Chapter Fifty-Seven Aftermath

  Gao Yuan and Li Yinghong arrived at the front hall together, where they met Li Mu and Zhao Xuan.

  After they exchanged greetings, Li Mu said: "Your complexion looks good, are your injuries all healed?"

  Gao Yuan nodded and said: "Thanks for General's concern, I'm fine now."

  "With your injuries, you should at least be in bed for half a month before you can get up. It's impossible to recover completely in just two days."

  Gao Yuan didn't hide it from them either, and told the story of the amulet again. Fortunately, Li Mu and Zhao Xuan had also heard Gao Yuan mention it before, that time when he burst out in a big explosion while surrounded by the Qin army, which was the effect of this amulet, giving him tremendous power. Therefore, they didn't think there was anything unusual about it either. Although Zhao Xuan still had some lingering doubts from last time, he couldn't see what was special about this amulet either.

  Li Mu smiled and said: "It seems that your amulet is indeed a rare treasure. It's no wonder you're the Star General."

  Zhao Xuan said, "If it wasn't for the amulet giving you strength this time, how did you manage to defeat that giant of a man? I've seen his corpse, he had many wounds. It seems like both of you suffered heavy losses."

  Gao Yuan finally told the story of his battle with Lie Bo. Because he had personally experienced this battle, and it was indeed fraught with danger, Gao Yuan's expressive abilities were also quite strong, so he spoke with ups and downs, extremely thrilling. Although Li Yinghong knew that Gao Yuan would ultimately emerge victorious, when he reached the climax of the story, she listened with a changed expression several times, even grabbing Gao Yuan's hand without realizing it. Li Mu was also somewhat moved, and only after Gao Yuan finished speaking did everyone let out a sigh of relief.

  Zhao Xuan also nodded and said, "It seems that Lei Bo's strength is far above yours, but in the end you were still able to defeat him and kill him. Although there was a certain element of luck, it was mainly due to your hard work and seizing every opportunity. To be honest, if I were in your position, I'm not sure I could have defeated Lei Bo."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "General Zhao has been too kind, in fact this battle I actually won was quite fortunate, and after this battle, I also found that my strength is still greatly lacking, so I must continue to practice diligently. After all, whether on the battlefield or in personal martial arts competitions, it's all based on one's actual strength. This time I can win with tactics and luck, but next time I may not have such good luck, so I must improve my own strength. I also hope General Zhao can give me some advice."

  Zhao Xuan nodded and said: "As long as you are willing, you can come find me anytime."

  At this time, Gao Yuan asked again: "What about the situation later? I remember that Zhao Yang was in that martial arts hall at the time, and he even blocked the door of the martial arts hall, not allowing you to enter."

  Li Yinghong said: "What else can be done? Xiao Huan was found in that martial arts hall, and Zhao Yang must have been involved. So when you came out, I ordered the soldiers to attack. If Zhao Yang resisted, he would be killed on the spot. But that kid is actually a coward. As soon as he saw me coming, he was scared and immediately surrendered, saying he wanted to go to the king to clarify things. If General Zhao hadn't stopped me, I would have killed him with one sword at the time."

  Li Mu smiled and said: "You this impulsive person, when can you change? Fortunately, you didn't kill him, otherwise things would be hard to settle."

  Li Yinghong also felt puzzled and said, "What's wrong with arresting them now? The matter is already clear. This martial arts school must be related to Zhao Yang. The kidnapping of Huan'er was definitely done under Zhao Yang's instructions, either to make him look like a good person by returning Huan'er to Wen Qing's sister, or to use Huan'er as leverage against Wen Qing's sister. If we take this to the Emperor and he still doesn't deal with Zhao Yang, I will be the first to object."

  "But then the plateau fell into thought and said: 'So what did Zhao Yang say?'"

  Zhao Xuan said, "According to Zhao Yang, he and the Wu Guan had no dealings with each other before. This time was just because this Wu Guan found Huan Er through one of his door guests and reported it to him, so he went to the Wu Guan, only wanting to take Huan Er away and return her to Wen Qing. Unfortunately, he met Ying Hong there."

  Li Yinghong said, "He is indeed pushing it clean, if he says so, then why did he block the entrance of the Dawu Hall at that time and not let us in to search? Therefore, this matter must have something to do with him."

  Li Mu shook his head and said, "Ying Hong, you're taking this matter too lightly."

  At this time, Gao Yuan also said: "The general is right, I think there must be another story here. Zhao Yang was probably framed by someone else and took the blame."

  Li Muzhang said: "Gao Yuan, how did you determine that there is another story inside?"

  Gao Yuan Dao said: "At that time, the warriors who fought with us inside were all highly skilled in swordsmanship. The master of the Wu Guan said that such a swordsman could not be found even in his own Wu Guan, and Ye Wu Yue and Li Bo were among the best of the best. Such a powerful force is probably not something that Zhao Yang, let alone Zhao Cong, can control. Moreover, from Ye Wu Yue and Li Bo's words, they didn't mention Zhao Yang at all, and their actions also didn't take into account Zhao Yang's situation, which gives me the feeling that they simply don't care about Zhao Yang."

  Li Mu nodded and said, "That's right. Later, among the martial arts school personnel we captured, not one of them was among those who fought with you. And when we asked the disciples from the martial arts school to identify the bodies, none of them recognized any of them. This also proves that the group of warriors who fought with you were not actually people from this martial arts school. Or it could be said that this martial arts school is actually hiding a group of high-level experts that no one knows about. Additionally, according to what the people from the martial arts school said, they had never seen Zhao Yang come to the martial arts school before."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Then inform Zhao Yang that Huan Er is a guest at the door of that martial arts hall, did you catch him?"

  Li Mu shook his head and said, "No, this guest has already gone missing, even Zhao Yang doesn't know where he went."

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "It seems that Zhao Yang is indeed unrelated to the kidnapping of Huan'er, and he was probably set up by someone else. He just blindly fell into this trap."

  After listening to Gao Yuan's division and these facts, Li Yinghong also had a little understanding that there were indeed many problems inside, but at the same time, there were also some unsolved mysteries. He said: "So who exactly did the thing of catching Huan'er, and why do they want to set up Zhao Yang?"

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Firstly, to answer the question just asked, the reason for setting a trap for Zhao Yang is probably to make General and Zhao Cong thoroughly oppose each other."

  Li Mu also sighed, nodded and said: "There were some misunderstandings between me and Zhao Cong before. Now that this has happened, Zhao Cong will definitely be furious with me, so I'm afraid I'll have a hard time defending myself."

  Actually, there was no misunderstanding between Li Mu and Zhao Cong. From a systemic perspective, Zhao Cong was the number one person in the military of Zhao State, while Li Mu was his subordinate. However, at present, the military power of Zhao State is almost entirely in Li Mu's hands, making him the de facto number one person in the military of Zhao State. With such a relationship, it would be difficult for conflicts not to arise between the two men. But over the past few years, Zhao State has been constantly at war with Qin State, and Zhao Cong also knew that only Li Mu could resist the Qin army, so the conflict between the two had not yet intensified.

  But after this incident, the situation is different. Lin Wenqing is just a woman, but she is the daughter of a famous minister of Zhao State, and she is one of the richest people in Handan, with deep connections to the military, under the protection of Li Mu, even King Zhao Xiang cannot ignore her, her son was kidnapped, no matter what, it can't be ignored. Therefore, whether this incident was done by Zhao Yang or not, he has already been implicated, and even if he tries to defend himself, he will definitely be involved.

  Zhao Cong also had the fault of being too lenient in teaching, and even if he was not severely punished, the position of Grand Marshal would definitely be lost. And the only one who can replace the Grand Marshal is Li Mu. Now that Zhao Cong has lost the position of Grand Marshal, he will definitely resent Li Mu, and may even think that this is a trap set by Li Mu on purpose. The two people originally had irreconcilable contradictions, so they will definitely become enemies in the future.

  Li Mu and Zhao Cong are currently the two most powerful ministers of the Zhao state military. If the two were to fall out, it would only weaken the power of the Zhao state. Therefore, what kind of sinister plot is hidden behind this whole affair will soon be revealed.

  Gao Yuan Dao: "It seems this whole thing was done by Qin Guo."

  Li Mu also nodded and said, "Apart from Qin State, I couldn't think of any other power that could do this. Qin State has always been good at using spies, and there are many undercover agents lurking in Zhao State as well. Only Qin State has the capability to gather so many skilled swordsmen."

  The plateau also fell silent for a moment, then said: "What does the general think we should do now?"

  Li Mu also sighed and said, "I have no way out now. The voices in the court demanding severe punishment for Zhao Yang are very high, and those swordsmen either disappeared or died without a trace, so there's no way to exonerate Zhao Yang. Another point is that Wen Qing's attitude is also very firm, and I don't dare to show up, can only wait and see." He paused and said, "In a few days, Wen Qing should come to the mansion to thank you for saving Huan'er. Can you persuade her? You're the one who saved Huan'er with your own hands, so I think she'll listen to what you say."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "General, rest assured that if Madame Wen Qing comes, I will do my best to persuade her. However, General, you must also be cautious. This time, the Qin State only took action against Huan Er, but next time, they may take action against you. Among this group of people are many skilled swordsmen, and that woman called Ye Wu Yue is an expert. They have all gone into hiding, definitely with a secret hideout. The enemy is in the dark, while I am in the light, so General, you cannot be careless."

  "Don't worry, with me by General's side, I definitely won't let anyone harm General."