"Feeling stifled here."
"My lord is exaggerating. My lord and I have only just t for the first ti and exchanged only a few words. Why does my lord feel that I am stifled here?"
"It’s like everyone carrying a bridal sedan; it’s all just formalities and empty words, sothing one gets used to."
"My lord is straightforward."
"Not exactly straightforward, but there aren’t many around familiar with the Chu region. If Brother Ruan is willing to co, I would be most welcoming."
"I am with the Fan Family."
"The Fan Family might beco mine too in the future."
As he spoke,
Zheng Fan, feeling sowhat weary, pointed around,
and said:
"Here, I have Jin people, Yan people, barbarians, and wild people. When I employ others, I never look at their background. As a Chu person, the sooner you co, the greater the benefits."
"My lord’s way of winning people over is quite direct."
"I’m usually not busy and have plenty of ti, but I still don’t like to waste ti. Today I’ve given you face, and you readily agreed, and we would all be happy."
"Otherwise?"
"Otherwise, I’ll have Fan Yongxin bring your head as a pledge tomorrow."
Ruan San’s facial muscles twitched.
He didn’t expect that simply following orders to feign politeness would lead to such a situation.
This Yan lord is extrely domineering. Even though this is within the borders of Chu and the people in the water village listen to him, how dare he!
Zheng Fan lifted his eyelids and glanced at Ruan San.
"My lord, may I consult with Steward Fan and then reply later..."
"Your coming here shows that Fan Yongxin, no, the Fan Family, has already decided to give you to as a gift. As a gift, does it an anything to be so hesitant here?"
Hearing this,
Ruan San gritted his teeth and knelt before Zheng Fan,
"Ruan San is willing to follow my lord’s lead, but my family is still with the Fan Family."
"I will have them sent over."
"Thank you, my lord."
"Rise, and go do what you need to do. I’m tired."
"Yes, I take my leave."
After Ruan San left, Zheng Fan stepped into the small tent. Shortly after, Siniang followed in and said:
"My lord, you were quite imposing earlier."
Zheng Fan chuckled but didn’t continue.
In truth, whether or not Ruan San is subdued here doesn’t an much to Zheng Fan, nor does he care much, at least until the Fan Family sends over Ruan San’s family, it’s not truly settled.
"Siniang, do you know what I was thinking on the boat last night?"
"I don’t know, only that my lord seed to be deep in thought for a long ti."
Zheng Fan nodded and said:
"Yes, I thought for a long ti, because it seems I overlooked sothing before, or rather, I was a bit blinded by the situation."
"Why?"
"The Yan State is actually quite strong. Although we know internally that Yan is now showing signs of fatigue due to years of war, and with such expansive territory, the army is spread thin with various issues.
But undeniably, having just exterminated Jin State and annexed the Three Jin, the Yan now appears extraordinarily powerful to outsiders.
The Chu people’s Blue Luan army was also entirely slaughtered, which is both awe-inspiring and intimidating."
"My lord ans..."
"I think our mission to Chu this ti might not be as tense."
Saying that,
Zheng Fan lay down on the newly laid mat,
and continued:
"It might even turn into a countryside inspection."
...
It turned out that Lord Zheng was right,
when the troop advanced to Mong Mountain the next day, it indeed beca a countryside inspection.
The Chu people had assembled heavy forces at Town South Pass; in front is the false Dacheng established by Xue Rang, originally a family general of the Situ Family, and behind is the elite imperial guard of the Chu Emperor personally led by Nian Yao, intending to completely block the Yan’s possible southern advance here.
But in the western Mong Mountain area, Lord Zheng, the youngest military marquis of the Yan, led his n leisurely on the Mong Mountain trails under the guidance of the Fan Family.
They did encounter a few fortresses in transit, so of which could not be bypassed without scaling cliffs and crossing mountains, but those fortresses were silent.
It’s not that they were uninhabited, for you could clearly see people moving on the fortress walls below, but no smoke signals were lit.
Zheng Fan’s troop hadn’t even bothered to disguise themselves; they wore the black-dominated armor of the Yan army from Snow Sea Pass, visibly not of Chu military design, the only low-key aspect being the lack of flags.
Yet even so, traversing the Mong Mountain region was like moving through an uninhabited land.
Even when camping at night, Fan Yongxin brought over a local fortress commander to pay respects to Zheng Fan.
The man was surnad Sun, called Sun Lianren, and his fortress was a large one with over three hundred troops, less than ten miles ahead.
Sun Lianren’s eagerness even left Lord Zheng tongue-tied, as he actively invited Zheng Fan to endure a bit more and travel to his fortress for the night, to avoid the hardship of sleeping outside.
Ultimately, it was declined by Zheng Fan, but Sun Lianren specifically sent over so wine and at to reward the Yan army, and insisted that Zheng Fan must honor him with lunch at his fortress the next day, to allow him to fulfill his duties as host properly.
Lord Zheng agreed.
After Sun Lianren left,
A Ming, who was sowhat dispirited from not having had human blood to drink lately, spoke up:
"Why are there so many Chu traitors? My lord, rember when we moved south to Qian State, there weren’t so many traitors?"
With everyone being so enthusiastic, there would be no conflict, and without conflict, there would be no fresh human blood. A Ming had brought along a wineskin, thinking there would be no shortage along the way, but he miscalculated.
Zheng Fan shook his head and said:
"Our campaign south to Qian State was too swift and fierce, leaving no opportunity for the Qian people to surrender. Besides, there actually were quite a few who surrendered, like the blind man’s wife."
A Ming glanced at his empty wineskin, feeling sowhat despondent.
Siniang then said: "My lord, it’s a pity the roads here are indeed difficult, but if we had brought not one thousand troops, but ten or twenty thousand, or even one hundred thousand, wouldn’t it be..."
Zheng Fan shook his head,
and said aningfully:
"Then they wouldn’t be so hospitable."
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