Er Zhuzi took Gong Xiaohua to a place about 100 meters away from the Biwu Army.
"Okay, we'll practice here. Follow my moves, I'll do them once and you copy me. I'll try to go slowly." said Er Zhuzi.
Looking at Old Wei staring intensely at them from afar, Gong Xiaohua nodded helplessly.
"Step your right foot forward, slash your big knife diagonally downwards to the front, humph. Ha, then lean your body to the right. Did you see clearly?"
"Mm."
"Then practice it once for me to see."
Gong Xiaohua copied his moves and swung once.
Er Zhuzi watched with his brows furrowed tightly, she had done the right moves but somehow it felt different.
"When you swing, you have to shout out, otherwise there's no momentum. Like this, humph, ha. Practice again, and shout loudly this time."
Gong Xiaohua felt she was nearing a mental breakdown. She repeated the moves, shouting along.
"Humph, ha!"
"Mm, that's right, much more momentum now."
Some passersby found this amusing and stopped to watch for a while, but were all driven away by Er Zhuzi.
"Let's continue."
After an hour...
Sweat had already soaked the little wisps of hair on her forehead, and her throat was starting to feel hoarse from shouting.
"That's enough for today, Xiaohua. You have good aptitude, we can practice new moves tomorrow."
Gong Xiaohua had never felt so exhausted.
Meanwhile, in the main general's military camp, General Wei Wu sat in the only tiger head chair in his tent.
Below him stood General He, and lined up behind were his eight colonels, their heads lowered, not daring to look ahead.
To the left and right sides of the tent were seated the eight colonels of the reinforcement troops, as well as the military strategist.
After the battle two days ago where they had engaged the enemy with absolute advantage in numbers but only managed to kill ten thousand enemies while losing almost ten thousand of their own, heads had to roll for this humiliation.
"General He, you originally had one hundred thousand troops guarding the Xu Mountain Border Pass, but now only fifty thousand remain, while the enemy lost just twenty thousand. This makes me doubt whether you are still fit to be a general."
"General, it's not that your subordinate is incompetent, but the enemy commander is too cunning. In addition, every Dawei warrior is fierce and valorous, that's why my troops keep suffering disastrous defeats." General He said with cold sweat dripping down.
"Humph, save that explanation for His Majesty."
"General, please say some good words about us subordinates to His Majesty." General He immediately knelt down to plead.
His eight colonels also followed to kneel and said in unison, "Please say some good words for us subordinates to His Majesty."
"Alright, stand up. As long as you can redeem yourselves in the battles to come, when this war ends I will speak well of you all to His Majesty."
"Thank you General."
"I called everyone here today mainly to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy."
"Reporting to the General, the enemy commander is the Second Prince of Dawei, and his deputy commander is the Third Prince."
"The Second Prince is extremely sinister and cunning, skilled in crafting schemes."
"In the first battle, they had bound thousands of civilians at the very front of the battlefield, so our troops did not dare to shoot arrows. We could only send soldiers out to fight them, but then flanking forces of the enemy emerged from east and west to surround and strike us from the sides, causing heavy casualties to our army."
"As for the Third Prince, none can match his valor on the battlefield. He killed numerous generals of our army, crushing our morale."
"Fool, just because of a few thousand civilians, you sacrificed tens of thousands of soldiers, simply womanly compassion."
"General, I..."
"Dismissed." The General rebuked.
"Yes." General He could only reluctantly withdraw to the side.
"Strategist, what are your thoughts?"
"In my view, our troops are twice the number of the enemy, that is our advantage. To annihilate them in one blow, we should catch them unprepared and strike a lethal attack." military strategist Gongsun Qian said.
"Oh? How do we catch them off guard?"
"General, look, according to the map, the enemy camp is thirty li away. And as General He said, in all the battles so far, it was the enemy who took the initiative to attack us, using sinister schemes. Why don't we take them by surprise this time - we march our army overnight and attack by dawn tomorrow when they least expect it."
"As for the Third Prince, we should send one strong warrior to face him, if not to defeat him, then at least fight him to a draw, to boost our soldiers' morale."
"The strategist is right. Order all troops to assemble by midnight and march out."
"As for dealing with the Third Prince of Dawei, I rather want to meet him myself and see who is stronger."
"Yes."
... Scene Break ...
It was the second night after Gong Xiaohua had left the Capital City for Xu Mountain.
In the Qin Residence, Bi Chao Courtyard.
"Young Master, the secret guards watching the Sixth Prince's Residence reported that an hour ago, someone from there secretly went to Yu Lai Inn to have a clandestine meeting with an unidentified person." Qin Yi said.
"Oh? Were you able to see what they looked like?"
"No, Young Master. The one from the Sixth Prince Residence was wrapped tightly in a black cloak, we couldn't see his appearance. The other person wore a mask. When our man tailed them, he was discovered and lost them."
"Also, we discovered another group surveilling the Sixth Prince Residence."
"Mm. That other group is likely the imperial guards from the palace. Did they notice your men?"
"No, Young Master. Our men deliberately kept their distance from them."
"Young Master, could the one meeting the Sixth Prince be from the Wujimen that the Young Mistress mentioned in Nanlong?"
"Highly likely. If it's someone from Wujimen, then the purpose of their contact is probably related to the Xu Mountain border situation."
"The Sixth Prince can't be trying to collude with external enemies to attack our Capital! Colluding with foreign enemies is a capital offense!"
"Heh, ambition runs high among His Majesty's princes! For the Sixth Prince side, just keep watching who they have contact with. The rest will be handled by people inside the palace. The Wujimen side likely won't make another move for some time. Send more men to Xu Mountain to infiltrate the army and ensure the Young Mistress' safety at all cost."
"Yes."
"Any other abnormalities?"
"No unusual activities at the Lin Residence. The Sixth Prince's Consort is still under house confinement after the incident with Wang Peng Yun. No local ruffians have gone to harass the Gong family recently either."
"Mm. Keep monitoring, report immediately if anything unusual happens."
"Yes."
Watching Qin Yi withdraw, Qin Chuyuan's brows were tightly knitted. This battle at Xu Mountain would be extremely perilous. He hoped she would return safely, otherwise he wouldn't let a single person who harmed her off the hook.
In Daye Royal Palace.
"Your Majesty, the imperial guards reported that someone from the Sixth Prince Residence secretly went out to meet with others late at night."
Upon hearing this, King Ye's hand holding the brush paused for a moment.
"Did you find out the identity of the other party?"
"Please forgive us, Your Majesty. We didn't ascertain the background of the other party, only knew that he has extremely high martial arts skill and shook off our men within minutes."
"Don't alert them for now, keep covert surveillance."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Sixth son, I hope you don't disappoint me.
Er Zhuzi took Gong Xiaohua to a place about 100 meters away from the Biwu Army.
"Okay, we'll practice here. Follow my moves, I'll do them once and you copy me. I'll try to go slowly." said Er Zhuzi.
Looking at Old Wei staring intensely at them from afar, Gong Xiaohua nodded helplessly.
"Step your right foot forward, slash your big knife diagonally downwards to the front, humph. Ha, then lean your body to the right. Did you see clearly?"
"Mm."
"Then practice it once for me to see."
Gong Xiaohua copied his moves and swung once.
Er Zhuzi watched with his brows furrowed tightly, she had done the right moves but somehow it felt different.
"When you swing, you have to shout out, otherwise there's no momentum. Like this, humph, ha. Practice again, and shout loudly this time."
Gong Xiaohua felt she was nearing a mental breakdown. She repeated the moves, shouting along.
"Humph, ha!"
"Mm, that's right, much more momentum now."
Some passersby found this amusing and stopped to watch for a while, but were all driven away by Er Zhuzi.
"Let's continue."
After an hour...
Sweat had already soaked the little wisps of hair on her forehead, and her throat was starting to feel hoarse from shouting.
"That's enough for today, Xiaohua. You have good aptitude, we can practice new moves tomorrow."
Gong Xiaohua had never felt so exhausted.
Meanwhile, in the main general's military camp, General Wei Wu sat in the only tiger head chair in his tent.
Below him stood General He, and lined up behind were his eight colonels, their heads lowered, not daring to look ahead.
To the left and right sides of the tent were seated the eight colonels of the reinforcement troops, as well as the military strategist.
After the battle two days ago where they had engaged the enemy with absolute advantage in numbers but only managed to kill ten thousand enemies while losing almost ten thousand of their own, heads had to roll for this humiliation.
"General He, you originally had one hundred thousand troops guarding the Xu Mountain Border Pass, but now only fifty thousand remain, while the enemy lost just twenty thousand. This makes me doubt whether you are still fit to be a general."
"General, it's not that your subordinate is incompetent, but the enemy commander is too cunning. In addition, every Dawei warrior is fierce and valorous, that's why my troops keep suffering disastrous defeats." General He said with cold sweat dripping down.
"Humph, save that explanation for His Majesty."
"General, please say some good words about us subordinates to His Majesty." General He immediately knelt down to plead.
His eight colonels also followed to kneel and said in unison, "Please say some good words for us subordinates to His Majesty."
"Alright, stand up. As long as you can redeem yourselves in the battles to come, when this war ends I will speak well of you all to His Majesty."
"Thank you General."
"I called everyone here today mainly to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy."
"Reporting to the General, the enemy commander is the Second Prince of Dawei, and his deputy commander is the Third Prince."
"The Second Prince is extremely sinister and cunning, skilled in crafting schemes."
"In the first battle, they had bound thousands of civilians at the very front of the battlefield, so our troops did not dare to shoot arrows. We could only send soldiers out to fight them, but then flanking forces of the enemy emerged from east and west to surround and strike us from the sides, causing heavy casualties to our army."
"As for the Third Prince, none can match his valor on the battlefield. He killed numerous generals of our army, crushing our morale."
"Fool, just because of a few thousand civilians, you sacrificed tens of thousands of soldiers, simply womanly compassion."
"General, I..."
"Dismissed." The General rebuked.
"Yes." General He could only reluctantly withdraw to the side.
"Strategist, what are your thoughts?"
"In my view, our troops are twice the number of the enemy, that is our advantage. To annihilate them in one blow, we should catch them unprepared and strike a lethal attack." military strategist Gongsun Qian said.
"Oh? How do we catch them off guard?"
"General, look, according to the map, the enemy camp is thirty li away. And as General He said, in all the battles so far, it was the enemy who took the initiative to attack us, using sinister schemes. Why don't we take them by surprise this time - we march our army overnight and attack by dawn tomorrow when they least expect it."
"As for the Third Prince, we should send one strong warrior to face him, if not to defeat him, then at least fight him to a draw, to boost our soldiers' morale."
"The strategist is right. Order all troops to assemble by midnight and march out."
"As for dealing with the Third Prince of Dawei, I rather want to meet him myself and see who is stronger."
"Yes."
... Scene Break ...
It was the second night after Gong Xiaohua had left the Capital City for Xu Mountain.
In the Qin Residence, Bi Chao Courtyard.
"Young Master, the secret guards watching the Sixth Prince's Residence reported that an hour ago, someone from there secretly went to Yu Lai Inn to have a clandestine meeting with an unidentified person." Qin Yi said.
"Oh? Were you able to see what they looked like?"
"No, Young Master. The one from the Sixth Prince Residence was wrapped tightly in a black cloak, we couldn't see his appearance. The other person wore a mask. When our man tailed them, he was discovered and lost them."
"Also, we discovered another group surveilling the Sixth Prince Residence."
"Mm. That other group is likely the imperial guards from the palace. Did they notice your men?"
"No, Young Master. Our men deliberately kept their distance from them."
"Young Master, could the one meeting the Sixth Prince be from the Wujimen that the Young Mistress mentioned in Nanlong?"
"Highly likely. If it's someone from Wujimen, then the purpose of their contact is probably related to the Xu Mountain border situation."
"The Sixth Prince can't be trying to collude with external enemies to attack our Capital! Colluding with foreign enemies is a capital offense!"
"Heh, ambition runs high among His Majesty's princes! For the Sixth Prince side, just keep watching who they have contact with. The rest will be handled by people inside the palace. The Wujimen side likely won't make another move for some time. Send more men to Xu Mountain to infiltrate the army and ensure the Young Mistress' safety at all cost."
"Yes."
"Any other abnormalities?"
"No unusual activities at the Lin Residence. The Sixth Prince's Consort is still under house confinement after the incident with Wang Peng Yun. No local ruffians have gone to harass the Gong family recently either."
"Mm. Keep monitoring, report immediately if anything unusual happens."
"Yes."
Watching Qin Yi withdraw, Qin Chuyuan's brows were tightly knitted. This battle at Xu Mountain would be extremely perilous. He hoped she would return safely, otherwise he wouldn't let a single person who harmed her off the hook.
In Daye Royal Palace.
"Your Majesty, the imperial guards reported that someone from the Sixth Prince Residence secretly went out to meet with others late at night."
Upon hearing this, King Ye's hand holding the brush paused for a moment.
"Did you find out the identity of the other party?"
"Please forgive us, Your Majesty. We didn't ascertain the background of the other party, only knew that he has extremely high martial arts skill and shook off our men within minutes."
"Don't alert them for now, keep covert surveillance."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Sixth son, I hope you don't disappoint me.
