Pick up a princess to be your wife

"Urgent report from the front: General Zhao has captured and brought control of Lushui. Your Majesty is requested to proceed to Lushui immediately to meet with General Zhao. General Zhao has advised that our movements be kept secret and that we advance stealthily."

"Understood. All troops, listen up! Disperse and proceed to Lushui County at full speed."

Before dawn, Li Mu led the vanguard and was the first to arrive outside Lushui County.

The military report said that Lushui had been captured by Zhao Cuo, but Lushui County was still in the midst of a battle of attack and defense.

Could it be that Zhao Cuo has been fighting for so long but still hasn't taken down Lushui?

That doesn't make sense. Zhao Cuo wouldn't lie about military reports. If he said he had captured Lushui, then he definitely had.

Looking at the battlefield situation, although the momentum was great, the attacking side was fighting sparsely and did not gain any advantage.

Such fighting strength and morale are completely unlike those of the White Horse Army.

Moreover, Zhao Cuo arrived at Lushui last night and had artillery support, so how could they have fought until almost dawn without taking Lushui?

With the Divine Cannon Army present, two or three shots from the Dragon Pattern Cannon would be enough to blast through a section of the city wall.

Not only did they not hear any cannon fire, but the Divine Gun Army had also vanished without a trace.

The attacking side was clearly not the White Horse Army, otherwise they wouldn't have performed so poorly.

Upon closer inspection, Li Mu discovered even more clues.

He became increasingly certain that the attackers were not the White Horse Army.

Could it be that Zhao Cuo was attacked by the Green Forest Army after entering the city?

But given Zhao Cuo's personality, he would never be able to hold out against such a sporadic attack.

A single charge by the Vanguard Army could reduce the attacking forces outside the city to rubble.

Li Mu led the vanguard, slowly approaching the city wall.

From a distance, the two sides appeared to be fighting fiercely, but up close, the scale of the battle was even more impressive.

But in reality, the two sides did not fight to the death; they were using wooden guns and swords, as if they were conducting a drill.

What is this scenario?

At this moment, several soldiers rushed towards Li Mu.

The leading soldier bowed to Li Mu and said, "Please enter the city, General Zhao is waiting for you there."

"Uncle Xingzhou, we must not rush into the city, lest we be tricked," Ma Chao whispered.

"This was a plan devised by General Zhao. General Zhao is indeed waiting for you all inside the city," the leading soldier continued.

Ma Chao was still reluctant to enter the city, fearing it was a treacherous plot by the Green Forest Army.

However, Li Mu did not think so; the Green Forest Army did not have the ability to eliminate Zhao Cuo overnight.

Zhao Cuo should be inside the city, and has already completely taken control of Lushui County.

As for why there are siege drills outside the city, we'll have to go inside and meet Zhao Cuo to find out.

"Let's go into the city."

"Uncle Xingzhou..."

Li Mu smiled faintly and spurred his horse forward.

Even if it's a treacherous scheme, so what? Let them into the city, hoping to trap them like turtles in a jar? It's not certain who will catch whom.

After Li Mu and his group entered the city, Zhao Cuo led Chen Quanzhong out.

"Second brother, how is it?"

Li Mu nodded slightly, indicating that it was not bad.

“This is Chen Quanzhong, and this is my second brother. As for His Majesty, I don’t need to introduce him further, do I?” Zhao Cuo said.

"Chen Quanzhong, a criminal, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Brother, there's no need for such formalities."

Li Mu dismounted and pulled Chen Quanzhong up.

Chen Quanzhong had heard of many famous craftsmen in the White Horse Army before, such as the indomitable Zhao Cuo, the skilled archer and horseman Zhong Wu, and the two brilliant commanders Ma Rulong and Xiong Wenjing, among others.

Li Mu's fame is in no way inferior to that of others.

He gained fame by seizing both the Queen of Chu and the Queen of Yan.

However, Chen Quanzhong knew very little about Li Mu's military achievements.

Not only Chen Quanzhong, but people around the world find it hard to understand why the emperor of Da Ning was not Li Ertie, but Li Mu.

The world has changed dynasties, and the White Horse Army would never put a puppet on the throne.

"Zhao Cuo, was this all your idea?" Li Mu asked.

"How about it, second brother? Am I smart?"

Li Mu couldn't help but give Zhao Cuo a thumbs up.

Li Mu already understood what Zhao Cuo meant.

Lushui County pretended to be engaged in a major battle to deceive others.

Now Li Mu has ample time to deal with various situations.

Zhao Cuo asked Chen Quanzhong to reiterate the information he knew to Li Mu, and Chen Quanzhong immediately told him the truth.

Seeing that Zhao Cuo and Chen Quanzhong seemed quite familiar with each other, Li Mu was somewhat puzzled.

"Are you old acquaintances?"

“Do you remember when my second brother asked me to go to Baiyujing to rescue Ma Rulong’s family? I rescued them on a whim back then, but I never expected to meet them in the East China Sea,” Zhao Cuo explained.

"I see. I didn't expect Brother Chen to be an old acquaintance of Zhao Cuo." Li Mu nodded slightly.

"How dare a traitorous criminal like myself associate with General Zhao?"

Li Mu smiled faintly, unconvinced.

"The East Coast is being manipulated by the general trend, and there are people secretly manipulating power. They are targeting my Great Ning Kingdom, not you."

As for the clandestine force you mentioned, it's a martial arts organization called Tiandu. And the army you described, formed by martial arts figures, must have originated from Tiandu.

Li Mu said.

Now that Tiandu has formed an army and is currently entrenched in Bohai County.

Therefore, Tian Du's stronghold should be located in Bohai County.

The ancestral homes of the Sima clan of Donghai and the Gao clan of Bohai were both in Bohai County, while the ancestral home of the Cui clan was in Qinghe County.

Now that he had the general information, Li Mu felt it was time to make a move.

“Your plan is good, but it won’t fool those people for long. Since you’ve promised to help Brother Chen rescue his man, you need to get him out before word gets out,” Li Mu said.

“I understand,” Zhao Cuo replied.

"You will immediately send three thousand men, along with three hundred personal guards, to secretly infiltrate Qinghe County. The goal is to rescue them without making a sound. Get them out first. What happens after that is up to you," Li Mu said.

"Yes!"

"General Zhao, I am willing to accompany you to infiltrate Qinghe County," Chen Quanzhong said, cupping his hands in greeting.

Zhao Cuo thought about it and realized that Chen Quanzhong was highly skilled in martial arts and might be able to be his personal bodyguard.

"Okay, I'll take you with me."

Originally, Li Mu wanted to tell Zhao Cuo to try his best to save people, and if he really couldn't, then so be it.

However, considering Zhao Cuo's personality, he never hesitates to take action when necessary, so he probably doesn't need to be taught.

Just as Zhao Cuo was about to rescue someone, Sima Xiangyue was also secretly heading to Bohai to gather information.

Li Mu could choose to go to Bohai to meet Sima Xiangyue first.

After Zhao Cuo's side finished rescuing people and the fighting started, the White Horse Army launched another attack on Bohai County.

As for Lushui County, let's just leave it at that for now.

Once the fighting starts in the Bohai Sea, there will be no need for any more drama in the Lushui River.

Without hesitation, Li Mu and Zhao Cuo split up and acted separately.

Zhao Cuo led his men to Qinghe, while Li Mu led the main force to disperse and head towards the Bohai Sea.

The Tokaido region is in chaos right now, so marching in secret shouldn't be a big problem.