Reborn Lady - Chapter 236

The meatloaf in King Yan’s mouth could not be chewed any longer. He looked at his son fixedly, and a scorching light quickly appeared in his eyes.

Swallowing the food in his mouth in two or three bites, King Yan slapped the table and ordered some generals including Cui Yu to be called over. 

The tents of the generals were all close to each other, and when they learned that the Prince had something to discuss, they came quickly one by one, and soon stood in two rows in front of King Yan. 

King Yan put forward the new strategy for the generals to discuss. 

Feng Teng looked at Cui Yu at a glance and felt that this whimsical plan was conceived by him again. It was the capital city. No matter how empty it was, there must be tens of thousands of troops. The capital city must be as easy to defend as Pingcheng, not to mention the Yangtze River acting as a natural moat. Even if the cavalry of the Yan Army ran fast, could they still fly across the river? At that time, Sheng Shiting would lead a mighty army of five hundred thousand troops to attack from behind, and the Yan Army would be unable to fly.

Several generals had the same idea as Feng Teng, and they all stared at Cui Yu. 

Cui Yu smiled, turned around and complemented King Yan, “Your Majesty, it’s a great idea!” 

The king of Yan saw the change in their expressions and asked Cui Yu, “Yu Lang, do you also think this plan is feasible?”

Cui Yu responded, “Exactly. In terms of military strength, our army’s biggest advantage is cavalry. However, the Imperial Court has a steady stream of army. Once the battle line is extended, the Imperial Court can weaken our army’s advantage by gradually eating away at it. On the other hand, it is difficult for our army to attack the city. Every time the troops retreat, the city is immediately taken away by the Imperial Court. Unless we can supplement the troops to defend, what is the use of seizing the city? It is better to attack the capital directly, and if the capital is captured, the troops will surrender to you.”

Feng Teng interjected, “You’re saying as if it’s easy. How can we cross the Yangtze River?”

Cui Yu explained, “If our cavalry goes south, Sheng Shiting will definitely pursue it. Our army can choose an opportunity to ambush halfway and gradually weaken the Imperial Court’s troops. Once the opportunity is reversed, it will attract more officials. Once the general returns, before the city is attacked, they will defend it.”

Feng Teng stopped talking; he liked the idea of the ambush. The Imperial Army couldn’t catch up with them, so they could find a place to ambush first and wait for the Imperial Army to run over for a sneak attack.

After being persuaded by Cui Yu, all the generals shouted, “Our prince is wise.”

King Yan smiled, looked at his third son, went to the map first, and discussed with the generals the new southward route. He had an army of two hundred fifty thousand, of which two hundred thousand were cavalry. He was going to lead a hundred and eight thousand cavalry to take a shortcut and go straight to the capital.

After setting the marching route, King Yan ordered the soldiers to pretend to rest first and quietly set out at night.

Then Wei Luo took out the letter from his sleeve and handed it to his father for review.

King Yan read it once and was extremely shocked. That idea was actually thought of by the third daughter-in-law?

He then thought of Yin Yong. With such a grandfather, the third daughter-in-law would naturally be smart. Also, Liao Shisan, who was recommended by the third daughter-in-law, was great.

In that letter, King Yan saw the wisdom and obedience of his daughter-in-law. She not only expressed her own suggestion but also humbly asked his son to make a decision.

That was somewhat similar to Princess Xu.

He secretly praised his daughter-in-law, then returned the letter to his son, looked at him again, and said, “You do love your wife. If I had scolded you, would you have just taken the blame on yourself?”

“I agreed with the plan and reported it to you. So even if you scold me, I should bear it.”

King Yan asked, “Then why do you give credit to your wife when I praise you?”

Wei Luo simply stated, “This plan was her idea. I don’t want to pretend to take credit from others, and it has nothing to do with personal relationships.”

King Yan nodded, knowing that his third son had the kind of temperament that dared to take responsibility but disdained to be greedy for credit.

“Okay, go back and prepare too!”

“Yes, you haven’t eaten just now, don’t forget.” Before leaving, Wei Luo did not forget to remind him to eat.

King Yan smiled and waved to him. 

It was night, and the Yan Army wrapped the horseshoes in rags, and quietly divided into three groups, bypassing Jinan and the Imperial Army to head south. 

When Sheng Shiting found out, he quickly led his troops to chase after them. 

So the cavalry of the Yan Army lay in ambush all the way, sometimes joining forces and sometimes splitting up to attack, quickly reversing the previous defeat. 

In April of the 15th year of Xianning, King Yan’s army arrived in Suzhou, but was blocked by one hundred thousand troops led by Xu Yao.

Xu Yao was worthy of being the son of the old Duke. He had repeatedly sent out surprise soldiers. The two battles caused King Yan to lose more than ten thousand soldiers and horses. His army fought hard, and finally broke out of the siege and headed towards Lingbi County in the east. He wanted to bypass that county seat, but he didn’t expect that the city gate would be open when the army came over. Several fast horses ran out from the city gate, and the leader was wearing a seventh-rank county magistrate’s uniform!

King Yan ordered the army to stop and wait for the magistrate to come.

The visitor jumped off his horse, knelt down in front of King Yan, and said, “I am the magistrate of Lingbi County, Jiang Weijiao, and I would like to surrender to you, my lord!”

King Yan asked him to stand up and looked at him again. Seeing that the other party was in his early thirties, with a dignified appearance, he said with a smile, “Why do you want to surrender to this king?”

After taking a look, he explained, “My wife is the eldest granddaughter of the old man Yin in Pingcheng. Her brother’s crime of framing you is unforgivable. I disdain it and can only surrender to show our innocence.”

King Yan was surprised, as the person was actually Yin Yong’s other grandson-in-law.

Wei Luo had never met Jiang Weijiao, and he didn’t even remember his name. Still, when he mentioned it himself, he recalled that his wife had indeed mentioned her cousin’s husband whose surname was indeed Jiang.

He nodded to his father.

King Yan no longer doubted, led the soldiers and horses behind him, and won a city without a fight.

After entering the city, he found that Jiang Weijiao was ready to defend the city. King Yan immediately took over the defense of the city. When Xu Yao led his troops to catch up, he sent a wave of arrows over.

Xu Yao’s face was ashen; he reined in his horse and stopped, looking at the thin civil servant beside King Yan, saying, “Who are you, dare to betray the Imperial Court and assist the rebels?”

Jiang Weijiao looked at King Yan and replied in a condescending voice, “Jiang Weijiao, I am the brother-in-law of the criminal Yin Wen. He teamed up with treacherous officials to frame the Prince. Although I am soft-spoken, I can tell right from wrong. I am willing to assist the Prince in eliminating the treacherous ministers. I advise you to return justice to the Prince as soon as possible!”

Earlier, Xu Yao wrote a letter and scolded King Yan, but in the past few days, he would scold him whenever they met. King Yan was full of anger. When he saw Jiang Weijiao talking to Xu Yao that way, he got very happy and said, “I know that my eldest brother is on my side in your heart, but because your whole family is in the capital, you have to pretend to be loyal to the Imperial Court. Don’t worry, elder brother, you have leniently let me go several times before. I will remember everything, and I will never embarrass you once it is over!”

Xu Yao shouted angrily, “How dare you mess with my army’s morale!”

King Yan said, “Forget it, we came to attack the city. I would like to light you a stick of incense to repay your previous subordinates for showing mercy!” (stick of incense burned at grave) 

After finishing speaking, King Yan ordered all the defenders on the city wall to retreat. 

He would not attack Xu Yao.

Feng Su and Yang Jingzhong gestured to each other. 

The two generals immediately persuaded him to fight back. Seeing that King Yan couldn’t listen to their persuasion, the two actually stopped, swept away the incense, and started to counterattack.