Chapter 421: Commandery Commandery Princess, I'm Old!

The men exchanged glances. None of them seemed to have an answer.

Che Buchi asked doubtfully, "If Tianyu Sect dares swallow Nanzhou, it must have the support of the three sects led by Xiaoyao Palace. Leaving everything else aside, can Niu Youdao alone oppose the whole of Tianyu Sect? He himself has to watch Tianyu Sect's expression and rely on Tianyu Sect to maintain his footing. Otherwise, someone would have killed him long ago."

Hao Zhen shook his head. "You're underestimating him too much. That man is deeply calculating and far-sighted. He left himself a fallback long ago. Tianyu Sect won't find it so easy to move against him. He has long held something in his hands that can check Tianyu Sect. He's simply good at enduring and kept everyone else from knowing about it."

The others were surprised.

Gao Jianhou pressed him. "What does he have that can check Tianyu Sect? If no outsider knows about it, how does Your Highness know?"

Hao Zhen waved a hand. "It's not that I refuse to tell you. It's that I cannot tell you. Knowing certain things isn't necessarily a good thing."

At the Valiant Cavalry's garrison camp in the Qi capital, Huyan Wuhen did not return home after morning court. He went directly to the military camp instead. Zha Hu accompanied him into the central command tent.

Inside, two generals were standing before a marked map, pointing at various positions and discussing something. When the call of "Supreme General!" came from outside, both looked around, immediately drew themselves up in a line, and cupped their fists.

"General!"

Huyan Wuhen acknowledged them with a sound and walked to the map. His gaze fell on a specially selected map of Nanzhou in the State of Yan. The shifting positions of friend and foe had been marked all over it in an interlocking pattern.

"Everything marked?"

One general replied, "Based on the intelligence we've gathered from Nanzhou, we've marked the course of the campaign from beginning to end. Even if there are discrepancies, they shouldn't be large."

This was something Huyan Wuhen had ordered them to do earlier. To other kinds of people, the battle for Nanzhou might have been no more than a victory or defeat, perhaps simply a struggle over interests. In the eyes of generals who commanded armies, however, it was something else entirely.

Six hundred thousand troops against eight hundred thousand, with the latter possessing ample logistical support, yet the eight hundred thousand had collapsed across the entire front in only a few short days.

The war had ended so quickly that Huyan Wuhen believed he could not be the only one shocked. Generals throughout the various states would certainly be astonished. Anyone with the means would be watching the battle closely and doing everything possible to gather information, trying to understand exactly how it had been fought.

Huyan Wuhen scanned the map. "What do you make of this campaign?"

One general replied, "Unprecedented. We've never seen a campaign like it. It did not take annihilating the enemy army as its objective, greatly reducing the damage to Nanzhou's people's livelihood. That alone makes it a deed of great merit. It was an extraordinarily sophisticated campaign of containment. The enemy army was broken apart through restraint and maneuver. Nearly one million four hundred thousand troops were entangled in it, yet despite all that complexity, it never descended into chaos. Without consummate command, the whole thing could have collapsed at any moment. This battle is a classic. It could be established as a model for study. Our conclusion is that it was probably not Feng Lingbo's handiwork."

Huyan Wuhen's gaze moved back and forth across the map. He slowly answered, "It should have been Meng Shanming."

The two generals looked at one another. They had spent a long time studying the entire campaign before reaching that conclusion. They had not expected the Supreme General to identify him in a single sentence. Huyan Wuhen held out a hand for the intelligence summary in one general's grasp, then raised his hand again.

After the two generals withdrew from the tent, he paced before the map, reading through every report they had compiled and repeatedly looking up to compare it with the shifting deployments and changes in strength marked across the map.

Zha Hu remained silent at his side. He stared at the map for a while too, but this was not his field. The positions of friend and foe were so complicated they soon gave him a headache, and he turned his head away. After finishing the reports, Huyan Wuhen stood squarely before the map and studied it in earnest. He remained there for nearly four hours. Someone came in to ask whether he wished to eat, but Zha Hu waved the man away.

"Ai!" Huyan Wuhen suddenly let out a soft sigh.

Zha Hu came closer. "What's wrong?"

Huyan Wuhen pointed at the map, emotion filling his voice. "The instant war began, all six hundred thousand of his troops discarded their baggage and advanced without reservation. The slightest error could have meant the destruction of the entire army. Meng Shanming truly dared to gamble."

"One elite force fixed itself on the enemy commander and forced the entire enemy disposition to move around it. The rest of his forces twisted and turned across the whole battlefield, delaying the bulk of the enemy army while coordinating with that elite striking force. He forcibly broke eight hundred thousand enemy troops into fragments and played them in the palm of his hand."

"Meng Shanming is truly a master. Remarkable. If we ever met on a battlefield, he would unquestionably be a formidable opponent of mine."

"What a pity. I'm afraid he won't live much longer."

Zha Hu was surprised. "Why do you say that? Even if he has some fatal wound or illness, unless there's truly no cure, with so many cultivators around him they should still be able to treat him."

Huyan Wuhen said, "Morning court today was discussing the situation in Nanzhou. According to the court's intelligence, Shang Chaozong's forces have already been cut apart and transferred until they're scattered everywhere, making them difficult to gather again. Judging from the situation, Tianyu Sect intends to strip Shang Chaozong of his military authority and then support Feng Lingbo. Shang Chaozong himself has very likely already been brought under Tianyu Sect's control, while Meng Shanming was a trusted confidant of both father and son of the Shang family."

Zha Hu said, "General means Tianyu Sect intends to kill Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming?"

"If Meng Shanming had not commanded this campaign, he might still have had a road to life." Huyan Wuhen shook his head. "The problem is that he fought this battle too well. Tianyu Sect is unlikely to tolerate him now."

Zha Hu stared. "Winning the war is somehow a fault?"

Huyan Wuhen looked melancholy. "The baseness of human hearts can devour even a fierce tiger. Through all the ages, how many brave men have survived a hundred battles for family and state, only to fall not on the battlefield but before the baseness of human hearts?"

"Excess is as bad as insufficiency."

"One who commands armies must understand Heaven's timing, the advantage of terrain, and the harmony of men. What is Heaven's timing?"

He raised one finger and pointed upward.

"A general who knows only how to fight but cannot read Heaven's timing—what use is it no matter how well he fights? The fatal blow often doesn't come from the enemy facing you. It comes from the people above you."

"If those above cannot tolerate you, being able to fight is useless. Generals who can truly establish themselves at court are never simple, pure warriors."

"Meng Shanming followed Shang Jianbo and fought with his life, only to end crippled and forced into lonely retirement. Now he follows Shang Jianbo's son Shang Chaozong, and the danger is even greater. If that isn't failing to read Heaven's timing, what is?"

Hearing this, Zha Hu could not help looking at him several times. In a certain sense, those words seemed to say that Huyan Wuhen himself was no longer a simple, pure warrior either. Wasn't this man precisely a general who had established himself at court?

"What a pity. What a pity!" Huyan Wuhen walked back and forth twice, then looked again at the map, shaking his head in regret.

Inside the yamen of a newly occupied city, Feng Lingbo went straight to the rear residence after finishing his official business. At the entrance to the rear compound, Peng Yulan was laughing and chatting with several noblewomen. She turned to meet Feng Lingbo as he approached.

"Finished?"

Feng Lingbo acknowledged her and asked, "Where is Father?"

"Father is waiting for you." Peng Yulan answered, then lowered her voice to remind him, "The larger matter is settled. Father will lead the others back tomorrow. He'll go first to Nanzhou's provincial capital."

"Niu Youdao has run off. Tianyu Sect's liquor profits are facing a huge loss, but the tribute to the three major sects cannot be reduced. I expect they'll first squeeze a little out of the wealthy households in Nanzhou's provincial capital to make up this year's tribute."

Feng Lingbo nodded slightly to show he understood, then strode deeper into the residence. Beneath a large tree, Peng Youzai was discussing matters with others. He glanced toward the approaching Feng Lingbo and waved everyone else away.

Only after Feng Lingbo came forward and saluted did Peng Youzai ask, "No problems with the remaining arrangements?"

Feng Lingbo smiled. "Father can rest assured. Everything is going smoothly."

Peng Youzai nodded, then asked as if casually, "And Meng Shanming?"

Feng Lingbo lowered his voice. "I just sent someone to pass him a message. The excuse is that he excels at campaigning and that some of the mopping-up still needs his guidance and cooperation, so we're asking him to remain behind for now. Shang Chaozong and the others will accompany Father back tomorrow. That will separate them."

Peng Youzai gave him a cold look. "Don't blame me for failing to warn you. Leave no evidence behind. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

Feng Lingbo naturally knew. If Shang Chaozong discovered what had happened and caused an uproar, then Shang Chaozong would have to be dealt with too. Feng Lingbo would also have no way to answer to his own daughter. There was another reason.

Some things were simply too ugly. Tianyu Sect absolutely did not want the outside world learning that it had torn down the bridge after crossing the river and killed a meritorious commander, especially a figure such as Meng Shanming, who had considerable influence throughout the military of the State of Yan.

If word spread, the damage to its reputation would be severe. It could easily chill the hearts of Nanzhou's soldiers and officers. What would they think of Tianyu Sect then? It would be disastrous for morale and loyalty.

"There won't be any evidence," Feng Lingbo said softly. "Zhou Shouxian's remnants haven't all been cleared away yet. No one knows where some of them may still be hiding. If they suddenly appear along the road and launch an attack, that would be perfectly normal."

Not far from the yamen, a small courtyard within another residence lay quiet, broken only by the occasional call of birds from the trees. Meng Shanming sat peacefully in his wheelchair.

A general sent by Feng Lingbo had just spoken to him with great respect. Then the man presented a sealed official document with both hands and took his leave. Meng Shanming opened the document and read it.

Luo An, standing behind his wheelchair, muttered, "At least Feng Lingbo still has some self-awareness. He knows he needs Marshal Meng's guidance. Commandery Princess!"

The departing general happened to meet Shang Shuqing entering through the courtyard gate and cupped his hands politely. Without changing expression, Meng Shanming slipped the document into his sleeve.

Shang Shuqing came over and saluted. "Uncle Meng, what did Feng Lingbo's man come for?"

Luo An was about to answer, but Meng Shanming spoke first and stopped him.

"Nothing. He only came to ask after me. Going through the motions, that's all."

Luo An immediately fell silent. He did not know why Meng Shanming was concealing the truth, but once Meng Shanming had said that, Luo An could hardly add anything. Shang Shuqing took Luo An's place and slowly pushed the wheelchair around the courtyard. The sky was high and the clouds stretched broad above them.

After gazing upward for a while, Meng Shanming quietly asked, "Still no news from Master Dao?"

"Still none." Shang Shuqing shook her head.

Meng Shanming fell silent for a while. Then he suddenly sighed, his voice distant and weary.

"Commandery Princess, I'm old. I truly want to see the day you marry."

[End of Chapter 421]