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"You’re seeking reinforcements from me?" Tian Heng burst into laughter upon hearing the other party’s words, "Minister Shaoting, such a significant military matter is not something I can decide on my own without the Duke of Qin present. After all, there are several other Lord Dukes involved in these military discussions. What’s the use of coming to me alone? "

"But you, Lord, are the only one who seems to have a slight intention of sending reinforcements to Jiangnan..."

Tian Heng was taken aback when he heard this and immediately put aside any contempt he had felt, looking solemnly at the other party.

During the past few days in the meetings, he had not clearly expressed his stance, which by default was one of agreement, but deep down, he did not agree with the delay in sending reinforcements to Jiangnan.

Of course, he would not reveal his differing opinion to Wang Ye, an outsider.

It just hadn’t occurred to him that this young man was so observant he had noticed it.

"My Lord..." Wang Ye looked at him earnestly, "Every day we delay, more people die in Jiangnan. If we go one day earlier, maybe we can save some lives. Do you truly wish to stand by and watch while the other Lord Dukes drag their feet?"

"Are you trying to sow discord?" Tian Heng looked at him amused, "Isn’t that a bit too blunt?"

"What would be the point of sowing discord among the Lord Dukes for someone of my junior status?" Wang Ye gave a bitter smile, "I just feel that among all the Lord Dukes, only you, my Lord, might have a chance of being persuaded."

Tian Heng: "...."

After a few moments of silence, Tian Heng finally spoke, "You also mentioned before the situation in Jiangnan, how difficult it is for ordinary folks to survive, didn’t you?"

"It’s difficult to survive, but that doesn’t mean there will be no survivors!" Wang Ye’s mind flashed back to something Chen Qing had once said.

The soldiers led by Xuu Hu, the God of War from Lyuzhou, conducted very thorough searches, even in the mountains beside some villages, because there might be survivors there. In his view, this was highly inefficient, but Chen Qing had not stopped Xuu Hu from doing so.

Just because survival is difficult doesn’t mean there won’t be any survivors. If powerless, so be it, but if capable and yet so casually ignoring them, then one does not value human life.

And in this world, those who do not value human life... are no different from demons!

"Impudence!"

A furious shout pulled Wang Ye back from his thoughts, and he looked at the other party in a daze. He was puzzled at first but then realized what he had done.

It turned out... he had inadvertently repeated Chen Qing’s words...

"I have spoken out of turn," Wang Ye took a deep breath and stood up, "Please forgive me, my Lord; I shall take my leave now."

"Wait a minute!"

Just as Wang Ye was about to leave the tent, Tian Heng called out to stop him.

"Does Lord Duke have further instructions?"

Tian Heng looked at him with serious contemplation, and finally sighed, "Truly a disciple trained by Lord Duke of Song. Take this."

Wang Ye caught the metal object thrown by Tian Heng and was immediately startled, "This is..."

"A military token..." Tian Heng said with a chuckle, "Minister Shaoting, you’re a bit too young. I’m afraid among officials of the same rank, only you might not recognize this item, right?"

"I am ashamed," replied Wang Ye.

"Use my military token to command my deputy to dispatch troops. I can only allow you ten thousand men!"

"Thank you, Lord Duke!" Wang Ye immediately bowed deeply.

Ten thousand men... Although the other party was a Lord Duke, core forces like his personal soldiers were limited, and considering the Tian Family was newly privileged, estimates suggested they had at most thirty thousand men.

To be able to contribute a third of it was indeed quite magnanimous!

However, his own purposes were not limited to so little...

Wang Ye gauged the position to the southwest, thinking to himself, ’They should be arriving soon, shouldn’t they?’

With that thought, he took out a jade token and threw it over.

Tian Heng was startled and caught it instinctively, "What do you mean by this, young man?"

"Should Lord Duke be left with no other recourse here, you may find me in Jiangnan. With this jade token, just awaken it with your blood wherever you are, and I can locate you!" Wang Ye said.

"Huh?" Tian Heng looked at him in astonishment. What was this young man implying?

Was he suggesting that Tian Heng had nowhere else to turn to but to seek him out?

This young man... wasn’t running a fever, was he?

"Then, I shall take my leave," Wang Ye said, seeing Tian Heng’s shocked expression, he didn’t bother to explain any further, and besides, he was running short on time for explanations.

It took Tian Heng a good while to come back to his senses even after Wang Ye had left the tent. When he finally looked at the jade token in his hand, he almost burst out laughing, "This rascal, still such a child, to be so willful?"

He thought to toss the jade token aside casually, but just as he was about to do so, something made him pause; he hesitated for a moment then actually decided to keep the jade token. He tucked it into the pouch hanging from his waist.

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"Well, well, if it isn’t Lord Wang?"

Wei Gongyan, who was supporting Weichi Feihu out of the tent, saw Minister Wang from a distance and hurriedly greeted him.

Wang Ye was startled, stopping in his tracks with a frown, recognizing the man before him as someone familiar.

"Who are you?"

"Minister Wang truly has a short memory for important matters. When you previously assisted the Magistrate in solving a case, you came to the Weichi Residence, and I was the one in charge of receiving you," he said.

"Oh..." Wang Ye nodded, some memories coming back to him. He had a very good impression of Wei Gongcheng; when Lyuzhou was in turmoil, he was the first to suggest that Chen Qing go to seek Wei Gongcheng’s assistance. This person before him resembled Wei Gongcheng slightly, so his identity wasn’t hard to guess.

"And this young man is?"

"This is our young master, Lord Weichi Feihu."

"Oh?" Wang Ye looked over immediately, to be met with a face that didn’t seem too eager to interact with him.

He seemed to recall Weichi Peng saying that Weichi Feihu was their father’s most beloved youngest son, too precious to send to the frontiers even as he was nearing adulthood.

However, the young man was a belligerent type, always clamoring to be a general.

His father was reluctant to let him risk it and wanted him to take an appointment in the Capital City but to no avail.

It looked like the boy had forcefully argued his way into this situation; perhaps the old man of the Weichi Clan also thought it would be good for the child to mix with the Duke of Qin and earn some military achievements?

Bad luck...

Wang Ye shook his head and handed over a jade talisman, "I am good friends with the Duke of Weichi. Keep this jade talisman. These battlefields are treacherous, and if you find yourself in danger, use your blood to awaken the talisman. Even if I’m thousands of miles away, I’ll sense it and find a way to come to you. "

The young man faced Wang Ye’s jade talisman but did not reach out to take it, a cold smile appearing on his pale face: "If I run into trouble, do you think I’d need a weak magician like you to rescue me? I’d have no face to return alive if it came to that!"

"Oh, is that so?" Wang Ye responded indifferently, about to retrieve the talisman and hurry on his way. In his heart, Weichi Feipeng was Weichi Feipeng, and his brother was his brother. Out of respect for the former, he wouldn’t stand idly by in certain situations, but if his help wasn’t welcomed, he wouldn’t insist.

Weiling from the side watch with schadenfreude.

Wang Ye had snubbed him before in favor of that lowly Wei Gongcheng, and he had long since taken an aversion to the man.

Now, he was naturally happy to see Wang Ye being rebuffed.

His own young master was one of the few in the Weichi Clan who didn’t give Weichi Peng face!

"Minister Shaoting!" Just as Wang Ye was about to turn and leave, another member of the Wei Family who had been following silently at the back quickly stepped forward and grabbed the jade talisman from Wang Ye.

"My young master is in a bad mood today and spoke out of turn. Please do not take offense, Your Excellency. He is aware of your kindness," he said, not even waiting for Wang Ye to reply before tucking the talisman into his sleeve.

"Oh?" Wang Ye looked at him with a sudden interest, "What is your name?"

"This subordinate is called Wei Gongzhan!"

"Hmm..." Wang Ye nodded, patted him on the shoulder, "Take good care of your young master."

"Yes!"

Having said that, Wang Ye immediately quickened his pace toward another barracks. He could feel that there was no time left.

"Who asked you to meddle?"

Just as Wei Gongzhan turned back, he was met with his young master’s annoyed gaze.

Wei Gongzhan hurriedly bowed his head, "Young master, Minister Shaoting is a rising star of the Imperial Court, well-connected with the noble Duke. This subordinate thought it unwise to offend..."

"You thought?" Weichi Feihu sneered, "Are you teaching me what to do?"

Wei Gongzhan said nothing, bowing his head.

Weichi Feihu grew even angrier, wishing he could kick him right then if not for the injury to his rear. Taking a deep breath, he spoke coldly, "When we return this time, you needn’t follow me!"

Wei Gongzhan said nothing, still remaining silent.

However, Wei Gongyan heard this and felt a surge of excitement.

Wei Gongzhan had followed the young master for three years, originally he was the rightful adjutant, and Wei Gongyan was just filling in temporarily.

He had been considering how to replace Wei Gongzhan, and now the dullard had managed to eliminate himself without Wei Gongyan having to do a thing!

This was not my fault...

"Don’t follow me, go back to the tent!" Annoyed at the sight of his sullen following, Weichi Feihu simply couldn’t stand looking at him anymore.

Wei Gongzhan stopped walking upon hearing this, but he didn’t turn back to the tent as told, rather waiting for Weichi Feihu and Wei Gongyan to walk a bit further before he stealthily trailed behind.

It wasn’t that he intended to undermine his young master, but ever since he had smelled that revolting stench from the southwest, a sense of unease lingered in him.

In the Wei Family, he was a low-ranked concubine-born son.

His stepmother was harsh, and because of his brother Wei Gongcheng’s rise, his stepmother grew even harsher toward the smart children born of concubines.

For years, he had to hide his intelligence; many didn’t know that he possessed the Wei Family’s most precious Wind Snake Bloodline gift, the premonition of danger.

Whenever a great crisis loomed, the whispers of the Wind Snake would sound in his ears, but this matter, his birth mother had always forbidden him to speak of, fearing he’d mysteriously die before he grew up.

This time, the sense of unease was the most intense he had ever experienced—he felt it was a matter of life and death. Wang Ye, being the sole heir of Lord Duke of Song and friendly with Duke Weichi Peng, surely had his means. Having his protection would assuredly make his young master safer.

Although the young master appeared headstrong, he was actually very protective; this was evident when Wei Gongzhan took the initiative to grab Minister Wang’s talisman, yet his young master refrained from scolding him in front of others.

During the three years following him, though he often threatened to have his father replace Wei Gongzhan, he had never mentioned it in front of the old lord.

Honestly, the years spent following the young master hadn’t been bad, at least they were much better than in the Wei Family.

So...

Wei Gongzhan looked towards the southwest and took a deep breath. No matter what dangers lay ahead, he was determined to keep his young master safe!!

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"Minister Wang?" Inside the military tent, Duke Qi Tian Heng’s deputy stared at Wang Ye, who came with the military token, in surprise, "The military token is correct. What are the Duke’s orders?"

"The military situation is critical. The Duke orders all troops to withdraw to Jiangnan!"

"What?" The deputy was stunned by these orders, "What... did you say?"