Chapter 1529 – Assault on Nie Liang and Yang Tao, Aiming for the World (68)
“What can I possibly say?”
Dressed in battle armor, Jiang Pengji strolled by and overheard the laughter between the two. She interjected with a question.
Bai Ning chuckled, “Feng Jing is preparing to wed a beautiful lady. He wants to invite guests and have me drink to the point of returning only when I’m dead drunk!”
Jiang Pengji shot a glance at Qin Gong, whose face displayed a radiant smile, clearly in high spirits.
“Perhaps it’s best not to speak of ‘after this battle, I will marry and enjoy a warm home with wife and children.'” Jiang Pengji had learned what a ‘death flag’ was from the audience – clichés in dramas where the protagonist inevitably meets their demise to heighten the tragic atmosphere… Even though Jiang Pengji herself had set countless flags, saying such things before a battle was indeed bad luck.
Qin Gong asked, astonished, “Is there really such a saying?”
Jiang Pengji replied, “I’ve heard it somewhere; those who say such things before battle usually don’t return.”
Qin Gong turned pale, while Bai Ning patted him on the shoulder and gruffly said, “Don’t worry, just spit a few times and take it back!”
Originally meant as a joke, but surprisingly, Qin Gong took it seriously and mimicked the act, looking quite adorable.
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but chuckle, “I was joking! I can’t believe you two fell for it.”
Qin Gong widened his innocent eyes, making it hard for Jiang Pengji to continue her ‘mischief.’
She asked, “Are you really planning to marry Xu Dazhong after the war?”
Qin Gong nodded, then abruptly looked puzzled and asked her, “How does the Lord know it’s her?”
Jiang Pengji retorted, “If you weren’t interested, you wouldn’t fuss over her, even if she were the daughter of your former lord, right?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Qin Gong said. “After making achievements in battle, I can marry her, which would allow me to care for her openly. It’s a win-win!”
Though Jiang Pengji treated the orphans of defeated lords with compassion, she couldn’t stop others from throwing obstacles in their way. Ever since Xu Fei and Xu Pei faced consecutive defeats, the once-proud Xu clan had fallen silent, barely making a stir.
If Xu Fei and his lady were still alive, Xu Yansiao, as the daughter of the lord, would surely have the finest marriage prospects.
Now, with her parents gone and no immediate family left, her marriage prospects lay in the hands of her aunt.
Her aunt wasn’t cruel to Xu Yansiao but wouldn’t pamper her like her mother did. As for marriage, it was more likely she’d end up with a minor noble or, worse, a rising low-born power. Once married, Qin Gong would have to avoid her, unable to protect her closely. Instead of worrying about it, it would be better to marry her himself; he would treat her like a precious gem.
Now that Qin Gong was a trusted military general of Jiang Pengji, marrying Xu Yansiao would ensure no one would dare belittle her.
Jiang Pengji smiled, “How enviable.”
Qin Gong asked, puzzled, “You envy me, Lord?”
Jiang Pengji replied, “Youth is wonderful! Don’t you think that’s enviable?”
Qin Gong, baffled, couldn’t see what was so enviable about being young; it didn’t relate to what the Lord previously said.
But he sensed that his lord supported his marriage to Xu Yansiao, which put him at ease.
What he feared most was that Jiang Pengji wouldn’t approve, which would leave him in a difficult position.
He’d either have to give up on Xu Yansiao or resign and hide away from the world.
Upon self-reflection, he realized he’d be more inclined to choose the latter.
“Remember to save me a cup of the wedding wine.”
Qin Gong laughed, “I will obey.”
As they chatted, the army had already assembled and prepared to march. Jiang Pengji mounted her horse.
“What is the Lord doing?”
Qin Gong was shocked; was the Lord coming too?
“It’s no good being idle; I’ll grow stiff as a board.” Jiang Pengji said, “Let’s set off!”
Qin Gong: “…”
Is this really the reason for her recklessness?
Qin Gong reminisced fondly about his old lord, Xu Fei. While Xu Fei might have lacked common sense, he would never have dared to charge into the battlefield so boldly.
The army split into three routes, and Jiang Pengji’s expression tightened, brows furrowed.
Her decision to lead the march wasn’t merely out of a desire to “fight,” but rather a growing unease.
It was an instinct honed from countless brushes with death—something unexplainable, yet this instinct had saved her many times.
As the army stealthily approached the enemy camp, the scouts that set off earlier swiftly returned with news, “Reporting to the Lord, the enemy camp is empty. The shadows inside the tents are merely straw and sticks. Judging from the ashes of the campfire, they left less than fifteen minutes ago.”
Splitting into three prongs to encircle the enemy camp, they were surprised to find the enemy had already fled.
Qin Gong and Bai Ning each led a contingent and, upon hearing the scout’s report, immediately ordered a pursuit.
The enemies had left in haste, leaving behind clumsy, heavy supplies and grains that couldn’t be transported, indicating a hurried departure.
If they caught up now and struck while the enemy was unprepared, victory was assured.
Yet, Jiang Pengji felt something was off.
She held her troops back, questioning the scout, “How is the campfire?”
The scout replied, “Some are still burning, some have gone out; it looks all jumbled up.”
Jiang Pengji pressed, “What about the footprints around the campfire?”
The scout recalled carefully and reported, the footprints near the campfire were quite chaotic.
Jiang Pengji continued with a series of questions about the arrangement in the enemy tents, her frown deepening with each answer.
The deputy general sent to protect the Lord grew puzzled and asked, “Lord, is something wrong?”
Jiang Pengji tightened her reins, coldly responding, “There’s a lot that’s not right. They had the energy to use straw and branches to create fake shadows, which means they retreated quite calmly. If that’s the case, then those campfires, documents, and items shouldn’t be such a mess!”
The deputy general felt a chill, exclaiming, “Could it be a trap?”
Jiang Pengji sneered, “We might have been duped. Send two squads to recall Qin Gong and the others; the front may be ambushed…”
The deputy general inquired, “Shouldn’t we dispatch troops to support them?”
Jiang Pengji smiled, “We should greet our guests. Let’s deal with the immediate enemy first, then proceed—order: set up formations to meet them!”
Not long after Jiang Pengji finished speaking, the previously empty enemy camp suddenly erupted with shouts from the enemies, who seemed to appear out of thin air, raining down arrows like a storm. The enemy’s counter-ambush was shocking fast; many were caught off guard and took hits.
“They’re hiding underground!”
Jiang Pengji revealed how these enemies “appeared” out of nowhere.
The tents weren’t empty—everyone was hiding underground!
Since the camp was in disarray, the inspecting soldiers couldn’t check every single item.
Soldiers just needed to spread out their sleeping mats randomly, covering the entrance to their hiding spots, and they’d likely go undetected.
The mess in the camp was likely not to create a faux escape but rather to conceal the army hiding underground.
