Chapter 871

Speaking of her area of expertise, Yu Yan Chu instantly perked up again, she provocatively glanced at Qin Zhanhong, and said: "I really do know these few people well; first, Cao Lin: he is the Deputy Commander of the Palace Vanguard Infantry, the actual commander of the Imperial Guard in the Palace Vanguard Office, this person has always maintained a neutral stance."

That is to say, he is currently one of the few generals still loyal to my father the Emperor.

Chen Wuji's expression turned strange upon hearing this.

That judgment is probably not very accurate, is it?

The Emperor has been placed under house arrest by Yan Yan, yet Cao Lin, who is supposedly loyal to the Emperor, has taken no action at all—what kind of loyalty is this?

If one were to say that Yan Yan deliberately transferred him away and only then began to act against the palace, that might still be plausible. But the Emperor clearly stated in the letter that even before the Court Army mobilized, his movements were already restricted—he could not leave the Palace City at all; as for whether orders could be issued, where those things ended up, and what effect they had, the Emperor knows nothing about them.

With this, can it be considered loyalty?

"Cao Lin is an upright person, even to the point of disregarding his own relatives." Yu Yan Chu, not noticing Chen Wuji's change, continued to speak well of Cao Lin: "If our army reaches Yan Zhou, you should try to make contact with Cao Lin; perhaps we can coordinate from inside and outside. With Cao Lin's help, this battle should be settled quickly."

Chen Wuji remained silent for a moment, then said, "Is this… what you call understanding?"

"Right, isn't that understanding?" Yu Yan Chu questioned doubtfully, "I have met General Cao a few times; the rumors about him and the real person are no different—he is indeed a very upright person."

""

He had also figured out this princess—she is merely superficially clever.

Actually, he didn't really want to link that thing with being big-headed and brainless, but the Princess truly fits the description; her words are so absolute, who knows it's all just misleading information.

Qin Zhanhong's smooth brows furrowed slightly, "Isn't that wrong?"

"What's wrong? What else do you have a problem with? You don't seem to be familiar with General Cao, do you?" Yu Yan Chu asked.

Qin Zhanhong chuckled lightly, "I'm not familiar, but I feel you aren't either. You say he is loyal to His Majesty, yet why, now that His Majesty is being coerced by Yan Yan, does he take no action? That's not something a loyal subject would do; shouldn't he be trying to help His Majesty instead? How did he end up following Yan Yan's orders, coming here to oppose you, your husband?"

Yu Yan Chu stared, mouth opening, "He…… possibly……"

After a moment, Yu Yan Chu suddenly deflated, "Well, he, indeed seems to have some problems; I just overlooked this point. Clearly he truly has no ties to any faction, so how could this happen……"

Chen Wuji said, "Tell me what you know about others, without adding your own judgment, just state the facts you know."

Chen Wuji now also sees through this woman's judgment.

Purely random hair waving.

"Oh." Yu Yan Chu instantly became somewhat withdrawn, then after a moment said, "Liu Yan is part of Yan Yan's faction, and his relationship is very close—Liu Yan's sister is one of Yan Yan's wives. This person is arrogant and reckless, disdainful of others, relying on Yan Yan's influence to run rampant in the Capital; just the bad deeds I've heard about are already several."

"Li Yu is relatively low-key, appearing in court like a wallflower, but he is said to be one of Yan Yan's people; I don't know much about him firsthand, but I've heard a lot. It seems he was once directed by Yan Yan to deliberately approach Ruan Yuchang and set him up."

"Gao Yu is a person of Ruan Yuchang, truly part of the Ruan faction."

Chen Wuji tapped his knee with a finger, "This sounds rather interesting: the Yan faction's two individuals first started things on their own, then the Ruan faction clashed with the Yan faction, and finally a nominally neutral faction reaped the benefits."

"Things are definitely not as simple as they appear on the surface; it can be said that this is a struggle among three, or even four, forces, and moreover, someone is scheming, trying to fool others as if they were idiots."

"Alright then, you rest; I'll go inspect the troops."

Having reached a simple conclusion, Chen Wuji did not dwell further on this matter, turned and got off the carriage. As for these conspiracies, he had no interest; he only cared about strategic issues—anyway, once this battle begins, he does not intend to let any of these people live.

All day scheming and harboring ulterior motives—what good are such things!

……

Three days later, the great army arrived at a small town named Xinglin Zhen in the southern part of Yan Zhou.

Xinglin, as the name suggests, has many apricot trees.

This season happens to be when apricots ripen; everywhere one can see the sight of trees full of red apricots.

In an era when the people's livelihood supplies are generally not abundant, such a harvest scene is pleasing; unfortunately, apricots cannot be eaten in large quantities—eating too many leads to stomachaches, diarrhea, damage to teeth, etc.; occasionally nibbling to satisfy a craving is not bad.

Chen Wuji sat sideways on his warhorse, split open a large yellow apricot, and threw it into his mouth.

After multiple verifications, this kind of large yellow apricot has the best texture—more sweet, less sour.

A cloud of dust surged from afar, followed closely by the clear sound of warhorses galloping.

They kept charging until they were near Chen Wuji, then this cavalry unit eased its speed.

Chen Wu Yin dismounted, "Family Head, there are no troops stationed ahead; only two powerful households have organized some local villagers and tenants into two militia units for home defense, numbering about three to five hundred."

"All the land in this area belongs to those two households; the local commoners own not a single mu."

Chen Wuji looked around and said, "This town is not small; there ought to be many residents, yet not a single household has land?"

"Indeed none." Chen Wu Yin shook his head, "How to describe this town? It carries some strangeness—though not large, inside it has quite a complete range of food, drink, and entertainment; brothels and gambling halls are all present, especially brothels, of which there are four or five."

"These damned scoundrels really are something else." Chen Wuji whipped his horse, "Enter the town!"

"Yes!"

Land annexation is an inevitable development of this era.

Following Da Yu's state policy, eventually the localities will inevitably present a situation where clans and aristocratic powerful families stand side by side; ordinary people find it hard to retain the land they hold and their own labor power, unless they retreat to the mountains and wilderness, fleeing to places rarely visited by people, where the wealthy and powerful look down upon.

In the simple values of these powerful aristocratic clans, land is currently the most valuable thing.

Sufficient grain is the foundation for a family's power to grow, and also the source of wealth.

When governing Nan Jun, Chen Wuji had long seen through this.

But in his eyes, Xinglin Zhen remains a rare exception.

For such a large place, not a single plot of land belongs to the ordinary commoners—just how extreme must they be to achieve this result?