What a crazy woman!
In the thick fog, watching the princess grow increasingly blurry, Lu Ming was lost in thought, his mind unconsciously recalling the spirited and dashing image of this woman from decades ago.
Actually, she had quite a few admirers back then. After all, a charming and powerful woman can always arouse a man's desire to conquer.
But he knew it was impossible. Women of the highest bloodlines in powerful families couldn't marry outside the family; they could only take in a son-in-law. And he, as the head of the Lu Household, couldn't possibly marry into the family. Besides, at that time, everyone could see that this woman admired the King of Qin!
He could see it, everyone could see it, but no one expected the woman's obsession to be so strong, so crazy.
As the thick fog rolled in, the princess's figure disappeared, and Lu Ming gave up struggling and sat down on the ground.
Having followed the King of Qin in resisting the ancient times, he knew very well the effects of the sealing formations that the ancients brought with them during their invasion. Without mastering the methods, these formations that could seal the ancients were simply beyond the reach of ordinary people.
From the moment he was tricked and sent here, Lu Ming knew that he no longer had the power to control the situation that followed.
Is that all?
Lu Ming looked around in confusion. The surroundings were shrouded in mist and there was not a sound, as if he were completely isolated from the outside world. The environment was not bad. Dying here didn't seem so bad.
Is that all?
A suppressed fire surged within Lu Ming, causing him to cough up a large amount of blood!
Years ago, driven by his own desires, he didn't rescue the King of Qin. To conceal his true intentions, he amassed power, relinquished the highest position to the young man from the Xiao Household, and endured unbearable suffering from illness, living a low-profile life in the capital for twenty years. And this is how it all ended?
He died so casually in a deserted mountain range, in a place unknown to anyone, without any dramatic events or fanfare?
This was probably done on purpose by that woman.
Lu Ming thought to himself, she wanted him to die silently like this. He knew what she meant. Since she liked to endure, then he would just die a cowardly and silent death.
Truly, a woman's heart is the most poisonous!
Lu Ming stood up and looked in the direction he had come from. This near-desperate blow had worsened his physical condition, but there was still resentment in his eyes.
He knew very well why that woman had plotted against him. With him gone, her target was probably his 300,000 elite soldiers from prominent families on the Jiangnan blockade line—that was the entire foundation of the Lu Household!
" Tian Heng," Lu Ming murmured.
Having seen through the woman's scheme, he knew that the other dukes who shared his thoughts were likely all caught in her machinations. Now, he could only place his hopes on the one who was the most clear-headed.
--
"Has the Duke of Qin not returned yet?" This was the fourth time Tian Heng had come to the Duke of Qin's military tent to ask. Hei Yun and the other Duke of Lu, who were preparing to set off with their army, couldn't help but find it amusing to see the other's concerned and anxious appearance.
"Old Tian, you're still the same as before, always worrying unnecessarily." The tall, stout Duke of Lu patted Tian Heng on the shoulder. "Don't let Old Lu's poor health fool you, who in this world can harm him?"
Tian Heng remained silent. Born into a minor noble family as an illegitimate son, he emerged when demons and monsters roamed freely, and powerful figures with illustrious battle records were everywhere. In his past battles, he never believed in so-called reputations. In his view, no matter how powerful someone was, they were not invincible as long as they used the right methods. Even someone as strong as the King of Qin, what was the outcome?
Just then, someone outside came to report, "Your Excellency Duke of Qi, Vice Minister Wang Ye of the Court of Judicial Review has returned, and Minister Lord Shen of the Ministry of War invites you to come and discuss reinforcements."
Although Tian Heng was still somewhat worried about Lu Ming's situation, he knew it was his duty and nodded, "Tell the Minister that I will go there immediately."
"Yes!"
"Old Tian, don't worry. Instead of worrying about me, I should tell you that Mr. Black Cloud says the situation in West Sea City is very precarious!"
"You need to be careful." Tian Heng also felt this side was more important. "Please keep a close eye on him, sir, and don't let him act impulsively."
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Duke of Lu rolled his eyes at the other man. "You're just as nagging as ever, a fussy old woman. I'm a renowned general of our time, you know?"
"I can't even be bothered to talk to you." Tian Heng rolled his eyes at the other person. "The moment you hear your son might be in danger, you rush to rush over, showing no regard for military regulations. The more you act like this, the easier it is for someone to scheme against you. It doesn't matter if you die, but don't ruin the reputation of our soldiers."
"Hey, you bastard!" Duke of Lu was so angry he choked for a moment, but knowing the other's personality, he was just that sharp-tongued. He waved his hand and said, "I'll come drink with you after I've won a great victory. You better not cause any trouble here."
The last sentence was clearly unintentional, yet it made Tian Heng's heart skip a beat.
Yes, if luring Old Lu away without harming him isn't entirely pointless, then being without a commander on our side is also a valid objective, isn't it?
Just as he was about to say something, Hei Yun said, " General Tian, rest assured, I will do my best. I entrust everything here to General Tian."
Clearly, even a sorcerer like Hei Yun understood Tian Heng's reliability.
"Take care on your journey, sir. Tian Heng hopes you return victorious!"
Thank you for your kind words!
--
After bidding farewell to the two men, Tian Heng strode to the main camp with the messenger.
"Greetings, Lord Duke of Duke of Qi!" Inside the tent, the young Wang Ye was the first to stand up and bow. Other acquaintances casually said, "Old Tian, why are you only arriving now?" Minister Shen bowed slightly in return.
Tian Heng turned his gaze to Wang Ye. This young junior official had been gone for quite a while this time. He returned from Nanming Prefecture, which seemed fine, but since he could freely cross the river, he could easily take a detour and exit from any location if he wanted. This could not be taken as evidence of trust.
To be honest, he never really trusted the other party from beginning to end, even though the other party was the direct disciple of the Duke of Song.
"Tell me about the situation," Tian Heng asked directly after sitting down.
"Yes," Wang Ye said, pointing to the map. "These past few days, I've observed that, apart from the remote Yunzhou which I haven't explored, I've roughly looked at the other prefectures in the seven states of Jiangnan. Apart from Liuzhou, Nanming Prefecture, and Nanyang City, the main cities of Yangzhou, Hundred Rivers City, and Heavenly Water City have all fallen and are now filled with zombies. Of the million people in the main cities and the millions in the surrounding countryside, I'm afraid there are very few survivors."
The somber figures caused a group of military officers to frown. Jiangnan was a major tax-paying region, and even if the matter was resolved later, the massive loss of population would likely prevent the region from recovering for decades. Without the support of Jiangnan, the profits from the West Sea trade would be greatly reduced, which was not good news for the military officers of the Duke of Qin's faction.
After all, many of the profits and benefits from the West Sea have gone into the pockets of the major clans. Without the West Sea, the resources of many clans will likely be greatly reduced in the future!
Tian Heng glanced at the other party, his brows relaxing slightly. Compared to the other dukes who were worried about future interests, he was quite satisfied with Wang Ye's report, because the situation reported was almost exactly what he had initially expected.
In his view, the existence of zombies was something that the garrisons in places like Yangzhou could not resist, and the plundering nature of zombies meant that if they could not be resisted, the state would face a collapse due to the spread of infection!
Apart from the unusual situation in Liuzhou.
"I have verified the token the Shen Family gave me," said Fifth Master Shen. "According to the signal my sixth brother sent me, Nanyang City is now largely under their control, and the millions of residents within the Nanyang City are living peacefully. However, it is also true that they are powerless to help the countryside."
"Do we need reinforcements?" Tian Heng asked, frowning.
"If we need reinforcements, I'm afraid we won't have enough troops." Fifth Master Shen shook his head. " Nanyang City has numerous counties and towns, stretching for thousands of miles, and the resources within Nanyang City itself can no longer support the influx of refugees. If we want to provide aid, we would need to use the county towns as strongholds for large-scale defense. Conservatively speaking, we would need more than 100,000 troops!"
The other dukes looked at each other, all somewhat embarrassed.
Chengdu his own flesh and blood, each one extremely precious. Dispersing them to rescue the county town would not only be risky, but also, as the other side said, would indeed result in insufficient manpower.
Because the current intelligence is unclear, the headquarters will definitely have to leave troops to observe. Mr. Black Cloud has already led 100,000 soldiers to support West Sea. Considering that we also need to support Nanming Prefecture, we can only provide a maximum of 20,000 soldiers to support Nanyang City!
But if we don't support Nanyang, and this biggest local power has something to say about it, things will be difficult in the future. After all, the Shen Family, who have given up the benefits of the West Sea over the years, didn't lack strength; they did it because they gave face to the Duke of Qin.
"I believe that given our current insufficient forces, we should first focus all our efforts on supporting Nanming Prefecture," said Fifth Master Shen. " Nanming Prefecture is a vital link between the imperial court and Jiangnan. Only by holding this position and securing our logistics can we rejoin the imperial army. What do you all think?"
The group exchanged glances, a sense of respect welling up within them.
Everyone says that Fifth Master Shen Family is a man who considers the big picture, and it seems that's true. Nanyang is the Shen Family's ancestral home; if the other side can speak from a position of greater importance, what can they say?
" Lord Shen is truly righteous!" Tian Heng looked at the other party and said, "After this incident, we will definitely petition the court to compensate the Shen Family as much as possible."
"Well... let's talk about it later," Fifth Master Shen said with a slight smile.
On the surface, Tian Heng was respectful and admiring, but inwardly he was somewhat wary. To be honest, he was a man who understood people's hearts well, and he didn't believe that a person could be so selfless as to disregard the interests of the family. He suspected that Fifth Master Shen was doing this for other reasons.
Wang Ye, however, secretly sneered. If he hadn't received Chen Qing's intelligence, he would never have believed that the Fifth Master of the Shen Family, the Ministry of War who was praised by outsiders for his official conduct, was actually a number one living corpse!
If Chen Qing's intelligence is correct, what the enemy probably wants to devour right now are these bloodline soldiers currently stationed outside, right?
If everything is as Chen Qing predicted, should I follow Chen Qing's advice?
For the first time, a hint of confusion flashed in Wang Ye's eyes.