Chapter 1272 – Huang Song’s Defeat, Dongqing United (14)
“Poof—who got hacked?”
Jiang Pengji was lavishly feasting, enjoying herself despite the harsh marching conditions, making the best of her situation.
Just as she was digging in, Yang Si dropped a bombshell on her.
Yang Si wasn’t even frowning; he was used to his lord being more rugged than a man, sometimes even forgetting her gender.
He repeated, “The intel just came in: Nie Xun got slashed by Yuan Xin and is in critical condition.”
Jiang Pengji clapped her hands and laughed, “Are they having a dog-eat-dog moment before winning any battles? What a laugh!”
Yang Si rolled his eyes internally; after all, Nie Xun was still her cousin. It’s not like he needed to be so obvious about enjoying his misfortune, right?
Clearing her throat, Jiang Pengji said seriously, “How on earth did Nie Xun get slashed by Yuan Xin? Almost lost his life?”
Yang Si explained, “It’s said there was a disagreement on the battlefield, and Yuan Xin, in a fit of rage, stabbed him.”
From what they understood, Yuan Xin was a bona fide brute—experienced in battle but hot-tempered and arrogant.
In Jiang Pengji’s eyes, such a guy was only fit as a frontline general, not someone who could command troops.
If she were in charge, she would never let Yuan Xin have any piece of the command, and if it came to it, she’d make sure to deploy someone capable of keeping him in check. Clearly, he and Nie Xun were at odds; Yuan Xin was the one who messed up, and if Nie Xun died, it would be such an injustice.
Nie Xun couldn’t suppress Yuan Xin, which led him to get retaliation—that’s just plain wrong!
Jiang Pengji was always straightforward, and her bluntness was a love-hate relationship, “Poor Nie Xun, stuck with such a dimwit. As a cousin, I sympathize, but as an enemy, I could totally giggle in bed at night.”
Yang Si: “…”
He glanced around, confirming there wasn’t anyone nearby, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Yang Si didn’t want this chat written into some unofficial history. If Nie Xun saw it, he’d probably blow a gasket.
Most importantly, it was downright embarrassing.
“Nie Xun’s unclear fate is indeed beneficial for our army,” Yang Si stroked his beard, “Yuan Xin is not a cause for concern.”
Jiang Pengji chuckled, “I never saw him as a rival; he lowers my tone of coolness.”
Yang Si asked, confused, “What do you mean by ‘tone of coolness’?”
His lord always had surprising phrases and unique vocabulary that Yang Si found fresh and interesting.
Jiang Pengji explained, “So-called ‘tone of coolness’ means the ability to act all impressive.”
Yang Si was lost again, “What does ‘acting impressive’ mean?”
Jiang Pengji laughed, “Pretending to be very cool so that others also think you’re cool; it actually means you are cool.”
The audience in the live stream laughed along and provided specific explanations.
【Jing Jia】: Xiao Rongrong, do you see the anchor in front of you? Whenever she exudes her kingly aura, she’s just acting impressive.
【People in Capricorn Stories】: Can’t help but comment, the anchor truly embodies the essence of acting impressive; her coolness is off the charts.
Yang Si’s expression twisted a bit, and he couldn’t help but voice the truth.
“This term… really suits the lord.”
Jiang Pengji: “…”
Feeling strangely hit right in the feels by her strategist’s jibe _(:з)∠)_
【Iris】: Xiao Rongrong is just too cute; that jab just now has the power to blow up half of the pirate island.
【Durian Cake】: Spot on—sharp and lethal. Xiao Rongrong is inching her way to the threshold of the Holy Temple of Jabs.
Jiang Pengji awkwardly cleared her throat and clumsily shifted the topic.
“The news about Nie Xun’s critical illness is confirmed. Alone, Yuan Xin isn’t frightening — we can still stir up some trouble.”
Ideally, they would cause such unrest in Chenzhou that it would distract Huang Song at the front.
Yang Si said cautiously, “My lord should still be careful; your identity mustn’t be exposed.”
After all, Jiang Pengji was still a “sick patient,” her condition not being much better than Nie Xun’s.
Frolicking was one thing, but she still needed to cover her tracks.
Jiang Pengji rolled her eyes at Yang Si, why was this guy always such a buzzkill?
【Twenty and Meeting You】: Not being a buzzkill would mean letting the lord’s culinary delights get snatched away, signing off, JPG.
Jiang Pengji: “…”
Whether it was fate or something else, Yuan Xin without Nie Xun didn’t turn out to be as foolish as the two expected.
The first few days went smoothly, but soon, they met some resistance.
Jiang Pengji was the first to notice something was off.
Yesterday they were able to seize plenty of food, yet today, the supplies found were far below their expectations.
“This should be an important town; why is there so little grain in the storehouse?”
It was as if most of it had been moved overnight, and what remained was likely left due to lack of manpower.
Yang Si said, “Just grab the person in charge and ask.”
They caught the overseer of the grain storage, but he was stubborn at first. After some pressure, he spilled everything.
“The grain from the nearby stronghold was moved three days ago—”
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow, “When did this happen?”
The overseer trembled as he replied, “Three days ago.”
Jiang Pengji coldly smiled, playing with her whip. The whip, as if it had a mind of its own, struck the ground with a crisp crack, leaving deep imprints on the blue brick floor—
“Which direction did they go?”
The overseer swallowed hard, fighting against his urge, “They headed southwest.”
Jiang Pengji coldly stared at his face for a long while, then waved her hand, and two burly soldiers stepped forward to pin him down.
“Is it possible Nie Xun isn’t in critical danger?” Yang Si said, puzzled, “Yuan Xin doesn’t strike me as someone with that kind of wits or quick reflexes.”
Yuan Xin was a seasoned veteran, experienced in battle, yet overly arrogant. To put it bluntly, he was dense and inflexible.
Dealing with someone like Jiang Pengji, who fought to sustain the fight, the best and smartest move would be to go into lockdown and restrict resources.
Yuan Xin hadn’t grasped that, instead choosing to confront Jiang Pengji head-on, only to be made to flee like a rat in a trap.
And now he realized he needed to cut off her food supply?
Jiang Pengji asked, “How many days of provisions do we have left?”
Yang Si said, “Considering the supplies we confiscated from Yuan Xin’s troops and the harvest these past few days, it should last about ten days.”
After ten days, things wouldn’t look good.
Yang Si couldn’t pinpoint what was happening with Yuan Xin; was he being foolish or was there someone guiding him?
If it was the former, there was nothing to worry about.
If it was the latter, they would need to think of a way to sneak away soon.
Jiang Pengji declared, “We’ll fight and withdraw as necessary; we need to be prepared for both scenarios.”
She wasn’t greedy, equally aware of knowing when to stop.
Wiping out the enemy was crucial, but her soldiers weren’t expendable; they couldn’t just increase meaningless losses.
Yang Si replied, “Understood.”
