Chapter 58

The sun at noon hid behind thin clouds, hanging in the sky like a white shadow.

The morning’s military training had ended, and both inside and outside the martial arts field, people could be seen sitting on the ground, their foreheads covered with large beads of sweat, their faces flushed.

Chu Chengji descended from the platform and casually wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief handed to him by a soldier.

The soldier said, “Military Advisor, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain have started taunting again. They’ve been cursing for the whole morning. Do you want the troops from the dam area to show some strength and intimidate them?”

Chu Chengji said, “No need. At the latest, tonight, half of the officers and soldiers above and below will withdraw.”

Calculating the schedule, the imperial decree for the mobilization of troops should have arrived in Qingzhou today at the latest, and Shen Yanzhi wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

He threw the handkerchief to the soldier and happened to meet Zhao Kui who was looking for him. “Military Advisor, the Chief wants to see you.”

Chu Chengji nodded and said, “I won’t come this afternoon. You can teach them the spear technique they’ve learned in the past two days.”

Zhao Kui clasped his fists, “Yes, sir!”

A temporary shed was set up outside the martial arts field.

When Chu Chengji went over, Lin Yao was instructing a soldier about something.

Seeing Chu Chengji coming, Lin Yao said to the soldier, “You can go down first and have the undercover agents keep an eye on the leaders of each mountain.”

The soldier took the order and left.

Chu Chengji pulled out a chair and sat down, asking, “Is there something happening in the camp?”

“No, I’m just afraid that those old, cunning people still have ulterior motives, so I want our people to keep an eye on them.” Lin Yao looked at Chu Chengji sitting in front of him.

Despite wearing plain clothes, he still couldn’t hide his elegance and nobility.

Last night, after Liao Lao returned home, Lin Yao himself had not been able to sleep all night.

After much thought, he decided to open up: “Today, I found Brother Cheng because there’s something I’ve been holding in my heart for a long time, and I haven’t found a suitable opportunity to talk to you about it.”

“My life was saved by Brother Cheng risking his own life. At that time, I wanted Brother Cheng to be the third in command of my Qi Yun Village, but Brother Cheng politely declined. I know Brother Cheng is a dragon and phoenix among men, and a small Qi Yun Village is probably nothing to Brother Cheng.”

“But now, this army was built by Brother Cheng from scratch, and the food, weapons, and soldiers were all obtained with great effort by Brother Cheng.

After the uprising, the leader must be Brother Cheng no matter what. I, Lin Yao, don’t have the ability to lead troops in rebellion, nor do I have Brother Cheng’s foresight and strategy.

Whether Brother Cheng establishes himself as king after the uprising or joins a righteous ruler, I, Lin Yao, will lead the brothers of Qi Yun Village to follow you to the death.”

Chu Chengji raised his eyebrows slightly in slight surprise, and smiled faintly, “Although this army has only a few thousand men, it has already taken shape. I have entrusted it to the Chief, and the Chief will lead it.

Soon, there will be a tough battle with the government. If we win, there will be tens of thousands of troops in the future.”

Chu Chengji’s seemingly gentle but boundless tone stunned Lin Yao.

The issue he had been unable to resolve with Liao Lao seemed to have never been taken seriously by this man in front of him.

Lin Yao suddenly shivered and said cautiously, “I am poor and have only one Qi Yun Village. The army you raised, you lead it yourself. I don’t have the money to support these soldiers!”

Chu Chengji said, “…I’ll support the soldiers.”

He had never heard of a general himself paying out of his own pocket to pay the soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao felt a huge weight lift off his heart. “So, we’ve agreed. I’ll work for you, but managing the fate and lives of thousands of people is beyond me.”

Chu Chengji said, “If the Chief were in the army, he would surely be a talented general. There’s no need to underestimate yourself.”

This was why Chu Chengji had been having Lin Yao lead this group.

Lin Yao was skilled in martial arts, but he hadn’t formally studied military strategy or the army’s management system.

These days had been a learning curve for him, and he would soon be able to stand on his own.

As for the issues Lin Yao was worried about, Chu Chengji hadn’t really paid them much attention.

Lin Yao waved his hand repeatedly. “Brother Cheng, you’re really overestimating me.”

After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked the question he had been guessing about for a long time. “May I ask, Brother Cheng, what is your true identity?”

Since they had formed an alliance to this extent, asking about this topic wasn’t inappropriate.

Chu Chengji calmly replied, “My surname is Chu.”

Lin Yao suddenly felt a chill down his spine.@@novelbin@@

He remembered that Cheng Ji was a pseudonym, and now he openly admitted that his surname was Chu.

This, coupled with the bounty on their heads…

Lin Yao gasped, his words stuttering, “Ch-Cheng… Chu… Strategist, are you the Crown Prince?”

No wonder when he had brought him into the stronghold, Cheng Ji had said those words about being remembered in history as a noble general.

But the rumored deposed Crown Prince was said to be incompetent, especially in court, a mere playboy.

Lin Yao felt that this person in front of him was nothing like that.

Because Cheng Ji was so different from the rumored Crown Prince, aside from their appearances and ability to build, Qin Zheng was adept at everything, not a hint of the Crown Prince’s demeanor.

Even though Lin Yao knew they were wanted by the government, he never thought that they were the Crown Prince and Crown Princess who had escaped from the Eastern Palace.

Lin Yao stared at Chu Chengji, waiting for his answer.

Chu Chengji remained calm. “My identity is not suitable for public knowledge at the moment. We’ll announce it after we take Qingzhou.”

Lin Yao felt his tongue tied, unsure where to put his hands and feet.

His whole body was covered in goosebumps.

He resisted the urge to rub his arms and asked, “Ch-Cheng… Strategist, you mentioned earlier that we have a tough battle to fight against the government? Are we going to fight the officials and soldiers at the foot of the mountain and the dam?”

After learning Chu Chengji’s true identity, Lin Yao dared not treat him as a brother anymore.

“The Chief need not be so formal. Just use the same old address, and everything will remain the same.” After saying this, Chu Chengji pointed to the map in front of Lin Yao and said,

“The government troops won’t completely withdraw from Liangyan Mountain.

If the government wants to wear us down, let them waste their time on an empty mountain.

We’ll leave the stronghold from the cableway on the back mountain.

The government’s forces are all sent to Liangyan Mountain. The defense inside Qingzhou city will definitely be weak.

Taking Qingzhou city means taking control of Qingzhou’s granary.”

After the imperial order to move troops, the government will at most leave ten thousand elite soldiers to surround Liangyan Mountain.

When they take Qingzhou city and cut off the government troops’ food and grass, those ten thousand elite soldiers will have no hope of returning to retake Qingzhou city.

Now that the Southern region has Prince Huaiyang holding the government’s military forces, and even the Marquis of Qin is not to be underestimated, Li Xin has even designed against the Marquis of Qin.

They absolutely dare not move troops now to recapture Qingzhou.

This is their best opportunity to grow stronger based in Qingzhou.

Lin Yao always listened to Chu Chengji’s military arrangements. He nodded immediately, “When do we start? I’ll make arrangements.”

Chu Chengji said, “The government troops withdrawing to the south will leave the mountain overnight before coming down. After entering Qingzhou city, they must not plunder the people’s wealth. Offenders will be beheaded.”

Lin Yao knew that this was to win the hearts of the people in their team, as no one wanted another Li Xin who relied on burning, killing, and looting to march all the way to Bianjing.

He praised, “You’ve built up your credibility these days. I’m not afraid they won’t follow military orders.”

Then he glanced at Chu Chengji. “But we can’t take the people’s belongings. Can we use the official goods from Qingzhou?”

Chu Chengji didn’t speak.

Lin Yao chuckled awkwardly, “We don’t have money to support the soldiers. We’ve exchanged all the silk we sold for food and supplies.

If the government has enough official silver, we need to make proper military uniforms for our brothers, or they won’t look like soldiers!”

Chu Chengji nodded. “That can be done.”

Now Lin Yao was worrying about the future. “If we end up like Prince Huaiyang, commanding tens of thousands of troops, we might not even be able to afford rice gruel. Prince Huaiyang has a big family business. Where will we get the money?”

Chu Chengji just said, “When the time comes, there will be a way.”

Although the Lu family has some wealth, they have now joined Prince Huaiyang, so their financial support for them must be limited.

The Great Chu Dynasty has stood for over three hundred years.

There should be quite a few imperial tombs. Digging a few should be no problem.

With Chu Chengji’s words, Lin Yao stopped worrying about the future.

After all, there’s always someone to take the fall if things go wrong.

As for the name they would use for their uprising and the reasons they would publicly announce for their uprising, they didn’t need to think about it.

The Chu Dynasty had just fallen, and Li Xin was still sitting on the dragon throne.

There were plenty of dissatisfied people under him. Once the call to restore the Great Chu Dynasty was made, led by the former Crown Prince, there was no more legitimate leader than him.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.” Chu Chengji glanced at the sun, which was already a quarter past lunchtime.

Lin Yao knew that Chu Chengji always went home for lunch at noon, not eating with them in the big kitchen.

He teased, “It shouldn’t be too late to go back now. I’ve asked Wang Niangzi to take the Madame to Wang Po’s house. They should have just returned.”

Lin Yao didn’t know that Wang Xiu had gone to see Chu Chengji. Chu Chengji’s brow furrowed imperceptibly, and he stood up to leave. “I’ll go first.”

Lin Yao shook his head as he watched him leave.

Married men are different.

Wu Qing always runs home at meal times, too.

He was about to go to the big kitchen but thought of the unpleasantness with Liao Lao last night, so he decided to go talk to him first, only to find that he wasn’t there.

As soon as Chu Chengji entered the room, he saw Qin Zheng sitting at the square table, drawing with the charcoal pen she had made.

Perhaps she was too focused, as she didn’t notice him enter the room.

Chu Chengji approached and saw that she wasn’t drawing but rather staring blankly at the paper with the charcoal pen in her hand.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?” he asked, standing behind her.

Startled, Qin Zheng turned to see him and breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re back. I’ll go to the kitchen and bring the food.”

She was about to get up, but Chu Chengji held her shoulder and looked down at her. “Is something bothering you?”

Qin Zheng always relaxed in front of him. She drooped her brows and nodded. “There are some things I haven’t figured out yet.”

Chu Chengji sat down beside her and raised an eyebrow. “Is it related to me?”

Qin Zheng shook her head.

Seeing that she seemed unwilling to say more, Chu Chengji said, “I heard you went to the Wang family’s house. If there’s something you don’t want to do in the future, just refuse directly. Don’t make yourself unhappy.”

Qin Zheng knew he had misunderstood and sighed. “It’s not about the Wang family girl. It’s just that I suddenly have a lot of thoughts in my mind. You just let me figure it out myself.”

Chu Chengji rubbed her head. “What thoughts? Tell me.”