Chapter 185 Mutiny
Zhao Ji held the so-called letter from Wang Xiaojie in his hand, carefully examined every detail, and fell into deep thought.

Wang Xiaojie's seal on the letter matched, but there had been an incident before where the Khitan had forged a military order, causing the Zhou army to be ambushed, so Zhao had to think more about it.

If this letter is false, is the Snake Spirit planning to lure Zhao Ji to march and then ambush him again?

Zhao Ji vaguely remembered that besides Su Honghui, there were far more than one traitor around Wang Xiaojie.

With the help of these traitors, Snake Spirit was able to forge a letter with the general's seal, which meant that Wang Xiaojie's situation in Pingzhou was still very dangerous.

With the help of the Snake Spirit's human skin mask and these traitors, Su Honghui may not necessarily die.

Yang Xuanji saw the hesitation in Zhao Ji's heart and asked at the right time: "Are you worried about how to reply to General Wang?"

Zhao Ji nodded slightly and asked the experienced old general: "I guess so. Do you have any suggestions, old general?"

Yang Xuanji pondered for a moment and slowly told his thoughts: "It is already winter, the weather is getting colder, the army has little food left, and General Zhang Jiujie's follow-up supplies are still on the way."

"If we forcibly send troops to rescue Pingzhou, we may run out of food on the way. Not only will we fail to save General Wang, but we will also put our army in a desperate situation. On the other hand, it is not a long-term solution to stay isolated in Xidi. It is better to retreat to Tanzhou temporarily and make a long-term plan before coming up with a better strategy."

Zhao Ji sighed secretly when he heard this. He understood this principle. However, just a few days ago, Xiao Qingfang suddenly sent a message to transfer Xiaomei to her side, but did not specify what the specific mission was.

Xiao Qingfang would not transfer personnel without reason, there must be another move, and there might be some changes on Wang Xiaojie's side.

Now that he had received this letter from "Wang Xiaojie", Zhao Jicai felt particularly conflicted.

However, Zhao Ji had no idea what to do, so he nodded slowly and said, "We have no choice but to do this. First, call Brother Li Dafang to intimidate and appease him, and then withdraw the troops back to Danzhou."
-
However, what Zhao Ji did not know was that the letter was indeed written by Wang Xiaojie, and the story began in the evening a few days ago.

In the main hall of the General's Mansion, Wang Xiaojie sat on the commander's seat, looking uneasy, accompanied by Zong Huaichang and Qiu Jing.

Zong Huaichang spoke to comfort him, "General, don't worry. Governor Zhao is under your command. He has made great contributions this time, which can be regarded as the general's good command. Your Majesty will definitely not blame the general."

Hearing this, Wang Xiaojie adjusted his mood, put on a dignified face, and asked, "Where is Su Honghui? Why didn't he come?"

"Since General Su came back from the front line and was dismissed from his military post by the general, he fell ill a few days ago and cannot see anyone," Zong Huaichang replied.

In fact, as soon as Su Honghui returned to Pingzhou, he was placed under house arrest by Wang Xiaojie, awaiting the court's decision.

The General of the Right Guard was a third-rank official, only one level lower than Wang Xiaojie, and was also considered an important official. Otherwise, according to Wang Xiaojie's temper, he would have been dealt with by military law long ago, and there would have been no need to ask for an imperial decree.

Wang Xiaojie sneered: "I think he has a mental illness!"

After saying this, Wang Xiaojie glanced at Qiu Jing, as if hinting at something.

Qiu Jing put her hands in her sleeves, expressionless, as if she was unwilling to argue with Wang Xiaojie.

Suddenly, there were hurried footsteps outside the door, and Deputy General Sun walked in quickly, saying hastily: "General! The Qianniu Guards have arrived, please go and receive the order!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaojie stood up suddenly, strode to the front of the hall, ready to receive the imperial edict.

A team of Qianniu Guards followed the leader and entered one after another.

Wang Xiaojie, Zong Huaichang and Deputy General Sun bowed to the ground and said, "We respectfully welcome the imperial edict."

The leader of the Qianniu Guards said, "General, there is no need to be polite. His Majesty has appointed you and you will read out the imperial edict."

Wang Xiaojie was relieved when he heard this. He was able to read the imperial edict, which showed that the emperor had not punished him. The leader of the Qianniu Guard handed the imperial edict to Wang Xiaojie, who quickly unfolded it and read it, with a satisfied smile on his face.

Wang Xiaojie bowed to the south and thanked him, saying, "Your Majesty is truly gracious and discerning! Please go down and rest first. Deputy General Sun, you will lead your men to arrest Su Honghui and bring him to the palace immediately! I will read out the imperial edict at the same time."

Deputy General Sun quickly agreed: "I will obey the general's orders!"
-
However, at this moment Su Honghui was no longer in his residence, but had secretly sneaked into the camp of Song Wuji, general of the Youwei Front Camp.

Su Honghui, wearing full armor, asked on horseback: "Is everything ready?"

"General, the entire camp is ready, just waiting for your order!" Song Wuji replied seriously.

Behind him were rows of fully armed Right Guard soldiers standing ready for battle. It was unknown how many Snake Spirit accomplices were hidden among the officers and soldiers of this battalion.

Su Honghui turned his gaze towards the soldiers, raised the long sword in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Follow me into the general's mansion and capture Wang Xiaojie alive!"

The soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the sky: "Charge into the general's mansion and capture Wang Xiaojie alive!"

Pingzhou City was immediately plunged into war. Song Wuji's cavalry rushed towards the General's Mansion and fought fiercely with the defenders along the way.

In the main hall of the General's Mansion, Wang Xiaojie, Zong Huaichang and others were sitting upright when they suddenly heard shouts and screams coming from outside the mansion. Their faces suddenly changed and they quickly rushed out to find out what was going on.

When he got outside the door, he saw Lieutenant General Sun, covered in dust, running back in a panic.

Wang Xiaojie asked hurriedly: "What's going on?"

Deputy General Sun was still catching his breath and managed to squeeze out a few words: "General, it's bad! Su Honghui and General Song Wuji of the Front Camp have openly mutinied and are leading the rebels to the General's Mansion."

Wang Xiaojie took a deep breath, anger flashing in his eyes: "This traitor! How dare you mutiny!"

When Zong Huaichang heard this, his face suddenly lost color, and he was obviously shocked by this sudden change.

Wang Xiaojie quickly calmed down and arranged, "Zhou Sheng, gather all the guards of the General's Mansion immediately and go to stop Su Honghui. Don't let him go any further."

"General Zong, Deputy General Sun, you two must return to the army immediately and each lead a battalion of elite soldiers to attack from the front and back. We must annihilate this group of rebels!"

"Yes!" Zong Huaichang, Deputy General Sun and others quickly agreed, turned around and ran out of the mansion.

Wang Xiaojie responded very quickly, and Su Honghui did not really want to attack the General's Mansion, so the two armies broke up as soon as the battle started.

Su Honghui and Song Wuji fired a feint and quickly seized the west gate of Pingzhou, leading their troops to escape into the vast mountains.

A raging fire broke out near the west gate, illuminating Wang Xiaojie's face red. He was so furious that he almost broke his steel teeth.

The criminal who was executed by the emperor's order led his troops to mutiny, but he did not notice any signs. Wang Xiaojie was ashamed and angry, but also realized that things were not simple.

"General Zong, as soon as the day breaks, you will lead the army to attack and make sure to wipe out Su Honghui, Song Wuji and these rebels!" Wang Xiaojie said gritting his teeth.

Zong Huaichang wanted to say something, but when he saw Wang Xiaojie's angry face, all his words turned into just one word: "yes".

　I'm feeling really stuck in this plotting issue, and I'm a little unsure about how the plot will develop in the future... This should be the only update for today, I'll make up for it tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)