Chapter 453: A Debt Must Be Paid

Latest website: Lulong Mountain path.

The only road from Ping County to Fanyang.

In the night, the Wangfu Army passed through here quietly.

At this moment, a bright moon hung in the sky, moonlight pouring down through the tree branches, leaving mottled shadows.

"Coo-coo..."

Just then, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings, the call of a pigeon suddenly came.

Chang Wei abruptly raised his head, only to see a black shadow sweep across the moon.

"General, what is it?" Seeing Chang Wei stop suddenly, Lv Chang could not help but ask.

"In the middle of the night, where would a pigeon come from?" Chang Wei looked suspicious.

"Isn't it normal to have pigeons in the mountains?" Lv Chang did not take it to heart. "The General is becoming more and more cautious, just like His Highness."

Chang Wei glared at Lv Chang. "Caution is the parent of safety; do you think everyone is like you, with nothing but paste in their brains?"

Looking suspiciously in the direction the pigeon had flown for a while, he ordered a squad of soldiers to go and investigate.

Before long, the soldiers returned, having found nothing unusual.

Frowning, Chang Wei dispatched several more squads of scouts to patrol.

At this moment, above the night sky.

The flying pigeon headed straight for Fanyang City, and the next morning, it landed in front of the Yuan Family mansion.

The Yuan Family servant who came out to sweep immediately discovered this pigeon and noticed the bamboo tube tied to its leg.

Pulling out the slip of paper from the bamboo tube, the servant's face changed drastically, and he hurried off to find Yuan Li.

"The Yan Wang's troops are marching toward Fanyang?" Yuan Li was eating breakfast; upon hearing this, his chopsticks fell onto the table with a "clatter."

Rising quickly to come before the servant, Yuan Li read the note repeatedly, and beads of sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

"Who is helping me? And is this news true or false?" Two questions lingered in Yuan Li's mind.

Although their Yuan Family had their own spies.

But during this period, no Yuan Family spies had gone to Lulong Mountain.

If it wasn't a Yuan Family spy, who else was watching the movements of the Yan Wang's troops and passing this news to him?

Unable to think of who it could be, Yuan Li decided to put this matter to the back of his mind for now.

For the moment, staying alive was what mattered most.

The Yan Wang had sent a large army this time, certainly not to go sightseeing in Fanyang.

Although his strategy of using fake Imperial Guards was perfect, and no one could find any evidence linking it to him.

The Yan Wang would certainly be the first to suspect him.

If he went mad and took advantage of this chaos to destroy him regardless of the consequences, he would certainly be unable to escape.

"Call Yuan Feng here immediately." Yuan Li's palms were sweating too.

Lulong Mountain was only a little over half a day's journey from Fanyang.

If, as the note said, the Yan Wang's troops were resting by day and marching by night.

When they woke up tomorrow morning, the entire Fanyang City would be surrounded by the Yan Wang's troops.

During the last Battle of Yanguan, the Yan Wang's 30,000 troops had beaten the Yuan Family's elite back to Fanyang.

This time, he was even less likely to be their opponent.

Even if he fought to the death, he could only wound the Yan Wang slightly, and his Yuan Family would have no possibility of survival.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yuan Feng arrived.

Upon learning that the Yan Wang's army was about to arrive, he was also greatly shocked.

"Head of the Family, what should we do? Although the rich clans have supported us with many private soldiers to fill the Yuan Family army, these soldiers are a mixed bag; how could they be the Yan Wang's troops' opponents?" Yuan Feng said.

Yuan Li said sternly, "Therefore, you will immediately take the Yuan Family's elite troops and come with me to Qizhou to defect to Han Qi."

Sighing, he said, "I, Yuan Li, have a heart higher than the heavens, planning for so many years just to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Eight Great Influential Clans and occupy a place in Great Song; I never expected that in the end, I would still have to rely on his Han Family."

Since the Yan Wang had sent troops to kill him, this meant he no longer cared about the Imperial Court or the Emperor.

It was also true.

Now the northwest of Great Song was in a state of total chaos, and no one could clearly say what the future situation of Great Song would be.

If Zhao Heng were captured, Great Song would certainly fall into chaos.

In such a chaotic situation, even if he were the Yan Wang, he would take the opportunity to eliminate enemies near his own bed.

"As the saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood; the 60,000 Yuan Family elites will always be loyal to the Head of the Family," Yuan Feng said.

Yuan Li nodded slowly. "You immediately mobilize the troops to set out; Fanyang City only needs to be left with the County Soldiers and the rich clans' private soldiers to guard it."

He still held a glimmer of hope in his heart.

If the Yan Wang's troops were not coming to kill him, he could return.

If the Yan Wang really was coming to kill him, he wouldn't feel bad if these County Soldiers and rich clans' private soldiers died.

Yuan Feng answered in the affirmative and turned to leave.

Just then, the Steward suddenly came to report that Yuan Family spies had discovered the Yan Wang's troops had already arrived forty miles outside Fanyang City.

"How could it be so fast? Weren't they resting by day and marching by night?" Yuan Li's body trembled.

Having said that, he stamped his foot and immediately ordered the Steward to pack up valuables to flee south.

Fanyang Commandery, south of Wen'an County.

The Wangfu Army was rushing toward Fanyang.

On horseback, Chang Wei's expression was solemn.

After thinking for half the night, he still felt uneasy.

Originally, he had intended to lead the soldiers to find a place to rest for the night.

But for the sake of safety, he decided to rush to Fanyang first.

He would let the soldiers rest only after laying siege to the city.

If it were truly as he suspected and their movements had been discovered, Yuan Li would certainly flee.

An hour and a half later, the exhausted Prince's Mansion troops arrived at the foot of Fanyang City.

However, when he saw the panicked soldiers on the city walls wearing mismatched uniforms, and the city with almost no defenses, his heart sank instantly.

He feared Yuan Li had already fled.

"Is that General Chang down there? May I ask what business brings General Chang to Fanyang?" a Rich Clan official on the city wall said tremblingly.

Yuan Li and Yuan Feng had both fled, and the other core members of the Yuan Family had also left.

Inside Fanyang City, they had left behind only these unimportant Rich Clan officials to probe the intentions of the Yan Wang's troops.

"His Highness the Yan Wang has captured the Northern Di spy Zhuoge, whose confession states that Yuan Li colluded with the Northern Di, forged an Imperial Edict, and impersonated the Imperial Guard; this crime is equivalent to treason, and His Highness has specifically ordered this general to come and apprehend him," Chang Wei said loftily. "Therefore, why do you not open the city gates quickly? Otherwise, once this general takes the city, you shall all be dealt with for the crime of treason."

Upon hearing this, the officials and commanders on the city wall who knew the inside story immediately turned pale, frightened out of their wits.

The Yuan Family had indeed committed these two heinous acts.

"Are you deaf? Open the city gates quickly!" Lv Chang took the opportunity to roar.

His loud voice made the Yuan Family officials and commanders on the city wall tremble in their hearts once more.

Yet, although they were afraid, none of them wanted to take the risk of handing Fanyang City over to the Yan Wang's troops.

Chang Wei snorted coldly, too lazy to waste any more breath on these officials and commanders, and immediately ordered the Artillery to be brought up.

Since Yuan Li had fled, he naturally had no time to arrange defenses inside or outside Fanyang City.

Therefore, he intended to use the Artillery to blast open the gates of Fanyang City.

Before he set out, the Yan Wang and he had discussed two possibilities, and had also envisioned the scenario where Yuan Li discovered them in advance and fled Fanyang.

According to the Yan Wang's words.

It would be good if Yuan Li were in Fanyang, as he could be captured on the spot.

If he were not there, it would not affect anything.

This time, besides dealing with Yuan Li, he had another important mission while leading his troops south.

This mission was to take the opportunity to strike at the Rich Clans of Yanzhou in the Southern Three Commanderies under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion, and to liberate the common people from the lands of the Rich Clans.

Had Yuan Li not played a scheme to make the Rich Clans of Ping County and Liaojun flee south, while taking away a vast amount of wealth from the two commanderies?

This time, he would make them return it all, and double it at that.

Thinking of this, Chang Wei roared, "Let them taste the power of the Artillery."