Page 166

Such a madwoman...

In the dense fog, watching the Princess’s figure become increasingly blurred, Lumings was somewhat lost in thought, unconsciously recalling the spirited and handsome bearing of this woman from decades ago.

In reality, there were quite a few people who admired her back then; after all, a charming and powerful woman always has a way of provoking a man’s desire to conquer.

But he knew it was impossible for him. Women of the top bloodlines from great families could not marry out, only take in a son-in-law, and he himself.

.. as the Family Head of the Lu Family, could not possibly become a marital addition to another household.

Moreover, at that time, everyone could see that the woman.

.. harbored admiration in her heart... for the King of Qin!

He could see it, everyone could see it, but no one expected that the woman’s obsession could be so strong, so mad...

As the fog thickened, the figure of the Princess Royale disappeared, and Lumings gave up struggling, sitting down on the ground.

Having resisted the ancients alongside the King of Qin, he was very clear about the effects of the ancient seals and arrays that came with the invasion. If one did not grasp the method, these arrays capable of sealing the ancients were not something mortals could break through.

From the moment he had been calculated against and thrown into this place, Lumings knew that he no longer had any control over the situation that followed.

"Is this it?"

Lumings looked around blankly at the surrounding clouds and mist, silent without the slightest sound, as if completely isolated from the outside world. The environment was not bad, to die here... didn’t seem too terrible.

But is this really it?

A suppressed flame in Lumings’s heart caused him to vomit a large amount of fresh blood involuntarily!

Back then, for the desires in his heart, he did not go to save the King of Qin.

For the sake of forbearance, he accumulated strength, ceded the supreme position to that youngster of the Siao Family, and endured the torment of an illness that common folk could not bear.

He kept a low profile in the capital for twenty years, and the result. .. is this how it ends?

To die in an obscure mountain range, in a place unknown to anyone, without any grandeur, just to perish so casually?

That’s probably what the woman intended... Lumings thought to himself. She wanted him to die this insignificant, quiet death. He knew what she meant; since he liked to endure in silence, then just keep enduring ignominiously until death...

Indeed, the hearts of women can be the most venomous!

Lumings stood up and looked in the direction from where he had come. The almost desperate blow now dealt him another heavy hit, but his eyes still held grievances he couldn’t let go of.

He was very aware of why the woman had schemed against him like this. Without him there, the move she intended to make was probably aimed at the army of 300,000 elite soldiers he had stationed in Jiangnan—those were the Lu Family’s entire foundations!

"Tian Heng..." Lumings muttered.

Now that he saw clearly the woman’s arrangements, he knew that other nobles who shared his ambitions would likely not escape being calculated against. At this moment, he could only place his hope on the most lucid among them.

-----------------------------------

"The Duke of Qin still hasn’t returned?" This was Tian Heng’s fourth time inquiring at the military tent of the Duke of Qin. Heiyun and the Duke of Lu, who were preparing to lead the army, looked at Tian Heng’s worried expression and couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Old Tian, you’re still the same as before, always worrying needlessly..." The tall and portly Duke of Lu patted Tian Heng’s shoulder. "Don’t worry about Old Lu’s health; in this world, who could hurt him?"

Tian Heng remained silent. Born as a smaller family’s son, he emerged at a time when demons roamed and mighty heroes abounded.

He had never believed in so-called reputations; in his eyes, no matter how formidable a person was, as long as one employed the right method, they could be defeated.

Take the King of Qin for example; how did that turn out?

As they were talking, suddenly another person came in with a report: "Reporting to Duke Qi, the Judicial Court Minister Shaoting, Wang Ye, has returned. Minister Shen invites you to discuss reinforcement matters."

Although Tian Heng was still somewhat worried about Lumings, he also knew his responsibilities. He nodded immediately: "Tell the Chief of Staff, I will be right over."

"Yes!"

"Old Tian, stop worrying. You’d be better off worrying about me. I hear from Mr. Heiyun that the situation in West Sea City... is hanging by a thread!"

"You need to be careful," Tian Heng also felt the importance of this matter: "Please take extra care of him, and don’t let him act recklessly."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" the Duke of Lu glared at him. "You’re just like how you were before, a real fusspot. Am I not a famous general of this era?"

"I can’t be bothered with you..." Tian Heng rolled his eyes at him: "As soon as you hear your son might be in danger, you want to rush out, completely disregarding military discipline. The more you act like this, the easier it is for others to take advantage. Your death is inconsequential, just don’t waste the lives of the soldiers. "

"Hey, you son of a..." The Duke of Lu was immediately choked with anger, but he also knew Tian Heng’s character—as sharp-tongued as ever. He waved his hand and said: "When I return victorious, I’ll come to drink with you. Just make sure you don’t have any problems here."

This last sentence was obviously unintentional, but it made Tian Heng’s heart inexplicably skip a beat.

Indeed, leading Old Lu away without being able to harm him was not pointless. Aren’t we also a target without our chief commander?

Just as I was about to say something, I saw Heiyun say, "General Tian can rest assured, I will do my utmost. I entrust everything here to General Tian."

Clearly, even a magician like Heiyun was aware of how reliable Tian Heng was.

"Take care on your journey, I hope for your triumphant return," Tian Heng wished him well.

"Thank you for your auspicious words!"

----------------------------

After bidding farewell to the two, Tian Heng strode with the messenger to the main camp.

"Greetings, Duke Qi!" Inside the camp, the young Wang Ye was the first to stand up and salute, while other acquaintances casually greeted with, "Old Tian, what took you so long?", and Minister Shen slightly bowed in greeting.

Tian Heng turned his gaze to Wang Ye. This young minister had been away for quite a while this time, returning from the area of Nanming Prefecture.

It seemed there was no problem, but since he could freely traverse the river, if he wanted to, he could detour and come out from any location, which could not serve as evidence of trust.

Frankly speaking, he had never quite trusted him although he was the direct disciple of Duke of Song.

"Tell me about the situation," Tian Heng asked directly as he sat down.

"Yes..." Wang Ye pointed at the map and said, "According to the observations over the past few days, besides the remote Yunzhou, which hasn’t been explored, I have briefly checked the other provincial government offices.

Apart from Lyuzhou, Nanming Prefecture, and Nanyang City, the main cities of Yangzhou, Baichuan City, and Tianshui City have all fallen, with zombies everywhere.

Over a million people in the main cities and several million in the surrounding countryside, I fear there are few survivors. "

The grim statistics caused all the military officials to frown.

Jiangnan was a critical tax land, and such a sudden disaster meant that even if the situation was resolved later, the extensive loss of population would be too great to recover in several decades.

Without the support of Jiangnan, the benefits of West Sea trade would greatly diminish, which was not good news for the military officials affiliated with the Duke of Qin.

After all, a lot of the spoils from the West Sea were pocketed by the major families, and without this territory, many families’ resources would likely suffer greatly!

Tian Heng glanced at him, his brow relaxing a little. Compared to other dukes worried about future interests, he was quite satisfied with Wang Ye’s report, which was largely in line with his initial expectations.

In his view, zombies were not something that the garrisons of places like Yangzhou could withstand, and their plundering nature also meant that once they could not be resisted, the provincial government offices would collapse in a domino effect of infection and spread!

Except for Lyuzhou, which was a bit of an anomaly.

"I have verified the token brought to me by the Shen family," Fifth Master Shen began.

"According to the signal transmitted to me by my sixth brother, Nanyang City is currently under control.

The millions of residents within Nanyang City are safe, but the inability to rescue the surrounding countryside is also true. "

"Do you need reinforcements?" Tian Heng asked with a frown.

"If we are to send reinforcements, I’m afraid we won’t have enough troops.

.." Fifth Master Shen shook his head. "Nanyang City has many districts spanning a thousand miles, and the internal resources of Nanyang City are no longer sufficient to support the incoming refugees. If we want to save them, we’ll need to establish defenses over a wide area with the county towns as bases.

A conservative estimate... the troop requirement would exceed one hundred thousand! "

"This..." The other dukes looked at each other, each finding the situation problematic.

Most of the troops brought this time were precious bloodline warriors, and to scatter them to rescue county towns not only posed a great risk but also, as pointed out, there would be a shortage of forces.

Since the intelligence at hand was unclear, the main force certainly had to keep troops for observation.

Magician Heiyun had already taken one hundred thousand soldiers to aid the West Sea, and considering the need to support Nanming Prefecture and Nanyang City, a maximum of twenty thousand troops could be spared for Nanyang City.

But if Nanyang was not supported, and the most significant local power had an issue with that, it would be a problem later on. After all, the Shen family had ceded the benefits of the West Sea for so many years not because of insufficient strength, but out of respect for Duke Qin...

"I believe that given our current shortage of troops, we should focus on supporting Nanming Prefecture first..

." Fifth Master Shen proposed. "Nanming Prefecture is the critical passage between the Imperial Court and Jiangnan.

By holding this position and securing our logistics, we can then join the Imperial Army. What do you all think?"

"Um..." The group exchanged glances, each holding a trace of respect.

It was commonly said that Fifth Master Shen was someone who considered the bigger picture, and it seemed truly so. Nanyang was the Shen family’s foundation, and he could still speak from the perspective of the overall situation. What could they say in response?

"Minister Shen is magnanimous!" Tian Heng looked at him. "After this incident, we will definitely petition the Imperial Court to compensate the Shen family as much as possible."

"Let’s talk about that later," Fifth Master Shen said with a slight smile.

Tian Heng appeared respectful on the surface but felt a vague sense of caution in his heart. He was a man who deeply understood human nature, and he didn’t believe a person could be so selfless as to disregard family interests; there had to be another reason for Fifth Master Shen’s actions.

Watching all this, Wang Ye secretly sneered. If he hadn’t received intelligence from Chen Qing, he wouldn’t dare believe that Fifth Master Shen, the Minister of War who had the best reputation from outsiders, was actually the number one zombie!

If Chen Qing’s information was correct, then the current target he wished to devour must be these bloodline soldiers stationed outside.

If everything was as Chen Qing had predicted, should he follow Chen Qing’s advice?

For the first time, a trace of confusion flashed across Wang Ye’s eyes...