novelraw Chapter 1988 War
Chapter 1988 War
Chapter 1988 War
Even late into the night, Jiang Hanze tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He reached out and grasped the knife beside his bed, but just as his hand touched the hilt, he heard someone outside shout, "Night attack!"
Fang Zilan's figure flashed by, heading straight for the tent where General Shen's body was kept. As she went, she secretly grumbled to herself that the people of Miluo were really not very alert. She had searched around and even found General Shen's body, but they hadn't noticed. In the end, it was only after she made some noise that they started shouting that it was a night raid.
The people following Fang Zilan were unaware that she had deliberately led them here. It wasn't until they were surrounded that one of them couldn't help but lean closer and whisper, "Lord Fang, the Miluo people seem to have been prepared all along."
"That's exactly what we wanted—for them to be prepared," Fang Zilan said, giving a signal. A blinding white light streaked across the night sky. The Miluo people surrounding them instinctively looked up, only to be caught completely off guard in the blink of an eye.
Upon hearing the news, Jiang Hanze frowned upon seeing the signal. What did this mean? However, before he could think about it further, his subordinates reported that a fire had broken out.
Was their real purpose in luring the tiger away from the mountain to burn the grain supplies? Jiang Hanze didn't care about anything else and could only order his deputy to lead men to put out the fire. He then ran towards the tent where General Shen's body was located, where he bumped into Fang Zilan.
"Is that General Shen?" Fang Zilan stood in front of the group, and the person behind her replied, "That's right, it's General Shen!"
Fang Zilan nodded slightly, but did not turn around. "You take General Shen and go first. I will cover the rear."
"Want to leave? Let's see if you have the ability." Jiang Hanze arrived extremely quickly. The moment he saw Fang Zilan, he knew he had made the right bet—sure enough, they were after General Shen's remains.
"You want to keep me here?" Fang Zilan stepped forward to block Jiang Hanze's knife and said with a contemptuous smile, "You're probably tired of living."
Jiang Hanze felt the force from the blade, and his wrist involuntarily trembled. Fang Zilan seized the opportunity to thrust her sword forward, then dodged a spear that was attacking her from the other side, and took a few steps back.
She had no desire to continue fighting, and seeing that they had successfully escaped with General Shen, she casually tossed some medicinal powder. After reuniting with the soldiers who had set fire to the grain supplies, she returned to Qiluo City under the cover of night.
When Deputy General Cao, who was in charge of the rendezvous, saw them return, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Boss, how did it go?"
"General Shen has been brought back." Fang Zilan mounted her horse cautiously and said, "Let's go back and talk about it."
After everyone returned to camp, Zhou Lang held General Shen's body and cried for a long time. Fang Zilan had no time to pay attention to him, and only ordered, "Give General Shen a proper burial." Then she had Deputy General Cao count the number of casualties in the night raid and called the other deputy generals into the main tent for a meeting.
"Boss, we lost six brothers in this night raid, and eight others were wounded." Deputy General Cao reported the general situation, and Fang Zilan nodded slightly, "I understand."
"Lord Fang, our night raid burned the Miluo people's supplies, so they shouldn't make any major moves in the next few days." One of the lieutenants said solemnly, "However, the duel scheduled for tomorrow morning..."
He didn't continue, but Fang Zilan understood and said, "Jiang Hanze is injured. Either he fights with his injury, or a different general will be sent. Do you know if there are any other generals in the Miluo army whose names you can name?"
One of the deputy generals guarding the city said, "A few days ago, before General Shen arrived in Qiluo City, Jiang Hanze launched several strong attacks. Once I saw a man who looked like a general next to him, but I didn't know who he was."
He spoke uncertainly, and Fang Zilan frowned slightly, saying, "Isn't it Murong Xun?" "No." The deputy general shook his head, "That man looks very young, but he is very skilled. In just a few moves, our general was defeated by him."
Fang Zilan pressed further, "Is that person more skilled than Jiang Hanze?"
Seeing him nod, Fang Zilan quickly went through all the disciples of Murong Xun that she knew in her mind, but she couldn't find a single one who matched her name.
"Besides being young and skilled, what other characteristics does that man have?" Deputy General Cao asked. The deputy general replied, "That man is exceptionally handsome; I have never seen anyone as good-looking as him. However, he is extremely arrogant and never looks directly at anyone when fighting us. After killing our general, he even said it was boring."
"Pride?" Fang Zilan repeated the word thoughtfully, having made up her mind. She immediately explained the arrangements for tomorrow to them, then looked around to make sure everything was alright before returning to her tent for a short rest.
Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, Zhuge Yu's voice came from outside the tent, "The imperial edict has arrived."
Fang Zilan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but the man laughed out loud, "Lord Fang, I thought you had some great ability to ask me for people, but it turns out you're just using His Majesty's power to bully me."
Fang Zilan stared intently as Zhuge Yu's figure appeared in the tent, then turned her gaze to him and said in a clear, cold voice, "It is true that I rely on His Majesty's power, but that does not mean I am bullying others. Today, I am asking His Majesty for permission only to tell Lord Wei that there is no one in this world who can truly do whatever they want."
Zhuge Yu held the imperial edict and stood in the center of the tent, his expression cold and hard, unlike anything Fang Zilan had ever seen.
Without glancing to the side, he looked directly at the person in the main seat and asked in a cold voice, "Lord Wei, where is Deputy General Cao now?"
Only then did Fang Zilan notice that, unlike Zhuge Yu's hostile arrival, the man deliberately restrained his aura, and the oppressive aura dissipated, replaced by a fleeting look of astonishment.
Fang Zilan's intuition told her that the man's change did not stem from the imperial edict, but from the person who delivered it.
At this moment, she had no time to care about his entanglement with Zhuge Yu; her mind was only on Vice General Cao, and she didn't think too much about it.
She was completely relieved when he had someone bring up Deputy General Cao and saw that he was unharmed.
Zhuge Yu, holding the imperial edict, walked unhurriedly to the man, bent down and placed the edict on the table, then straightened up and said, "His Majesty's edict is here. Does Lord Wei have anything else to say?"
The man seemed not to have heard him, and asked uncertainly, "Are you from the Zhuge family, Zhuge Yu?"
"Yes," Zhuge Yu replied, still maintaining his indifferent, businesslike demeanor. "Besides Deputy General Cao, the soldiers from Lord Fang's residence will also be taken from the camp outside the capital. As for the procedures, Lord Wei knows what to do."
As soon as Zhuge Yu finished speaking, he chuckled deeply, "You actually helped Lord Fang by requesting an imperial decree to ask me for people. Interesting."