Chapter 315: Chapter 315

Deng Cui was an unpredictable general whose style was having no style at all. His acts had no clear logic, loving to act on sudden whims. To him, careful deliberation was a waste of time, and military formations were child’s play. The words he constantly had on his lips were “adapt to circumstances.”

That afternoon, General Deng had been sleeping soundly. Only when the sun set in the west did he climb out of bed, wash his face, and eat dinner. Then, full of vigor, he summoned all the generals in the city and announced that he would launch a nighttime raid on the Xiongnu outside the city.

No one understood whether General Deng had thought of this plan in his dreams or had prepared it in advance, sleeping only to conserve his energy. In any case, no one had prior knowledge of this plan, and everyone was shocked.

Deng Cui’s battle plan was extremely simple: he would select twenty generals, each of whom would then choose one hundred soldiers, totaling two thousand men. They would exit through the south gate and directly attack the largest Xiongnu camp.

Among these twenty generals were fierce warriors like Fan Zhuangshan, high officials like the Northern Army Vanguard General, noble sons from aristocratic families, ceremonial guard leaders from the Emperor’s entourage, and minor military officers originally from Jincheng City. Regardless of rank or status, each could only select one hundred soldiers—not one more.

He gave the generals very little preparation time—just over an hour. They would depart precisely at the first quarter of the second watch.

Two thousand soldiers represented more than half of Jincheng City’s garrison. Without any special plan or clear objective, they were to raid nearly one hundred thousand enemy troops. Even Fan Zhuangshan could not understand this.

Deng Cui prided himself as a descendant of the famous general Deng Liao and was extremely arrogant, not allowing others to contradict or question him face to face. After the meeting ended, the generals briefly consulted among themselves and all felt the plan was unfeasible, so they elected Fan Zhuangshan to explain the situation to the Emperor.

Fan Zhuangshan was highly regarded by the Emperor and had a simple nature, so he immediately rode to the prince’s residence.

Fan Zhuangshan had a great reputation, so he needed no announcement to pass the first gate. At the second gate, the eunuch only asked him to wait briefly. Behind the third gate was the Emperor’s quaters, which was more strictly guarded. Chief Overseer Liu Jie personally stood guard and nodded to Fan Zhuangshan when he saw him.

Faint sounds of a zither could be heard from behind the door. Fan Zhuangshan frowned slightly. It was normal for the Emperor to have hobbies, but to have the leisure to listen to music at such a time seemed somewhat inconsistent with his impression of the Emperor.

“When can I see Your Majesty?” Fan Zhuangshan tried to keep his voice low.

Liu Jie held up one finger, its meaning unclear. Fan Zhuangshan had no choice but to wait, but with the battle scheduled to begin in just one hour, he grew anxious. The zither music, heard through the door crack, was just a series of meaningless squeaks and creaks without even a melody. The more he listened, the more irritated he became.

“Your Majesty! I have urgent business!” Fan Zhuangshan’s voice boomed like thunder, startling Liu Jie beside him.

Fan Zhuangshan showed no courtesy, grasping the eunuch’s shoulders with both hands and lifting him as easily as a child, then turning and moving him aside. “Music can be heard anytime, but my business can only be discussed now.”

Liu Jie was both shocked and angry. After his feet touched the ground, he was momentarily speechless, watching helplessly as Fan Zhuangshan pushed open the door and entered the courtyard.

The zither music had stopped. Several guards stood in the courtyard in a line, blocking Fan Zhuangshan’s advance.

“Your Majesty, I’ll just say a few words and then leave!” Fan Zhuangshan called out loudly. Since he had already barged in, he couldn’t give up halfway.

Zhang Youcai emerged from the room. “His Majesty summons General Fan.”

The guards stepped aside, and Fan Zhuangshan strode into the house. Just as he reached the doorway, he smelled a fragrant aroma, and his frown deepened. He wondered what was wrong with the Emperor—first listening to music, now burning incense. Was he so frightened? Where was that brave Emperor who had personally commanded from atop the city walls?

Walking into the room, Fan Zhuangshan finally understood what was happening.

The Emperor sat on his long chair, struggling to keep his body upright, but his face was pale, his lips drained of color, and beads of sweat faintly seeped from his forehead. He was clearly ill.

Fan Zhuangshan was greatly shocked and immediately knelt down, saying with concern, “Your Majesty… I didn’t know…”

“It’s nothing, just a minor illness.” Han Ruzi forced a smile. “What brings General Fan here?”

Fan Zhuangshan opened his mouth, but though he had a belly full of words, he couldn’t speak them. He had wanted to say that Deng Cui had disrupted the plan and the Emperor would need to take personal action, but seeing his condition, it seemed he could barely walk out of the room. “Well… well… I know this isn’t the right time, but… everyone has been working hard defending the city. Could we… could we give everyone some rewards? They don’t need to be distributed immediately—just issue a few imperial edicts promising great rewards, and everyone would be satisfied. The actual rewards can wait until after the siege is lifted.”

“General Fan can rest assured. We have already arranged for officials from the Ministry of War and Ministry of Personnel to draft the edicts. You’ll see them tomorrow—all soldiers defending the city will receive rewards.”

“Yes, yes, Your Majesty had already thought of this. I was too foolish and impatient. Your Majesty should rest well; I won’t disturb you further.”

Fan Zhuangshan rose to leave, but Han Ruzi called him back. “We have caught a slight cold and will recover quickly. General Fan… don’t take it too seriously.”

“Yes, I won’t take it seriously.” Fan Zhuangshan retreated from the room and encountered Chief Overseer Liu Jie.

“Now you know. You mustn’t speak carelessly about this when you leave,” Liu Jie reminded him.

“I won’t, absolutely won’t—I’d rather die than speak of it.” Fan Zhuangshan was practically ready to swear an oath. At the doorway, he asked Liu Jie again, “A victory would help His Majesty’s illness recover faster, wouldn’t it?”

“Perhaps. When one’s mood improves, illness tends to heal faster too… but General Fan mustn’t act recklessly. War is no child’s game.”

“Of course, General Deng is still in charge above me. Even if I wanted to act recklessly, no one would listen.” Fan Zhuangshan strode away, secretly vowing that tonight he would achieve a victory no matter what.

In the room, Han Ruzi lay down on his side, but he no longer had the mood to listen to music. He opened his mouth to call for Ni Qiu, then suddenly remembered he had been sent away, so he said to Zhang Youcai instead, “Go out and find out what’s really happening. General Fan saw that I was ill and had something he didn’t say.”

“Your Majesty…” Zhang Youcai was reluctant to leave .

“I’m fine. Meng E is here.”

Zhang Youcai had no choice but to retreat from the room and hurry away.

Meng E stood in the corner—Fan Zhuangshan hadn’t even noticed her presence earlier.

“I’ll have them continue playing,” Meng E said.

Han Ruzi smiled bitterly. “Is it really effective? I feel like these fragrances and music don’t seem to help much. They don’t sound as calming as before.”

“Your Majesty’s illness is different from others. First, it’s caused by urgent anger attacking the heart. Second, you’ve practiced internal cultivation for a long time, and suddenly stopping has left your internal organs defensively vulnerable, so even a minor cold has become a serious illness.”

“Can’t I resume practicing internal cultivation?”

“No.” Meng E gave no reason. “The music can substitute for internal cultivation practice, and the incense contains medicine. Within three to five days, Your Majesty will recover completely.”

Though Meng E was not an imperial physician, and the decision to stop practicing internal cultivation had originally come from her suggestion, Han Ruzi still decided to follow her advice. “Very well.”

Meng E went out, and the music soon resumed. She returned and stood in the corner again.

Han Ruzi lay on the couch feeling drowsy but couldn’t fall asleep. Thoughts kept suddenly popping into his mind, startling him awake and causing him to break out in cold sweats.

“Do you know Master Zhang and his daughter?” Han Ruzi asked.

“I don’t know them, but I recognize their music,” Meng E said.

“You understand music?”

Meng E was silent for a moment. “Righteous Hero Island once sought to borrow the power of immortals to restore the country, and made friends with many extraordinary people, including some musicians.”

Han Ruzi couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you still believe in that now?”

“It doesn’t matter whether I believe or not. Righteous Hero Island has long since become a pugilist world faction. In the pugilist world, things are true and false—believing everything makes you a fool, but not believing anything means you’ll lose many friends.”

“Fate seers are practitioners from the northern Yan and Zhao regions who have only risen to prominence in recent years. Righteous Hero Island has had little contact with them. Musicians, however, are an ancient profession that has flourished in the Guandong region for a long time, and there are people in Donghai who specialize in teaching this art.” Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novęlfire.net

“The imperial palace also has musicians, but they seem to be different from the Zhang father and daughter.”

“Of course they’re different.” Meng E was about to explain when Zhang Youcai returned, and she immediately fell silent.

Zhang Youcai ran all the way back, panting as he said: “General Deng wants to launch a night raid and personally lead two thousand troops out of the city.”

Han Ruzi sat up abruptly, breaking out in another cold sweat. His vision blurred and he nearly fainted.

“Your Majesty…” Zhang Youcai hurried forward to support him.

“I’m fine.” Han Ruzi slowly lay back down. “Since it’s General Deng’s idea, it shouldn’t be wrong.”

“But everyone says this is a reckless plan. General Fan most likely came here about this matter, but seeing Your Majesty was ill, he didn’t dare speak up.”

“Deng Cui is the commanding general defending the city. Everything is his decision to make. Even if General Fan spoke up, it would be useless.”

Zhang Youcai was quite surprised by the Emperor’s trust in Deng Cui. “Does Your Majesty think this night raid can succeed?”

“For the past few days, the Chu army has gone out every night to harass the Xiongnu. Tonight they’re turning feint into reality – it might just succeed.”

“Harassing the Xiongnu wasn’t General Deng’s idea at all.”

“General Deng is adapting to circumstances. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Zhang Youcai had originally wanted to tell the Emperor it wasn’t too late to stop the night raid, but now he had nothing to say. After thinking it over, he said: “Two thousand men – that’s half the Chu army defending the city, but to the Xiongnu it’s just a drop in the bucket…”

Han Ruzi could still hear the zither music, but his mind grew increasingly heavy. He murmured: “If Deng Cui truly is a great general, then his target wouldn’t be the Xiongnu, but rather…”

The Emperor finally fell asleep.

Zhang Youcai waited a while, then tiptoed forward to cover the Emperor with a blanket. Turning around, he whispered to Meng E: “Are you sure we don’t need to find an imperial physician?”

Meng E shook her head. “I know what illness His Majesty has. Don’t worry.”

Zhang Youcai couldn’t help but worry. Meng E had never claimed to know medicine, but since the Emperor trusted her, he had no choice.

The zither music continued. This time the Emperor slept more soundly. Zhang Youcai couldn’t help but ask quietly: “His Majesty didn’t finish what he was saying earlier. What does he think General Deng’s night raid target will be?”

“The siege engines outside.” Meng E answered without hesitation, though she found it strange herself, since she hadn’t really considered this question before.

Zhang Youcai thought for a moment, then lightly slapped his forehead. “No wonder General Deng required all soldiers to carry torches, but only a few dozen can light them – the others have to wait until after leaving the city. He’s planning to use fire. Did His Majesty tell you this?”

Meng E didn’t answer. She was learning to think like the Emperor – this was the most important reason she had returned to the Emperor’s side.

She believed she was learning quite well.

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