Shen Tang's polite refusal was just as everyone had expected.
Had she ignored the circumstances and forced her way into this Dragon Slaying Bureau, she would only have invited contempt for failing to recognize her own limits.
But—
After receiving the supplies she'd sent and hearing the messenger recount what had happened that day, Zhang Yongqing carefully read Shen Tang's reply. Seeing how sincerely she'd warned him to be on guard against Huang Lie, he couldn't help letting out a soft sigh.
"This young man truly has an innocent heart."
There wasn't a single thing anyone could fault.
Zhang Yongqing asked the messenger about what he'd seen in Longwu Commandery. When he heard how everyone there was busy and the region was a hive of activity, with everything in need of rebuilding, he furrowed his brow and pondered for a long while. Then he waved the messenger away and summoned his advisers to discuss their next moves and how they should respond.
Though Huang Lie had rallied the various forces to attack Zheng Qiao and raised the righteous banner of "removing the tyrant and exterminating his treacherous favorites," everyone knew what was really going on.
Zhang He asked, "Gentlemen, what are our chances this time?"
A few of the advisers replied, "...Forty percent."
Zheng Qiao was violent, but he wasn't an incompetent fool. If he were, he wouldn't have managed to stay alive after all these years of courting death. Even when it came to this invitation, they'd taken great care not to let the news leak and reach Zheng Qiao before they were ready, lest they lose the initiative.
"Only forty percent?"
Zhang He wasn't surprised by the answer.
He murmured, "That's not too low."
Not every force hated Zheng Qiao to the bone. Some were content to play