"How could I forget?" Qin Shen said helplessly. "But those people are starting to lose their nerve!"

The imperial court sent not just one person, but a whole team. Apart from the Vice Minister of War who had left, the rest of them were with them.

What's most frustrating is that this group of people have been freeloading at their place. They're appeased one day, but the next day they demand to go into the military camp, and then he has to appease them all over again.

Lu Yanzheng pondered for a moment, then said, "No matter what, you should deal with it for now. We can't hand over the power, but we can tolerate them eating and drinking here for a while if they want to freeload."

He hasn't officially declared war on the imperial court yet, so he can't afford to offend these people openly. But soon, he won't hesitate any longer.

"Alright, I'll do my best," Qin Shen sighed, really not wanting to deal with those people from the imperial court.

Lu Yanzheng patted his shoulder, "You'll get through this period."

Qin Shen naturally understood this principle, but he still couldn't help asking, "General, aren't we supposed to... you know? Why do we still have to deal with these people from the imperial court?"

In his opinion, why not just tie her up and throw her back, or even tie her up and take her hostage? Why bother treating her to such good food and drink?

Lu Yanzheng said calmly, "I'm waiting."

"Wait?" Qin Shen was taken aback. "Wait for what?"

Lu Yanzheng's lips curled slightly, "Waiting for a legitimate opportunity."

"Legitimate and justified?" Qin Shen's eyes widened, but he quickly understood and clapped his hands, saying, "Excellent! General, you have thought things through very well!"

In reality, almost all the border troops knew that they were planning a rebellion, but Lu Yanzheng didn't mention it, and the other generals naturally wouldn't say it either, so the soldiers below were actually a bit unsure.

But now that Lu Yanzheng has said those words, Qin Shen feels at ease.

Throughout history, most rebels have met with bad ends, so not many people want to join in rebellion.

However, the border troops' trust in Lu Yanzheng was unprecedented and unparalleled; not a single one of them would not want to follow him.

But many people are still thinking about their families. He even overheard someone saying that they had already made arrangements for the elderly and children in their families so that if they failed, their families would not be implicated.

At that time, Qin Shen wondered what Lu Yanzheng was thinking.

Now he understood completely. No wonder he was their general; even when rebelling, he had to find the right opportunity!

Having understood this, Qin Shen became more composed in his actions and was able to put on a smiling face when facing those people in the imperial court.

Everything went smoothly in Qiongzhou, and a few days later, the person recommended by Wei Chengzong arrived.

Lu Yanzheng went directly to the home of the current prefect of Qiongzhou and arrested the prefect who was holding a full-moon banquet for his youngest son. He also had a long list of the prefect's criminal records read out on the spot.

With the evidence irrefutable, no one dared to utter a sound, except for the prefect's family, who cried and begged for mercy.

Lu Yanzheng naturally didn't care about any of that. He said to the newly appointed prefect of Qiongzhou who had come with him, "Lord Lu, I'm leaving this to you. Please make sure to thoroughly investigate and confiscate everything that Zhang Zhicheng has embezzled."

"General, rest assured, I understand," Lu Yao said, cupping his hands in greeting.

He truly admired the general's way of handling things.

When he received Wei Chengzong's letter, he hesitated about whether to re-enter officialdom, since his friend was now just a county magistrate.

Then, just now, he completely changed his mind.

Before he came, he was wondering how Lu Yanzheng would deal with Zhang Zhicheng, and whether he would need to collect various pieces of evidence. But the other party just came up and arrested him. The charges sounded numerous, but in reality, only the first few had evidence.

Since Lu Yanzheng had already used him, he wouldn't interfere. After the handover was completed, he left with his men.

But as soon as he returned to the army, someone sent an urgent letter from the capital.

"General, what's the matter that's so urgent?" Qin Shen asked, craning his neck.

Lu Yanzheng opened the letter, glanced at it, then his eyes curved slightly as he handed the letter to Qin Shen, saying, "The opportunity has arrived."

Qin Shen, puzzled, took the letter and stared wide-eyed at Lu Yanzheng in astonishment. "Prince Yong has surrendered to the court? What... does this have to do with our opportunity?"

Lu Yanzheng wanted to facepalm, but thinking that Qin Shen was indeed not such a meticulous person, he explained, "If Prince Yong surrenders to the court, he will definitely hand over his troops. At that time, the court will have extra troops. Whether they send them to intimidate us or to reinforce the Yuehe camp, they will take new actions."

Qin Shen seemed to understand but not quite, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Does the general mean that the imperial court will soon deal with us?"

"It seems so at the moment, but it's not certain," Lu Yanzheng said, looking out the window.

The imperial treasury is currently empty, making it very difficult to support a war. It all depends on what the emperor thinks.

Upon hearing this, Qin Shen immediately said, "Then I'll go down now and tell the brothers to be ready at any time."

Lu Yanzheng did not stop them, after all, they could indeed face difficulties from the imperial court at any time.

What he wanted was for the imperial court to suppress them.

This time, he would no longer silently endure the injustices the court inflicted on the border troops and the people of Yukang Prefecture, as he had done before. He would make all the people who were treated differently know how they were regarded by the court...

Qinzhou, General's Mansion

Jiang Qinyu had just seen off the people who came to hand in the account books when Amber arrived.

"Madam, I have compiled all the previous account books. Please take a look."

After spending a lot of time with the people in charge in Qinzhou, Jiang Qinyu and the others changed a lot in their language habits. The most obvious change was that Yunzhu and the others started to speak in a more literary style.

Fortunately, Jiang Qinyu had watched a lot of period dramas before, so she was used to this kind of dialogue.

"Put it down first, take the newly delivered one down and check it. We'll check it again once all the ledgers are complete."

There were so many things handed over by Grandpa Lu, countless ledgers of all sizes, that Jiang Qinyu couldn't look at them all one by one. She could only have Amber organize them first, and then she would look at the statistical results.

Speaking of which, it's worth mentioning that when Jiang Qinyu brought Yunzhu and the others to Qinzhou, Yunzhu and Amber voluntarily signed a death pact with Jiang Qinyu.

Originally, both of them were maids that Lu Yanzheng had asked Uncle Chen to find, and they had signed a contract with the contract holders. But now that they have embarked on this path, it is clear that they can no longer easily trust people with contracts with the contract holders.

That's why Jiang Qinyu felt more at ease entrusting the task of reviewing the account books to Amber.

No sooner had Amber left than Yunzhu arrived.

"Madam, Old Master Lu requests that you go to the front to greet the guests."

Jiang Qinyu was slightly surprised, "Did the old man invite his friends to his residence?"