Chapter 190: Chapter One Hundred Ninety

"What?!"

"You're planning to sneak into the procession entering the Capital with Muyuan Kingdom?!"

"That's right."

Cheng Chengxuan nodded calmly, flipped the roast chicken in his hand, and sprinkled seasoning over it.

"This is the best way to get a large group of men and horses into the Capital at the same time."

An Luo's brow furrowed.

"But even if we swap out all of Muyuan Kingdom's soldiers for Cheng Family Army troops, that's only a few thousand men."

"We don't need that many."

Tearing off two drumsticks and wrapping them up as he spoke, Cheng Chengxuan said softly.

"Once the troops are raised, I'm afraid the Shunhe Emperor will seize Minister Sun and Vice Minister Meng as hostages to threaten the Cheng Family."

"So we still need to escort them out of the Capital as soon as possible."

Looking at the perfectly colored, aromatic, and flavorful roast drumsticks before her, An Luo picked one up, took a small bite—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, bursting with flavor!

"Delicious!"

"I really didn't expect you to have this kind of skill!"

"That's amazing!"

"As long as you like it."

Cheng Chengxuan smiled shyly.

Of course he wouldn't tell her that last time he was injured and went to the Modern Era, he had already secretly asked Big Brother about her preferences.

After learning that An Luo wasn't good at cooking and could only make simple things like noodles and fried rice, and that she basically relied entirely on restaurants and takeout for her daily meals, he resolved to diligently practice his culinary skills.

From the beginning, when his cooking was so bad it could give people stomachaches—so much so that for a period at the start, whenever Qiuluo and the others saw him enter Chu Fang, they all ran eight zhang away.

To later, when the dishes he made were fought over by Cheng Xin and the others.

Watching An Luo eat with great relish, he appeared casual, but in fact gazed at her with expectation in his eyes, and tentatively asked.

"If you like it, how about I cook for you every day from now on?"

Hearing this, An Luo nearly bit through her own tongue.

She pressed her lips together, lowered her head and picked at the tabletop, her face slightly flushed, nodded, her voice barely audible.

"Okay."

Seeing her agree, the smile at the corner of Cheng Chengxuan's mouth deepened, his entire expression filled with joy.

"Then what do you want to eat tomorrow?"

"I want to eat…"

The day after the Muyuan Kingdom general received the National Lord's Imperial Decree, the Muyuan Kingdom army set out, with a separate detachment of three thousand men heading toward the Dayin Capital.

But among these three thousand, half were Muyuan soldiers, and the remaining half had all been swapped out for Cheng Family Army troops.

Of course, apart from the Cheng Family Army, only the Muyuan Kingdom general leading the detachment, Lu Xing, knew of this matter.

On the road rushing toward the Capital.

Lu Xing's trusted aide angrily spat toward the direction of the Capital.

"Bah!"

"What the hell is this!"

"Aggrieved, truly aggrieved!"

"Haven't fought such an aggrieved battle in years."

"Even more aggrieved than when we lost to Da Yin back then and voluntarily became a vassal state!"

"I don't know what the National Lord is thinking— isn't the Da Yin Emperor clearly humiliating us?"

"Isn't this just delivering ourselves right to their door, eagerly shoving our faces in front of them?!"

"Shut your mouth!"

"How dare you question the National Lord's decision?!"

"Are you tired of living?!"

Lu Xing gave him a warning glance, then looked at the other soldiers who were equally indignant.

"Enough, say less."

"We only need to remember that the National Lord must have his own deep meaning in arranging things this way."

Having said that, he walked to a tree and rested briefly.

The man from earlier scratched his head in confusion where he stood.

"Deep meaning?"

He suddenly thought of those three familiar faces in the ranks.

He was General Lu's personal guard; following the general these past days, he had seen those people a few times.

Why did they want to sneak into their ranks?

The key point was that the general had actually allowed it!

And the general just said the National Lord must have deep meaning in this move—could it be?

The man slapped his thigh hard.

He understood!

Those people must be planning to assassinate the Da Yin Emperor at the celebration feast!

Thinking of this, he stamped his feet on the spot several times, clenching his fists in agitation.

He knew it!

A man as proud as the National Lord — how could he possibly allow that Da Yin Emperor to humiliate him again and again?

So that was the plan all along!

Deeply convinced he had stumbled upon some earth-shattering secret, he cautiously glanced around, then finally looked at Lu Xing beneath the tree, thumped his chest, and nodded heavily.

Rest assured, General. This Subordinate will absolutely keep this secret, and will do his best to cover for them — I won't let anyone notice anything off!

Seeing his strange expression and gesture, Lu Xing's face remained impassive, but his mind was full of question marks.

What's going on? Why so weird?

Not far off, Cheng Chengxuan, Cheng Xin, and Cheng Yao — dressed in the uniforms of Muyuan Kingdom soldiers, disguised as ordinary footmen — were gathered together.

"Can't really blame people for cursing. If it were me, I'd have flipped the banquet table right there and smashed the plates into the Shunhe Emperor's and the Crown Prince's faces!"

Cheng Xin crossed his arms over his chest, his face full of disdain, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

"That Emperor doesn't do a single proper thing."

Cheng Yao beside him nodded in deep agreement.

Exactly.

Cheng Xin turned his head to look behind him.

"Young General, what do you say?"

Cheng Chengxuan glanced at him, parted his lips, and was just about to say something when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a message on the Light Screen.

He immediately cut himself off, turned, and prepared to head into the woods.

"Halt!"

A Muyuan Kingdom soldier walked over.

The moment Cheng Xin saw him, he immediately rolled his eyes and subtly curled his lip.

Not him again!

The one approaching was a Hundred-Man Commander from the Muyuan Military Camp — Li Quan.

For some reason, as if it were fate, these past few days he had constantly come to pick fights with them.

But the trouble was, the man was an officer of some rank after all, and they were mere "ordinary soldiers" — they couldn't do anything about it openly, since they had to give General Lu face.

If they tried to deal with him on the sly, he wouldn't even realize why he was getting beaten.

The key thing was, after getting beaten, the guy's temper only flared worse, and he'd come back to cause them more trouble.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Li Quan, arrogant and domineering, shouted at Cheng Chengxuan.

Cheng Chengxuan cast him a casual glance.

"Just going to relieve myself."

"Relieve yourself again?"

The man started to whine and nag.

"An hour ago, out on the road, I saw you sneaking away from the group. Now you want to leave again — you wouldn't happen to be some spy sent to leak our information, would you?!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Cheng Xin rolled up his sleeves, ready to step forward and have a proper word with him.

"Got nothing better to do? Staring at us all day long, coming to pick fights whether there's a reason or not — you really think I'm afraid of you?!"

Cheng Yao hurriedly held him back.

"Calm down, don't be impulsive."

Li Quan stuck out his neck and glared at him, but the trouble was his eyes were the size of green beans — no matter how hard he glared, they couldn't get any bigger.

"Oh? You want to throw a punch?!"

"Fine! I'm standing right here — let's see if you dare!"

Having said that, he raised his chin high, looking at them smugly, as if certain they wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.

That look of a petty man riding high made Cheng Xin so furious he nearly exploded; he strained to pry Cheng Yao's restraining hand off him.

"Let go!"

"Look at him — he's just asking for a beating!"

Cheng Yao whispered rapidly into his ear.

"Don't be impulsive. There's no rush to deal with him right now — if it blows up, it'll be bad."

Cheng Chengxuan, behind the two of them, also subtly swept a glance at the Cheng Family Army members who had noticed the commotion and were already itching to act.

Catching his look, the men quieted down considerably and obediently stayed where they were.

"Knew you didn't have the guts."

"Hmph!"

Li Quan grew even more smug.

"Cowards!"

He had long taken a dislike to those three.

Those three had a refined, scholarly look about them, and sometimes even spoke in a bookish, formal way.

Clearly from well-off families — people like that, instead of studying properly and taking the imperial exams, came to the Military Camp to compete with folks like them who had no power or backing and could only stake their lives for a future. What was that about?!

He himself had been poor as a child, with no money for schooling, but unlike those who never studied and therefore respected scholars even more, he was different.

He hated scholars the most!

Not to mention, over the years in the Military Camp, anyone who had studied and could read a few characters got promoted faster and faster.

There had once been a man who'd joined a few years after him — who on the battlefield hadn't killed as many of the Enemy Army as him, wasn't as brave as him, and hadn't earned as many merits as him — yet had been promoted to Hundred-Man Commander alongside him.

On what grounds?!

Just because he attended a few years of private school and knows a few characters?!

Thinking of all this, the jealousy and viciousness in his eyes as he looked at Cheng Chengxuan and the others grew heavier and heavier.

So what if he's studied, so what if his family is well-off?

Here, he is the Village Head, and they are nothing more than the most ordinary soldiers — can't he just find some excuse to punish them as he pleases?