Chapter 161: The Fisherman

In the twelfth month, the mountain valley in winter would still be wreathed in mist as evening approached, but the Han army camped there no longer cared, because they had quickly discovered that this mist only appeared at dusk and would dissipate on its own by nightfall — just as in certain places where morning fog habitually forms and then clears by late morning.

In other words, this was very likely just a local microclimate caused by the unique terrain, nothing to make a fuss over.

However, the army's commanding general, Gongsun Xun, had used "the fog is too thick" as a pretext to delay here for four or five full days without moving, which had stirred considerable speculation throughout the ranks.

"General," in the end, even Xu Rong could bear it no longer. "If we wait another two days, not only might the defeated troops who fled into the mountains leak word of us, but the Goguryeo people who come every ten days to deliver supplies will also likely arrive. Should the Goguryeo people be prepared by then... even if they don't muster a great army, merely fortifying the walls and clearing the fields, taking early precautions — that alone would be trouble for us, would it not?"

"Why is it Military Adjutant Xu who has come to speak of this?" Gongsun Xun, who had been checking documents with Wang Xiu, paused and turned with keen interest to face Xu Rong. "Where are all the others?"

Xu Rong was momentarily at a loss for words.

There was no helping it — he could hardly say that none of the others dared to come speak, and only he had the nerve to come himself, could he?

Oh, everyone else fears the commanding general, but you, Xu Rong, have such a big face?

Wang Xiu, standing to the side, saw this and merely offered a slight salute before tactfully withdrawing for the time being.

"I am merely slightly puzzled," Xu Rong said, and only when he saw no one else around did he offer a brief explanation. "A once-in-a-decade opportunity lies before us, and our army numbers a full ten thousand... With a sharp blade in hand, how can the urge to kill not arise?"

"Well said — with a sharp blade in hand, the urge to kill arises of its own accord." Gongsun Xun nodded at once. "Or rather, what did this great army come here to do? Ten thousand troops — how much effort did I spend painstakingly assembling them, how many of my personal connections did I draw upon? We cannot return empty-handed, can we?"

Xu Rong nodded repeatedly. In truth, this was precisely what he found most difficult to understand. One had to realize that this army was something this young county magistrate had scraped together with immense difficulty from all quarters. Take his own presence here — Gongsun Xun had likely called in an enormous personal favor just to secure this one chance to strike. And those Hu cavalry were most likely mercenaries paid with coin. As for those Liaodong militiamen and conscripts, if they did not win as many great victories as possible, would they not need to give some account to Liaodong Grand Administrator Gao Yan upon their return?

So by all logic, the army's commanding general before him ought to be the one most impatient to act. Yet he alone was holding the troops back.

"Military Adjutant Xu," Gongsun Xun leaned on the low table before him and continued with a sigh, "it is not that I am making excuses. In truth, I am probably the one in this army most eager to advance, because this army is in fact my private force, brought here solely because of my personal ambitions..."

"Yes!" Xu Rong nodded again without the slightest hesitation.

"But precisely because of that, I must be all the more cautious," Gongsun Xun continued in earnest. "After all, I cannot let the soldiers in this army be buried in foreign soil because of my personal ambitions. Think about it — ten thousand men, a full five thousand of them Han troops. When we marched north out of Tanhan Mountain that day under imperial decree, I could not sleep day or night over the numbers of dead and wounded. Now, with only me, Gongsun Xun, alone behind this, I can bear that weight even less. Military Adjutant Xu..."

"Yes!" Xu Rong had actually grown somewhat tense.

"I would rather wait here in vain, then return empty-handed and lose this opportunity, to be laughed at by all the world, than make an entire commandery weep. Without the resolve to preserve the army intact, how could I possibly have launched a private campaign?"

Xu Rong was silent for a moment before pressing further: "Could it be that there is something amiss up ahead?"

"I will not hide it from you, Military Adjutant Xu," Gongsun Xun said frankly. "I decided to come gamble on this earlier because I had an inside contact. But taking Zuoyuan turned out far too easy, and the defending general's behavior was far too strange — I could not help but grow suspicious..."

And so, Gongsun Xun recounted in detail the questionable matters concerning Yaya Keli, laying out all his suspicions. He also wanted to persuade the other man, after all, the man before him was the second-strongest power in this patchwork army of motley forces, and he was Han army at that. If he too chose to support him unconditionally, then no matter what, there would be no need to worry about further unrest within the ranks.

"Myeongnim Dap-bu is indeed over seventy," Xu Rong said with a furrowed brow. "That his health is gradually failing is common knowledge, so from the broader perspective, it is only natural that Yaya Keli and the Gonna-bu would make some moves... However, General, if you put caution first, I have nothing to say against it. Do you intend to wait by the stump for the hare?"

"Exactly," Gongsun Xun finally laid out his plan. "I intend to wait a few more days. If the enemy truly has an ambush laid, then they will certainly have even less patience than we do!"

Indeed! Xu Rong of course understood this logic. Even if Goguryeo really had staged some heaven-shaking grand scheme akin to the former Han's "Plan of Mayi," as a small state with a weak populace, they had one fatal weakness — they could not sustain it for long!

After all, to trap an army of ten thousand, even a motley one, the Goguryeo people would need thirty to fifty thousand troops deployed in advance up ahead. And judging by their population, that would essentially require a total mobilization of the entire country to accomplish. But doing so would bring all productive and daily activities across the whole nation to a standstill, and would also place an enormous drain on their military reserves.

And they could not afford such a drain!

This was the sorrow of poor states and small states!

So if it truly came to such a war of attrition, the first to lose patience would surely be the Goguryeo people. Moreover, before they reached the point of being unable to hold on, they certainly could not allow the Han army to occupy Zuoyuan — they would surely take the initiative to launch a counterattack while their great army was assembled. Because if Zuoyuan were to fall into Han hands instead, then the several hundred li of fertile land along the upper Liao River that Goguryeo had spent decades painstakingly expanding to seize would immediately be retaken by the Han and the Buyeo people. That was absolutely intolerable.

And this, in fact, was Lou Gui's so-called brilliant plan to break the deadlock — wait by the stump for the hare, then adapt to circumstances as they arise!

But — and this was the crucial "but" — all of this was premised on Gongsun Xun's groundless suspicions. Nine times out of ten, it was a misjudgment of the situation. Gongsun Xun's suspicions had arisen solely from the bitter lesson of the Battle of Tanhan Mountain and the defending general's one instance of non-cooperation, with no clear evidence to support them. At the same time, Gongsun Xun would also have to pay a price for these groundless suspicions — this was also what Lou Gui had referred to as courage.

Of course, this price did not mean that his continued inaction here would endanger Yaya Keli and the Gonna-bu, who were genuinely attempting a coup.

To be perfectly honest, even if the entire Gonna-bu were wiped out, it would have nothing to do with him — if the Mushroom King died, all the better!

The true price and pressure came from the rear!

First of all, as had just been said, if it later proved that the road ahead was entirely clear, but merely because Gongsun Xun had wasted a great deal of time here, the subsequent military operations ended in failure and a return with nothing to show for it, then "being laughed at by all the world" would be practically a foregone conclusion. And faced with his own mother's arrangements, he would no longer have any strength to resist.

Secondly, as time dragged on, setting aside Lady Gongsun for the moment, both Liaodong Grand Administrator Gao Yan and Xuantu Grand Administrator Ju Teng would likely come to their senses completely. And what reaction they, at their rank of two thousand piculs, might have toward Gongsun Xun — no one could say!

Gao Yan, though weak-willed, was Gongsun Xun's legitimate and proper liege lord. He did not need to harden his heart; he need only send an official withdrawal order formally stamped with his Grand Administrator's seal, and Gongsun Xun would either have to withdraw his troops or unequivocally bear the crime of defying a military order — the kind that could not be washed away.

As for Ju Teng, that went without saying. If a single messenger came, would Xu Rong leave or not? To put it bluntly, Xu Rong's very presence here was itself a violation of military orders. According to the original plan, they would probe Zuoyuan, and if they could not take it, they would simply return — no trouble at all. And if they won, they would press forward with unstoppable momentum, and any consequences would be drowned out in the great military victory.

And now?

Did Gongsun Xun truly have no idea in his heart why Xu Rong could bear it no longer?

"Bojin!" After laying out his plan, Gongsun Xun rose directly and came before the other man. "Please rest assured and wait. Even if the matter fails, I, Gongsun Xun, will not let others bear responsibility in my place. As for Grand Administrator Ju, I will naturally tell him that Zuoyuan was taken solely through your efforts. With that merit in hand, Grand Administrator Ju will not make things difficult for you!"

"And what of you, General?" Xu Rong immediately countered. "If it drags on to the point where Zuoyuan is needed to atone for my offense, what circumstances will you, General, find yourself in? Without the merit of Zuoyuan, how will you give an account to the Liaodong side?"

"That will be my affair," Gongsun Xun took him by the hand and urged. "I shall bear all responsibilities myself. I only hope that you, Military Adjutant Xu, will wait patiently a few more days. And if the Goguryeo people truly send no troops, I will certainly delay no further. At that time, I will lead the charge personally and ensure that the campaign has a result before the new year. But for these few days, I still hope that Military Adjutant Xu will cooperate fully — maintain strict defense here, and construct fortifications facing southeast, to guard against any contingency!"

Xu Rong said no more, but bowed and took his leave.

After personally seeing the other man out of the main tent, Gongsun Xun gazed at the thin mist that appeared every evening outside and felt a moment of emotion.

"My lord!" Just then, Wang Xiu, who had been standing quietly outside the tent all along, suddenly spoke.

"What is it?" Gongsun Xun was badly startled.

"I just recalled something and was about to warn you, my lord," Wang Xiu said gravely. "Though our provisions are ample, they are mainly stored at the main camp at the Liao River fork..."

"What do you mean by this?" Gongsun Xun immediately frowned. "Are you saying the Goguryeo people would send a raiding force to strike the camp at the river mouth? If that were truly the case, we are no more than twenty li from the main camp — cavalry can reach it in an instant. No matter how many Goguryeo troops came, we could swat them dead by the banks of the Liao. Not to mention that place is extremely close to Xuantu proper, and Xuantu still has at least three or four thousand cavalry there. Surely they would not stand by and watch them die?"

"I am not speaking of the Goguryeo people; I am speaking of the two Grand Administrators," Wang Xiu corrected him solemnly. "Think about it, my lord. If a messenger comes to the camp, they might still be wary of your family prestige, your authority, and your connections. And if you stand firm, they might well be powerless to act. But what if, seeing that ordering you to withdraw directly is a dead end, they instead send someone to take over the rear camp? Will the soldiers left to guard it recognize the Grand Administrator's messenger, or will they recognize County Commandant Lu? At that point, if the two Grand Administrators seize County Commandant Lu and occupy the main camp at the Liao River fork, then cut off our provisions, our army would have no choice but to withdraw on its own, would it?!"

Gongsun Xun started in alarm, but then gave a hollow laugh: "In other words, if messengers from the two Grand Administrators truly arrive here at Zuoyuan, then I must either advance swiftly or withdraw the entire army?"

Wang Xiu nodded slightly: "At that point, I fear there will be no third path to take. Or rather, once the messengers arrive, trying to forcibly stall will no longer be realistic!"

"Lou Zibo's 'wait by the stump for the hare, adapt to circumstances'..."

"What did you say, my lord? Should I summon Zibo? Did he not just go, by your order, to probe that Mi Ru?"

"It's nothing!" Gongsun Xun laughed awkwardly. "Let us wait a while longer... After all, it has been four or five days already, and we still have not seen any messengers from the two Grand Administrators, have we? Perhaps Grand Administrator Gao and Grand Administrator Ju are giving me face, and there simply are no messengers?"

"My lord, you should not harbor thoughts of leaving things to chance," Wang Xiu earnestly remonstrated.

Gongsun Xun was immediately left with no reply.

………………

The sky grew darker, and the thin mist over Zuoyuan dispersed as it routinely did. At just this moment, in the city of Goguryeo, the administrative seat of Xuantu Commandery, several hundred li away, Shen Pei once again knocked on the great gate of the Xuantu Grand Administrator's official residence.

"What has this Shen Zhengnan come for again?" Ju Teng had already retired to bed but had no choice but to rise. "I respect him as a renowned scholar of Hebei, and his family is a great clan of Hebei. I have given him face time and again — I did not even pursue the matter of Xu Rong transferring troops without authorization, nor did I issue any document to summon him back. Yet he comes to trouble me again and again..."

"If I may say so, my lord, why pay him any heed?" The concubine attending Ju Teng as he rose could not help but offer a fawning suggestion. "I have heard that Gongsun Xun launched a private campaign, but by luck took Zuoyuan, which Xuantu could not take in ten years, yet now he has stalled his troops there and cannot advance further. If my lord were to use Xu Rong's matter to seize leverage over him, force Gongsun Xun to withdraw, and then take Zuoyuan into your own hands — would that not be a great achievement?"

"Where did you pick up all these ideas, one set after another?" Ju Teng immediately burst out laughing.

"The wife of Commandery Assistant Li from the commandery came to speak with me," the concubine promptly answered. "An army of over ten thousand, marching straight past the city walls and then heading to West Gaima to rendezvous with Commandant Xu, then going on to attack Zuoyuan — by my count it's been eight or nine days now. What news hasn't spread all through the city?"

"Commandery Assistant Li's thinking is truly laughable, and you too have the vision of a mouse." Ju Teng laughed again at this. "Tomorrow go tell Commandery Assistant Li's wife: doing it that way might indeed secure the credit for Zuoyuan, but it would somewhat lose face, and then offend the Gongsun clan, whose influence runs deep beyond the frontier, and Zhao, the Grand Administrator of Liaoxi... In truth, the person who ought to be most anxious about this matter is Gongsun Xun's direct superior, Grand Administrator Gao of Liaodong. His office demands it — this villain's role is one he cannot refuse to play! As for me, I need only wait quietly for his Excellency Grand Administrator Gao's dispatch to arrive, and then I will naturally exert my influence to make Gongsun Xun obediently withdraw his troops, and using Xu Rong's affair as grounds, take the credit for Zuoyuan for myself..."

"I understand," Ju Teng's concubine immediately caught on. "This way, all the roles of the good man are played by you, my lord. No famous scholar, no great clan, no colleague is offended, yet the credit cannot escape your grasp."

"Exactly." Ju Teng beamed with delight. "So you see, this Shen Zhengnan must also be treated with courtesy... No need to put on my cap. Wait for my return — I shall go now and soothe him with kind words, to show my respect."

The concubine immediately curtsied in salute.

"Zhengnan, what matter brings you to visit so late at night?" Ju Teng, still without his cap, shuffled in wooden clogs with an outer robe draped over him into the outer hall, which was warm from the heated floor. "Speak freely!"

"My lord!" Shen Pei, standing with his hand on his sword, had been waiting long in the hall. Upon seeing Ju Teng, he immediately bowed deeply in a grand salute, and behind him followed a figure dressed as a minor official. The lamps had just been lit, and in the darkness it was hard to make out his expression for the moment; seeing this, he too hurriedly prostrated himself in silence. "These days, I, Shen Pei, have been deeply favored by my lord's hospitality. Today I must take my leave of my lord, and so I have come expressly to bid farewell."

Ju Teng's spirits immediately lifted. Without even bothering to ask who the person behind him was, he sat straight down and inquired: "Why must Zhengnan leave, and to what place — Zuoyuan or Xiangping?"

"Neither," Shen Pei, having risen, shook his head solemnly. "But as for exactly where I am going, if Lord Ju asks this person behind me, he will know."

Only then did Ju Teng, somewhat dazed, look toward the man behind Shen Pei: "And who are you?"

"In reply to Lord Ju," the man hurriedly saluted again in explanation, "this outer official is Wang An, Army Section Clerk of Liaodong Commandery. I have come by order of my superior, Grand Administrator Gao, to deliver a dispatch..."

Ju Teng immediately had a flash of understanding — so the dispatch had arrived the moment it was spoken of!

Well then, he had finally waited it out... This Gao Yan really could drag his feet. Gongsun Xun had led troops out of Liaodong for so many days now, and only now did he deliver the dispatch!

But no matter what, it was understandable that Shen Pei wanted to leave. As for Zuoyuan, he would just have to accept it with a smile.

"Uh,"

At this final juncture, Ju Teng naturally would not deny Shen Pei face, so he first cast a troubled glance at Shen Pei, and only then turned with a look of helplessness toward this clerk. "Where is the dispatch?"

This Liaodong Army Section Clerk glanced at Shen Pei, then lowered his head and said nothing.

Ju Teng, helpless, could only press the question again: "Clerk Wang, may I ask where your superior Grand Administrator Gao's dispatch is?"

"It is with me." At that moment, Shen Pei suddenly stepped forward, interposing himself between Ju Teng and Clerk Wang.

Ju Teng immediately understood — so this was what he had been waiting for!

Still, at this point, if Shen Zhengnan tried any more of his famous-scholar bravado or the like, he was no longer prepared to indulge him... The credit for Zuoyuan was something he was more than eager to seize at once.

"In that case," having reached this thought, Ju Teng, seated in his Grand Commandant chair, could not help but turn his face away from the other and extend a hand. "A dispatch between two thousand-bushel officials is a matter of grave importance. I must ask Zhengnan to hand the dispatch over to me... Do not let it hinder official business."

At these words, a rustling sound indeed came to his ears — clearly Shen Pei was untying something at his waist... This gave Ju Teng a measure of satisfaction. It seemed this famous scholar of Hebei, who had traveled a thousand li to take office and repay a debt of gratitude, was nothing more than this after all!

However, when Magistrate Ju's hand suddenly gained an object, his expression instantly changed, and he turned his head back with a shout: "Shen Zhengnan, what is the meaning of this?!"

As it turned out, Shen Pei had actually untied his own saber and handed it to him.

"Lord Ju, I said before that I came to take my leave." Shen Pei cupped his hands solemnly and spoke. "But it is neither to Zuoyuan nor back to Xiangping... To be frank with you, Grand Administrator Gao's silk dispatch bearing the great seal is now inside my belly. You came for the dispatch, and in doing so, you may see me off on my journey — truly killing two birds with one stone."

Ju Teng was stupefied. Only after a long pause did he ask in astonishment: "Why must it come to this?!"

And without waiting for Shen Pei to answer, Magistrate Ju, through the scabbard, pointed the blade toward the Liaodong Clerk Wang at the side: "You speak — where exactly is this dispatch? Is he bluffing me?"

"In reply to Lord Ju," Clerk Wang said feebly, "the dispatch is indeed inside Assistant Magistrate Shen's belly. This outer official had just arrived at Gaogouli City this evening when Assistant Magistrate Shen intercepted me with his men. I saw him swallow it with my own eyes!"

Hearing this, how could Ju Teng not understand Shen Pei's scheme? A wicked fire instantly rose to his head, and he cleanly cast aside the scabbard, revealing the gleaming blade: "Shen Zhengnan, do you truly think I dare not kill you?"

"Lord Ju." Shen Pei, expressionless, actually untied his own sash, then, chest bared, knelt before the other facing the blade to plead his guilt. "As a minor official serving under Liaodong's jurisdiction, to privately conceal official correspondence between two Grand Administrators is in itself a capital offense. I, Shen Pei, have no defense to offer. Therefore, if my lord today truly wishes to cut open my belly to retrieve the letter, it is no more than I deserve... But Lord Ju, once the dispatch is taken out, it will surely be stained with blood and difficult to verify. I beg you not to speculate rashly on its contents and then take superfluous actions."

Ju Teng laughed in extreme fury: "I do not know what great deeds Gongsun Xun accomplished in Luoyang. I only know here that he, a callow youth, has privately mobilized troops yet is now bogged down at Zuoyuan, not daring to press his advantage — merely inviting ridicule... Even my concubine laughs at his incompetence. Is such a laughable figure truly worth throwing your life away for?!"

"Lord Ju's words are mistaken," said Shen Pei unhurriedly, still kneeling in admission of guilt. "What kind of man Magistrate Gongsun is — my view happens to be the opposite of yours, Lord Ju. I do not know why he holds his troops motionless at Zuoyuan, but from what I saw and heard of him in Luoyang, he is by no means a coward! A coward would not dare drag Wang Fu's corpse along the Bronze Camel Avenue! A coward would not dare, after escaping danger and leaving the city, to enter the Imperial Secretariat alone to confront the ferociously powerful Cao Jie face to face! Therefore, in my view, Magistrate Gongsun's holding his troops at Zuoyuan must be based on some consideration of his own!"

Ju Teng sneered and said nothing.

"And in any case," Shen Pei continued calmly, "all the world knows that I, Shen Pei, received a great kindness from Magistrate Gongsun when my lord Chen's entire clan faced the danger of ruin. This kindness must be repaid. And now, Magistrate Gongsun has entrusted the rear to me precisely so that I might act in some way with regard to these two Grand Administrators. If today I allowed Lord Ju to use this dispatch to cut off the magistrate's supply line, how could I, Shen Pei, ever hold my head up among the scholar-gentry in the future? I say again: the letter is in my belly. Lord Ju may take it as he pleases. Moreover, this matter is of my own doing. Even if I die, I will only be grateful to Lord Ju for preserving my reputation!"

With these words, Shen Pei knocked his head repeatedly upon the ground, signifying his guilty status.

Ju Teng ground his teeth and laughed bitterly again and again, but in the end, he thrust the blade in his hand back into its scabbard... Only, his arm trembled slightly, and it took several tries before it went in.

"Get up!" Once the blade was sheathed, Ju Teng, his face full of cold sneer, threw it to the ground. "If I truly killed you, what benefit would it bring me? Your Shen clan is a great clan of Jizhou, the Chen clan a great clan of Xuzhou, the Gongsun clan a great clan of Youzhou — and I, a man of Qingzhou, for the sake of a trifling bit of credit at Zuoyuan, would offend your three clans to the death. Would I still want to mix among the scholar-gentry?! Besides, even if I don't take it now, the credit for Zuoyuan will sooner or later be mine... To kill you over this matter is not worth it!"

Expressionless, Shen Pei rose, tied his sash, calmly replaced his saber, then cupped his hands and bowed in thanks.

"Remember this," Ju Teng waved his hand, utterly drained. "In the future, if any more dispatches come from Liaodong, just burn them. Swallowing them will easily upset your stomach... In other words, don't come to see me again!"

Clerk Wang seized the opportunity to take his leave and depart directly, yet Shen Pei still stood tall in the hall.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ju Teng was immediately speechless. "Shen Zhengnan, what more do you want?!"

"In reply to Lord Ju." Shen Pei, head high and hand on his saber, answered. "This outer subject has deeply received Lord Ju's courteous treatment, and has also received Lord Ju's mercy in sparing my life. This must be repaid!"

Ju Teng immediately jeered without cease: "How do you propose to repay me now?"

"Lord Ju is now prepared to no longer interfere with my lord Magistrate Gongsun's operations at Zuoyuan?" Shen Pei asked seriously.

"How would I dare?" Ju Teng was momentarily exasperated.

"Then Lord Ju is prepared to wait until this matter subsides before collecting the credit for Zuoyuan?" Shen Pei pressed on. "In any case, whether or not my lord magistrate gains further victories, Zuoyuan is already his, is it not?"

"And what of it?" Ju Teng retorted wordlessly. "I have already disregarded Grand Administrator Gao's dispatch for your sake — is exchanging that for this credit not acceptable? What more do you want from me?"

"But Lord Ju," Shen Pei solemnly suggested, "since you are already prepared to abandon interference at this moment and instead share in the credit after the campaign, why not lend my lord magistrate a hand? The more victories he gains at the front, the more you stand to share in the spoils, do you not?"

Ju Teng was stupefied. Only after a long while did he retort: "Are you saying that after he made off with fifteen hundred of my troops, instead of holding him accountable, I should turn around and send him reinforcements?!"

"Why not?" Shen Pei continued earnestly to persuade him. "Though I do not know precisely why my young lord holds his troops at Zuoyuan — whether because his forces are too few, or because he fears an ambush... it can only be one of these two things. And in Lord Ju's hands, there are at least three or four thousand elite troops that can be mobilized. By custom, Xuantu's forces are meant to be used against the Gaogouli people — so why can they not be sent to Zuoyuan? At the great camp at the Liaohe fork, we are not short of army provisions... What harm is there in making one trip?"

"But... but would your lord magistrate let me be Regional Commander?" Ju Teng immediately countered.

"He would not!" Shen Pei denied it at once. "My lord magistrate labored to raise an army of over ten thousand, and it was he who captured Zuoyuan — on what grounds should Lord Ju be Regional Commander? If you truly went to seize authority, I fear the other ten thousand men would scatter in an uproar..."

"Then I..."

"Then Lord Ju would not be at a loss either!" Shen Pei boldly interrupted him. "Since Lord Ju is already not prepared to help Grand Administrator Gao recall my lord magistrate, why not instead try to lend my lord magistrate a hand? Lord Ju could have your troops only go as far as Zuoyuan... If the venture fails, you can still secure Zuoyuan in advance; if it succeeds, you can share in even more credit!"

Ju Teng was first bewildered, then enlightened... Yes, the other party was using Zuoyuan as collateral to borrow troops from him! And had he not previously thought of using Grand Administrator Gao's name to force Gongsun Xun to withdraw, precisely so he could get Zuoyuan into his hands ahead of time?

The only difference here was whether he offended Grand Administrator Gao or offended the Gongsun clan! But Shen Pei had already forced him, at the cost of his own life, to offend Grand Administrator Gao first!

That being the case... what harm was there in lending reinforcements?!

The mountain mist had completely dispersed. The night had reached the third watch. Gongsun Xun, utterly unaware of Shen Pei's miraculous maneuvering in Xuantu, had no intention of sleeping at all. Instead, he was on the high platform of the main camp with Lou Zibo, playing animal cards while continuing their baseless speculations about the situation.

"What about Mi Ru?" After losing a round, Gongsun Xun uneasily tossed aside the wooden tiles in his hand.

"He's growing more and more anxious," Lu Gui said with a hint of helplessness. "More and more out of control. He just keeps urging us to send out troops. It could be that there really is an ambush ahead, and he's worried the Goguryeo people can't hold on..."

"It could also be that he's worried his own brother will be exposed, and then his entire clan will face extermination," Gongsun Xun added. "So it's still hard to say."

"The scouts haven't had much effect either," Lu Gui said, growing even more helpless. "Those sent close by have found nothing. Of the few sent farther out, three haven't returned — but we don't know if there's truly an ambush or if they simply got lost."

"Indeed, we're unfamiliar with the terrain," Gongsun Xun couldn't help but sigh. "The Qianshan mountain range separates Liaodong from Goguryeo. Normally, only ginseng diggers and pearl divers can pass through. The only roads suitable for marching armies are here and the Liao River. Yet this place has been blocked by the existence of Zuoyuan for over ten years — even the ginseng diggers stopped coming... We have no idea what the terrain ahead is really like. At this point, we can no longer rely on the intelligence Ya Ya Ke Lü provided earlier."

"In the end, it comes down to this man Ya Ya Ke Lü. We were too careless and too rash before, thinking that with him here, our intelligence would be worry-free... But once suspicion arises, everything we thought we had a firm grasp of becomes unreliable."

"We still need to send the scouts farther out," Gongsun Xun said, tilting his head back to gaze at the moon growing ever fuller overhead. That was all he could say. "And then, if the Goguryeo people truly have some plan, they will certainly be even more impatient than we are. Let us wait a little longer... wait a little longer... Fishing requires patience."

…………

"The moon grows fuller and fuller." Over ninety li away at Henggang (the later city of Hetuala), as a few night-watch soldiers moved aside the chevaux-de-frise, a pot-bellied Goguryeo nobleman seized the moment to gaze sorrowfully at the moon overhead and sigh. It was none other than Ya Ya Ke Lü.

"Lord Ke Lü, let us hurry inside!" A goateed Goguryeo nobleman beside him sneered impatiently. "Stop staring at the moon. Do you expect the Mangniji to wait for us until the new year?"

Ya Ya Ke Lü helplessly exhaled a puff of white breath, then immediately dismounted and proceeded on foot into the astonishingly vast Goguryeo main camp. The nobleman who had just urged him on, however, remained mounted and entered at a leisurely pace, merely following alongside.

"Ke Lü, Bi Liu — the guards reported earlier that you had both reached the camp gate. Why did it take you until now to arrive?" A quarter of an hour later, inside the brightly lit central army tent, a short, slight old man who had been drinking ginseng chicken soup raised his head upon hearing sounds. It was unmistakably the man who had held power in Goguryeo for decades, the Mangniji of Goguryeo from the Yeonna-bu clan, Myeongnim Dap-bu.

"Mangniji!"

Ya Ya Ke Lü and Eo Bi-ryu knelt together in greeting. The latter immediately explained: "Mangniji, I don't know what madness seized Lord Ke Lü. With the situation as it is, he still insisted on walking into camp on foot. I had no choice but to accompany him!"

"Forget it." The white-haired and white-bearded Myeongnim Dap-bu set down his soup bowl and spoke gravely. "You should understand why I summoned you here. Forty thousand troops — our total population is only four hundred thousand. If this continues, the state cannot sustain it!"

"Mangniji..." Ya Ya Ke Lü pleaded, his face full of worry. "Wait just a few more days. I can send my own son over as well. I will certainly lure the enemy out."

"A few more days — how many days exactly?" Eo Bi-ryu beside him suddenly retorted. "If the enemy still doesn't come, our great army will collapse on its own! Even if he truly believes it in a few days and leads his troops here, then marches for three more days, then fights for three more days — will we still have the strength left to retake Zuoyuan?"

Ya Ya Ke Lü opened his mouth but stopped.

"Ke Lü, stop dreaming in broad daylight. If they could truly come in three days, I could wait. But the situation now clearly shows the enemy has grown suspicious. And once they are suspicious, sending your son over won't change anything!" Myeongnim Dap-bu also shook his head. "You must understand — for this one battle, our women have gone out to compete with squirrels for food! Among the slaves, and even among the common people, the elderly have been driven out into the wilds by us. If this continues, the slaves will revolt, the common people will lose control, and the nobles will fall into civil strife..."

"We never should have listened to Lord Ke Lü's wild fantasies from the start — some Han 'Mayi Stratagem'... Did the Mayi Stratagem even succeed?!" The goateed Eo Bi-ryu rose angrily and turned to rebuke Ya Ya Ke Lü beside him. "Are you the only one who has read the Han people's books?"

"You all agreed to it that day too!" Ya Ya Ke Lü retorted anxiously, his belly thrust forward. "The Mangniji is in poor health, and everyone was worried the Han would cause trouble when the time came. That's why we thought to use this method to weaken the Han first, to secure twenty years of peace..."

Gongsun Xun's suspicions had actually been true! This Ya Ya Ke Lü was nothing but an old Goguryeo fisherman who had gone out to fish!

"What's the point of saying all this now?" The diminutive Myeongnim Dap-bu silenced the dispute between the heads of the nation's two great clans with a single sentence. "Bi-ryu!"

"Here!"

"While we still have enough grain for one last fight, while the great army is still intact... we will immediately march on Zuoyuan. With absolute numerical superiority, we will catch them off guard and retake Zuoyuan. Then we disband the able-bodied men and hold Zuoyuan to the death with the standing army!" Myeongnim Dap-bu rose and gave the order. "The thirty thousand central army troops will march at once. Withdraw the ambushes on both flanks and prepare to follow me in the advance!"

"Understood!" Ke Lü and Eo Bi-ryu cupped their hands together.

"Ke Lü, those words were not meant for you," Myeongnim Dap-bu said with a frown. "The flanking armies, ten thousand men in total, used to cut off the retreat route — all are placed under Bi-ryu's command!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, four or five armored soldiers strode in from outside the tent.

Ya Ya Ke Lü's face turned pale, but finally, under the gaze of the short man before him and Eo Bi-ryu beside him, he slowly nodded: "I understand. Losing Zuoyuan in vain this time was my fault. I will remove my saber now, return to the royal city to await punishment, and never again meddle in military or political affairs."

"That won't be necessary," Myeongnim Dap-bu said, still frowning. "We will still need your efforts in the battle for Zuoyuan. You will accompany me on the campaign."

Ke Lü was bewildered and uncomprehending, but could only nod.

—————I am the mushroom-brand fishing line, skilled at angling—————

In the beginning, when he was assigned as Assistant County Magistrate of Xiangping, he passed through Xuantu Commandery. The Grand Administrator of Xuantu, Ju Teng of Beihai, found him extraordinary and formed a close friendship with him. He jokingly said to Pei: "A county clerk befriending a two-thousand-bushel official — a ruler of a neighboring state condescending to associate with a subordinate minister — is that not fitting!" Pei smiled but did not answer. When the Central Plains fell into chaos, Teng died as a guest in a foreign land, his household scattered and broken. It was Pei who carefully gathered and cared for them all. — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Virtuous Conduct

PS: Sure enough, combat strength is a bit higher on Sundays... This month, with two days still left, I've already completed 160k of updates... But next week my parents are coming to Beijing to visit, and they'll probably be here for half a month... I'm honestly a bit uneasy about it.

Also, the new book group is 684558115, everyone can join.

(End of Chapter)