The Empress' Livestream

How about striking preemptively?

At the moment, Jiang Pengji had occupied the entire Fengyi County. With 20,000 carefully trained troops in hand, come next spring, she could conquer Wanzhou and claim all of Wanzhou as hers. Then she could simply send a memorandum to the throne and force the royals of Dongqing to bestow the title State Governor of Wanzhou upon her.

If she were to deploy her troops to traverse half of the northern lands to attack Huang Song and strangle her enemy in his cradle, she wouldn’t be able to conquer Wanzhou next year. But the advisors in Jiang Pengji’s camp also felt annoyed at the thought of leaving Huang Song to further develop his influence at the borders of the northern and southern kingdoms.

Feng Jin said, “It’s best if we discuss the matter with our lord.”

Should one prevent an enemy with high potential from growing in strength or focus on one’s development first? For Jiang Pengji, she could make the right choice with her eyes closed, even if she was to use her toes instead of her brain to think.

“What’s the hurry?” she said, smiling. “I’ve heard of Cheng Jing, one of the four disciples personally taught by Master Yuanjing. Impressive background, but don’t you forget that our Zixiao here is also a disciple of Master Yuanjing. Huang Song has Cheng Jing counselling him, but so what, it’s not like he can f*ck the sky? I have studied at Langye Academy for a few years too, and I have a certain level of understanding of Cheng Jing. Him? Not a concern!”

Hearing her spew phrases like “f*ck the sky”, Feng Jin and Xu Ke kept a straight face as they didn’t understand what she was getting at, but the very dirty-minded Feng Zhen immediately caught on.

“If Cheng Jing has neither talent nor ability, why does Master Yuanjing hold him in high regard?” Feng Zhen couldn’t help but frown when he heard Jiang Pengji say that Cheng Jing was “not a concern”. He had always admired the friend that he had gotten to know through Wei Ci and looked highly upon Cheng Jing, so Jiang Pengji’s contemptuous attitude offended him somewhat.

“I’m not saying that Cheng Jing has neither talent nor ability, what I’m saying is that him partnering with Huang Song would probably impede both of them,” Jiang Pengji said. “I know Huang Song, and I know a bit about Cheng Jing based on what the other scholars at Langye Academy have told me. Together, they can be companions in misfortunes, but not necessarily in fair-weather. Cheng Jing is much pickier than Huaiyu. He not only holds himself to the code of conduct of a man of virtue but holds others to it as well. As for Huang Song, while he has no major flaws, he does have countless minor flaws... Tsk tsk... Their personalities do not suit each other unless one of them is willing to concede and change.”

At this point, Jiang Pengji paused for a while, then continued. “Simply put, with such a personality, Cheng Jing needs a tolerant lord that doesn’t mind his occasional criticism, while Huang Song needs a subordinate that can ignore his minor flaws. Otherwise, it is simply a disaster.”

Of course, everything goes through a honeymoon period. Huang Song and Cheng Jing are still in such a stage of “sweet affection”, and as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they are feeling pleased and satisfied with each other. Huang Song has little influence at the moment, so he would naturally be cautious and restrained, and Cheng Jing would counsel him whole-heartedly and put in full effort to assist him. However, when Huang Song grows stronger and has more counsellors around him, Cheng Jing’s advice may seem like an eyesore.

Having said so, she concluded, “It would suffice for us to mind our own business, establishing a strong foothold for ourselves is far more important than anything else.”

Feng Zhen said, “If we leave Huang Song to further develop his influence, he will become your strongest enemy, my lord.”

Jiang Pengji snickered. “My strongest enemy? He wouldn’t qualify even if he continues to practice his craft for another eight or ten years. Even if he could stand his ground against my troops, he could never beat me regardless. We would be putting the cart before the horse if we got fixated on such an enemy and ignore other more important things.”

According to Jiang Pengji’s initial plan, her battlefield would be in the northern kingdom and the northern lands of Dongqing. She had no time for the situation in the southern lands at the moment. “Without Huang Song, there’ll still be Green Song or Black Song. Only by strengthening oneself can one become fearless.”

So Jiang Pengji still stuck to her opinions and intended to take over Wanzhou next spring! As long as they occupied Wanzhou, together with the nearby Chongzhou and Hu County, which was secretly controlled by Liu She, the three pieces of land could be combined into one. Then they would face no shortage of money, food supply, labour, and troops. After strengthening their ability to counter cavalry troops, it wasn’t impossible for them to defeat the northern kingdom.

What were the benefits of defeating the northern kingdom?

Not only did the northern kingdom have rich mineral resources, countless gold, silver, and jewelry, vast lands, as well as commercial plots, it also had countless horse ranches and elite war horses.

The horse ranches in Dongqing were concentrated in Cangzhou. Without conquering Cangzhou or obtaining the support of House Meng of Cangzhou, the cavalry would remain unsuccessful. If they could gnaw away at the northern kingdom, with the ranches and the elite war horses, they need not worry anymore about whether the formation of the cavalry would be successful. With the cavalry in hand, it would be as easy as pie to turn around and attack the other forces within Dongqing.

Feng Zhen looked at Jiang Pengji, his gaze serious. He mentally exclaimed to himself that the young man in front of him was determined and not easily swayed, yet showed signs of being a wise ruler.

“I’ll have to trouble you all a lot this winter. Prepare for the battle in Wanzhou which will take place come spring. Any objections?” asked Jiang Pengji.

Feng Jin’s and Xu Ke’s expressions changed drastically as they seemingly recalled the trauma of having to work overtime all the time last winter.

Only Feng Zhen, who had no idea of what had happened, responded with a smile. “Of course I dare not say no to your requests, my lord. However, don’t forget about your promise earlier.”

He thought, I must hold on tight to this “sugar daddy” who is willing to pay for my beer and skittles, he’ll be my meal ticket in the future.

Jiang Pengji returned a similar chuckle. “Of course, how could I forget about what I have promised Zishi.”

Xu Ke gave Feng Jin a questioning look asking about the situation. Is there some secret, unspeakable deal going on between their lord and Feng Zhen? Feng Jin sighed in secret and told him the story in low tones, Xu Ke almost died of laughter.

“How can one take our lord’s word seriously?” Xu Ke jokingly mocked while laughing. “Our Lord always makes such promises, but it’s always busy in the government office. We only work hard for a certain period every year, but that period lasts for a year... How would he have time to eat, drink, and be merry?”

Feng Jin replied, “Ain’t that true? Throughout the whole year, we only have 7 days of leave during the new year period. But during those 7 days, restaurants, casinos, and brothels are all closed, as everyone has gone home to spend time with family. With all the shops closed, I don’t know where he can go to seek entertainment. Ah, another poor soul tricked by our lord, I wonder when he will find out the truth... Probably not too late.”

The two exchanged glances and laughed, seeing the gloating look in each other’s eyes.

1

In Chengan District, Wei Ci also heard about Cheng Jing siding with Huang Song, and he could only lament that it was destined by fate. Yang Si had a critical eye, and his evaluation of Huang Song and Cheng Jing was not much different from what Jiang Pengji had said.

Wei Ci responded with silence.

Yang Si said, “You and Cheng Jing were taught by the same teacher. I’m afraid that it would be difficult for you when fighting against his side in the future.”

Wei Ci replied nonchalantly, “In terms of difficulty, who could surpass Huaiyu and Feng Jue, this pair of actual brothers?”

It wasn’t just Feng Jin and Feng Jue. Their elder brother had sided with another party, so the three brothers were stabbing each other in the heart.

“Then why is your expression so sad?” asked Yang Si.

Wei Ci gave no reply. What could he reply with? Surely he couldn’t tell Yang Si that he was silent just because Cheng Jing also worked under Huang Song in a previous reincarnation?

Cheng Jing was imprisoned when Huang Song’s influence peaked, because of differing opinions between him and his lord, and the conflict was becoming more and more intense. After the underlying resentment that had been present for many years was triggered, the situation got out of hand. In the end, Cheng Jing was jailed for more than two years, until Huang Song killed himself after losing the war, and Cheng Jing committed suicide in prison upon hearing the news.

Wei Ci had sent Cheng Jing a letter, trying to convince the latter to side with him, but to his disappointment, Cheng Jing still went to Huang Song’s camp.