Chapter 2642: Two Walnuts to Kill Three Officials
Bi Linglong rejected the offer without hesitation. “How can I leave when my soldiers are fighting with their lives on the line? Now that Lord Du is here, I should have nothing to worry about. If we lose the battle here, I won’t be safe even if I return to the capital.”
Du Jian tried to persuade her, “Your Majesty is right, but you didn’t consider how the rebel army slipped into the reinforced Phoenix Pass in the first place. There must be a traitor among us, and that traitor is likely to be a high-ranking person. I’m not confident I can protect you against the traitors.”
“Are you saying that there’s a traitor among the other Eight Dukes?” Bi Linglong asked with a frown. Given their high standing and great prestige, she had brought the Eight Dukes with her to the battlefield, as they could stir up problems in the capital otherwise. Their high cultivation could be an asset on the battlefield, too. That being said, she'd remained guarded against them.
Du Jian’s son had once been an advisor in the crown prince’s Eastern Palace, and she'd been the one in charge of managing the Eastern Palace, so there were some ties between them. Similarly, Imperial Preceptor Yu Rui was from the Yu clan; Zu An was close to Yu Yanluo, and Yu Yanluo trusted Yu Rui.
Thus, Bi Linglong had tasked Du Jian and Yu Rui to keep an eye on Great General Cheng Yuan and Imperial Tutor Zhuang He. There were only four of the Eight Dukes here, but that was because Zu An had already dealt with the other four.
Are Cheng Yuan and Zhuang He the traitors here?
“They are indeed suspicious. Despite the ongoing crisis, neither of them is stepping forward to hold the fort,” Du Jian replied.
“Old Du, it’s not good to speak behind others’ backs.” A cold harrumph came as a figure descended from the sky—it was Imperial Tutor Zhuang He.
“Indeed. I rushed here as soon as I was done organizing the soldiers. Rather, I find it perplexing how Lord Du rushed here so quickly without doing anything,” another old man said as he walked over from another direction. It was Great General Cheng Yuan.
Du Jian was unfazed. “I am merely speaking the truth. Phoenix Pass was suddenly breached, and none of the formations in the city are working. There must be a traitor among us. To tamper with the formations and quietly open the city gates; the traitor must be a high-ranking, influential individual.”