"General, why won't you let me go?"
Duke of Qi frowned as he looked at the young man from the Yuchi Household who had come along. This was Yuchi Feihu, the youngest illegitimate son of the Yuchi Household. He had just come of age this year and was eager to prove himself on the battlefield. Although the army was led by Duke of Qin, he insisted on coming along. Duke Qi had originally refused to take him, but Duke of Lu owed him a lot of favors, so he brought him along.
Fine, bring it along. What was the point of abandoning me here after setting off yesterday?
Tian Heng was speechless for a moment. He understood the Duke of Lu's predicament. His friend's descendant had come to earn military merit, and it wouldn't be right not to give him face. But the situation had changed drastically here, with the risk of death everywhere. How could he dare to let him go to the front lines?
If you get caught up in it, and you're from a different faction, you'll end up with a lot of trouble that you won't be able to shake off.
Moreover, only now that I've arrived here do I vaguely sense that the Duke of Qin is planning something important.
Now we definitely can't bring that kid from the Yuchi Household along.
The result was that this arrogant fool actually dared to barge into his own military tent without permission?
"Whatever the orders are, do you expect me to do as you please?" Tian Heng naturally wouldn't tolerate this. " The Duke of Lu has his own reasons for not including you. As a subordinate, you should obey orders. What? You want to disobey military orders?"
Under the oppressive aura, Yuchi Feihu's face turned red, looking like he was about to turn on his temper. Tian Heng found it amusing. He had heard that the old man of the Yuchi Household was extremely fond of this son he had in his old age. His aptitude was said to be quite good, and he had fully inherited the Yuchi Household's Heavenly Peng Bloodline. But to be honest, in terms of character and other aspects, he was far inferior to the two best boys in the Yuchi Household.
If it were Yuchi Peng, he would have dared to turn on him immediately. If he could beat him, he would have vented his anger by beating up his superior. If the matter reached His Majesty, he would have been dealt with leniently. If he couldn't win, well, no matter which commander-in-chief, would dare to actually kill the eldest son of the Yuchi Household.
If it were that kid Yuchi Feihong, he wouldn't have been so rude as to barge into his own tent. So this kid in front of him was neither as steady as Feihong nor as impulsive as Yuchi Peng, who was so determined to advance without retreating. Instead, Tian Heng felt that this kid wasn't very interesting.
"I wouldn't dare." Sure enough, the little guy swallowed his anger in the end.
Tian Heng shook his head. It seemed the Yuchi Household wouldn't produce a third outstanding talent. So he said coldly, "Trespassing on military tents, twenty strokes of the cane. Take your punishment and get out!"
"Your surname is Tian."
"Add twenty!" Tian Heng coldly stared at the other party. "This is a battlefield of demons and monsters. Even if I kill you, your father can't say anything. You try it?"
The arrogant eighteen-year-old boy immediately lowered his noble head, snorted coldly, and followed the guard who had come in out of the military tent. Soon after, the muffled groans of the boy gritting his teeth could be heard from outside!
"Have the scouts returned yet?" Tian Heng was too lazy to argue with a rebellious teenager who had no future, so he asked his deputy beside him.
"Reporting to the Duke, they just returned. The scouts followed the trail of the Golden Dragon Guard army all the way to the direction of Yunzhou. The army should be stationed on the border of Yunzhou. Because of the Golden Dragon Guard scouts, our men dare not get too close."
Upon hearing this, Tian Heng nodded. It was the same as what he had thought. The direction from which the Crown Prince met the Duke of Qin of Qin should not be far from the army. The court's choice to station itself in Yunzhou, the only place they had not set up defenses, made sense. However, he still felt that something was not quite right.
"By the way, why didn't the scout come to report in person?" Tian Heng asked, frowning.
The long-standing rule within my own command is to minimize the use of intermediaries for military intelligence. Scouts are allowed to report directly from outside my tent if they have direct instructions.
"There are many poisonous creatures in Yunzhou. Both scouts were bitten by poisonous insects. They were waiting outside the tent when they returned, but since you were in a meeting, Duke, I saw that the scout was not going to make it, so I sent him to seek medical treatment first."
"I see." Upon hearing this, Tian Heng stroked his chin, about to ask what the symptoms were, since the scouts he had trained rarely made such a mistake.
Just as I was about to ask, someone outside suddenly announced, "Your Excellency, the Duke, Vice Minister Wang requests an audience!"
"Oh?" Tian Heng was somewhat taken aback. This Junior Minister was quite interesting. Why was he, a civil official, not accompanying the Ministry of War, but instead requesting an audience with him alone?
After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "Let him in."
--
"General, this guy surnamed Tian is truly a scoundrel." In a small, private military tent, a tall man was applying medicine to Yuchi Feihu while complaining. This man's face bore a resemblance to Wei Gongcheng. If Chen Qing were here, he would definitely recognize this acquaintance.
It was Wei Gongyan, the deputy general who replaced Yuchi Peng Gongcheng as his assistant after Wei Gongcheng retired due to injury!
Speaking of Wei Gongyan, his life has been full of twists and turns. As the eldest son of the Wei Household family, he should have been groomed by the family to be a subordinate of the eldest son of the Yuchi Household. Yuchi Peng was already a duke at a young age, and it was almost certain that he would inherit the title of Imperial Guard. As Yuchi Peng's deputy, he would most likely be able to get a deputy commander position in the future, or at the very least a general. But Wei Gongcheng came into the family.
Even though his stepmother tried to kill him, the boy managed to escape by sheer luck. At a young age, he was noticed by the master of the Yuchi Household and promoted to be a follower, eventually taking over everything that belonged to him.
Over the years, because Wei Gongcheng had been used, the Wei Household did not dare to openly target him. Finally, heaven had eyes and that guy got his comeuppance and was crippled. He finally got his wish and replaced Duke Yuchi Peng, but he did not expect that Yuchi Peng would dislike him several times and replace him!
He figured it must be that scoundrel Wei Gongcheng who spoke ill of him behind his back, which was why Yuchi Peng always disliked him.
Now that he's been assigned to the young master's room, he's been the subject of much gossip and ridicule from Wei Household's siblings. For the past few days, he hasn't dared to go out and see anyone.
Although the young master is favored, he is too young. I am already in my thirties. If I waste any more time and miss my peak, I will have even fewer opportunities to make contributions. I finally looked forward to this opportunity to go on the expedition, but I never expected that the young master, who has always been favored, would also be targeted outside.
He was so angry that he started cursing!
"Keep your voice down," Little Yuchi said, his head sullen. "That guy surnamed Tian is ruthless. He might still have some reservations about me, but he probably won't hold back at all when it comes to you!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Gongyan's face paled. He cautiously glanced outside to make sure no one had heard him before secretly letting out a sigh of relief. He lowered his voice and said, "I feel so sorry for you, young master. Look at this wound. That man surnamed Tian is ruthless. Although you haven't broken any bones, you probably won't be able to move for two or three days, and you'll have no chance to go to the front lines to earn merit!"
"That man surnamed Tian suppresses his juniors with such despicable methods; how can he be a Duke!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Wei Gongyan responded with a smile, showing no anger despite being reprimanded. It was clear that although Yuchi Feihu was scolding him, his expression had softened considerably, indicating that his words had struck a chord with him!
Then, his eyes darted around, and he continued, "Young General, don't be discouraged. Such underhanded methods are not the way of the Kingly Dao. Young General, you have a strong bloodline and are very skilled. Let's rest for a couple of days, pretend to be compliant, and we won't have to worry about not finding an opportunity to make a name for ourselves in such a big battle!"
"Hmm," Yuchi Feihu responded softly, feeling a surge of excitement at being addressed as "Young General" by the other party, a young man on his first campaign.
Upon hearing this, another Wei Household who was helping to prepare the medicine frowned. Was his eldest brother trying to encourage Young Master Yuchi to take advantage of the chaos and launch a surprise attack?
Thinking of this, his forehead was covered in black lines. To be honest, given his eldest brother's character, it was hard to say whether he would actually do such a thing!
He wanted to stop him but couldn't get a word in edgewise. As a son of a concubine, his status was already inferior to Wei Gongyan's. In addition, he wasn't well-liked by Young Master Yuchi. If he were to offer advice now, he would probably be seen as pouring cold water on Wei Gongyan, and might even be blamed for it.
This kind of thing has happened several times since Wei Gongyan was transferred to assist the young master, and he doesn't want to suffer in silence again.
We can only take it one step at a time.
Just then, he seemed to smell something and couldn't help but look up outside. His movement was so exaggerated that it immediately caught Yuchi Feihu's attention. "What's wrong?"
"What are you doing?" Wei Gongyan frowned and said, "Instead of properly grinding the medicine, you're delaying the young master's injury. See how I deal with you!"
I think there's a certain smell to it.
"Taste?" Wei Gongyan glared at him. "What nonsense are you talking about? What taste is there?"
"It really is." The Wei Household member frowned and stood up, looking southwest. "There's a very strong smell, it's... a fishy smell!"
--
"What brings you here, Vice Minister?" Tian Heng asked politely after welcoming the young Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to sit down.
"It's naturally about reinforcements. I'd like to try and persuade the Duke of Duke of Qi again," Wang Ye stated his purpose directly.
For the past few days, he had been suggesting that reinforcements be sent to Nanming Prefecture, but he had been repeatedly put off. As time dragged on, nearly ten days had passed, and the group had indeed taken no action.
Fifth Master Shen Family took the lead in declaring that Nanyang was fine and that the Shen Family could handle it. Without the Shen Family urging them on, the other dukes naturally refused to send their troops to support Nanyang.
Having already gathered intelligence, Wang Ye could easily guess the thoughts of those dukes!
The Duke of Qin intended to plan for the ancient times, but these dukes all had different thoughts. Naturally, they wanted to preserve the strength of their own troops, and the prospects of supporting Jiangnan were uncertain. Everyone wanted to hold out until the end to reap the benefits, so of course they did not want their troops to be sent to reinforce.
As they kept passing the buck, the group wasted seven or eight days, which made Wang Ye sneer repeatedly.
As Master was right, most aristocratic families in this world are cold-blooded and few care about the lives of ordinary people. Don't be fooled by the claims of these people with demon blood who see themselves as protectors of humanity; in reality, they are not much different from true demons.
The only difference is that one is more overtly cannibalistic, while the other is more subtle.
Chen Qing is quite audacious, actually trying to set his sights on these dukes. From his observations these past few days, Chen Qing is probably overthinking things.
The one standing before us is probably the one with the best chance!