Chapter 598: A Declaration of Defiance [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
Despite the loss of precious lives, this great victory still counts as a military achievement, which is better than another group ambushing the enemy all night without even seeing a shadow of them. Thinking this way, Xu Quan felt a little more at ease. Happiness, after all, is always relative.
"Achoo—" Xianyu Jian had been exposed to the cold wind all night. He raised his hand to touch his cheek, and his fingertips felt cold and hard, as if devoid of human warmth. The only saving grace was that there was somewhere to shelter from the rain; otherwise, his suffering would have doubled after a whole night.
He dared not close his eyes.
He led his men to wait from nightfall until dawn.
Finally, he exhaled a breath of stale air with great reluctance.
"Judging from this situation, the enemy did not choose this route."
The enemy refused to come, and he wasted the whole night.
Lu Jue's eyes were bloodshot from staring.
He said angrily, "But why won't they come?"
Everyone was sharpening their knives, eagerly awaiting the main course.
"Sigh, who knows. Since Qiu Cheng's troops didn't pass through here, they must have chosen the lord's side... I wonder how the battle is going over there." Xianyu Jian rubbed his sore eyes and slowly stood up, leaning against the wall. He had been squatting for too long, and his legs were a little numb.
Lu Jue sighed, but Xianyu Jianqiang roused himself, patted the other on the shoulder and said, "Alright, all that work for nothing. Go back and catch up on your sleep."
The two brave martial artists looked unwell after staying up all night.
Jiang Sheng, whom they encountered head-on, was beaming with health.
Clearly, he had slept well last night, and greeted Lü Jue and the other man with a cheerful air: "Have you two had breakfast yet?"
Lu Jue was still feeling down: "I have no appetite."
Jiang Sheng looked out the door and asked, "Did you guys spend the whole night here last night?"
Xianyu Jian, puzzled, replied: "That's natural."
"Qiu Cheng's remaining troops could not possibly have passed through here." Jiang Sheng was very certain. He fell asleep to the sound of wind and rain last night and had no dreams.
"Did you foresee this, sir?"
Why didn't you say so sooner?
Unexpectedly, Jiang Sheng pointed behind him and said, "Qiu Cheng's remaining troops only have two paths to choose from. Kang Jishou is over here. Do we really expect to get such a good deal?" This simple reason immediately left Lü Jue and Xianyu Jian speechless...
This reason seems absurd, but it makes a strange sense.
Kang Shi: "..."
Why can he be blamed for this?
Happiness is always relative.
Compared to someone's current mood, Kang Shi's "grievances" were nothing. Qiu Cheng had been somewhat restless since last night. His wife noticed his anxiety and specially prepared his favorite soup to send over, which was said to help him sleep and calm his nerves.
He asked, "Why is the young master so anxious?"
Qiu Cheng shook his head: "I can't say..."
He didn't say directly that he was worried about Beishang County.
"Perhaps it's due to the weather, my lord, there's no need to worry. Once it's bright, Shuniang will bring back good news." Unlike Qiu Cheng's anxiety and worry, his wife remained calm, leisurely serving him a bowl of soup. "Don't underestimate Shuniang just because she's young; she's far more mature and meticulous than her peers. If there's truly a problem with this trip to Beishang County, she'll definitely be able to detect it..."
Qiu Cheng's mood did not calm down much when he thought of Miao Shu.
He sighed, "How old is she?"
In other words, how old can her peers be?
Compared to seasoned veterans and shrewd strategists, Miao Shu was still too inexperienced. Qiu Cheng was initially reluctant to let Miao Shu accompany the army to Beishang County, but her scholarly approach was too suitable, and functionally speaking, no one could replace her.
Miao Shu absolutely had to go.
He wanted to find an experienced person to help him out.
only--
Miao Shu's subordinates disliked her, and their words were full of rejection. Although Qiu Cheng was the lord, the relationship between lord and subordinates in this era was not an absolute superior-subordinate, control-and-subject dynamic. There was nothing Qiu Cheng could do about her refusal. Qiu Cheng lost face.
Only the legal wife strongly supported her distant niece, saying that Miao Shu should be given a chance—if this battle succeeds, coupled with the victory in Nanyu County, it would be enough for her to gain a foothold and leave no room for criticism.
Qiu Cheng shook his head: "That's too risky."
Madam: [But...no one is willing to accept Shuniang.]
He said sternly, "My lord, you meant well but caused a bad result!"
She added, "My lord, there's no need to hold a grudge against the registrar and the others. Shuniang is, after all, a woman with limited connections; it's normal that she's not accepted. The more you try to stand up for her, the less she'll gain recognition. At home, she's your concubine; outside, she's your strategist. The more you favor her, the less she'll be tolerated by others… Do you understand, my lord?"
It's normal that Miao Shu isn't accepted.
Throughout history, how many female strategists have risen to prominence?
Even with the most brilliant mind, one can still become just another ordinary person.
Moreover, Miao Shu hasn't reached that point yet.
Qiu Cheng and his wife were childhood sweethearts and knew each other very well. This analysis truly persuaded him. After weighing the options, Qiu Cheng made a bold decision: to put Miao Shu in charge. Worried about insufficient military force, he dispatched more elite soldiers.
A decision made on a whim.
As the hype died down, he became increasingly worried.
Several bowls of soup did not relieve the discomfort.
His principal wife, gentle and considerate, stayed with him through the night, awaiting good news from the front. Seeing her slightly haggard face, Qiu Cheng felt even more heartache. Just as he was about to gently persuade her to rest, a sharp cry came from outside the tent: "My lord!"
Qiu Cheng disregarded his emotions and stood up abruptly.
He hurriedly asked, "Is there any news?"
The messenger rushed into the tent, knelt down, and clasped his hands in greeting.
Qiu Cheng's heart skipped a beat when he saw that there was no joy on his face.
After the messenger finished speaking, he felt even more dizzy and his vision blurred. He had to support his wife to prevent him from collapsing from shock.
"W-what did you say?"
Qiu Cheng recovered.
He looked at the messenger with expectant eyes.
I hope the bad news I just heard was a lie.
Unfortunately, reality is cruel and merciless.
They suffered a crushing defeat last night, with only a hundred or so survivors escaping.
The two veteran martial artists were beheaded on the spot.
The one who escaped was also seriously injured.
Qiu Cheng could no longer bear to listen. He shoved his wife, who was supporting him, aside with a wave of his hand, and strode out, suppressing his anger. The temporary camp was devoid of yesterday's relaxed joy; the atmosphere was gloomy and oppressive, as if a heavy weight was pressing on everyone's hearts.
As Qiu Cheng approached, the crowd parted to make way for him.
More than a hundred wounded and disabled soldiers were exposed. At this moment, the eighth-class cavalryman, who was lying on the back of his horse, heard the noise, barely regained his strength, endured the pain and fell off the horse. With Miao Shu's help, he staggered two steps and looked at Qiu Cheng with tears streaming down his face: "This humble general is incompetent and has failed my lord."
Qiu Cheng's face was frighteningly gloomy.
He asked only one question: "Where are the others?"
Miao Shu was about to speak when the eighth-class servant interrupted her, tears streaming down his face, saying, "The treacherous Shen is cunning. He had already laid an ambush in the granary, and after succeeding, he set up another ambush on the retreat route... Our troops are exhausted and we are no match for them..."
Qiu Cheng's tone was icy: "An ambush?"
He then looked at Miao Shu, his eyes colder than a venomous snake.
Miao Shu felt a chill run down her spine.
The eighth-ranking official said, "It seems that some scholars under the rebels saw through our capabilities and set up an ambush by hiding troops in the camp and granary, thus avoiding our notice... Therefore, it is not the strategist's fault."
Just as Qiu Cheng was about to speak, he heard a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps, and someone came running towards him with an arrow held high in their hand.
A piece of paper was stuck in the arrowhead.
(～￣▽￣)～
My prenatal checkup ended today. The baby is 36 weeks and 6 days along, but the ultrasound said it's 38 weeks and 4 days... Sigh, the baby is growing so fast! I'm a little worried about whether I can make it to my due date. I'm frantically ordering my hospital bag.
P.S.: It's the last three days of the month, do you have any monthly passes? Please~~~
PS: I previously got some gold from PDD and took half of it to recycle. The local recycling rate was the market gold price minus 10 or 15, but after doing some research, I found that Rongtong Gold offered a discount of 0.8 or 1.2 yuan, so I specifically went to the local Rongtong Gold branch _(:з」∠)_ which was quite a good deal.
(End of this chapter)
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