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"How goes it? Is there any news from the frontline?"

In a remote small county tucked away in the corner of the western mountains, a burly man rubbed his bloodshot eyes and immediately asked upon entering the grand hall of the government office.

The government office hall was crowded, not only with several armored lieutenants but also with a few scholars in long robes, led by none other than the Provincial Governor of Jiangnan.

The burly man who had just entered was the de facto highest military commander here: General Zhou Hanyang.

Oh, it should be said that he was the highest military commander up until a few days ago, because a few days earlier, a person of significant importance had arrived.

"Duke of Qin, you’re up this early too?" The original hostility on Zhou Hanyang’s face gave way to utmost respect upon seeing the man, and he quickly curtailed his own irritability.

"You’ve gone another night without sleep?

" A middle-aged man by the desk raised his head, his gentle face looking at the burly man: "This isn’t good for you.

Xishui County is remote, and food is scarce.

You are the backbone of these soldiers now; you need to preserve your strength and be in good condition! "

"My apologies, I wasn’t thoughtful enough..." Zhou Hanyang respectfully bowed and then sat down beside the middle-aged man.

He didn’t want to stay up all night without rest either, but he simply couldn’t sleep.

Back when the zombie siege had overcome the city, a group of military men, including himself, had abandoned the entire populace and retreated from the western gate. They fled to Xishui County, this secluded town, in a state of disarray, like dogs that had lost their homes.

With not many residents in Xishui County and though the entire town had been infected, it wasn’t much of a challenge for the elite Black Dragon Guard soldiers. They quickly cleared out all the zombies in the county and even managed to take back the surrounding rural areas, securing a foothold.

But they dared not make any rash moves, for fear of attracting the attention of the terrifying zombies in the main city.

The year had passed in a blur, both fearful of being found by the zombies and reluctant to dispatch men to scout the situation, as the previous scouts had failed to return. Not wanting to expose their location, they ultimately refrained from probing further.

Stuck in this small county town for a year, they subsisted on the town’s food stores.

Had it not been for the Duke of Qin finding them a few days ago, their aimless days would have continued indefinitely.

The Duke of Qin had personally sought them out, which was supposed to be monumental good news. That day, after a year of turmoil, Zhou Hanyang thought they had finally seen the dawn of hope, yet the news they received was even worse!

Princess Chang had rebelled, turning three hundred thousand Golden Dragon Guards into zombies, and the Black Dragon Guard... almost completely wiped out!

On the day they broke through, his men hadn’t seen wrong, the ones approaching on the river were indeed the Golden Dragon Guard...

According to intelligence from the Duke of Qin, it has been the Princess Royale who held Nanming Prefecture for the past year.

The only good news was that the Princess Chang hadn’t slaughtered the people of Nanming Prefecture, giving Zhou Hanyang, who had abandoned a city, a bit of comfort in his heart.

At least the strategy of Mu Hongqing back then wasn’t misguided; their strategic retreat not only saved the entire city’s people, but despite being deserters, they had played some part...

And now, Princess Chang had withdrawn from Nanming Prefecture, and the one taking over Nanming Prefecture was Chen Qing, the Magistrate of Lyuzhou from Jiangnan.

This seemed like another piece of good news, but the Duke of Qin said that Chen Qing... had also betrayed the Imperial Court!!

When they first heard this news, everyone, including the Provincial Governor, found it unbelievable. A Magistrate, a scholar – how could he have the audacity to rebel?

It would be somewhat conceivable if he had sided with Princess Chang, but that wasn’t the case either.

According to the Duke of Qin, the current Chen Qing was a military warlord with an army of hundreds of thousands strong, capable of forcefully compelling Princess Chang to withdraw from Nanming Prefecture!

Honestly, if it were not for the Duke of Qin bringing this news, they all might have thought the bearer of such words was mad!

A Magistrate of Jiangnan, with some local militia recruits, carving out a territory in Jiangnan and even driving away Princess Chang?

Isn’t this more like a mythic tale?

Yet, the latest intelligence from scouts confirmed this was the case...

The terrifying zombies that had once besieged Nanming Prefecture had all vanished, replaced by a well-disciplined and mighty army stationed around the outskirts!

"Duke of Qin..." Zhou Hanyang couldn’t help but ask after sitting for just a short while, "Have any new messages come from the front lines? How much longer must we wait?"

According to information brought by the Duke of Qin, the Imperial Court had dispatched forces to exterminate the rebel Chen Qing, led by the youngest Duke in Great Jin: Weichi Peng!

Upon receiving the news, Zhou Hanyang felt a surge of excitement and planned to cooperate with the Imperial Court to first recover Nanming Prefecture—at least... take back what was lost and relieve the frustrations of the past year.

But the Duke of Qin’s exact words were, "Chen Qing is now a force to be reckoned with.

We must be cautious in dispatching troops to cooperate.

One wrong move and we will definitely be wiped out in one fell swoop.

The current Chen Qing is absolutely not easier to deal with than Princess Chang, who commands the thirty thousand undead of the Golden Dragon Guard. "

These words forced Zhou Hanyang to hold his troops back these past few days, but his heart felt as if it were being scratched by a cat...

"There’s news..." Lumings sighed as he looked at the anxious Zhou Hanyang, "Nanming Prefecture has deployed troops to meet the siege forces sent by the Imperial Court. According to the scouts observing from afar... there are about... thirty thousand men..."

"Thirty thousand men?" Zhou Hanyang blinked in surprise, "That’s all they sent?"

He had heard that the army stationed in Nanming Prefecture now exceeded three hundred thousand!

Including the newly relocated militia, the force was nearly a million strong...

To confront the Imperial Court with only thirty thousand?

Who are they underestimating here?

"That’s the reality..." Lumings sighed, "So we must be even more cautious not to act rashly..."

"Damn it!" Zhou Hanyang couldn’t help but hammer the table.

Lumings frowned slightly as well.

Originally, the plan was for the troops newly stationed by Chen Qing to fully engage the Imperial Court, while they would launch a surprise attack on Chen Qing’s rear during the tense battle, retake Nanming Prefecture, cut off Chen Qing’s army’s supply lines, and then cooperate with the Imperial Court to heavily damage Chen Qing’s main force stationed in Nan Ming!

After seizing Nanming, they would hold down Jiangnan like a nail, ask for continued support from the Imperial Court, and in doing so, the Duke of Qin would regain control of the Jiangnan situation.

At the very least, he could hold his own against Chen Qing and Princess Chang and others.

At the very least... he still had a chance to plan for the Dragon Palace legacy!

But he also did not expect that facing the Imperial Army, even with Weichi Peng leading the troops, Chen Qing would actually... only send that few soldiers?

Was he really not taking the Imperial Court seriously?

"Are we just going to watch like this?" Zhou Hanyang was incredibly restless.

He was desperate to gain some initiative. This year had been too suffocating. Moreover, the food supply in Xishui County was running low. After all, a group of bloodline warriors couldn’t be supported by the grain reserves of a single county town?

Without quality meat, the soldiers’ vigor had declined, leaving them considerably weakened over the year.

Not only the soldiers, but even his own condition this year had been very poor.

Long-term lack of nutrition was terrifying for bloodline warriors, as it would lead to increased strain on the body and the inability to control demon bloodlines.

Over the year, he had personally executed dozens of soldiers who had transformed into demons.

A few days ago, in preparation for battle and to ensure the soldiers had enough strength, he had disregarded the cries of the local farmers and forcibly conscripted their oxen, slaughtering them to replenish the soldiers’ strength.

Over a hundred oxen from Xishui County were killed, and the soldiers feasted fiercely, significantly improving their morale for the next few days.

However, Zhou Hanyang knew this was only temporary.

If they couldn’t quickly recover Nanming Prefecture, Xishui County, its farming delayed, would not be able to support them.

His own group of soldiers would turn into demon beasts within the next six months, and even he... might not avoid becoming demonized later on...

"We can only watch..." Lumings stated calmly, "The more critical the situation, the less we can afford to act hastily. We only have one shot, and it must hit its mark. Right now, we can only wait for the Imperial Court to initiate a breakthrough first, otherwise... we stand no chance."

Zhou Hanyang nodded reluctantly, anxious though he was, he knew that this was the only option in the current situation.

Lumings nodded and then turned to the Provincial Governor not far away, "Provincial Governor, how much grain is left in Xishui County now?"

"Reporting to the Duke..." the Provincial Governor hurriedly said, "The granary still has twenty thousand stones of grain left, which should be sufficient for the moment..."

"Only for the moment..." Lumings nodded. If it were used to feed the ordinary civilians of Xishui County, even a thin porridge could last until winter. But if it had to sustain the tens of thousands of bloodline warriors in the county town, it would last at most a month, and that was with frugality. As bloodline soldiers couldn’t be starved during battle preparations, if they were to sustain battle readiness, it might be only half a month.

Considering this, Lumings looked towards a figure nearby who had been sitting silently, "We need intelligence..."

The figure slowly raised his head, looked at Lumings with a cold and indifferent gaze, "Duke of Qin needs intelligence and doesn’t ask the scouts, but me? Where would I get intelligence from?"

The one speaking was Academic Commissioner Mu Hongqing.

"You can get intelligence..." Lumings smiled and said, "You must have felt it, right? Your prized pupil has also arrived at Nanming Prefecture. Now... she is quite the favorite by Chen Qing’s side!"

Mu Hongqing: "....."