Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was a small town near the border of Jinmen and Fenghu County. This town had once been just another small village deep in the mountains.
During the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms, a mountain road connecting the two counties was built here, and commercial trade boomed. It also became a good place for merchants to stop and rest their feet. The village slowly grew into a small town with a large population. In the middle of the Great Xia Dynasty, government authorities had recruited corvee labor to build a public road.
The public road was flat and wide. In contrast, the mountain road was rugged and narrow, its surface full of potholes and bumps.
Very quickly, the mountain road was abandoned and the popularity that had gathered there because of the mountain road had also disappeared.
Today, this small town was forcibly occupied by the Red Lotus Group and made into their sentry outpost.
Jiang Pengji led her army towards this place. Along the way, they found several enemy scouts, all of whom were killed by the Vanguard Battalion.
However, the Red Lotus Group had developed from commoners at the bottom of the social hierarchy. If those people wanted to spy on the situation, there was nothing they could do to stop them.
When Jiang Pengji was only half an hour away from the town, the news traveled back to the hinterland of the Red Lotus Group.
After hearing the news, the Red Lotus’s chief summoned his trusted aide, the scholar, and inquired about their strategy.
The scholar had grown accustomed to getting strategies from An Cui and then passing them off as his own. On the surface, he placated the chief while he secretly memorized information.
“There are some suspicious aspects to this matter. Liu Xi is treacherous and cunning, I’m afraid he might be trying to deceive us,” the scholar said in his esoteric pretense. He tried to find ways to coax the Red Lotus chief. “Chief, allow me to return and think about this matter. I will give you a reply within four hours at most.”
The chief of the Red Lotus Group agreed, and the scholar hurried back to ask his answer sheet, An Cui, for advice.
An Cui had his script ready. After learning that Jiang Pengji had attacked the small town according to the original plan, he was in ecstasy.
He revealed a grave expression and asked with fake suspicion, “What’s so special about that small town? Why did Liu Xi attack that place?”
The scholar echoed in agreement, “Yeah, that place is so freaky, and there are birds of prey everywhere. Does Liu Xi intend to go into the mountains to feed the mosquitoes?”
Not using the public road during a battle was something that did not follow conventional reasoning or rules.
An Cui slightly let it slip that he had a headache and rubbed his brow. He was not acting now, he really had a headache.
With teammates that were dumb as sheep, and at the level they were playing at, did the Red Lotus Group really think that they could win against Jiang Pengji?
They should wash up and go to bed. They could only beat Jiang Pengji in their dreams.
The scholar did not give An Cui any opening to work with, so he could only come up with something on the spot and continue to act out the script.
An Cui thought for a while. He “found inspiration” and suddenly realized something. His movements startled the scholar.
“I’ve thought of something!”
An irrepressible look of ecstasy was written on An Cui’s face.
An Cui said, “The small town is located near Jinmen and Fenghu County. Liu Xi wants to launch an ambush on one of the counties!”
However, the scholar’s IQ could not keep up with the pace. He stupidly asked An Cui, “Is that so? But that place is so mountainous. I can’t imagine how much time would be wasted crossing the mountains. If he wants to launch a fast-paced offensive, it would be more reliable to use the public road than to cross the mountainous terrain. ”
An Cui didn’t answer.
He could not do it anymore, this script was too difficult to perform.
An Cui said, “No, no, no! I heard that there is a mountain road that has been left idle for many years. It connects Jinmen County and Fenghu County.”
The scholar was stunned.
His first reaction was to immediately send someone to block the mountain road, but An Cui poured a bucket of cold water on him.
“It’s too late. They have likely taken over the small town by now. Besides, there is more than one exit along the mountain road, we can’t block them all. We might even be surrounded. Such a strategy is too risky.”
The scholar seemed to be grabbing onto the last piece driftwood as he said in a hurry, “Please, master, grant me a good plan.”
Previously, the scholar had bossed An Cui around, but now he was addressing him as “master.”
An Cui was not angry. He devoted himself to his acting and said, “Although there are several exits on the mountain road, the road only connects Jinmen and Fenghu County. This is beyond doubt. According to the original plan, we only need to send massive forces there to stall for time. When they can’t bear it anymore and retreat, we’ll flank them from behind and block their way out from the mountain road. In this way, it’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel and we’ll seize a total victory!”
Listening to the plan narrated by An Cui, the scholar’s helpless and apprehensive little heart steadily returned its original state.
“Master Genius, I will certainly sing your praises in front of the chief. When the time comes, your promotion to a high official position will be guaranteed.”
Some people could speak very well. Jiang Pengji for example. And then there were some who could not speak very well but thought they had a glib tongue, like this scholar.
If An Cui was not acting, he would have been so angered by the scholar’s words that he would be beating the man within an inch of his life.
The scholar lied to An Cui, then carefully asked, “From master’s perspective, which county would Liu Xi focus his attack on?”
Since the mountain road connected Fenghu County and Jinmen County, Liu Xi’s purpose should be one of these two counties.
A probability of 50/50, which one was it?
An Cui thought about the contents of the script and said, “I’ve carefully considered the state of the mountain road. The mountain road leading to Jinmen County is too long and tedious. If it’s an ambush, I can’t imagine how much physical energy that would require. Also, the march will take too long a time. The mountain road leading to Fenghu County is relatively shorter, and the distance is only half of that to Jinmen County. Comparing the two, I conclude that Liu Xi’s goal must be Fenghu County! ”
The scholar nodded enthusiastically as he listened.
Listening to one lecture from An Cui was better than ten years of schooling.
After a long time, he said emotionally, “This Liu Xi is really cunning and black-hearted… Although I am a native of Chengde County, even I had no idea that there is an abandoned mountain road at that border… It’s too remote. If not for master genius, who knows the geography well, that thief, Liu Xi might have gotten away with this. But now… We’ll beat them at their own game and catch that thief Liu Xi alive. We’ll destroy all his soldiers and generals. He’ll have to meet his Maker then! ”
A mysterious smile appeared along the corners of An Cui’s lips, and the scholar also showed a smile of mutual understanding.
The scholar placated An Cui and turned around to take the credit for An Cui’s achievements.
He copied An Cui’s speech nearly word for word, suggesting to the Red Lotus chief, “…We cannot lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we can take down Liu Xi in one fell swoop, we will have no future trouble. Chief, we must think big and be ruthless. ”
The chief of the Red Lotus Group asked him, “Tell me your opinion.”
The scholar’s face slightly revealed his malevolence. His tone was light, but his thoughts were very malicious. He said, “Chief, why don’t we transfer the manpower from Jinmen County to Fenghu County and wait until Liu Xi can’t keep up his attack. We’ll take the chance when Liu Xi is unguarded and send people to mount a sneak attack on the small town. Then, we’ll envelop and block the mountain road from the back. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. It would be great if we can capture Liu Xi alive. If not, we’ll besiege them and slowly torture them to death.”
In the shadows, the scholar’s expression looked very cold.
The Red Lotus chief thought about it. It was a brilliant plan.
“My military counselor has such a clever scheme. This time, we’ll make sure that Liu Xi will not be returning home!”
Although the small town was the Red Lotus Group’s sentry post, not many soldiers were stationed there. There were only hundreds of people scattered around, and they could not even organize an effective defense. The tallest portion of the town’s wall was only slightly more than 6 meters high. The wall was so short, who would it stop?
Jiang Pengji held a long spear as she mounted her horse and rushed towards the enemy in their surprise attack.
Little White’s power was as strong as Big White’s when it came to stomping on people. As his hooves struck down, someone’s sternum broke.
Jiang Pengji was at the forefront. Seeing this, Yang Si’s eyelids kept twitching for fear that she would be hit by the arrows.
Of course, this was impossible.
