The group waiting for Cui Yanjin consisted of over five hundred people, enough to make him reasonably suspect that his grandfather had given him everyone from the Evil Ghost Sect.
He jovially clasped the neck of his horse and announced, "From now on, you follow me. I will make sure you live a life of luxury."
His words rang out unabashed, filled with audacity and bravado.
The man leading the group was named Chen San. He burst into laughter, "We trust you, Young Master."
Cui Yanjin was delighted and turned to his side, "Brother Xingzhi, my mother was indeed reliable."
Cui Xingzhi also thought that his fourth uncle and aunt were reliable. After all, it was their biological son; how could they not provide him with manpower? But he was surprised that his fourth aunt had asked her maiden family for all the members of the Evil Ghost Sect for their young cousin’s use.
These members of the Evil Ghost Sect were much more useful than trained shadow guards. They were elusive and deadly.
He laughed, "Your fourth aunt truly loves you."
"After all, she is my mother." Cui Yanjin chuckled, then introduced to the crowd, "This is my cousin, Cui Xingzhi."
"Master Xingzhi." Chen San, along with the others, greeted him, "Thank you for taking care of Young Master Yanjin. We look forward to your guidance in the future."
Cui Xingzhi nodded and returned the salutation, "It’s my pleasure. Thank you all for your hard work."
After some small talk, they continued on their journey.
Cui Xingzhi noticed that apart from Chen San, the rest of the group concealed their presence and fell behind.
They travelled for another ten days until they reached the border of Nanchu. A shadow guard came back from reconnaissance and reported to Cui Xingzhi, "Master, there are two hundred thousand Daliang troops guarding the border, led by the second and third sons of the Duke Residence, Zhou Shen and Zhou Che."
Cui Xingzhi nodded.
Cui Yanjin asked from the side, "Brother Xingzhi, are you going to pay them a visit?"
Cui Xingzhi shook his head, "No, we should enter Nanchu first. We are urgently needed at our cousin’s side so we should not delay. There must be a reason for Daliang to station two hundred thousand troops at the Nanchu border. Let’s send someone to greet them, then go directly."
"Alright." Cui Yanjin nodded.
Thus, their group entered Nanchu.
Zhou Shen and Zhou Che received news of the two masters from the Cui family entering Nanchu with their men. After hearing the report from their bodyguards, they exchanged a glance.
Zhou Che asked, "Which two masters?"
"Cui Xingzhi, Cui Yanjin."
Zhou Che took a deep breath. "Cui Xingzhi? What is his purpose in venturing such great distances to enter Nanchu?"
Zhou Shen speculated, "Perhaps our fourth brother sought help from Mister Cui, so Mister Cui sent more people to help this time."
They were both aware that their aunt had asked the Cui family for two hundred shadow guards to accompany their fourth brother.
At that moment, another person came to report, saying that Master Xingzhi of the Cui family had sent a message. He and Young Master Yanjin were going to Nanchu to assist their fourth brother due to a shortage of manpower. They were in a hurry to provide as much aid as possible, so they hadn’t made a special visit in person.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen knew it must be true.
Immediately, Zhou Che said, "It’s our grandfather’s fault. Our eldest brother mentioned that the manpower our grandfather gave to our fourth brother was too little, and he suggested to send more. But our grandfather declined, saying it is against the rules of the Duke Residence."
He sighed, "When our fourth brother left Capital City, I wanted to give him some of my men privately, but he refused. As someone of humble birth, I shouldn’t be equal to our brothers."
Zhou Shen said, "Our elder brother and I also offered, but he refused as well." He paused before adding, "Third brother, don’t think like that. In our Duke Residence, you are the same as us, as you are already registered under our aunt’s name."
He also sighed, "It’s not grandfather’s fault. The Duke Residence can’t compare to the Cui family’s deep roots. Although the Duke Residence has a great reputation, people think we must have a huge family and business, but little do they know, the Emperor has been withholding military pay these years, and we still have to occasionally support the veterans who have retired. Even if we had mountains of gold and silver, it wouldn’t be enough. The number of bodyguards that each of us can afford to keep is limited. Unlike the Cui family of Qinghe, with their vast inheritance and wealth, they really do have mountains of gold and silver. Accumulated over hundreds of years, they have cultivated plenty of manpower for the promising younger generation in their family to use, and they have much more flexibility to allocate resources than we do at the Duke Residence."
"I was wrong. It’s also difficult for grandfather. I shouldn’t have spoken ill of him." Zhou Che immediately said.
Zhou Shen patted him on the shoulder, "It’s quite something for Mister Cui to send out Cui Xingzhi."
Zhou Che nodded, "Indeed, I didn’t expect it to be Cui Xingzhi. It’s a pity, he was in such a hurry, or else we could have asked him for updates on our fourth brother. We’ve been stationed here for so long without hearing anything about him, we have no idea how he’s doing."
"Our fourth brother is a lucky man, he can turn misfortune into fortune," Zhou Shen said.
"I also want to go into Nanchu to help our fourth brother." Zhou Che sighed, "But military orders are absolute. Since the Crown Prince ordered us to stay here, we can only stay here and not move."
Zhou Shen nodded, "Let’s hope we don’t have to use it. Otherwise, it bodes a dire situation inside Nanchu."
Zhou Che agreed after some thought.
Three days later, another group of shadow guards from the Duke Residence arrived. They simply sent a greeting, then slipped into Nanchu quietly.
Both Zhou Shen and Zhou Che were shocked, and their faces changed. Zhou Che said, "The situation in Nanchu must be severe, otherwise, our grandfather wouldn’t have broken the rules."
Our grandfather dispatched five hundred shadow guards, that must be all the shadow guards in the Duke Residence, right?
"It must be really serious, our fourth brother must be in great danger." Zhou Shen was restless, "The princess brought three hundred thousand troops, and although our fourth brother doesn’t have much manpower on his side, if you count what Mister Cui gave him, he still should have hundreds. Then why is he in such great danger?"
"Second brother, how about we send someone to Nanchu to investigate? We can’t just wait around, not knowing anything. Although we can’t leave, we can still send shadow guards there." Zhou Che suggested.
Zhou Shen nodded, "Good idea."
So, the two of them ordered hundreds of shadow guards together and sent them to Nanchu.
Zhou Gu had no idea that both his mother and his grandfather, after learning that the situation in Nanchu was severe, had sent people to Nanchu to assist him.
Indeed, there were not many people left by his side. When they entered Nanchu, there were hundreds of them, but now there were only a few dozen left. Like him, they were all seriously injured but were lucky enough to survive after the battle at Wanren Mountain.
At this moment, he was with Su Rong and others, listening to a report that the Crown Prince of Dawei, Yuan Zhao, leading an army of eight hundred thousand under the direction of Nangong Zheng, were returning and heading towards Qihuan Mountain.
The color drained from Su Rong’s face. Eight hundred thousand! She hadn’t managed to meet up with Zhang Mao and Jiang Zhu yet, and she only had tens of thousands of soldiers under her command. Once these eight hundred thousand arrived, they could trample her ten times over.
She decisively said, "Retreat!"
"Right, retreat quickly." Zhou Gu agreed.
Xie Yuan nodded. "Indeed, we can only retreat."
So, the people immediately broke camp and quickly retreated, following the direction that Zhang Mao, Jiang Zhu, and others had come from, seeking to rendezvous with their three hundred thousand troops as soon as possible.
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