Chapter 1002 – War in the Northern Border (39)
Watching Liu Zhao’s figure gradually fade away, Liu Zhi let out a barely noticeable sigh.
His gaze shifted to the woman, and he was met with her deeply emotional eyes, which filled him with a wave of disgust.
“Bring her—”
Before Liu Zhi could finish his sentence, his brows furrowed tightly. He swayed, using one hand to brace against the table to prevent himself from toppling over.
After a long moment, Liu Zhi’s knitted brows finally relaxed slightly.
The servant, not having heard the command, summoned the courage to remind him.
“Master?”
Liu Zhi cast a disdainful glance at the woman, coldly stating, “Skin her alive and toss her wherever—”
On hearing this, the woman immediately went limp and collapsed to the ground.
Previously, it was just about cutting off hands and feet, but now they wanted to skin her alive?
Liu Zhi rubbed his forehead with one hand behind his back, about to rise and head to the back hall.
Suddenly recalling something, he added, “Oh right, remember to gouge out her eyes first—”
Gouge out her eyes?
The woman stared wide-eyed in horror, her body thrashing violently, but she was tightly bound and couldn’t break free.
By the time Liu Zhao learned of the woman’s true fate, even with some mental preparation, he still shivered.
“I need to write a letter to Eldest Sister to explain how things got to this point—”
Liu Zhao was so frightened that even his hand trembled as he held the pen; he felt like the only sane one in the family.
His father appeared gentle on the surface but was ruthless underneath.
His Eldest Sister seemed cheerful but was a killer on the inside.
Only he, was genuinely timid both inside and outside.
Just then, Aunt Die happened to visit him. Seeing his reaction, she scoffed, “Now you know to be scared, huh?”
If she had followed her plan, Liu Zhao would have been able to find an excuse to split off and leave the family without worry.
Liu Zhao forced a smile, saying, “I’m scared, but even if I’m terrified, some things still have to be done.”
He sent out the completed letter.
Liu Zhao preferred to be an ordinary bastard son, biding his time and waiting for death, rather than living in fear and scrabbling to survive.
Before his letter even reached Jiang Pengji’s hands, the tide of war in the Northern Border had completely shifted in her favor—
Following the Battle of Cheng Shui, the Northern Border faced yet another devastating defeat.
This failure could be traced back to the Northern Border’s failing strategies—
Jiang Pengji had secretly sent people to keep an eye on the newly surrendered tribes and had indeed discovered many peculiar issues, almost confirming their deception.
Li Yun learned the truth and clenched his fists in rage, stepping forward to volunteer.
He vowed to beat those bastards until even their grandmothers wouldn’t recognize them.
Fu Wang was quite intrigued; he had been feeling rather pent-up lately.
As a general, he couldn’t just run around killing everyone; that would be no different from a dried fish without dreams.
Looking around, several strategists remained calm, so Fu Wang chose to be patient and bide his time.
It was the strategists’ job to devise plans; these unscrupulous folks would ensure the enemy wouldn’t have an easy time.
“Do you gentlemen have any strategies?” Jiang Pengji asked for opinions from Feng Zhen and the others.
Qi Guanrang suggested, “Why not use their strategy against them?”
In the face of such a situation, using their own tricks against them was a good plan.
The enemy would be joyful as they came to sneak attack, only to fall into their trap—a brilliant strategy indeed.
Feng Zhen frowned in disagreement, saying, “If they choose to launch a night raid, using their own strategy could work as we can set up an ambush in advance. But what if they attack during the day? If we engage the main Northern Border army, they might stab us in the back—”
In the midst of chaos, should the enemy rise up behind them while they were busy dealing with those treacherous turncoats, their forces would be caught off guard.
“Your worries are not unfounded,” Qi Guanrang replied, “The Northern Border has attempted several night raids, and they haven’t gained any advantage against our army; in fact, they have consistently retreated. Having learned from these lessons, they will be cautious about attempting another night raid.”
If that’s the case, they would indeed need to stay vigilant.
Letting their guard down could result in disaster; it wouldn’t just hurt their morale but could also provoke a fierce counterattack from the Northern Border.
Once that counterattack succeeded, half of their efforts from the first half of the year would go to waste.
To deal with the tough Northern Border, if they didn’t thoroughly crush them in one go, they wouldn’t be truly docile.
Sun Wen lowered his head, seemingly contemplating something, as a wry smile crept onto his lips.
“My Lord, I have a plan that can secure our rear.”
Jiang Pengji said, “Please elaborate on this strategy.”
Sun Wen stepped forward, bowing. “The tribes are essentially our captives; they should be compelled to contribute to our military efforts.”
Everyone present was intelligent enough to see the point; even though Sun Wen only revealed part of his plan, they could easily guess the other half.
Sun Wen intended to push those treacherous tribes to the front lines as sacrificial pawns!
Jiang Pengji was still livestreaming, and the audience eagerly joined in the discussion.
Hmm, it always felt like they were also strategists on par with their own lords, making sweeping plans.
【Strawberry-flavored yogurt】: This doesn’t seem right. Having the treacherous enemies act as our vanguard makes it easier for them to steal military secrets.
【Tomorrow six updates】: Sun Wen is quite ruthless. With just a few words, he has his enemies turning on each other. I can’t take it!
【Aloe Vera-flavored yogurt】: If the enemies are put in the front lines, then all our troop movements will be right under their noses—
【Old Driver Alliance】: You can’t say that! In ancient society, information spread slowly and had a strong delay. Allowing the treacherous tribes to lead the charge would indeed expose our military activities, but we can deceive them through these tribes with false information—
Who says war is just about killing?
The intricacies involved are more convoluted than palace or household struggles.
Since ancient times, has any good general been a fool?
Each of them had minds full of cunning thoughts.
Sun Wen’s idea matched the audience’s stance from the Old Driver Alliance, deliberately misleading the enemy with false intelligence.
“This plan is excellent; if executed properly, we can turn the tables and make the Northern Border dance to our tune.”
Jiang Pengji’s tightly knitted brows relaxed slightly, her mood improving.
However, how to mislead the enemy and create a situation where the deceptive tribes and their own forces turned against each other still needed careful planning.
The military meeting lasted over an hour, and only after considering every detail did Jiang Pengji allow everyone to disperse.
Meanwhile, on the Northern Border’s side, they were also engaged in fierce discussions—
But they weren’t strategizing battle tactics or details; they were simply squabbling over who would claim the honor of victory.
No kidding, they were eagerly vying for the chance to earn military achievements.
The Third Prince listened silently, his heart burning with anger.
They hadn’t even fought yet, and these fools were already convinced of their victory, thinking that even sending a pig to the front lines would ensure their win.
Who gave them such courage?
Even if the master was still alive, he wouldn’t dare claim his strategy would guarantee expected results.
“I can’t listen any longer—if I keep this up, I’m going to be driven mad.”
The Third Prince casually found an excuse to leave the big tent, while his brothers were still lost in fantasies of future glories.
The Eldest Prince followed him out.
“What’s wrong? Do you lack confidence in them?”
The Third Prince scoffed, “A normal person wouldn’t have faith in a bunch of pigs. Who knows, this time we may end up losing badly again.”
