With a million soldiers, the empress begged me not to rebel

After hearing these words from his confidant, Liu An fell into silence.

If we cooperate with the Beixiang Kingdom, there will be advantages and disadvantages.

His fingers tapped lightly on the table, his mind thinking of a strategy.

"Beixiang State must be given benefits before they can send troops."

"Your Excellency is wise!"

The confidant quickly added.

"We can return Jianmen Pass to them, and even give them Shannan Prefecture as well."

"Just think of it as... ceding territory and paying compensation in exchange for their cooperation."

Liu An pondered: "Shannan Prefecture... Shannan Prefecture..."

A fierce light flashed in his eyes, with a hint of determination.

"Yes, losing Shannan Prefecture is better than giving the entire Datong Dynasty to Lu Yan!"

"As long as we can get rid of him, everything will be worth it!"

"Sir, then...the Empress's side..."

The confidant carefully considered his words and asked cautiously.

It was as if he was afraid that a wrong syllable would anger the beast in front of him that was about to devour him.

Liu An sneered and waved his hand disdainfully, as if he was driving away an annoying fly.

"She's just a woman, what kind of waves can she stir up?"

"The only troops she can mobilize now are probably the Yulin Army."

"Other forces, huh, have long been firmly under my control!"

"She is just a puppet kept in the dark by me now, there is no need to be afraid of her!"

He walked to the window, stood with his hands behind his back, a sinister glint in his eyes.

"Lu Yan, ah Lu Yan, you shouldn't have blocked my way!"

"I want to see how you can still jump around!"

Seeing that Liu An seemed to be in a better mood, the confidant dared to continue speaking:

"Your Excellency is wise! However... this secret letter is sent to Beixiang State, which is a long way off. What if..."

"Nothing unexpected!"

Liu An turned around suddenly, his eyes like knives piercing his heart.

"This matter can only succeed, not fail!"

"You must do it yourself and make sure to deliver the secret letter to the King of Beixiang!"

"Remember, this matter is of great importance and there must be no mistakes!"

"Yes, sir! I will not hesitate to die!"

The confidant was frightened by Liu An's momentum and trembled all over, and quickly knelt down to accept the order.

So, a secret letter was quietly sent to Beixiang State.

……

In Shannan Prefecture, in Lu Yan's study, the atmosphere was as heavy as the dark clouds before a storm.

"Sir, the water behind this gambling house is deeper than we thought!"

Li Kui scratched the back of his head, looking depressed.

He originally thought that he could rely on his identity and the skills he had acquired under Lu Yan.

Isn't it easy to find out some information?

Who knew that the person behind this gambling house was as slippery as a loach.

He failed several times and even nearly exposed his identity a few times.

Lu Yan glanced at him sideways, with a hint of ridicule in his tone:

"What's going on? Xiao Kui, the omnipotent guardian who used to be able to climb walls and fly across rooftops in the Shura Sect, now can't even run a gambling house?"

When Li Kui heard this, he immediately became anxious:

"Sir, please don't make fun of me!"

"The people behind this gambling house are very secretive. I was able to escape their clutches several times."

"And they seem to have noticed someone is secretly investigating, so they are now more cautious."

Lu Yan tapped the table lightly with his fingers, his brows furrowed.

He knew that what Li Kui said was true, and the power behind this gambling house was definitely not ordinary.

If left unchecked, it will sooner or later become a cancer in Shannan Prefecture.

"It seems that we have no choice but to resort to tough measures." A cold light flashed in Lu Yan's eyes.

"My lord, what you mean is..."

Li Kui's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.

Lu Yan raised his mouth with a cold smile:

"Since they won't cooperate, let's just raid their lair!"

"Xiao Kui, bring the broadsword team you trained, and we'll go meet these rats tonight!"

As night fell, Shannan Prefecture was shrouded in darkness.

Inside the gambling house, the lights were bright and the crowds were bustling, with no one aware of the approaching danger.

Li Kui, along with a group of barbarian soldiers, sneaked into the gambling house quietly.

They all held sharp swords and had cold eyes, like Shuras from hell.

"Do it!"

With Li Kui's order, the big knife team rushed into the gambling house in an instant.

There were flashes of swords and screams one after another.

The gamblers fled in all directions and the scene was in chaos.

The owner of the gambling house, a fat man with big ears.

Looking at the group of killers in front of him, he was so scared that his face turned pale and his whole body trembled.

He never thought that Lu Yan would dare to lead troops to raid his gambling house!

"You... who are you? How dare you..."

Before he could finish, Li Kui put a knife on his neck and said in a cold tone:

"It doesn't matter who we are. What's important is that you explain who is behind this gambling house!"

The grease on the shopkeeper's face had been washed away by the cold sweat, leaving only a pale face.

Li Kui's sword was still on his neck, and the chill of the blade made him shiver uncontrollably.

The gambling house was in a mess and the gamblers had long since run away.

The air was filled with the nauseating smell of blood and sweat.

"Master, good man! Please spare my life! I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child..."

The shopkeeper had a sad face and begged for mercy tremblingly.

Li Kui clicked his tongue impatiently.

"Stop talking nonsense! I don't have time to listen to your crying and wailing!"

"Tell me quickly, who is behind this gambling house?"

The shopkeeper was so frightened that he spilled out everything he knew.

It turns out that the country of Java to the west is involved behind this gambling house!

The King of Java heard about this tiny place called Shannan Prefecture.

He actually conquered the fierce barbarians and developed prosperously. I felt curious and jealous.

Especially some of the novel gadgets produced in Shannan Prefecture made him salivate.

In addition, Shannan Prefecture had recently won a great victory over Beixiang State, and the King of Java could no longer sit still.

They sent people to open gambling houses in Shannan Prefecture, claiming to entertain the public.

In fact, he was secretly collecting intelligence and smuggling some rare goods from Shannan Prefecture back.

After listening to Li Kui's report, Lu Yan looked calm, as if he had expected it.

"Java? Ha, I never thought that these monkeys would dare to reach out to me."

Li Kui scratched his head.

"Sir, Java is on the other side of the canal. How do they know about our Shannan Prefecture?"

Lu Yan sneered.

“There is no impenetrable wall in this world.”

"Sooner or later, the things I do will attract the attention of various forces."

"Java was just the first to jump out."

"So what do we do next?"

Li Kui asked.

A cold light flashed in Lu Yan's eyes.

"Since they want to play, I'll play with them!"

"Xiao Kui, go to Java yourself and give me a 'gift'!"

When Li Kui heard this, he immediately became excited.

"Sir, you want to..."

Lu Yan leaned close to Li Kui's ear and whispered a few words.

Li Kui nodded repeatedly with a sinister smile on his face.

"Hey, sir, you're wise! I'll do it right away!"