The night wind is cold and cold, and the bamboo forest is loud.

Qin Dull Jiaogan stood at the window, his head bowed, his gaze falling on a celadon vase on the windowsill.

The eyes drooped, and at the bottom of the celadon vase, the edge of a small note was exposed.

Qin Blunt Horn's fingers naturally stretched out, the nail gently swirled on the edge of the vase, the edge of the small note was immediately cut off, and then fell to the ground, Qin Blunt Horn Trunk immediately stepped on it, stomping into pieces.

After doing all this, Qin Dull Jiaogan breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head, and his gaze fell on the entire courtyard.

The courtyard was quiet, but faintly from the eastern sky, there was a commotion.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Jiaogan turned his head to look at the bamboo forest by the small lake on the west side of the courtyard, and his eyes immediately tightened.

Then he turned his head to look at the entire courtyard, pavilions, carved railings and paintings.

Compared with Chang'an, the courtyard layout of Yangzhou is more exquisite and more elaborate.

The whole courtyard seems to be empty, but in fact, in the depths of the bamboo forest, between the shadows of the pavilions, there are invisible hidden piles lurking everywhere.

These people stared at Qin Jiaogan and trapped him, so that he could not get more information about the outside world, and the news he had obtained in his hands could not be transmitted, which made him more and more restless in his heart.

The king of Nanchang came to Yangzhou to prepare for war and prepare for reinforcements of the Governor's Mansion of Andong, which is now known to almost everyone in Yangzhou.

However, how big the scale of the reinforcements, how long they were, and what the confidence of Datang was, few people can say clearly,

Qin Dull Jiaogan came all the way from Chang'an, although there were a lot of people on the road, but Qin Dull Jiaogan did not have a chance to contact anyone at all, and even if other people got closer, they would be driven away by the secret Qianniuwei.

There are Jin Wuwei in the open, and Qianniuwei in secret, and under the isolation, they came to Yangzhou.

Qin Dull Jiaogan suddenly understood that the Yangzhou Water Division was also one of the main forces mobilized by the King of Nanchang on this trip.

The best route to Silla is to head northeast from Dengju on the northern route, but turn southeast when the wind blows and land at Incheon.

The king of Nanchang did not go straight to Dengzhou, but turned to come to Yangzhou, and the reason for this is probably to meet with Jin Renwen, the prince of Linhai County.

Kim In-asked, the younger brother of King Munmu of Silla, the person who knew Silla the most in the entire Tang Dynasty.

If he followed the king of Nanchang to Dongdao this time, then even if Silla had already done a lot of countermeasures against Kim In-wen's betrayal, Kim In-man knew better, not to mention that he had a lot of old troops in Silla.

The king of Nanchang went to Silla, how many troops he led, how many warships, and how large the scale of the entire reinforcement army was, these were all things that had to be clarified quickly, and then the news was quickly transmitted back to Silla.

Only then can the king make the right decision.

But on the contrary, all contact with the outside world has been cut off.

His gaze fell on the porcelain vase again.

With a "squeak", the door was pushed open, and Su Baotong walked in with a wooden plate in his hand, on which were placed several simple but delicate dishes.

Seeing that the food was placed on the table, Qin Dujiao smiled a little wryly, and said, "Today's meal looks more sumptuous than last night."

Su Baotong raised his head and looked at Qin Dujiao Gan coldly, until the words in Qin Dujiaogan's mouth were all held back, and he said lightly: "This is the leftover meal from the backyard banquet, the prince asked me to send it to you, because there is no need to worry about poisoning these dishes."

This is something that has been eaten by others, and it is easy not to worry about being poisoned.

But it is precisely what others have eaten that makes it easier to be poisoned.

Looking at Qin Duthorn's cautious appearance, Su Baotong sneered disdainfully and said, "Don't worry, we are more afraid of your death than you, if you die, when we arrive in Silla, we will have one less useful chess piece."

After speaking, Su Baotong turned around and left without hesitation.

Qin Dujiao looked at the porcelain bowl in front of him, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and his expression became more and more worried.

cause

Su Baotong is right, in the current situation, Datang doesn't want to see him die.

On the contrary, those allies before him are likely to be the ones who really want his life.

As long as he dies, there will be no chance of turning around between Datang and Silla.

In front of the courtyard of the outer courtyard, Su Bao told Li Xuan all the conversations between General Su and Qin Jiaogan.

Li Xuan nodded slightly, and said, "Pass the word, anyone who approaches here and tries to find out the information inside will be registered, but anyone who breaks in, no matter who it is, will be killed."

"Whoa!" Su Baotong's eyes immediately lit up, and he quickly surrendered his promise.

Li Xuan waved his hand, and Su Baotong immediately retreated.

Turning around, Li Xuan walked towards his courtyard, but his eyes were thinking softly.

Qin Dull Jiaogan's emotions have been extremely pulled, and now at this time, he needs an opening to release him.

That is to let him connect with the Silla people in Yangzhou's secret pile.

As for how to contact him, Li Xuan only needed to let go a little, and the Silla people immediately sent the letter in.

But you can't do that, you have to wait, you need to wait until the day after tomorrow, or tomorrow night.

After thinking about it, Li Xuan had already returned to the gate of the side courtyard where he lived, and saw an acquaintance wandering in front of the door at this time, wearing a dark official robe, this person was Shen Zhuang, Yangzhou Hucao joined the army Shen Zhuang.

Seeing Li Xuan, Shen Zhuang immediately stepped forward and bowed his hand: "I've seen the prince."

Li Xuan replied with some surprise: "Brother Shen, why are you?"

You must know that Li Xuan and Shen Zhuang had only met at the welcome banquet before, and as soon as they left, he came over.

Shen Zhuang said a little embarrassedly, "I originally wanted to talk to the prince for a few words, but I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, the prince was gone."

"I see." Li Xuan nodded gently, stretched out his hand and said, "Brother Shen, if there is something, let's talk about it inside."

"Whoa!" Shen Zhuang followed behind Li Xuan, turned around and entered the small courtyard.

There were four Jin Wuwei standing at the gate of the small courtyard, holding a long lance, with a solemn expression, Li Xuan was not there, and no one else could easily think of entering it.

Shen Zhuang glanced at the four of them, and then entered the small courtyard.

Between the pavilions and rockery pavilions, you can see the figures standing faintly everywhere.

This is the whistle.

There were many other hidden sentinels out of sight.

When Shen Zhuang saw this scene, his heart couldn't help but tighten.

The last time the king of Nanchang came to Yangzhou, the guards were not so strict.

Along a stone road, Shen Zhuang followed Li Xuan into the middle hall of the backyard.

After entering the house, Li Xuan invited Shen Zhuang to sit down, and as soon as Li Xuan was about to speak, Shen Zhuang preemptively said: "Although the Governor's Mansion is safe, it is still a little smaller, and the prince still remembers that he has another courtyard in Yangzhou, which is much larger than here."

Looking at Shen Zhuang's aggressive eyes, Li Xuan was slightly stunned, and then said calmly: "Brother Shen doesn't say it, this king really forgot, but it seems to be a little remote there, in the southeastern suburbs."

"Not bad." Shen Zhuang nodded slightly, and his face suddenly changed, and he understood why Li Xuan never went to that village.

For Li Xuan, the king of the dynasty, his own safety is particularly important.

For ordinary people, dozens or hundreds of guards are enough to resist all the targets of prying eyes, but for a prince like Li Xuan, if someone really wants to kill him, it is not strange to use hundreds or thousands of soldiers with bows and crossbows chariots.

The more you are outside the city, the more likely this kind of thing is to happen, but the more you are inside the city, the less likely it is to happen, if not almost zero.

After all, once it appears, it will be shocked, and even if someone wants to cover it up, it will be too late.

"I understand it below, and I'll change it for the prince tomorrow...... No, give the prince a new courtyard, which is in the city." Shen Zhuang's stingy head finally had a light up.

Li Xuan smiled, stretched out his hand to invite Shen Zhuang to tea, and asked very directly, "

Brother Shen has something to do, you might as well say it directly."

Shen Zhuang hesitated slightly, but looked at Li Xuan's indifferent look, and finally spoke: "Don't hide it from the prince, the Shen family also has a few trade routes in Silla, I want to ask for advice, if you go east with the army this time, I don't know if there will be any gains?"

Li Xuan's hand movements suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his cold eyes flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Immediately, Li Xuan said lightly: "I'm afraid it's not very safe to go out on the boat in winter, right?"

"It's because of insecurity that there is a reward." Shen Zhuang looked at Li Xuan with a solemn face.

Li Xuan looked at Shen Zhuang seriously, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Shen, the battle in the imperial court is an extremely confidential matter, if it is because of the Shen family, Silla has to be prepared in advance, then the consequences ......

"Don't worry, the people of the Shen family are strict-mouthed, and they won't say a word that shouldn't be said, and as for those who are not strict-mouthed, they have naturally been thrown into the sea long ago." Shen Zhuang's eyes were extremely solemn.

Li Xuan quietly put the case lightly, then looked at Shen Zhuang, and said: "The soldiers have always been fierce and dangerous, even if they are as strong as Pingyang Jungong, there is also the defeat of Dafeichuan, the battle between our dynasty and Silla, although there have been many victories and few defeats over the years, there are always unfortunate things, if the Shen family really wants to do this business, they must be prepared to lose everything."

Shen Zhuang pondered every word Li Xuan said, and then his face was still puzzled, but he didn't ask any more, but stood up and arched his hand at Li Xuan, "Thank you Lord for reminding me, I understand."

Li Xuan looked at Shen Zhuang with a little smile and said, "If Brother Shen really understands, it's best, if you don't understand it well, you might as well go and see how many soldiers are recruited by Yangzhou Wei in your own office, these are all determined by the imperial court, after all, Brother Shen, as the Hu Cao of Yangzhou Assassin Mansion, these should also be known."

Hearing Li Xuan say this, Shen Zhuang immediately surrendered his hand and said, "The manor title deed understands that the subordinate is sent to the manor outside the city, and the subordinate is leaving."

"Brother Shen go slowly!" Li Xuan bowed his hand slightly and sent Shen Zhuang to the door of the house, but not to the door of the other courtyard.

At this moment, behind Li Xuan, a voice sounded: "I have always heard that the Shen clan of Yangzhou used the imperial army as a cover to trade with the Silla Wa state, it seems that I am honest and I am not deceived!"

Yu Ze walked out of the house on the inside of Li Xuan, then looked at the place where Shen Zhuang had disappeared, and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, these things can be detected by the Shen family themselves, why do you still ask?"

"Naturally, I smell it." Li Xuan sighed lightly, walked back to the room and sat down, and then looked at Yu Ze and said, "Although the people don't know about the imperial court's withdrawal this winter, the officials of the government and the opposition are all aware of it; What's more, Yangzhou is not far from Silla, and some clues have long been seen, so now that Chaodong Island has undergone such a big change, they naturally have to pay attention."

The Shen family's trade was very extensive, from the Silla Wa Kingdom, to the countries of Champong and Chenla, they all had stable trade routes, and they had already made a lot of money over the years.

"Aside from the battle between the Tang Dynasty and Silla, I am afraid that before the withdrawal of the Tang Dynasty, the Shen family had already made the next business arrangements with some people in Silla, but now that the war is resuming, they can't grasp the situation clearly, so they naturally want to come to explore the way, but the army has always been uncertain, and victory or defeat can not be determined first." Li Xuan couldn't help but shake his head.

War is no better than those games where you can't see the tricks, and the slightest mistake will immediately lead to the annihilation of the whole army.

Shen Zhuang asked Li Xuan, but the ending of this battlefield, where could Li Xuan know.

"Then the prince said that just now?" Yu Ze now became more and more unable to understand Li Xuan's methods.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly, and said lightly: "This king just reminded him that this time the eastward journey will still encounter risks, how big the risk is, this king told him truthfully, but there are some things, once the human heart has a fixed opinion, no matter what others say, they will think about it in that direction, and this is the case in front of him."

After speaking, Li Xuan turned around and said, "Let's go, let's go and study how many of these families in the southeast are related to Prince Yin."