Chapter 331

"You should know, the situation is not optimistic now." Chen Wuji said lightly.

Qian Fugui, with a somewhat simple appearance, gave a light laugh, "Commandant, the situation is indeed not optimistic; traitors have appeared in the Court, wanting to sell off the Lingnan Six Commanderies. But not everyone has abandoned this land—His Majesty the Emperor has not, those loyal officials have not, and the people of the Lingnan Six Commanderies even less so."

Chen Wuji nodded.

Having said this much, it's already enough.

"How many troops does the Cao Family have after joining with several families?" Chen Wuji continued questioning.

The man on the pillar, now unable to muster any arrogance, looked as if he wanted to kill me quickly, and said weakly, "Three families, total strength eleven thousand."

"Where do these troops come from?" Chen Wuji frowned.

This number differs greatly from what Xiao Zong told him.

With a gap of nearly double, the Qian Family couldn't possibly gather that many people in just one day—these are people, not weeds in a field; you can't just grab a handful by pulling.

"The households' retained strongmen, plus servants, tenant farmers, and people borrowed from other counties." The man on the pillar said frankly.

"I don't know the exact details of each household, but this morning the Gu family sent people to demand weapons; I overheard them and learned this approximate number—I haven't lied to you at all."

Chen Wuji couldn't help but think to laugh—over a thousand against more than ten thousand, what a fucking disastrous start.

This is also overestimating Chen Wuji too much.

His name is Wuji, but he's not truly without taboos.

Rubbing his forehead, Chen Wuji asked again, "When are you planning to act?"

"Lu sir sent word that there is a group of Imperial City Department people in Yunan City, one of whom is of high status and must be captured alive. The family is trying to find this person, to hunt down the Imperial City Department folks; once they are thoroughly rooted out, we should act." The man on the pillar said.

"Besides that Imperial City Department person, the family speculates that Lu sir's reluctance to act quickly might also stem from fear of leaked news, causing the Court to abandon resisting the Qiang People and instead focus on him. They say those bigwigs in the Court would not allow the planned events to suffer unexpected changes."

Chen Wuji felt a slight stir in his heart.

The important figure in the Imperial City Department is probably Qin Zhanhong.

Qin Zhanhong had said before that she comes from the Chen Jun Qin Clan, one of the Five Prominences, and she is also engaged to another noble young man.

Lu Ping'an apparently wants to use Qin Zhanhong as a pretext; it seems intelligence work will have to be put on hold for now, and it's not advisable to show his face.

Chen Wuji turned his head to look at Qian Fugui, "They seem to look down on us."

The Cao Family is still leisurely looking for Imperial City Department people, clearly not treating them as a unit.

With a battle record of slaughtering six thousand Qiang People, is it really not worthy of the table?

Surely not.

Qian Fugui nodded gloomily, "So they will surely die miserably."

"Over ten thousand, though."

"Commandant, it's all a rabble mob; I volunteer to be the vanguard!"

Chen Wuji quickly raised his hand to stop him, "Let's not talk about that yet."

He now genuinely feels a bit uneasy about Qian Fugui's offhand vanguard offer.

Qian Fugui's vanguard role is indeed good, but fortune won't always favor him.

"Can you still write?" Chen Wuji turned his gaze again to the man on the pillar.

The man weakly shook his head, "Sir Chen, my tendons are almost snapped; I can't write anymore. It's not that I don't want to—I simply can't. For the sake of begging for a way to live, I've already said all this; I won't hide anything further on this point."

Chen Wuji stared, "A way to live?"

He seemed to have misunderstood something.

But never mind, these are minor details; there's no need to worry so much.

"Someone, get brush and ink, and find a piece of silk!" Chen Wuji ordered.

"Yes!"

The soldier left briefly, then came over with what Chen Wuji had asked for.

"The Cao Family's layout—where are the heavily guarded spots, where do important people reside, no detail too small. Can you tell exactly how many people and who lives where?" Chen Wuji said.

The man on the pillar nodded with a difficult expression.

He had answered the previous questions readily, but here he seemed as if his mother had died.

Chen Wuji had never asked about his specific identity, but it appears his status in the Cao Family is not low either; otherwise he wouldn't know so much.

"Actually, not many people are left guarding the mansions in the Cao Family city—only about five hundred. The family head originally planned to bring in more troops, but feared raising your alertness." The man on the pillar said weakly.

"But after last night's incident, the elders in the family feel uneasy; today they seem to want to send some people to protect the main residence. However, I don't know exactly how many, since I haven't been at home today, I'm not sure..."

Chen Wuji felt offended.

The Cao Family actually still worries about raising his alertness...

Really fucking absurd.

How blind would one have to be not to notice their big commotion?

Are these Cao Family people living in their own world, guessing his moves based on imagination?

If that's truly the case, Chen Wuji swears he will surely love this opponent to death.

The man on the pillar continued speaking, while Qian Fugui picked up a pen to sketch a diagram, marking each point the man mentioned.

In order to survive, he really went all out, selling off his family lock, stock, and barrel.

After the sketch was finished, Chen Wuji put it away and told Qian Fugui, "These two people are yours to handle; you take care of it."

"Received the order!"

Chen Wuji found Qin Zhanhong playing archery at the range, "Stop playing for now; have your people quickly withdraw from Yunan City, or find a safe place to lie low. The local tyrants are bent on finding you; if you keep operating, you risk total annihilation."

In this Nan Jun area, the Imperial City Department's status is no different from mere decoration; it's always been one wave after another being crushed.

Qin Zhanhong has done fairly well this time, persisting until now, but she has also repeatedly lost troops and commanders.

"Why are they looking for us now? Do they still worry that we'll report to the Emperor that they're rebelling? Even if the Emperor wanted to intervene, he's willing but unable; they probably know this better than I do—is it really worth all this trouble?" Qin Zhanhong said doubtfully.

Chen Wuji said, "They're looking for you! The Imperial City Department is just an added bonus."

"Your identity has been exposed, Lu Ping'an seems to want to make something of it."

"Qin Zhanhong Qiong frowned, angrily cursed, 'This old dog.'"

"If he wants to rebel, let him rebel properly; what's it to me, this insignificant little role? Really. Alright, then I'll withdraw my personnel and go home."

"By the way, husband, I'm taking Little Tickling Chicken to stay at our place for a few days; what do you think?"