Chapter 1 Liang Cheng is Back

Liang Cheng returned.

He was several days later than expected because he not only transported the wealth from the Helian family's treasury but also conveniently eliminated two wild tribes and forced their chiefs' sons to visit the City Lord in Shengle City to pledge allegiance.

Perhaps when Emperor Wu of Han first allowed Huo Qubing to join the army, he also felt a little uneasy.

But Zheng Fan was completely confident in Liang Cheng leading the army.

A talented general needs an army as a touchstone, to gamble, but a seasoned veteran like Liang Cheng really doesn't need much worry.

Zheng Fan personally went out of the city to welcome the returning troops.

Amid the kneeling and helping,

Liang Cheng advanced.

It was abrupt, yet so natural.

So, when the demon kings dined together that evening, the pressure suddenly fell on Xue San and the Blind Man.

Everyone was striving for progress, and they were undoubtedly lagging behind. Even Fan Li had advanced, so what excuse could they offer for themselves?

A'ming wasn't here; he had already led a convoy to Yanjing yesterday.

After the dinner, everyone else went to their own tasks, while Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng sat facing each other.

"Here are the news from the past few days and the orders from Litian City."

Accustomed to the working methods and efficiency of later generations, Zheng Fan felt that written records and transmissions were much clearer and more accurate than oral communication.

After reading it carefully, Liang Cheng nodded and said,

"My Lord's guess is correct. The Yan Kingdom is likely planning to use troops against the wild people."

"So sure?"

Zheng Fan was used to being a smokescreen.

He was used as bait as early as in the civilian labor camp.

Going south to the Qian Kingdom was the same fate, costing General Li Bao of the Northern Town Army an arm.

Zheng Fan felt he could change his name to Xu Huang, because he was always used as that spear.

"My Lord, a large army on an expedition requires a lot of preparation. According to the intelligence we have now, there's no large-scale war preparation in the Yan Kingdom. Therefore, this battle will definitely not be large in scale. I estimate that only Marquis Jingnan will be in charge.

In other words, this is not a national war, but a military operation conducted by a military region.

After the battle to conquer Jin, the Jingnan Army was stationed in Litian City, and it expanded. However, they need troops to suppress the newly conquered land, and the influx of new recruits will inevitably lead to a decline in the overall combat strength. Therefore, I estimate that this expedition will likely be led by Marquis Jingnan himself, with only about 30,000 to 50,000 troops.

Considering the difficult terrain of the Heavenly Barren Mountains and the harsh environment of the snowy plains, as well as the difficulty of supplying a large army, if they really take that route instead of borrowing the Cheng Kingdom's road, the army size will probably be at most about 30,000."

"Can't they go south from the Jin Kingdom?"

"To the south of Jin, the area blocked by Nanmen Pass is full of small countries. They may seem like a mess, but trying to swallow them in one bite requires hundreds of thousands of troops, otherwise it's easy to get indigestion.

Moreover, although the Chu Kingdom is in internal strife, putting too much pressure on it would help Chu to reunite. That's not a worthwhile deal."

Those small countries at the border of the surrounding great powers are actually buffer zones left by the great powers by default.

"This expedition can't be just because Tian Wujing is bored and wants to go horse riding in the snowy plains. So, what is the Yan Emperor after?"

In Zheng Fan's mind, internationalist aid, especially military intervention, has always been a thankless task throughout history.

Liang Cheng seemed to have guessed what Zheng Fan was thinking and said,

"My Lord, the Situ family is not a remote small state. In fact, it occupies half of the Jin Kingdom, and its strength is not to be underestimated.

Earlier, the Situ family sent a large army to the northeast to resist the wild people, completely leaving their backs open to the Yan people. This time, the Yan people should be returning the favor.

I guess the Yan Emperor wants to create a de facto situation, that is, the Cheng Kingdom is inferior to the Yan Kingdom, using his magnanimity and the Yan army's actions to make the Situ family owe him a great favor.

There are many ways to solve an enemy. If you can prevent this opponent from attacking you for twenty years, then he is basically not a threat, and you can save a lot of energy to focus on other aspects."

"Doesn't that sound naive?" Zheng Fan asked.

Entrusting the relationship between countries to affection and friendship?

In later generations, there were countless examples of countries that used to be honey-sweet and brotherly, but later turned into mutual hatred and slaughter.

"Of course, this kind of relationship is not reliable, but if it succeeds, it can provide a good reason for the conservatives in the Cheng Kingdom and the Situ family."

"This kind of effect?"

"The effect of this move still depends on the national power of the Yan Kingdom continuing to suppress the Cheng Kingdom. That is the foundation."

"Oh, I see."

"Moreover, the Yan Kingdom may only be using Marquis Jingnan and 30,000 troops. To put it bluntly, even if…"

"Shut up!"

"…" Liang Cheng.

"Alright, I know what you mean. You want to say that the cost isn't high anyway, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I understand."

"Then I will lead the army back into the mountains tomorrow to clear a path first. Marquis Jingnan probably wants to wait until he leads the main force through the Heavenly Barren Mountains into the snowy plains, without the wild people discovering it in advance and passing the news to the wild people in the northeast snowy plains."

"Thank you for your hard work."

"My Lord, this time I plan to keep those 1,000 Jingnan troops to guard the house, and take the rest of the men out."

"Okay, you can decide for yourself. Just treat it as combat training."

"Yes, I understand."

Not long after Liang Cheng left, Xue San came in, carrying a large box in his hand.

"My Lord, come on, let's go inside."

"Hmm?"

"My Lord, come on, let's go inside, come on~"

Xue San carried the box into the room first.

After Zheng Fan went in, Xue San suspiciously closed the door.

"What's in the box?"

Zheng Fan pointed to the box and asked.

Liang Cheng advanced as soon as he led the troops back, and then he had to lead the troops back into the mountains again, as if he had only returned to hand over the wealth and level up.

Zheng Fan also knew that Xue San must be extremely anxious now.

"My Lord, come, take a look. These days, I've been training those fifty idiots during the day, and I've been polishing these things at night. This is my filial piety, and I hope you will accept it with a smile."

As he said this, Xue San opened the box,

Zheng Fan was stunned,

Xue San took out the brand-new items inside one by one as if presenting treasures:

"My Lord, these are handcuffs."

"My Lord, take a look, this is a tendon rope, it will definitely not wear out the skin."

"My Lord, this is a wolf-skin whip made from a merchant house. This is a non-barbed version. I also specially made a barbed version. Oh, there is also my own special jinchuang medicine below."

"My Lord, this is a mask."

"Oh, right, My Lord, this is a mouth gag, I have disinfected it. You can remember to disinfect it yourself after you use it in the future."

"Ah, and, this is the main event, it is my…"

………

So, life is like this. When you find that the road in front of you is impassable, you can try to change your thinking.

In addition, with so many successful examples in front of him, he could always find some patterns by summarizing.

Xue San felt that he had found a method and succeeded. After his aura skyrocketed, his heart was filled with a sense of satisfaction.

The psychological pressure that was suffocating was suddenly relieved, the sun became brighter, and the air became fresher.

Originally, Xue San planned to go to the Blind Man's roof to listen for movement at night.

Didn't the Blind Man say last time that he wouldn't let him go if he went again?

Come on,

Who's afraid of who?

Let's compare!

But Xue San didn't go in the end. In fact, he only went to the Blind Man last time to see if he had advanced. He didn't really plan to eavesdrop. The Blind Man still understood the principle that a friend's wife should not be deceived. He wouldn't do such a tasteless thing.

As for going to the Lord's roof after coming out of the Blind Man's place, that was a manifestation of emotional out-of-control. He actually forgot that the Lord would throw the magic pill out of the window whenever he and Si Niang did needlework!

Endure, endure,

Be reserved, be reserved;

So Xue San didn't sleep all night.

The next day, when everyone gathered for breakfast, also to send Liang Cheng off again as he led his army into the mountains, Xue San walked over with a swaggering pace.

The Blind Man was sitting there drinking porridge, slowly taking small sips. The Lord and Si Niang hadn't arrived yet, and Fan Li and Liang Cheng were sitting there eating breakfast.

Xue San deliberately sat next to the Blind Man. As he sat down, a shadow began to spread out from his body, gradually enveloping the Blind Man's arm.

The Blind Man stopped drinking porridge,

Xue San quickly said,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just advanced, and I can't quite control my power attributes yet, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Hearing this, the Blind Man didn't seem to be angry, just smiled and continued to drink porridge.

Pretend,

You pretend for me,

You are now the last one in the class, the real bottom of the barrel,

You must be very upset, very angry, very ashamed, and very restless, pretend, pretend, pretend!

Xue San picked up his chopsticks,

And said:

"Everyone should have advanced, right? We have to celebrate, hehehe."

As he spoke, he continued to look at the Blind Man out of the corner of his eye, but found that the Blind Man continued to drink porridge with peace of mind, as if he was beyond worldly matters.

At this time, Zheng Fan and Si Niang walked over to eat together. Except for A'ming, everyone was sitting together again.

Xue San was eating buns with a smile, eating in the shadow of the Blind Man, delicious, so delicious!

Zheng Fan didn't notice it at first,

After discovering that Xue San had been looking at the Blind Man, Zheng Fan realized that among the seven demon kings, only the Blind Man had not advanced.

Everyone had advanced, but the Blind Man had not, and the Blind Man's contribution and hard work were definitely second to none among the many demon kings.

At this time,

The Blind Man finished a bowl of porridge,

And said to Xue San with some surprise:

"San'er, you advanced?"

Xue San was stunned,

"Huh?"

"Congratulations, congratulations, I'm really envious of you, congratulations, congratulations."

"What?"

The Blind Man turned to Zheng Fan and said,

"My Lord, I still have things to deal with. A'cheng, be careful. My Lord, I'll go do my work first."

The Blind Man got up,

Turned around,

His back was slightly hunched,

His temples were slightly white,

There were ink stains on his cuffs,

He wore cloth shoes,

Frame by frame,

For a moment,

The guilt in Zheng Fan's heart became more and more intense.

But in the next moment,

The Blind Man suddenly straightened his back, and his aura skyrocketed at this moment!

"…" Xue San!