Chapter 44: Your Reaction Is Very Wrong

The northern frontier's winds and clouds shift; in a few hundred fleeting years, countless nameless passersby have been buried.

On the walls of Ma Yi City, gazing into the distance, the sky resembles a great tent, covering the four wilds.

By the roadside, beneath an old tree, a horse-head fiddle rises; a long song tells of parting—where do men go when they leave their homeland?

Do you recall how Qin Huang built the Great Wall to drive out the Xiongnu, and Han Wu devised strategies to sweep away the Hu raiders?

Today, ascending this height and recalling the past, one sees no old friends of the Han house; everywhere are Hu garments, and the stench of mutton covers the land.

"My Lord, in such a scene, one ought to compose a poem to commemorate the ancients."

Yang Kan, Gao Ang, and Yu Jin all came from noble families and possessed cultural refinement, but Hou Jing was different; raised since childhood in Huaishuo, he cultivated no letters, learning only martial arts and military strategy.

For several days, Hou Jing had followed Li Shuang, associating with Yu Jin and others, feeling very uncomfortable.

Li Shuang glanced at Hou Jing; prompted by his words, he composed a poem on the spot.

"One jin, two jin, three and four jin; five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten jin. A thousand jin, ten thousand jin, countless jin—yet all vanish when tucked into the pocket."

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!" On the city wall, Hou Jing clapped his hands. "My Lord's line 'all vanish when tucked into the pocket' is extremely imposing, extremely imposing indeed!"

Though the Great General of the Universe had low culture, his political awareness was high.

Whether he understood or not, his clapping never lagged behind others.

"My Lord, the entire province of Hengzhou is poor; the only wealthy place is Pingcheng. When shall we gather all the thousand and ten thousand golds within Pingcheng into our pockets?"

"Silence!"

Li Shuang's expression turned stern.

"Now that bandits run rampant, as ministers of the court, we ought to support the ruler and assist the state, stabilizing Wei and reviving the Yuan; how can we think only of the few things in our pockets?"

Hou Jing nodded.

"I think the same. But then I thought again: that fellow Yuan Shenshen is nothing but a Liu Adou; sooner or later, he cannot hold Pingcheng. Rather than letting it benefit Poluhan Baling or Yuyuuan Anagui, we might as well take it into our pockets first. Having it in My Lord's pocket is better than letting those rebel traitors and the Rouran profit."

"That is precisely what worries me. Around Yuan Shenshen are nothing but insects; how can we, together with these insects, protect the Great Wei's Jiangshan?"

Hou Jing's eyes brightened, and he was filled with vigor from head to toe.

"Then shall we proceed as before, in three steps?"

Li Shuang shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"This is not the deep mountains of Bingzhou, and we are no longer a righteous army; we must change our approach."

"What does My Lord mean?"

"First, both Poluhan Baling and Yuyuuan Anagui desire Pingcheng, yet each guards against the other, fearing that after they clash decisively with the Wei army, the other will profit. Thus, their best course is to first support the rebels within Hengzhou, letting them wear down the official army. As far as I know, Bei Lie Buruo has already made contact with envoys from the Rouran and the Liuzhen."

Hou Jing said contemptuously:

"That good-for-nothing?"

"Exactly; he is indeed a good-for-nothing, but we must make him appear less so. I happen to have a batch of military supplies in hand; go and contact him, and secretly sell them to him."

"Then what is the second step?"

"Once Bei Lie Buruo obtains these military supplies, his strength will increase greatly. I will then order She Di Qian and others to lead their troops backward, retreating to defend Ma Yi, thereby exposing Pingcheng to him. Bei Lie Buruo will first suffer defeat, then win, gaining so much land for nothing; with his army at the gates of Pingcheng, his prestige will soar. Yuan Shenshen has already lost the people's hearts; seeing the rebels' great power, he will surely dare not leave the city, daring only to shut the gates and defend himself."

"My Lord, what is the meaning of this?"

"The Liuzhen and the Rouran are financially strained, yet to support Bei Lie Buruo, they will inevitably increase their aid. This is a strategy to exhaust the enemy!"

A hint of understanding appeared on Hou Jing's face.

"Then what is the third step?"

"When both sides are exhausted, the only usable troops in Hengzhou will be those at Ma Yi; at that time, their value will naturally multiply."

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

Beside the city wall, a round of applause suddenly arose.

An old man with plain clothing and white beard and hair, who had appeared at some unknown time not far away, now looked at Li Shuang and the other with a kindly expression.

"How did this old man get here?"

Hou Jing also wore a confused expression.

"I do not know either; I clearly had people watching, so how did he get up here?"

The old man approached slowly, a smile on his face, and asked:

"If the three-step plan for defending Ma Yi is put in other words, would it not be called 'nurturing bandits to strengthen oneself'?"

Upon hearing this, Hou Jing was very displeased.

"Old man, who are you?"

"I am Li Chong, serving as Palace Attendant, Holder of the Imperial Seal, Grand Commander of the Northern Expedition, Commander of all military affairs in Heng and Shuo provinces, and General Who Conquers the North!"

Li Shuang and Hou Jing exchanged a glance; Hou Jing silently placed his hand on his sword hilt, but Li Shuang stopped him.

Li Chong saw this, yet felt no fear at all; he continued to smile cheerfully.

"During the battle in Bingzhou back then, you young fellow, taking advantage of my unpreparedness, seized over three thousand sets of armor from me; I have long held deep resentment. Now that we meet again, I never expected such a situation; what do you say?"

Li Chong looked at Li Shuang, the defender of Ma Yi who was far younger than himself, seeing nothing but pride on his face.

Below the city wall, Hou Jing's men and horses were all controlled by Li Chong's personal guards.

On the enemy tower not far away, expert archers were already in position.

Li Chong had already issued the order:

If the two men on the city wall dared to resist, they were to be killed on the spot.

With a legitimate reason, it would save trouble!

Though the sleeping tiger was old, its killing intent still burned fiercely.

However, what Li Chong did not expect was that Li Shuang offered no resistance.

He suddenly dropped to his knees, his rear end raised high, his voice trembling with tears.

"General Who Conquers the North, you do not know: when I was young and ignorant, I stole things from you, your venerable self. Since then, my heart has been filled with guilt; I have slept not a wink night after night, my heart so full of regret that I only hope for the day to meet you, your venerable self, and return those things to you, so as to make amends for the guilt and self-reproach in my heart."

Saying this, Li Shuang turned around and stuck his rear end right in front of Li Chong.

"If you still aren't satisfied, just beat me up. No need to be polite; this is what I deserve."

Li Shuang's appearance not only left Li Chong at a loss for words, but even Hou Jing standing nearby was stunned.

Realizing it only after the fact, he too knelt down.

Li Chong, the Sleeping Tiger, was nearly seventy and had experienced too many storms in his life, campaigning north and south, seeing every kind of person imaginable.

Yet he had truly never seen anything like this.

Li Chong felt his heart beating uncontrollably.

For no other reason than being angered by this young man before him.

"Take him away!"

"What has happened in this city?"

Yang Kan and Gao Ang, leading their troops, were about to return to the city but found themselves blocked outside. They saw that the great flags still flew atop the Ma Yi city walls, yet the city gates were tightly shut. The people guarding the gates and the walls were all unfamiliar faces.

Yu Jin was lowered from the city wall, his Face Dark with Gravity.

"Li Chong, following orders, has replaced Yuan Shen to command the northern campaign against the rebels. Taking advantage of our troops being outside, he led a light force to seize Ma Yi City without anyone noticing."

Yang Kan and Gao Ang exchanged glances, both wearing expressions of Gravity.

"How is the Lord?"

This was the part Yu Jin understood least.

"The Ma Yi defenders were not only unpanicked but very cooperative, even letting you leave your troops outside the city while following me inside."

Yang Kan and Gao Ang had doubts, but Yu Jin then spoke the secret code Li Shuang had agreed upon with them.

Gazing at the weathered ancient city of Ma Yi before them, they fell into deep contemplation for a moment.

Lord, what are you doing?