Chapter 102: If You Take Another Step Forward, I'll Blow You Up

Those who were originally chatting and laughing instantly perked up.

This time, no one went to that small island, but instead looked toward the battlefield with some curiosity.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the opposing army could be seen.

However, the number of people who came this time was not large, only about ten thousand soldiers.

Before long, Wei Wu also discovered something wrong: "There are some by the seaside too!"

The one leading the troops this time was General Zheng.

General Zheng saw Yan Ze's expression and was somewhat surprised, then flicked his sleeves in a fit of exasperation.

Why haven't the First Prince and the others left yet?

Was the letter not delivered?

Truth be told, General Zheng did not want to fight Yan Ze at all, and even less did he want anything to happen to their family.

Yan Ning stood on the high Watchtower, holding a Telescope, and could clearly see that there were archers behind the opposing side, but since no order had been given, they had not acted rashly.

Yan Ning still threw a loose Explosive Package out; the Explosive Package instantly let out a loud bang and exploded in mid-air.

The power of the explosive was not very great, and General Zheng and the others were not harmed.

Yan Ning threatened: "Uncle Zheng, if you take another step forward, I will blow you up with explosives."

General Zheng was so amused by her that he laughed, "Since you call me 'Uncle', why do you still want to blow me up?"

Yan Ning said with a smile: "Uncle Zheng, if you want to kill us, then I won't call you Uncle anymore."

General Zheng could only give up.

Afterward, Xie Luyan also came over; the two of them often bickered in the Court, and after Xie Luyan came out, General Zheng felt somewhat uncomfortable—he was clearly a skilled hand at leading troops in battle and had repeatedly performed meritorious deeds, yet he was exiled just because he helped the First Prince speak a single word.

The Emperor was just that temperamental, and had exiled quite a few people.

Truth be told, General Zheng also really wanted to take his fifty thousand troops and defect to the First Prince.

But he could not.

His wife, children, and elderly mother were all in the Capital.

When Xie Luyan saw General Zheng, he was quite disdainful: "Zheng Beimu, you shameless old fellow, you actually weren't exiled."

"It's one thing to fawn and flatter every day, but you actually accepted the mission to exterminate the First Prince."

Zheng Beimu was quite angry: "Who are you looking down on, and who are you calling a fawner and flatterer?"

Xie Luyan's gaze was contemptuous: "If you didn't know how to fawn and flatter, you would have been exiled long ago."

Zheng Beimu:...

He was so angry, but he had absolutely no retort.

Zheng Beimu took a deep breath, "Surrender quickly; I have brought archers this time, and I will certainly be able to exterminate you."

Xie Luyan said sarcastically: "Go ahead and let them come; even if we get hit by arrows, we will still blow you up."

At this moment, Yan Ning came out to smooth things over: "Uncle Xie, Uncle Zheng, stop arguing. If we fight, we will surely lose many soldiers; they are all living people, and they don't even have armor, so you wouldn't want them to die, right?"

General Zheng sighed.

He understood the logic, but what could he do?

General Zheng could only make empty threats: "I don't believe you won't come out."

After making the threat, he sat on the spot, and the soldiers behind him were all bewildered.

Yan Ning, Yan Ze, and Xie Luyan gathered together to hold a small meeting.

Yan Ning: "Dad, I don't think General Zheng has any intention of killing us, but his whole family is in the Capital..."

Xie Luyan: "It's better to be exiled; at least your wife and daughter are by your side."

Yan Ning & Yan Ze:...

Xie Luyan asked: "Then what should we do now?"

Yan Ning: "We wait."

Xie Luyan was puzzled: "Wait for what?"

Yan Ning said: "When we left, the national treasury was empty, right? This time, the Gou Huangdi sent them here, most likely without preparing enough rations; in a few days, they will run out of food."

In fact, they really could not afford to drag this out any longer.

Deputy General Zhao yelled at General Zheng: "What exactly are you doing? When we set out, His Majesty said to settle this quickly. Now that we have archers and soldiers, why not let the archers go first?"

General Zheng was even angrier: "If I let the archers go, I fear all these fifty thousand men will die."

Deputy General Zhao said with dissatisfaction: "Then let them die. To complete His Majesty's mission, even if the soldiers die, it is worth it."

General Zheng was still arguing his case, "But what if all fifty thousand men are lost and we still can't destroy the First Prince?"

"Impossible!" Deputy General Zhao gritted his teeth: "Don't tell me you are intentionally trying to delay time? I knew you had a good relationship with that little girl; she even calls you Uncle."

General Zheng was speechless: "I said, we should think of other ways to cope, rather than just going to our deaths."

Although he did not really want to attack the First Prince, hindered by the Emperor and his wife and children still in the Capital, he had to fight.

General Zhao was clearly not satisfied with his reply.

General Zheng continued: "I will not take fifty thousand troops to their deaths."

Deputy General Zhao sneered: "You are in collusion with them. I will write a letter to the Capital and tell His Majesty everything you have done."

"I will send a carrier pigeon back today; I presume His Majesty will replace you as the commander. A person as indecisive as you actually managed to become a general."

The two were arguing so intensely that Yan Ning, standing on the Watchtower, heard it clearly.

Yan Ning said to Zhuo Heng: "Shoot him, it would be best to kill him."

This Deputy General Zhao cannot be kept, otherwise, a fight might really break out.

Yan Ning did not want a fight to break out; they weren't Japanese pirates, so she wouldn't be able to blow them up without any psychological burden.

The next moment, Zhuo Heng's arrow had already been shot, flying straight toward Deputy General Zhao's neck.

In the span of a few breaths, Deputy General Zhao was already dead beyond any doubt.

Deputy General Zhao looked at Yan Ning in astonishment, "You actually dare to strike!"

Yan Ning said indifferently, "This person is too noisy, should I keep him for the New Year?"

Deputy General Liu, who was at General Zheng's side, was just about to release a Signal Flare to signal the archers to take their positions, preparing for a volley of ten thousand arrows.

However, an Explosive Package appeared in Yan Ning's hand, "Think clearly before you act. In this forest, you won't be able to escape easily, and I'm afraid this blast of mine will kill quite a few people."

Deputy General Liu had no choice but to hold back.

General Zheng gritted his teeth, "Yan Ning! If you dare to harm my soldiers again, I will risk my life to kill you all!"

Yan Ning hurriedly said, "I won't kill anymore. When you discuss strategies in the future, you could actually do it further away; otherwise, we can hear everything."

General Zheng:...

Deputy General Liu looked at Deputy General Zhao's corpse and asked, "How should this be handled?"

"Burn it, and send two men to take the ashes back."

Someone immediately followed the order.

No one dared to ask why only Deputy General Zhao was harmed, nor did they dare to ask if the relationship between General Zheng and the First Prince's family was truly that good.

The soldiers all had subtle expressions.

Afterwards, Deputy General Liu and General Zheng went to the tent to discuss how to break the deadlock.

"The method to break the deadlock is very simple; we can defect to the First Prince."

One commander said as much.

General Zheng snorted coldly; this man had no father, mother, or children, so naturally, he could defect whenever he wanted.

Another Captain said, "I think we can have the soldiers retreat first, and send in the archers first, one hundred is enough, to test them out."