Chapter 5 Northern War Report: Jiu Draws a Circle
The military situation in the northern border was urgent, so Chu Xuanyi immediately "invited" Ajiu and Xuanxu Zhenren into the study, and he quickly summoned his core staff to discuss countermeasures.
Outside the study, there were hurried footsteps and a solemn atmosphere.
Inside the study, Ah Jiu became deeply interested in the massive map of the northern border hanging on the wall. Standing on tiptoe and craning her head, she pointed at a small red dot on the map and curiously asked Master Xuanxu, "Master, what is this red dot? It looks like a red bean cake."
Xuanxu stroked his beard, his eyes deep, "That's Yan Fan City, the gateway to the northern border. Once it's lost, the barbarians will be able to march straight in."
"Oh," Ah Jiu nodded, seemingly understanding, and pointed to a vast area of snow-capped mountains on the map. "What about this area? There's a lot of white painted on it. Can we ski there?"
Xuanxu Zhenren: "...That's Langjuxu Mountain. The terrain is steep and difficult to defend, but it's also covered with snow all year round, and the environment is harsh."
Ah Jiu exclaimed, "Wow!" "That would be even more fun! We can build snowmen and have snowball fights!"
Xuanxu Zhenren shook his head helplessly, watching his disciple's focus perpetually wander. He now regretted agreeing so easily to let Chu Xuanyi bring Ah Jiu back to the observatory. This girl...was better off getting into trouble outside than "optimizing" his herb garden and alchemy furnace at the observatory.
Chu Xuanyi sent off the last group of staff, rubbed his swollen temples and walked into the study. He saw Ah Jiu holding a cinnabar pen and enthusiastically scribbling on the map of the northern border.
She drew a smiling face next to the Wild Goose Returning to the City, and a small flag on the top of the Wolf Mountain with the words "Ajiu was here" written on it.
Chu Xuanyi: "..."
He felt his heart skip a beat. This was a crucial military map! He had put so much effort into creating this precise map!
"Ajiu!" Chu Xuanyi's voice was filled with suppressed anger.
Ah Jiu was startled, and the cinnabar pen in his hand fell to the ground with a "click", leaving a glaring red mark on the white map, like a winding bloodstain.
"Sir..." Ajiu looked at him timidly.
Chu Xuanyi took a deep breath and told himself to calm down. Now was not the time to get angry. He pointed at the red mark and asked in a calm tone, "What are you doing?"
Ah Jiu picked up the pen and explained quietly, "I... I think this place is too empty, so I wanted to mark it for you, sir. Look, does this red mark look like a path? If the barbarians attack from Yan Fan City, can they use this path to go around to the back of Langjuxu Mountain?"
Chu Xuanyi and Master Xuanxu were both stunned.
They followed the red mark that Ah Jiu had accidentally drawn. The crooked mark went from the outskirts of Yan Fan City, through a seemingly insignificant hilly area, and finally pointed to a relatively flat valley on the southeast side of Langjuxu Mountain.
"This..." Chu Xuanyi frowned, picked up another pen, and carefully outlined the red mark.
Traditionally, Wolf Mountain was considered easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the barbarians wanted to circumvent it, they would have to traverse several snow-capped peaks, making it virtually impossible. However, Ah Jiu's casual observation seemed to point out a possibility overlooked by everyone: the hilly terrain, while rugged, was not completely impassable. If an elite cavalry unit, marching day and night, could perhaps... truly emerge unexpectedly from behind Wolf Mountain!
"Master," Chu Xuanyi looked at Master Xuanxu, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes, "Look at this place..."
Xuanxu Zhenren also leaned in closer, examining the map carefully for a moment. A gleam of light flashed in his eyes. "How strange! This place's veins are so strange that I had never noticed them before! If there really is such a hidden path, then the defense line of Langjuxu Mountain is no longer as solid as a rock!"
Ah Jiu looked at the two people's solemn expressions and felt a little overwhelmed: "I...did I draw it wrong again?"
Chu Xuanyi raised his head and looked at Ajiu with complicated eyes.
He asked her to tell fortunes, and she simply isolated herself physically; he asked her to copy scriptures, and she copied out annotations and doodles; he asked her to pour water, and she invented "Baihua Qingqing Powder"; he asked her to open a window, and she simply demolished the wall...
Every single thing gave him a splitting headache and made him extremely anxious.
But it just so happened that this silly little girl, with just a casual stroke of her hand, might have pointed out a key that could change the entire war situation in the North!
Could this be what the old charlatan meant by "destruction precedes construction, without destruction there is no construction"? Unintentionally, a clue to the mystery?
"No," Chu Xuanyi shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of something strange that he himself hadn't noticed. "You didn't draw it wrong. Ah Jiu, you... have done a great service."
"Ah?" Ajiu was confused. "I... I did something meritorious? Just because I drew a small red line?" She thought she would be punished to copy books again.
Chu Xuanyi immediately called the commander of the secret guards and said, "Send out scouts quickly to secretly investigate along this route! Make sure we can verify whether a large force can pass through!"
"Yes!" The leader of the secret guards took the order and left.
The atmosphere in the study was a little subtle for a moment.
Taoist Xuanxu stroked his beard, smiled without saying a word, with a look of pride in his eyes that said, "See, I was right."
Chu Xuanyi stared at Ah Jiu's still bewildered face, a mixture of emotions welling up in his chest. He began to think that perhaps this little fortune teller truly defied common sense. Her very existence was a kind of... variable. One that could completely disrupt all preconceived notions and plans, yet also offer a glimmer of hope in the most unlikely of places.
"Sir," Ajiu asked cautiously, "Do I...still need to go back to the observatory?"
Chu Xuanyi was silent for a moment.
With war imminent in the north, any bit of intelligence could be crucial. And perhaps Ah Jiu's "talent" of "unintentionally planting willows and bringing them to fruition" could... play an unexpected role at some crucial moment?
Of course, the premise is that her equally "unexpected" destructive power can be controlled.
"For now... not necessary." Chu Xuanyi said slowly, "But you must promise me that from now on, without my permission, you are not allowed to touch anything in the study, you are not allowed to leave the Imperial Master's Mansion at will, and you are not allowed to... invent anything 'new'!"
Chu Xuanyi almost said the last sentence with gritted teeth.
When Jiu heard she didn't have to go back, she beamed. "Great, great! I promise to listen to you, adults!" (As for "new things"... what was new? She thought her inventions were all very practical!)
Upon seeing this, Xuanxu Zhenren smiled faintly and said to Chu Xuanyi, "Master State Master, it seems that my method of 'clearing the mind and calming the qi to strengthen the foundation and nourish the essence' is temporarily useless to Ajiu. However, Master, your forehead is slightly dark, and your heart fire is strong. How about I prescribe a prescription for you to clear your heart and reduce fire?"
Chu Xuanyi's mouth twitched: "No need to trouble you, Master. I... have my own way of treating it."
He felt that as long as Ah Jiu could be more obedient, his anger would naturally subside.
However, Chu Xuanyi obviously underestimated the extent of Ajiu's "stupidity" and her ability to create "surprises".
Just as the scouts from the northern border reported back, confirming that the secret path Ah Jiu had "drawn" did exist and that they could secretly station troops there, enough to deal a fatal blow to the barbarians, something unexpected happened in the Imperial Master's Mansion...
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