Chapter Ninety-two Conspiracy

  "Five hundred thousand troops, eight great generals, all for just one Zhao state, this stroke of the brush is truly not small."

  The speaker was a man sitting in the main seat. Although he was seated, his height was extremely high, wearing a deep purple embroidered cloud pattern long gown, with a wide three-inch belt around his waist, and his age was about thirty years old. His jet-black shiny long hair was not tied up, parted in the middle and hanging down on both sides of his shoulders, which were much wider than ordinary people's. His skin was crystal clear, shining with an unusual glow, his eyes shot out cold light, seemingly hiding a light that was close to being evil, making people afraid to look at him directly.

  "Zhao is the only country that has been able to contend with Qin in the past thirty years, so it's reasonable for Qin to attach great importance to Zhao. Moreover, as long as Zhao is defeated, the other four countries will not be a match for Qin, and unifying the world will be within its grasp."

  This time it was a middle-aged scholar who spoke, sitting in the second seat to the left of the host, and it was he who had just reported the news about Pi to the host.

  Above him was a slender woman, wearing a veil that obscured her face, revealing only a pair of bright and alert eyes. Below him was a thin and short man, who appeared to be clever and capable. Across from these three people were two tall and imposing men, neither of whom was inferior to the main male character. The one in the upper position was slightly thinner, wearing a hat that covered half his face. The one in the lower position was about forty years old, with broad shoulders and a thick back, his eyes gleaming like lightning. Although he was kneeling, his waist and back were straight as a pen.

  At this time, a man wearing a bamboo hat on the right side asked, "Can Qin State win this battle?"

  "It's hard to say, from the strength of both sides, the Qin army has an absolute advantage, but the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army is Li Mu, who is the only famous general in the past decade who can defeat the Qin army on the battlefield. In the past three years, the Qin state has already suffered two defeats at his hands, losing tens of thousands of soldiers, and even the great general Huan Yi was defeated by him. Therefore, as long as Li Mu is there, it's difficult for the Qin army to claim victory. Moreover, in the Zhao army camp, there is also a rising star, which greatly boosts the morale of the Zhao army. It's not easy to defeat this combination of two people."

  The woman on the left sneered and said, "What's this nonsense about a general descending upon the world? According to Ye Wu, his martial skills are extremely lowly. Even someone like Lie Bo can beat him half to death. Can such a person be considered a general descending upon the world?"

  The old man on the left, third in line, chuckled and said: "I see that he can't be underestimated. This time, both Ye Wuxue and Mo Wuyou joined forces, yet neither of them could kill Li Mu. He played a crucial role this time around. If it wasn't for him blocking Ye Wuxue back then, perhaps Li Mu wouldn't have escaped death."

  The woman said, "According to what the two of them said, this time they were unable to kill Li Mu, mainly because by Li Mu's side was a man named Zhao Xuan, whose marksmanship was extremely high. According to their estimate, Zhao Xuan's strength was not below that of our Five Gods, so it was reasonable for the two of them to have failed."

  At this time, the man on the right side immediately said: "Master, since it's like this, let me go out and assassinate Li Mu, and also compare with Zhao Xuan to see whose marksmanship is more powerful."

  The man wearing a conical hat beside him smiled and said, "I knew it, as soon as you mention gunplay, you can't sit still. To be honest, even I have the urge to take action, there are not many people worth taking out in all these years."

  A middle-aged scholar laughed and said: "One Zhao Xuan can make two of the Five Gods work hard, it's enough to be proud of."

  At this time, the man sitting upright finally spoke: "You all endure for a while, in fact, this time not killing Li Mu is not a bad thing, at least it can cause some trouble for Qin State. If we let Qin State easily destroy the six states and unify the world, it's not good for us either. Only by making Qin State exhaust its strength in the process of unifying the world, and best to severely injure its vitality, when that time comes, is also when we reappear in front of the world. So you still wait a little longer, if Zhao Xuan really has the ability to be your opponent, then in the future you will have plenty of opportunities to fight him, but if Zhao Xuan can't hold on until that time, it means he doesn't even qualify as your opponent."

  The tall man said: "What you say is absolutely right."

  Zheng Zuonan asked again: "How are our things prepared?"

  A thin, small man on the left side of the third row who had not spoken before said: "Report to the master, three hundred catapults have been manufactured, two hundred stone-throwing machines, and five hundred wooden oxen and flowing horses. Only Zhong Weng's structure is complex and still needs time. Shi Wugong is rushing to make it."

  The man in the correct seat nodded and said, "Not bad, with the treadle, catapult, and wooden oxen and flowing horses, it's already enough. Zhong Weng can wait for a while. Alright, now let's take a look at Li Mu and Jiang Xing's combination and see how great their abilities are."

  Dividing line Dividing line

  "Ah!"

  Luohuan raised his wooden sword and chopped at the highland fiercely, while the highlander sat on a round stool, also holding a wooden sword, parrying Luohuan's attacks with ease. He encouraged Luohuan, saying: "Good job, this one is not bad." "Come again, use more force, put all your strength into it."

  Luohuan swung his sword in a flurry of over a dozen strikes, but used too much force and stumbled, falling to the ground. Gaoyuan remained seated on the stool, not getting up, saying: "Get up yourself."

  Luohuan listened and immediately flipped over to get up from the ground, standing in front of Gao Yuan. Gao Yuan also nodded and said: "Not bad, Huaner, you've made great progress these past few days, take a break now."

  "Everyone's skills are quite impressive," Luo Huandao said with a smile as he sat down beside them.

  At this time, under the accompaniment of Geng Yan Yu, Cui Wen Qing, who was watching from a distance, walked over and hurriedly helped Luo Huan dust off his clothes and wipe away his sweat. At the same time, he kept asking: "Are you tired?", "Does it hurt where you fell?", "Is there anywhere uncomfortable?" and so on.

  At that time, Li Mu withdrew to Quyang for more than two months and spent the New Year in Quyang. He also formally married Gao Yuan and Li Yinhong, so they were officially husband and wife. However, after getting married, Gao Yuan simply brought Ge Yan with him and lived together with Li Mu, without setting up an independent household.

  After Li Mu retreated to Quyang, the merchants of Handan City still maintained close contact with Li Mu and sent large quantities of military and civilian supplies to Quyang, selling them to Li Mu at low prices. At this time, in Handan City, King Jia of Zhao was still indulging in feasting and drinking every day, neglecting government affairs. Guo Kai was still recovering from his illness at home, secretly controlling the court, while the false prime minister Zhao Jia was busy cleaning up the mess left behind by Li Mu's withdrawal. The second-in-command, Grand Marshal Zhao Cong, also took advantage of the situation to seize control of the remaining troops, so no one had the energy to restrain these merchants.

  Even if they had the energy, no one dared to lightly restrain the merchants, because everyone knew that behind the merchants was Li Mu, and with Li Mu's current strength, he could attack Handan at any time, so no one dared to provoke Li Mu.

  With the full support of the merchants, Li Mu also quickly accumulated a large amount of supplies in Quyang, and the refugees who rushed to Quyang with Li Mu were all properly settled. Due to several heavy snowfalls in Zhao last year, the drought was alleviated, and after the beginning of the year, the people of Dai Prefecture, as well as the refugees who had moved there, began to cultivate the land, so Li Mu's self-government in Dai Prefecture quickly stabilized, allowing him to focus on preparing for war.

  Lin Wenqing was the main person in charge of contacting Li Mu for trade among merchants. This time, he also brought a large amount of grain and supplies to Quyang to deliver to Li Mu, as well as a large number of weapons and armor, including a batch of high-end customized weapons: 1,000 double-edged axes and 200 war knives. This batch of materials was indeed extremely timely, because at this time Li Mu had already received the news that Qin Guo had begun to gather troops and prepare to attack Zhao Guo.

  Luohuan, of course, also came with Lin Wenqing. Since the hijacking incident, Lin Wenqing couldn't let go of Luohuan and took him wherever he went, not letting his son out of his sight for a moment.

  But he was very happy to be able to come to Quyang with his mother, because here he could see his master again. Although he was only a six or seven year old child, he still remembered the things he had learned from Gao Yuan about swordsmanship.

  After Lin Wenqing's mother arrived in Quyang, Gao Yuan also took out a period of time every day to teach Luo Huan some simple swordsmanship. However, Gao Yuan also made two rules: one was that during practice, Luo Huan was not allowed to cry; the other was that during Luo Huan's practice, Lin Wenqing was not allowed to come over and disturb him. This little guy could really persist, even if he fell or got hit, he didn't cry, and during practice, Lin Wenqing could only watch from the side, even if Luo Huan fell, she didn't dare to come over and help, she could only wait until rest time to come over, wipe his sweat, and ask about his well-being.

  At this time, Li Yinghong smiled and said, "I remember that Huan'er used to cry at the drop of a hat. If she accidentally fell down, she would cry for half a day before calming down. Now, after falling several times, she doesn't cry at all. It seems that she has indeed become much stronger than before."

  Lian Wenqing also patted the dust off his son's body, saying: "Yes, this child is really much better now, all thanks to Master Gao's good teaching. We should indeed thank Master Gao."

  After resting for a while, Luo Huan was still a child and couldn't sit still. He also felt a bit annoyed at his mother's nagging, so he ran to Gao Yuan's side and said, "Master, can I ride the horse?"

  Gao Yuan had not yet responded, when Lin Wenqing already grabbed Luo Huan and said: "Huan'er, riding a horse is too dangerous, what if you fall off? You're not allowed to ride horses."

  Li Yinghong smiled and said, "Wen Qing sister, you're being too cautious. What's the danger in riding a horse?" As he spoke, he patted Luo Huan's back of the head and said, "Let's go, Huan'er, I'll take you horseback riding."

  Luo Huan let out a loud whoop and shook off Lin Wenqing, immediately taking off in a sprint alongside Li Yinghong.

  Lin Wenqing was about to chase after them, but Gao Yuan had already laughed and said: "Let them go, with Yinghong there, Huan'er won't come to any harm. Let him ride his horse for a few rounds, it's good for him."

  Lin Wenqing also smiled wryly and said, "Huan'er, be more careful." He then said, "Yinghong, hold Huan'er tightly so he doesn't fall off."