At dawn, just as the sun was rising, Wei Shao was still dreaming of ascending the throne when his strategist rushed anxiously into his bedchamber.
"Your Highness, wake up! Something terrible has happened!"
The strategist nearly shook the bed off its foundation before Wei Shao could barely open his eyes.
The hangover gave Wei Shao a splitting headache, and coupled with his morning grumpiness, he was furious the moment he opened his eyes, and almost raised his hand to slap the strategist again.
Last time, he was sound asleep when the strategist woke him up. Without a word, he slapped the strategist so hard he spun around in place. It turned out that Wei Jingzhuo was raiding the camp. If the strategist hadn't been so loyal and rushed into the tent to wake him, he would have been killed in his sleep.
This time he learned his lesson and instead of raising his hand halfway, he smoothed his hair and asked, "What's the matter? Are the enemy troops here?"
"No, no, it's Xiping Pass," the strategist said angrily, pointing outside the tent. "Not only do they refuse to open the city gates and surrender, they're also cursing you from the city walls."
Wei Shao didn't believe it, so he stretched out his arms, and two attendants quickly came over to help him dress.
"Such a thing is true? I'll go see for myself."
"Your Highness, they've been cursing for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and Meng Kuan is the most scathing... You even gave him wine yesterday."
"This is outrageous! They're courting death. There's a breach in the city wall."
"It seems they...they've filled in the gaps."
"It's been fixed?!"
The strategist accompanied Wei Shao to the watchtower of the main camp, where several military officers were already standing and pointing at Xiping Pass.
Wei Shao parted the crowd, leaned on the railing, and squinted to look.
The majestic Xiping Pass was faintly visible in the milky white morning mist, and the breach in the city wall was not clearly discernible. The shouts and curses coming from the city wall were still audible, sounding like insults directed at his mother.
He was still not quite convinced and decided to see for himself, so he said to the strategist, "Send out the troops and form ranks."
The construction of the city wall was a massive project that required tens of thousands of laborers and took years to complete. As the most fortified city, Xiping Pass would take more than a month to repair even with the help of skilled craftsmen; it was impossible to repair it overnight.
At his command, the soldiers poured out of their tents and lined up to leave the camp.
By the time the ten thousand soldiers had all lined up, the sun had risen and dispelled the morning mist.
Wei Shao, riding his steed Xiaoyao, arrived at the front of the battle line, surrounded by a group of generals, to inspect the breach in the city wall. Upon seeing it, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"No wonder it was patched up overnight! Hahaha... Wasn't it made of wooden planks?"
The strategist and all the generals saw it too. Indeed, the V-shaped gap in the city wall was sealed off from top to bottom with colorful wooden planks nailed together. The materials included tabletops, door panels, window frames, and even the couplets pasted on the door panels and the decorative paper-cut window frames were still there.
The strategist wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled with relief, saying, "I couldn't see clearly before because of the fog. Turns out it's all made of wooden planks, hahaha."
The generals all burst into laughter.
How can flimsy wooden planks compare to sturdy city bricks? The garrison commander of Xiping Pass must have been frozen senseless to come up with such a terrible idea.
Wei Shao was laughing when the shouts and curses from the city wall started again.
This time the insults were even more outrageous, targeting not only his mother but also his ancestors. I don't know where he got the audacity.
He wiped the smile off his face, spurred his horse to the gate, and his accompanying guards called out, "Soldiers on the city wall, listen up! The man on horseback is the commander-in-chief of the anti-rebel army, the fifth prince of the Great Jin Dynasty, His Highness Prince Shao. Quickly summon Meng Kuan to come out and answer us."
The soldiers on the city wall fell silent, and Meng Kuan peeked out, with Meng Ruliu and Su Wan standing beside him.
“Wei Shao,” Meng Kuan said dismissively, pointing a finger at him, “I am the commander of Xiping Pass. I swore before His Highness that I would live as long as the pass stands, and die if the pass falls. How could I possibly hand over the pass to you?”
Upon hearing this, Wei Shao became furious and pointed at Meng Kuan, saying, "So you were feigning surrender last night!"
Meng Kuan laughed loudly, "Hahaha, you're only just realizing that now? This plan might not fool the Crown Prince, but it's more than enough to fool a fool like you."
Wei Shao was furious and shouted, "You treacherous old fool, how dare you play tricks on me! When I conquer the city, I'll use you as a sacrifice to my flag!"
Su Wan laughed, "Wei Shao, Xiping Pass is right here. If you have the guts, come and attack it. But you pig-headed fool, don't you even know that your mother has been imprisoned by Qiu Jie?"
Wei Shao didn't believe it at all, saying, "That's utter nonsense. My mother just wrote to me two days ago."
Su Wan said, "Consort Li has been controlled by Qiu Jie, and your father was also assassinated by Qiu Jie. If you have any brains left, you should quickly lead your troops back to the capital to take a look. Don't attack our cities anymore; you can't take them."
Seeing that Su Wan spoke with conviction and did not seem to be faking it, Wei Shao felt a moment of hesitation.
During this time, Consort Li and he had been corresponding, and the handwriting was indeed Consort Li's, and the tone was definitely not feigned. The letters all told him to cooperate fully with the Southern Chu army, which was indeed fighting in Youzhou.
If there was anything that bothered him, it was that on the first day of the Lunar New Year, no matter where he was, Consort Li would always send a messenger with a gift on horseback. But this year, there was none.
Perhaps it was Emperor Kangping's affairs that kept Consort Li from attending to her own affairs? After all, the old man passed away during the New Year.
No matter how I thought about it, there seemed to be nothing to doubt, but what Su Wan said didn't seem like a lie.
To be on the safe side, he turned his horse around and went back to the military camp to find Qiu Jie, accompanied by his strategist.
Upon arriving at Qiu Jie's tent, a soldier stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the goddess is not in the camp. Please allow me to stay here and keep watch."
Wei Shao didn't believe it and barged into the tent. Sure enough, it was empty. He came out angrily and said, "I was just looking for her. When did she leave? How come she's not in the camp!"
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