In front of Chen Zhennan, Zhou Xiang stood with six of his subordinates, and the sense of powerlessness he used to feel had long since vanished.

"General, the people of 700,000 in the six counties have been plundered. It is time for them to rebel. If you raise your voice now, the entire Lingnan region will surely respond."

Zhou Xiang was extremely anxious. He had been waiting for an opportunity to rebel, and now that Chen Zhennan was back, he could no longer contain his excitement.

But looking at Chen Zhennan, although his face was full of relaxed expression, he still shook his head.

"No rush, give Ba Qing a few more days to court disaster. Didn't I tell you to prepare food? How's that going?"

After a moment's thought, Zhou Xiang hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Commander, all six million shi of grain have been stored in Qingshi County, and there are enough weapons and armor for two hundred thousand people."

Chen Zhennan nodded slightly after hearing this, already having made up his mind.

"Six million shi of grain is enough. Immediately allocate six hundred thousand shi of grain and send them to the six counties that have been looted by the government troops, distributing the grain to the people under the guise of disaster relief."

Zhou Xiang had no objection to distributing grain to the people; he had already spent ten million taels of silver, so a little more grain wouldn't make a difference.

"But Commander, those six counties are all under Ba Qing's control. Sending grain there now would be the same as giving it to them for free, wouldn't it?"

Chen Zhennan couldn't help but laugh, "Give it to them for free? Whatever they eat now, they'll have to vomit it all back in three days. Do as I say."

After a pause, Chen Zhennan pondered, "Send someone to contact Li Can and tell him that I'm back. If he doesn't want to die, he should raise an army in three days and join me in besieging Ba Qing. Otherwise, I'll be the first to kill him."

Zhou Xiang nodded hurriedly upon receiving the order and immediately sent people to the granary to allocate grain, while he himself led a group to Yushu County, where Li Can was located.

As the sun set, Chen Zhennan sat on the rooftop with Song Yunyang, watching the fiery clouds in the sky.

"Look, the sky is stained with blood."

As he spoke, Chen Zhennan slowly lay down, enjoying the gentle breeze on his face.

"Blood stains the sky? I don't think so," Song Yunyang said calmly.

What is that?

"It was the sun setting in the west, the last rays of sunlight falling from the sky, and that light was you."

"Me? Then what is your Great Yan Emperor? I must remind you, you should be in the commander's tent on the border of Yan, not in the county government office of Qing Shi County within the territory of Wu."

Upon hearing Chen Zhennan's words, Song Yunyang suddenly hesitated for a moment.

“I didn’t want to come here either. I am the commander of 300,000 troops in Yan Kingdom, but I want to follow you to see what you want to do and learn something along the way.”

"Study hard, you'll have the answer in three days. Then I'll hear how you answer."

...

Three days passed quickly. Of the thirteen counties in Lingnan, all except Qingshi County, where Chen Zhennan was located, had been completely looted.

Inside the Lingnan Prince's Mansion, Ba Qing and Song Xuan sat in the pavilion that Zhou Xiang once loved most, exchanging toasts.

“Minister Song, I really didn’t expect that Zhou Xiang would actually disband the army and leave only five thousand soldiers to protect his own safety.”

Slightly drunk, Song Xuan smiled faintly as he raised his glass and downed the wine in one gulp.

"With an army of 300,000, let alone Zhou Xiang, even Chen Zhennan would have to back down, hahaha!"

As he spoke, Song Xuan took out an account book and gently placed it in front of Ba Qing.

"Grand Marshal, Lingnan is truly a rich land, with 25 million taels of silver and 8 million shi of grain. His Majesty will surely be pleased to know this."

Twenty-five million?

Ba Qing was stunned. He had seen the bill himself, and it clearly showed 33 million taels of silver. Why was Song Xuan asking this?

"Minister Song, what do you mean?"

Song Xuan slightly raised his eyes and reached out to pour Ba Qing a glass of wine.

"Grand Marshal, we are all working for the Emperor, so it is only reasonable for us to receive some compensation for our hard work. If we split it 50/50, this amount of money will be enough for us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."

Ba Qing's eyes lit up at what he heard. As the saying goes, a person cannot get rich without unexpected wealth. If he does his job properly for Wu Yunyin, he can forget about living a life of luxury.

With this in mind, Ba Qing steeled his resolve, picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp, thus making his stance clear.

"Great idea! I'll go and prepare to secretly send this money back right away. In the future, when we're in court, I'll have to give you a lot of help, Grand Marshal."

Ba Qing nodded slowly: "Don't worry, Minister Song. Since I've agreed, we're all in the same boat. We can start after we replace the guards with your men."

Song Xuan grunted, stood up, turned and walked out of the house. Ba Qing also hurriedly ordered the guards watching the storeroom to be withdrawn and let the imperial guards that Song Xuan had brought take over.

At midnight, when the night was deep, Ba Qing was just about to rest when he heard a noisy commotion outside the door.

"What a bunch of bastards, what's going on?"

In a daze, Ba Qing turned and walked towards the gate of the house.

He had only taken two steps when a loud crash was heard, and the heavy wooden door was instantly smashed to pieces. A group of soldiers wielding swords rushed in, led by Li Can.

"Li Can? Are you fucking crazy? You dare to bring troops in here? What? You want to rebel too?"

Li Can flicked his cloak, drew his sword from his waist, and pointed it steadily at Ba Qing.

"Brother Baqing, we were both originally subordinates of the same commander. Today, I'll give you a chance. If you're willing to return the money and grain you've plundered to the people of Lingnan, I'll spare your life. What do you say?"

Li Can's words were forceful and resounding, but Ba Qing, under the influence of alcohol, didn't take them to heart at all.

"Spare my life? With your kind? Besides, that money is meant to pay the Emperor's military expenses. You think I'll return it to these unruly people in Lingnan? Dream on!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen guards suddenly jumped from the trees in the courtyard, all drawing their swords and pointing them at Li Can.

"It seems you're determined to be Wu Yunyin's lackey. Fine, then I'll grant your wish today."

It wasn't Li Can speaking, but Ba Qing felt the voice was very familiar.

impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

How dare he come back?

"Don't think about it anymore, it's me, your commander."

As the voice spoke, Chen Zhennan slowly walked out from behind Li Can, clutching a curved knife in his hand.

"Chen Zhennan? Impossible! Aren't you in Yan Kingdom? The Emperor wants you dead, and you dare to come to Lingnan?"

Ba Qing was extremely flustered. Chen Zhennan was full of imposing presence, and there was no trace of the dejected look he had when he fled in panic that day.

"Ba Qing, I was thinking of giving you a way out because of our past relationship, but now, you only have death to live on!"

As he spoke, Chen Zhennan took a step forward, seemingly about to make a move.

"Chen Zhennan! Six years ago you raised an army in rebellion and restored the Great Wu regime. Do you still want to rebel now? How can you still have the face to stand between heaven and earth?"

Ba Qing's words made Chen Zhennan want to laugh. He had repeatedly made great contributions to the restoration of the Great Wu. If it weren't for Wu Yunyin, how could there have been another war?

"Rebellion? Get your facts straight, this isn't a rebellion, it's an uprising!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than shouts of battle suddenly came from outside the door, growing ever closer.

"Chen Zhennan, my bodyguards are here! You're dead today!"