Reborn Together: The General and I Reach for Power-Chapter 454 - 451 It’s Definitely Him
On the ships Li Tao brought, people were stationed, ready to kill as soon as the time ripened.
So, before the prefects arrived, more than half of Li Tao’s men had been lost, and the remaining prefects just needed to capture Meng Su and Song Xian.
But what if it wasn’t the prefects who came?
Ding Jun’s eyes narrowed, fearing to think further, he stared intently at those warships, silently counting. When the twentieth warship appeared, Ding Jun’s legs went weak.
Just the large warships numbered twenty, not to mention the smaller ones behind. The prefects couldn’t possibly deploy so many men.
Not only Ding Jun, but others on the ships also felt something was wrong.
Just as Ding Jun was about to order the ships to retreat, arrows were immediately shot from Meng Su and Song Xian’s ship.
The ship was already in chaos due to the massacre, and now suddenly under attack, the people on board had no strength to fight back.
The large ship brought by Meng Su and Song Xian slowly raised the Yellow Tooth Flag, the characters "Song" and "Meng" fluttered in the wind.
Ding Jun stood there without speaking; it was too late no matter what. The warships surrounded them, and apart from that, he saw small boats, carrying frogmen, approaching them. Even if they jumped into the sea, the frogmen would capture them.
Governor of Hai State Xue Yuanzong also noticed the anomaly.
They had already seen the ships gathered together, which should be the warships of Li Tao and Song Xian, but why did the number of warships appear so many?
Xue Yuanzong looked at the Prefect of Mingzhou: "Did the prince tell you how many ships Li Tao brought?"
The Prefect of Mingzhou nodded but quickly shook his head, unable to answer given the current situation. After a while, he said with a grim face, "There’s been a problem."
There must be a problem.
Because he saw the Yellow Tooth Flag on the ship, which only commanders sent by the imperial court could hang, and the flag should have a character for "Li" on it.
Xue Yuanzong’s face, which had always worn a smile, now completely dropped.
"What’s going on here?" Xue Yuanzong asked.
The Prefect of Mingzhou shook his head. This wasn’t right; they were supposed to be capturing Song Xian. Besides Song Xian’s few ships at sea, there should only be Li Tao’s.
The court shouldn’t have dispatched warships here. Even if the memorials he submitted reached the Capital City, the Emperor would inquire about the situation first, not send people so quickly.
The only explanation is that the court deliberately concealed this from them.
"The court has found out." Xue Yuanzong’s words made the Prefect of Mingzhou shiver.
All the officials on board showed expressions of terror. The court must have discovered their secret dealings with Prince Lu, and these warships were here to capture them.
"Return." The Prefect of Mingzhou instinctively ordered.
Xue Yuanzong said, "It’s too late."
Since they were here to capture them, everything must have been unveiled. Probably at the very moment they boarded the ship, someone had already taken over the government office. There were warships at sea, and people would be waiting to capture them upon landfall.
The court may have already accused Prince Lu of rebellion.
No officials here can escape.
"They’re coming, heading in our direction." The Prefect of Mingzhou took a sharp breath.
The people on Li Tao’s side might have already been apprehended, and they were now focusing on capturing them.
"Fire the arrows," Xue Yuanzong gritted his teeth, "since there’s no way out, we’ll fight them."
But as Xue Yuanzong’s words fell, no one dared to move.
"Can’t you hear me?" Xue Yuanzong looked at the generals around him, "What do you intend to do?"
"Those are the court’s ships," the general said tremblingly, "you see that flag... the person seems to be Commander Li of the Palace Department."
If they truly confronted Li You here, the charge of rebellion would be confirmed.
The people brought by the prefects, most unaware of Prince Lu’s affairs, thought they were capturing the smugglers Meng Su and Song Xian, each thinking it was their chance for merit, never expecting to directly oppose the Palace Department.
The Prefect of Mingzhou weakly leaned there, watching the warships coming closer.
Xue Yuanzong grabbed the Prefect of Mingzhou’s official robe, "What are you doing?"
"Just let it be," the Prefect of Mingzhou said tremulously, "if we don’t resist, perhaps there might be a way out for our families, but if we do... everything will be lost."
"Nonsense, you fool." Xue Yuanzong shouted, pushing the Prefect of Mingzhou hard. He stepped forward to personally seize a bow from the soldier’s hand and aimed at the main ship flying the Yellow Tooth Flag, but that shot eventually fell into the sea.
Xue Yuanzong drew the bow again, but before the arrow was released, a thorn fireball came flying at him.
Xue Yuanzong quickly dodged, falling awkwardly to the ground.
Li You looked at the warships brought by the prefects and ordered, "Tell Song Xian, let them go to the island; we’ll handle this." These few pests, he could crush with one foot.
With the initiative in their hands, this battle would go smoothly.
"After capturing them, immediately interrogate them about any other places besides that small island where Prince Lu might have hidden his forces." As Li You spoke, his brows furrowed. Although they caused significant losses to Prince Lu this time, after so many years of planning, there were likely still many who slipped through the net.
...
Song Xian and Meng Su’s ships were getting closer to that small island.
Chang Tong and Liu Ji did not bring many people; they needed to go earlier. That small island hid many of Prince Lu’s secrets, and perhaps the people there might know other hiding places for Prince Lu’s troops.
"Master," Chang An said, "the ship at sea belongs to Chang Tong and his men."
That ship wasn’t far from the shore, obviously looking for the right moment to go ashore and rescue people again.
"Go help them." With Song Xian’s order, the ships all moved closer.
With Song Xian’s ships joining, the spirits of the people on shore with Chang Tong were lifted. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"The master has arrived," Chang Tong said, "capture them."
The large ship lowered small boats, and Song Xian’s men began to land on the island one after another.
With reinforcements arriving, Vice General Wu and his men were clearly at a disadvantage.
Chang Tong watched Vice General Wu and his men retreating step by step, finally revealing a smile.
"How’s it going?" Chang An found Chang Tong and asked.
Just as Chang Tong was about to speak, he suddenly thought of the Commandery Princess on the ship. He grabbed Chang An’s arm: "I... I found someone... you..."
"What?" Chang An looked at the somewhat abnormal Chang Tong, guessing what he was trying to say.
Chang Tong said, "I found the Commandery Princess, the Commandery Princess..."
Chang An was puzzled, "You found the Commandery Princess? The Commandery Princess is on the ship behind."
"Not the Commandery Princess," Chang Tong said, "it’s the Commandery Princess... Guang... Princess Guangyang... no... she said she is the daughter of Chen Youli and Old Mrs. Chen..."
Chang An stood there, eyes full of disbelief, but he didn’t linger too long, grabbing Chang Tong’s shoulders: "What are you saying? You found the Commandery Princess’s mother? Where is she?"
"Right there," Chang Tong pointed behind Chang An, "on my ship."
Hearing this, Chang An turned and ran toward Song Xian, stumbling in his excitement. He had to immediately inform the master.
...
Sister Chen saw a ship approaching them, a young man standing on the bow.
"That’s my Military Governor."
Sister Chen heard Chang Jiu say.
Sister Chen watched the young man’s face becoming clearer and clearer, overlapping with the face she encountered on the sea years ago.
It’s him, indeed.
