Chapter 1 Leaving the Ancestral Hall

Having left the ancestral hall, Zheng Fan raised his umbrella again.

Jingnan Hou walked ahead, Zheng Fan slightly behind him, but he didn't deliberately expose half his shoulder to the rain, because the umbrella was large enough.

After all, it was an item prepared by the military; how could they use the little flowered umbrellas of women?

Actually, Zheng Fan still felt that the Marquis was too impatient.

Most importantly, Zheng Boye didn't think he was a lucky general; his good fortune still stemmed from strength. As for the good fortune in the traditional sense,

He really didn't feel that he would definitely be shot by a cold arrow as soon as he charged onto the battlefield;

If it weren't for A Ming's Demonic Pearl,

he would have been shot into a hedgehog long ago, and he couldn't compare to those protagonists who could hug their brothers or women on the battlefield for a long farewell and remain unscathed.

It was precisely because he had a clear understanding of himself that he needed to risk his life to fight when he had no family fortune before, but now that he had a family fortune and began to accumulate strength, he naturally wanted to advance steadily.

Give me three more years, let the Xuehai Pass army turn another wheel, and then cooperate with other armies; wouldn't it be nice to flatten them?

This could only be said to be a case of one's position determining one's perspective, because if the time was dragged on for too long, it might be very good for Xuehai Pass, but for the current situation of the Three Kingdoms, it might be a real case of one growing stronger while the other weakens.

Most importantly,

Zheng Fan knew,

it wasn't just the Yan Emperor who was getting impatient; in fact, Jingnan Hou was also getting a little impatient.

The Marquis didn't go anywhere else; in fact, there was nothing to see in Fengxin City now.

When he returned to the gate of the mansion,

Zheng Fan saw Seventh Uncle standing there. Seeing Jingnan Hou appear, Seventh Uncle immediately knelt down and kowtowed,

sincerely saying:

"Please, Your Lordship, treat my young lady."

After settling the princess down, Seventh Uncle waited and waited, but Jingnan Hou didn't appear. When he sent someone out to inquire, Li Fusheng had already led his troops out of the city.

Helpless, Seventh Uncle had to come to the Marquis's mansion to wait.

Tian Wujing didn't speak, but continued to walk forward, wanting to enter the mansion.

Zheng Fan, standing behind, showed a pleading expression,

and said:

"Your Lordship, the princess, Your Lordship, the princess…"

Tian Wujing still didn't react.

Seventh Uncle moved his knees and blocked Jingnan Hou's way into the mansion.

Jingnan Hou stretched out his foot, kicking as if stepping on him.

"Bang!"

Seventh Uncle was kicked over, and then he immediately got up, his left hand instinctively reaching for his sword.

"Shua! Shua! Shua!"

The Jingnan army soldiers at the gate of the Marquis's mansion immediately drew their swords and pointed them at Seventh Uncle.

They didn't care whether the old man in front of them was from the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion or not; they only knew that whoever dared to draw his sword in front of the Marquis would die!

Seventh Uncle didn't draw his sword, but pressed his forehead to the ground,

pleading:

"Your Lordship, please, please see my young lady."

Tian Wujing was unmoved and walked into the Marquis's mansion.

Zheng Fan anxiously looked at Jingnan Hou's back while also anxiously looking at Seventh Uncle,

then turned his head,

pretending to be helpless, and had no choice but to follow him into the mansion.

After entering the mansion, Zheng Fan asked, "Your Lordship, was he about to draw his sword just now?"

When it was time to add fuel to the fire, he had to, and couldn't be polite.

"His aptitude is not good, so he took a different approach, only practicing this one sword skill in his life, but he can't kill me, but he can kill you."

"Uh…"

"Isn't Yu Huaping with you?"

"Uh, he's with me, but…"

"Hasn't he recovered yet?"

"He can walk now and do some things."

Tian Wujing nodded slightly when he heard this, and said, "Does he still look very weak?"

"Yes."

Tian Wujing didn't say anything else and led Zheng Fan inside, into a study.

It was said to be a study, but there were no books on the bookshelves; instead, a huge map was hung on the wall.

"Between Jin and Chu, there are mountains and rivers obstructing the way. Although it's not as rugged as the road from Shengle to the Snow Plains back then, it can be considered dangerous. And there are savage barbarians in the Tian Duan Mountains. They won't pose any threat, but the Chu people have built many fortresses there."

The barbarians in the Tian Duan Mountains are basically a disorganized bunch. At most, three or four tribes will send troops together to make a little noise, but the Chu people are different; the Chu Kingdom is a proper nation.

Even if those small fortresses only have a dozen soldiers stationed there, as long as they discover you and light the beacon fire, you will be exposed instantly.

By the time you've painstakingly crossed the mountains, a Chu army might have been waiting for you for a long time.

"It's difficult to get through," Zheng Fan said with emotion.

"It's precisely because it's difficult that I'm sending you there." Tian Wujing turned around, picked up the teapot, and continued, "It's said that the two Marquis of the North and South of my Great Yan forcibly opened Jin, destroying half of Jin in one battle, but at that time, Li Liangting and I had the elites of the Zhenbei Army and the Jingnan Army under our command.

Qian Renwen literati like to tout each other and build platforms for each other;

even Yu Huaping from your place touted a Chu sword maker."

"Your Lordship means…"

"It's all the same. In the army, you have to get as many achievements as possible. The soldiers only believe in one thing, and that is that whoever they follow can win battles.

You did a good job in the previous Xuehai Pass campaign, but it's not enough."

Zheng Boye really wanted to say: I'm not rebelling tomorrow, what's not enough?

"It's still early in the first month of the new year, so there's no rush. You can go back and prepare well."

"Yes, Your Lordship."

"It's been hard traveling back and forth."

"Your Lordship is too kind."

"Alright, I won't keep you. Go out through the back door. Qian's matter won't be counted against you. I'll make arrangements when Li Fusheng returns."

"Yes, Your Lordship."

Zheng Fan took two steps back,

and before turning to leave, he looked up at Tian Wujing again,

and said:

"Your Lordship, please take care of yourself. I brought a lot of food and drink this time because I was worried that the food here would be bland, so I added some flavor for you.

Also,"

Zheng Fan reached into his chest, took out a small cloth bag, opened it, and inside was a small bib.

He placed the bib on the tea table.

Tian Wujing's eyes fell on the bib and didn't move away.

Zheng Fan smiled:

"It's too big; this one is too small; can't wear it anymore."

Tian Wujing nodded,

reached out,

took the bib, his fingertips couldn't help but caress it.

"Your Lordship, I'll leave first. I'll bring some troops over in a while."

Jingnan Hou nodded slightly, without speaking.

Zheng Fan took his leave and left. Afraid of running into Seventh Uncle, he didn't go through the front door but came out through the back door.

It was getting late, but because he had just received a new task, Zheng Fan didn't dare to delay at all. After leaving the city gate, he found his troops and joined them.

Inside the tent,

a bonfire was burning and soup was being cooked,

and everyone sat around it.

Zheng Fan recounted the events, saying:

"That's the situation. Counting the time it takes to travel back and forth, we have about a month to prepare."

Fourth Niang said, "This matter should still be asked of A Cheng, right?"

Xue San said, "It should be asked, but the master can't personally lead the army to sneak over, right? No one will be watching the home? If you ask me, since it's only a thousand riders, A Cheng won't have much to do. It's better to let that stinky zombie continue to guard the house.

Master, please rest assured. After we go back, I'll pull out my men first and go there to scout the way in advance. When the river is completely frozen in the first month of the new year, the master can pass through calmly."

A Ming took a sip of blood and said:

"Is Jingnan Hou treating us like a lottery ticket? Always wanting to scratch out the top prize?"

Xue San smiled and said, "This is Jingnan Hou cultivating the master. The meaning is very clear. Let's discuss it again; who should we take with us this time.

Fourth Niang, you have to follow."

Xue San paid great attention to the correct attitude.

"The stinky zombie guards the house. Me, A Ming, will definitely follow. The Demonic Pearl should also recover by then, and for the master's safety, it must also follow."

"What about Blind?" A Ming asked.

"We have to leave one civil and one military at home," Xue San said.

Fourth Niang is going, so we must leave someone at home who can manage and arrange things.

Even if Blind hasn't advanced, compared to needlework, you, Blind, can only suffer a little grievance.

Zheng Fan raised his hand,

somewhat puzzled, and said:

"How come, no matter how I count, it feels like something is missing?"

…

"Cough cough… cough cough…"

The sword servant lay on the bed, looking very weak. Even her coughs didn't have much strength.

Fan Li stood beside her, watching her.

The doctor had just left and prescribed medicine. Fan Li had already asked the shop assistant to help boil the medicine.

But Fan Li didn't have much hope that the medicine would work.

Because Fan Li knew that the sword servant was not infected with a common cold;

in normal circumstances, colds come from the outside in, but this time, the sword servant's cold was from the inside out.

Her innate sword embryo physique had suddenly gone wrong for some reason, causing her body's qi to become disordered.

Originally, Fan Li and the sword servant had left Yanjing ahead of the princess, but because of the sword servant's illness, they had been delayed for nearly a month, and they had only just arrived in Yingdu.

The sword servant opened her eyes with some difficulty, looked at Fan Li, and said very weakly:

"Big guy, am I going to die soon?"

The illness came fiercely, so it was no wonder the little girl was overthinking.

Fan Li nodded and said:

"Looks like it's soon."

"It's all my fault for delaying your business."

"Yes, it is."

The sword servant felt depressed in her chest and pursed her lips slightly,

and said:

"Big guy, after I die, how are you going to bury me?"

"Cut into a human stick, easy to carry."

"…" Sword Servant.

"You rest first, hold on a little longer. Later, I'll go to the city and wander around to see if I can carry a swordsman over in a sack for you to see. I still think your problem should be related to swords."

Saying that,

Fan Li got up, looked at the sky outside which was already dark, and put the prepared sack on his shoulder, preparing to go out.

But the sword servant weakly said:

"What if I'm gone when you leave?"

Her voice was very small, but Fan Li, who had walked to the door, heard it.

He immediately shook his head and said:

"Do you know why I gave you this name?"

"I think… if you don't say this name… I can hold on and live a little longer…"

But Fan Li said to himself:

"Because, a cheap name is easy to raise."