Chapter 40 Conspiracy

  After asking this question, Li Jinhua let out a tired sigh. The exhaustion of the past few days had made her face unusually pale. Since the battle at Xiaoqiu, she hadn't slept soundly once. She had been on edge every night, worrying about the safety of her troops, and now that they were stuck in this precarious situation, she was consumed by anxiety. Although Zhao Shi helped her make big decisions, she was the one who bore the weight of worry. Rushing from a hundred miles away to Qingyang, covering dozens of miles in a day, she had been riding horseback, but running back and forth, making arrangements and adjustments, dealing with trivial matters, it was as if she had traveled thousands of miles. Although she had practiced martial arts since childhood and had a strong physique, this was her first time leading an army, and she couldn't withstand the strain. After arriving in Qingyang and successfully driving away the Western Xia army, just as Zhao Shi had said, she felt like she could finally relax, but her body felt like it was falling apart. She forced herself to listen to Du Shantiger's report on the situation of the Qingyang troops, and after everyone left, her fatigue surged up like a tidal wave, her eyelids fluttering with exhaustion, and all she wanted to do was sleep soundly for once.

  But she also knew that although they had already arrived at the foot of Qingyang City, there were still nearly 100,000 soldiers in Qingyang City who were short of food and clothing, with unclear intentions. If something went wrong, it would be a situation where all their efforts would be wasted. The burden on her shoulders was not only not lightened, but also heavier than before. Not to mention disobeying the orders of the commander-in-chief, even the military equipment and armor being transported by the grain convoy were taken out for use without permission. She had already risked her own life and family to fight for this achievement, and could not afford to relax at all at this time.

  She rubbed her cheeks hard, regained her spirit, and the somewhat dazed eyes also gradually firmed up. Her hopeful gaze looked at the young man beside her, hoping that this miracle-creating young man could come up with a good idea again.

  Seeing her like this, Zhao Shi nodded secretly in his heart. The woman in front of him was indeed not inferior to men in terms of strength, although she was a bit lacking in brains. But for now, in terms of taking charge and making decisions, she had already become a completely different person from before. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "The battlefield is indeed a place that tempers people."

  A flash of light in his eyes, his tone still unhurried, yet he asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to Li Jinhua, "Is our General of the Guards surnamed Zhe?"

  Although somewhat unclear, Li Jinhua was not impatient and replied: "Yes, General Zhe's surname is Zhe, a prominent minister of the Zhe family in the imperial court..."

  He waved his hand, interrupting her from continuing to introduce in detail, "Is there a commander's flag for him in our army?"

  "There is some, but not much."

  "What about the other generals?"

  "All that was left was the commander-in-chief Chen Zuqian's general flag of Pingliang, all other troops and reinforcements had their own flags which they had already taken out on the way."

  "Alright, tomorrow morning, we will raise the commander-in-chief flag of General Zhe Dajiang, so that all the generals and leaders in the city know that General Zhe Dajiang is among our troops..."

  When Zhao Shi said this, Li Jinhua's face turned even paler. She was not foolish and knew that raising the general's flag was an attempt to impersonate a general. They had already committed several capital offenses on this journey. If they added another... having their family exterminated would be a light punishment. Her heart filled with terror, she muttered: "This... probably won't do. Without the military order from the commander-in-chief, if we..."

  Before she finished speaking, Zhao Shi had already sneered, "In the city, there are 100,000 starving soldiers who are about to eat human flesh. Our small team can only intimidate for a while, and it won't take long, just three or two days, they will discover something is wrong. If they come to us asking for food, do we give it to them or not? After probing a few times, they will dare to come out and rob us by force, even killing the main officer, what's to fear about our small grain protection army?"

  "So, we must take advantage of the opponent's unsuspecting moment and make the first move. Tomorrow, raise the general's flag, let people enter Qingyang, and let those generals come out to meet. They are not united in their hearts, and they will not dare to refuse when they arrive at our camp. At that time, it is up to us to decide what to do. If necessary, I think Du Shantiger is grateful to the lord, just give him a hint, let him kill one of the generals if needed. In this way, the blame will be on Du Shantiger, and we can also achieve the effect of intimidation. As long as these generals surrender, what can their subordinates do? Taking Qingyang will be easy..."

  "No... " Almost subconsciously, Li Jinhua immediately shook her head.

  A glint of icy light flashed in Zhao Shi's eyes. "What won't do? Is it that you're unwilling to impersonate the great general, or is it that you're unwilling to stoop to such a lowly act?"

  Perhaps feeling that his tone was too severe, after all, the woman in front of him was also his superior. However, her indecisiveness made him feel somewhat annoyed. Things had already reached this point, yet she still thought about those unnecessary things... truly, a woman's mercy is a curse.

  Li Jinhua, however, did not think so. At the age of just over twenty, in modern terms, she was at the peak of her passion and sense of justice. While other things might be tolerable, when it came to Du Shantian, a straightforward and loyal man, she could not bring herself to use underhanded tactics. With a sudden movement, she stood up, her face pale with anger, "General Du is a man of loyalty and righteousness, how can we... This must never be mentioned again!" Her face had already fallen.

  Zhao Shi didn't think much of it, not to mention his past life's hardships, but his heart was originally cold and hard. Just saying that the era he was born in was an era where personal emotions were gradually becoming indifferent, and after turning 30, people's views on right and wrong had already become blurred. The pursuit of quick success and benefits was the main melody of the entire era. So whether Du Shantiger was a loyal and righteous person or not, what did it have to do with him? Thinking about it, a strange thought popped up in his mind - aren't loyal and righteous people just used as scapegoats? Otherwise, how did Yue Fei get such a big reputation? How did Yuan Chonghuan become so famous? It seems that the more tragic one's death, the more unjust it is, and the deeper the mark left on history. If Du Shantiger really died in this matter, would he be remembered in history? It seems that ancient people emphasized this aspect. Hmm, with his small official position, even if he died, only the women around him would remember him, while others...

  Thinking of these things, he couldn't help but smile inwardly.

  Li Jinhua was furious in her heart, half of which was truly for Du Shantiger, and the other half had a meaning of hating iron for not becoming steel. As the saying goes, "the deeper the love, the more severe the blame". Unbeknownst to herself, Zhao Shi had become the person closest to her, aside from a few uncles who had watched her grow up. He was intelligent and resourceful, able to anticipate his enemies' moves and come up with clever plans one after another. It was clear that he would achieve great things in the future, far surpassing herself. However, he was still young and immature, and although he said and did everything for her own good, such despicable words should never have come out of his mouth...

  Just as he was about to say something, whether it was to scold or persuade him, and couldn't let him do such a thing again, a severe pain struck his back, everything went black in front of him, and he fell heavily back into the chair.

  Brothers, I'm sick and my body is not good, but seeing the collection drop so much makes me even more depressed. I've always written books with all my heart, no matter if they're good or bad, I've put in my best efforts. It's slow because I want the plot to be reasonable and make sense, can't just rush through it, right?

  Although Ah Cao writes slowly, he has done his best. Please don't abandon Ah Cao...