Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 389: Plotting for Jiangnan

The soldiers wanted to go back, but the soldiers on duty would naturally prevent them.

Some soldiers learned through letters from home that their old mother was sick, their father broke his leg during harvest, the sister married into another family was not doing well, the parents were uncared for, and the crops in the field were unharvested. How could they stay in Fengzhou any longer?

Seeing the soldiers on duty block them, they started breaking through by force and blood was shed.

By the time Prince Huai and others arrived, one to two thousand people had already run away.

In some camps, all one thousand people in the camp had fled.

Because the captain in the camp also received a letter from home, advising him to return quickly, saying his parents missed him.

...

Although those who ran away were not a large proportion of the tens of thousands in Prince Huai’s army, the impact was tremendous.

The matter of the letters from home had already spread.

The soldiers of the Huai Army learned that Chen Mo did not retaliate against their families but rather treated them kindly. This made the soldiers who initially harbored deadly intentions, wanting revenge for their families, dwell on the matter again.

They dared not sacrifice their lives for Prince Huai anymore; after all, this time Chen Mo spared their families, but what about next time?

They just wanted to go back and serve their parents quickly.

Therefore, for those Huai Army soldiers who had already escaped, their comrades did not view them as deserters but rather envied them, feeling that they finally could reunite with their parents.

Prince Huai, in a fit of anger, fainted again with a fiery heart.

Diwu Fusheng’s face also looked grim.

So many letters from Huai State could appear in the camps without anyone knowing and spread on a large scale in such a short time.

It was clear that many spies from the Chen Army had infiltrated the Huai Army.

Yet, at this moment, the army’s internal focus was not on clearing the Chen Army’s spies and controlling the influence of the letters but rather on vying for power.

That’s right, vying for power.

Although Prince Huai merely fainted and was not dead, someone still had to handle the letters, and quickly; the longer the delay, the greater the impact. After Prince Huai fainted, no one was able to make decisions.

Some proposed Madam Hui step in.

But she was immediately opposed, saying women should not interfere in politics. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Then the Li Family stood up, suggesting Grand Prince Chu Shou should intervene.

They said that when Grand Prince was in Huai Zhou City, Prince had sent him to train in the army. After Prince left, he even entrusted the Imperial Guard to Grand Prince, clearly showing Grand Prince had Prince’s trust and could undertake this heavy responsibility.

However, Xiao and Gan Families opposed, and even the Xiao Family opposed.

The reason given was simple, saying Grand Prince had always been in the rear and knew nothing about the army.

They even openly revealed Chu Shou’s scars, saying he caused the Imperial Guard to be wiped out and ended up captured by Chen Mo.

Given the alliance between the Xiao and Gan Families, Xiao Family also did not favor Chu Shou, resulting in far fewer army supporters for Chu Shou compared to opposers.

Chu Ce, as Prince Huai’s confidant and grand general, could certainly not support any side during Prince Huai’s coma; otherwise, it would be tantamount to siding with a faction.

It would also displease Prince Huai.

Diwu Fusheng found this issue thorny as well, feeling it inappropriate to get involved and could only do it alone.

Fortunately, Prince Huai did not remain unconscious for long before waking up.

Upon learning that internal power struggles had occurred during his unconscious hours, Prince Huai was almost furious, coughing violently, glaring at everyone, and shouting angrily, "I am not dead yet, what are you trying to do, divide the family?"

However, at this moment, Prince Huai realized that if he were not present, a big mess could occur, so he had to designate someone trustworthy to lead the overall situation in his absence.

The person must be someone whom he trusted enough.

Prince Huai glanced at Chu Ce and Diwu Fusheng again, but he was not rushing to decide right then, deciding to wait and see.

"I have decided," Prince Huai said in a deep voice, "Antake Fusheng’s suggestion, and let General Chu Ce lead twenty thousand troops to assist Longyou."

Diwu Fusheng continued, "The matter must be kept confidential, and it’s best to find the spies before dispatching troops, then proceed through West River into Longyou to avoid Chen Mo learning in advance."

"Good." Prince Huai felt that preserving Jiangnan was of utmost importance, although the path to Jiangnan was sealed, preventing Jiangnan’s grain from being transported to Fengzhou, no matter what, Jiangnan must not fall into Chen Mo’s hands.

If otherwise, Chen Mo would lack nothing.

...

Wuguan.

Chen Mo indeed intended to attack Jiangnan and had summoned Geng Songfu, Liu Ji, and a group of military generals, including three newly joined middle-grade martial artists named Song Shiming, Deng Tian, and Luo Hai.

Among them, Song Shiming was Fifth Grade, Deng Tian and Luo Hai were Sixth Grade.

All from noble clans, each with family backing.

Jiangnan had no troops from Prince Huai, only local garrison soldiers.

All the garrison soldiers in various parts of Jiangnan added up to no more than twenty thousand because Jiangnan was situated in the south, serving as the core of Great Song, unassailable by others, requiring few garrisons.

These garrison soldiers, back in the seventh year of Xuanhe, even obeyed the Court’s orders. But following the Emperor’s Blood Letter incident’s outbreak, and Prince Huai’s expedition to support the King, these garrison soldiers detached themselves from the Court’s control because Xiao Family, through their influence in Jiangnan, with Prince Huai’s assistance, held these garrison soldiers in private hands.

Later, Xiao Family assisted Prince Huai by having Xiao Chongrong lead ten thousand garrison soldiers out of Jiangnan.

However, Xiao Family never expected Xiao Chongrong to be killed by Lu Sheng.

When Xiao Chengren died, these garrison soldiers did not return to Jiangnan and were received by Prince Huai.

Meaning currently, Jiangnan doesn’t even have ten thousand defending troops.

This fact was told to Chen Mo by Liu Ji.

Liu Ji had followed Prince Huai for so long, this matter was not a secret in Prince Huai’s army at the time.

Now Jiangnan was practically in Chen Mo’s pocket, with few defending troops, wouldn’t it be readily seized?

If not seized, heaven would blame Chen Mo.

Not to mention, Princess Consort Huai was also in his hands, she can be of use at critical times.

The final decision was made to attack Jiangnan after the spring of next year.

The reason for waiting until next year was because it was already mid-September, and army rest and preparation took time; here was not Linzhou after all, Chen Mo was not particularly familiar, and once preparations were complete, it would be winter.

Winter was not suitable for combat.

Additionally, his soldiers hadn’t seen their families for a long time, and it was time to grant them a leave.

...

That night.

Chen Mo found Xiao Yunxi.

Xiao Yunxi and her child had moved out from the house where they were detained and lived with Chen Mo and Chu Juan in a mansion.

As for his current relationship with her, Chen Mo did not hide it from Chu Juan, directly informing her.

Chu Juan, although didn’t voice any concerns, was quite surprised inwardly.

After all, in her heart, Xiao Yunxi was such an exalted figure, untouchable, but now she had to be subordinate to someone.

This made Chu Juan suddenly feel balanced in her heart.