Nine Thousand Years (19)

"Discovered so quickly?"

From the sparse information in this sentence, Chu Fengqi immediately matched it with the corresponding event in his memory.

When Chu An rebuilt the levee, Du Chaogong ostensibly went south to assist in construction to atone for his sins, but in reality, it was to relocate his private army being raised in various temples.

The Fourth Prince's ambush made the keen Du Chaogong sense danger. In addition, with severe flooding and refugees everywhere, if someone astute discovered the anomalies of the temples, his private army would be exposed. Currently was the best opportunity to disguise the soldiers as refugees and relocate them to avoid heavy losses.

However, the person behind Chu An was fully aware of Du Chaogong's every move, directly intercepting them the moment they acted. The private army would rather die than confess they were Du Chaogong's soldiers, leaving Chu An unable to convict him, so he had no choice but to annihilate them all.

Du Chaogong's life-saving trump card vanished just like that. In the imperial court, aside from holding leverage over some officials to restrain them, he fell into a state of being almost completely isolated and helpless.

Du Chaogong clearly did not know that those people would all die a few days later. Chu Fengqi did not have time to think much either, so he said, "If Nine Thousand Years trusts me, your servant is willing to offer a plan to assist you."

Raising a private army was a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations. If someone with malicious intent found out, even if there was no evidence to convict Du Chaogong, it would be enough to plunge him into an abyss of eternal damnation.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously. Keeping him around deliberately was to wait for him to expose his own flaws. At this moment, he did not blame the other's boldness, merely sneering, "What can you possibly do?"

Chu Fengqi was not afraid at all, replying confidently, "Your servant believes my mind is quite flexible. If Nine Thousand Years does not believe me, you might as well try once. If it succeeds and you still do not trust me, you can continue to imprison and use me."

The youth's words were incredibly sincere, his eyes as bright as the sun, his passion boiling, exactly like when he had resolutely declared his desire to be Du Chaogong's loyal hound.

Even if it was just a test, these words still caused a ripple in Du Chaogong's heart. He said coldly, "Truly a fool."

Yet Chu Fengqi rarely refuted, his smile brilliant: "For Nine Thousand Years, even ten thousand deaths would not deter me."

Hearing this, the gloom on Du Chaogong's face seemed to dissipate slightly. He looked at Chu Fengqi as if evaluating him, then asked, "I have a private army disguised as martial monks in several temples in the South, totaling over three thousand men. Currently, they are being watched by Chu An's men and are about to be wiped out. What is your plan?"