Chapter 1264: Counterattack! (1/2)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

”Yes, Milord.”

Xu Keyi swiftly left to carry out the order. Wang Chong had actually already sent quite a few letters to the northwest, but Xu Keyi had never questioned Wang Chong's orders.

Flap flap!

However, Xu Keyi had only taken a few steps when a flapping of wings came from overhead. Looking up, he saw a hawk descending from the sky, with an extremely striking green bracelet around its right claw.

”Milord, a letter from the northwest!” Cheng Sanyuan sternly said.

Wang Chong's subordinates in different regions would send messages with different symbols. This allowed one to know where a letter was coming from without needing to read the letter.

The hawk landed on Old Eagle's shoulder. Old Eagle opened the letter, glanced at it, and immediately paled.

Old Eagle quickly strode over and whispered into Wang Chong's ear, ”Milord, it's bad! Li Siye and Su Hanshan have sent a letter saying that there's been an incident in the army!”

Boom! Shockwaves resounded through Wang Chong's mind, and he took the letter from Old Eagle with a heavy heart.

Su Hanshan had written the letter, and it confirmed all of Wang Chong's unease and speculations.

After Wang Chong left, the three Confucian experts assumed authority over the army. Moreover, Wang Chong's de facto demotion and his escort away by the Bureau of Rites and the Golden Guards had infuriated the Qixi Protectorate army and the mercenaries. The Confucians' decision to retreat from Khorasan and betray the promise made to the Sassanid Dynasty and the other rebel armies had only added to the pile of discontents.

And after many more Confucian experts arrived to oversee the army and restrict them, the army's discontent reached its peak.

Even though Wang Chong had sent several letters to have Su Hanshan and Li Siye restrain the soldiers, there were some things that even the two of them could not control.

At the start, it was only one or two people, but as more and more people began to talk, the three Confucian commanders were eventually forced to send down an order strictly forbidding any talk of Khorasan, with those who disobeyed to be dealt with by military law. Soon after, three soldiers were found talking about what had happened at Khorasan and were imprisoned by the Confucian supervisors. As more and more people learned the news, they began to talk openly about it.

The three Confucian commanders ordered that all these people should be arrested, and by the time Su Hanshan and Li Siye found out, it was already too late. This was because the bandits Su Hanshan had trained and Li Siye's Wushang Cavalry had been in the group arrested. The former had irascible temperaments that were easily angered while the latter had lost many people in the two major battles and were incredibly dissatisfied to see all they had worked for be turned to naught, and they were furthermore indignant at the injustice inflicted upon Wang Chong. It was these traits that caused these two groups to be arrested by the Confucians.

Although the two had received Wang Chong's requests to fully restrain the army, at a time like this, as commanding officers, they could only participate in the resistance against the three Confucian commanders to protect their subordinates. Before straightening their backs and heading out, the two had written this letter to Wang Chong explaining the entire situation.

”In other words, Su Hanshan and Li Siye have both been imprisoned by now!”

Wang Chong grimaced as he finished reading the letter. The plans of men were no match for the plans of heaven. Even though he had done his utmost to try and stop it, his efforts had still come too late.

Su Hanshan and Li Siye were both core subordinates for Wang Chong and had fought with their lives on the line together with Wang Chong. Su Hanshan had fought together with him in two major wars while Li Siye had served at his side even earlier, since the southwest. Wang Chong could not stand by and watch as these two suffered misfortune. And it was precisely for these reasons that Wang Chong understood why his two subordinates, though clearly understanding that their actions were unwise, still stood up against the three Confucian commanders after their soldiers were arrested.

All of this seemed very normal, but Wang Chong could smell the thick scent of a scheme.

”Old Eagle, the Bureau of Military Personnel has already agreed to the requests for transfer that I had Su Hanshan and Li Siye submit, so why are the two of them still there?” Wang Chong suddenly said.

Since his meeting with Li Junxian, Wang Chong had had Su Hanshan and Li Siye submit requests of transfer to move from the border back to the interior. Actually, any place would do, whether it was the capital, the southwest, Longxi, or even Youzhou to the northeast. With Wang Chong's current connections in the army, none of this was a problem. Moreover, the special circumstances caused by the conflict between the militarists and Confucians meant that the requests for transfer were easily approved. Wang Chong had even gotten the documents through Zhangchou Jianqiong himself.

Old Eagle lowered his head and sternly said, ”Not long ago, the two sent a letter saying that they really had done as Milord requested, but all the documents, including the order from the Bureau of Military Personnel, are being held up by the three Confucian commanders. The three of them are keeping Su Hanshan and Li Siye on the basis that they lack capable officers.”

”Bastard!”

Wang Chong's expression sank and his body began to exude a chilling aura. What had been just a hunch was now a certainty. While the events in the northwest appeared to be a coincidence, they were actually all planned out by someone.