Chapter 1625: Rising to power through betrayal!

Damao Mountain, an unnamed valley in the northwest
Habib was practicing Chinese characters seriously in the tent. A middle-aged scholar was waiting carefully beside him. After a cup of tea, Habib put down the brush in his hand, pointed at the Chinese characters on the table, and asked the middle-aged scholar:

“Mr. Chen, how do you think I wrote this Analects?”

Chen Zhongshu looked at the crooked words on the paper: “Isn’t it a pleasure to learn and practice from time to time? Is it not a pleasure to have friends coming from afar? Is it not a pleasure to be not angry when people don’t know me? Is it not a gentleman? I examine myself three times a day: am I not loyal when I work for others? Am I not trustworthy when I interact with friends? Do I not practice what I have learned?” He was very impressed and said:
“Great Khan, you are a genius. The Chinese language is profound and extensive. I never thought that you could master it in just ten days. Your potential is limitless!”

Hearing what Chen Zhongshu said, Habib smiled and shook his head and said:

“According to what you people in the Central Plains say, are you trying to flatter me?”

Chen Zhongshu, whose thoughts were exposed, looked a little embarrassed. Habib seemed to have remembered something and immediately spoke again:

“Mr. Chen, you said you had met Ye Mingsheng, right?”

“Yes! I once worked in the military department of the Great Zhou Dynasty. At that time, Ye Mingsheng was a member of the Imperial Guards. I met him once and exchanged a few words with him!”

“Does Ye Mingsheng still remember you now?”

Faced with this question, Chen Zhongshu looked a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment before speaking:
“This thief Ye Mingsheng has seized the Great Zhou Empire. He is so arrogant that he has probably forgotten me!”

Habib was not surprised to hear Chen Zhongshu’s answer, and immediately asked:
“Mr. Chen, it is said that Ye Mingsheng has the eyes of an eagle and the look of a wolf? Is that really the case?”

Chen Zhongshu thought for a moment and said:

“When I met him that year, I didn’t think he was anything special. But now thinking back, I think he knew how to lie dormant, how to forbear, and was cruel and vicious enough. He really had the style of Sima Yi…”

As soon as these words came out, Habib immediately became interested and asked again:
“Oh? Mr. Chen, what do you mean by that?”

“Ye Mingsheng was born in Zhaowu Camp, which is Shangguan Hongyuan’s personal guard camp. Shangguan Hongyuan recruited Ye Mingsheng and other young men into his personal guard camp because he wanted to train them as future officers of the Great Zhou Dynasty and make them loyal to him from a young age!”

“So after these young men grew up, Shangguan Hongyuan placed them in the Great Zhou Imperial Army and cultivated them carefully. Most of these young men who survived the war became officers under Shangguan Hongyuan’s cultivation!”

“Ye Mingsheng became the commander of the imperial guards only because of Shangguan Hongyuan’s training. Otherwise, how could he, an ordinary soldier from a humble family who had not made any major military achievements for the court, become a commander before he was thirty?”

“If anyone else had faced Shangguan Hongyuan’s cultivation, they would have been grateful and would repay the emperor’s kindness on the Golden Stage, and would have helped Yulong die for the emperor. However, Ye Mingsheng did not do so. He betrayed Xu Zhaojie and Chen Dechang one after another, and finally betrayed his master Shangguan Hongyuan and killed the entire Shangguan family!”

“Such heartless and heartless behavior is truly outrageous to both humans and gods, and is despised by the world…”

Listening to Chen Zhongshu’s name, Habib spoke with some surprise:

“Ye Mingsheng betrayed so many people?”

“Ye Mingsheng is a thief who gets to the top by betraying others. He will betray anyone who treats him well and stab you in the back!”

“Great Khan, don’t be fooled by the fact that he is so proud now. He has seized the throne of the Great Zhou and become the emperor himself. He looks like a wise ruler. But in fact, not to mention the people below, even those he promoted in the Great Qian Dynasty are very disgusted with Ye Mingsheng’s various behaviors!”

“These people have long been alienated from Ye Mingsheng. As long as you, the Khan, can strike Ye Mingsheng hard again, defeat the Daqian army, and slap Ye Mingsheng in the face, Ye Mingsheng will lose face in the Daqian court. At that time, those under him will surely rise up in rebellion. This is what they call “doing evil will lead to self-destruction!”

Looking at Chen Zhongshu, who was filled with righteous indignation and wanted to eat Ye Mingsheng’s flesh and sleep on his skin, Habib couldn’t help but ask:
“Mr. Chen, if you hate Ye Mingsheng so much, why do you want to work for him?”

After hearing this, Chen Zhongshu, who had just been gritting his teeth at Ye Mingsheng, froze in anger. He hesitated for a moment before speaking:
“I’ll be honest with you, Khan. Although I despise Ye Mingsheng’s actions, I have to live, so I have to compromise under his coercion. However, Ye Mingsheng’s tyrannical actions are really hard for me to accept, so in the end I can only resign and leave!”

Hearing the words “dismiss and leave”, Habib blinked and said tentatively:

“Mr. Chen, I also know something about Ye Mingsheng’s reforms. I heard that the core part of Ye Mingsheng’s reforms is layoffs. For this reason, he laid off tens of thousands of Daqian officials. It seems that you are also on the layoff list…”

Listening to Habib’s words, Chen Zhongshu’s face was also very embarrassed, but he also had something to say:
“The Khan is like this! After I couldn’t accept Ye Mingsheng’s tyrannical behavior, I was dismissed from office. In order to cover up their evil deeds, they could only attack me and say that I was fired by them, but in fact I was dismissed from office!”

“Since ancient times, the Han people and the thieves cannot coexist! I, Chen Zhongshu, will never collude with a thief like Ye Mingsheng and become his accomplice and lackey!”

Habib looked at Chen Zhongshu, who looked righteous, and was very disdainful in his heart, but a smile still appeared on his face. He said:

“Very good! Mr. Chen, you are very good! Our Golden Horde needs a righteous man like you who knows Daqian very well and has justice in his heart. I believe you will play a significant role in our Golden Horde!”

Hearing Habib’s praise, Chen Zhongshu was immediately delighted and bowed and said:

“I am willing to serve the Khan at my utmost!”

Just as Habib was about to continue to comfort Chen Zhongshu, Umar walked into the tent. Umar glanced at Chen Zhongshu and then looked at Habib.

Chen Zhongshu originally thought that Habib would say something like there were no outsiders here, but to his disappointment, Habib did not say a word. Seeing this, Chen Zhongshu also understood that Habib did not trust him as much as he said…

Chen Zhongshu was a little frustrated after realizing this, but he also bowed to Habib very tactfully and said:
“Khan! I am leaving now!” “Well! Mr. Chen, have a good rest!”

After Chen Zhongshu left the tent, Umar said with some dissatisfaction:

“Great Khan, why are you so polite to this county magistrate who was fired by Daqian?”

“I heard that he was a T-rank official in Daqian. After their Guanzhong Provincial Administration Commissioner dismissed him, they were going to bring him to Luo’an. But he bribed the guards and escaped in the dark. Why are you wasting your time talking to a jerk like him?”

Hearing Umar’s words, Habib smiled and said:

“Umar, who do you think is our biggest enemy right now?”

Faced with this question, Umar answered without hesitation:

“Of course it’s Daqian! These people are now fighting on the grassland!”

“Umar, when we were hunting since we were little, the elders in our tribe taught us that if you want to hunt prey, you must understand your prey. You need to know where it makes its nest and what it likes to eat. Only by knowing these can you deal with your prey!”

“The same principle applies to Daqian. Umar, do you know Daqian?”

Umar hesitated a little after hearing this, but in the end he shook his head honestly. Seeing this, Habib said meaningfully:

“Umar, you don’t understand Daqian, and I don’t understand Daqian either, but Chen Zhongshu does. If we want to defeat Daqian and Ye Mingsheng, we must first understand Daqian and Ye Mingsheng. We need to know what kind of person Ye Mingsheng is and how the Daqian court he leads operates!”

“Only by knowing this will I have the opportunity to bring Ye Mingsheng to Lesa City as a guest and let him taste what our Kipchak wine tastes like…”

Hearing his brother say this, Umar had nothing else to say. Seeing that Umar was silent, Habib also instructed:
“I know you look down on Chen Zhongshu! But we need him now, so you must respect him and never neglect him, let alone bully him. If anyone does something out of line, I will not forgive him!”

Feeling the chill in Habib’s words, Umar shuddered, then nodded repeatedly and said:

“I understand, Great Khan! We will respect him!”

After hearing this answer, Habib nodded slightly, and then asked again:

“What are you looking for from me?”

When Habib asked this, Umar finally remembered to report:

“Great Khan, the Luobi people and the Daqian army are marching out!”

Habib was immediately shocked when he heard this. Without waiting for Umar to continue, he asked directly:
“How many troops did they send? Where are they now?”

“They sent out about 50,000 troops. According to your instructions, in order to avoid alerting the enemy, our scouts did not stick close to them, nor did they catch their enemies. However, judging by the military flags and clothing, the Daqian army should have 20,000 troops, and the Luobi people should have 30,000!”

“According to the distance and their speed, they should have arrived at Damao Mountain by now and should be entering the territory of the Khanate soon!”

Hearing Umar’s words, Habib immediately looked at the map. After thinking carefully, he asked:
“I remember I left a troop of soldiers in Baduopo!”

“Yes! Great Khan, you left Bisuma and more than a thousand soldiers there and asked them to monitor the movements of the Robe people!”

“Any news about Bisuma and the others?”

“not yet!”

Habib hesitated for a moment and said:
“Let our scouts continue to observe the enemy’s movements. We must not alert the enemy. It is better to stay far away and not be discovered…”

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Night, Palace

Ye Mingsheng looked at Shen Yutong who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and a hint of pity appeared in his expression.

He knew very well that he had never loved Shen Yutong, and the two of them got together because of a misunderstanding!
But not loving does not mean having no feelings. After all, Shen Yutong had followed Ye Mingsheng since the Liaoyang period, and she even gave birth to a son for Ye Mingsheng.

So, although Ye Mingsheng does not care about Shen Yutong and his second son Jingcheng as much as he does about An Miaoyi and her son, Pei Zhixiu and her son, etc., there is still family affection between them.

Because he hadn’t been here for a long time, Ye Mingsheng was a little unfamiliar when he came today. He asked about Jingcheng’s studies in a routine manner and showed concern for Shen Yutong’s recent life. Maybe it was because Pei Zhixiu greeted Shen Yutong today, so Shen Yutong was very restrained when facing Ye Mingsheng today, and did not say any sour or weird words to Ye Mingsheng like she did before with Lin Daiyu.

After expressing his fatherly love to Jingcheng, Ye Mingsheng also said some intimate words to Shen Yutong, who was also somewhat moved.
Shen Yutong was also a little moved, but maybe because of the excessive consumption at Pei Zhixiu’s place last night, Ye Mingsheng was a little tired, so Ye Mingsheng originally planned to hang up the banner of no battle and talk with Shen Yutong to comfort her…
But looking at Shen Yutong’s disappointed eyes, Ye Mingsheng couldn’t bear it. He knew that although Jingcheng was eight years old now, Shen Yutong was only in her early thirties, which was the prime time when she needed the nourishment of love.

Ignoring her for more than half a year means Shen Yutong has to live a widow. If it were somewhere else, it would be entirely possible for her to have an affair. Unfortunately, this is the imperial palace, and An Miaoyi is very strict, so Shen Yutong can only bear it silently by herself!

Now that he had finally come, he should fulfill his responsibilities as a husband, so in order to make up for his injustice to Shen Yutong and her son, Ye Mingsheng forced himself to attack Shen Yutong…