Pei Zi Yun and Prince Cheng Shun walked straight into the tent. The moment they entered, the cavalrymen immediately took over the defense of the tent.
The tent was spacious and dark. On the west wall, there was a map of the situation. In the middle of the tent, there was a table with four treasures, a brush holder, and a paperweight.
The soldiers quickly lit up the candles and placed the important items on the table. The most important item was a shelf, which held the words' Like I Am Here 'and the Emperor's Sword.
Next was the eunuch's seal. In the future, all official documents would be sent from here.
Chen Yong retrieved a map and laid it out on the table. Pei Zi Yun looked around and smiled, "There's no rush. Chen Yong, what's the situation with them?"
"There's no one else here. Speak your mind. Or are you trying to deceive me?"
Chen Yong fell to one knee and said, "How would I dare? I was just about to report."
"Get up and speak." Pei Zi Yun's expression changed.
Chen Yong's eyes shone brightly as he thought for some time before speaking, "True Sovereign, I've been here for quite some time now. What I said earlier wasn't a lie."
"King Lu's troops are all elites. They can take on ten men at a time. Now, there's a saying that they can't take on ten men at a time. This has caused the morale of the troops to waver."
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head and listened without saying a word.
"Those of us from the south are still alright. Some of them have been defeated multiple times and are even more terrified. Since we're talking about this, I have to say something for them. Although I've never fought a huge battle, I've been to many small skirmishes."
"A single Commandant of King Lu led a few hundred riders and dared to chase after two to three thousand men. They even dared to show off their might near the main camp. Where did they get their courage from?"
At this point, Chen Yong seemed like he wanted to say something but decided against it.
Pei Zi Yun's heart was as clear as snow as he replied, "I'm afraid it's not just because of the defeat. Or perhaps it's because of the defeat that they feel that King Lu is the son of the Great Ancestor, and has such a strong army. Perhaps he can obtain the Divine Weapon. That's why he's hesitating, and has the intention to rebel?"
Chen Yong never dared to say this out loud. Even Prince Cheng Shun and the eunuch's faces changed when they heard this. Pei Zi Yun flicked his sleeves and revealed a look of disdain, "Besides, I'm a Daoist. Some people might not be happy and want to make things difficult for me. Don't you think so?"
Chen Yong was completely convinced and said, "Yes!"
Pei Zi Yun laughed coldly and said, "Ignore them for now. Let's look at the map first."
As he said this, he turned to the table. Everyone looked at each other in dismay before following Pei Zi Yun. Pei Zi Yun's face was solemn as he pointed to a few places and said, "Currently, there are Imperial Envoys from all over the world. However, the journey is rather long, and some of them might not be able to arrive. Even if they do arrive, they will need some time to adjust."
"For now, the most important task of our main camp is to buy time for the court to deploy."
Prefecture Prince Cheng Shun and Chen Yong both nodded their heads. Seeing that Pei Zi Yun was completely unmoved by the soldiers, they were secretly impressed. They then heard Pei Zi Yun say without any hesitation, "This is one of the main goals, but to achieve this goal, it will not be easy."
"Our army has suffered repeated defeats. Our morale has fallen, and we have many hidden dangers. If we were to go out to battle now, they would definitely fear us like a tiger. They wouldn't dare to use their lives, and they might even hinder us from the shadows. I'm afraid we would be defeated in one battle."
"That's the difficult part."
Chen Yong watched Pei Zi Yun speak under the candlelight. Back then, when he was dealing with Ji Bei Hou, he was like this as well. With just a few sentences, he was able to see through the mysteries of the heavens. His heart was filled with the determination to win. After a long time, he then said, "True Sovereign, your words are truly insightful. There are fifty thousand soldiers here, but they're all like rabbits."
"It's just a moment of anger. The imperial army has only been conquering the world for ten years, and the discipline of the army is still there. Although we've suffered some setbacks, as long as we wait for some time, we won't even need me to do anything. Everything will gradually recover." Pei Zi Yun said plainly.
Chen Yong heard this and mumbled, "But King Lu knows this as well. He won't sit back and watch us recover."
Pei Zi Yun laughed coldly, "What's so difficult about that?"
When Chen Yong heard this, his eyes lit up as he bowed, "True Sovereign, what should we do now? Just give me your instructions."
"Your status isn't high enough yet. But with the Prefecture King around, you can use his name to take charge of the camp. You can recuperate, replenish, and train the soldiers. After a period of time, they will regain their morale."
"It doesn't matter if we're trying to find gold in the sand, or if we're trying to find gold in the sand. Once the soldiers have recovered, there will be those who don't want to fight, and those who have other intentions will be exposed."
"Don't make a move yet. Write down a list of names, and wait for me to deal with them in the future." Pei Zi Yun spoke coldly, giving his orders without hesitation.
"As for restraining the enemy, I've brought seven thousand cavalrymen with me. They're all elites who haven't suffered any setbacks before. Together with the two thousand cavalrymen in the camp, we have a total of nine thousand cavalrymen. We'll split them into three groups. I'll lead three thousand cavalrymen to charge into the enemy's territory.
Chen Yong was shocked when he heard this, "True Sovereign is the commander. An Neng is the one taking the risk. If anyone is to go, it should be me. If anything happens to True Sovereign, I'm afraid the entire army will crumble."
Hearing these words, Pei Zi Yun shook his head, "You can't go. Why do you think King Lu has such a powerful army? Are you really the Mandate of Heaven? There's a mystery here, and only I can unravel it. "
"Besides, there aren't many of these strange soldiers. Even King Lu only has ten thousand of them. Don't worry, they can't surround me. Even if they do, so what?"
At this point, Pei Zi Yun laughed out coldly.
Hearing Pei Zi Yun's words, Chen Yong's body trembled as he recalled the battle reports. Two to three months ago, Pei Zi Yun had single-handedly killed all of King Lu's generals. He fought one against a hundred, and managed to escape from tens of thousands of soldiers.
This was something that no mortal could do. As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Chen Yong felt more at ease. He then raised his head and looked at Pei Zi Yun. He then thought about the strange and mysterious nature of King Lu's army. At that point, he understood. Could it be that the strange nature of King Lu's army was due to demonic arts? No, Dao arts?
'Could it be that there's a Dao sect involved in this war?' Chen Yong thought about this and felt that everything made sense. He then bowed, "True Sovereign, I understand."
At this point, Pei Zi Yun took several steps forward, as though he was thinking about the entire situation. He then spoke, "There's another reason for this. The imperial court has been in power for a long time, and has a strong foundation. Losing some soldiers and rations doesn't really matter."
"Since King Lu has just been established, his authority is shallow. Whether it's the commoners or the officials, they are all fearful of him. It's like a castle on the beach, or a snowflake under the spring sun."
"If it were like Qin Prefecture, with a stable environment, they would be able to return to King Lu."
"However, our army has to overcome this. Our army will attack and take advantage of the fact that our cavalry is fast. We will plunder the enemy's army like fire. Not only will we be able to plunder the enemy's rations, but we will also be able to cause chaos in King Lu's territory. King Lu's reputation will be greatly diminished, and the officials and commoners will find it hard to submit to him. Chen Prefecture will then be exhausted and crippled."
"That's a good plan. It's a drastic measure. However, King Lu has his own cavalry as well. If True Sovereign only brings three thousand men, I'm afraid we'll be surrounded." Chen Yong sighed in admiration as he spoke.
Prefecture Prince Cheng Shun was still young, but at this point, he frowned and nodded his head, "Yes, King Lu will definitely react. He won't allow our army to attack. I'm afraid we'll be in danger."
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he waved his hands, "You're right. But those elite soldiers might be able to break through the defenses of others, but not me. Besides, I'm a cavalry, and can come and go like the wind. At least half of them are foot soldiers. Whether to fight or not is up to me."
"If King Lu wishes to attack me, he would have to lay a trap for me. He would have to bait me into a trap. He would then use his army to surround and kill me."
"As long as I understand this, I won't be defeated."
"The only requirement is that my army must have reinforcements. I won't be too far away from where I'm supposed to be. All of you will be in charge of the camp, and have to coordinate with me at all times."
"Don't worry. Attacking a county and killing the enemy's soldiers is but a small matter. It's not essential, and it's of little value. If it were just a mere Deputy General, he would be blinded by greed. He would advance recklessly in order to gain merits. However, I'm the commander-in-chief, why would I be greedy for such merits?"
"It's killing many birds with one stone."
"First of all, it's to give the camp time to recover."
"Disrupting the structure of Chen Prefecture, making it impossible for King Lu to unify the troops. That's the second. If there are spies spreading rumors, that would be even better."
"Next is to fight for more time, so that the Imperial Envoys can safely enter their respective states. When the time comes, the iron curtain will rise and King Lu will be in a difficult position. This is the third and most important thing."
More importantly, even if King Lu knew about this, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. When King Cheng Shun heard this, he let out a long sigh. He could feel the hairs on his body standing on end. His elder brother was corrupt, and no one could stop him. Who would've thought that in the tent, Pei Zi Yun's words would cause the entire world to revert back to the imperial court.
Prince Cheng Shun was filled with admiration and fear at the same time. He thought to himself, 'If only I had such intelligence and martial arts skills. How good would that be?'
However, he spoke out, "True Sovereign, don't worry. If anyone dares to defy my orders, I shall bring out the King's Token and the Emperor's Sword. I shall decapitate them."
"Your Highness, True Sovereign, please don't worry. I shall make sure everything is in order." Chen Yong replied.
At this point, a group of people had already made their preparations. One of them asked for an audience. The eunuch asked and replied, "Your Highness, True Sovereign, a banquet has been prepared. Shall we hold a banquet?"
"Hold a banquet!" Pei Zi Yun looked at the people outside and gave the order. With this order, hundreds of soldiers carried tables and rushed to and fro in front of the tent.
Although the tent was huge, it couldn't hold many people. Hence, the generals had their banquet inside the tent, while the officers had their banquet in front of the tent. They were busy preparing food and wine.
Seeing that Chen Yong had gone over to take a look, Pei Zi Yun laughed, "Your Highness, King Lu's elite troops are not to be underestimated. Just the cavalry alone won't be enough. I would like to request for your Highness to use your authority to mobilize people from the Dao Records Department."
Although Jun Wang Cheng Shun was still young, he knew that the Records Department had suffered a great loss during the previous incident. However, he was a member of the Imperial Court, and at critical moments, he had to go through fire and water. He didn't even frown as he replied, "Imperial Father and His Majesty have given their orders. I am only here in name.
"Since True Sovereign has such intentions, please send them out with your seal. I'm sure these slaves wouldn't dare to not come, and wouldn't dare to be careless."
The dynasty treated officials with courtesy and wouldn't address them as slaves. However, most of the Daoist officials didn't have official titles, and were in an awkward situation. Hence, it was appropriate to address them as slaves.
Although Prince Cheng Shun wasn't aware of it, he had already spoken out loud. Pei Zi Yun nodded his head and smiled, but sighed in his heart.
His own Daoist would never be trusted by the Imperial Court, and those Daoist officials were even worse off.
No matter how many merits they had, the moment they were born, their sacrifices and hard work would be for naught.
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