Chapter 920: with translation of chapter title

Borrow my hand? This old dog sure knows how to scheme, still wanting me to be his knife! Chen Wuji gave a disdainful sneer.

There are indeed no shortage of schemes and tricks on the battlefield, but such schemes are useless to him.

Yan Yan's blatant provocation shows he still doesn't understand Chen Wuji enough.

Wanting to use him as a knife to control the Court's 400,000-strong army, Chen Wuji could only give a hollow laugh.

That old dog Yan Yan apparently hasn't carefully examined his past battles, unclear how he fights.

If he understood even a little, he wouldn't have such a foolish idea.

Does Chen Wuji have few troops and weak strength?

Where does that confidence even come from!

Liu Yan felt a bit uneasy, coughed lightly, and said: "He indeed gave such orders; this is also his best choice in his mind; afterward, I will personally act, using means such as hosting a banquet and poisoning."

The Eleventh Princess is skilled; just let her take Cao Lin's head trophy directly—why go through all this trouble? Chen Wuji remarked offhandedly; given her ability, finding a chance to kill a military commander shouldn't be difficult.

Liu Yan's expression was somewhat bitter: "What Commander Chen just said is exactly what I had thought earlier, but Yu Shu Mei rejected it."

She said Cao Lin himself is strong, with experts around him; she might not succeed, so let me try other methods first; if we really have no other recourse, then she can try. I think her reasoning has some merit: the Court's dispatch of this army southward is clearly a plot to seize troops, so it's not strange that Ruan Yuchang made preparations.

"That actually sounds quite pleasant." Chen Wuji chuckled.

He really couldn't help himself.

This mess of the Court is truly rotten to the core; nobody cares what the world is like anymore, everyone is frantically stuffing their own pockets.

Ruan Yuchang and Yan Yan are now basically not even pretending; they've laid all their cards on the table.

It seems only the Wise King, who appears powerless on the surface, is still continuing to pile on armor and wear a mask.

"Commander Chen, although the situation has indeed become more complicated, Yan Yan is old and crafty; since he dares say this, he must have prepared ample backup." Seeing that Chen Wuji didn't seem particularly concerned about his defection, Liu Yan immediately brought it up again to show his resolve.

"As long as I go to Yan Zhou and stir those hidden agents, I can certainly control Yan Zhou. When Commander Chen's troops enter the city, I cannot guarantee a bloodless takeover, but if there is trouble, I will definitely resolve it beforehand for Commander Chen, guaranteeing not to use a single soldier of his."

Chen Wuji looked at Liu Yan with interest: "You're really that confident?"

Liu Yan said, "I actually have little confidence in myself, but I trust Yan Yan. This person is overly scheming, always taking a step, seeing three steps, calculating ten steps; without such ability, he wouldn't have risen above others, now pressing Ruan Yuchang underfoot and controlling Huangcheng."

Chen Wuji nodded; he did not deny that.

Anyone capable of achieving this in the Court must have top-notch scheming, tactics, and inner depth.

"But I don't believe you—what do we do?" Chen Wuji said lightly.

Liu Yan paused, his mind racing wildly, then said: "Commander Chen, this is simple. Just send people to follow me; I know your forces are all elite troops and strong generals, with many experts. Just send one or two experts plus a thousand elite troops to fill my Personal Guard; even if I had second thoughts, I could never cause any trouble."

"Sounds like a decent plan," Chen Wuji said, lowering his eyelids slightly.

Frankly, he was genuinely somewhat tempted by Liu Yan's suggestion.

Although Dayu claims abundant troops, the truly mobilizable forces are not many forty-thousands.

If this 400,000-strong army could be kept intact, setting aside the Court and speaking only of Ruan Yuchang, Yan Yan, and the Wise King, they would surely suffer great harm. They feigned ignorance while understanding fully to promote this southern deployment of troops; the fundamental goal was to control this army and master Dayu South, while the secondary goal was to guard against him.

It's to guard against, not to target!

"Your suggestion, I'll consider it; take him away," Chen Wuji said, waving his hand.

"Commander Chen, you can really give this good thought; it's all benefit and no harm, I guarantee it with my life!" Liu Yan, fearing Chen Wuji wouldn't believe him, shouted loudly as the Personal Guard escorted him out.

Chen Wuji stood with hands behind his back, looking toward Chen Li: "Eleventh Uncle, what do you think?"

Let's give it a try!

"Then let's try." Chen Wuji said regretfully, "I had thought that being this close, I could return to Hezhou and visit the village; now I can only speak of it later—this is already passing by my home's gate without entering."

Chen Li merely smiled faintly.

This place is merely much closer to Yan Zhou relatively, but truly returning actually still involves a long journey.

Nineteen days later.

Chen Wuji's great army returned to Xinglin Zhen.

After a grueling journey by boat and cart, spending nearly two months traversing the hot, humid, peril-ridden mountains, the soldiers were exhausted to the point of being fed up; each looked visibly thinner and darker, and their armor no longer fit well.

Chen Wuji waved his hand, distributed rewards, let the soldiers heartily eat a good meal, then ordered the central army to rest.

The captives from this battle were not few; there were over six thousand elite troops from Liu Yan's command, plus another forty thousand or so.

Liu Yan's 100,000-strong army entered the mountains; half were captured, one-third remained forever in that mysterious mountain range, and only a small portion escaped.

But in that mountain range, wanting to escape is no easy feat.

Of the three mountain exit paths, two were blocked at the north and south exits; only the remaining one on the west, near Yang Yu's garrison, would be the escape route, but reaching it is basically impossible due to the distance.

Their only option was probably to find a new path themselves in the mountains.

Finding a new path in Shenxian Ling is no easy task; out of ten people, only three or four might survive—that's about the limit.

After being apart for two months, Chen Wuji finally saw Xu Zengyi again, feeling a deep sense of closeness.

"Long time no see, I've missed you greatly, sir!"

In Xu Zengyi's temporary residence's small courtyard, Chen Wuji went up and gave him a big bear hug.

This hug caused Xu Zengyi's originally smiling face to freeze instantly, like a young girl who had been violated.

"My lord, there's really no need for this; the ladies are just next door..."

Chen Wuji laughed heartily: "That's a lovely thought; I have many beautiful wives, I wouldn't have any designs on you, Lao Bangzi—saying that makes me feel sick, so I'll stop."

Xu Zengyi: ……

You feel sick, yet you still hug me?