At midnight, just as Zhou Gu had predicted, the two hundred thousand Jibei soldiers began their march in darkness, bypassing these mountains to approach Nanping City. They didn’t stir the peaceful tranquility that enveloped these suburban houses, making no noise.
Fen Ling sat with Ziye atop the hills, watching the Jibei Army, a force that blended into the darkness. Both of them were secretly impressed, while also greatly admiring Zhou Gu’s keen foresight. He was spot on in his prediction.
Ziye muttered, "See? Didn’t my master predict it accurately?"
"Hmm, my brother-in-law is indeed impressive." Fen Ling thought that he had underestimated Zhou Gu in the past. Yet, his sister was more discerning by recognizing the young master Zhou Gu’s worth during their time at Jiangning County.
"Let me tell you, my master has read all the books in the Eastern Palace. Astronomy, geography, historical anecdotes, military strategies, theories of governance, the six arts of a gentleman. It was only after Grand Tutor Qin had nothing left to teach him that he considered my master fully educated," Ziye said with pride, "Give it a couple of years, after some more life-altering experiences, he won’t be any less known than the Second Young Master Ye."
Fen Ling turned to Ziye, "Seems like the pressure created by the Second Young Master Ye really is overwhelming."
Not just Zhou Gu, even Ziye seemed to feel a strong sense of urgency.
Ziye scratched his head and muttered quietly, "Isn’t it obvious? The seventh miss favored my master. My master has to make her proud. He can’t allow others to belittle her choice in the future, saying she overlooked other gems and made a dumbfounded decision. Even for the seventh miss’s sake, my master must strive for better."
"That’s true," Fen Ling agreed, "I should also try harder. If not for my brother-in-law this time, I would’ve lost face and ended myself with my own sword in shame."
He patted Ziye’s shoulder, stood up and said, "Let’s go, let’s head back."
Ziye looked at him as he also got up, "Are we just going back? Aren’t we going to follow them to watch"
"There’s no need." Fen Ling shook his head, "There’s no point in watching. Without the troops of Master Zhou, we can’t deal with this two hundred thousand army."
Ziye thought about it and agreed, then he returned to the suburban house with Fen Ling.
Su Rong had already gone to sleep, but Zhou Gu was still awake. Hearing footsteps outside the door, he got up from bed, walked to the door, and saw Fen Ling and Ziye returning. He asked them, "How did it go?"
Fen Ling immediately lowered his voice saying, "Brother-in-law, you were really spot-on. The two hundred thousand soldiers successfully circled the mountain."
Zhou Gu nodded, "It’s not about my prediction, it’s about not causing any stir among the people, to keep from alerting the Marquis Nanping Residence, so as to not hamper their surprise attack on Nanping city."
"Regardless, you’re amazing. I wouldn’t have been capable of making such predictions. I should’ve been worried earlier," Fen Ling said.
Zhou Gu smiled, "You haven’t read as many military books as I have.", he then gestured, "Go back to sleep."
Having said that, he closed the door, yawned, returned to bed, lay down beside Su Rong, and shut his eyes.
Fen Ling and Ziye each returned to their rooms.
As Ziye passed by Fen Ling’s door, he pulled him back before he could enter the room, and whispered, "I have never seen my master so clingy towards anyone, not even the Eldest Princess."
Ziye could hardly recognized his master anymore.
If it were before, when they weren’t married, his master would have never set foot in a woman’s boudoir, let alone share the same bed, even with his fiancée.
You need to know, when in Jiangning County, he strictly followed the rules, he didn’t even touch Seventh Miss’s hand.
But now, he was sharing the same room and the same bed with her.
Fen Ling looked at him, "You don’t understand, do you? Only those who have lost something and managed to regain it will have a death grip on it. My brother-in-law is smart, now that he has the marriage certificate, he fully embraces her. What of sharing the room? Once my sister has recovered, do you think he can restrain himself from?
"Resist what?" Ziye asked innocently.
Fen Ling patted his shoulder, "You can figure it out for yourself."
After he had finished speaking, he closed the door and returned to his room.
Ziye stood outside his door for a while before he realized what Fen Ling meant by his comment. Although he felt naive, he also thought that the Eldest Princess and Madam would be very happy if they knew about this. After all, in their hearts, as long as the master is well, everything is fine. However, it would be harder to say for the Duke, after all, he cultivated the master very painstakingly, not for the Nanchu King, and then there was Grand Tutor Qin, who might be hopping mad as a result.
Just before dawn, the darkest hour, drums of assault suddenly echoed from outside Nanping City.
Even though Ning Chi and others had been preparing, they were not expecting the Jibei Army to come this quickly, not even waiting for daylight.
He ordered his people to light up the torches along the city wall and summoned Ning Ze to bind Zhang Mao and brought him to the top of the city wall. He pointed at the massive army outside the city gate, "Open your eyes wide and look who this is? If you dare to attack the city, this prince will kill him."
The Jibei Army immediately wide opened their eyes as the torchlight from the city wall lit up the whole city gate, particularly the person in the middle whom they could clearly see.
Someone shouted in astonishment, "It’s the legitimate young master."
"It’s the eldest son."
"It’s the young master."
The Jibei Army was suddenly abuzz, the onslaught on the city halted, and they seemed to be at a loss of what to do.
The leader was Zhang Mao’s second uncle, Zhang Cheng. Zhang Cheng’s face transformed as he saw Zhang Mao, which he did not expect at all.
At this moment, someone surrounded Zhang Cheng and asked, "General, what do we do?"
Zhang Cheng was pale; he was also confused about what to do!
Someone suggested, "Could it be fake?"
Zhang Cheng hoped it to be false. He sternly shouted, " Stop trying to fool this general with a sham!"
"Fake?" Ning Chi scoffed, untied the jade pendant from Zhang Mao’s waist, waved it around, and shouted to Zhang Cheng below the city gate, "Catch it. See if it’s the real or fake."
After saying this, he flung the jade pendant towards Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng, having some martial skills, caught the jade pendant on horseback. Holding it under the torchlight for a clearer look, his face changed again.
A close associate came over to confirm, his face also changing as he whispered, "It’s... It’s really the eldest son."
Zhang Mao, being the legitimate son in the Pingxi General’s Residence, was the main component of this plan to attack the city, which was jointly decided by Zhang Ping, Zhang Cheng, Zhang Mao, and others. He first came to the eighteen fortresses of South Ping to incite sedition, and then Zhang Cheng came later, whileZheng Ping on the other hand, made other arrangements.
But now that Zhang Mao was captured, what should they do?
Zhang Cheng, his face changing constantly, was still not resigned and said: "This general wants to hear him speak."
Ning Chi patted Zhang Mao on the shoulder, "Speak up!"
Then he lowered his voice saying, "Whether your second uncle withdraws his troops or not depends on your words now."
Upon finishing, he added in a lowered tone, "To live or die, your fate is decided today."
Zhang Mao took a deep breath, and with a calm tone said to those below, "Second Uncle, it’s me."
Just this sentence almost caused Zhang Cheng to fall from his horse. It really was his precious nephew.
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