Zhang Cheng dispatched a search party into the mountains. They searched keenly for two days and nights, but found no trace of Zhou Gu.
He barked, "I have no idea where he was hidden. This man is nowhere to be found."
Zhang Yun said, "Uncle, attack the city. Don’t delay any longer."
Zhang Cheng looked at him, "Your injury..."
Though Zhang Cheng himself could now get out of bed and move around, Zhang Yun could not. His injuries were too severe and required further time to heal.
Zhang Yun said, "My injury is nothing serious. After all, I don’t need to personally fight. But as for you, sir, you can’t delay this any further. Once the imperial army arrives, the idea of capturing Nanping City will be like attempting to reach the heavens. Unnecessary to ponder over, Zhou Gu is willing to take the risk to infiltrate our military camp at night to kill us in order to buy time for Nanping City."
Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth, "Fine, we attack the city tonight."
He ordered the search party to return and prepare for the battle.
At the order of Zhang Cheng, the Jibei Army ceased their mountain search and returned to the military camp. Zhou Gu and the others had been hiding in a secret underground chamber for two days and nights and now they emerged as the hidden guards received the news first.
After a few days of recovery, Su Rong could now walk on her own. She was itching to hop and jump around, but Zhou Gu stopped her before she could. Despite his youthful appearance, he lectured her like an elder, "You’re grown up now. Don’t you know your injury isn’t healed yet? Stop jumping around."
Su Rong glared at him, "Zhou Gu, have you ever noticed that you treat me like I’m your daughter?"
Zhou Gu blushed, looking at her beautiful face, he thought if he would ever have a daughter as unmanageable and naughty as her, would he have the heart to scold her?
Seeing his wandering gaze, as if he was thinking about something unrelated, Su Rong was speechless, "Zhou Gu, aren’t you daydreaming? Are you thinking too far ahead?"
Zhou Gu’s face grew even redder, he denied embarrassingly, "I’m not, don’t just make things up."
Even if he did think about it, he would never admit it.
Su Rong didn’t quite believe him, "As long as you didn’t think about it."
She stretched out a hand and patted his head like one would pat a puppy’s, "Be a good boy, don’t think about those things. We have serious immediate issues to deal with."
What she meant was, simply surviving to eventually ascend to the throne was difficult enough, let alone dreaming about having a daughter. He was too prone to wild fantasies.
She herself didn’t dare to think of having a son like him.
Zhou Gu swatted her hand away in annoyance, "You’re the one who needs to behave. You’re still injured, don’t move recklessly. Or else, I’ll write to Aunt and tattle on you."
Su Rong: "..."
She was indeed a little afraid of the Grand Madam, despite being thousands of miles away, she still found ways to punish her.
Not having bathed in two days, Zhou Gu and Su Rong were both uncomfortable. After Su Rong was bathed and her body cleaned by Lan Zhi, Zhou Gu bathed in the adjacent room. He wondered if Zhang Cheng’s cessation of the mountain search indicated that they would now wage war on Nanping City. With his elder brother not yet arrived, and his second brother still enroute, could Nanping City withstand the attack of the 200,000-strong army?
It was clear that it could not.
At most, they could hold out for one day. He needed to think of a plan quickly.
After Zhou Gu finished bathing and estimated the time, he went to find Su Rong. As expected, Lan Zhi had finished caring for Su Rong, cleaning her body, washing her hair, and dressing her. She was now drying her hair. Upon his entrance, he said to Lan Zhi, "You can go now, I’ll take over."
Suppressing a smile, Lan Zhi nodded and left Su Rong in Zhou Gu’s care.
Taking over the towel, Zhou Gu awkwardly handed it to Su Rong to dry her hair. Dealing with her soft long hair, which resembled black satin under his touch, he was cautious to avoid pulling her scalp or breaking any strands.
Although he appeared clumsy, Su Rong didn’t mind and sat obediently.
Zhou Gu thought she was very obedient at this moment and he couldn’t help but reward her with a kiss on her ear, praising her, "Very obedient."
Su Rong laughed, ever since this man discovered the power of their marriage contract, he had been using it without shame, as if he were making up for all the times she had ignored him in Jiangning County and the emotional pain he suffered because she cancelled their engagement in the capital. He was always either kissing her or sticking to her, making her wonder if she was not a person, but a piece of candy.
Zhou Gu dried Su Rong’s hair and combed it for her, then he put down the comb, and made a measurement against her back with his palm.
Su Rong couldn’t see what he was doing, but she could feel it, and asked, "What are you measuring?"
Zhou Gu wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered into her ear, "I’m estimating when your hair will reach your waist."
"What does that mean?"
Zhou Gu chuckled, "When your hair touches your waist, you can get married."
Su Rong: "..."
She found that amusing, "So eager, are we?"
Zhou Gu emitted a sound of approval, "Naturally."
He had a premonition that Zhang Ping’s rebellion was not sudden; he might have been collaborating with the Nangong Family or even Dawei. If that was the case, after she quelled Zhang Ping’s rebellion, she would have no time to linger in Daliang. She would have to hurry to Nanchu. If Dawei also mobilized its troops, it would result in a war between the two countries. Nanchu would undoubtedly be involved, and Daliang would need its support. He held only a marriage contract now, as for the grand wedding, who knows when it would happen.
After all, once war broke out, it would be uncertain when it would end, perhaps it could last for many years.
"Alright, I understand now." Su Rong hooked her arm around his neck in affirmation, "So I won’t secretly cut my hair anymore."
Zhou Gu was shocked, "You’ve been secretly cutting your hair?"
"Of course, otherwise my hair would be too long, which is just troublesome. Even washing it is exhausting." Su Rong complained, "That one time my mother caught me with scissors, she was furious. She claimed that our body and hair are gifts from our parents, questioned what I was doing. Was I planning on becoming a nun at such a young age? Afterwards, she had my father and elder brother come, gathered all my aunts and sisters, and declared, whoever dares to cut her hair will have their allowance cut off."
Su Rong sighed, "I definitely don’t want her to cut off my allowance. Thus, I just secretly cut it. Not much at a time, just a tiny bit. She wouldn’t notice. Later, when she noticed that all my sisters had long hair and mine only reached my back, I lied that I must have accidentally hurt them when I was playing with scissors as a child, which is why they didn’t want to grow."
Zhou Gu: "..."
He was at a loss for words, "Did your mother believe it?"
"Of course, she did" Su Rong giggled, "Otherwise, she couldn’t catch me."
Zhou Gu pinched Su Rong’s face playfully, "You’re so naughty."
Su Rong pinched him back, "Let’s get back to serious matters. Based on the timeline, the troops won’t arrive too soon, so we have to think of a plan quickly."
"I’ve given it a thought just now. There is a solution, but it’s quite ruthless. However, we have no other choice given that we don’t have any soldiers or generals." Zhou Gu said, "We cannot let Nanping City fall into Zhang Cheng’s hands."
"What’s the plan? Tell me quickly." Su Rong asked.
Zhou Gu said, "We have poison powder in our possession, I think we could use it to poison them once more."
An assassination and a poisoning should at least stall until reinforcements arrive.
"Poison..." Su Rong pondered, "you mean in the river outside Nanping City? The water supply for the two hundred thousand soldiers?"
"Right." Zhou Gu nodded, "Though the river has frozen for a while, by breaking a little hole in the ice they still can get water. The 200,000 Jibei Army soldiers drink water from that river."
Su Rong looked at him, "Most people from Nanping City also drink from there, few of them have deep wells."
"No other choice, we’ll use the poison to make people weak and limp, but won’t cause casualties. It can save Nanping City." Zhou Gu proposed.
Su Rong agreed, "Alright, let’s do that."
Indeed, there is no better plan. She should be grateful that she knew how to make poison. If the poison was too weak would be useless, but she wouldn’t be able to buy such a large amount. However, she could make it herself.
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