Chapter 192: Undercurrent

Deep night.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, its cold radiance drowning out the stars and claiming the pitch-black firmament for itself.

Silver light spilled down, casting a cold, white glow upon the snow in Yanshan.

Yanshan, covered in accumulated snow, is difficult to traverse during this season.

At this moment, however, a young man was trudging arduously along a small path leading to the Grassland.

Only after crossing Yanshan and reaching the Grassland did this person heave a sigh of relief; he cast a glance back at Yanshan and headed toward the Black Iron Royal Tent.

"Great King, the Yuan Family's assassination of Mo Di failed."

As the sky turned slightly bright, this person appeared at Enke's royal tent.

Enke frowned; hearing this bad news just after waking up ruined his mood.

"The Commander went to the Yuan Mansion and relayed the Great King's message to Yuan Li, telling him to await our news," the young man continued.

Enke nodded.

Although Mo Di did not die, he had left behind a contingency, and this was the trap he had set for the Yuan Family.

The pledge of allegiance was a sharp sword hanging over the Yuan Family's heads.

The Yuan Family could only obey him.

"Very good. You stay in the royal tent for now. I will go to the Wangting to personally request a mission from the Khan. When I return, you shall take the news back to Yanzhou." Enke's brow smoothed out slightly.

Since the assassination of Mo Di failed, he had a second strategy: to have the Yuan Family cooperate with the Northern Di army to attack Yanzhou.

In the past.

The Northern Di army had fought several times at Yanguan without gaining any advantage.

But if they could coordinate from within and without this time, it might well be the opportunity for the Northern Di to move south.

Thinking of this, he impatiently ordered horses to be prepared to go to the Wangting.

This matter had to be quick.

Yuan Li's failure to assassinate Mo Di would inevitably lead to accusations from Mo Di.

If the Imperial Court grew suspicious of the Yuan Family and took precautions, the golden opportunity to move south would vanish.

Therefore, he had to make the Khan attack before the Great Song Dynasty Imperial Court could react.

Yanguan.

Mo Di handed the memorial impeaching Yuan Li to a soldier, ordering him to bypass the Yan Wang's fief and go through Yuzhou to reach Jinling.

He had completely lost trust in the Yuan Family.

Regardless of Yuan Li's motive for killing him, he had to report it to the Emperor and let the Emperor decide.

Even though he had no concrete evidence in his hands.

But who else besides the Yuan Family could have mobilized so many people to kill him in Yanzhou?

He believed the Emperor would certainly be able to figure this out.

As long as the Emperor, like him, completely ceased to trust the Yuan Family, his goal would be achieved.

In this way, the Emperor would have no choice but to rely on the Yan Wang, ordering the Yan Wang to guard Yanzhou with him, and completely alienate the Yuan Family.

As for whether the Emperor would send someone to thoroughly investigate the matter and obtain evidence to wipe out the Yuan Family.

Or play dumb and suppress the Yuan Family in secret, that would depend on the Emperor himself.

"Father, a letter sent by His Highness the Yan Wang."

At this time, Mo Yu walked in.

Mo Di hurriedly took it and opened it; upon reading the contents of the letter, his expression changed slightly.

"What is it, Father?" Seeing his father's expression was wrong, Mo Yu asked.

Mo Di handed the letter to Mo Yu, and after Mo Yu took a look, his face changed as well.

"His Highness the Yan Wang has already ordered the Prince's Personal Army to be on alert and advises me to also be prepared against any unforeseen changes," Mo Di said in a deep voice. "I never expected Yuan Li to secretly send people to the Grassland."

"The Yan Wang truly has some methods to be able to gain a foothold in Yan Commandery," Mo Yu sighed in admiration. "Just as the Yan Wang said, we should indeed be on guard against the Yuan Family at this time."

Mo Di nodded, then sighed slightly again.

Yanguan stretched across the Yanshan mountain pass, with high mountains on both ends.

On the side facing the Northern Di, the Yanguan city wall was tall and thick, the greatest of all Great Song passes.

Therefore, it had always been easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, the southern side of Yanguan was an ordinary city wall; after all, it faced inward.

This made the southern side the soft underbelly of a tiger.

If the Yuan Family truly had thoughts of attacking Yanguan.

Yanguan would be in trouble.

But regardless, from now on, he had to be twelve times as vigilant.

Because this concerned the survival of the Great Song.

Fanyang.

The Yuan Family's main camp.

Yuan Li walked past the generals; these were all direct descendants of the Yuan Family.

Pacing back and forth, a sharp glint flashed in Yuan Li's eyes as he said, "I have summoned you all here today because there is a major matter concerning the future of the Yuan Family that I must discuss."

As his voice fell, the generals all looked at Yuan Li.

"My Yuan Family has operated in Yanzhou for several generations, and Yanzhou has always been decided by my Yuan Family, but now you all know, that dog Emperor let the Yan Wang feign madness and play the fool, paralyzing me, and thus managed to enter Yanzhou."

"Right now, that Yan Wang is growing stronger day by day with the Emperor's support; first he killed my son-in-law Zhang Kang, and recently he killed my father-in-law Gao Yuan, opposing my Yuan Family at every turn."

Upon hearing this, the Yuan Family generals all revealed expressions of anger.

Yuan Li continued, "It is lamentable; my Yuan Family has garrisoned Yanzhou, sacrificing countless Yuan Family sons to resist the annual Beidi Autumn Hunt, yet this is the result we get today."

"My Lord, this subordinate has long been unable to stand it; since when has it been Yanzhou's turn for a lowly person like Yan Wang to run rampant?"

"My Yuan Family has done so much for the Imperial Clan, only to receive such a return."

"Let's just rebel!"

"..."

The Yuan Family generals were filled with righteous indignation, one after another speaking out in angry rebuke.

Yuan Li wore a sorrowful expression as he continued, "If things continue like this, sooner or later the Yuan Family will be replaced by Yan Wang, and at that time, neither I nor any of you will have a place to be buried."

Hearing this, the generals' faces showed even more anger.

Yuan Xiu said, "Head of the Family, why don't you tell us what we should do now?"

"Yes, what exactly should we do?" The generals looked toward Yuan Li, waiting for what came next.

Yuan Li had come today for the very purpose of getting the generals to share his hatred for the common enemy, preparing them to attack Yanguan.

He said, "The current Great Song is in decline, the Royal Clan is weak, and heroes are rising; within a few years, the world will be in chaos. As the saying goes, those who win the world are merely those with strong troops and sturdy horses. I have been preparing for these years, and now I even have the Beidi wanting to help my Yuan Family vie for the world."

"Beidi..."

Hearing these two words, the generals were startled, then immediately revealed expressions of confusion.

Yuan Li nodded, "It is indeed the Beidi. The Beidi Khan has promised me that as long as our Yuan Family coordinates with them from within and without, they will help my Yuan Family vie for the world in the future. Gentlemen, whether you are destroyed at the hands of the Great Song Imperial Clan, or become kings and marquises in the future, lies in your single thought."

"There is no need to ask; naturally, we choose to be kings and marquises," Yuan Xiu said loudly.

The other Yuan Family generals nodded one after another; they carried the bloodline of the Yuan Family in their bodies.

At this juncture, they had no choice but to follow Yuan Li.

"Head of the Family, we will listen to you," the generals shouted.

Yuan Li nodded slightly; with the generals united, the possibility of taking Yanguan this time had increased by a few points.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Since that is the case, after you return, muster your troops and horses and arrange the provisions properly; once the order is given, you must be able to set out immediately."

"Yes, Head of the Family," the Yuan Family generals said in unison.

Thinking of something, Yuan Li continued, "Also, starting today, soldiers are strictly forbidden from leaving the camp privately; anyone who goes out must be accompanied by at least three people, otherwise they will be executed immediately."

"Yes," the generals replied once more.

Yuan Li revealed a slight smile, looking toward the direction of Yanguan.

This time, the fate of the Yuan Family rested solely on this one battle.