Chapter 263: An Excellent Opportunity
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
At General Wei Wu’s residence in the Nan State.
Second Master Li pushed a brocade box in front of General Wei Wu and opened it. Inside was a jade Ruyi scepter made with excellent jade quality. “General, it has been hard on you lately. This is a small token of appreciation from the Li Clan. Please accept it.”
General Wei Wu glanced at it and closed the brocade box. “Protecting the state is my duty. There is no hardship to talk about.”
“Yes. 1 wonder if the state will fight with the Chu State again this time.”
General Wei Wu didn’t reply. He couldn’t reveal this sort of thing so readily to outsiders.
Second Master Li was tactful and didn’t ask further. He simply smiled slowly and lowered his voice to add, “General, you should know that Prince Qi of the Chu State, Xiao Jin, is currently hiding in the northern wilderness, waiting for an opportunity to strike.”
General Wei Wu’s eyes darkened. “Where did you get this information?”
“General, you might not know this, but a few days ago, 1 sent someone to the northern wilderness to conduct a transaction with someone, but he chanced upon Xiao Jin unexpectedly. Xiao Jin is now in the northern wilderness. After seeing our people, he immediately evaded us. General, do you think they want to create a diversion and catch us off guard?”
General Wei Wu’s expression gradually became tense. Previously, there was news that the Chu State had exiled Xiao Jin as a trap in order to make the Nan State lower their vigilance. The Nan State had also sent people to search for Xiao Jin, but none of them returned. Until now, there was still no news. Those scouts who had gone to investigate were most likely dead.
This made General Wei Wu’s people even more certain of their guesses. Before they figured out what exactly was happening, they did not act rashly anymore to avoid losing more people.
Therefore, when Second Master Li said that, General Wei Wu did not really doubt him.
“Did your people really see Xiao Jin?”
Second Master Li said with a straight face, “It’s absolutely true. They even said that he was hiding in a city built with layered bricks. Could it be that the Chu State had already occupied a patch of land in the northern wilderness?”
Upon hearing this, General Wei Wu’s face darkened even more.
“General, this is undoubtedly a huge threat to our Nan State. If we don’t get rid of them before they take action, I’m afraid there will be endless trouble in the future.”
When he saw that General Wei Wu did not respond, Second Master Li continued, “It so happens that 1 am going to the northern wilderness to purchase medicinal herbs the day after tomorrow. Why don’t you send a team of people to follow me there to take a look?”
After a moment of silence, General Wei Wu made a decision. “Later, I will send someone to lead 100 people to go there and investigate the situation. If it is confirmed that Xiao Jin is really waiting there for an opportunity to strike, we will decide what to do then.”
After Second Master Li came out of the General’s residence, he immediately got into the carriage.
The moment the carriage curtain dropped down, a smile of success appeared on his face. The purpose of his trip this time was not so much about getting General Wei Wu to send how many people with him, but rather, it was to drag the Nan State’s army into this matter.
“Second Master, your method of borrowing other people’s strength to fight is really ingenious.”
Second Master Li smiled smugly. To be honest, he didn’t know if Xiao Jin was in the northern wilderness at all. He had simply caught hold of General Wei Wu’s sore spot. In any case, even if he didn’t see Xiao Jin eventually, he could still say that Xiao Jin had already run away. There was no way General Wei Wu could pin the blame on him. “We just need to sit back and watch the show.”
“Second Master, you are right.”
In the training ground of Sky Alpha City, Xiao Jin stood on the high platform and watched Jiang Yun and the others train.
“Your Highness, Lin Kun is here.”
Xiao Jin nodded and walked down the high platform. Lin Kun was already waiting in the small resting room.
“Your Highness.”
When he saw that Lin Kun’s face had turned red from the cold and even his ears were swollen, Xiao Jin gestured for him to warm himself up by the stove.
Lin Kun rode his horse all the way here. Even though his head and face were wrapped in cotton cloth, the biting cold wind still made his entire body feel freezing cold.
After Jiang Yang made him a bowl of ginger soup, Lin Kun finally felt warm.
“Your Highness, the Chu State and the Nan State may really start fighting.”
Previously, after they deliberately created some small conflicts at the border of the Nan State, that piece of trash Xiao Jue was frightened away. However, what he didn’t know was that his escape had deepened the Nan State’s suspicion about the purpose of the peace negotiations. Therefore, during this period, the friction between the two states’ borders intensified and conflicts become more frequent. The grievances between the two states had already been building up for a long time, and the possibility of the two states going to war was very high. Even if the monarchs of the two states were unwilling to fight again, at this juncture, whichever side displayed weakness was the loser.
“Your Highness, if the two states really go to war, it will be a great opportunity for you.”
As a general who had seen the cruelty of war, Xiao Jin did not like wars. However, if the two states really went to war, he would not miss this opportunity to charge back on a killing spree.
At night, when Su Ying returned from the residential area, she saw Xiao Jin writing something on the desk.
She didn’t go up to take a look, but went straight to the bed and lay down.
Xiao Jin raised his head to look at her and asked, “What did you do to make yourself so tired?”
Su Ying turned around and said with a frown, “Nothing much.” It was just that with more people, the area was indeed more troublesome to manage. Fortunately, those tribes still had their tribal chiefs to manage them. Otherwise, it would be even more chaotic.
Complaints like there were many people in this family so they needed a big house, that family was afraid of the cold so their house had to be sheltered from the cold, and so on abounded.
The minute details of such small problems were so numerous that they gave her a headache.
After Xiao Jin finished writing, he put down the brush and waited for the ink to dry before folding the paper and putting it into the envelope.
“Is there any news from the Chu State?” Su Ying asked when she saw him do that.
Xiao Jin put away the letter before saying, “Mm-hmm. If the two states go to war, it will be an opportunity for me.” He didn’t like to fight in battles. He was merely stating a fact.
Su Ying understood what he meant. “A chance to kill your way back to the Chu State?”
Xiao Jin nodded.
“You still have quite a lot of supporting forces left in the Chu State? Then how did you end up in such a miserable state when you were exiled?” Su Ying didn’t notice that she had made a slip of the tongue.
Xiao Jin saw that she asked so matter-of-factly and said calmly, “Don’t you know better than me why 1 was in such a miserable state?”
Su Ying paused for a moment before realizing that she had said something wrong. “My memory isn’t good. I forgot.”
Xiao Jin knew that she wouldn’t tell the truth, so he didn’t pin her down on this detail. “I’ve been in my fiefdom for most of these years, so I don’t have much power in the capital.” This was also the reason why after he was framed, none of the high-ranking civil officials stood up to plead for him. Most of his supporting forces comprised military officials, and almost all of his trusted aides were in Jin City.
At first, there were people who followed the exiled team to protect him and his children, but most of them were intercepted. At that point, his legs were seriously injured. If it had not been for Su Ying’s arrival, he might have really died along the way.
“Kill your way back. Don’t let anyone who persecuted you off,” Su Ying said. “You think I should go back too?”
Su Ying immediately sat up on the bed, her eyes exceptionally determined. “Even if you have to die, you must drag those people down to hell with you!” Xiao Jin’s eyes darkened. “Alright.”
Su Ying knew that when Xiao Jin really wanted to make a move, he would be fully prepared. She only needed to trust him and continue to support him when necessary.
“Don’t worry. If you die, I’ll bring my children to sweep your grave every year.”
Xiao Jin was utterly speechless..