Chapter 843: Secretly Ask

Jing Yuan didn't leave until the dead of night.

The personal attendant brewed the medicine and had the Duke of Ying take it.

The Duke of Ying looked at the empty bowl in his hand and let out a bitter laugh: "I said Wang Zhen was small-headed and foolish, yet all of us are held in his palm—no matter how clever we are, we're powerless."

The personal attendant whispered: "The Emperor has lost his mind…"

The Duke of Ying stiffened and whispered: "Shut up. How dare you say such a thing?"

The personal attendant bowed his head. He couldn't say it aloud—but he could think it, couldn't he?

This proved the Duke himself agreed with his view.

The Duke of Ying made no rebuttal. His eyes were deep, and after a long silence, he spoke softly: "The Emperor… still has grand vision. He's just too willful."

To be emperor and willful is to be foolish.

The Duke of Ying handed the empty bowl to the personal attendant, lay back on the bed, and stared blankly at the mosquito net, his eyes hollow and lifeless.

He had only a fifty percent chance of getting Jing Yuan to persuade the Emperor.

Fifty percent—he'd once fought a battle with only a ten percent chance of survival, and still clawed his way out alive—but never before had he felt this exhausted.

A sense of helplessness rose from his heart. Was it because he was old? Or had the Emperor withheld even that ten percent chance from him?

The Duke of Ying slowly closed his eyes and forced his mind to go empty—he must sleep!

The entire army was watching him. If he fell, the Tartars hadn't even arrived, and his men would already be in chaos.

The Duke of Ying was born into a distinguished family, the son of Zhang Yu. Both father and son fought in the Jingnan Campaign; his father even died saving Emperor Taizong, who called him "the foremost merit of the Jingnan."

He himself was equally outstanding: ordered south to campaign against Annam, he destroyed the Ho Dynasty, renamed Annam as Jiaozhi, led three campaigns as Regional Commander to quell Annamese rebellions, visited Jiaozhi four times, and struck terror into the southwest;

Later, he joined Emperor Taizong on three northern expeditions, overseeing the Central Military Commission;

Finally, he accompanied Emperor Xuanzong in suppressing Zhu Gaoshu's rebellion.

One could say his southern campaigns, northern expeditions, and prestige within the Central Army had all reached their zenith.

In the late reign of the previous emperor, he had already returned his military authority, participating only in strategic discussions on state and military affairs. When the young emperor ascended the throne, his role remained unchanged: military strategist, stabilizing troop morale.

In prestige, the Duke of Ying was the undisputed number one in the army of his age.

Since leaving the capital, the army had suffered repeated setbacks and suffered from insufficient grain supplies. Twenty thousand troops—just a spark would set them off.

Yet the soldiers endured their hardships in silence, still following faithfully, because whenever they looked up, they saw that tall, steady figure on horseback.

Whether in torrential rain or blazing sun, he had always been ahead of them.

The Duke of Ying slept until dawn.

The Emperor went with Guo Deng to inspect the camp and ascend the walls to boost morale; the ministers naturally followed.

The Duke of Ying took the opportunity to examine Datong's defenses.

The soldiers on the walls wore gleaming armor, faces alight with excitement, their gazes toward the Emperor filled with admiration. When asked about the battle, they spoke only of General Guo leading them in heroic combat.

The Duke of Ying's eyes swept over them one by one, then fixed on the soldier standing with his back to them—silent, straight, unmoving.

His armor was also clean and polished, but his knuckles were white, taut from gripping his spear. The Duke stepped forward, feigning indifference, and seized his hand.

The soldier startled, clenching his spear tightly, whirling around with eyes blazing—full of murderous intent.

The Duke of Ying's lips curled slightly. He thought: This is a soldier who has killed.

The soldier met the Duke's gaze, his heart pounding. Instinctively, he glanced toward Guo Deng and Guo Jing.

Fortunately, they were clustered around the Emperor, excitedly speaking; the Emperor was surrounded by ministers, and he could barely make out their backs—naturally, they wouldn't see him.

"Don't worry," the Duke of Ying whispered, prying open his fingers gripping the spear, brushing his palm with his thumb—satisfied—he asked: "Have you been on the battlefield these past two days?" The soldier's voice, hoarse, replied: "Yes."

"You're not an ordinary soldier, are you?" the Duke of Ying asked, studying him.

"Your servant is Qin Zhong, Captain of the Western Third Division."

"If you're a captain, why are you wearing common soldier's armor to guard the wall?"

Qin Zhong's eyes reddened, his gaze lowered: "To welcome His Majesty, there weren't enough qualified officers in the Central Army, so I was drafted from the lower garrisons."

To welcome the Emperor, Guo Deng and Guo Jing had selected the tallest, most handsome, and most imposing soldiers from the entire army to stand on the city walls.

Qin Zhong was tall, his face decent, his bearing formidable—so he was chosen to stand guard.

So that the Emperor and ministers passing by would see: even a gate guard in Datong was this mighty and imposing.

Seeing the crowd ahead begin to turn, the Duke of Ying immediately slipped a token into Qin Zhong's palm and whispered: "Afternoon dismissal—come to the western gate where His Majesty is lodged. I wish to see you."

Qin Zhong clenched the token tightly. He did not refuse.

He knew who this man was—the Duke of Ying, the Great Ming's war god, undefeated in every campaign.

If anyone could save Datong now, besides the Emperor, it was the Duke of Ying.

The Emperor knew nothing yet—but if he knew, he would surely send troops to confront the Tartars. Then…

Qin Zhong's blood boiled, his heart ablaze.

When Guo Deng and Guo Jing respectfully escorted the Emperor away for lunch, Qin Zhong's duty ended. He turned left, turned right, slipped quietly toward the western gate of the mansion.

The Duke of Ying had returned under the pretense of ill health, refusing to join the Emperor's lunch.

The personal attendant had already sent someone to the western gate to fetch him—but hours passed with no sign. He grew anxious: "Your Grace, will he really come?"

The Duke of Ying's expression was calm: "He will."

The personal attendant remained worried: "If he doesn't come, but instead goes to Guo Deng and Guo Jing to betray us…"

"That wouldn't be so bad," the Duke of Ying said coolly. "We're short on time. Stirring the grass reveals the snakes hiding within. Even if they know, what can they do to me?"

The personal attendant fretted: "What about Wang Zhen…"

The Duke of Ying snorted coldly: "Am I afraid of him?"

He was an old man now. He merely avoided provoking him to keep his emotions steady—but when the moment came, Zhang Fu was not afraid.

The Duke of Ying had a hunch: this personal campaign would be perilous. He would no longer avoid Wang Zhen.

Now he waited to see if Jing Yuan could persuade the Emperor, and whether Kuang Ye and others could uncover Datong's military intelligence.

The Duke of Ying waited another quarter-hour or more before footsteps finally sounded outside the courtyard, and an inconspicuous soldier led Qin Zhong in, now dressed in plain cloth.

The moment Qin Zhong arrived, he dropped to his knees on the ground.

"There are scouts stationed on the streets outside. This lowly official had to take a long detour to slip through. I have kept the Duke waiting."

The Duke of Ying personally helped him to his feet, had his attendant bring over a chair for him, and said gently, "I know it hasn't been easy for you. We came from Yanghe and saw corpses strewn everywhere. Today, when I went up onto the city wall, although the area outside the walls had been given a cursory cleaning, we could still see bloodstains on the wall and on the ground. You have all suffered greatly~~"