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Sun Yuanrang was also involved in the Red Flag Gang's scheme, but he wasn't directly involved. Instead, he served as reinforcement and support. After all, they hadn't broken off relations with the Tianding Army yet, so a direct fight was out of the question.
However, even so, Sun Yuanrang did not expect that the matter would be resolved in just half a day.
"The ambush was severely defeated, and more than 600 people were killed in the battle?" Sun Yuanrang found it unbelievable when he heard this. You know, the Tianding Army was composed of private salt dealers, and their morale was not much stronger than that of refugees. If the casualties exceeded 20%, they would have been defeated. How come more than 600 people were chopped off? How many people were killed and wounded? What kind of means and skills were used to turn the ambush into an annihilation war?
The scout who came to report was also terrified: "There are indeed more than 600 people. We have counted them. They even made a group of officials and said they want us to help collect the bodies later."
This was a blatant demonstration, but who wouldn't be shocked by such a record? He had previously thought that the overnight capture of the city was due to internal support, but now it seems that it might have been a hard-fought victory. How many such elite troops did Cheng Xi still have?
Sun Yuanrang's heart was suddenly filled with alarm, but the next moment, he suppressed it. At least the Red Flag Gang had no intention of plotting against Jinghu Lake, and even a large fleet would take more than a day or two to bypass it. There was no conflict of interest between them, and they still traded grain, salt, iron, and copper, so naturally, they could coexist peacefully.
But what if the territory occupied by the Minoco Gang expanded in the future? If he aspired to unify the world, would the Red Flag Gang be a threat? Sun Yuanrang suddenly remembered Fang Tianxi's warning. No wonder he was eager to marry Cheng Xi as soon as possible. This was not just a simple "marriage of a daughter," but a complete fusion of their forces through marriage, which was more stable than any alliance.
If it’s for the sake of a big plan, what does it matter if you lose a little face?
Thinking of this, Sun Yuanrang could no longer sit still and went to find Fang Tianxi in person. But when he arrived at his yard, he saw the old man staring blankly at an old tree, as if he was possessed by a demon.
"Military Advisor, is there anything difficult?" Sun Yuanrang asked hurriedly upon seeing this. He was used to seeing the old man calm and composed, so the matter that could make him lose his composure like this must not be a trivial matter.
As if awakened from a dream, Fang Tianxi turned his head and looked at the newcomer. This was the "wise leader" he had chosen, the one he had high hopes for, the one he hoped would help him fulfill his long-cherished wish. But what if his lifelong wish suddenly changed?
Frightened by those eyes, Sun Yuanrang called out again, "Military Advisor Fang!"
Fang Tianxi suddenly withdrew his gaze and sighed softly: "Cheng Xi doesn't want to marry you."
Sun Yuanrang's pupils shrank. "Have you asked? What did she say?"
Fang Tianxi seemed to have thought of something and actually smiled: "She said that she grew up in seclusion and no longer wanted to be locked up in the palace."
This answer surprised Sun Yuanrang greatly. What did it mean? Not only did she not have the heart to be an empress, but she also had no heart to compete for the throne and become emperor? After all, the emperor could not leave the palace at will. But this answer, which should have been reassuring, made Sun Yuanrang's heart sink. The only position he could offer was the position of Kongxu, but she had no interest in it at all. Doesn't that mean she had no interest in him either? The two of them had not yet talked about marriage and had only met a few times. Somehow, Sun Yuanrang felt unwilling to give up, for the admiration he had never expressed, and for the extraordinary woman who might never be together again.
However, these thoughts only flashed through Sun Yuanrang's mind before he suppressed them, because he knew that love between young men and women meant nothing at this moment and was not worth his time.
After adjusting his mindset, Sun Yuanrang guessed Fang Tianxi's worries and whispered, "Military Advisor, are you worried about Miss Qiu?"
He was so intent on making this happen, not only to assist him, but most likely also had some selfish motives. After all, Fang Tianxi had been Qiu Sheng's aide, so it was only natural for him to care about this orphan girl from the Qiu family. If it was just for himself, why would he have such a difficult decision?
Fang Tianxi was stunned for a moment, then chuckled: "Yes, I am worried about her. I heard that she is planning to go to the strait to wipe out the remnants of the long whales. This is a long journey by sea, who knows what will happen on the way."
Her next move was to attack the strait. Isn't that outside of China? Did she not want Yuhang, or did she plan to open up the waterway first and then develop the rear?
However, hearing that the Red Flag Gang was planning to expand the sea route was good news for Sun Yuanrang. As long as they weren't fighting for the throne, she had nothing to do with them. Perhaps in a few years, when she had achieved success, she would have a different perspective.
Unexpectedly, before Sun Yuanrang could cheer up, Fang Tianxi continued, "For such a big thing, we need help. I want to take my leave, General. I'm afraid I can't serve you in the future."
"What?" Sun Yuanrang was so shocked that he almost jumped up. "Why would the military advisor say that? Don't you care about the lives of the people and the stability of the people?"
Fang Tianxi shook his head: "There will be many more counselors like me in the future. As you conquer more cities, scholars like Li Qie and Liang Yinsheng will flock to you. But Cheng Xi won't have such people around her anymore. Someone has to take good care of her."
There was nothing wrong with these words, and they even evoked a certain tenderness and care that only an elder could harbor for his juniors. Yet, Sun Yuanrang felt his hair stand on end, for it was Fang Tianxi who said them, and the person he was joining was Qiu Yuehua. A strategist who could quickly establish his position within the gang, a man whose predictions were always spot-on, and a warlord who could single-handedly establish a empire and command tens of thousands of troops in just two or three years. Even if one of them was an old man and the other a woman, it was enough to evoke a sense of alarm.
Sun Yuanrang was actually very good at concealing his emotions, but at this moment, there must be a clue on his face, which Fang Tianxi saw. He shook his head gently: "Don't worry, if I go to help her, I will give up the Hongyuan who unified the country. I owe it to her father. I must protect her."
Sun Yuanrang stared intently at the old man before him, trying to find some flaw in his expression. But there was none. He was speaking from the heart, willing to give up his life's desire for the favor he had received. He was determined to leave, and there would be no change of heart.
For a moment, Sun Yuanrang felt the urge to kill Fang Tianxi. Fang Tianxi knew so much about him, how could he just let him get away like that? However, the next moment, this killing intent was suppressed.
Sun Yuanrang knew that this was a time of great strife. To gain a firm foothold, he had to employ virtuous individuals and recruit talented and ambitious people. These people couldn't be bought with money alone; they had to be carefully won over and persuaded to serve him with generosity. If Fang Tianxi were killed, would anyone dare to join him? This wasn't even written in the storybooks; intolerance was a major taboo for a monarch.
More importantly, he was joining the Red Flag Gang's leader, a woman capable of taking a city in a single night and killing someone right beside her. If such a woman killed the talented person she wanted to recruit, would she invite retaliation? Sun Yuanrang had no confidence that he could keep his city impenetrable and his guards by his side.
Since he wants to leave and he can't do anything about it, he might as well take a step back openly, as long as these two people don't fight with him.
Sun Yuanrang's thoughts raced like lightning, and he quickly calculated the gains and losses. He also sighed deeply, "Since the military advisor has decided to leave, I can't say anything more."
Looking at General Sun who looked regretful, Fang Tianxi smiled: "Don't worry, Gang Leader Cheng is a woman after all, and she loves to take power and is unwilling to hand over the Red Flag Gang to others."
This reassured Sun Yuanrang. A woman's desire to become emperor was probably wishful thinking. Since she was unwilling to relinquish power, she naturally wouldn't fight for the throne for her husband. If that were the case, she wouldn't pose a threat. However, he still harbored some concerns about the Gongshan Sect. He couldn't fathom its true purpose, nor could he understand why Miss Qiu had established such a bizarre sect.
But these can be studied slowly. Their current goal is still at sea, so there's absolutely no conflict with him. This time, Sun Yuanrang's smile was more genuine. "Mr. Fang originally left for his former master, which is a good story after all. But are you planning to go back with Gang Leader Cheng this time?"
Changing his address and attitude, how could Fang Tianxi not see the change in his mind? The old man just smiled more kindly: "Yes, after dealing with Ning Fu's matter, I will leave with her."
Sun Yuanrang was stunned: "Did they really catch Ning Fu?"
All he heard was news from the battlefield ahead, and he really didn't know about these things.
"We brought back his head," Fang Tianxi replied with a smile, "The evil villain that General Qiu failed to eliminate back then has finally surrendered."
The head sat in a box, unsalted and still emitting a foul odor, its black blood congealed. Even more terrifying than the smell was the expression on his face, as if frozen in the moment before death. His eyes were wide open on that dark, dark face, filled with panic, hatred, and malice. The scar across his cheek only added to his hideous appearance.
Such an unsightly thing was placed so openly in front of Cheng Xi, but she didn't care at all. She just looked at the little girl beside her who was still wearing men's clothes and had some bloodstains on her face.
"You killed someone with your own hands this time? How do you feel?" Cheng Xi asked seriously without laughing.
Huang Yue didn't expect that she would ignore the ghost scholar's head and ask this instead. After a pause, she said, "No, it's not as scary as I thought."
She had seen blood and been on the battlefield, albeit only as a nurse. But she had seen countless wounded soldiers, their intestines ripped open and their flesh mangled. Now, killing someone with her own hands, though somewhat uncomfortable, was more of a thrill than the thrill of personally killing an enemy, let alone a villain who coveted the gang leader.
Looking at the still somewhat excited female soldier, Cheng Xi nodded slightly: "This is the effect of having a legitimate reason. If you firmly believe that you are right, killing people is not a bad thing."
Huang Yue understood the simple sentence and asked a question: "What about the unknown master?"
"It will wear away your courage, torture your mind, and in the end you will either go crazy or degenerate." Cheng Xi said bluntly.
Looking at that frank expression, Huang Yue somehow felt her ecstasy suddenly dissipate, because she knew that the gang leader had killed many, many people, but she was still so frank. Was it because she knew that she had never been wrong?
"I will follow the gang leader for the rest of my life and will never disobey his orders." Huang Yue said this firmly. This was the simplest method she knew because the gang leader would not be wrong.
Cheng Xi shook his head. "Every class you take, every pre-war lecture, is telling you the reasons for war. You must learn to distinguish for yourself what is righteous and what is unrighteous, and then be an upright person. Only then can you keep your mind clear on the battlefield."
This is the biggest difference between "soldiers" and "pawns". The former are people with thoughts, while the latter are just chess pieces. What she wants is not a bunch of chess pieces that obey her orders, but people who walk side by side with her.
This is something every Red Flag Army soldier should learn, especially the female soldiers around them. Only by learning this can they go further and embark on a completely different life.
Somehow, Huang Yue's eyes warmed up, and tears threatened to well up. She should be used to this, used to the gang leader treating them this way, even for something as trivial as killing someone in battle. The gang leader always treated them as human beings, equally intelligent and no less capable than men.
Not knowing what to say, Huang Yue just nodded in panic, sniffing hard, trying to suck back the tears.
Cheng Xi seemed to notice the girl's loss of composure and casually changed the subject: "Don't keep the head. Send it to General Yuan for review. Such a ruthless person actually colluded with the thieves and pretended to be the Tianding Army to launch a surprise attack. If this caused a rift between the two families, wouldn't it be a great sin?"
Huang Yue couldn't help but burst out laughing at the harsh words. Seeing Cheng Xi looking at her, she quickly straightened her back and answered loudly, "Yes, sir!"
At this moment, Yuan Tianding was furious in the Tianding Army: "I gave you 3,000 men and horses, and you even had ships to support you, and yet you were beaten so badly? How do you lead your troops?!"
Zhou Wang felt extremely wronged and said with a sad face, "General, that bastard Ning Fu never mentioned this matter at all. I think he just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get revenge. He caused us to lose so many soldiers and generals."
With a "bang", the cup fell to the ground beside Zhou Wang, frightening him so much that he shuddered. No, he had said the wrong thing. He had clearly believed Yuan Tianding, the man who had lied to Ning Fu!
He was also smart, immediately kneeling on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly and begged for mercy, saying that he had underestimated the enemy and was deceived by Ning Fu. This attitude at least calmed Yuan Tianding's anger. Unexpectedly, before Yuan Tianding could figure out how to deal with this matter, a head and a sentence were placed in front of him.
Listening to the messenger's talk, Yuan Tianding was so angry that he was fuming. This was not consolation at all, but a mockery of his poor judgment of people!
Seeing the boss's face as black as the bottom of a pot, Zhou Wang swallowed several times and said carefully: "General, should we retaliate?"
"What revenge? Revenge for your sneak attack that failed and you got beaten up instead?" Yuan Tianding's anger was aroused again, and he immediately started to scold.
Zhou Wang didn't even dare to wipe the spit that flew out, and could only bow his head and admit his mistake. After finally venting his anger, Yuan Tianding leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead: "Let's go back, let's go back to Jiujiang first."
He had to rethink Ning Fu's previous rhetoric. After all, this bastard had already betrayed two of his lords and nearly cost him an elite army. If he continued to follow his words, he might as well be alive. The world is so big, where can't he go? Even if he wanted to go, he could wait and see how things went.
Seeing the leader's expression still uncertain, Zhou Wang shrank back and didn't dare to speak again. The fleet did not linger in Luling and sailed towards where they came from.
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