Chapter 1555 – Attacking Nie Liang and Yang Tao, Sword Pointing to the World (Ninety-Three)
“Really?”
Yang Si’s moment of inspiration led him to grasp Feng Zhen’s daring plan, secretly marveling at his boldness.
“If the Lord finds out about this, you don’t know how she’ll punish you! Aren’t you afraid of her settling the score later?”
“Debt piled up ain’t a worry! I already have one on my back; what’s another?” Feng Zhen grinned shamelessly, looking completely unfazed. “If the Lord really punishes me, that’s a future issue. Who knows, by then I might have achieved great merit to offset my sins.”
Yang Si couldn’t help but roll his eyes, jokingly scolding, “Others call you a wastrel, and you’re really living up to that title!”
“Why not enjoy life while we can? Why wait for tomorrow?” Feng Zhen wore an expression as if to say, “You just don’t get me,” and continued, “Doing what I please, why be bogged down by reputation? Wastrel or not, what’s wrong with being a wastrel? If people say a few words, will I lose a piece of meat?”
Yang Si shook his head inwardly, wondering if Feng Zhen had lost his mind from Yan Lin’s teasing, as he couldn’t even be bothered to cover his shame anymore.
“What are you planning to do?”
After pondering for a moment, Feng Zhen spoke, “It’s not too difficult, but I need General Fu’s approval for this move, otherwise…”
He planned to let the fence-sitters get their hands on real grain information. For this, he had to discuss it with Commander Fu Wang.
Unless not informed, people would really mistake Feng Zhen for an undercover spy sent by Yang Tao.
Fu Wang listened calmly to Feng Zhen’s plan and flatly rejected it. “No way, that’s too risky.”
Feng Zhen countered, “No guts, no glory!”
Fu Wang sneered, “I’m a wolf, not some big beast, and I don’t play those kinds of games. The locations of our granaries and supply routes are matters of life and death for our army. Sure, we might lure some enemies in, but if anything goes wrong, it will put our troops in danger.”
Tricking the enemy’s elite into walking into a death trap was Feng Zhen’s ideal assumption.
But if it backfired, and they didn’t wipe out many foes but instead gave them a chance to torch the granaries, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?
Having already lost a battle before, if the granary messed up again, could Feng Zhen bear that responsibility alone?
Even if the Lord protected Feng Zhen, a military law punishment was unavoidable.
Fu Wang continued, “Has the strategist considered this? We just dealt with a Zhao clan, exterminating their whole family because they betrayed us, providing false intelligence. With that precedent, we should be extremely wary of the clans that are willing to ally with us. How could they possibly get such classified information? Yang Tao’s camp is filled with clever people; there’s no way they wouldn’t see through this!”
No matter what, Fu Wang wouldn’t agree.
While planning strategy is the strategist’s job, that doesn’t mean we generals are just brainless fools.
Fu Wang’s duty is to command the army; he can listen to the strategist’s advice, but if it cannot be accepted, it’s rejected. Clearly, this was one of those times, and Fu Wang vetoed Feng Zhen’s suggestion. If Feng Zhen wanted to insist, he would have to lay out each point to persuade Fu Wang.
Fu Wang’s concerns weren’t unfounded; he pointed out Feng Zhen’s oversights, and Feng Zhen could only settle on a compromise plan.
After some debate, they finally reached an agreement with great difficulty.
Fu Wang then shrugged off the matter, saying, “You write a confidential letter to the Lord yourself. I won’t take the blame for you.”
He was bold and meticulous but didn’t want to court death; Feng Zhen’s plan was obviously going to be met with the Lord’s ire, and Fu Wang had no desire to take the fall. Feng Zhen could only smile wryly as he penned the letter, detailing everything meticulously before sending it off to Jiang Pengji.
Yang Si chuckled, “I wonder what the Lord’s reaction will be upon reading this?”
Fu Wang quipped, “She’ll probably treat her unfortunate bronze desk as an object of blame.”
Yang Si deliberately raised his voice. “Haha, General Fu really knows the Lord, but it’s a shame for that desk suffering for Feng Zhen’s folly.”
Feng Zhen replied, “Come on, that battered desk taking the heat is a blessing.”
The strength of their Lord’s hand was terrifying; that special bronze desk could leave a clear palm print with just one slap.
If that slap landed on him, it was no doubt that he’d meet an untimely end right there.
Feng Zhen was keenly aware of his own martial abilities.
Fortunately, the Lord was far away at Zhanjiang Pass; otherwise, Feng Zhen wouldn’t dare act so carefree.
Having settled on a plan, the next step was naturally to strategize and arrange resources.
Feng Zhen carefully selected and finally found a suitable clan: the Qiu clan from Zhangzhou.
Yang Si, taking a moment’s respite, checked on Feng Zhen’s progress and discovered he had already chosen a scapegoat. “What excuse does the Qiu clan have?”
Feng Zhen smirked, “The Qiu clan has low status in Zhangzhou, mere empty accolades, even lesser than an ordinary impoverished family.”
While impoverished families have no political backing, they at least have some wealth. The Qiu clan was a nobility, but its glory days were long behind it, scraping by on the goodwill of their ancestors, barely surviving.
Yang Si examined carefully, seeing nothing special about the Qiu clan that warranted Feng Zhen’s attention.
Feng Zhen said, “You don’t understand. The current head of the Qiu clan has an illegitimate daughter, but out of fear of the formidable matriarch, he didn’t dare to bring her back to the clan. Eventually, the baby girl was entrusted to a well-off family to raise as their legitimate child. Many years later, this legitimate daughter crossed paths with a young hero with the surname Yan; they fell in love at first sight, met again in passion, and solidified their bond in the end. Guess who this young hero with the surname Yan is?”
Yang Si speculated, “Let’s see, given the age… That hero with the surname Yan… Could it be Yan Lin’s ancestor?”
Feng Zhen confirmed, “Exactly, Yan Lin’s biological father.”
Yan Lin’s ancestors had it made, but their family dwindled, leaving them with little status in Zhangzhou.
Yan Lin’s father married an illegitimate daughter as his legitimate wife, causing many of the noble families to sneer.
Oh, I forgot to mention. The mother of that illegitimate daughter was an infamous courtesan in Zhangzhou, who, seeing her prime years slipping away, hurriedly bought her freedom to work as a concubine, putting on a show of keeping a prized gem hidden and even giving birth to a daughter.
Of course, that was all old news; apart from a few elders, the younger generation had no idea about these rumors.
Yang Si: “…How do you know all this?”
Feng Zhen chuckled, “Naturally, it was via an old flame of mine. That courtesan’s tale has made many young ladies in the brothel envious.”
The courtesans were mostly unfortunate souls. For them, if they could escape the mire while they were still young and beautiful, even if it meant being someone’s concubine, at least they’d have a future. The only daughter could even marry into a noble family as a legitimate daughter—who wouldn’t envy that?
Yang Si: “Are you planning to use the Qiu clan?”
Feng Zhen replied, “The Qiu clan has that connection with Yan Lin; if they were to switch sides, their credibility would be higher than that of others.”
