After a long silence, An Chenghuan reluctantly agreed: "Fine, just as His Highness Jing desires. If His Highness wants twenty-five seats in Qi, then we will give them to Jing."
Fortunately, Jingyan could not obtain all of Qi, only half of it. And since ancient times, it has not been impossible to move the capital.
Once this battle is over, the predicament within Angolan will be resolved, and An Seung-hwan can then slowly devise a way to overcome it.
Finally, Jing took half of Qi's cities, An took the remaining ten cities of Qi, ten cities of Chen, and the remaining cities of Guiyu.
After the three parties finished discussing important matters, each country began to discuss its own battle plan. Jing Yan led his men back to his camp.
He studied the map of the State of Qi and decided that his first target was Yuancheng, which had been attacked by the State of An for several months, but had been forced to retreat due to its natural defenses.
The generals of Yuancheng knew that the place was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that the appearance of the enemy would attract their attention.
Relying on their familiarity with the terrain, they were extremely bold in coming out to fight, and had already beheaded many Anguo generals.
The State of Jing has not yet engaged in battle with the State of Qi, and the State of Qi does not have a grasp of the State of Jing's combat capabilities.
The feud between Jing and An is known to all the states. If the generals of Qi saw Jing Yan take over the mess that An had left behind, they would surely laugh at him.
Jing Yan gave them the opportunity to mock their underestimation of the enemy, which might just be the perfect time to breach Yuan City.
Jing Yan glanced around the tent and then ordered, "Jing Lu, you will be the vanguard in this attack on Yuan City!"
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty,” Jing Lu’s heart skipped a beat. Everyone knew that Yuancheng was difficult to attack, yet he was being asked to be the vanguard. Wasn’t that sending him to his death?
"How could I possibly be worthy of such a heavy responsibility? Your Majesty, please reconsider!"
Jing Yan: "I have thought it over. Since the terrain of the valley is complicated, you will first lead three thousand men into the valley to fight the Qi army. At that time, you will call out my name to lure them out, and I will meet you outside."
"Enter the valley?" Jing Lu couldn't accept it any longer. He stood up abruptly, his fists clenched, his breathing heavy, and his pupils trembling as he stared at Jing Yan.
Before any anger could even surface in his eyes, Jing Lu rushed to Jing Yan's side, grabbed his clothes, knelt down, and begged him for mercy.
"Your Majesty, the Yuancheng Valley is a perilous place, and Anguo has sent men to attack it for months without any progress."
"It's not that I'm afraid of death, it's just that I have no experience. It's no big deal for you to send me into the valley to sacrifice myself, but Your Majesty has always valued your soldiers."
"I have no confidence that I can lead these young soldiers in safely. Do you, Your Majesty, really want to do that?"
Jing Yan pulled his robe out of Jing Lu's hands and gave Wei You a look. Wei You understood and stepped forward to help Jing Lu up.
Jing Yan patted his clothes before saying, "Jing Lu, I cherish my soldiers, but once they go to the battlefield, they must be prepared to fight for the country. Sacrifice is inevitable, and perhaps one day I will also sacrifice myself."
"But I will never play with their lives, nor will I have any personal grudges against you and deliberately make things difficult for you. Ask Wei You, hasn't he ever served as a vanguard?"
"Ask around the camp, have you heard of anyone who was a vanguard soldier but was afraid to go to the battlefield?"
"You said you have no experience, and of course I took that into consideration. That's why I wouldn't dare to casually assign troops to you to lead; that would be irresponsible to the soldiers."
“You made it clear to your father in court that day that you were not afraid of death and were willing to come. Now that you have come, you should obey military orders.”
"If you do not listen, go out and receive fifty strokes of the military rod before returning to Jing Kingdom."
Jing Yan did see the other two thousand elite cavalrymen that Jing Lu had brought; those men were arranged for him by Empress Dowager Zheng.
A perfectly good army is setting out on a campaign, fighting on the battlefield, and yet another person is still busy with the safety of a prince. Jing Yan was speechless.
He gave Jing Lu a choice: either obey his orders or be beaten and obey military law.
At worst, Jing Lu can lead two thousand elite cavalry back to Jing Kingdom. When he returns, there will likely be a lot of discussion, but it won't cause any major trouble.
"Your Majesty is truly resourceful," Jing Lu said. He had not yet broken ties with Jing Yan, believing that Jing Yan would always consider his status and take action only after considering the consequences.
To think that he was entrusted with such an "important task" with such fanfare, Jing Lu was truly intimidated before even facing the challenge and returned home dejected.
His reputation is still ruined, and he's not even worth the trip.
After thinking it through, Jing Lu gritted his teeth and cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you for your high regard, Your Majesty."
Seeing that Jing Lu still wanted to persist, Jing Yan nodded silently.
In order to catch Yuancheng's general off guard, Jingyan rallied his troops and issued a challenge to Yuancheng.
The generals of Yuancheng had already received news that Jing State had also joined the attack on their Qi State, but they were surprised that Jing State had withdrawn from the war so quickly and even replaced An State, which had been attacking Yuancheng all along.
When the Yuancheng general found out, he was furious. He knew perfectly well the feud between Jing'an and the two countries that should have never spoken to each other again, yet they had formed an alliance.
Upon receiving the challenge, the Yuancheng general read it, then cleaved it in two with his longsword, reorganized his troops, and headed into the valley.
Jing Lu, fully armed, rode his warhorse at the head of the group. Even though he was well-versed in military strategy and had some hidden skills, he was still tense and nervous all over.
Jing Lu was observing the terrain as much as possible, looking for a favorable position in hopes of saving his life.
Before long, the sound of horses' hooves thundered from the opposite side, and even his own warhorses began to stir restlessly. He realized that the Qi army had arrived.
Jing Lu slowly raised his hand, reminding the people behind him to prepare for battle.
"How old are you to be sent to be a vanguard? Does Jing have no one left? Ha, what a brain of mine. The emperor of Jing died in Anguo. He was killed by Anguo and turned into a coward."
"Jing Yan must have no one else to send him to his death. He's just a cowardly rat. I assume that because he stole An Chenghuan's crown princess back then, he and An Guo should be mortal enemies with no way to resolve this."
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