Chapter Fifteen: Using a strategy of first suppressing then highlighting one's strengths
The thought of Yang Xiao filled Xiao Yan with turmoil. She was bound to meet Yang Xiao, but Yang Xiao had already won her first great victory, while she was still stuck in the moment of her usurpation, not only failing to increase her power but also failing to win back the hearts of the people.
She pinched her brow helplessly and raised her hand to Lu Qiyi beside her, "Let's still handle those official documents. We can't do anything else right now."
Lu Qi twirled the fan in his hand, spread his hands, and laughed, "Your Highness, where would you find any official documents to approve? You're either approving official documents or summoning General Yang Song every day. After all these days, those documents are long gone."
“Then come with me to Chang’an tomorrow,” Xiao Yan said, snatching Lu Qi’s fan. “Nothing I say will matter. Right now, we can only talk about people’s hearts by doing practical things.”
"Don't be impatient," Lu Qi said, crossing his arms and smiling at Xiao Yan. "A solid foundation can't be built overnight, and you can't lose your composure just because Yang Xiao won the first battle."
“Don’t underestimate her,” Xiao Yan tapped him with her fan. “I expected her to arrive quickly, but I didn’t expect her to arrive this quickly. How can we not hurry? Tomorrow, you and I will go and visit the local customs, and while we’re at it, we’ll look at the city map and start preparing for our future formation.”
Lu Qi turned to look at Xiao Yan, whose eyes were full of seriousness and ready to go, and sighed with emotion, "Then I have no choice but to accompany you, my lord."
-
The day of the duel arrived suddenly. Banners fluttered in the wind as Zhongli Shuo twirled his horse-slaying sword, glancing at the general riding towards him from the opposite side.
The enemy's formation was already in place, and the sound of drums and bugles rose in waves. Soldiers, carrying weapons and shouting, filled the sky, while the enemy general paced back and forth arrogantly in front of the formation.
At this moment, Zhongli Shuo remained silent, watching the ferocious enemy soldiers as if they were a mere spectator, just as this battle was nothing more than a spectacle for their Wuguan Pass.
Zhongli Shuo's deputy looked at this absurd scene in disbelief, then looked at his own calm and collected general, and suddenly felt that this man seemed to have gone mad.
"General Yude," the lieutenant frowned as he looked at Zhongli Shuo, stepped forward, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, "aren't you going to beat the drums yet?"
Zhong Lishuo shook his head and laughed, "This battle doesn't need drumming. By the way," he pointed to his deputy general, then looked back at the group of ragged soldiers in front, "Lingyu told me to act convincingly. You go back and tell the brothers to just exchange a few blows with the enemy and then retreat. The more disheveled they are, the better, just don't hurt yourselves." He patted his deputy general's shoulder with a smile, "Go."
The lieutenant stood there, bewildered. Only when Zhongli Shuo nodded at him did he respond, turn his horse around, and instruct the soldiers.
The sound of war drums rose suddenly from the opposite side, and the bugles blared incessantly. The enemy general, holding his sword, glanced at Zhongli Shuo and the soldiers behind him and laughed, "Was this army just built by Zhongli An when he took office? It's all in disarray. I don't know how they managed to conquer Yanzhou."
“This army is enough to deal with you.” Zhongli Shuo raised his head, completely unconcerned about the oppressive aura of the other party. The sword was drawn with a “whoosh”, the blade cutting a silver light in the air, and Zhongli Shuo held it steadily in front of him.
Upon seeing this, the enemy general gritted his teeth, "They really don't know their place!" He pointed to the "Li" flag behind him, "Do they know who I am?"
"Oh?" Seeing his anger rising, Zhongli Shuo couldn't help but laugh and said, "Someone like you doesn't need me to know!"
"You—" The enemy general, enraged upon hearing this, shouted at Zhong Lishuo, "I am Li—"
"I don't care who you are!" Before he could finish saying his name, Zhongli Shuo's horse-slaying saber came down with lightning speed, startling the man who hurriedly raised his sword to parry. With a clang, the saber landed directly on the hilt, making the enemy general's hand go numb and almost causing him to lose his grip on the blade.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on the enemy general's forehead, but when he looked up, he saw that Zhongli Shuo's long blade had flown out. He was stunned on his horse, watching as Zhongli Shuo's sword was knocked behind him and then got stuck on his horse's back because the blade was too long.
"Are you crazy?" The enemy general looked at his own hands, then stared incredulously at Zhongli Shuo, who was scrambling around in front of him, and his mind went blank for a moment.
Am I really that powerful? I just threw Zhongli Shuo's sword away in one go?
He grew more and more excited as he thought about it, and burst into laughter on horseback, "Hahahaha... Is this all the strength you have? You have no right to be so arrogant!"
As soon as he raised his hand, a deafening roar erupted behind him, and the drums and horns grew louder. On Zhong Lishuo's side, however, there was only a raggedly dressed group waving flags and shouting.
Zhongli Shuo, seemingly unconvinced, attacked again with his sword, but his clumsy fighting style put him at a disadvantage once more.
He rode his horse in a winding path, occasionally glancing back at the arrogant enemy general with a furrowed brow. After unleashing his final strike, he spurred his horse and galloped into the city.
The enemy general laughed loudly again, "Chase after him!" He waved to the soldiers behind him, and the soldiers across the field brandished their ring-pommel swords and shouted as they chased after Zhong Lishuo.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Zhong Lishuo shouted to his soldiers from his horse. The soldiers were already prepared to retreat. After only a few exchanges with the enemy, they scattered and fled. In an instant, Zhong Lishuo's troops had all retreated back into the city. The drawbridge creaked and rose, keeping the enemy's arrogant laughter outside the city.
"Whoa..." Zhongli Shuo reined in his horse, looked back at the closed city gate, exhaled, and then nodded to the deputy general who had just run back beside him, and laughed, "How about it, don't you look like a defeated general?"
"So alike, so very alike." The lieutenant stood there panting, clapping and nodding. "You don't look like a defeated general at all; you look like someone who's never been on the battlefield."
Zhongli Shuo paused upon hearing this, then clapped his hands and laughed, "Hey, never mind all that. In short, we've suffered a crushing defeat this time, and without beating the drums, we haven't lost any morale."
He pointed towards the city wall and winked at the people around him, "Let's hang up the truce sign for two or three days first." He sighed softly and then clicked his tongue impatiently, "Whether Lingyu Zhaoqing can finish fighting right away or not, I can't tolerate this insult for even a moment."
"General, please don't be impatient," the lieutenant said with a smile and a shake of his head. "Impatience can easily lead to trouble. Let's rest and recuperate. Once General Yang's battle report arrives, we can advance without worry and fight freely."
“Brother is right,” Zhongli Shuo dismounted and walked towards the city wall. “I’m too impatient, not good at patience, and not good at strategizing.” He sighed with a smile. “If you ask me, this job should be done by Zhao Qing.”
The deputy general smiled upon hearing this, "Langya is located at the border of two prefectures, and there are probably more places to deal with there than here."
“That makes sense,” Zhongli Shuo smiled, leaning on the city wall and looking down at the Qingzhou army, who were brandishing their swords and swaggering around below. “Let them enjoy themselves for a few more days. Then we’ll have Li…” He paused, glancing at his deputy, “What was that man’s name again?”
The lieutenant couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Didn't you forbid him from introducing himself on the battlefield, General?"
"Hey, stop joking around. Do you even know?" Zhong Lishuo chuckled and rolled his eyes at the deputy general.
"As far as I know, that man's name is Li Shun."
Zhong Lishuo nodded, "Alright, let Li Shun and the others experience what it means to say the most hateful words and fight the most brutal battles."
-
Li Shun stood below the city walls, smugly gazing at the truce sign atop the city walls, an air of arrogance rising from his very core. The young general of Ji Province, Zhongli Shuo, was actually his defeated foe; it seemed he had improved rapidly these past few days.
He made eye contact with Zhongli Shuo on the city wall, and suddenly felt that something was not right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Screw it, we won anyway.
Li Shun waved his hand at the soldiers, "Withdraw the troops!" The soldiers below the city immediately dispersed like the receding tide.
Before long, the battle report from Langya was delivered to Li Shun by express courier.
"Report! General! Langya has failed!"
"What? Something happened in Langya? Who did it?"
Just days after Li Shun's letter stating "no support needed" was sent out, he received a report from a scout that struck him like a bolt from the blue, leaving him rooted to the spot.
"I knew Zhongli Shuo couldn't possibly be that weak! He's playing with idiots!" Li Shun clenched his fist and said angrily, "Now the troops from Xuzhou can't get through either, and Langya will definitely come back to attack from both sides..."
"General, don't worry," Li Shun's advisor quickly pulled him back. "If Xuzhou also sends troops to help us when that general turns back to attack us, they will definitely be too busy to take care of themselves."
Li Shun nodded upon hearing this, then anxiously patted his leg, "That's not right. If Xuzhou is sending troops, it's only to reclaim Langya. Why would they care about our lives?"
Just as they were in a panic, the sound of a horn suddenly came from not far away. The sound was deep and resonant, but it sent chills down their spines.
"No, it's too late." Li Shun gritted his teeth, took a step back, gripped his broadsword tightly, then rushed out of the tent, mounted his horse, and urgently summoned his soldiers and several lieutenants. "This battle concerns our survival. I urge you all to be cautious and await the enemy!"
The soldiers came running in scattered groups, and before they could even gather in place, a drum suddenly boomed from the horizon, like a thunderclap. Li Shun spurred his horse and looked ahead, only to see a dark mass of people and horses gathering like a dark cloud, majestic and orderly. In the very center, a black horse charged forward like a madman, and on its back, a man in a black robe held a long, drawn horse-slaying blade, its sharp edge gleaming with cold light.
This is the real Zhongli Shuo.
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