Xiliang Commandery!
After a night of interrogation, Wang Yue finally finished questioning Mo Ni and his gang, and hurriedly brought the results to Lin Yi.
"My lord, we've discovered that the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion is backed by an old acquaintance of yours!"
"An old acquaintance?"
Lin Yi was taken aback. He didn't have many old acquaintances. Could they be one of the old man's confidants?
Upon opening the confession, he was taken aback and murmured, "I never expected it to be him. He really is the mastermind behind everything, hiding it well!"
Wang Yining!
This guy was once the Grand Tutor, and now one of the wealthiest merchants in Northern Liang. Who would have thought he was actually the owner behind the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion? That's really interesting; he's quite the hidden master.
This man was a moral exemplar in Northern Liang. Although he was a merchant, he remained untainted by the corrupt world and was respected by many.
The fact that such a person is the behind-the-scenes owner of the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion suggests there's a lot more to this than meets the eye.
Wang Yining resigned from his official post because of political disagreements with Li Anlan, which led to his demotion and exile. In the end, he simply resigned to go into business and stayed away from Great Ning.
The two seemed like complete adversaries, but now it appears they had conspired all along.
On the surface, Li Anlan turned against Wang Yining, but in reality, he wanted to separate Wang Yining from him and prevent her from being labeled as his own when she entered Northern Liang. His target was clearly his own father.
No wonder Wang Yining's son always wanted to play with me; it was clear he had planned to get close to me all along. It was truly a series of interconnected schemes.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh, "Well done, Li Anlan! This 'crossing the Chencang pass in secret' tactic is masterful. No wonder he's an emperor who rose from rebellion."
That's what makes someone a master. Their ability to successfully rebel is no accident; it's skill.
His plans in Northern Liang reveal some clues.
With a resigned Grand Tutor lying in wait in the shadows, and Ran Zijin openly exerting influence, this combination of overt and covert actions meant that if his father were to be even slightly careless, he would inevitably suffer a great loss.
Fortunately, his father had good judgment. Although he had a good relationship with Wang Yining over the years, he had not allowed him to enter the central power structure. This was definitely due to the old man's excellent foresight.
"Your Highness, should we send our men from the Net to capture Wang Yining?" Wang Yue whispered.
Lin Yi shook his head, directly rejecting the suggestion, and said in a deep voice, "Just tell my father about the situation, and he will naturally handle it. This is his enemy, so I won't overstep my bounds!"
The old man isn't an indecisive person; he should be able to solve this problem perfectly without my intervention.
On the contrary, the situation at Little Pine Mountain is now on the verge of erupting, which is one of his battlefields. Meanwhile, Heavenly Pillar Peak is about to be breached, and the opportunity to fight is fleeting, so he must be constantly vigilant.
He looked at Wang Yue in front of him and asked, "What's the current situation at Little Pine Mountain?"
"My lord, Li Sansi has been defeated time and again. Yesterday, he fell into Tuoba Yu's trap and suffered heavy casualties. Now he only has more than 30,000 men left. I'm afraid Little Pine Mountain cannot be held." Wang Yue sighed and said with a bitter smile.
It's like adding insult to injury; they were already in a difficult situation, and now they've fallen into a trap. It's just too tragic.
"This..."
Upon hearing this news, a hint of surprise flashed in Lin Yi's eyes. How could Li Sansi have made such a mistake?
He couldn't help but sigh, "This really isn't my fault, Lin Yi! I already helped you take down over 20,000, and you still managed to get into this state!"
This "Light of the North" and "Prince of Beining Commandery" thing is so weak!
"My lord, should we do something given the current situation?" Wang Yue asked.
Lin Yi pondered for a long time, then finally shook his head and sighed, " Li Sansi is backed by the Emperor of Great Ning. He'll be fine. If we help him, we'll be the ones in trouble later. I believe Li Anlan won't stand idly by!"
On Little Pine Mountain, Tuoba Yu still held the initiative, having eliminated Li Sansi's two closest defensive positions. Now, only the mountaintop remained in Li Sansi's hands.
As the enemy drew ever closer, a flicker of pain crossed Li Sansi's eyes. He hadn't expected to be defeated so utterly.
He had initially planned to change his defenses, but he never expected that the enemy would see through everything. In the end, Tuoba Yu's more than 50,000 men launched a fierce attack on a single point, directly breaking through the defenses and charging forward.
Although they repelled the enemy several times, it was ultimately too late to turn the tide.
This battle resulted in the loss of nearly 30,000 soldiers, leaving only 20,000 survivors, which shattered Li Sansi's last hope!
As the enemy drew ever closer, Li Yunqing and the others knew that this battle was beyond saving; unless they unleashed an extraordinary fighting force, defeat was inevitable.
"Your Highness, Tuoba Yu's advance is unstoppable; the battle has already begun. We must retreat immediately!"
"It'll be too late if we don't leave now, Father! The enemy's momentum is overwhelming, like mad dogs!"
"The last line of defense has fallen. Our troops are demoralized and completely outmatched!"
Given the speed of the enemy cavalry, if we don't leave now, we'll have no chance to escape; cavalry's pursuit ability is terrifying.
Seeing the enemy troops surging forward frantically, Li Sansi shook his head, looked up to the sky and sighed, "The situation is hopeless. Forty thousand men have shed their blood on Little Pine Mountain. I, Li Sansi, am a sinner of Ningchuan Commandery!"
"Father, we still have a chance! Commander Wei will definitely bring men!" Li Yunqing couldn't help but try to comfort his father, who looked utterly hopeless.
Li Sansi glanced at his son and said in a deep voice, " Qing'er, you take them and leave. The Emperor's reinforcements should be arriving soon. You just need to hold the Song Tao River."
"And what about you, Father?"
Li Yunqing was taken aback. Why wasn't her father here?
Seeing the worry in his son's eyes, Li Sansi gave a bitter laugh, looked at He Zudao, and said in a deep voice, "General He, haven't I, Li Sansi, treated you well?"
"Your Highness has shown me the greatest kindness!" He Zudao's pupils contracted, and a look of sorrow appeared in his eyes. His Highness had already resolved to die.
Li Sansi nodded and said in a deep voice, "Then do two last things for me. The first is to take my son away from here and guard the Song Tao River."
"Understood!"
"The second thing is to send a letter to Lin Yi, telling him to stop allowing foreign tribes to run rampant in Great Ning for the sake of the Great Ning!"
"Your Highness, this..."
"Walk!"
After handing the letter to He Zudao, Li Sansi led the remaining men to confront Tuoba Yu. Without someone to cover their retreat, how could they possibly escape to the other side?
With fewer and fewer people around him and Tuoba Yu drawing ever closer, Li Sansi couldn't help but sigh.
He looked towards Xiliang Commandery and sighed, "In the end, I, Li Sansi, have lost. To think that after decades of fighting on the battlefield, I am no match for Lin Yi's 30,000 new soldiers, I am utterly ashamed!"
Pfft!
At that moment, the Prince of Beining Commandery drew his sword and committed suicide, choosing to die by his own hand.