Chapter 594: Haha, there's still an ambush (Part 2) [Requesting monthly votes]

The night rain poured down, and the wind was even stronger.

The more successful and glorious Qiu Cheng's troops were in Nanyu County, the more miserable they became in Beishang County. As the remnants of the army gathered, the ninth-rank fifth-grade doctor roughly assessed their situation, his face darker than the night. His cheeks were taut, and his eyes seemed calm and indifferent, but even the tips of his meticulously trimmed beard trembled slightly with his breathing.

He was in a very bad mood.

This is very, very, very bad.

Under the cover of darkness, the remnants of the army waited to regroup in a secluded wasteland. Thankfully, the enemy hadn't pursued them; otherwise, given their current demoralized state, their fate would likely have been grim. The ninth-rank, fifth-grade official sat imposingly on a bare rock.

Let the wind and rain rage on.

Not long after, another man arrived with his troops to join them.

The man was covered in bruises.

The rain washed away the fresh blood from his wounds, but new blood soon began to flow again. He didn't have many wounds, the most obvious being the gash on his right arm. Upon closer inspection, wasn't this the same Martial Arts Warrior who had fought Bai Su?

"Where's Lao Tian?" He strode forward, his heavy footsteps splashing up a considerable amount of muddy water, some of which landed on his skirt armor, but he didn't care. He asked directly, "Why haven't I seen Lao Tian?"

The ninth-rank, fifth-level doctor had a fierce look on his face.

His tone carried a hint of unresolved resentment.

He said viciously, "Old Tian's head has been chopped off."

This answer surprised the visitor.

It seems they didn't expect this outcome.

The "Old Tian" they were referring to was the seventh-rank duke who had been beheaded by Gong Shuwu. Although a seventh-rank duke was not uncommon among martial artists, losing one, especially a seasoned general with extensive experience in training troops, was still a painful loss for anyone.

Old Tian had a pretty good relationship with the two of them in private.

How could anyone bear to hear this news?

He didn't believe it: "How could Lao Tian do it so easily..."

Old Tian is the most cunning man.

If he were truly outmatched, he wouldn't force a fight.

Even if you can't defeat the enemy, you don't have to die, right?

The ninth-rank, fifth-grade physician, his face grim, slammed his helmet to the ground and sternly said, "Easy? Do you know who the enemy is? An eleventh-rank, right vice-chief whose aura is extremely close to that of a twelfth-rank left-hand man! I reckon he's just one opportunity away from breaking through..."

Would it be difficult to kill a seventh-rank official?

The other side also had a scholar named Wenxin by their side.

If he hadn't seized the opportunity Lao Tian had secured to retreat, he would have been trapped there even if he had delayed for a moment. Just thinking about the face he saw through the rain made him shudder. The way the other person looked at him wasn't like looking at a living person, but like looking at a dead one.

"...This time...we underestimated our opponent..." The martial artist who fought Bai Su, upon hearing that his opponent was an eleventh-rank Right Vice Minister, could only accept reality despite his regret over Old Tian's death. "This was probably Old Tian's fate. You don't need to..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the enraged Ninth-Rank Fifth-Class Physician. He was like a ferocious beast, completely enraged and in a state of frenzy, his eyes bloodshot and his breath hot: "What fate? This is clearly someone's inaction!"

The intelligence was far from reality.

How can you expect to win a war with intelligence like this?

If they could obtain a rough estimate of the true strength of Shen Tang's forces, the troops that raided Beishang County would have been much larger than those tonight. Qiu Cheng's army certainly had mid-to-high-level martial artists. Even if any one of them hadn't achieved anything tonight, they wouldn't have been routed and forced to retreat in such a sorry state. Not only did they gain no advantage, but they also gained military merits for nothing.

For a martial artist of such courage and skill, being beheaded and dying is incredibly humiliating, and the thought alone filled this ninth-rank, fifth-grade doctor with rage. The martial general who had fought Bai Su, reminded of this, also remembered this, and his expression instantly darkened…

Who is in charge of the investigation?

Miao family's virtuous daughter.

More accurately, she was the lord's beloved concubine.

From devising the strategy to attack Nanyu County to planning the offensive against Beishang County, she was basically in charge. Because she came from the Miao family, one of the powerful families in Longwu County, and her family mainly operated in Nanyu and Beishang, her understanding of the two places was unmatched by outsiders.

At first, people didn't believe her, but the great victory in Nanyu County proved her ability. In addition, her scholarly way, which had little lethality but was a deadly weapon on the battlefield, gave her more authority in the Beishang County operation.

Just then, a voice came from inside.

"Who are you calling inactive?"

The voice was clearly that of a woman.

Miao Shu stood in the rain, coldly watching the two of them.

To maximize her scholarly abilities and ensure timely battlefield information, she also participated in the operation. However, her time in cultivating her literary mind was still short, and her literary energy was limited, allowing her only to barely maintain her scholarly abilities and ascertain the troop distribution within the camp.

I couldn't spare any extra attention for anything else.

Even so, she was greatly exhausted, her face pale and lifeless. Hearing their slander only fueled her anger. Along with her anger, she couldn't help but feel wronged. Finally, she bit her lip and swallowed all her emotions.

"Hmph, how many of the pieces of information you gave me are true?"

Miao Shu clenched her fist in her sleeve.

Gritting his teeth: "Rainwater can't penetrate the granary and camp..."

She could only rely on the methods of scholars to investigate the people and objects covered by the rain. The numbers would certainly be inaccurate, but she hadn't expected an ambush to be hidden from the start, waiting for them to take the bait. The actual number was more than double the number of soldiers she had detected…

Among them was Gong Shuwu.

Clearly, Shen Tang came prepared.

"Heh, isn't that just an excuse?" The ninth-rank fifth-grade doctor looked coldly at Miao Shu, wanting to vent his anger but considering that she was his lord's woman, it was not his place to beat or scold her—if she were a colleague, he would have thrown a punch directly with his fiery temper—so he could only utter a few disgusting words, "If you are not capable, don't force things, lest you become a laughingstock for all time and harm people's lives... Hmph!"

These words were like cold water poured over Miao Shu's head.

Her face flushed red with anger, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

"So, aren't you also making excuses?"

Seeing that the two seemed about to escalate their argument, the other person had no choice but to raise a hand to stop them, acting as a peacemaker: "Now is not the time to argue about this. It's more important for us to retreat first and reunite with our lord and the others. We must let our lord know about this as soon as possible..."

What do you know?

He knew his neighbor wasn't a sheep, but a wolf.

Judging from Shen Tang's attitude, he clearly won't swallow the matter of Nanyu County. He might even raise an army to collect the debt as soon as the autumn harvest is over.

Upon hearing this, the two calmed down slightly.

After regrouping their remaining forces, they quietly retreated under the cover of night and wind. However, the Ninth-Rank Fifth Physician abandoned the planned route and instead took another. Miao Shu said coldly, "This route is probably not appropriate..."

"What's wrong with it?"

Miao Shu suppressed her anger: "There might be an ambush."

The ninth-ranking physician brooked no argument: "The original road was more treacherous, easier to conceal from rain during reconnaissance, and more likely to be ambush site. Since you know Shen Youli came prepared, choosing that road again would be like walking into a trap."

On the contrary, he chose a much broader path.

The ambush troops could not use the natural terrain to avoid the rain.

In the current situation, this is a more prudent approach.

Tang: Actually, choosing either path is like walking into a trap.

(￣︶￣)

By the way, 37 weeks should be considered full term, right?

I'm full term now, and I really want to have a C-section sooner. Every day in late pregnancy is so uncomfortable... I don't know how long I'll have to wait for natural labor to start.

(End of this chapter)