Chapter 179: Just Keep Him in Line

This acting by the Prince of Zhenbei would only make Wei Xikang more firm in his thoughts, and in his view, the Prince of Zhenbei's purpose was also very clear, which was to make him no longer interfere with his decisions.

Wei Xikang would never believe from the bottom of his heart that someone would sacrifice six thousand cavalry to sow discord. Those were all "his own people"!

So in the end, Wei Xikang had no choice but to give the Prince of Zhenbei a step down, because he had no second way to go now.

After Wei Xikang left, the Prince of Zhenbei sighed deeply. His actions just now were half true and half false. On one hand, he was really chilled by the Crown Prince's questioning.

On the other hand, it was for the sake of the war! Although the Crown Prince had an emperor's heart, he didn't know the dangers of the battlefield. If the Crown Prince continued to interfere, I'm afraid the war with the Xiongnu would stir up quite a few waves.

So for the sake of the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers in the Zhenbei Army, he could only act for Wei Xikang to see, making him voluntarily give up the power of supervising the army.

He didn't expect that he could hide it from the Crown Prince. As long as he could completely break the Xiongnu, then today's events would have a reasonable explanation, and he could also clear the Crown Prince's suspicion.

Now that Wei Xikang was no longer supervising the army, the Prince of Zhenbei could let go of his hands and feet.

"Someone!"

The Vice General walked into the camp and cupped his hands: "The subordinate is here!"

"Order down, repair the city walls, prepare giant stones and round logs, and prepare for the upcoming defense!"

The Prince of Zhenbei still decided to focus on defense. Now that winter was getting closer, the one who was anxious was Adunla, not him. He wanted to take the opportunity to see what medicine Adunla was selling in his gourd!

Hearing that the Zhenbei Army was going to defend, the Vice General raised his head in disbelief. Only after seeing the firm look in the Prince of Zhenbei's eyes did he understand that he wasn't joking.

"Yes!"

Wei Xikang on the city wall soon got the news, but now, besides giving a wry smile, there seemed to be nothing he could do!

Since there was no second way to go, now he could only believe in the Prince of Zhenbei, hoping he hadn't bet wrong.

Although he gave up the power of supervising the army, he could still help and offer advice in other aspects, such as how to squeeze some grain and grass from those prefects.

Since they were going to fight a defensive war, they had to be able to supply grain and grass.

Wei Xikang beckoned to a soldier on the city wall: "You come here!"

"Greetings, Your Highness!" The soldier ran a few steps and knelt on one knee to salute.

"Go and tell your Great General to spread the news of defeating the Xiongnu just like before, and say that the Zhenbei Army is preparing to wipe out the Xiongnu completely and continue to collect grain and grass from the various prefectures!"

"Yes!" Although the soldier was very puzzled why the Crown Prince didn't tell the Great General himself, he immediately ran toward the camp.

After Wei Xikang finished saying this, he didn't speak again, just watching everyone busy on the city wall!

When the Prince of Zhenbei received the letter, his heart warmed up. It seemed the Crown Prince still believed in him.

"Someone, within one day, I want all the people in the Northern Frontier to know the battle situation of defeating the Xiongnu."

……

Liu Xuecheng, the Prefect of Guangwu Jun, received the news that Qingcheng had been taken by Yangguangzhai and immediately wrote a letter to report to the Crown Prince and the Prince of Zhenbei, the meaning of which was still the same: applying to lead troops to wipe out Yangguangzhai.

Not long after this letter was sent, Liu Xuecheng learned the news that the Zhenbei Army had wiped out six thousand Xiongnu cavalry with very low casualties.

Now Liu Xuecheng panicked again. Seeing the Zhenbei Army becoming more and more fierce, it meant that the Crown Prince would soon rise!

But he couldn't even handle a small bandit, so where would there be a place for him beside the Crown Prince in the future?

The more Liu Xuecheng thought about it, the more he felt he couldn't sit still and wait for death. He had to write another letter, exaggerating all the "evil deeds" done by Yangguangzhai, so that the Crown Prince would agree to his sending troops!

After a day and a half, Liu Xuecheng's urgent letter was finally placed on the Prince of Zhenbei's desk.

The Prince of Zhenbei was furious after reading it and was just about to write back to agree to send troops, but suddenly thought that the Crown Prince seemed to have stopped him last time.

Ever since that day, the Crown Prince hadn't come to find him for two days. It was just a good opportunity to go and show some concern.

After thinking about it, the Prince of Zhenbei took the letter and went to find Wei Xikang.

At this moment, Wei Xikang had taken off his armor and was boiling tea in the camp. Seeing the Prince of Zhenbei come in, he hurriedly greeted him: "Uncle, it just so happens I just boiled tea."

"It seems my luck is not bad! Hahaha!"

Both of them tacitly didn't mention what happened two days ago, but Wei Xikang was still very curious about why the Prince of Zhenbei came to find him, "Uncle, you came here this time..."

"Oh! A small matter!" The Prince of Zhenbei handed the letter in his hand to Wei Xikang.

Wei Xikang didn't expect it to be news about Yangguangzhai again after taking it, but what was said in the letter was that Yangguangzhai raped and killed common people and did all kinds of evil. He didn't believe it from the bottom of his heart!

"Uncle, don't pay attention to him. Just like last time, just keep him in line!"

The Prince of Zhenbei's train of thought didn't keep up. For a while, he didn't know whether the "keep him in line" in the Crown Prince's mouth referred to the bandits or the Prefect.

"Your Highness... this... is not right, is it?"

Wei Xikang thought about it and said: "It is indeed not right!"

The Prince of Zhenbei breathed a sigh of relief. He just said so!

"Should sternly rebuke him, saying that the war on the front line is very busy, don't stir up trouble! Why did he come to write a letter? Give him twenty heavy boards!" Wei Xikang said righteously.

"Ah?" The Prince of Zhenbei felt his thinking couldn't keep up with Wei Xikang, and even suspected whether Liu Xuecheng had offended the Crown Prince. After being silent for a long time, he asked: "I really don't understand what Your Highness means by this!"

Wei Xikang drank a cup of tea and said: "Just right! I also want to know whether he did what he promised me at the beginning. Uncle, you send someone to explore!"

"Where to?"

"These three cities occupied by Yangguangzhai!"

The Prince of Zhenbei finally understood. He had just thought it was this Prefect who had offended the Crown Prince. He was just about to persuade the Crown Prince that the common people were innocent, but he didn't expect the problem to be with this mountain stronghold.

Listening to what Wei Xikang meant, it seemed that he had reached some agreement with the other party?

Seeing the Prince of Zhenbei somewhat hesitant, Wei Xikang explained patiently: "Uncle, believe me, send someone to explore first. If it is really as stated in this letter, I will lead troops to wipe them out myself."

Saying so, this matter seemed to have some strangeness. The Prince of Zhenbei didn't put a small mountain stronghold in his eyes and immediately responded to Wei Xikang.

"Good!"

In order to get the fastest news, the Prince of Zhenbei even sent his Vice General to lead a small team to rush there.

The Prince of Zhenbei suddenly remembered that there seemed to be another piece of news about the bandits.

"There is another piece of news! I forgot it before preparing for the war, and just remembered it!"

"What matter?" Wei Xikang subconsciously thought it was about Yangguangzhai.

"Ziyun City under Shuo Fang Jun was attacked by a mountain stronghold called Menghuzhai before. After breaking the city, they raped and killed common people and robbed gold and silver, and many common people suffered."

"There is such a thing? Hurry up and order the Prefect to lead troops to wipe out the bandits!" ===== CHAPTER 180 =====