Chapter 12: Strategy

Liu Chengyou suddenly asked this, and Wang Jun was momentarily stunned, his gaze falling on the young man's withdrawn face, quite taken aback. Setting down the teacup in his hand, Wang Jun said in surprise: "Your Excellency, why do you say this? Forgive me, but I don't quite understand?"

"If I remember correctly, just now in the hall, when the civil and military officials made their pleas, you too, General, were among those kneeling in supplication." Liu Chengyou had no intention of beating around the bush with Wang Jun, his eyes fixed intently on him, his tone somewhat forceful: "I can see that you, General, are also a man of intelligence, and you must see the current situation as clearly as a fire viewed from above. My father marching out is an inevitable outcome. Let me ask more plainly—when the Hedong army sets out in the future, should it go east through the Taihang Mountains, or strike straight at the Central Plains?"

Hearing this, Wang Jun looked seriously at Liu Chengyou once more. This young man's thinking was too leaps and bounds. When invited, he had said he wanted to understand the situation in the Central Plains and the state of the Khitan, yet after a single cup of tea, he was directly asking about march strategies...

He exchanged glances with Liu Chengyou for a while, feeling that his divine gaze was like lightning. Trying to read something from Liu Chengyou's face, Wang Jun was destined to be disappointed—the withdrawn young man's expression was as indifferent as ever.

Taking a deep breath, after brief thought, Wang Jun's mind became somewhat clearer. Looking at Liu Chengyou, he sighed with emotion: "The civil and military officials of Hedong are still thinking of earning merit by supporting the new sovereign, yet Your Excellency is already considering the path of future advance!"

"Preparing for rain before it comes is never a bad thing!" Liu Chengyou's gaze was unnaturally calm, without the slightest flicker, spoken softly. Then, he reminded Wang Jun again: "General Wang, you still haven't answered my question!"

A trace of hesitation appeared on his now-serious face. Under the pressure of Liu Chengyou's gaze, Wang Jun still spoke: "The weight of the state lies in Henan; the weight of Henan lies in the two capitals; and among the two capitals, Bianliang holds supremacy. If one wishes to advance, one should go all out southward to the Central Plains, seize the two capitals, stand at the center of the realm, and issue commands to all directions!"

"It seems you, General, approve of going south!" Liu Chengyou nodded slightly, his eyelids lifting a bit: "The importance of the Central Plains goes without saying, but there, over a hundred thousand Khitan troops are active!"

"There, too, are millions of Central Plains people!" Wang Jun immediately retorted, his tone very firm.

And Liu Chengyou, clearly understanding his meaning, opened his mouth and changed the topic: "What if we take Hebei first?"

This man Wang Jun truly had considerable insight, and he could keep up with Liu Chengyou's thinking. A hint of shrewdness flowed from his clear eyes, and his words carried a note of examination: "Does Your Excellency think it possible to keep all three hundred thousand Khitan troops confined within the country?"

Liu Chengyou detected the deliberative tone in Wang Jun's words. He was hinting that the Khitan could not hold the Central Plains—if the Hedong army went east through the Taihang Mountains and took Hebei first, cutting off the Khitan's route of retreat north, then Yelu Deguang and his great army, in order to go home, would have to fight Liu Zhiyuan to the death...

Of course, that was under normal circumstances. Should some accident occur—for instance, the vigorous and able Yelu Deguang suddenly dying—then the situation would be different again.

As far as Liu Chengyou knew, this Liao Taizong, Yelu Deguang, had indeed died on the road during his northward retreat... Thinking of that scenario, Liu Chengyou's eyes gradually grew deep, his dark pupils seeming to gather in all their divine light, his thoughts clearly drifting far away.

Only slightly distracted, Liu Chengyou quickly reined in his wandering thoughts, picked up his teacup and took a small sip, then slowly, as if skipping over the topic, said: "General, why don't you tell me about your experiences on your trip to Bianliang..."

"Yes!" Unable to resist stealing a glance at Liu Chengyou's cold face, Wang Jun took a deep breath, suppressed his involuntary impulses, and answered in a low voice. He had noticed that the rhythm of this conversation seemed to have been in this young man's control all along.

Wang Jun's eloquence was fairly good, and he had nothing to hide from Liu Chengyou. He recounted in detail everything he had seen and heard in Bianjing and along the way through the Central Plains, giving Liu Chengyou a deeper understanding of the situation in the south.

As they talked, time slowly passed, and soon it was near evening. In the space of an hour, they had finished two pots of fine tea. When he noticed the fatigue in Wang Jun's expression, Liu Chengyou rose to apologize and personally escorted Wang Jun out.

And Wang Jun, after giving Liu Chengyou two deep looks, finally took his leave.

After seeing Wang Jun off, Liu Chengyou returned to the hall, sat properly behind the desk once more, his face lost in thought, but with no further interest in tea. Seeing this, Lady Geng hurriedly ordered the servants to carefully clear away the tea set.

"Second Young Master." After sitting in silence with Liu Chengyou for a while, Lady Geng could no longer hold back, calling out softly in a gentle voice.

"Mm!" Liu Chengyou responded softly as well.

Coming back to his senses, noticing Lady Geng's charming appearance, Liu Chengyou suddenly felt a bit of interest. He leaned sideways against the desk, propping his head up with his hand as he looked at her: "If you want to say something, just say it directly."

Her gaze lingering cautiously on Liu Chengyou's relaxed posture, Lady Geng asked somewhat timidly: "My lord, is he really going to become Emperor?"

In that single short sentence, Lady Geng's voice had obvious fluctuations, and the word "Emperor" was barely audible, because she had noticed Liu Chengyou's expression turning several degrees colder.

"Have people in the compound been spreading idle talk again?" Returning to his usual demeanor, Liu Chengyou asked flatly, at a very slow pace.

His tone revealed neither pleasure nor anger, but Lady Geng hurriedly explained: "The servants in our compound are all very well-behaved; the news came from other compounds. I heard that all the civil and military officials of Hedong jointly petitioned, and just now you were also discussing with that General Wang..."

Liu Chengyou straightened up, sitting cross-legged, gently taking Lady Geng's hand and pulling her closer to him. While idly toying with her slender, soft hand, he asked with amusement: "You—what exactly do you want to say?"

Somewhat afraid to meet Liu Chengyou's eyes directly, Lady Geng lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet carrying a hint of excitement: "If my lord becomes Emperor, then you, Second Young Master, would be an imperial prince..."

If Liu Chengyou were an imperial prince, then Lady Geng's status would naturally rise along with his. Though the latter half of the sentence went unspoken, how could Liu Chengyou fail to see through this little woman's small schemes.

Liu Chengyou didn't find anything wrong with this—after all, the desire to rise is something everyone possesses.

However, raising his eyes to calmly gaze at Lady Geng's pretty face, Liu Chengyou's look rarely softened a little, though his tone remained cold: "Some words, just keep them in your ears and don't repeat them. I don't like women who talk too much..."

Liu Chengyou's voice was very flat, but to Lady Geng's ears it was a clear warning. This young lady, though not particularly clever, was not stupid either, and she nodded with some trepidation: "I spoke out of turn; please don't be angry, Second Young Master..."

Waving his hand, Liu Chengyou's face seemed to carry a hint of a smile as he looked at her with slight curiosity: "Do I look like I'm angry?"

Blinking her watery eyes as she looked at Liu Chengyou, Lady Geng found herself unsure how to answer that question. That withdrawn face of his was truly hard to read.