I Feel Like I've Seen You Before

The reality is that the influence of one generation can last for three generations.

At this stage, the thoughts of the elderly and middle-aged are not easily changed... They still feel hurried fear towards the Great Beast.

This fear will continue and affect the third generation... The third generation may change, but it will take at least three generations to truly achieve the level of fearlessness towards Great Beast that the girl described.

As for the other side... the leaders seem even more naive.

"Given the passage of time, do you really think you can guarantee that your successor will share the same unwavering resolve as you?"

"I've seen many times how a perfectly good tradition, over time, has become unrecognizable due to various circumstances..."

"Some can persist for hundreds of years, while others might not even last ten years..."

"Your brother's ideas are too radical, I don't agree with them, but your ideas... are only slightly better than his, you're too conservative."

Maria shook her head slightly, not really agreeing with either of the siblings' ideas.

After listening to Maria's words, Yan Ying did not refute them, but simply smiled with her eyes slightly narrowed.

"So... you still want to kill all those Shanhai Assembly?"

"You want to stop me?"

Of course not.

Yan Ying shook her head slightly.

"I just want to know your opinion."

After saying that, Yan Ying got up and prepared to leave.

Just as she said, she simply wanted to know Maria's attitude.

Once she realized that Maria was going to take action anyway, she had nothing more to say.

She didn't try to persuade the woman any further... Anyone with a modicum of sense could see that Maria was definitely not the kind of person who could be easily convinced.

Since she doesn't agree with my ideas, she naturally won't act according to my wishes.

Instead of continuing to consider how to persuade them, it's better to stop now and carefully consider what to do next.

Yin Hongying watched Yan Ying leave, suppressing her confusion, and stiffly followed her step by step...

Several days have passed.

Soon, the team arrived at their actual location of operation.

Tang River, Jiangdong City...

317

Chapter 317 I feel like I've seen you before.

After marching for more than a week, Maria and her companions arrived at Jiangdong City.

The people here had clearly also received the emperor's secret orders, and they met up with Maria and the others almost that same day, and even prepared a map.

Jiangdong City was built along the Tang River, with a range of rolling hills on the opposite bank.

These hills average only two or three hundred meters in height, with the tallest barely reaching a thousand meters.

Although the height difference is not significant, its advantage lies in its continuity.

Many of these river mouths connect directly to the Tang River.

When Jiangdong City realized that the enemy was in its territory, it did consider coming out to confront these mountain and sea rebels.

But after several attempts, they were surprised to find that the situation was not as simple as they had imagined.

This group of Shanhai Assembly, having received support from who-knows-who, has already established a defensive network on two sides within the mountain range...

With the advantage of terrain and strategic planning, even if they manage to defeat this group of Shanhai Assembly, they will have to sacrifice a significant portion of their forces.

In order to resolve this issue peacefully, they had no choice but to request reinforcements from their superiors.

And that's how Maria came to be here...

Nighttime, campsite.

To prepare for the upcoming battle, Jiangdong City spent a large sum of money to prepare a sumptuous banquet for its thousand soldiers, wishing them a resounding victory.

Maria, however, was not involved in the team's leadership.

Zuo Zheng only made a brief appearance to encourage everyone before rushing back.

The first thing I did upon returning was to work with Malaya to finalize the next steps and arrangements.

"So? Are you sure?"

Upon seeing Zuo Zheng arrive, Maria also tilted her head slightly.

As mentioned before, Maria's team can now be described as a ragtag bunch.

Wei Sanzheng's guards, the emperor's imperial army, Bailiansi martial arts masters, people from all walks of life...

Managing such a group of people is inherently difficult.

Not to mention building them into a capable team.

Their original plan was to assemble the troops, with guards and Imperial Guard acting as generals, and Maria leading one team and Zuo Zheng leading another, to encircle them from both sides.

However, due to the appearance of Princess Yan Ying, they had no choice but to leave the Imperial Guard behind to protect the other side.

This has made the already unstable team even more difficult to manage now.

The original plan to split into two teams to encircle and annihilate the enemy has encountered an insurmountable bottleneck.

If they were to gather together and form a unit, their army of one thousand would find it extremely difficult to encircle and annihilate the enemy's force of three thousand... not to mention that the battle would take place in the complex terrain of mountains and forests.

At that time, many of the enemy will definitely escape.

But if they are separated, and there aren't enough generals to unify them, who knows what problems might arise?

Zuo Zheng was so worried about this matter that his hair turned white.

Maria, however, remained as calm as ever.

Is there a way to unify them?

"It's a bit difficult; we may need to recruit another batch of people."

Zuo Zheng scratched his head.

She has already made the most ideal arrangements.

Ultimately, however, captains and guards are two different jobs. Without sufficient training, it is difficult for an ordinary guard to have the ability to lead a team, even if it is just a small team of less than ten people.

Under these circumstances, even if she continues to excel, it would be difficult for her to assemble the team she has today.

Left with no other choice, she had to ask Maria to send more reinforcements.

But Maria did not answer directly.

She was just thinking, gently tapping the table.

After a moment, he tilted his head back slightly.

How long will it take?

"Hmm... if we include the adjustment period after recruitment, it might take about another week."

Zuo Zheng was also somewhat helpless.

Originally, the plan was for the Imperial Guard to lead the others on the march, which would also help build morale within the ranks.

Unfortunately... plans can't keep up with changes.

"A week?"

Maria frowned slightly upon hearing this news.

Clearly, she was somewhat dissatisfied with the timing.

"Those people from the Shanhai Assembly must have noticed our arrival a week ago... They won't just sit here and wait to die."

"Um..."

"Never mind."

Maria didn't make things too difficult for Zuo Zheng, after all, this was the girl's first time leading troops, so it was natural for there to be problems.

Fortunately, Maria didn't care about these things.

From the very beginning, she never expected anyone else to become her helper...

"You lead these teams... I'll handle the main battlefield."

Maria said, tilting her head slightly as well.

Zuo Zheng to the side, was stunned for a few moments before his eyes widened in surprise.

"You... alone?"

"Um."

"What exactly do you want?"

Standing in the room specially prepared by Jiangdong City, Yin Hongying paced back and forth with an uneasy expression.

The quiet and comfortable room felt like a prison to her, especially after she saw the Imperial Guard stationed outside, which made her even more anxious.

Meanwhile, Yan Ying sat on the bed, seemingly unconcerned, her eyes slightly narrowed.

After a moment, she also shook her head slightly.

"That woman... she really is quite arrogant."

"Ah?"

"Didn't you notice? Whether she was talking about my royal brother or me, her tone didn't change at all. She was very confident, but... where did that confidence come from?"

Yan Ying narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing a thoughtful expression.

Seeing her like this, Yin Hongying was also furious.

So all those urgent questions I asked this guy didn't get a single word out?

"You still have the nerve to think about these things... I don't want to care about that anymore."

"Um?"

Hearing Yin Hongying's words, Yan Ying finally came to her senses.

She glanced at the girl and shook her head slightly.

"Are you planning to leave?"

"Certainly."

Yin Hongying really dared not stay here any longer.

She didn't understand all those complicated issues like relationships and power dynamics.

All she knew was that the other party was aware of Yan Ying's thoughts and her disguise, and that they would likely report it to the current emperor soon.

With just a little investigation, their situation will be exposed.

She didn't want to be unable to escape when the time came.

"I already told you, she wouldn't intentionally expose us..."

Seeing Yin Hongying's anxious expression, Yan Ying shook her head helplessly.

"Besides, even if you were to run, how do you plan to run?"

"Those Imperial Guard outside are no joke; they won't even obey my orders."

Yan Ying warned Yin Hongying.

Running away is not an option.

Even if it were her order, these Imperial Guard might not necessarily obey.

The so-called Imperial Guard did not require absolute military strength, nor did they necessarily have to have extraordinary skills. They were already the elite of the elite. After entering the Imperial Guard, the most important training was to obey orders without question.