#474 - You Wenzong
At the hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM), inside the main tent of the pacification army in Guanghan County.
Two matching jade pieces, several silver notes, and a small booklet.
As these items were placed before Han Zhao, the others in the tent were still intensely discussing the events of the previous night.
The sudden appearance of the Zhenshan Camp, Wei Changtian blocking the road alone, the mysterious expert who killed three thousand soldiers with a single sword, and the death of Liu Guang...
The whole affair was permeated with strangeness at every turn.
Why were the movements of the Zhenshan Camp during the day not reported to Han Zhao?
How did Wei Changtian know that the Zhenshan Camp would intercept the Shu army attempting to break through, and accurately block their path?
When did this young master of the Wei family break through to the Third Rank?
From whose hand did that world-shattering sword strike come?
Even Han Zhao was unaware of these questions, let alone the other generals.
This situation naturally had to be reported to Ning Yongnian, who immediately sent back an imperial decree:
The army will temporarily garrison in Guanghan and not advance rashly.
This was why Han Zhao did not immediately send troops to pursue the Shu army as originally planned.
Only six days into the war, the development of the battle had already begun to deviate from expectations.
But Han Zhao didn't care about any of this now.
Because although the Shu army had successfully broken through, Wei Changtian...
...
Looking at the booklet in front of him, Han Zhao remained outwardly calm, but his body was slightly tense.
Not only did he have this booklet, but most of the main members of the Tongzhou Society also had it.
Therefore, if this item were to fall into Ning Yongnian's hands without his knowledge... then the entire Tongzhou Society would very likely be uprooted.
Fortunately, it had been "intercepted" by him.
"Cough!"
Beside him, a man in dark gold official robes suddenly coughed, interrupting Han Zhao's thoughts.
This man was named You Wenzong, the army supervisor for this battle in Shuzhou, and second only to Han Zhao in military status.
More importantly, he was Ning Yongnian's man.
"General Han, these items don't look simple."
Squinting, You Wenzong casually picked up the booklet and flipped through it: "It should be a communication device inadvertently dropped by the enemy army."
"Yes, Lord You is right."
Nodding calmly, Han Zhao followed his words and said, "To drop such an important item shows how flustered the rebels were when they broke through yesterday."
"Flustered..."
Looking at Han Zhao, You Wenzong smiled meaningfully: "But didn't the rebels still break through?"
"Alas..."
Han Zhao sighed softly, his tone seemingly somewhat helpless: "Who could have predicted something like killing three thousand soldiers with a single sword."
"Not so, General Han seems to have forgotten something."
You Wenzong casually flipped through the booklet while gently correcting: "The Zhenshan Camp was originally supposed to cut off the enemy's supplies a hundred miles away, and its sudden appearance near Guanghan City was also an accident."
"If it weren't for the Zhenshan Camp, even without that expert, the rebels should have been able to break through."
"General Han, would you say that's right?"
"..."
The atmosphere between the two suddenly became tense, because the suspicion in You Wenzong's words was already very obvious.
No one was a fool, especially a civil official who could reach the position of army supervisor.
Why did the Shu army choose to break through in the weakest southwestern direction?
How did Wei Changtian know the Zhenshan Camp's pursuit route?
However, Han Zhao was not the kind of ordinary military officer who only knew how to fight, so he calmly scanned the several deputy generals in the tent, and then lowered his voice to retort:
"Lord You, are you suggesting that there are rebel spies in the army?"
"I didn't say that."
You Wenzong stared directly at Han Zhao: "I just find it a little strange."
"Mm, thank you for the reminder, Lord You."
Han Zhao nodded solemnly: "I will secretly investigate this matter."
"Then I will have to trouble the general."
You Wenzong didn't see through Han Zhao's facade, and his tone was somewhat more relaxed at this time.
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly pointed to the two matching jade pieces and asked:
"General, how do you plan to deal with these items?"
"This... I wonder what insights Lord You has?"
"I wouldn't call it insights, but I think they should be handed over to the Emperor for a decision."
A smile appeared on the corner of You Wenzong's mouth: "Perhaps His Majesty can use them to do something, you never know."
"..."
Use them to do something.
You Wenzong's meaning was very clear, but Han Zhao seemed somewhat hesitant.
"Lord You, the rebels probably already realized that these items were lost, so it won't be so easy to fool them."
"Mm, what the general says also makes sense."
You Wenzong shook his head: "But let His Majesty decide."
"Then we'll do as Lord You says."
"..."
The two exchanged a few more meaningless words, and soon You Wenzong left the main tent with the two matching jade pieces and the "codebook".
Han Zhao waited for a while and then also left on a pretext. After returning to his own camp, he immediately sent a message to Chu Xianping via Zhuoyu.
Only Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping in the Shu army had the Tongzhou Society's "codebook", but the latter had contacted him during the day, so these two jade pieces could only be Wei Changtian's.
Therefore, Han Zhao immediately notified Chu Xianping, telling him not to send any more messages to Wei Changtian, to prevent You Wenzong from learning more secrets.
Furthermore, now that the "codebook" had been exposed, the Tongzhou Society should immediately stop using this set of communication codes.
Of course, Han Zhao believed that Chu Xianping would be able to handle these matters properly.
"Huff..."
A quarter of an hour later, Han Zhao, having received a reply from Chu Xianping, finally breathed a sigh of relief and put the matching jade pieces back into his arms.
However, this ease was soon replaced by an even more serious unease.
Because due to the appearance of these two matching jade pieces, Wei Changtian's whereabouts had become even more confusing.
What exactly happened that caused Wei Changtian to lose even such important things?
Where exactly is he now?
Is he... still alive?
The more Han Zhao thought about it, the more anxious he became, unknowingly pacing back and forth in the room several times.
And at this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the room.
"General, this humble one has important matters to report!"
"Mm?"
Han Zhao stopped abruptly, his expression instantly becoming strange.
This voice was unfamiliar, not a deputy general in the army or his own personal guard.
Reporting beyond one's rank was a major taboo in the army, so...
Having just experienced You Wenzong's probing, Han Zhao was now somewhat overly cautious.
However, after hesitating for a moment, he still replied in a deep voice:
"Enter."
"Yes!"
Soon, the tent curtain was lifted, and an ordinary-looking soldier walked into the tent.
Judging from his attire, he was just a squad leader, but Han Zhao was stunned after only one glance at him.
Because this person also had that kind of "kindred" aura.
Had taken the Puppet Pill, a member of the Tongzhou Society!
But that's not right...
Not to mention that the Tongzhou Society was full of powerful figures, where would a mere squad leader get the "membership" qualification?
More importantly, why didn't he know that there was such an "accomplice" in the army?
For a time, Han Zhao's expression changed several times, but at a certain moment, he suddenly understood.
He looked at the somewhat nervous soldier opposite him and directly asked bluntly:
"Did Young Master Wei send you?"
"Yes!"
The soldier immediately moved closer and whispered, "General, Young Master Wei said he is waiting for you in the riverside pavilion north of the city."
