Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Hearing that Jia Yu was coming, Chu Ning was a little surprised, but his eyes still lit up:

"Master Xuan Jia, come in!"

The curtain was lifted, and a scholar in a blue robe walked in slowly.

He had a gaunt face and bright eyes. He was none other than Jia Yu, the best poison master under Chu Ning's command.

"His Majesty!"

Jia Yu bowed and saluted: "After you set off, I received the secret treasure of the Jinyiwei and learned that the Wei army had trained a set of formations!"

"During this period of time, I have already gained a glimpse of seven or eight aspects of this formation."

Chu Ning was overjoyed: "Master Jia, please come quickly!"

Jia Yu took out a scroll of silk from his sleeve and spread it out on the table.

Everyone gathered around and saw that it was covered with various formation changes, with small annotations next to them.

"I have been observing the formation for several days and found that this formation is based on the Eight Trigrams, with eight gates rotating."

Jia Yu pointed at the blueprint and explained, "But no matter how things change, the essence remains the same. The gate of life must be in the northeast, and the gate of death must be in the southwest. It's just..."

"Just what?" Chu Ning asked.

Jia Yu frowned slightly. "It seems Sima Yi has improved the formation and hidden a special force at the death gate. If our army enters from the life gate, they will be attacked from both sides."

Chu Ning pondered for a moment, then suddenly slammed the table and said, "I got it! Since Shengmen is a fraud, why don't we do the opposite?"

Jia Yu's eyes flashed: "Your Majesty, are you saying..."

"Pretend to attack the death gate, but actually take the life gate!" Chu Ning and Jia Yu said in unison.

The two men smiled at each other, but the generals in the tent were still confused.

Ma Chao scratched his head and said, "Your Majesty, I am stupid. What exactly does this mean?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "Don't worry, General Ma. I will take you to demonstrate it myself right away."

Ma Chao was delighted: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Jia!"

Han Xing laughed loudly and said, "Let's go. I'll go take a look too."

At the same time, in the Wei army camp, Sima Yi was furious.

"Trash! They are all a bunch of trash!"

He kicked over the table, spilling his writing brush, ink, and inkstone to the floor. "How could you possibly be completely unaware of the movements of Li Jing's 80,000-man army?"

General Xu Fang knelt on one knee, sweat on his forehead. "Your Majesty, calm down! I have sent three groups of scouts to investigate. We should have news within three days at the earliest."

"Three days?"

Sima Yi laughed in anger: "Wait three days, and Chu Ning's knife will probably be on my neck!"

Military officer Liu Yue said cautiously, "Your Majesty, perhaps... perhaps this is Chu Ning's plan to sow discord?"

Sima Yi turned around abruptly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Then tell me, why is Chu Ning speaking so confidently?"

"Also, why didn't he say 100,000 or 60,000, but 80,000?"

"If he didn't have any definite information, how could he be so sure?"

Liu Yue was speechless.

Indeed, if Chu Ning didn't have real intelligence, how could he say it so accurately?

"Send a pigeon to Li Jing immediately!"

Sima Yi gritted his teeth and said, "I want to ask him in person what his intentions are!"

"Then...are we still going to attack the city today?" Xu Fang asked tentatively.

Sima Yi took a deep breath and suppressed his anger: "Put aside the attack on the city until we find out Li Jing's movements."

He walked out of the tent and looked at the towering walls of Licheng, his eyes changing from gloomy to bright. "Chu Ning, what a great Chu Ning!"

At this time, on the city wall of Licheng, Chu Ning looked at the commotion in the Wei army camp from afar, with a sneer on his face.

The spring breeze blew across his silver armor, but it couldn't hide the smile on his face.

Xun Yu said softly, "Your Majesty, it seems Sima Yi has fallen into the trap."

Chu Ning nodded slightly: "Next, it depends on when Mr. Jia can completely break the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "Master Jia has come here in person, so he must be absolutely confident. Once we break the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, the Wei army will have nothing to rely on!"

Chu Ning raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a smile: "I hope Li Jing can attract some attention."

The March mountain breeze, carrying the lingering chill, swept across the winding mountain path.

Li Jing was leading 80,000 Tang troops on their way back to Luoyuepo. The sound of horse hooves and the collision of armor echoed in the valley.

In the distance, a carrier pigeon flapped its wings and fell from the sky, landing on the outstretched arm of vanguard officer Luo Tai.

"General, this is a letter from the Wei State via carrier pigeon." Luo Tai took out the bamboo tube and quickly handed it to Li Jing's horse.

Li Jing reined in his warhorse and frowned slightly as he took the bamboo tube.

He pulled out the letter and his eyes moved quickly between the lines.

As he read deeper, veins began to bulge under his graying temples, and the knuckles of his fingers holding the letter turned white from the force.

"Bastard!"

Li Jing suddenly roared, his voice resounding across the valley, startling the nearby war horses and causing them to neigh uneasily.

He threw the letter to the ground with such force that it seemed as if it was not a piece of paper but Sima Yi himself.

The surrounding generals looked at each other in confusion, and their horses paced uneasily.

Luo Tai carefully dismounted and picked up the crumpled letter. "General, what happened that makes you so angry? Could it be... that the Wei army was defeated?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the generals suddenly became nervous.

Xu Yan gripped the reins tightly, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. The soldier Sun Yu, who was twisting his beard, stopped his hand in mid-air. Even the usually calm veteran Zhou Ming widened his eyes.

In this joint attack on Chu, the 400,000-strong Wei army was the main force, and the 80,000 elite Tang troops were just supporting operations.

If the Wei army was really defeated, their isolated army would be caught in a dilemma.

"defeat?"

Li Jing sneered, the anger in his eyes almost turning into substance: "See for yourself!"

Luo Tai unfolded the letter and all the generals immediately gathered around him.

Sima Yi's handwriting on the letter was flamboyant, yet it contained an aggressive question:

"Why did General Li lead 80,000 troops to within 50 miles of Licheng without informing me? Could it be that he was planning to collude with the Chu army?

I have an alliance with the general. Where does this move by the general put the alliance? I hope you will reply quickly to clarify my doubts! "

"absurd!"

After reading it, Luo Tai's beard trembled with anger. "We were clearly on our way back to Luoyuepo. How could we have been to Licheng?"

Xu Yan slammed his fist on the saddle: "How dare that old bastard Sima Yi suspect us of collaborating with the enemy!"

"We traveled across mountains and rivers to help him defeat Chu, but he didn't even have the most basic trust in us!" Zhou Ming's face turned pale and his voice was as low as thunder.

Military officer Sun Yu plucked out several strands of his beard without realizing it. "General, this is clearly Chu Ning's plan to sow discord! Sima Yi fell for it so easily. It's really..."

"enough!"

Li Jing shouted, interrupting the generals' indignation. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he glanced at the generals who had served him for many years.

"Since Sima Yi suspects us, then let him have his way!"

He turned to the military officer Sun Yu and said, "Write back to Sima Yi and tell him that our army is on its way back to Luoyuepo. Tell him to have a decisive battle with the Chu army in Licheng. As for our army—"

Li Jing sneered, "Just hold back 150,000 Chu troops at Luoyue Slope and help him contain the enemy!"

"150,000?" Xu Yan blurted out, "Aren't there only 60,000 Chu troops at Luoyue Slope?"

Li Jing's sharp eyes pierced Xu Yan like a knife: "I said 150,000, and that's 150,000!"

The chill in his voice instantly silenced Xu Yan, who quickly bowed his head and clasped his fists: "I have spoken out of turn!"

The surrounding generals suddenly realized what was going on.

General Li was really angry and deliberately falsified the number of Chu troops, using this as an excuse to stop going to Licheng for support.

Since Sima Yi didn't trust them, they were happy to stand by and watch.

"The general is wise!"

Luo Tai was the first to react and echoed loudly: "There are indeed 150,000 Chu troops at Luoyue Slope. I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Yeah!"

Zhou Ming quickly responded, "Guan Yun is very cunning. He secretly increased his troops by nearly 100,000. If it weren't for the general's sharp eyes, he would have almost deceived us!"

The generals talked one after another and soon made the lie of "150,000 Chu troops" perfect.

Li Jing watched coldly, neither confirming nor denying, but the sneer on the corner of his mouth became more and more profound.

Sun Yu quickly drafted a reply letter. Li Jing nodded slightly after reading it. Sun Yu immediately rolled up the letter, stuffed it into a bamboo tube, and handed it to the messenger to fly away.

Looking at the carrier pigeon flapping its wings and flying towards the southeast, the anger in Li Jing's eyes gradually subsided, replaced by coldness.

He turned to the generals, his voice returning to its usual calmness: "Pass the order, all troops, accelerate and advance. We must reach Luoyue Slope before sunset tomorrow."

"Yes!" the generals responded in unison.

Li Jing rode his horse forward, with a new plan in mind.

Since Sima Yi was so suspicious, he would just go with the flow and preserve his strength with justification.

No matter who wins or loses the battle between Wei and Chu, his elite troops will become the key force that determines the outcome of the war.