Chapter 289: Unexpected Encounter

"Assistant Regional Commander, constantly asking around like this won't work!"

"Even if the Duke of Duke Yansheng escaped Qufu, he couldn't possibly have reached Jinan this quickly—let's search within Yanzhou's territory instead!"

The young Company Commander suggested, looking frustrated.

As the reinforcement unit, they'd barely left Jinan City when they began their search.

In just two days, word had spread everywhere.

Without the enemy sending scouts, everyone knew the court had dispatched a cavalry unit specifically to meet the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

If the enemy exploited this, they could suffer a major setback.

"Idiot!"

"I told you to send men to ask—just carry out the order properly."

"You can think of all these problems—do you think I can't?"

Shu Shu Zhongyi scolded impatiently.

This rescue mission carried greater political significance than practical value.

Whether they found the Duke of Duke Yansheng didn't matter—what mattered was that everyone knew they'd sent troops to meet him.

Bureaucratic formalities were everywhere in officialdom; they seemed meaningless, yet at critical moments they could shift blame.

For the royal reinforcement army, rescuing the Duke of Duke Yansheng was only of average importance.

But for the Shandong Provincial Governor's office, it carried immense political weight.

Local troops from every region had been terrified by the Northern Barbarians.

Earlier rescue missions had all been half-hearted; meeting the Duke of Duke Yansheng was pure nonsense.

Even if frontline commanders were willing to obey orders, local officials and gentry would find ways to keep the troops from moving.

The Northern Barbarians were advancing fiercely; no one could say how far the war would spread.

For their own safety, everyone naturally prioritized self-preservation.

Offending the Provincial Governor's office was secondary.

The feudal system had now evolved to near-perfection.

Power checks and balances had reached their peak.

Although local Prefectural offices were under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Governor and Administration Commissioner, they still possessed considerable autonomy.

Higher-level officials had long lost the power of life and death over lower-level officials.

For the Provincial Governor to remove a County Magistrate, he had to follow political rules—not simply order an arrest like in dramas.

Lower-level offices had the right to refuse to execute orders that violated established norms.

Of course, doing so carried political risk.

To reject a superior's order, one needed sufficient justification to answer for it before the court.

Even if everything went smoothly, one would be labeled "unfamiliar with the rules," damaging future prospects.

Normally, all levels of government carried out the Provincial Governor's orders.

But when it came to life and death, things changed.

Earlier, when the Provincial Governor ordered officials from Qingzhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou to reinforce Yanzhou, local offices had chosen to ignore the command.

Multiple regions refusing orders simultaneously was extremely rare in Great Yu's history.

By convention, such incidents triggered massive purges in officialdom.

The Provincial Governor would certainly be dismissed—failing to control subordinates was a clear mark of failure.

The refusing Prefects would be collectively reassigned.

Vice Prefects and Assistant Prefects would also be gradually shuffled.

Only after these personnel changes would the post-facto reckoning begin, slowly assigning blame.

But now, during wartime, everyone was too busy dealing with the Northern Barbarians to bother with such matters.

The Shandong Provincial Governor was doomed to fall; he'd already entered a state of "illness," while the Administration Commissioner and other provincial elites were making their final struggles.

Spending heavily to mobilize the royal reinforcement army was their last attempt at self-preservation.

As actors, once you took the money, you had to deliver.

Whether they could save the Duke of Duke Yansheng was secondary—what mattered was that everyone knew Shandong Province had made efforts to rescue him.

After the minor interruption, the army pressed forward and soon entered Yanzhou's territory.

"Commander, fifty li ahead, we've spotted Northern Barbarian cavalry—they appear to be chasing someone."

Upon receiving the scout's report, Shu Shu Zhongyi cursed his bad luck.

Deep inside, he prayed fervently: don't let it be the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

Officially, they'd come to meet the Duke of Duke Yansheng—but his superior didn't want the Duke alive.

Getting stuck with this dirty task was just his misfortune.

Without Li Mu's support, he'd still be a marginalized Battalion Commander, never rising so fast to Assistant Regional Commander.

His future prospects were tightly bound to Li Mu.

If he disobeyed orders, everything he had now would vanish instantly.

If he obeyed, the risks were enormous.

If even a whisper leaked out, he'd be dead.

The collective backlash from the civil official bloc was something no one could withstand.

"Keep scouting—first find out the enemy's strength."

"Our position is already exposed; this might be a deliberate trap. We must proceed with extreme caution."

"Order the troops to dismount and rest for half an hour."

Shu Shu Zhongyi immediately ordered.

In the past, he'd always hoped the enemy was weak; now, the situation had changed—he hoped the Northern Barbarians were stronger.

Better still, if they'd just kill the Duke of Duke Yansheng outright, then he could lead his men back with a few of the Sage's descendants to report success.

Even non-direct heirs would do—anyone remotely connected by blood was acceptable.

…

Along the escape route, the original large group had dwindled to almost nothing.

The carts laden with treasure had long been seized as spoils.

Even the horses had collapsed from the grueling flight.

"I can't go on—I'm done. Let's find a village to hide. The Northern Barbarians might not find us."

Kong Yinzhi said, gasping for breath.

He felt utterly miserable: the household retainers he'd spent vast sums to maintain were nothing but showpieces.

They'd looked tall and imposing, but once faced with Northern Barbarian cavalry, they turned to paper.

They'd barely delayed the pursuers and accomplished nothing else.

Had he not reacted quickly and abandoned the treasure, he'd already been captured.

"Duke of Duke Yansheng, no! It won't work!"

"The Northern Barbarians are brutal—they massacre villages as a matter of course."

"On this journey, we've passed more than a few abandoned villages."

"If they storm one now, we'll be walking straight into a trap!"

The guard commander Jiang Jing Yifeng urgently advised.

Unlike other retainers, Jiang Jing Yifeng was a Military Tong Jinshi of the Tianyuan era.

By normal trajectory, he should have joined the military and served the state.

But fate played a cruel trick: shortly after passing the imperial exam, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had targeted him.

For a commoner who'd risen through the military exam, joining the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a decent opportunity.

Though its reputation was poor, the Tianyuan-era Embroidered Uniform Guard held real power.

Its status was no lower than that of civil officials.

Unfortunately, they recruited him only as a spy; soon after, the court assigned him to the Kong family to protect the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

Officially, this showed imperial respect; in truth, Emperor Tianyuan distrusted the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

The special status of the Sage's descendants could trigger major upheavals if misused.

No strong emperor could tolerate such a powerful figure acting without control.

While protecting and monitoring the Duke of Duke Yansheng, he bore the secret duty of eliminating him.

If the emperor ever deemed the Duke a threat, he was obligated to engineer an "accident" to remove the emperor's greatest concern.

During the purge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, many high-ranking officers were eliminated; his hidden identity lost contact with the court.

As the emperor's appointed bodyguard to the Duke of Duke Yansheng, he was no ordinary guard—he received not only state salary but also a stipend from the Kong family.

His daily treatment was granted full courtesy.

Living comfortably, freed from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, should have been a joy.

But the Northern Barbarians suddenly attacked; before he could react, Qufu had fallen.

As guard commander, Jiang Jing Yifeng had no choice but to act—leading the Duke of Duke Yansheng into flight.

Even in escape, the Kong family's arrogance remained undiminished.

Along the way, they'd caused no end of trouble.

Along the way, they caused no end of trouble.

The identity assigned by the Emperor proved crucial at a critical moment.

Jiang Jing Yifeng decisively abandoned most of his entourage, fleeing with only a few direct descendants of the Kong family all the way to this point.

"Why not take temporary shelter in the mountains and emerge only after the enemy's pursuers have passed?"

All our horses died yesterday; two legs can't outrun four.

If we keep running like this, I'll collapse from exhaustion before we even reach safety."

Kong Kong Yinzi proposed again.

He truly didn't want to run anymore.

With his status, even if captured by the Northern Barbarians, he'd likely be treated well.

"My Lord, please don't joke."

All the nearby mountains are completely bare.

Even if the enemy doesn't come after us, we'll die of starvation and thirst up there.

Word of your escape has already spread; the court must have sent reinforcements.

Perhaps tomorrow, we'll meet them."

Jiang Jing Yifeng spoke with a look of utter exasperation.

If entering the mountains were possible, they would have fled into them the moment they left the city.

But Yanzhou had been developed for too long; by the Emperor Yongning era, all the surrounding hills had been stripped of trees.

At this time of year, all one could see beyond the green wheat fields was barren land.

Even the wood needed by the Kong family to build houses had to be purchased from outside.

In Shandong, only a few large mountains still held a few scattered large trees.

This condition would persist until the industrial era, when coal was heavily utilized.

Leaving aside the distance issue, even if they could enter the mountains, Jiang Jing Yifeng didn't believe his group could survive there.

Any common cold could kill these pampered gentlemen.

As the two spoke, the Northern Barbarian cavalry charged in.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…"

A rain of arrows flew down; before anyone could react, men fell dead and wounded.

Unlucky Kong Kong Yinzi took an arrow in the thigh and let out a piercing scream.

"Stop! This is the Duke of Duke Yansheng!"

Seeing this, the stunned Kong family members immediately shouted out their lineage.

Perhaps the aura of the Sage had its effect; among the Guifang cavalry pursuing them, one man happened to understand Great Dayu language.

The hunting game instantly turned into a capture operation.

This scene was spotted by distant scouts, who immediately relayed the news back.

"Order the entire army to mount up and rescue the Duke of Duke Yansheng!"

Upon receiving the message, Shu Shu Zhongyi ordered with a sour expression.

Secretly striking from the shadows was acceptable, but publicly, he still came to rescue the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

He couldn't discover the Duke's whereabouts and do nothing.

In officialdom, he knew full well the Duke of Duke Yansheng's weight among scholars.

If the current Duke of Duke Yansheng fell into Northern Barbarian hands, the political fallout would be devastating.

For the sake of the greater good, he must keep the man under his own control.

In the blink of an eye, a large cavalry force arrived on the scene.

Kong Kong Yinzi, now a prisoner receiving treatment from Northern Barbarian soldiers, suffered another tragedy.

Both armies were too busy fighting to pay him any attention.

Other captives were bound like rice dumplings, too helpless to act.

Aside from offering him moral support, everyone focused on the battlefield.

No one who could remain in Great Dayu wanted to become a Northern Barbarian prisoner.

They weren't the Duke of Duke Yansheng; they lacked immense political value and weren't worth treating with courtesy.

Once dragged to the steppes, they'd be doomed to slavery.

If unlucky, they might even die en route.

The imperial cavalry outnumbered them, wielded potent firearms, and wore padded armor.

Against the Guifang cavalry, who had no armor at all, they quickly gained the upper hand.

As victory seemed imminent and joy spread across faces, a stray arrow struck Kong Kong Yinzi again.

"Ahh!"

The agonized scream brought the battle to an end.

"Where is the Duke of Duke Yansheng?"

Shu Shu Zhongyi, who orchestrated all this, feigned anxiety as he asked.

In truth, the moment he reached the battlefield, he recognized the Duke of Duke Yansheng.

No other reason—just from the difference in treatment, one could tell.

Normally, when encountering Great Dayu wounded, the Northern Barbarians simply killed them with a blade.

Only someone of extraordinary status would receive medical aid.

"General, I—"

In unbearable pain, Kong Kong Yinzi quickly declared his identity.

"Several enemy troops escaped; reinforcements are coming soon. This place isn't safe.

My Lord, please endure a little longer.

There's no physician in camp; we'll treat you properly once we reach safety."

As he spoke, Shu Shu Zhongyi ordered men to release the captives and hoisted Kong Kong Yinzi onto a pre-prepared cart.

It was called a cart, but in truth, it was merely a wooden platform pulled by horses, with no shock absorption.

"General, are you really letting the Duke ride in this broken cart?"

One of the Kong family's youths complained.

He dared not speak up against the Northern Barbarian cavalry, but facing imperial troops, his arrogance instantly returned.

"This is a battlefield. If not for luck, you wouldn't even have this cart.

If you have complaints, bring a better one.

The enemy is about to attack, and the Duke needs urgent treatment—what's your motive for causing trouble now?"

Shu Shu Zhongyi asked coldly.

As he spoke, he deliberately glanced at Kong Kong Yinzi, as if handing over authority.

"Shut up!

You have no right to speak here.

If you're hoping I'll die so you can inherit the Duke of Duke Yansheng title, it won't be that easy!"

Before the young man could reply, Kong Kong Yinzi, writhing in pain, cut him off.

Even among family, loyalty couldn't be trusted when interests were at stake.

It wasn't paranoia—he'd lost his son during the escape, and the closest blood relative now was this young man.

If his son didn't survive,

under Great Dayu's inheritance laws, this nephew would be the first heir to the Duke of Duke Yansheng title.

Under these circumstances, any action by the young man could be misinterpreted.

It seemed like he was fighting for better treatment, but battlefield conditions made that impossible.

Once exposed, it looked exactly like he was obstructing the army's effort to take the Duke away.

(End of Chapter)