Chapter 97 I've Fallen in Love with Him
Sun Tzu's Art of War states: "The best strategy in warfare is to defeat the enemy through strategy; the next best is to defeat the enemy through diplomacy; the next best is to attack the enemy with troops; the worst strategy is to besiege cities."
Yuan Qiuhe was clearly aware of his advantages, so he avoided fighting and instead wanted to wear down Guan Zhiwei first.
"The Kim clan, the Hong clan, and the imperial army are not united. If the battle lines are stretched out, internal conflicts will arise due to their shared interests, and they may even turn against each other. This will be the opportune moment to launch a counterattack. I urge you, Lord Yuan, to be patient and endure temporary humiliation for the sake of a great cause that will last a hundred years," the strategist advised.
“Okay.” Yuan Qiuhe closed his eyes, placed his hands on his knees, and tapped his fingertips lightly.
The reason why Yuan Qiuhe chose Yanyang City as his base was because the city was large enough to accommodate a hundred families of nobles, and the terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Yuan family had made ample preparations in the city and had sufficient food and supplies. They were not afraid of being besieged for three to five months, or even half a year or a year.
But Guan Zhiwei led a large army to fight this battle, which will consume a lot of food and supplies. Half of the food and supplies will be consumed on the way here.
If the city cannot be captured for a long time, the morale of the soldiers will also weaken.
Once they are exhausted, we will leave the city and wipe them out in one fell swoop, thus venting our anger.
Both sides have their own agendas; one side doesn't want to fight, while the other does.
Soldiers carried ladders to charge and climb the city walls, braving rolling logs, boulders, boiling oil, and a hail of arrows. The mortality rate of these vanguard troops was extremely high; they were practically risking their lives to deplete the city's resources.
If Guan Zhiwei were even more ruthless, she would gather the nearby people and force them to climb the wall to wear them down; this is almost a common tactic used in warfare.
Guan Zhiwei didn't want to fight like this, and she didn't even want the soldiers to charge again.
The best strategy in warfare is tactics.
She wondered how she could provoke people out of the city.
Since they couldn't think of any good solutions, they had Yuan Chizheng brought out.
Gao Huan asked, "Does the Grand Tutor intend to use him to threaten Yuan Qiuhe? I'm afraid that won't work. Although Yuan Qiuhe loves his son very much, he has many sons, so he won't miss this one."
Guan Zhiwei shook her head. When Yuan Chizheng arrived, she looked at his handsome features and suddenly smiled. She reached out and wiped the dust off his face: "You've lost weight, and you look so pitiful. I suddenly realized that I've fallen in love with you."
Yuan Chi was completely bewildered by this statement: "Huh?"
Guan Zhi smiled amiably and said, "Someone, go and tell Lord Yuan, no, go and tell my father-in-law that I want to marry his son."
Gao Huan put his hands in his pockets, tucked into his wide robe, his expression indifferent.
She's about to stir up trouble again.
"Don't stay here, it's inconvenient." Guan Zhiwei waved her hand to shoo her away.
Gao Huan smiled enigmatically and said, "Then I won't disturb the Grand Tutor's good time."
Yuan Chi was being washed and cleaned, and Guan Zhiwei finally found him a bright red robe. She made him put it on, and after he twirled around, he did look rather handsome.
Guan Zhiwei held the man's hand and said softly, "Ah Zheng."
Even if Yuan Chizheng were a fool, he wouldn't believe that she could fall in love with him under these circumstances—she had previously wanted to pierce my heart with a thousand arrows and then steam me, before sending a cup of soup to my father.
He was on the verge of tears, but forced a smile: "Grand Tutor, please give me your orders."
"How could I bear to let you do anything? It would tire out your delicate little thing."
Guan Zhiwei stroked his face, smiling gently, "Azheng, you don't know, although I have many people around me, I don't have a single close confidant. Gao Huan is too weak, Zhi Junyuan is too young, Wei Fuzhi is too old, and Zhang Xiao is too ugly. I'm not satisfied with any of them. Until I saw you, you are beautiful and charming, and I like you a hundred times over. But they are jealous and forced me to deal with you. You have no idea how heartbroken I am."
Yuan Chi stammered, "R-really?"
"I, Guan Zhiwei, swear to God that if my heart is not true to you, may I be struck dead by lightning."
"..." It's like a pie fell from the sky!
“Ah Zheng, I really want to marry you, but we have a deep-seated hatred between us, alas.” Guan Zhiwei sighed, then quickly said, “But I think true love can overcome everything. As long as I truly love you and you are willing to love me, none of these are problems. I can make peace with your father.”
Yuan Chi hesitated: "Does the Grand Tutor want me to persuade my father to surrender? I'm afraid I don't have that ability."
"What surrender? How could my father-in-law surrender! It's reconciliation. I'll reconcile with him, he'll reconcile with the court, and we'll both reconcile. Let's start this reconciliation with our marriage. I'll send you back to the city, and you can ask your father-in-law to prepare a good dowry for you. I'll come to marry you in three days, okay?"
Yuan Chi Zheng thought to himself, "I can go back to the city! Who cares about any conspiracies or tricks? If they can let me go back to the city, isn't that a great thing?"
He nodded vigorously: "Okay."
Guan Zhiwei drew her knife.
Yuan Chi suddenly knelt on the ground, crying, "Grand Tutor, spare my life! I don't want to go back to the city!"
Guan Zhiwei quickly pulled him up and hugged him. "Azheng, what are you thinking about? I want to cut off a lock of my hair so that I can look at it when you miss me."
Yuan Chi's hands were trembling. "Then I can cut a lock of hair, and we can braid a love knot."
"That's great."
Guan Zhiwei cut off a section of their hair, tied them together, and they made a love knot. She put the love knot into the other person's hand and said sincerely, "If you miss me, take it out and look at it. Tell your father-in-law to hurry up and arrange the wedding. I'm waiting to marry you."
Yuan Chizheng was sent back in a daze.
Guan Zhiwei personally saw him off, and a small squad of soldiers beat drums and gongs, shouting and making a fuss that the whole city knew that Yuan Chi and Guan Zhiwei had fallen in love.
She addressed him affectionately as "Father-in-law" at the city gate.
Unfortunately, Yuan Qiuhe never showed up, so we didn't get to see the interesting expression on his face.
However, one of Yuan Qiuhe's advisors came out to greet the person, his face sour, and said sarcastically, "Is Grand Tutor Guan so eager to get married? Without a matchmaker or betrothal, he has set his sights on our third young master."
"Huh? Didn't we already agree that your third young master would be mine? Otherwise, why haven't you picked him up yet?" Guan Zhiwei asked, feigning doubt.
It's not that we're not taking them back; it's that we can't bring them back! You've been conquering and seizing territory all the way, how are we supposed to get our people back?
Pretending to be ignorant when you know the truth is disgusting!
The strategist looked very unwell.
Guan Zhi smiled amiably and shouted loudly towards the city, "I will come to fetch the bride in three days, so you should make the necessary preparations."
No one responded, and everyone in the city felt it was bad luck and shameful.
Gao Huan asked in a low voice, "What is the Grand Tutor going to do? He can't possibly have really taken a fancy to that plain-looking girl, can he?"
"They were as still as a stagnant pool, but I had to stir things up."
Guan Zhiwei chuckled.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com