Beihua Prefecture
After giving Chu You a small rest, she was summoned to Jin Bo's residence.
He looked at the little girl and asked, "So, why did you come to me?"
Chu You knelt on the ground and bowed.
She said, "I am here to help Your Highness achieve his revenge!"
Jin Bo's calm face disappeared immediately as he shouted, "Insolent!"
He said coldly, "Take her away and whip her a hundred times!"
Chu You immediately cried as she begged for forgiveness again and again.
25th February.
Once again, Jin Bo called for Chu You. This time, he had already sent away all the guards.
He looked at her calmly and said, "I will give you a chance to reconstruct your words."
Chu You was afraid. She had never faced such torture before, but she couldn't give up. She had no choice.
Recalling the words of that man, her fear turned into stubbornness. "I am here to help Your Highness in his revenge!"
Jin Bo narrowed his eyes. "Oh? What revenge can you help me with?"
Chu You gritted her teeth as she said, "In taking down Emperor Jin Long!"
Jin Bo stood up and shouted, "Do you know your mistake?"
Chu You knelt silently, but her eyes were resolute.
Jin Bo smiled faintly. "Good, good. You are a talent. But with just you?"
It should be noted that Jin Bo was not stupid. He understood that Chu You was just a tool sent to him by someone. She was merely a middleman in this cooperation. However, he wouldn't say it openly.
Chu You shook her head. "I am not alone. Someone instructed me to come to Your Highness."
Jin Bo nodded. "Who is he?"
Chu You shook her head. "I don't know. He appeared one day and took away—"
She didn't continue speaking.
However, Jin Bo understood. She was being threatened into coming here. The one behind her was using her as a tool. He had kidnapped someone close to her and forced her to become the middleman in this deal. However, he wasn't simple either. To be able to notice her talent, he had to possess a good eye for it.
She continued, "So, is Your Highness willing?"
Jin Bo narrowed his eyes. "It depends on your worth!"
Chu You said slowly, "He said that in a few days, General Shi Tian would send a letter offering Your Highness an opportunity."
Jin Bo's face finally turned serious. He was well aware that Shi Tian was completely loyal to Jin Long. He had even taught Princess Jin Huang in her early days and would never betray him.
Jin Bo's eyes deepened. He had heard about the full-scale war and the defeat of Shu Dynasty a few days ago.
He murmured inwardly, 'It seems that things aren't as simple as they appear on the surface!'
He glanced at Chu You. "So, what does it have to do with you?"
Chu You replied, "General Shi Tian is standing on two boats at the same time. His situation isn't optimistic. He is siding not only with Jin Long, but also with Wu Dynasty. His intention in sending you a letter this time is to provide an opportunity. He would take care of House Yin's warriors and create an opportunity for rebellion. He would also hold back Jin Long at the crucial moment."
She continued, "At that time, he needs you and those princes in hiding to come out together and take over the Royal Palace."
Jin Bo glanced at her while thinking, 'Who is behind her?'
Chu You said, "When both sides are exhausted from the battle, Wu Dynasty would launch a third-party attack and take over the entire Golden Crow!"
It should be noted that at this time, Shu Dynasty was completely weakened. However, they had created a fortress, and if one wanted to breach it, they had to be prepared to lose a lot of manpower. The simplest way to breach it was to attack from behind, but that would require a large number of marine forces. If either Wu Dynasty or Golden Crow Dynasty launched a marine attack, they would expose their weakness. And whoever attacked would become vulnerable to another marine assault. Wei Dynasty lacked marine forces.
So, whoever wanted to conquer Shu Dynasty had to attack not only secretly, but also decisively and quickly.
It was obvious that Jin Long would target Shu Dynasty since his marine forces were much stronger than those of Wu Dynasty. He believed that by the time they conquered Shu Dynasty, it would already be too late for Wu Dynasty to exploit their weakness.
That was why he secretly gave the Imperial Edict to Shi Tian and personally sent him to deliver it to House Yin.
Before knowing that the Rank 8 Warrior was residing within him, Li Gang wasn't sure what had gone wrong.
However, after realizing it, things became different. He figured out many important points.
First, why had Shu Dynasty sent 5 million warriors?
Huang and Lei were targeting Li Gang, and they were using Wu and Shu Dynasty as tools. However, they could only truly support one dynasty.
So, on the surface, they cooperated with Shu Dynasty, while behind the scenes, they had already chosen Wu Dynasty.
This was also why they decided to get Lao Zhang killed, since he was the key strategist who could overturn everything if left alive.
But why would they sacrifice their own lives? Wasn't that stupid?
In fact, their initial plan was to kill Li Gang. They never intended to sacrifice themselves. However, they were Monarchs. Before victory, they always considered the worst-case possibility. They had already considered the possibility of their deaths, and this was merely an emergency plan for such a situation.
Whether they lived or died, they would still be able to severely weaken Shu Dynasty. If they died, they would attach themselves to Li Gang and Shi Tian, and the weakness within Shu Dynasty could then be used as leverage to continue cooperation with Wu Dynasty.
Guo Chen knew that they were still alive.
Why?
Because Lei had already discussed certain future plans with Guo Chen before entering the battlefield.
The plan involved helping him conquer Golden Crow. If the first step of the plan went smoothly, it would prove that Lei was safe and assisting him from behind the scenes.
Outskirts of Nanyu City
Li Gang suddenly regained consciousness. He found Chen Wang sitting in front of him.
He asked tentatively, "How many days?"
Chen Wang replied calmly, "It's only been three days. Today is the 25th!"
Even though Li Gang was inside the room, he could tell it was noon. Why? Obviously because in this world, even closed rooms lit up during daytime. Light came from the fourth dimension!
It didn't matter to him. What mattered was the date.
Li Gang sighed. "So, they have begun their movements!"
Chen Wang glanced at him and remained silent.
Li Gang suddenly smiled and said, "Your master is in danger, and you are sitting silently?"
Chen Wang narrowed his eyes. "You are not fooling anyone."
Li Gang didn't mind and continued, "Master Lei and Uncle Huang are now enemies of each other."
During the past few days, Huang would occasionally come out and take over his body. Li Gang was already used to it, and after some conversations with Chen Wang, he had come to realize that the one occupying his body was Master Huang.
This made things difficult for Li Gang since, in his memories, Master Lei was much more upright. Li Gang retained his memories of the massacre back then, and he knew how bravely Master Lei fought for his family. He thought that if Master Lei were the one in his body, there might still be room for negotiation.
"I destroyed his ancestral legacy, and Master Lei would never forgive me. Not to mention, he wouldn't forgive Uncle Huang either, since it was his illegitimate son, Huang Shu, who caused all this! At this moment, we can cooperate to take him down, can't we?"
Chen Wang smiled faintly and ignored everything he said.
Li Gang felt helpless. What he said wasn't a lie. He was sure that Master Lei would target both Huang and him. And since they were in the same body, it was like killing two birds with one stone.
However, he knew he had no options left. In order to survive, he had to convince Master Huang to leave his body willingly, but he couldn't talk to him directly. Without a third party helping him communicate, it was impossible to even have a chance. This was the reason he had deliberately gotten himself captured back then.
Even if he had leverage against Master Huang at this time, it was pointless. If he threatened him, Master Huang would simply ignore the threat. In fact, it would only make him even more resolute. The reason was simple: he didn't have an ounce of trust in Li Gang. What if Li Gang retaliated using that leverage after Master Huang left his body?
Huang had no intention of going against Lei immediately. He wanted to silently take over Li Gang's body and disappear from this continent. He would slowly grow his power and only think about dealing with Lei if Lei made a move against him.
Li Gang smiled faintly. "You know, Uncle Huang is my elder. I won't cause any harm since we are family!"
Chen Wang scoffed at him.
Li Gang ignored his attitude as he continued, "My brother is the husband of Huang Ling, one of the top geniuses in this generation from Shadow Phoenix Sect. He might be the only blood relative left of Uncle Huang!"
It was Chen Wang's turn to be surprised. However, he immediately regained his composure. He wouldn't believe a single word Li Gang said and would instead seek Master Huang's opinion.
Now a question arises. Why didn't Li Gang pretend to be Master Huang? For example, faking sudden unconsciousness, then waking up and pretending to be him?
Unfortunately, this kind of tactic wouldn't work.
Li Gang was aware that Huang was a Rank 8 Warrior. He would have already taken precautions regarding something like this. For example, explaining to Chen Wang beforehand exactly when he would awaken each time he fainted, or providing certain code words every time he woke up to confirm his identity.
Li Gang wasn't foolish enough to try something like this on a Rank 8 Warrior.