Chapter 543: 630 Keep playing the music, keep dancing

In stark contrast to the tender embrace of the valley, the borderlands between the Great Song and the Wan Kingdom, thousands of miles away, presented a completely different scene.

The biting cold wind swept through the camp, rustling the banners, while several sentries holding weapons adjusted the cotton padding inside their armor, holding torches and moving to inspect other areas.

Within the Imperial Guard’s Central Army Camp, Generals Huangfu Hao, Zhang Lie, Bai Yongtao, Zhang Mu, Wen Jieming, and others gathered in the Central Army Tent, discussing how to quickly disband the military forces of the Ning family in the Wan Kingdom.

According to the map provided by Prince Zhen Nan, they bypassed to the backside of the border between the Wan Kingdom and the Great Song, which was blocked by a high mountain, an obstacle that could not support the passage of the Imperial Guard.

However, on the map, there was a small path across the mountain that did not require climbing.

Moreover, passing through here would allow them to bypass the heavily garrisoned town and strike directly at the Royal City.

In Zhang Lie and Bai Yongtao’s eyes, the Wan Kingdom was just a small, insignificant nation hardly worth considering. Now, with such a detailed map of the mountains and rivers, this venture was a free gain of merit.

However, Huangfu Hao, the main general of this military expedition, understood the principle that arrogance leads to defeat. Although the military strength of the Wan Kingdom could not compare to the declining Great Song, Huangfu Hao was not careless but instead, studied the main generals of the Wan Kingdom with others.

The Wan Kingdom had only two notable generals who could fight — one was Gao Tailong, a Second-Grade Martial Artist, commanding twenty thousand troops and skilled in military strategy, who was now a son-in-law of the Ning family.

The other was Huang Xingzhong, an old general and a Second-Grade Martial Artist who had experienced dozens of battles of varying scales and was revered in the Wan Kingdom like a War God; Gao Tailong had emerged under his command, and he was loyal to the royal family of the Wan Kingdom.

Although he had retired from the court’s struggles due to his age, his influence in the military was still significant.

This was also why the Ning family, despite having the power to overthrow the royal family, had not taken action.

The Wan Kingdom also had some rising new generals, but Huangfu Hao did not count them in. First, they had not been tempered by actual combat and could not command a troop yet; secondly, they had just entered the innate stage as martial artists.

"Passing through this mountain range, it will take at most two days to reach the Wan Kingdom’s Dragon Gate. According to the map Prince Zhen Nan provided, this is the gateway protecting the Wan Kingdom’s capital. There are many troops stationed there, making it difficult to break through. After entering the Wan Kingdom..." Huangfu Hao looked at Zhang Lie and pointed on the map, "General Zhang, I leave this place to you to lead the attack."

Zhang Lie nodded and assured confidently, "Leave it to me."

"Once the battle starts, if the enemy’s generals are incompetent, they will certainly send reinforcements here at the first opportunity." Huangfu Hao pointed to another location on the map, then traced his finger along a route, saying:

"Zhang Mu, Wen Jieming, you each take a troop to bypass Dragon Gate and ambush both sides of this route. Should the enemy send reinforcements, this road is their only path and a perfect place for an ambush. When the battle starts and on my order, you must strive to stall the reinforcements in the shortest time to give us the opportunity to capture Dragon Gate."

Zhang Mu: "Understood."

Wen Jieming: "Understood."

...

Meanwhile, inside the capital city of the Wan Kingdom at the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Ning Zheng, the eldest son of Prime Minister Ning, was enjoying dance and music.

The current patriarch of the Ning family, also Ning Zheng’s father, Ning Fenglai, had been appointed Prime Minister, a powerful figure capable of manipulating power, recruiting military generals, and suppressing key officials. However, call him a treacherous minister if you will, but in his youth, he also did many practical things for the people, although the political corruption led him to decline.

Ning Fenglai was a very skillful person, yet as his legitimate eldest son, Ning Zheng was a mediocre talent.

When the news of Princess Hui Xian’s disappearance arrived, Ning Fenglai promptly sealed the borders to prevent her from seeking assistance in the Great Song, and in recent days, he even sent envoys to the Great Song, hoping to gain their support. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Ning Fenglai also understood the current situation in the Great Song, with domestic uprisings and the external enemies from Loulan only recently driven off, everything in need of rejuvenation. At this critical time, they were either unable or unwilling to intervene in the affairs of a temporarily harmless small nation.

Thus, he wrote in the letter that as long as the Emperor of the Great Song issued an edict supporting his ascension, even without dispatching troops, just by ignoring any pleas for aid from the royal family of the Wan Kingdom, after he ascended, he would double the previous annual tribute.

This free lunch was something Ning Fenglai believed the Great Song Imperial Court could not refuse.

Even so, less than two weeks after Princess Hui Xian went missing, Ning Fenglai moved the troops to the heavily fortified town at the frontier, even personally going to oversee the overall situation, leaving Ning Zheng with instructions to be vigilant.

Ning Fenglai naturally was aware of his son’s capabilities, so he left many talented people to assist him.

Yet Ning Zheng was indifferent, instead boisterously asserting that with the natural barrier of the Celestial Harmony Pass and the grand forces of his father and General Gao, no one could invade.

Additionally, the Great Song was preoccupied with its own troubles, unable to manage others’ affairs.

He kept urging his father to seize the throne, saying, "Father, once you ascend, you will be Emperor, and I will be the Crown Prince."

A Wan Kingdom official nearby, his face clouded with worry, remarked, "Young Master, the Prime Minister is guarding the frontier and instructed you to be vigilant, inspecting the capital, yet you indulge in music and dance all night long. How can this be allowed?"

Ning Zheng ignored him, indifferent even though he was his father’s trusted aide, and said carelessly:

"Minister Wang, why do you worry like Father does? Even if the Song Army really comes, we have the defense of the Green Mountain and the guard of Dragon Gate; these are natural defenses. Moreover, the Song Army is far away, they won’t want a protracted battle, and unable to capture it, they’ll naturally retreat, rest assured."

Minister Wang was helpless, shrugged his shoulders, and left the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Although Ning Fenglai left people to assist Ning Zheng, he did not grant them authority because, in Ning Fenglai’s eyes, his son, though lacking in talent, was still his own and more reliable than outsiders.

Now Ning Zheng wouldn’t listen, and outsiders had no solution.

Ning Zheng did not try to stop Minister Wang. From what he understood, the National Treasury of the Great Song was already empty, having engaged in multiple wars, it lacked the resources to intervene in the Wan Kingdom from afar.

Moreover, just as merchants are profit-driven, relations between countries are the same.

If there’s no profit, why would the Great Song send troops?

If Princess Hui Xian managed to escape to the Great Song, what payment could she offer for military assistance?

Even if Princess Hui Xian did have something to offer, could the Ning family not offer more?

If things became absolutely necessary, they could offer double what Princess Hui Xian promised.

Seeing the music and dance stop due to Minister Wang’s departure, Ning Zheng frowned: "Why did you stop? Continue the music, continue the dance."

He then pulled a maid, who resembled Princess Hui Xian, into his arms and fondled her.

In his heart, he resented his father a bit. If not for his father’s prohibition to act against Princess Hui Xian, how could the latter have disappeared?