260: Chapter 260 The Page

Old Xu grabbed a piece of bacon with his bare hands and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I just got word from some brothers at the Prince's manor. Yan Shifeng, the inspector general of Sha Prefecture, has disappeared. The garrison commander, General Liang Hu, met with Zhao Yunting and promptly surrendered with twenty thousand troops."

Chen Yanqiu, who was eating, frowned. "Disappeared?"

"I didn't believe it at first either, but Prince Bai was still throwing a tantrum late into the night, so it's likely true."

Old Xu chuckled. "With Sha Prefecture fallen and the Zhenbei Army heading south, even Lu Sanchuan might not be able to withstand a pincer attack from two sides."

"As I see it, Prince Bai's momentum is gone. Prince Qing is about to reap the rewards. Your mission in Yong Province is almost over."

Chen Yanqiu, however, looked worried, his face darkening.

"What's wrong?"

Old Xu asked curiously, "Didn't you administer such potent medicine because you wanted the situation in the north to clarify as soon as possible?"

"Now that the Zhenbei Army has done you a huge favor, you should be happy."

"Could it be that you actually hoped Li Sibai would unify the north? That can't be right, can it?"

Chen Yanqiu sighed. "What do you know? Even if Prince Bai won, it would only be temporary."

"He is tyrannical and heartless, having lost the support of the people. Even if he unified the north, he would be overthrown sooner or later; it couldn't last."

"I helped Prince Bai not for his sake, but to use him as a spark to set fire to this pile of rotten wood that is the Great Gan!"

"But what is this now? Before Prince Bai could even start the fire, he's been extinguished!"

Old Xu said in confusion, "So what if he's extinguished? Prince Qing governs the four western provinces. It's not exactly prosperous, but at least the commoners can get by."

"Wouldn't it be fine for Prince Qing to unify the north?"

Chen Yanqiu scoffed. "Prince Qing is decent, but he needs to prove himself first to win over the masses!"

"He needs to defeat the White Kings Army fair and square, not rely on the imperial court's Zhenbei Army marching south!"

"Right now it looks like Prince Qing will become the dominant power, but the one truly reaching back into the northern border is the person in the palace."

"Don't forget, the Zhenbei Army can openly engage in trade and appoint local officials only because they act under the Emperor's banner!"

Old Xu seemed to half-understand. "You mean... after all this fuss, the north will just continue to be in chaos?"

Chen Yanqiu tapped his forehead with his chopsticks. "Chaos is a small matter... my fear is that Prince Bai will lose too quickly and, in his resentment, choose to bring everyone down with him."

"Hey, Chen Yanqiu, what do you mean by that?"

Old Xu's expression turned ugly. "You don't mean..."

At the thought that Li Sibai had just dumped plague-infested corpses at the Yong Province border to blockade it...

A terrifying thought made Old Xu break into a cold sweat!

A beast is most dangerous when backed into a corner.

If Li Sibai intended to go down fighting, he might spread the plague across the entire north, or even the entire Great Gan...

"There is only one way now."

Chen Yanqiu looked helplessly at Old Xu. "Quickly contact your people inside the Prince's manor and kill Li Sibai."

Old Xu was so shocked he spat out a mouthful of meat!

"Are you crazy?! Kill an Imperial Prince?!"

"Do you know how many court officials have secretly supported Prince Bai all these years because their interests are tied to his?"

"Among them are many core disciples of the Academy. Their influence within the Academy is not to be underestimated!"

"Besides, we are just 'Pages,' mere handymen for the Academy, not gold-tier assassins from the Yanyu Pavilion. What do you expect my old brothers to use to kill him?!"

Old Xu said speechlessly, "You don't seriously think a figure like Li Sibai doesn't have a Martial Arts Grandmaster protecting him, do you?"

"A Martial Arts Grandmaster?"

Chen Yanqiu's expression changed as he suddenly thought of something!

"You mean... that old fellow isn't dead yet?!"

"Heh, unexpected, right? Everyone in the martial world thought he never came out after entering secluded meditation ten years ago, but in reality, he's been enjoying his retirement in the Prince's manor!"

Old Xu said proudly, "Thanks to a good buddy of mine who saw him with his own eyes in the manor, otherwise I wouldn't have known either."

Chen Yanqiu took a sharp breath, then lowered his head to eat in silence.

"Hey! Chen Yanqiu, think of something! Why are you eating again?!"

Old Xu said anxiously, "If Li Sibai goes mad, we might not even make it out of Yong Province City alive!!"

"There's nothing to be done. With that old monster there, unless one of those living Great Grandmasters comes in person, who could kill Li Sibai in Yong Province City?"

"I might as well eat my fill and be a well-fed ghost. After all, having killed so many people with a poisonous scheme, I'm sure there won't be any food for me when I reach the King of Hell..."

Chen Yanqiu gave a self-deprecating smile, his eyes filled with helplessness.

...

Qin Province border.

White Kings Army camp.

Before dawn, a scarred messenger stumbled back into the camp in a wretched state.

When the news that Jingtian County had not been taken and that nearly all thirty thousand troops had been killed reached the tent, almost every general doubted their ears!

"That Jiang Wanli only took five hundred Azure Dragon Guards; could he really be so valiant?!"

"Commander, we shouldn't have trusted that Lou Suifeng. Assassins only know how to play at ambushes and assassinations; on a real battlefield, they are nothing but clowns!"

Several key generals of the White Kings Army were furious.

Without taking Jingtian County, they couldn't launch a full-scale offensive and had to split their forces.

"General, the one who held Jingtian County wasn't Jiang Wanli! Jiang Wanli was lured away by General Lou as soon as the battle started and barely fought at all!"

The messenger said with a long face, "The enemy's commander seemed to be someone named 'Cao'! Wherever he went, people died in droves!"

"The men General Lou took had originally suppressed the Azure Dragon Guard, but as soon as that man named Cao appeared, they were all killed in no time!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was dumbstruck!

"Named Cao? Could it be the Jingtian County garrison commander, General Cao Wang? Does that guy have such ability?!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"But Lou Suifeng, Wubing, and Wuzai haven't returned..."

Lu Sanchuan, who had been silent, took a deep breath and asked, "How many people are left in Jingtian County?"

"Reporting to the Commander, the Qing Kings Army also suffered heavy casualties. At most, there are fewer than a thousand men left!"

Lu Sanchuan nodded. "Though it's not what we expected, as long as we take Xunyang directly, that small number of people is nothing to fear..."

Just as he finished speaking, another report came from outside.

A messenger rushed in and presented a battle report.

"Commander! Yesterday, the Zhenbei Army took five counties of Sha Prefecture. It has completely fallen, and the garrison commander General Liang Hu has defected!"

"The Zhenbei Army has split into two routes, coming from Zhuanghui and Qinning toward our Gan Province camp!"

Like a bolt from the blue, this news caused the White Kings Army command tent to erupt once again!!

"What is that Yan Shifeng doing?!"

"How could he defect?!"

"Can the Zhenbei Army walk through walls?! Are those cities just for show?!"

Lu Sanchuan's face looked extremely grim.

Because of the distance, by the time he received this news, the Zhenbei Army was likely only one or two days' march away.

If they were cavalry, they might arrive within a single day.

Although the Zhenbei Army would be tired after attacking Sha Prefecture, their morale would be sky-high from their string of victories!

After looking at the sand table, Lu Sanchuan quickly made a decision:

"Suspend the attack on Xunyang City. Deal with the Zhenbei Army first!"