Chapter 44 The Forty-Fourth Confused Account

Some have said that she was born for war.

Even though they didn't know her name, they were certain they knew her.

Even Jiang Linzhi himself felt that way.

Or she should be called Zuo Qinghou, or something else.

Anyway, they're all names that other people have used.

After Zuo Qinghou revealed her identity, apart from some elderly officials in their seventies and eighties who still remembered her, even the emperor's faction looked down on a girl from a merchant family, which naturally caused quite a scene.

The one who caused the most trouble was Jiang Jinyi. He used to hold military power because of his outstanding abilities, but his authority was shaken when Zuo Qinghou arrived.

During the day, Zuo Qinghou brought up the matter of Huo Zhuo's dereliction of duty, which Jiang Jinyi had previously suppressed, and engaged in a heated debate with Jiang Jinyi for an hour.

The two almost got into a fight after leaving Chaoyang Palace. When gods fight, little devils suffer. The official next to them quickly slipped away along the palace wall, holding his official hat.

The two struck each other with their palms, shattering the nearby water tank. The gushing water soaked the entire passageway, even Zuo Qinghou's shoes and socks were not spared. She lifted her foot, swayed it, and sighed, "Why bother? It would be so much better if you came under my command. I would spoil you."

These words were truly insulting. Jiang Jinyi was so angry that he threw a punch, but Zuo Qinghou easily dodged it. The force of his palm strike created a crater in the palace wall.

Somehow, the news reached the ears of the three great clans of Wu. Wu had a bumper harvest this year, with ample grain. Even ordinary families had extra money to buy some inexpensive gold jewelry.

With domestic strife and external troubles compounded, this is truly a golden opportunity to launch an attack.

Shortly after the autumn harvest that year, the State of Wu launched a war.

Seven nights before the attack, the night was cool and still, the cold water pouring onto the bluestone slabs of the front hall. Zuo Qinghou, wearing an outer robe, held a tortoise shell in one hand and yarrow stalks in the other, quietly watching the results on the ground.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms embraced Zuo Qinghou from behind, warming her body which was chilled by the wind, and whispered, "Why aren't you asleep so late?"

Zuo Qinghou kicked the yarrow stalks on the ground with his toe, then turned to Jiang Jinyi and said, "Tomorrow morning, you muster your troops and go to Guanshan Road to defend against the Wu army?"

Jiang Jinyi frowned deeply, wrapped his cloak around her, and said, "You figured that out?"

Zuo Qinghou rolled his eyes at Jiang Jinyi and said irritably, "It was reported by a scout."

Jiang Jinyi glanced at the yarrow on the ground out of the corner of his eye, knowing that she didn't want to talk to him, so he carried her to the bed and warmed her feet, saying with a bit of grievance, "I haven't seen you for so long."

They argued incessantly during the day and fought fiercely in bed at night. Zuo Qinghou felt that Jiang Jinyi's hands were becoming increasingly unruly, reminding her of the day her shoes and socks were wet, and his lewd and absurd actions from head to toe in the carriage.

Thinking of that incident, Zuo Qinghou felt exhausted. She kicked Jiang Jinyi in the chest, knocking him onto the bed. She straddled him, stuffed her cold hands into his clothes, and said arrogantly, "Your memory recovery is really annoying."

Beneath his hand was the heaving chest, and below that, a growing, uncontrollable throbbing in his chest. Zuo Qinghou teased, "Don't you want to avenge your mother anymore?"

Although Jiang Linzhi was Jiang Jinyi's biological mother, she didn't take good care of him; on the contrary, she was extremely strict with him. Zuo Qinghou, on the other hand, was closer to Jiang Jinyi.

The memory distortion was caused by Zuo Qinghou's magic. Firstly, it made him piece together the truth himself, so that the military merits he earned through such effort would be truly convincing. Secondly, Jiang Linzhi had things to do and genuinely needed him to be his adversary.

Ultimately, it was Zuo Qinghou who made Jiang Jinyi's life so tiring. Zuo Qinghou felt guilty, but slowly slid his hand down and leaned down to kiss the scar on Jiang Jinyi's brow. The sigh in his heart turned into a groan, but he didn't actually let it out.

The next day, Jiang Jinyi was as arrogant and domineering as ever. Without even consulting the emperor, he led his troops to Guanshan Road in a grand procession.

Within days, news of the devastating defeats suffered by both Wu and Sui armies reached the capital. With Wu closing the trade routes, Sui's army immediately faced food shortages. Jiang Jinyi's ability to hold the city was already a remarkable feat.

Jiang Linzhi was prepared and immediately went into battle. He said he was supporting Jiang Jinyi, but in reality he only sent a team of grain carts, carrying twenty carts full of grain, to Guanshan Road.

Jiang Linzhi led only 30,000 troops, taking a risky gamble, and marched straight from Wuming Village to Shu. Just like decades ago, she led her troops, fighting all the way to the east of the Huailing Mountains before stopping, and along the way, she wiped out a Wu cavalry force.

Those in the army who were not convinced had long been shocked by her reckless and unconventional military tactics, after all, while Jiang Jinyi was struggling to hold on, she had already captured five cities.

Zuo Qinghou stood atop the mountain, gazing at the distant Shu region. A cold wind howled, but even after the autumn harvest, the Shu lands below remained lush and green, a truly delightful sight. He imagined it would have been even more beautiful during the recent autumn harvest.

Chen stepped forward, bowed his head, and said, "General, Shu is easy to defend but difficult to attack; it is not a good place for us to attack."

The wind was too cold. Zuo Qinghou rubbed his arms and walked down slowly, saying, "Shu is a rich land with a fierce and valiant people. Since ancient times, no matter what the ruling family's surname was, they have always formed their own faction. The emperor is far away, so they may not be truly loyal to the emperor, but they certainly don't trust us."

The meaning of this statement is not difficult to understand, but how to solve it is very difficult. Chen remained silent for a long time before saying, "This subordinate does not understand."

How can we influence them?

"...Then our people infiltrate and live and work alongside them?" Chen couldn't think of anything, so he simply gave up and went for broke.

At this moment, Zuo Qinghou missed the days when Qi Lingjun was by her side. She sighed and said, "You really always think of Zhang Wanchun when it comes to making contributions."

Chen, who was usually quiet, defended himself, saying, "His wheat was grown quite well; it was quite effective."

Zuo Qinghou nodded and said mercilessly, "He planted it four or five times, destroyed it four or five times, and only managed to grow half an acre of wheat, enough for the whole army to cook a thin porridge. Have you ever thought about how many people he wasted on this? If he had used that energy to kill the enemy, he wouldn't be a junior captain."

Because of Chen's father's betrayal of Zhang Wanchun's family, Chen had always felt guilty towards Zhang Wanchun. Although he didn't fully understand, he still supported his decision. However, Zuo Qinghou's words were truly reasonable, and he couldn't defend him. He could only whisper, "His intentions were good."

“His intentions were good,” Jiang Linzhi stopped and looked at Chen Dao quietly. “Your father’s intentions were also for your own good. Why didn’t you join the Regent’s faction and instead came here to follow me?”

Chen's father was the one Huo Zhuo had tried to take down, Grand Commandant Chen. The Grand Commandant claimed to be upright and incorruptible, but his loyalty was only to the Regent's integrity. This kind of blind loyalty and bias was something Chen, as his son, particularly disapproved of.

Father and son broke off relations and each served their own master.

Seeing Chen remain silent, Jiang Linzhi continued walking, "Anyone can claim good intentions and then wipe the slate clean if they mess things up. Then everything in this world would be a mess. Or..."

Jiang Linzhi walked around a steep rock wall, reminding Chen to be careful while walking, and continued, "Or you might be in a high position of power and use your influence to suppress others, making it impossible for them to do anything to you."

Jian Chen remained silent, his lips pursed, seemingly lost in thought. Zuo Qinghou said earnestly, "I've been an excellent judge of character for many years. Let me give you a piece of advice: if you continue like this, you'll eventually fall into this mess."

If he were truly good at judging people, he wouldn't have been betrayed by Jiang Linzhi. Chen thought to himself, but said nothing.

Autumn brings abundant rainfall, and Sichuan is mostly basins. Jiang Linzhi has blocked the downstream area, preparing to flood one city first.

This method was truly brutal, and most people were angry but dared not speak out, but there were also "righteous people." The first to confront them was Zhang Wanchun, a mere captain, who was now pounding the table and arguing with Zuo Qinghou.

"How many civilians are among them! Soldiers should fight soldiers, what does it have to do with those defenseless civilians! Even if we win, we are still utterly despicable!" Zhang Wanchun roared, his whole body trembling with rage.

Zuo Qinghou nodded, planted a flag on the sand table, and said, "So, how do you think we should take it?"

One sentence silenced everyone. They had only less than 30,000 men on their way here, while the Shu army numbered at least 50,000, all of them able-bodied and elite soldiers. Fighting conventionally would be like an egg hitting a rock.

This Zhang Wanchun has been on the border for so many years, yet he doesn't even understand the most basic principle of military strategy: "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; the worst is to besiege their cities; besieging cities is a last resort." To think he can fight like a gentleman is truly laughable.

When people are fighting each other, where are the gentlemen?

Even with Zhang Wanchun's limited mind, he couldn't come up with anything, but he still said, "There's always a way, but it's definitely not to flood the city."

Zuo Qinghou laughed, but his laughter chilled everyone to the bone, and they instantly lowered their heads. This was a warning sign that Zuo Qinghou was about to lose his temper. Chen immediately stepped forward, knelt down in front of Zhang Wanchun, and said, "General, I am willing to lead troops to launch a surprise attack on the city tonight, coordinating with the outside to open the city gates."

It seems Chen didn't hear a word of what was said a few hours ago. Fine, let them go if they want. With Chen's skills, opening the city gates is easy; it's just that attacking and seizing territory will cost him some troops. This will earn Chen military merit, at least giving him some confidence in front of his father. Zuo Qinghou fiddled with his index finger, pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "How many men do you need?"

"There should be a guard every five steps and a sentry every ten steps on the city wall. I need ten highly skilled soldiers."

"Granted!" Zuo Qinghou looked directly at Zhang Wanchun, just like a hawk tilting its head to lock onto its target before hunting. She then gave a kind and gentle instruction, "This general is not a god, and there will always be times when decisions are wrong. As long as you succeed, I will truthfully report all those who contributed and seek rewards for you."

What was originally a difficult siege plan was easily resolved. As soon as everyone left the commander's tent, Zuo Qinghou's flags were broken into nine pieces. He cursed Chen eight hundred times in his heart. What an idiot, protecting such a fool!

Sure enough, after the person left, Zhang Wanchun called Chen back.

Zhang Wanchun hadn't spoken to Chen in a long time, which made Chen feel flattered, thinking that Zhang Wanchun could tell that he had always been on Chen's side.

But Zhang Wanchun led him to an empty stable, and when he turned around, his face was extremely gloomy. He said, "Stop pretending to be a good person! Aren't you just trying to get military merit this time? You and Zuo Qinghou are the same kind of people!"