Chapter 1 Opportunity

A person's opportunities are sometimes truly unpredictable, ungraspable, and even unspeakable.

If Zheng Boye had seen the trebuchets being pulled out of the Yangshan stronghold and hadn't run, but instead stood calmly in place, perhaps that giant rock wouldn't have smashed toward him.

If Jing Renli hadn't noticed the two trebuchets that had remained in the stronghold due to unforeseen circumstances, Chi Mingyi wouldn't have used them to smash a small group of Yan scouts in the distance.

If the Sword Saint hadn't been by Zheng Fan's side, Zheng Boye might have been "dragged" off his horse early by the magic pill, but in all likelihood, half his head would have been sliced off by the flying stone fragments.

In short,

It was just a hair's breadth,

And a report of the death in battle of the Great Yan's Earl of Pingye would have appeared on the Jingnan Prince's desk.

Zheng Boye couldn't help but wonder why his battlefield luck was so terrible.

Once, Yao Zizhan, in Shengle City, had a late-night conversation and drink with Zheng Boye, using his so-called unrefined method of observing qi, saying that Zheng Boye was surrounded by too much baleful aura, which might be detrimental to his luck.

At the time, Zheng Boye thought Yao Zizhan was joking at his expense.

Thinking about it now,

Wasn't it the truth?

A zombie, a vampire, and a blind man who had been resurrected from the dead were by his side, and a ninth-generation vengeful infant was hidden in his chest. This lineup was truly unmatched.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have died countless times.

But there was no way around it, because without them, Zheng Boye felt that he would have died countless times as well.

Poisonous wine was in front of him.

If he didn't drink, he would die of thirst; if he drank, he would be poisoned. He might as well drink it; either way, he would die, so he would at least moisten his throat before death.

In the end, Zheng Boye, who had escaped death, returned from the Chu territory, not to his own military camp, but to the Wang tent, where the Jingnan Prince was.

This time, he was uncharacteristically stopped by the prince's personal guards at the entrance.

"Earl, our Prince is meeting with a transport envoy from the rear."

The position of transport envoy in Great Yan was usually responsible for transporting taxes and grain, but in wartime, it was directly incorporated into the military system, transporting grain, equipment, and other supplies to the front lines.

"Which transport envoy?" Zheng Boye asked.

There were many transport envoys, each region had its own.

"Earl, you jest. Could other transport envoys enter our Prince's tent? It is naturally the transport envoy from Ying City."

The transport envoy from Ying City was the largest transport envoy for supplying grain and equipment from the rear. This wasn't because of his official rank, but because Ying City was the largest transit station for supporting the front lines.

However, after hearing this news, Zheng Boye thought, Sun Liang is here?

Sun Liang was Sun Youdao's second son.

"This Prince doesn't want to hear about your difficulties. What this Prince wants to see is the grain and military equipment transported on time every day. If there are delays or shortages, this Prince will execute you first.

Don't even mention you; even if your father or Prince Cheng himself stood before this Prince, this Prince would say the same thing.

Under this Prince's military orders, anyone who dares to disobey will be executed without exception!"

"Yes, Your Highness, this humble servant understands, this humble servant understands."

It was clear that Sun Liang was quite frightened by the Jingnan Prince inside.

Zheng Boye knew that Old Tian valued military supplies and logistical support extremely highly in battle.

During the Three Kingdoms War three years ago, Xu Pangpang bore a heavy burden, working himself so hard that he lost a lot of weight, but Xu Wenzu was truly a capable person who managed to shoulder the responsibility.

Later, when the Jingnan Prince went on an expedition to the Snow Plains, Shengle City was responsible for logistics. With the Blind Man and Si Niang's arrangements, the logistical support didn't have any problems.

During the Battle of Wangjiang, Ying City was responsible for supplying grain and military equipment. The command tent at the time was outside Ying City, and those who were negligent or delayed were immediately beheaded, and those who abandoned their posts had their homes confiscated and families exterminated.

Originally, because of the war, the Si Tu family's bureaucratic system in Ying City, which had been damaged, was immediately and efficiently put into operation after being lubricated with those heads and blood. The cost of this efficient operation was that it was somewhat costly in terms of lives.

The reason why Sun Youdao was later able to push his son into the position of transport envoy of Ying City was also because the previous incumbents had had their heads chopped off several times.

"Summon the military supply officer of the central army."

Sun Liang walked out of the command tent.

The personal guard then said to Zheng Boye, "Earl, will you go in now or..."

"Wait until the Prince has finished summoning the military supply officer. I'm not in a hurry, not in a hurry."

At this time, Sun Liang also saw Zheng Boye.

For a moment, Sun Liang, with tears welling up in his eyes, felt as if he had seen a relative when he saw Zheng Boye, and immediately grabbed Zheng Boye's wrist with both hands.

In fact,

The Sun brothers had a very poor impression of Zheng Boye, especially on that day in Ying City when Zheng Boye directly led his troops to raid the Sun family's home, which had frightened Sun Liang.

But how should he put it? Now, after all, the Sun family and Zheng Boye were on the same boat. When the previous round of money, grain, and military supplies was transported, Sun Liang personally handled it under his father's command, and it could be said to be extremely generous, truly at the expense of others to support Xuehai Pass.

And after being intimidated by the Jingnan Prince's aura just now,

Zheng Boye

actually seemed particularly amiable.

Actually, it was also hard on him. Zheng Boye knew that Sun Liang was capable of handling affairs, but his personality was a bit soft. But there was no choice; his older brother was disabled and was now confined at home and not allowed to go out. Sun Youdao was getting old, so he could only rely on him to support the family.

"Has something gone wrong with the grain transport?" Zheng Boye asked.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be.

The war hadn't really started yet; both sides had only finished warming up. If the grain and military supplies from the rear were already having problems, how could this battle be fought?

And the national war was a national war in name and in fact, a battle that required the strength of the entire country. Was it so easy to exhaust resources?

It was impossible. Even a rotten ship still had three thousand nails.

Moreover, the current Great Yan, with the Yan Emperor vigorously promoting the campaign against Chu, coupled with Little Sixth's talent for plundering, it was impossible for the logistics to falter just as the war was starting.

"Answering the Earl's question, there is no shortage of grain and equipment, but there is a shortage of laborers. This summer, there have been several heavy rains upstream of Wangjiang."

"Could it be that the dikes have burst?"

"They haven't."

"If the dikes haven't burst, then..."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Sun Liang was almost about to cry again, gripping Zheng Boye even tighter with both hands, "It's that we have to conscript laborers to transport grain and equipment and also manage the river dikes. Ying City, Ying City is having a hard time..."

"Still need to manage the river dikes?"

How was it possible that they still needed to manage the river dikes this year?

They were at war!

The work on the rivers was a major undertaking, consuming an enormous amount of manpower and resources. Even in peacetime, if the imperial court wanted to repair the river dikes, the Ministry of Revenue would have to make a budget plan one or two years in advance. Now, they were campaigning against Chu on one side and repairing the river dikes on the other?

Then, wasn't the Fifth Prince really doing something over there?

Sun Liang nodded heavily.

"Therefore, this humble servant came here specifically to request the Prince to allow us to slow down the transportation of grain and military equipment."

"How can military affairs be delayed?"

Zheng Boye knew that what Sun Liang meant by slowing down wasn't that they wouldn't deliver it, but that because there weren't enough laborers in the rear, there would inevitably be delays in transportation.

Therefore, he had come to ask the Jingnan Prince to ease up in advance, because once the deadline was missed, his head wouldn't be safe.

But obviously, he hadn't succeeded.

"Well, you do what you think is best."

Zheng Boye didn't know what to say or what to do. In short, let him and his father figure out a way.

"Ah, Earl, this humble servant will take his leave first. I still have to go back later."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

Sun Liang left.

Zheng Boye was suspicious in his heart, repairing the river works?

What kind of tricks was the imperial court playing?

After the military supply officer went in, he quickly came out.

Zheng Boye took a deep breath and walked into the Wang tent after the personal guard lifted the curtain.

Inside the Wang tent, Tian Wujing was sitting on the commander's seat, holding a memorial in his hand and reading it.

A commander-in-chief wasn't someone who had nothing to do after issuing orders at a military conference. With hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line, plus the laborers, there were many things that needed the commander-in-chief to make decisions on.

Moreover, with the integration of troops from various places, there were even more problems to face. If they were all Jingnan troops, things might be a little easier, but that was all.

In fact, even someone like Li Fusheng, who was so carefree, had endless things to do when he returned to his own military camp. He could take it easy if he wanted to, but no one dared to.

Only Zheng Boye could have ample leisure to sulk.

For no other reason than the demon kings were capable enough, each of them could take charge of their own area, and he didn't have to worry about them taking over and rebelling. This was a blessing that others couldn't envy.

"This humble general pays respects to the Prince."

Zheng Boye saluted the Jingnan Prince.

Tian Wujing put down the memorial in his hand, raised his head, glanced at Zheng Fan who was kneeling on one knee below, and said:

"The war is about to begin, what are you doing here?"

"Answering the Prince's question, this humble general just went for a ride in the south."

Tian Wujing nodded, knowing that he had gone to scout out the enemy's situation. Although this was dangerous, it was a necessary step for a general.

Even if the scouts could gather information, the commander still needed to make the decisions when it came to actually using the troops.

Even Tian Wujing himself had personally walked the route when he borrowed a path from Qian to open up Jin back then.

"The garrison in Yangshan Stockade is the Baipu rattan armor soldiers from the Changxi Commandery of the Chu Kingdom. They have been suppressing bandits on the edge of the Daze for many years. Their armor may not be as fierce as the Qingluan Army, but their resilience is indeed good.

After you went to see them, did you find anything?"

"I didn't find anything, but I almost got killed by a rock thrown by the trebuchet in the Chu army stockade. I'm fine, but my warhorse was smashed into mincemeat."

Hearing this sentence,

Tian Wujing's gaze suddenly sharpened.

In fact, Zheng Boye didn't say this to show how difficult things were for him, but simply because he had escaped death and wanted to talk to the Jingnan Prince about it. It was just a simple conversation.

"You have always been lucky."

Zheng Boye raised his head and smiled.

"You only have one flaw. Other people's laziness might be self-preservation or self-defilement, but your laziness comes from within.

Think about how difficult it was for you to climb out of the pile of corpses in the labor camp in Beifeng Commandery and get to where you are today. Now you're being lazy. Isn't that a pity?"

"Your Highness, it's precisely because it was too difficult and too hard back then that I finally managed to get to where I am today after so much hard work. If I don't get a little lazy, relax a little, and indulge in a little comfort, wouldn't that mean that all my previous hard work and struggle would be meaningless?"

Inside the Wang tent,

the atmosphere

stagnated.

Tian Wujing didn't speak,

and Zheng Fan didn't speak either.

Perhaps, another person would never have said such a thing in front of the Jingnan Prince.

The Jingnan Prince's attention and support were visible to the naked eye and very real. Others would envy him but couldn't.

But,

another person might not have received this kind of treatment, so there was no such assumption or possibility.

In the army,

people eager to make contributions

were like the sisters in the red tents eager to get work. You could point to anyone at random.

If the Jingnan Prince wanted to promote someone, that person would definitely be grateful and give everything to fight, struggle, strive, and work hard.

They would never be like they were at the military conference the other day,

standing behind the generals, staring intently at the sand table, as if he weren't even in the Wang tent.

After a long time,

Tian Wujing got up from the commander's seat

and slowly walked down.

Along with Tian Wujing's footsteps came a majestic aura.

Zheng Boye took a deep breath, lowered his head, and knelt there on one knee, until those boots appeared in his lowered vision.

"Zheng Fan."

"This humble general... is here."

At this moment,

a scene suddenly appeared in Zheng Boye's mind,

it was Tian Wujing kicking out directly, smashing the head of this ignorant, ungrateful, and unmotivated worm.

Zheng Boye knew that

if Tian Wujing were to do this,

the magic pill

wouldn't be able to save him at all,

and would most likely be smashed along with him.

It wasn't uncommon for your superior to be a ruthless person;

but it was very agonizing when your superior was a ruthless person and a peak third-rank martial artist at the same time.

However,

the most extreme situation didn't occur.

In fact, Zheng Boye knew in his heart that it wouldn't happen. Old Tian couldn't bear to kill him, he couldn't bear to.

Tian Wujing squatted down slowly beside Zheng Fan and reached out to rest his hand on the back of Zheng Boye's head.

"Pa."

"Pa."

He patted it gently.

Each time he patted it, Zheng Boye's body trembled slightly.

He was really afraid that Tian Wujing wouldn't be able to control his strength and would smash his head like a watermelon.

Then,

Tian Wujing reached out and put his hand on Zheng Boye's shoulder.

To be honest,

Zheng Boye often made this movement at Xuehai Pass, but no one dared to do it to him.

Now, someone dared to.

At the same time, Zheng Boye deeply felt what his subordinates felt when he patted them on the shoulder at Xuehai Pass.

With trepidation, as if walking on thin ice.

"Do you think you can sit back and relax and enjoy peace now?"

"This humble general has never thought of that. This humble general just thinks that he can catch his breath a little now."

"Oh, catch your breath."

Zheng Boye nodded.

Tian Wujing reached out, took a flag from the sand table in front of them, held it in his hand, and pointed to the sand table in front of him with his finger,

and said:

"What is this?"

Zheng Boye hesitated for a moment

and answered:

"This... is the human world."

"Heh, heh heh."

Tian Wujing laughed. He had known a long time ago that this person was very smart.

"Continue. Say what this Prince wants to say to you yourself."

Zheng Boye hesitated for a moment

and said:

"This is a sand table, and it is also the human world. Just as many military stockades and troops are marked with a flag on the sand table, the world is like this sand table. Once you enter the table, whether you are in it or not, whether you retreat or not, whether you advance or not, is not something that you, this flag, can decide.

If you are disobedient,

if you are useless,

you will be like this flag, taken down by the person standing by the sand table."

Silence,

silence,

more silence.

"You are very smart. Ordinary people might not be able to accomplish something even if they exert ten points of effort, but you can accomplish it with six points of effort, leaving three points of leisure and one point of self-admiration."

Zheng Boye listened in silence.

"You actually understand the principles. You can even explain them better than this Prince. So why were you acting like that earlier?"

"My heart... isn't at ease."

"Not at ease?"

"Yes, not at ease. This humble general knows that Your Highness is doing it for my good, but this humble general's heart is still not at ease. Moreover, I can't talk about this uneasiness with others, I can only talk to you, Your Highness."

Zheng Boye breathed a long sigh of relief

and continued:

"Don't laugh at me, Your Highness. In this life, in this world, there really aren't many people who are good to this humble general. I don't know when it started, but this humble general has regarded you, Your Highness, as my own older brother in this world. When I brought Li Qing into the Wang tent that day, when Your Highness asked Li Qing to call you brother, the one who was happiest wasn't her, it was this humble general himself."

Among the people, even in the eyes of the Great Yan people, Tian Wujing, who had annihilated his entire family, was undoubtedly a thorough demon.

Fortunately, this great demon had always been leading troops in battles outside.

Even in the army, the soldiers treated this prince with utmost reverence.

Only Zheng Boye was a special case.

His special case was that he had a quality that was different from this world, and even the demon kings, who also didn't belong to this world, didn't have this quality.

In the Wang tent,

at this time, there were only the Jingnan Prince and Zheng Boye.

Tian Wujing said:

"Zheng Fan."

"Here."

"I haven't lived a happy life in this world."

"...Yes."

"Therefore, I hope you can live a happy life."

"I... understand."

Tian Wujing stood up, walked back to the commander's seat, and sat down.

Zheng Boye, whose body was already soaked in cold sweat, swayed slightly and slowly got up.

In his heart,

for some reason,

he felt relaxed

and comfortable.

Huff...

Seeing that Tian Wujing, who was sitting in the commander's seat, had picked up the memorial again,

Zheng Boye saluted and prepared to take his leave.

But just as he turned around,

Zheng Boye remembered that he had only been focused on being sentimental earlier, and had forgotten the real purpose of his coming here.

The Wild Man King had said that in the battle to storm the stockade, using the Wild Man cavalry as suicide troops, others might not be able to see anything, but the Jingnan Prince, who had faced the Wild Man King in battle, would definitely be able to see it.

"Your Highness, this humble general has one more thing."

Tian Wujing looked at the memorial, didn't even raise his face, and just said calmly:

"Speak."

"That, that, that, that Wild Man King, actually, the one in this humble general's hands, the one sent to the capital, is actually a fake."

Tian Wujing closed the memorial in front of him,

picked up another memorial, opened it,

and in the meantime,

said:

"Understood."