Chapter 341 - 281, Assassination
Li Xuan glanced at the firelight, then at Chen Ji.
Earlier, when Chen Ji said that Guyuan was a trap set for the Heavenly Strategy Army, he didn’t believe it.
After all, half of the city’s population in Guyuan had been slaughtered, the border army suffered countless casualties—just how ruthless must the strategist be to craft such a "decapitation trap"?
In this age, the Imperial Capital had a population of a million, Luocheng City had two hundred thousand, and even Guyuan had at least one hundred thirty or forty thousand people. Half the population of the city meant tens of thousands of lives!
How utterly sinister and cruel!
Yet now, seeing the fire blazing at the city gates and the once-impregnable Guyuan City collapse with a thunderous roar, cutting off all routes of retreat for the Heavenly Strategy Army, Li Xuan could no longer doubt it.
Li Xuan turned to look at Chen Ji, and despite his attempts to remain calm, he couldn’t suppress the panic in his voice. "Who exactly set up this trap? What other tricks do they have up their sleeve? The armored infantry I saw earlier—what army are they from? How dare they commit such a colossal crime against humanity, using tens of thousands of civilians as bait?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "It’s not just that."
Li Xuan froze: "What do you mean?"
Chen Ji said softly: "The bait is not only the civilians, but also the grain warehouses, the military equipment, the wells... and the Crown Prince."
Only at this moment did he finally understand why the court had suddenly sent the Crown Prince, accompanied by an untested ceremonial army, to Guyuan; why Bai Long had withdrawn and purged the Crown Prince’s staff; why the Heavenly Strategy Army was able to attack through the inn’s secret passage; and why the Crown Prince, even when hiding in the cellar, could still be found.