Chapter 1040 – Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole (Part 1)
“I really don’t see what there is to discuss—just charge in and get it over with—” Yuan Xin’s impatience boiled over as he overheard the discussions inside the tent dragging on for half an hour without any progress. His voice was as fierce as a tiger. “No matter how we challenge them, those cowards from Cangzhou aren’t budging an inch. They’re scared out of their wits; how could they possibly come out and fight? If they refuse to engage, can we just sit back and let them be?”
Yuan Xin didn’t bother to lower his voice, making his words audible to everyone in the tent.
Huang Song’s expression turned awkward, showing hints of embarrassment—
The impulsive military generals beneath him reflected poorly on him, and worse still, Yuan Xin was actually a relative of his. He had to help clean up after this mess.
Jiang Pengji, on the other hand, was unfazed and smiled, “That’s quite right; the guard commander at Han Chang Pass is terrified of our combined forces and isn’t willing to come out. With a stronghold to rely on, of course, they’re not afraid. But we, on our side, can’t afford to just sit around. However—Han Chang Pass is easy to defend but hard to attack. If both sides move troops, it would play right into the enemy’s hands—capturing the stronghold with a strong army will come at a great cost.”
Yuan Xin felt a sense of unease after Huang Song’s unspoken warning; to his surprise, Jiang Pengji stood up to back him up.
But even with Jiang Pengji smoothing things over, Yuan Xin wasn’t about to back down.
He was quite stubborn, clinging to his beliefs.
Yuan Xin thought Jiang Pengji’s influence was negative; even though she was graceful and forgiving, he didn’t feel gratitude but rather saw her temperament as too soft and easy to manipulate—hmm, this is probably what they mean by ‘nice people being taken advantage of.’
Jiang Pengji, considering Huang Song’s feelings, didn’t outright confront Yuan Xin, yet Yuan Xin remained obstinate.
“Heh, who doesn’t understand these principles? The younger generation may be older, but they aren’t deaf. I remember everything the strategists said,” Yuan Xin replied arrogantly. “Though Han Chang Pass is easy to defend and hard to attack, it’s not some impregnable fortress. Capturing the Pass will rely on the efforts of all the soldiers, it can’t be done just by a few people flapping their gums in this tent—”
Jiang Pengji might have been an outsider, but to show respect to Huang Song, the entire military meeting was led by Jiang Pengji.
The strategists who had spoken earlier were mostly on Jiang Pengji’s side.
So Yuan Xin’s words were practically a slap in the face.
Huang Song’s face went grim.
He knew this uncle of his was hot-tempered, but he hadn’t expected him to go off in such a situation.
Little did they know, Yuan Xin was equally fed up.
Hede County was under Huang Song’s jurisdiction, and it gnawed at him to let others act superior and make a scene in his own territory.
Jiang Pengji smiled faintly, her eyes cold as she stared at Yuan Xin.
Yuan Xin felt a chill run down his spine, as if a mysterious coldness was creeping from his feet all the way to his brain, calming him significantly.
He thought Jiang Pengji would lash out; to his surprise, she turned to Huang Song and asked, “Boga, can you introduce me to this brave warrior?”
Huang Song’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t dare to speak up for Yuan Xin.
In that moment, he felt an eerie sense of déjà vu, as if he had stepped back years ago when he was still overshadowed by Jiang Pengji’s fierce presence.
“This is Yuan Xin, my family uncle, a man of integrity with a straightforward character, though sometimes reckless and impulsive; he still needs some honing,” Huang Song explained.
Jiang Pengji teased with a smile, “That character’s not bad; it just tends to offend people. Boga, these past years can’t have been easy for you.”
To her, the leader was like a kindergarten principal, surrounded by a bunch of problem children, and Yuan Xin was the one with the toughest attitude.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Huang Song replied with a bitter laugh, self-deprecatingly adding, “I’m just hoping he hasn’t completely pissed off Lan Ting.”
With such a familiar tone, everyone could tell these two shared a close bond.
With Yuan Xin offending people left and right, they could still chat and laugh—how could their relationship be anything but good?
Jiang Pengji smiled cheerfully and threw Huang Song a wink.
“Offend them to death? Not quite—” Jiang Pengji countered. “In the past, the court favored civil officials over military ones; how many young warriors resemble delicate beauties? If all our border soldiers were like Officer Yuan Xin, those ragtag groups in the northern front wouldn’t dare to dream of invading our borders!”
To her, civil officials were the brains and knees of the state, while military generals were the backbone; both were equally important.
She spent years training a fierce army, yet there were hardly any commanders she was satisfied with.
Yuan Xin indeed had a fiery temperament, and if he wasn’t targeting her, Jiang Pengji would actually appreciate him.
Of course—
She intended to reclaim her territory today.
Huang Song inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and skillfully shifted the topic back to the original focus.
Yuan Xin felt as if he were punching cotton, a frustrating sensation that left him a bit sullen throughout the meeting.
Without Yuan Xin’s interruptions, everyone began to gradually flesh out a clear battle plan.
However, Yuan Xin’s remarks had caught the attention of Feng Jin and others, leading to a significant drop in discussion for the rest of the meeting.
With Han Chang Pass’s daunting geography, it had the feel of a lone hero holding back an army; strong assaults were not an option.
The pesky Meng Clan was still lurking, and both Jiang Pengji and Huang Song couldn’t afford to sustain heavy losses at Han Chang.
After a round of deliberation, they decided to lure the snake out of its hole!
Direct assault was out of the question, so the only choice was to provoke the guard commander at Han Chang Pass into leading his troops out, seizing the chance to strike while the defenses were vulnerable.
Listening carefully, Meng Hunyun felt a sense of familiarity.
“Wasn’t this the tactic the leaders used against General Fu back then?”
Meng Hunyun recalled being part of the plan that lured Fu Wang out with a ruse, allowing them to breach the Jiamen Pass he was guarding.
Feng Zhen grinned and said, “A strategy, whether novel or old, is good as long as it works.”
Meng Hunyun privately frowned, “The guard commander at Han Chang is timid and conservative; they’d rather guard the pass than easily send out their troops.”
If they dragged this out, it would only backfire on Jiang Pengji.
After all, it was an away game with prolonged logistics, and they couldn’t endure a drawn-out stalemate.
As soon as Huang Song and Jiang Pengji’s alliance hit a snag, the Cangzhou Meng Clan would be sure to find an opportunity to pick them off one by one.
“Exactly for this reason, we need to lure the snake out of its hole.” Feng Zhen stated, “The New Year festival is just around the corner—what should we have to eat?”
Meng Hunyun: “…”
Is Feng Zhen trying to butter up Yang Si?
They were in the middle of war talks; who cared about food?
After a moment, Meng Hunyun finally grasped Feng Zhen’s deeper meaning.
Jiang Pengji and Huang Song were making a scene every day, just as they had been worried about, causing the Han Chang guard commander to become a turtle hiding its head.
Instead of getting angry, they chose to reward their troops with sumptuous beef, lamb, and fine wines, lighting bonfires every night while singing and dancing, getting the soldiers drunk out of their minds. This lively ruckus was certainly not missed by the scouts at Han Chang Pass, leaving the soldiers on the walls dumbfounded—
“Don’t be too hasty—this is clearly their bait to lure us out—absolutely mustn’t fall for it—”
Before the guard commander at Han Chang received Meng Zhan’s orders, he had to pacify the soldiers below, so he could only resort to this line of reasoning.
