Chapter 438: The True Conspiracy

Latest website: Yanzhou.

Yanguan.

At the same time the Northern Expeditionary Army was mired in crisis.

A force of troops was marching in the night.

Under the moonlight, these troops were wearing Imperial Guard uniforms; to outsiders, they appeared to be the Great Song Imperial Guard coming to reinforce Yanguan.

The next morning, as the sun hung over the willow branches, this force arrived beneath the walls of Yanguan City.

Upon receiving the report, Mo Yu immediately came to the Nanmen.

"General, the commanding officer says they are the Imperial Guard sent by the Imperial Court to support Yanguan, and this is the Imperial Edict," Guan Tong said.

Mo Yu looked toward the marching column that stretched far into the distance, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Taking the Imperial Edict, he scanned it and frowned.

The content of the Imperial Edict was the same as what Guan Tong had said; this Imperial Guard force, composed of thirty thousand soldiers, had come to support Yanguan under the orders of the Emperor Zhao Heng.

"Why is the Imperial Court so kind this time?" Guan Tong curled his lips; no matter how he thought about it, it felt suspicious.

Mo Yu sneered: "The Imperial Edict is fake."

He had seen a real Imperial Edict before, and although the handwriting on this one was copied very closely.

He could tell the truth from the falsehood at a glance.

"Fake?" Guan Tong was shocked upon hearing this.

Mo Yu nodded and immediately ordered the artillerymen to take their positions, then shouted down to the city: "Who exactly are you people? To actually forge an Imperial Edict—do you know that this is a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan?"

Beneath the Nan Cheng Wall of Yanguan.

The leading Imperial Guard officer heard this and immediately rebuked him angrily: "General Mo, do not spout nonsense! I carry an Imperial Edict to come to Yanguan for reinforcements, yet you slander it as a fake Imperial Edict. What? Does your Yan Wang intend to rebel? Open the city gates immediately!"

Mo Yu laughed.

If it were any other general, they might have truly been bluffed.

But he, Mo Yu, had followed his father for many years,

and had seen many things.

He leaned against the city wall and asked: "Since you claim you are the Imperial Guard, then which Imperial Guard unit were you originally stationed with?"

As he spoke, he sized up these Imperial Guard soldiers.

The armor on their bodies was indeed exactly the same as the Imperial Guard's, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.

"We are the Imperial Guard from Jingshi," the officer replied immediately.

Mo Yu raised an eyebrow: "Since that is the case, let me ask you, what words are carved on the two stone lions in front of the Jingshi Imperial Guard camp?"

"This... how would this general know?" the Imperial Guard officer argued: "Who would pay attention to such trivial matters?"

Hearing this, Mo Yu was basically certain that this Imperial Guard unit was fake.

The words on those stone lions were carved by the Great Song Gaozu.

Any soldier of the Imperial Guard could not possibly not know them.

With an angry snort, he said: "Which rebel faction are you from, to be so bold as to do this? Surrender immediately, or I will smash your dog head."

Exposed, the Imperial Guard officer was shamed into anger and said: "Hmph, I did not expect that even though we planned so meticulously, we would be seen through by you. Once the Northern Di army arrives, Yanzhou will be turned into scorched earth. Mo Yu, if you surrender now and open the city gates, you may still keep your life. If you remain obsessed and refuse to repent, you can only die just like Yan Wang!"

"Truly, death is at your doorstep, yet you still have a sharp tongue." Mo Yu's eyes narrowed, and he shouted to the artillery commander: "Fire!"

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Artillery pieces on the Nan Cheng Wall lit up, and cannonballs flew straight toward the fake Imperial Guard below the city.

Soldiers among the fake Imperial Guard were immediately struck, their flesh and blood flying.

After the Nan Cheng last encountered an attack by the Yuan Family, Mo Yu had repaired the Nan Cheng and simultaneously placed forty-eight artillery pieces there.

He had not expected to use them today.

At the same time the artillery sounded, Mo Yu ordered Guan Tong to go to the North City to mobilize troops.

After encountering a crisis created by the Yuan Family last time, he had not expected that the Great Song would produce rebels again this time.

Although this force was not flying the Yuan Family's banner.

He subconsciously felt that the Yuan Family definitely could not escape involvement.

It seemed the Yuan Family was hiding even deeper this time.

Attacked by artillery, the fake Imperial Guard seemed very panicked.

Moreover, with their forgery of the Imperial Edict exposed, there was no longer any hope of infiltrating Yanguan.

Using bows and arrows to fire a rain of arrows at the top of the city, the fake Imperial Guard retreated while fighting.

"With only this much skill, you still wanted to infiltrate Yanguan? You are simply daring to the point of madness." Mo Yu watched below the city.

This Imperial Guard unit did not even have artillery, yet they still wanted to fight them.

A stick of incense's time passed.

A large number of soldiers were transferred from the North City to the Nan Cheng.

Mo Yu ordered the artillery fire to continue while simultaneously ordering the city gates to be opened to let ten thousand Flintlock Infantry march out of the city to form a formation.

Seeing the soldiers inside Yanguan coming out of the city, the fake Imperial Guard did not dare to engage and turned tail to run, leaving behind their baggage train along the way.

Seeing this, Mo Yu frowned; they ran quite fast.

However, with their scheme exposed, this small force of theirs naturally could not attack Yanguan, and fleeing was the correct choice.

He ordered someone to report this news to Yan Wang, and at the same time, he ordered soldiers to go out of the city to pull the baggage train left behind by the fake Imperial Guard into the city.

He was just about to send out the cavalry to encircle and annihilate them when he suddenly heard artillery fire coming from the North City.

It seemed to be the sound of Northern Di artillery.

His expression changed, and he abandoned the idea of ordering the cavalry to pursue.

It was very clear that this was once again a coordinated movement between the north and south of the Northern Di.

He could not fall for the trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

However, in order to find out where these people came from, he still dispatched several Scouts to tail these soldiers.

……

Fanyang.

Yuan Li was drinking with Zhuoge in the residence.

As Zhuoge drank, he looked toward the direction of Yanguan from time to time, "I wonder if this scheme will succeed?"

"As long as there is an eighty percent chance of success." Yuan Li was very confident.

"You are that confident?" Zhuoge frowned.

Although Great King Wulanba did not place all his hopes on the Yuan Family this time.

He still hoped to add flowers to the brocade.

If the Northern Di death squads successfully infiltrated Yanguan, the possibility of taking Yanguan would be even greater.

Yuan Li nodded; the Imperial Guard uniforms were something he had stockpiled for a long time.

The purpose was so that one day, when the powerful clans broke with the Imperial Clan and the world fell into chaos, he could disguise himself as the Imperial Guard and seize the opportunity to take Yanguan.

But he had not expected that they would come in handy now.

"The Imperial Edict I forged this time will definitely be seen through by Mo Yu at a glance, and then he will think this is nothing more than a group of bandits trying to sneak into Yanguan, while ignoring the real trump card we left behind." Yuan Li smiled.

Upon hearing this, Zhuoge looked toward a Baggage Cart in the courtyard.

This type of large Baggage Cart had been modified, and its exterior looked the same as an ordinary Baggage Cart.

In reality, there was a hidden compartment inside.

The Northern Di death squads were hidden in this hidden compartment.

And because the Baggage Cart was very heavy, it was difficult to feel the change in weight even with several people inside.

Unless the Baggage Cart was dismantled, it was very difficult to discover that people were hidden inside.

According to Yuan Li's plan, after the Yuan Family troops disguised as the Imperial Guard retreated, they would leave these Baggage Carts behind.

The troops of Yan Wang would definitely take the Baggage Carts into Yanguan City as spoils of war.

In this way, the Northern Di death squads and the Yuan Family death squads could smoothly enter Yanguan.

At that time, once the main force of Wulanba arrived and reached the foot of Yanguan City, the death squads would emerge from the hidden compartments upon hearing the sound of cannons, launch a night raid on Nanmen, and seize Nanmen.

In this way, the Northern Di main force could smoothly enter Yanguan from Nanmen.

This plan did indeed sound seamless.

In his view, even if the Northern Di saw the abandoned Baggage Carts, they would take them away without hesitation.

Now, he only hoped that everything would go smoothly.