Chapter 46: Overbearing

  (Book friends, the story has just begun. The protagonist's share is a bit less normal, and it's not time for him to show off yet. Some foreshadowing is necessary, and then it will be exciting... Please wait patiently, there will be...)

  It was still morning, and the city gate of Qingyang City had already been opened wide. Dozens of horses galloped out one after another, kicking up clouds of dust. The city of Qingyang was short of food, and this winter, more than half of the warhorses had been slaughtered. Those that remained were emaciated, but among them were over twenty riders sitting upright on their mounts, with a fierce aura about them, exuding an air of inviolability.

  Upon arriving at the gate of the large camp, the knights dismounted and rolled down their saddles. Du Shantiger, who had been waiting at the gate, immediately went forward to greet them, but ignored Li Jizong, who was leading the group, and instead knelt on one knee in front of the three generals behind him and gave a military salute.

  Li Jizong's facial muscles twitched, and he said with a forced smile: "Oh, so it's Commander Du who's here. How about your General Zhang? Old friends come and don't even greet each other, isn't that a bit impolite?"

  He didn't say anything, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Du Shantiger's eyes also widened, and it seemed like fire was about to spew out of them. "Don't bother General Li to worry, the brothers of my Xianfeng Army still remember the great kindness and virtue of the general. Since you've come, are you afraid you won't see my family's general?"

  "Gentlemen generals, Du Shantiger has been ordered by General Zhao Da to wait here for a long time, please come in..."

  Li Jizong sneered and raised his head, no longer looking at Du Shantiger who had been staring at him all along, and walked straight into the main camp.

  The other three nodded slightly to Du Shantiger and walked over, but when it was their turn for the personal soldiers, Du Shantiger blocked them with his hand and said in a stern tone: "General only called a few generals to go in, everyone else waits here."

  These personal soldiers were all robust men selected from the army, except for the commander who had to be by their side at all times when eating and sleeping. Although they were not high-ranking in the military, they were all trusted confidants of the generals. They wouldn't put up with Du Shantiger's nonsense, and several of them immediately gripped their sword handles, glaring angrily.

  Several generals were also apprehensive, knowing that they had brought only a few people to someone else's place, and if there was any danger, bringing them in would be futile. Nevertheless, they wanted to probe the other party's intentions, so no one spoke up, but instead stared coldly.

  At this time, a young man walked out of the gate, with a horizontal knife at his waist. He was wearing a military uniform and was just a team leader. The young man stood upright, came to the front, stood still like a nail, and scanned the faces of the crowd with cold eyes. Facing several helmeted and armored generals, he showed no fear at all. "General, you've been waiting for a long time, why haven't you gone in yet? You few wait outside the gate, four generals please follow me..."

  This young team leader was bossing people around as soon as he came out, and it seemed that he didn't put the people present in his eyes at all. The four generals looked at each other and smiled bitterly in their hearts. This young man seemed to be the general's personal soldier, and at a young age, he had already become the team leader, probably from which noble family? His own personal soldiers outside were probably also like this, but he didn't expect that today it would be his turn, and the taste was really not something that could be told to outsiders.

  The round-faced general following Li Jizong's eyes flashed, and a faint smile hung from the corner of his mouth. He didn't say anything, but with a wave of his hand towards the tense soldiers behind him, seven or eight burly soldiers immediately retreated two steps in unison, making their intentions clear.

  The other two generals exchanged a glance, Li Jizong's face flashed with anger, and he coldly snorted, gritting his teeth and saying in a low voice: "What a big show of force." After finishing speaking, he fiercely waved his hand, also ordering his personal soldiers to retreat, not even looking at the arrogant young man, turned around and entered the tent.

  As they marched, when they were about to arrive at the central army tent, the four generals were already in a state of shock and confusion. They were all seasoned veterans who couldn't see through the reality of the camp from atop the city walls, but now that they had arrived within it, how could they not understand that this camp looked incredibly vast? The banners of various reinforcement troops were all present, but upon closer inspection, most of these flags turned out to be mere decoys. Not even a single high-ranking general was seen. Having only walked halfway, the four men immediately realized that they had likely fallen for an optical illusion. At this moment, none of them suspected that General Zhang was not actually in the army. After all, impersonating a general's insignia would require several lives to atone for, and no one dared to do such a thing. However, it was now clear that this camp was merely a show of empty formations.

  Thinking of this, the others couldn't help but smile wryly in their hearts, secretly sighing that the reputation of the Zhāo family was indeed well-deserved. With a simple trick, they had lured them into coming. The several of them didn't have any other thoughts in mind, only Lǐ Jìzǔ's heart was filled with regret, his intestines were about to turn green. These past days he had been pondering all sorts of sinister plots, yet he hadn't thought of sending someone to scout ahead, and as a result, he had fallen for such a simple empty fort strategy. It was truly laughable, year after year hitting the mark, but this time he had let his guard down. His face grew darker and darker, yet he had no way out.

  Outside the main tent of the Chinese army, Li Jinhua had already led a few people from the Hu Nong Army to greet them. At a glance, behind Li Jinhua were either the commander-in-chief or the deputy commander, and then there were the leaders of the other two Hu Nong Armies, who were no more than ninth-grade lieutenants. Such an array was nothing special in normal times, but the four people who came over were at least fourth-grade generals, which made them feel extremely humiliated.

  Four people walked up close, their faces already as black as they could be. Li Jinhua was still able to hold her breath, but the people behind her all went weak in the knees and immediately knelt down in a heap.

  Li Jinhua's heart was also extremely tense, but Zhao Shi had warned her countless times that at this point, she couldn't afford to retreat even a little bit. So, at this moment, Li Jinhua just made a fist and forced a smile, saying: "Generals, please, I am Li Jinhua, the commander of the Grain Protection Army and the Fruitful and Brave Colonel. We heard that there was a change in Qingyang and had no choice but to resort to this inferior strategy. Please come forward, generals, and please forgive me for my transgression."

  "So, General Zhe Dajiang is not here?" Li Jizong glared at the small Guoyi school lieutenant in front of him, his heart burning with anger, but deep down he still had a thread of joy. Being deceived into coming here was indeed embarrassing, but dealing with a small Guoyi school lieutenant was better than really facing a great general.

  The three people behind him were also stunned, their eyes scanning up and down this woman who was bolder than the sky. Who would have thought that a small fruit vendor, still a woman, dared to impersonate General Chi Da, deceiving even his own generals from several border towns? Was this woman's courage made of iron?

  Li Jinhua nodded slightly, "After going through several fierce battles, it can be said that we narrowly escaped death, with heavy losses. However, there are 100,000 troops stationed inside Qingyang City, and they did not just sit back and watch General Zhang die outside the city, nor did they allow the Western bandits to wreak havoc. Hmph, this Li Jinhua is not daring enough to enter the city... So, I invited all of you generals out, and it's just a matter of circumstances, unavoidable... Please forgive me, Generals."

  The most outspoken of the generals' faces turned bright red, but they had no words to refute. The other three generals looked embarrassed, but upon hearing that Zhang Wenguang had already died in battle, they were shocked and felt even more ashamed, all lowering their heads in silence. Only Li Jizong was unmoved, having harbored different thoughts in his heart all along. He thought about the situation he had painstakingly built up, only to have it ruined by this small official, and his anger grew. Frowning, he said coldly: "You're just a small captain of the grain-protecting army, yet you dare to speak so boldly in front of us? Who gave you the guts? When I was fighting on the battlefield, you were still playing with women's skirts. Hurry up and transport the grain into the city, my soldiers are starving! I'll let it slide this time because of the grain, otherwise... Heh heh, one word from me..."

  Li Jinhua's face, which had still been smiling, immediately fell, and her hesitant thoughts vanished. She said coldly: "So this is General Li Jizong? I've long heard of your great name, but only today do I know that you are indeed extremely arrogant. Your ability to murder superiors, collude with Western Xia, frame comrades, and turn things upside down is truly admirable."

  But to say, the general is nothing more than a narrow-minded and cunning person who only knows how to plot in secret within the walls of Xianyang. He's not even worthy of my attention. After all, this is the world of Great Qin, where there's no room for disloyal and treacherous ghosts like him to run amok. Come on, take down this traitorous scoundrel!