking water and talking, their expressions relaxed. There was also one person with his back to him, who seemed to be looking through his bundle, and the clothes looked like the one who was sleeping on his side in the cabin before.

Li Jingxuan was terrified, and tried to be calm:

"I have money on me, you can take it. But the token must be left for me. I am a secret envoy of Jingzhou, carrying an urgent mission! The ship picking me up will arrive at any time! If something happens to me, no one within dozens of miles will be able to run! You let me go, and I can not pursue this matter."

Everyone had no reaction, as if they didn't hear him at all, doing whatever they were doing.

Li Jingxuan was anxious:

"You don't believe me? Search me! I have a Jingzhou token on me! You will know when you see it!"

The two people moving stones looked at Li Jingxuan, expressionless, and then continued to move stones.

Li Jingxuan was very frightened, and just as he was about to shout again, the person looking through his bundle suddenly said:

"No need for a token, I also believe in Advisory Counselor Li."

The man turned around slowly.

Li Jingxuan only took one look.

Like being struck by lightning!

"You, you are the Left Guard Battalion..."

He couldn't remember the name for a moment.

The man saluted with a military salute:

"The end general, under General Li of the Left Guard Battalion, Commander of the Second Battalion, He Ji."

Li Jingxuan felt cold all over!

Although his heart was in chaos, between life and death, there was no room for delay. Li Jingxuan took a breath and deliberately lowered his voice:

"Since things have come to this, I won't hide it from you. My real identity is Xuan Jingli, a captain of the Palace Division, who received a secret order from the Control Bureau to lurk around the Prince of Badong as an inside agent! You don't know yet, do you? Jingzhou has now been recovered by the court! The Prince of Badong's defeat is imminent! I am going to send important military intelligence to Yongzhou Inspector Xiao Mian! You know Xiao Mian, right? He is the younger brother of the Minister of the Right, Marquis of Xichang, Prime Minister Xiao! You guys just follow me, and I will not only guarantee you are innocent! I will also guarantee you a great contribution! Each of you will be promoted three ranks! And there are heavy rewards!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Li Jingxuan in amazement.

Only He Ji didn't even look at him, turned his head and asked his subordinate in charge of tying the sack:

"Is it tied?"

"Oh, it's done."

He Ji reached out and gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, drawing it cleanly.

Li Jingxuan was completely panicked:

"He Ji! Think clearly! You really don't leave a way out for yourself?! You are not afraid of death! Are your family members not afraid of death? The Prince of Badong has already been defeated! Following him is a dead end!"

He Ji was unmoved and approached step by step.

Li Jingxuan was anxious and trembling, shouting hoarsely:

"Take me to see the Prince! I have something to say! I don't want to escape! The Prince won't kill me! Once I say it, the Prince will understand everything! He Ji, take me! My family wealth of millions is all yours!"

The blade approached, and the cold light on the tip of the blade reflected on Li Jingxuan's terrified face!

"It's Wang Yang! It's Wang Yang, right?! But how did he know I would go to Dunshui—"

Li Jingxuan's voice suddenly stopped, and the blood on his face drained away, pale as paper!

Dunshui, Yunmeng, mobile troops, raiding land, collecting grain!

In this instant, all the fragments suddenly connected!

It's Wang Yang!

He had long calculated that I would defect to the north—

No!

Not just defecting to the north!

It's him!

It was him from the beginning!

It was him who designed me step by step to this point!

It was him who let me go from Zhang Zifang in the Prince's eyes to Li Yong-dog step by step!!

So he knew—

No, he didn't know his own plan.

But he knew me as a person!!!

The most terrifying calculation in the world is never to calculate a situation, but to calculate a person!

The road will change sharply, the situation will be chaotic, but a person's temperament is difficult to change suddenly.

As long as Wang Yang saw through him as a person and set the trap early, Li Jingxuan would drill into it himself!

Because if he didn't drill in, he wouldn't be Li Jingxuan!

At this time, inside the great ship, in front of the commander's desk, Wang Yang was waving his brush, practicing calligraphy.

As the brush moved, the ink spread out:

"Water flows down, not taught but so;

Fire rises, not driven but moves.

People's actions, also follow their nature.

The greedy will definitely pursue profit, the rigid will easily offend the superior, the arrogant will not be willing to stay below, and the suspicious will not be able to stay for long.

Their actions have traces, their feelings can be followed.

If there are traces, they cannot be covered; if they can be followed, there must be a return.

Follow their traces and guide them, because of their return and wait for them,

Follow their desires and lead them to go by themselves.

The net is already spread, why worry that they won't enter?"

The ink fell on the paper, spreading a thick black, just like Li Jingxuan's trembling and lost pupils at this moment... ===== CHAPTER 430 =====