Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved-Chapter 531 - 510 Second Update

This stretch of mountain road, every step seemed to extend indefinitely, with the horse hooves clinking and clanking on the stones. Yet, when General Wen Sheng emerged from this part of the road, despite the sweat soaking his back, nothing had happened.

Not until everyone in the troop had exited the valley did anything occur—the sunlight pierced through gaps in the mountains, casting light on the soldiers’ faces, gaunt with unease and utterly exhausted.

General Wen Sheng fell into deep thought. By now, pondering the Eastern Border Army soldiers who had led the way was futile; if the enemy possessed such capability, even if those were really Eastern Border Army soldiers, what significance would that have?

Thus, General Wen Sheng immediately decided to reach the Eastern Border as quickly as possible and have the people there notify all the forces of the Wen Family to be wary of this suddenly emerged enemy force.

General Wen Sheng was certain that this must be Zheng Congyuan’s people, but also felt it unlikely. If Zheng Congyuan had such a powerful force, why would he have stewed in frustration all these years and not made a move, allowing their Wen Family’s power to grow unchecked?

But if these were not Zheng Congyuan’s people, then who else could possess such a terrifyingly powerful force? General Wen Sheng dared not think further; could it be that besides them, someone else was coveting the throne? frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"General—" A trusted aide hesitated slightly. Setting off at this time, their men had already been on the move for a full day and night. Without rest, he feared...

"Rest for two shichen, arrange for patrols, and then set off immediately after," General Wen Sheng said, knowing that despite his urgency, it was not the time for rest, but the enemy must be tired as well, so he still had time.

Two shichen later, the troop quickly set off. With the cavalry unit in tow, General Wen Sheng led them directly toward the Eastern Border camp at a gallop. At this point, they were not far from the Eastern Border, and General Wen Sheng thought that General Wen Qun couldn’t possibly have taken all his soldiers with him. There must be some left behind, as they had originally planned early on.

By evening, General Wen Sheng had already reached the Eastern Border Army camp. Looking in from outside, he saw the soldiers practicing in an orderly manner and let out a sigh of relief, immediately sending for someone to announce his arrival.

Deputy General Geng, who had followed, hurried over to General Wen Sheng and personally took the horse’s reins upon seeing him.

"General, how come you’ve arrived ahead of schedule?" Deputy General Geng looked behind General Wen Sheng. The cavalry he led numbered nearly a hundred—a sizable section of the marching army. Naturally, provisions and rest were essential, which is why he had stayed behind.

"How many people are left in the camp?" General Wen Sheng immediately began questioning. He wasn’t sure of the man’s identity, but since he knew Deputy General Geng and the affairs of the Eastern Border Army camp, simply asking would reveal whether the information was real or fabricated, thus uncovering any spies in the camp.

Deputy General Geng was taken aback but replied promptly as the Eastern Border Army had originally branched off from the Southeastern Army, and he was formerly General Wen Sheng’s subordinate.

"General, there are eight thousand men left in the camp," he answered.

General Wen Sheng dismounted, handing the whip over to Deputy General Geng.

"Corral those who haven’t left the camp these days in one place and those who have in another. Geng Liang, I have something to ask you," General Wen Sheng said immediately.

Deputy General Geng, noticing that General Wen Sheng’s expression was off, immediately ushered General Wen Sheng into the main camp tent. He ordered the guards to leave and then followed inside. A moment later, Deputy General Geng emerged from the main camp tent with a strange look on his face.

Had there been a mishap? And were there spies within their military camp?

Indeed, not many from within the military camp knew about their connections to the Aristocratic Family, and now, there were only a handful of trusted deputy generals who were privy to this information. Only two had left the camp; one was currently in the camp, while the other had not yet returned.

However, the Eastern Border Army had always been united, so how could spies have infiltrated them? Moreover, General Wen Sheng mentioned that the Southeastern Army had suffered casualties. He did not specify the extent, but Deputy General Geng felt that the situation was not as simple as it seemed.

Deputy General Geng quickly checked the backgrounds of the group of soldiers that had gone out. Although they were new recruits, they were considered quite competent within the Eastern Border Army. Deputy General Geng found it hard to believe that they were spies.

Nevertheless, since General Wen Qun was not present and it was incumbent upon them to follow General Wen Sheng’s orders, Deputy General Geng immediately issued a command to divide the soldiers into several groups, under the guise of making room for their brothers from the Southeastern Army.

General Wen Sheng personally waited inside the main camp tent. Although the chance of a confrontation was slim, he firmly believed that the enemy would not only target the Southeastern Army but also the Eastern Border Army, as they were essentially one.

Moreover, nothing peculiar had been detected in the Eastern Border Army’s camp for the past few days, which made General Wen Sheng vaguely feel that the next target would likely be the Eastern Border Army within the camp.

Deputy General Geng’s eyelids twitched throughout the afternoon, and the actions of the Southeastern Army made him even more convinced that the situation was far from simple. The cavalry that followed General Wen Sheng had quickly been accommodated and, normally, would seek out their former comrades for a good chat, but these riders stayed directly inside the tents and did not come out. Even the brothers who came looking for them couldn’t enter, with the excuse that the riders were fatigued from the journey.

This was highly irregular. Having witnessed the strong fraternity among the soldiers firsthand, and having seen some of the riders secretly wiping away tears, Deputy General Geng’s mind grew more agitated. He took General Wen Sheng’s instructions even more seriously and immediately re-screened the suspects that General Wen Sheng had pointed out.

In the next moment, Deputy General Geng indeed noticed something amiss. Curiously, those soldiers had all enlisted on the same day, came from the same hometown, and even their names, at this point, seemed somewhat odd to Deputy General Geng.

Because they were exceedingly neat.

"Don’t act rashly for now, let’s see what moves they make," General Wen Sheng said gravely, subconsciously clenching his fists. The only method now was to strike first—to take action before these people could set up their Maze Formation, which could perhaps save the Eastern Border Army.

Deputy General Geng immediately and secretly gathered many of his loyal subordinates and quietly brought them to the main camp tent. As dusk gradually fell, no one knew what situation they would be facing next.

However, they didn’t have to wait long before urgent hoofbeats were heard outside the camp. Soon after, a soldier reported that the group who had left was returning—more than ten men, not one more, not one less.

General Wen Sheng immediately stood up, reaffirming his suspicions. The best way for the enemy to gain their trust was to send a real unit from the Eastern Border Army because they were too familiar with the Southeastern Army to be easily fooled. Initially, they had trusted without hesitation, and even now, General Wen Sheng was certain that these were indeed the real Eastern Border Army soldiers.

General Wen Sheng immediately climbed to the Watchtower, and saw the leading man rapidly approaching the camp. How could he easily forget that face, the face of the group who had met them at the Heavenly Gorge just the previous night? That face was etched deeply into General Wen Sheng’s memory.

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