Chapter 35
Fu'er didn't understand love between men and women before, but now she knows that it can really get people hooked. While the body may feel pleasure, the person becomes increasingly foolish.
He chuckled to himself, "Looks like taking too many advantages will eventually come back to haunt you."
Man'er dropped the embroidery frame in her hand and said sternly, "Never mention these words again."
"How can you talk about yourself like that?"
"And those bold words of yours, you are not allowed to say a single one. If others hear them, you will probably never be able to get married in your life."
Fu'er didn't want to argue with her sister, so she nodded.
Half a month later, Wen returned home, and Fu'er was able to walk around in his own yard, pretending to limp.
The two sisters kept their mouths shut, and Ms. Wen didn't notice anything amiss.
Seeing the meals that Granny Yu brought every day, he sighed inwardly, thinking that Fu'er's master was still kind.
She was overthinking things in the past.
Lingnan City.
When Ning Shiyu and Li Huijue led the reinforcements from the Northwest to Lingnan, it was already the second day after the Rong people had captured Lingnan City.
Fortunately, after dealing with the Rong people for so long, everyone in the city had fled.
The wealthy and powerful families moved their businesses away, and the common people took away their most valuable possessions, leaving the Rong people with an empty city.
This was the best that General Liu could do for the people.
He knew that the Rong people were barbaric and committed all sorts of atrocities after occupying the city, including burning, killing, looting, and pillaging.
The city can be retaken, but the lives of the people can only be lived once.
Most of the people who escaped from Lingnan City flocked to Yuling City in the neighboring county.
Therefore, this line of defense must not be allowed to be breached by the Rong people again.
General Liu and the soldiers from the southern border also retreated to Yuling County.
The fighting over the past month or two has put the soldiers in the southern border region to a severe test, both physically and mentally.
This time, the Rong people's forces were much stronger than before, and this was the limit for them.
The troops sent by the Central Government to provide support were of no help to them and were even a burden due to their physical condition.
Now that the Northwest reinforcements have arrived, they are all in high spirits, unlike the lifeless reinforcements from the capital.
They also brought them the most needed medicinal herbs, which came just in time and were like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
The reinforcements from the Northwest had taken medicine to ward off miasma and prevent malaria on their way here, so they were well prepared.
Although they only had 30,000 troops, they were all elite soldiers who had fought alongside the King of Qin on many occasions. They were not only full of energy, but also skilled in archery and crossbows.
This gave the exhausted soldiers of the Southern Border a glimmer of hope, and they were deeply inspired and their morale soared.
After the reinforcements settled in Ling County, Li Huijue, as the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements, immediately went to meet with General Liu, the commander-in-chief.
As a support force, Li Huijue was unaware of the current situation and could only follow the deployment and arrangements of Commander-in-Chief General Liu Yi.
Now that the Rong people have rested briefly in Nanling City, they will seize the city in one fell swoop tomorrow, as instructed by General Liu.
The generals also strongly supported their general's plan.
Just then, someone raised an objection.
"General, in my opinion, the most important thing right now is to strengthen our defenses."
Everyone looked up and gazed at Ning Shiyu standing next to Li Huijue.
Despite his young age and military uniform, he had the bearing and appearance of a scholar, a stark contrast to the dark-skinned soldiers here.
Someone immediately sneered, "Where did this pretty boy come from, daring to contradict our general's orders?"
Li Huijue couldn't stand it when others ridiculed her cousin like that.
His expression immediately changed. "In the military, appearance doesn't matter. He is a strategist I brought with me. Are you all questioning the judgment of our Northwest Army?"
"The medicinal herbs he brought from the southern border were prepared in less than half a month."
"Does anyone have any further comments?"
Seeing his cousin speak up for him, Ning Shiyu gave Li Huijue a look that said not to worry, he could handle it.
Li Huijue, still feeling resentful, sat back down in her original seat.
General Liu and his men began to scrutinize Ning Shiyu more closely.
Liu Yi said with a complicated expression, "Please don't take offense, sir. They are used to speaking frankly and have no intention of disrespecting you."
"I would like to listen to your comments more carefully."
"How can we further strengthen the defenses? Aren't the city gates already well-defended?"
Ning Shiyu raised his hand in a salute and said respectfully, "Indeed, it is not enough. If Yuling City falls, the people will have nowhere to escape."
A burly general with a thick beard said angrily, "How can you diminish your own prestige before even going into battle?"
"It's infuriating."
The others also angrily echoed his sentiments.
Ning Shiyu stated bluntly: "On the battlefield, victory and defeat are determined by appearances, not by prestige."
"No one can be certain of the outcome of the war. There are not only civilians in the city, but also your relatives."
"Most of them are the elderly, women, and children. How could they outrun the enemy's iron cavalry?"
"In the face of uncertainty, adding another layer of leverage increases the chances of success."
Everyone then fell silent.
After some deliberation, a middle-aged general immediately asked, "How should it be added?"
"Given the current urgency, is it possible to build another barbican or other defensive fortifications?"
"Wouldn't this give the Rong people a great opportunity to attack Yuling County?"
When everyone heard that the middle-aged general had hit the nail on the head, the doubts were even louder than before.
"It's just theoretical; they don't understand anything at all."
"Yes, we've fought so many battles, and we've always been honest and straightforward. We don't tolerate your kind of opportunistic tricks."
Although General Liu Yi did not explicitly refuse, his gaze towards Li Huijue held a hint of doubt.
It's as if to say, "This is the strategist your Northwest Army found."
Even Li Huijue now felt that her cousin's suggestion was somewhat inappropriate.
When you are about to quietly stop them.
But Ning Shiyu said with a firm expression, "This is not opportunism, but a change of tactics."
"There is no need to build any defensive fortifications."
“We only need to station troops and set up checkpoints in a few mountains and forests outside the city to create a natural defensive pass.”
After saying that, Ning Shiyu moved to the edge of the sand table and pointed to several dense forests in Yuling County.
From a topographical perspective, these mountains and forests are interspersed, resembling one gate after another.
It cleverly encircled the town of Yuling.
If the Rong people enter the territory of Yuling County, the combined forces of several parties can encircle them.
With coordinated efforts from both inside and outside, we can wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
After he pointed it out, everyone suddenly understood and saw it clearly.
Once the Rong people are defeated at Yuling City, it will be much easier to retake Lingnan City.
The burly man with the thick beard was also the one who had spoken the loudest against Ning Shiyu earlier.
He slapped his knee hard. "Oh my, how come we didn't think of that? This method is brilliant, truly a brilliant plan."
"Sir, I was blind to your greatness and spoke rudely just now. I should not have done so."
The crowd cheered and praised Ning Shiyu.
Head coach Liu Yi's earlier skepticism has now turned into admiration.
"As expected, the Northwest Army is full of talented people with keen observation skills. I never thought of using such a clever trick."
"They focused all their efforts on defending the city gates."
Li Huijue looked smug when she heard someone praising her cousin.
However, Ning Shiyu showed no sign of complacency in the face of flattery.
Instead, he spoke with respect and admiration, saying, "General and all the soldiers are concerned about the safety of the people in the city. It is already remarkable that they were able to defend Yuling County under the strong attack of the Rong people."
"It has earned the admiration of me and the soldiers of the Northwest, and will be remembered by the people of the South."
"We can only assist from the sidelines. We dare to make this suggestion because the general and the soldiers of the southern border are familiar with the terrain of Lingnan and are good at battle planning."
"Otherwise, I would not dare to make such a suggestion."
General Liu heard that he had no intention of overstepping his bounds or vying for credit, and made it clear that he was part of the Northwest reinforcements and that he spoke highly of himself and his men.
This also alleviated Liu Yi's earlier embarrassment at being outmatched.
Extremely satisfied, he laughed heartily and said, "Since this gentleman trusts me so much..."
"Then this time, we will still use the troops from our southern border to enter the mountains and forests."
"Since your reinforcements are unfamiliar with the terrain, you should garrison Yuling County."
The mountains and forests of the southern border are rife with miasma, and the long rainy season brings a pervasive fog.
The Northwest reinforcements were completely unable to adapt to the mountain climate in such an environment.
A reasonable allocation of troops was of great benefit to this operation.
Li Huijue finally understood that her cousin's words had reversed the favorable situation for their reinforcements.
He broke out in a cold sweat; no wonder his father dared not let him come out alone.
It seems he still has a lot to learn.
A month later, good news came from Lingnan: Yuling County had been saved.
They drove the Rong people back to the empty city in Lingnan.
The situation is very favorable, and it's only a matter of time before we can retake Lingnan City.
Upon hearing this news, the King of Qin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Cui Mingxiu of the Prime Minister's residence showed no joy upon receiving the news.
Lingnan is not like the Northwest, nor is it the auspicious land of Western Chu.
It was a barren land, one that he might even abandon if necessary for his own benefit.
As long as the Rong people do not cross the Dan River, it will not matter if the southern border has two or three poor cities.
His reason for requesting the King of Qin to lead troops to support him was to regain military control in the northwest and thus eliminate the King of Qin, the biggest threat.
Unexpectedly, the King of Qin staged this self-inflicted injury ruse.
This plan didn't work. I originally wanted to use the excuse that his eldest son had sent troops to provide support without authorization to give him a reason to be punished.
However, the King of Qin used the pretext of providing medicinal herbs to win a good reputation among the people in the southern border.
Cui Mingxiu's face was extremely gloomy. He ordered, "Investigate how the King of Qin managed to procure so many medicinal herbs in such a short time."
The trusted guard nodded in acceptance, "Yes."
A month passed quickly. Granny Yu came several times a day to persuade Fu'er to write a letter to Ning Shiyu.
Fu'er refused to write a single word, but after taking the ginseng soup that Granny Yu brought to nourish her body, she recovered quite a bit.
Although she wasn't as radiant as before, her complexion had returned to normal.
This experience has made me much more mature.
She started making her spices again.
She didn't hear a single word of the promise Ning Shiyu made to her that day.
Seeing that she was unyielding, Granny Yu had no choice but to give up.
After she was able to get out of bed, Fu'er went to the Ning residence and retrieved her belongings.
He gave all the thirty or forty taels of silver he had earned in two months to Granny Yu.
Consider it payment for becoming an apprentice.
Seeing that she wanted to clearly separate herself from Ning Shiyu, Granny Yu knew that once her stubbornness took hold, no one could persuade her otherwise.
They could only accept it for now, hoping to wait until their master returned and see how he would handle the matter.
This time, her parents also agreed to Fu'er's decision.
I was both happy and surprised to learn that she had opened an incense shop.
They started arranging Fu'er's wedding again.
Fu'er couldn't persuade them otherwise, so she let them do their work.
Anyway, she has her own opinions and doesn't marry just anyone.
After leaving the Ning residence, she no longer made incense secretly, and she made significantly more incense every day than when she was at the Ning residence.
When he got home that day, it was almost dark.
As soon as she reached the gate of the courtyard, she smelled the aroma from the kitchen and quickened her pace to enter the house.
The kitchen counter was laden with a sumptuous spread of dishes.
Her mother, Wen, was cutting up the sausage that Fu'er loved to eat. Fu'er didn't even wash her hands before picking up a piece of sausage and stuffing it into her mouth.
Ms. Wen scolded, "You greedy monkey, you'd better watch your step when you get to the table later."
As soon as she entered the house, Fu'er wanted to ask, "Mother, have we had guests?"
Ms. Wen smiled and said, "Yes, it's someone you know."
Just as he was about to ask who it was, Yun-ge'er, holding a piece of pastry, immediately came over and said, "It's that uncle who brought you things last time."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
