Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 529 Final preparations

Three days later, Dugu Xin led the Dugu family army to camp about thirty miles outside Jinling.

Because Dugu Jingyao had mentioned in her previous message that Li Chu had sent Dugu's army to accompany him, in order to quietly contact Li Chu and avoid alerting him, Dugu Xin sent two Dugu's army soldiers and Xunfeng into the city disguised as refugees, leaving a secret code and waiting for someone to contact them.

However, all the soldiers of Dugu's army were left outside the city to guard the remaining supplies, which were not in the city. As a result, the soldiers of Dugu's army were unable to contact Li Chu on the first day of their arrival.

Fortunately, Guo Ziyi was once Dugu Xin's subordinate, so he also knew the code. When he went out with Li Chu and Li Guangbi to "eat, drink and have fun", he found the code on the wall by the roadside.

Because Guo Ziyi didn't know where the secret code would lead them, he waited until they had arrived at the restaurant's private room and ordered their food before he whispered, "Your Highness, I have something to report."

Although it was noisy here, he was still afraid that there might be ears on the other side of the wall, so Li Chu signaled Guo Ziyi to come closer and report.

Guo Ziyi walked up to Li Chu and whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, I found the secret code left by the Dugu family army."

Upon hearing this, Li Chu calculated the time in his mind. It was probably his father-in-law who had arrived. However, their actions were being monitored by people from Prefect Du's side, so it was not convenient for them to go directly to meet Dugu Xin.

Li Chu then asked, "Do you understand the Dugu Army's secret code?"

Guo Ziyi nodded and said, "I know."

Li Chu said, "After you return, come to my room and teach Feng Shengyi how to identify the codewords. Then ask him to come over later."

Guo Ziyi agreed, and then the three of them ate and drank for a while, and did not leave the restaurant until half an hour later. Because they were quite full, the three of them walked back to Du's house.

After returning to the mansion, Guo Ziyi came as promised and taught Feng Shengyi how to identify the secret code.

At night, Feng Shengyi took advantage of the situation and climbed over the walls. He left the Du Mansion and searched the streets for the secret signals left by the Dugu family army.

About half an hour later, Feng Shengyi found all the secret codes and walked around to a dilapidated temple. It was a remote place and seemed to have been unused for a long time.

A gust of wind blew, and Feng Shengyi became more alert. Sure enough, as soon as he entered the Buddhist hall, someone rushed out from behind the door. Fortunately, Feng Shengyi was alert and did not let the man take advantage of him. But not long after, another person came out and said, "Alright, stop now!"

The Dugu family soldiers who had rushed out from behind the door quickly withdrew their attacks. Feng Shengyi also withdrew his attacks after seeing that the two men had stopped attacking. However, the candlelight in the Buddhist temple was dim, and Feng Shengyi couldn't tell who it was for a moment. He only knew that the voice sounded familiar.

Feng Shengyi heard this and asked, "Are you from the Dugu family army?"

Xunfeng walked up to Feng Shengyi and punched him on the shoulder, saying, "What? You don't recognize me after not seeing me for less than a year?"

After Xunfeng came closer, Feng Shengyi realized who he was. He said in surprise, "It's you, Xunfeng!"

Xun Feng complained, "What's wrong with you guys? Didn't they say that there were Dugu's army in Ruiying? Why did it take you so long to contact us? You've kept us stuck in this dilapidated temple for so long!"

Feng Shengyi was speechless. Hadn't he been on the battlefield before? Why was he still so squeamish? He explained, "Haven't we been stalling for time, using the excuse that supplies were still on the way? I was originally left outside the city, but later, to make it easier to command and operate, I was moved inside. The rest of the Dugu family army is outside the city, waiting for the final batch of supplies to be delivered."

Xun Feng couldn't help but wonder when he heard this: "The Dugu family army is all outside, how did you find us?"

Feng Shengyi said, "You forgot that Lord Guo Ziyi once served under the King of Yunnan, so he naturally recognized the secret code you left behind." Xunfeng had an expression as if to see what was going on.

Feng Shengyi said, "Let's get down to business. How many of you are here this time?"

Xun Feng said, "One thousand light cavalry, five hundred archers, and the remaining three thousand and five are infantry."

Feng Shengyi calculated that the Dugu family's 5,000 soldiers were enough to defeat the 10,000 garrison troops. So he said, "Then I will go back and report to the prince. Do you have any way to send a message to the King of Yunnan without leaving the city?"

Xun Feng said, "Yes, there are. They are signal flares. The more they are fired, the more urgent the situation is."

Feng Shengyi said, "Okay, then I'll have to trouble you to stay here for one night. We've discovered a secret room in Magistrate Du's house, where a lot of gold and silver treasures are hidden, but we haven't found the corresponding account books yet. If we can't find them, we will probably report those gold, silver and jewelry as evidence of his corruption to His Majesty when the last batch of supplies arrives. But it's inevitable that they will become desperate and join forces with the garrison to encircle us and prevent us from leaving."

Xun Feng and another Dugu family soldier understood Li Chu's plan. Xun Feng said, "That's easy. When the time comes, we'll send one person back to tell His Majesty the general plan. The other two of us will also sneak into the escort team. When the situation becomes tense, we'll quickly send a signal, and His Majesty and his men will be able to rush into the city to provide support."

Feng Shengyi said, "Because there are also a hundred Dugu family soldiers accompanying the transport, our prince's intention is to run out as far as possible and reunite with the Dugu family army. This way, we can reduce the casualties among the people."

Xun Feng nodded in agreement and sighed, "It would be best if the prefect could be more sensible, so that war can be avoided."

Feng Shengyi also agreed with Xun Feng's statement, but still said, "Don't be too naive. The money he embezzled is enough to confiscate everyone's property. What's more, he didn't lend a hand to help the people when they were suffering. If His Majesty knew about this, he might even have his property confiscated and his family exterminated. How could he not resist?"

Xun Feng said, "Well then, at dawn tomorrow, I'll have the person behind you report this to the prince."

Feng Shengyi bowed to the two of them and said, "Well, thank you for your hard work."

Xun Feng was fine, but the other one was just a small fry, so he didn't dare to accept it so easily. He also bowed and said, "Master Feng, you are too kind. This is what I should do."

Xun Feng was speechless: "Alright, alright, now is not the time to talk about rules, Feng Shengyi, you should go back quickly, otherwise it will be curfew soon."

Feng Shengyi nodded and said, "Take care of yourselves, I'll go back first." After that, he slipped away.

After returning to the Du Mansion, Feng Shengyi climbed over the eaves and walls again, arrived at his own residence, climbed in through the window, and then pretended to have just come out of the house and came to Li Chu's room.

Li Chu asked in a low voice: "How is it? Can you see anyone?"

Feng Shengyi whispered back, "Your Highness, I have seen him. Xunfeng is also here. I have informed him of the plan you told me. He will send another Dugu soldier back outside the city tomorrow to report the news, and he has another Dugu soldier who has decided to stay behind and infiltrate the escort team when the last batch of supplies arrives. At the critical moment, he will send a signal to ask the King of Yunnan to come to support him."

Li Chu nodded slightly and said, "Okay, go contact the people outside the city tomorrow to send the last batch of supplies in the day after tomorrow, and tell Xunfeng to be prepared."

Feng Shengyi agreed and walked out.

Because Li Chu and his companions had stayed in Jinling for quite a long time, more than ten days already, and showed no signs of leaving, this aroused the suspicion of Prefect Du and Mrs. Du.

In Madam Du's room, Magistrate Du, while resting on the couch and caressing Madam Du's body, asked, "Why do I feel that the King of Chu and his entourage have ill intentions?"

Madam Du couldn't help but roll her eyes and said with disdain, "Master just discovered it?"

Magistrate Du said to Madam Du in a somewhat flattering tone, "It seems that Madam has already discovered it. Madam is really smart."

Madam Du pushed Magistrate Du's hand away and said, "Master, please stop complimenting me and think of a way to deal with this!"

Magistrate Du said, "Madam, what are you afraid of? Isn't this account book well hidden? Besides, those things are all in the secret room. If you are worried, we can move them out at night."

Mrs. Du rejected Magistrate Du's idea and said, "If we move it out right under their noses, wouldn't that be self-incrimination? It's better to leave it where it is for now."

Prefect Du agreed, then said flatteringly, "Madam, you're right. When they leave tomorrow, I'll contact General Gao. If the truth comes out, I'll make sure they can't leave Nanjing. When we ask about it, I'll just make it a bandit attack. After all, Nanjing is in such a state of chaos right now, it's hard to predict."

Upon hearing this, Madam Du felt that Magistrate Du was more reliable, so she said, "Master, how dare you! You even dare to kill the prince!"

Magistrate Du's hand moved upwards, and finally, with a fierce grab, he said, "Isn't that also for our future? As the saying goes, if you don't work for yourself, heaven and earth will punish you. Isn't that the truth?"

Mrs. Du was caught off guard by this grab. She groaned and said, "Master, please be gentle." The delicate voice made Governor Du feel itchy, and he could no longer hold back and pounced on her, making love with Mrs. Du.