Chapter 1 A Strange Scene

A very strange scene was unfolding beneath the city of Juyang.

The strangeness was no longer simply that an army of Yan soldiers had appeared in the heart of Chu, besieging the city where the Chu regent resided; rather, it was the duration of the siege that was truly excessive.

Zheng Boye had been busy preparing to flee since day one. He had decided from the start not to attack the city.

In the days that followed, the entire army prepared to retreat safely into the Great Marsh.

However,

the expected relief from the Chu army did not materialize.

The Yan scouts had detected Chu troops operating on the periphery some days ago, but they hadn't approached Juyang; instead, they had headed north, apparently intending to join the battle in Shanggu County.

On the contrary,

they had abandoned their "King" here, completely disregarding him.

This made Zheng Boye very uncomfortable. Originally, he had intended to draw the Chu army's attention by attracting their hatred, but the Chu's decisiveness now seemed to trap his elite force here.

The days passed, one after another.

Every day,

the Great Chu regent inside Juyang would send someone out of the city in a hanging basket to deliver food to Zheng Boye.

Pastries, mutton soup—whatever the regent ate that day, he would send a portion to his brother-in-law.

Zheng Boye, in turn, would occasionally send some fruits and vegetables, all picked from the fields of nearby farmers who had long since fled. He would send a portion back to his brother-in-law inside Juyang as a reciprocal gesture.

Both sides were courteous and knew how to observe etiquette.

………

"Calculating the days, the Qingluan Army should be arriving soon, right?" The regent, wearing a purple robe, sat lazily in his chair, asking Sun Yuan.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, calculating the time, they should arrive within these next two days."

"Heh, my brother-in-law outside the city must be getting impatient." The regent picked up his teacup and blew on it. "Let the Qingluan Army keep him busy. After he leaves, I must return to the capital as well."

Although the Empress Dowager had come forward to appease the court,

his absence as "Emperor" would eventually lead to instability.

Moreover, he had stayed here long enough, not only seeing off the Duguo family's army, but also ordering the northward deployment of five other noble family private armies originally stationed in southern Chu.

It was almost time.

It really was almost time.

"The Qu family has always been dissatisfied. Fine, I'll give them the chance now. I want to see if the Qu family, after Qu Tiannan, still has the qualifications to hold the position of Pillar of the State."

………

"Where is the Pillar of the State?"

"Where is the Great General?"

"Where are the loyal and righteous men of Chu?"

Zheng Boye sat in front of his tent every day, pondering this question.

Running away was not a pleasant thing,

but waiting to run away was even more agonizing than the former.

The Chu were truly patient. In some ways, the Chu's quality and performance were much higher than those of the former Qian Kingdom.

One had to know that Chu was still in a state of noble family dominance, while Qian had been a unified and centralized dynasty far longer than Yan.

Of course,

the only one who had the leisure and time to sit here leisurely was

Zheng Boye alone.

Everyone else, from the demon kings to the soldiers, had never stopped working. As an isolated army deep in enemy territory, they naturally had to be extra careful.

And the busiest of them all was none other than Gou Moli.

Liang Cheng had stayed in Jing City with four thousand cavalry to play guerilla warfare with the Chu army, and Blindman was guarding Xuehai Pass. Zheng Boye was skilled in cavalry warfare, but in other aspects, especially in the current situation, he was actually at a disadvantage.

The regent was in the city, inaccessible, while tigers constantly passed by outside, glancing at you from time to time, but never actually pouncing.

The battlefield situation, not overall, but in this sector, was really bad.

Turning the tide in such an environment was what the Savage King was best at. When he first started his rebellion in the snowy plains, facing other tribes, then the Sima family's army, and finally the Yan army, he had always been constantly turning the tables in adverse and disadvantaged situations.

Therefore, Zheng Boye was happy to hand over the nominal "command" of the army to the Savage King for the time being. Even Jin Shuke had to temporarily follow the Savage King's orders.

At this moment,

the Savage King walked over quickly, his hair disheveled and his eye sockets sunken. He looked exhausted, but his eyes still gleamed with spirit.

After being imprisoned in Xuehai Pass for so long, and then accompanying him to Yanjing as a semi-prisoner, and then encouraging his wildmen to die for him to gain status;

this time,

the Savage King had finally regained his old feeling under Juyang City!

Like a wolf, he spied and observed his enemies, found their flaws, and then pounced on them, biting their necks, suffocating them, bleeding them, and finally killing them!

"Boye."

Zheng Boye nodded and said, "They've arrived?"

"They've arrived."

Zheng Boye nodded with some relief and said, "That's good."

What had arrived was the Qu family's Qingluan Army.

The Fan family had rebelled.

In fact,

when the Yan army navy entered the Wei River from the Fan family's sphere of influence and then advanced eastward, the Fan family could no longer hide its identity.

Fan Zhengwen led his family, old and young, along with the Fan family's forces, and withdrew from the city early, entering Mount Meng to avoid being crushed by the Qu family.

The Qu family really didn't have time to play hide-and-seek with the Fan family in Mount Meng at this time. They had serious business to attend to. Therefore, after slaughtering the small city where the Fan family had previously been located, they immediately reorganized the Qingluan Army and, together with the Chu navy, pursued the Yan army navy eastward.

Halfway through the pursuit, an edict and military intelligence arrived together, and their mission became to protect the king. His Majesty, the Great Chu Regent, was besieged by the Yan army inside Juyang City.

Therefore, the Qu family and the Chu navy did not stop at Jing City. After helping a Chu army cross the Wei River, they immediately continued forward along the Wei River, pursuing the Yan army that dared to offend the majesty of the Great Chu.

As for Zheng Boye's army,

it was indeed an isolated army. Even though the scouts were working very hard, and San'er was constantly scouting around with his men, they still couldn't hide the fact that they were largely in the dark about the overall situation.

The entire battlefield in this area, except for Juyang City, was shrouded in a fog of war.

But,

there was one bright spot,

it was moving,

it was advancing,

where it was going, and when it would arrive at the next location, Zheng Boye could predict it all.

It was the Qingluan Army!

Money makes the world go round. If what the Fan family's ancestors had done was only a businessman's instinctive behavior to maintain their existence and prosperity, then, from the day Fan Zhengwen married Min Shi, also known as Little Liu Zi's aunt, or even earlier, Fan Zhengwen had been preparing to rebel against Chu today.

After seeing the Yan army's crushing victory in destroying Jin and annexing the Three Jins, Fan Zhengwen almost went crazy, investing all his capital into this big gamble.

The Fan family was not just the Fan family. As the Qu family's money bag for centuries, its tentacles had long spread throughout the Qu family. The county town destroyed by the Qu family had not even touched the Fan family's true power.

Not to mention that the main force of the Qingluan Army had been wiped out once under Yupan City. Although the newly formed Qingluan Army had some veterans, the newly recruited soldiers and promoted generals were too easily infiltrated.

The Qingluan Army sailed all the way here, like a beast with a skin disease, constantly shedding flakes of skin, which then actively flew to Zheng Boye, reporting the Qingluan Army's movements to him. Sometimes, three groups of people would come with the same information!

From the smallest centurion to the chiliarch, to the deputy general in the navy, and even a commander of the Qingluan Army, had all sent people ashore to report the news.

It was unknown how many of them truly wanted to defect to Great Yan, but if there were no accidents, each of them should have had their weaknesses in the hands of the Fan family.

"Heh."

Zheng Boye smiled, lit a cigarette,

and continued;

"Perhaps my brother-in-law thinks that the Qingluan Army can be used as a stick to drive me away, but he doesn't know that the stick has long been hollowed out."

The Savage King said, "Boye, families like the Fan family should not be allowed to stay here in the future. When I started my rebellion, many merchants from Jin were flirting with me early on, and they smuggled a lot of armor and military equipment for my uprising."

"It doesn't matter. Little Liu Zi started as a merchant. If he comes to power in the future, no one will suppress these merchants more ruthlessly than he will."

Zheng Boye now deeply understood why Zhu Yuanzhang had to deal with Shen Wansan.

"Are you confident? Their numbers are more than three times ours."

"Boye, don't worry, we are all elites."

"Mm." Zheng Boye nodded and pointed to Juyang City in front of him, saying, "After the troops are transferred, my brother-in-law may run away."

No matter how transparent the Qingluan Army was, Zheng Boye had to do his best to meet it, and the encirclement of Juyang City had to be lifted.

The regent would definitely seize this opportunity to return to the capital.

What a pity, what a pity,

Li Qing missed her brother so much,

but he couldn't invite his brother-in-law home as a guest.

"Forget it, let's eat this Qingluan Army first!"

"Yes, Boye."

Zheng Boye stretched and smiled:

"Thinking about it carefully, always taking advantage of the Qu family seems a bit unethical."

"Boye, do you mean..."

"Never mind, never mind, that kid probably thinks he can take my dog's life with full confidence. He's asking for it."

………

At the reed marshes,

the Chu navy's ships docked,

and teams of Qingluan Army soldiers began to disembark in neat steps.

A young general in red armor on a white horse looked at the distant sunset,

his eyes narrowed slightly,

and said in a deep voice;

"Zheng Fan, I'm here to take your dog's life."

————

I need to sort out my thoughts. I'll try to update more tomorrow!