Chapter 96: A Mere Five Thousand Troops, Yan Ning Does Not Take Them Seriously

To be precise, it was not that both sides were at a stalemate.

Rather, it was that Qian Jiangjun and his men were in a position where they could neither advance nor retreat.

Compelled by the Emperor's demands and further threatened by Zhuo Heng, they dared not move on the other side of the river.

They could neither withdraw their troops nor advance to attack.

Being unable to attack was one thing, but they couldn't even get out of this patch of woods.

They didn't even know what kind of contraption those sticks in their hands were; they could see the soldiers at the very back clearly as they prepared to leave.

It took a great deal of effort for Qian Jiangjun to finally send the distress signal to the Capital.

By the time the person had already left, cold sweat had broken out on Qian Jiangjun's forehead.

Fortunately, they hadn't made a move.

Compared to their tension, Yan Ning and her group were much more relaxed.

With guards taking turns on watch, each carrying an Explosive Package, Yan Ning didn't even take the mere five thousand troops seriously.

About half a month later, Yan Ning looked at the haggard faces of the soldiers on the other side of the river; they hadn't brought any insect-repellent sachets, so without Yan Ning having to do anything, they were about to reach their breaking point.

Until they saw someone galloping on horseback not far away, rushing into the woods to hand a letter to Qian Jiangjun.

The messenger said, "My lord, do not worry, His Majesty has sent the Prince of Nanyang to provide reinforcements!"

This person's voice was quite loud.

When Yan Ning and Zhuo Heng and the others heard this, their expressions were very subtle.

Are they sure this is the reinforcement they were looking for?

However, the Prince of Nanyang didn't arrive until five days later, traveling on a ship capable of holding five thousand people.

Seeing the Prince of Nanyang standing at the bow, Qian Jiangjun was somewhat dissatisfied: "Your Highness, why have you only just arrived?"

Xiao Chengtian ignored him.

Qian Jiangjun watched helplessly as the ship didn't pause for even a moment in front of them, instead bypassing them directly to the pier on the seaside.

All the soldiers began to cheer:

"The Prince is here! We are sure to win!"

"Our reinforcements have arrived!"

"The Prince has finally come!"

Qian Jiangjun felt a faint sense that something was wrong.

He saw the Prince of Nanyang leading five thousand men, heading straight toward the First Prince's side.

Qian Jiangjun's heart jumped into his throat.

If the Prince of Nanyang is this reckless, he'll be blown to bits!

It was a pity that the scene he expected did not happen; the Prince of Nanyang's family arrived, and Yan Ze's family hurried to welcome them.

Xiao Chengtian laughed heartily: "Haha, I don't know what His Majesty is thinking; our two families' children have a marriage contract, yet he still expects me to help them fight a war!"

Hearing this, the Qian Jiangjun on the opposite side felt his hanging heart finally die.

Xiao Chengtian continued, "We've moved everything of value over; from now on, we'll live here too."

Yan Ze said with a smile, "That would be wonderful."

Watching Yan Ning and Xiao Huaijin with their heads together whispering, Xiao Chengtian couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

Xiao Huaijin couldn't help but ask Yan Ning, "What about the others? Why don't I see Master Chen?"

Yan Ning whispered, "Fearing they might be kidnapped, as a precaution, I took them to a small island nearby."

Xiao Huaijin's eyes sparkled: "I want to go see it too."

Yan Ning: "That's fine, I'll take you all to see it in a few days."

With so many people arriving, Yan Ning pondered for a moment and decided to build more houses—multi-story buildings, each three stories high, with six rooms per floor and the staircase in the middle.

One building would have eighteen rooms.

With so many soldiers, it was impossible for everyone to have their own unit.

Yan Ning prepared to make them four-person rooms.

Having a place to shelter from the wind and rain was enough; if they wanted luxury suites, they could pay for them to be built themselves.

Yan Ning needed the villagers to help build the houses, but unfortunately, this time, even with extra pay, they wouldn't do it.

Yan Ning had no choice but to find Er Gouzi.

Er Gouzi had no reaction other than nervousness; he didn't even ask why a large army had come or why soldiers were defecting to them.

Er Gouzi said with some difficulty, "The nearby villages have all seen the situation on your side, and they don't dare to get involved in this mess."

Yan Ning asked, "What are you all afraid of?"

Er Gouzi was stunned, then said, "Afraid of fighting, and afraid of being caught by the imperial court."

Yan Ning said with a smile, "How about this: you can pretend you were forced by me to work, so the fighting won't involve the civilians."

"Also, I need to get the houses built quickly; one hundred copper coins a day, including three meals, but the working hours will have to be longer."

Er Gouzi's eyes widened, "What, one hundred copper coins, including three meals?"

Er Gouzi knew Yan Ning's character; she would not mistreat people.

These three meals would certainly be very hearty.

At least one meal would have meat.

With such good terms offered, Er Gouzi said with a grin, "Don't worry, Miss, I can definitely get them all to come work, and my father is still concerned about that vegetable garden."

Yan Ning handed him a Silver Note.

Er Gouzi took it and looked—it was one hundred taels!

He gasped, "Miss, this..."

Yan Ning said, "There will be times when I need you in the future; just do your job well from now on."

Er Gouzi was incredibly happy and immediately went to find the people in the village.

Relying on his silver tongue, he hoodwinked quite a few people.

"Village Chief, that's not how you put it. How good has the Yan family been to us? You tell me, in the past when we built houses for the local wealthy landowners, didn't they only give us one meal of thin gruel and one of dry food, and even that was coarse grain? The Yan family gives us three meals of dry food, and there's meat too."

"Uncles and aunts, just listen to me; the young lady will absolutely not treat you unfairly."

"Besides, it's not considered dangerous over there. How should I put it? There is a Watchtower over there, with soldiers guarding the top, so they won't let anyone bully us."

"If it really doesn't work out, we can just pretend we were forced to do the work."

"The way I see it, those soldiers can't beat the Yan family at all. The army on the other side of the river doesn't dare to advance, nor do they dare to retreat. Since we are following the young lady, what is there to fear?"

Once Er Gouzi said this, everyone felt there was some truth to it.

Seeing them waver, Er Gouzi said, "Those willing to come along, go over now; I have to go to the other few villages first."

Yan Ning gave Er Gouzi a Silver Note for one hundred taels; Er Gouzi handled the matter very well, and villagers came one after another to help build the houses.

As for the bricks and tiles, Yan Ning was not very worried; Haicheng, Shawan County, and the nearby Qingshi Xian could all provide them.

It was just that every time she happened to run into County Magistrate Lin, his expression was always somewhat conflicted; Yan Ning did not know what he was thinking, and every time she greeted him, she would run off to the brick kiln.

Regarding Yan Ning's occasional trips to Haicheng, Qian Jiangjun had quite a few complaints:

"You, you actually dare to be this arrogant!"

Right in front of him, she just boarded a boat to Haicheng!

But did he dare to act rashly?

He did not dare.

Qian Jiangjun was so angry his teeth itched.

Yan Ning was still on the boat waving at him: "Qian Jiangjun, I'll be taking my leave first."

Qian Jiangjun was so angry that smoke was practically coming out of his head.

Standing on the Watchtower, Xiao Chengtian laughed heartily: "Qian Jiangjun, I advise you to take your great army and defect to the First Prince; there is no future in following the Gou Huangdi."

Qian Jiangjun gritted his teeth: "I will not be a rebel soldier."

Xiao Chengtian continued to laugh: "You are indeed loyal, but the Emperor knew we had the Explosive Package and still forced you to come here to die."

"If it weren't for His Highness's benevolence, you would have been blown to death long ago."