The rugged, mountainous route snaked up and down, forks in the path appearing constantly. It was a natural trap for people to get lost in.
But under Jiang Pengji’s guidance, things turned out to be a lot easier than expected.
In the meantime, Yang Jian and his men came up with a plan.
Compared to their experiences with many more dangerous rivers, this one wasn’t too much of a challenge for the excellent swimmers in Yang Jian’s force.
“Shaoyang, are you doing alright?” Yang Tao asked.
Yang Tao’s breathing was very short. His face had recently gotten rid of the adolescent look and was starting to show more of the vigor and determination of a young man.
Compared to Yang Tao’s free-spirit and bold attitude, Yan Lin always maintained his composure and dignity.
“I’m good, Zhengze,” Yan Lin said. “You might as well go ahead and take care of the lord. His arrow wound has not healed yet. It requires close observation.”
Considering his condition, Yan Lin didn’t want Yang Jian to be part of this mission. Yang Jian, on the other hand, was concerned about his son, who, in his eyes, was as sharp as a marble. He really didn’t want Yang Tao to lead the army by himself.
Yang Tao nodded seriously. “You take care too, Shaoyang.”
As turbulent as the river was in the winter, the water level was lower than it was in flood seasons, revealing the shoreline slopes on both sides of the river.
The slopes were quite gentle which made things a lot easier.
This was a major element that might enable Yan Lin to beat Jiang Pengji and arrive at their meeting spot sooner.
The two forces marched on their respective routes with full concentration, be it in the river or over the mountain.
The alliance camps near Jiamen Pass were still busy and loud. Everyone was still enjoying themselves until the horizon burned bright, breaking the darkness.
The sky turned, from darkest to the brightest, every shade of gray until it was totally bright outside.
All the lords were preoccupied with their own agendas. On top of that, Liu She had deliberately done some cover-up work for Jiang Pengji and Yang Jian’s secret mission. Nobody noticed that a total of 25,000 men had disappeared.
It would, of course, be impossible to hide it forever.
Two separate forces totaling 25,000 men. Even the least observant would eventually notice.
The funny thing was, by the time they did, it was already sunset of the day after Jiang Pengji and Yang Jian left.
Everyone was upset by the discovery.
An Cui had secretly gone around Wuma Shang, the chief of Shanghai County, hoping to get some benefits.
Hearing the news, An Cui turned to Wuma Shang and saw the cold grin on his face.
“Liu Xi was overrated. Such a coward for chickening out. Having a son like that, Liu Zhongqing will probably cry himself to blindness.”
Wuma Shang snorted. Even though he had no personal conflicts with Jiang Pengji, he still hated the father and son of the Liu family.
Now Chongzhou, Wanzhou, and Hu counties were all in their hands. As a royal family member himself, how could he be thrilled about that?
Did the country belong to the Wuma family or the Liu family?
An Cui whispered, “Liu Xi doesn’t seem like someone without guts. He probably wouldn’t really chicken out. There must be something behind their leaving last night that we don’t know. Maybe Xu Pei, the alliance leader, knew something about it. My lord, we can go ask him.”
Wuma Shang snorted a bit. Despite the contempt in his voice, he was still quite concerned about the real reason behind their actions.
“Fine, let’s go find out for sure.”
At the same time, Huang Song also learned about it.
He didn’t know too much about Yang Jian, so he couldn’t immediately make it out. However, he knew a thing or two about Jiang Pengji, especially the way she acted. No matter how much gossip he had heard about their “chickening out,” Huang Song would not agree with it. There must be something else going on behind the whole thing.
Failing to figure it out himself, he called for his advisors.
Feng Jue and Cheng Jing exchanged looks, both instantly realizing what it was about. It wasn’t good.
“My lord, let’s go to the alliance leader’s camp as soon as we can,” Cheng Jing said.
By the time Huang Song and his men arrived, Xu Pei’s tent was already crowded with the leaders of all the forces.
Compared to finding out what happened to Yang Jian and Jiang Pengji’s forces, most of them were more interested in seeing how Xu Pei would handle it.
Someone here for this purpose was Xu Pei’s cousin, Xu Fei.
Xu Fei laughed and said, “My dear older brother! You are slacking at your job as the alliance leader! How come someone can just come and go as they please?”
Xu Pei glanced at him. His voice was completely calm and lacked any trace of anger or uneasiness. “Who told you that? Lanting and Chief Yang both followed my orders. As to why they left and for what reason, it remains secret that I have no intention to tell at the moment.”
Xu Fei snorted. He didn’t buy it, deciding that it was Xu Pei bluffing.
Xu Pei’s face revealed his increasing indignation. “Your primary goal is to break Jiamen Pass. Nothing else matters. Lanting and Chief Yang’s forces are only 25,000 combined, which is not even a tenth of the alliance. What? Are you guys worried that you can’t make it without them?”
“Your leadership misunderstood us.” Xu Fei’s voice was deliberately pretentious, provocation in his eyes. “The alliance can, of course, break Jiamen Pass without them. But as a member of the alliance, they acted at will and left without any notice. What did they think of you, the leader? With them acting like that, how can the alliance act as one? Also, as the leader, aren’t you responsible for your negligence?”
The atmosphere in the tent was intense.
Xu Fei insisted that Xu Pei was lying about Jiang Pengji and Yang Jian acting on his order.
“Enough!”
The voice that was icy cold.
Liu She strode in, clad in a scholar’s costume and a heavy cloak. His eyes were as cold as his voice, intimidating everyone with their seriousness.
“If you are all so curious, simply wait for half a month and good news will arrive.”
Intimidated by Liu She, Xu Fei still didn’t want to give up. He took the risk and tried again.
“Right, of course, the daddy will always cover for his son. What if we don’t get any good news by then?”
No good news would mean that Liu Xi’s plan had failed to achieve its expected results. Even worse, they could end up beaten by Prince Changshou. Their lives could be in danger. Xu Pei tried to warn Xu Fei with a stare, but Xu Fei didn’t stop talking.
“If there’s no good news, I will break Jiamen Pass myself.” Liu She’s voice sounded calm. Even flat.
Just like the son, the father was no fan of modesty.
After the initial shock, the lords started to realize what was really going on and became angry.
“Liu Zhongqing, are you saying that, without you guys, we can’t break Jiamen Pass within half a month?”
Liu She lifted the corners of his mouth in a scornful smile. “It’s good to know what you’ve got.”
“You!”
Xu Fei smashed his hand on the table, shaking with rage.
Liu She walked away. He didn’t even look at him.
Xu Pei had never said anything about Liu Xi and Yang Jian’s whereabouts.
Who knew if there were any of Prince Changshou’s spies among them? With all the different forces present, it was a real concern.
When it came to important military information, Xu Pei would never let it leak.
Even though he hadn’t said a thing, some were still able to get it right.
“What an unexpected and bold plan.” Cheng Jing squinted his eyes. “Yet this guy seems to rely too much on this kind of trick…”
Feng Jue was mentally prepared. After all, Jiang Pengji was one of his old friends.
“How about we take a guess as to where they are now?”
