Chapter 279: Spy
In the middle of the night, Su Yaoguang awoke with a start from her dream.
She had a dream in which Zhang Zhaodi died miserably on the way, and the bandit who killed her said, “Your good son-in-law can’t tolerate you.” When that knife swung toward Zhang Zhaodi, her eyes were full of despair, and her last words were, “Yaoguang, leave him.”
The Zhang Zhaodi in the dream was not in as good a condition as she was now; she had a head full of white hair and a face full of wrinkles, like a woman in her sixties or seventies.
Su Yaoguang clearly recognized that it was the Zhang Zhaodi from her previous life, not the one from this life who had not suffered much and later reunited with Su Rende.
Was this dream just a product of her wild thoughts, or was it warning her of something?
Su Yaoguang had experienced life and death and lived again; she never dared to underestimate any omen.
She could no longer sleep.
She wanted to find out if Xiao Yanci was at the border. If he was, was there some conspiracy?
Xiao Yanci’s “defeat” had been too hasty. He had Prime Minister Wang as his backer; if Prime Minister Wang wanted to protect him, he should not have been exiled so easily.
Unless this was part of their scheming from the beginning.
And that dream—was it something that had happened in her previous life? Had Xiao Yanci from her previous life really killed her mother?
Why?
What had her mother done to him? Where had she wronged him? Why did he have to kill her?
Su Yaoguang got up and wrote a letter, having it sent to Su Rende.
She could not take the slightest risk, so even if she had not seen clearly, she had to make Su Rende pay attention to this matter.
At dawn, Su Yaoguang personally went to the yamen to check the recently registered personnel information. In addition, she had the General’s Mansion people put some pressure on the yamen side, making the yamen strictly check incoming and outgoing personnel to ensure no spy could cause trouble right under their noses.
The yamen side tightened surveillance at the border; not only did lodging require documents or travel permits, but even buying grain required documents or travel permits. Moreover, they dispatched large numbers of people to patrol, and once any suspicious signs were found, they immediately detained the person for interrogation.
Su Yaoguang had been husband and wife with Xiao Yanci for many years and knew his habits well. Even though he had fallen on hard times, he still liked to be particular, so he retained many habits, such as drinking tea every day, eating delicious desserts, and not skimping on his meals.
Su Yaoguang could not draw portraits and thus could not depict Xiao Yanci’s appearance, so there was no way to search everywhere with his portrait. There was another reason: if the other side was hiding well, even showing his portrait would not help find him and might instead make him hide more carefully, so she could not beat the grass and startle the snake.
She sent people to stake out exactly the few places she mentioned.
“Eldest daughter…” Guard Tong Rong from the General’s Mansion ran in, excitedly saying, “There is news about that person you mentioned.”
“Are you sure it’s him?”
“Nine times out of ten; he matches very closely with what you described, Eldest daughter.”
“Do not beat the grass and startle the snake for now; keep a close eye on him, see who he contacts, and what he is secretly doing.”
“Yes.”
“Also, the patrol people can be withdrawn, but withdraw them slowly, not too obviously.”
Since Xiao Yanci had been found, things were easier. As long as he was watched closely, they would know what he was doing.
The butler walked over and said to Su Yaoguang, “There is a letter from the Great General.”
Su Yaoguang took it and said, “Thank you.”
She opened the letter, and upon seeing the contents, a strange light flashed in her eyes.
There was a problem with her father’s food; signs of poisoning had actually been found in it.
Normally, it would not have been discovered, but Su Yaoguang had sent a secret letter to Su Rende saying she suspected seeing Xiao Yanci here. Su Rende, worried, had his confidant check his food every day, even inspecting the water he drank, which was how the problem was found.
However, he did not expose it and pretended to eat the food. He was also waiting for the other side’s conspiracy to be revealed, then strike back in one fell swoop.
Xiao Yanci, you must not disappoint us.
Perhaps the border unrest from the beginning was a conspiracy to lure away Su Rende. Because Su Rende had too much of the Emperor’s trust, if he stayed in the capital city, it was like having a great mountain protecting the Emperor, making it hard for them to act. So they lured Su Rende back to the border and then schemed to deal with him.
If Su Rende died in battle at the border, a new general would come to take over this army. The ultimate control of this army would go to Prime Minister Wang’s people.
Xiao Yanci hiding at the border was not only to find an opportunity to assassinate Su Rende but also likely to find a chance amid the border warfare to make them lose battles, making it easier for their people to take over. Perhaps the one who desperately wanted to take control of the army was none other than Xiao Yanci.
Prime Minister Wang’s faction truly had good scheming.
This was an attempt at rebellion, an attempt to seize the throne.
“Eldest daughter…” Tong Rong found Su Yaoguang again. “Our people found Xiao Yanci; it turns out his parents were also exiled here. But his mother did not survive and has died. His father is still alive but is deranged.”
“Keep watching him first and see what he wants to do.”
The flames of war at the border began. The enemy country kept harassing the border, and the war was formally ignited.
News came from the front lines of Su Rende’s army’s battle achievements.
At first, Su Rende’s side was victorious in every battle, but in the third engagement, Su Rende did not appear.
The Su army retreated repeatedly.
“General Su won’t have met with an accident, will he?”
“General Su has never retreated before, but this time he did not fight; I’m afraid something really has happened.”
“Bad news, bad news…” A young man ran down the street. “The Su army has withdrawn from Anyue City.”
“How could this be? Anyue City is our key border fortress; if it falls, that means loss of territory. General Su is going to be punished!”
“My son is still in Anyue City; oh heaven, what are we to do?”
In the crowd, someone watched all this with eyes full of smug satisfaction.
As he turned to leave, two soldiers appeared in front of him.
His face changed drastically; he turned again, and two more soldiers appeared.
Su Yaoguang stood not far away, making a throat-slitting gesture toward him.
“It’s time to close the net.”
Xiao Yanci took out a whistle and was about to blow it when Tong Rong snatched it away.
Several guards took Xiao Yanci away.
As for the people Xiao Yanci had brought, they were all controlled.
“We meet again.”
“Su Yaoguang, you knew I was here long ago?”
“Didn’t you see me before? My eyesight has always been sharp; how could I mistake my enemy?”
“Su Yaoguang, even if you catch me, what use is it? It’s too late; your Su family will soon become departed souls under the knife.”
“Before that, you should worry about yourself. Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, how could I let you go?” Su Yaoguang looked at Tong Rong. “Have you checked those people he brought?”
“There are over fifty in total, all controlled. We have gathered enough evidence of his recent contacts with the enemy country, and we have also rooted out their informants in the army.”
