Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 1561 - 1556: At Any Cost

The King of Xiping reclined on the white tiger-skin upholstered seat, his deerskin boots stepping on the tiger’s head.

"Previously, there was an epidemic in the Da Zhou city within the Yan lands, which also sparked a civil unrest. I assume bringing troops here was to suppress the chaos. Later... I heard that the loyal Vassal King and the Emperor of Zhou divided their forces, heading to various cities to console the people. Furthermore... every city the Emperor of Zhou passed through, he left some soldiers behind to assist the local generals in maintaining order!" The strategist in black clothing spoke slowly, "Thanks to the appropriate measures by Minister Shen Tianzhi, the epidemic in the Yanland Da Zhou cities has stabilized! I suppose those soldiers will also return to Shequ and accompany the Zhou Emperor back to Zhou!"

"Indeed, it makes no sense to disperse capable and battle-hardened soldiers to the cities within Yan territory, which are only temporarily under their jurisdiction!" The King of Xiping smirked, leaned forward, and reached out to warm his hands over the brazier, "Unless... Da Zhou has already planned, that even if they lose the bet, they won’t acknowledge it, and will still seize Yan by force! Therefore... taking advantage of this opportunity, they scattered these elite soldiers across various cities, just waiting for the day..."

The black-clad strategist lowered his eyes in thought before speaking, "What the Prince is considering is indeed a possibility!"

"But, in any case, we cannot let the Emperor of Zhou reach Shequ or even get close to it!" The King of Xiping looked up at the black-clad strategist kneeling below, "If the Emperor of Zhou reaches Shequ or gets too close, it will be too easy for him to send someone to relay information, which would be detrimental to us!"

"Then, does the Prince plan to send troops to ambush immediately?" the black-clad strategist asked.

"I have already chosen the place for the ambush!" The King of Xiping wasn’t a coward who relied solely on strategists. He pulled back his hands, red from the brazier, and slowly stood up, "Send troops immediately, we must reach the ambush point before dawn tomorrow and catch the Emperor of Zhou off guard."

The black-clad strategist also stood up, supporting himself on the table in front of him, and asked, "How many troops does the Prince plan to dispatch?"

The King of Xiping said, "All the Xiping Army will set out!"

The black-clad strategist widened his eyes, "Prince... are you planning to send the 30,000 soldiers not reported to the Imperial Court along too? That would be 50,000 soldiers!"

The King of Xiping nodded, "Against a figure like the Emperor of Zhou, we cannot be careless. Everyone sets out, and in this battle, I will personally lead the troops... only to kill the Emperor of Zhou! At any cost!"

The black-clad strategist saw the King of Xiping’s determination to kill the Emperor of Zhou, he bowed deeply towards the King of Xiping, "For fighting for Yan, the late emperor’s spirit in heaven will surely protect Yan soldiers, and the Prince will surely return in triumph!"

The King of Xiping had truly been through many battles; when trouble arose in Yanhuang Palace, it was the King of Xiping who escorted the late emperor out of the palace. Even before Nanyan was recovered, the King of Xiping was stationed at the Yan border. Over the years, it was the King of Xiping who fought many of the battles with Nanyan, but as time went on... the King of Xiping watched other Vassal Kings hiding behind their well-fed soldiers, and his thoughts changed, reluctant to expend his own soldiers; not only hoarding soldiers, but also growing more inept on the battlefield.

But this time is different, if the Emperor of Zhou is killed... the Regent Prince killed, the Emperor is still young, and he holds military power, to be the Regent Prince is still feasible, revealing one’s hidden strength is natural.

The Emperor of Zhou’s reputation is too formidable, undefeated in battle!

Just these four words are enough to intimidate many Vassal Kings of Yan; if he can kill this undefeated Bai Qingyan, then no one would dare to face him head-on anymore.

·

At night, Bai Jinzhi tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she simply lifted the bed curtain, got up, took the glass lantern from the tall shelf, and walked out of the inner room to pour herself a cup of tea.

The tea was cold, but Bai Jinzhi didn’t mind; staying in a tent while marching was much more challenging than this.

For some reason, Bai Jinzhi had been inexplicably anxious these past few days, a feeling she had never experienced before.

She touched her own forehead, "Could it be an epidemic?"

Not feeling feverish upon touching her forehead, unable to sleep, Bai Jinzhi changed her clothes, preparing to practice the bow that her Eldest Young Lady had taught her at the martial field. Back when the Eldest Young Lady was traveling to Nanjian, she had picked up the bow by practicing like this.

Early the next morning, the troops set off...

Bai Jinzhi wasn’t fully awake, yawning on horseback behind Bai Qingyan’s carriage, rubbing her eyes, wishing she’d had a strong cup of tea before leaving to refresh herself.

"Bai Jinzhi, did you go thieving last night? Your eyes can barely open..." Lu Yuanpeng took a cool balm box from his chest and handed it to Bai Jinzhi, "Rub a little on your temples, it’ll wake you up!"

This balm was a treasure for examinees staying up for the imperial exams, made from dipterocarp, ox gallstone, musk, coptis, and the likes, it was very invigorating.

Bai Jinzhi loosened the reins, dug a bit out with her finger and rubbed it on her temples, then returned it to Lu Yuanpeng, complaining that it didn’t help much, and caught up with Bai Qingyan’s carriage, intending to crawl in for a good nap.

Seeing Bai Jinzhi on the carriage, without looking up from the memoranda sent by Zhou, Bai Qingyan said, "Didn’t you say riding was majestic? Now you’re willing to get on the carriage!"

"Lately, I don’t know what’s wrong! I’ve been nervous in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, practiced last night, and now I’m very tired!" Bai Jinzhi rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, "Eldest Young Lady, I want to nap here for a bit."

Bai Qingyan glanced at Bai Jinzhi, who still looked like a child, pushed the cup of hot goat milk Wei Zhong sent her towards Bai Jinzhi, dabbed her brush in the ink on the inkwell with the tip of her pen, and smiled, "Drink and sleep."

Before departure, Liu Pinggao had already sent scouts ahead. Although not wartime, Liu Pinggao, now guarding the Emperor, naturally had to be cautious.

It wasn’t long before scouts came galloping back, and Liu Pinggao tugged his reins forward, "How is it?"

"Back to General Liu, we ascended the mountain and checked carefully, the snow drifts are deep. We stabbed our blades several times along the way and found no ambush. No bandits were detected, but there were some half-leg-deep footprints visible, the shoe print patterns seem different from each other."

Before setting out, Liu Pinggao had inquired from the local populace to see if any notorious bandits were around this mountain pass. Lu Yuanpeng even joked that Liu Pinggao was too cautious, saying even the most daring bandits would have wet themselves upon seeing their nearly ten thousand elite Zhou troops and wouldn’t venture out to die.

If the shoe prints were indeed different, it likely wasn’t a uniform boot, which could suggest it was some opportunistic bandits lying in wait. Seeing the ten thousand elite troops of theirs, the bandits would naturally retreat.