Strategy for Attacking Wusheng Pass

Lu Shuang's cry of "I won't marry him!" rang out clear and crisp.

It made Su Jin, who was hiding not far away, secretly praise her.

But just then, a light yet highly threatening voice drifted in from outside the door: "Who won't marry?"

"Heh, marrying our general is such an honor. Who would actually refuse?"

As the voice drew closer, a group of men approached from outside the fence.

Clad in armor and carrying sabers, they were unmistakably soldiers.

There was almost no need to guess; these had to be men from Wusheng Pass.

The leader's gaze quickly fell upon Lu Shuang, the threat in his eyes thickening. "Is it you? Are you the one refusing to marry?"

Wang Guihua hurriedly stepped forward and said, "No, sir, it's not that my daughter won't marry. She is very willing to marry, extremely willing."

"That's for the best." The leading soldier didn't press the matter further, but instead said arrogantly, "In our Yunjing, having even a slight resemblance to the woman our general loves is your daughter's great fortune. Do not squander this blessing."

With that, the man took a scroll from his subordinate and handed it to Wang Guihua, saying, "The person painted on this is the one our general loves. Looking at your daughter, she doesn't actually resemble her that much."

"But since you signed up, according to Yunjing's rules, we must give you this opportunity."

"Right now, the general is busy defending against the capital's grand army. Once this period passes, he will select eighteen from the applicants to keep him company and offer him solace."

"Since there is some spare time, hurry up and have your daughter copy the person in the portrait. Apply makeup as needed, mimic her as needed. There is only one chance. Miss it, and it's gone forever."

Wang Guihua was overjoyed upon hearing this.

She rummaged through the house for a long time before finally digging out two taels of silver, which she quickly shoved into the leading soldier's hand. She said excitedly, "Rest assured, sir, rest assured. We understand, we understand."

"I will definitely dress my daughter up well. I will absolutely make her look like the general's beloved."

"Isn't there a doctor in town with uncanny skills? We will go find her and have her alter my daughter to look like the general's beloved."

Hearing Wang Guihua's words, the leading soldier was finally satisfied.

He nodded and left.

The excitement on Wang Guihua's face didn't fade in the slightest.

It just so happened that the imperial court was sending troops to attack, keeping the defending general, Lord Chen Xiong, busy. This gave her ample time to prepare. How could she not grasp this opportunity tightly?

Just as she was thinking happily about this, she turned her head and saw Lu Shuang's expressionless face. Her excitement was instantly extinguished like a fire doused with water, because she knew that Lu Shuang's deadpan look meant she disagreed.

Inevitably, Wang Guihua flew into a violent rage again.

"You money-losing wench! Lord Chen Xiong's personal guards came, and you couldn't even put on a pleasant face. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to drive me to my grave? Will you only be happy when I'm dead?"

"I break my heart worrying about you, and all you do is anger me!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she got. Wang Guihua grabbed a wooden stick and charged forward, swinging it to give Lu Shuang a severe beating just like in the past.

But the current Lu Shuang was no longer the Lu Shuang of the past.

Her time alone in the outskirts of the capital had made her think through many things clearly. With a quick dodge, she moved far away and retorted coldly, "I won't compete with eighteen others for one man."

"And I certainly won't let a doctor turn me into some half-human, half-ghost freak!"

"Give up on this marriage!"

Missing with her strike and seeing Lu Shuang retreating further away, Wang Guihua grew even more furious. Hands on her hips, she cursed loudly, "Let me tell you, Lu Shuang, this time, you will marry him whether you want to or not!"

"Your younger brother finally secured a good match, and he is just waiting for your bride price to get married. If you ruin your brother's big event, I'll make you suffer!"

Despite these vicious curses, Lu Shuang remained unmoved.

Instead, she walked further and further away.

Her ears had long grown calluses from these words. She was sick of hearing them; they went in one ear and out the other. The thought that had been lingering in her mind earlier now became even firmer.

Leave Wusheng Pass!

Return to the outskirts of the capital, or go somewhere else.

She would no longer stay in this house!

As for Wang Guihua and that brother who only wanted to leech off her, it was time to bid them a complete farewell. They weren't blood relatives anyway. The debt of gratitude for raising her like a dog all these years had already been paid off with money.

She owed this family nothing.

Now, she just needed to find a way to save some money. Then, whenever the gates of Wusheng Pass opened, she would leave this place and never come back!

She would rather go to prison than ever return!

Lu Shuang's figure had disappeared, yet Wang Guihua's cursing had not ceased. Not far away, Su Jin frowned deeply. At this moment, Su Jin suddenly missed her days in the capital. With the Demon Suppression Division under her command, she wouldn't have to act so timidly.

But for now, she could only leave temporarily. However, her investigation into Lu Shuang would not stop. Almost on that very day, through her subordinates asking around, she figured out Lu Shuang's background.

An orphan, taken in by the family. After Lu Shuang's adoptive father passed away, she lived a life under Wang Guihua that was hardly human. In the dead of winter, Wang Guihua would make a young Lu Shuang stand out in the freezing snow.

"Is this Wang Guihua even human?"

"She purely treats Lu Shuang as a servant and a beast of burden for her son, doesn't she?"

Su Jin shook her head. She sealed these details, along with the intelligence she had gathered about Wusheng Pass, and sent someone to deliver them along a winding sheep trail to Ren Tianye's grand army.

Upon receiving and reading it, Ren Tianye also frowned slightly.

"From the looks of it, Wang Ming really did screw this girl over a bit. However, her background is quite tragic, and..."

"Tragic in a very... classic way!"

Thinking this, Ren Tianye's eyes suddenly flashed. "But this Yunjing is even more outrageous, just as Li Shuhan said."

"Looking like a certain powerful figure's unobtainable first love is considered a heaven-sent match, and Yunjing even encourages people to approach and heal that powerful figure?"

"It even gave rise to this kind of plastic surgery profession?"

"This is too anti-intellectual and anti-human. This damn place is practically becoming a demonic land; it cannot be cleansed without the force of arms."

Ren Tianye's gaze sharpened. Hearing the drumbeats outside the tent gradually cease, he knew his generals were arriving. He picked up the letter regarding Lu Shuang's background and handed it to Xie Changfeng, who had been standing by his side. "Your Demon Suppression Division, remember this Wang Guihua."

"Yes, Lord Duke!"

Ren Tianye stood up tall. At this time, the generals had arrived.

He didn't waste words and stated directly, "Right now, we are getting closer and closer to Yunjing. And standing before us on the path to Yunjing is the illustrious Wusheng Pass."

"The terrain of this pass is treacherous; it can truly be said that one man holding the pass can fend off ten thousand."

"According to the intelligence we received, there is a garrison of ten thousand troops inside Wusheng Pass, along with two hundred red-barreled cannons and tens of thousands of flintlock muskets."

"Most importantly, its defending commander is General of the Household Chen Xiong. This man is deeply trusted by Yunjing, and his own civil and martial strategies are extremely outstanding. It is foreseeable that this hurdle in our southern campaign will be extremely difficult!"

"Everyone, do you have any thoughts?"

This was a typical pre-battle council, basically a time for everyone to speak freely and propose their own plans and insights.

Of course, one could also volunteer to be the vanguard of the army.

Zhang Shi spoke up directly, "General, this humble general has a plan that guarantees we can easily take Wusheng Pass into our pockets."

"Oh? Tell me."

Zhang Shi spoke with assurance, "As long as the General grants me a unit of light cavalry, I will personally lead them to attack from the rear. When the time comes, we will catch them by surprise. Won't Wusheng Pass be easily captured by me?!"

Ren Tianye did not answer immediately.

Actually, he had considered this method as well.

After all, Wusheng Pass was heavily defended at the front but lightly at the rear. There were no heavy troops defending the back, and the terrain behind the pass was a plain, suitable for cavalry deployment and charging. If executed well, it could absolutely deal a fatal blow.

But the difficulty was not small either.

To the north of Wusheng Pass were hills, and on both sides were ridges. The cavalry would have to travel too far to flank it. The number of troops couldn't be large; too many would easily expose them, and even a few could be discovered. The most crucial point was that there would be no supplies!

It could be said that attacking from the rear was an entirely high-risk, high-reward tactic!

Victory meant winning it all, but defeat meant death!

Ren Tianye had been hesitant to make a decision. Now that Zhang Shi jumped out, it was obvious... he had gained experience fighting on the grasslands and decided to repeat his old tricks!

Sure enough, Zhang Shi added, "General, please rest assured. I swept through the northern barbarians and was invincible. A mere Wusheng Pass cannot stop me. I will definitely let them see what a gale-force attack is."

Since Zhang Shi was so confident, Ren Tianye also decided to take a gamble. However... just as he was about to agree, he suddenly thought of something, looked at Wang Ming, and asked, "Wang Ming, what about you?"

"What are your thoughts?"

Wang Ming said respectfully, "My Lord, this subordinate follows you. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do."

Ren Tianye nodded. Remembering Zhang Shi's outrageous luck, he confirmed one last time, "Zhang Shi, are you sure? This time, you will be parting ways with Wang Ming again."

Zhang Shi's face instantly turned bright red, and he clamored, "General, my skills were honed on the grasslands. I believe they are much more important than any luck. This time, I will definitely put on a good show."

"Alright!"

Ren Tianye nodded in agreement.

...

As dusk approached, Lu Shuang strode out of the mountain forest. Her clothes were a bit torn, and her fair face was covered in sweat and even some bloodstains, but she wore a bright smile.

She hadn't expected that she, who was nearly driven mad by that family, would actually hunt a river deer on her very first day out hunting.

This river deer was not light, probably weighing over thirty catties. If it were in the capital, it could sell for at least one tael of silver. That would be enough to buy two piculs of millet, enough to feed a family of three for two months.

"My luck is really good this time."

"I'll go to Guanxiang Town right now to sell it, and then buy some necessities. I'll hide in the mountains for a while, and once they finish fighting the war, I'll leave Yunjing."

Lu Shuang made clear plans and quickly put them into action.

She soon arrived at Guanxiang Town. Because this was just a small town on the border of Yunjing, there weren't many merchants who would take this kind of good. She had to search for a while before finally spotting a tavern.

She immediately walked up and asked, "Boss, do you want a river deer here? It's top quality, I just hunted it from the mountain forest."

The man was clearly a waiter, but he was quite pleased that Lu Shuang called him boss. He took a close look and his face filled with astonishment, "This thing is not easy to catch. Did you catch this?"

Lu Shuang smiled, "I was just lucky. I've been hunting for so many years, and this is the only time I've run into one."

"Alright, then wait a moment, I'll go call the boss."

The waiter turned and left. Lu Shuang placed the river deer aside and waited with considerable excitement. Just then, a pleasantly surprised voice suddenly rang out from beside her.

"Miss Lu Shuang, you, is it you?"

Lu Shuang turned her head and saw a man wearing rough, short clothes striding over. She couldn't help but feel slightly surprised. "Young Master Xiao, you, why are you here?"

Lu Shuang remembered clearly that on her way back to Yunjing from the capital, she had encountered this young master who had been robbed of all his travel funds by bandits. Out of kindness, she had left him some dry rations before leaving in a hurry.

She didn't expect to run into him again in Guanxiang Town in the blink of an eye.

"Me? I had no money left, so I stopped heading north and returned to Yunjing. But I didn't expect to meet you again, Miss Lu Shuang. I still have no way to repay you for the meal you gave me last time."

"You're welcome!" Lu Shuang said, but then she felt a bit puzzled. "Wait, if you returned the same way you came, didn't those bandits give you trouble again?"

Lu Shuang had taken the small paths, crossing mountains and ridges, so she hadn't encountered any of that mess. But as far as she knew, the main road was not peaceful, not to mention that this Young Master Xiao had already been beaten up before.

"No," Young Master Xiao said. "I was lucky. When I came back, those bandits had all been killed. Their bodies were left out in the wilderness, and they died terribly."

"I guess they did too many bad things and got their retribution."

Lu Shuang didn't believe this. With the imperial army approaching, how could the defending generals of Wusheng Pass have the time to deal with those mountain bandits?

However, she wasn't interested in any of this.

For an ordinary commoner, just staying alive was hard enough.

What did the great affairs of the world have to do with her?

As she was thinking this, the female boss walked out from the tavern. She also praised the river deer Lu Shuang had hunted endlessly, and then said, "Our tavern will take this river deer."

"However, the price we can offer won't be high."

Lu Shuang immediately asked, "Not high? Then how much can you give?"

The boss slowly held up two fingers.

Lu Shuang frowned. Before she could speak, that Young Master Xiao suddenly exclaimed, "No way, this is prey hunted by Miss Lu Shuang herself, and you're only offering two thousand taels of silver?"

"Aren't you being too greedy?"

"They say all merchants are treacherous, but to be this treacherous, doesn't your conscience hurt?"

As soon as these words came out, not only was Lu Shuang stunned, but the boss was also dumbfounded. She immediately looked Young Master Xiao up and down, then showed a look of disgust and said, "Two thousand taels? You really dare to open your mouth. Even if you sold me and the tavern, we wouldn't be worth two thousand taels."

"You unruly commoner, are you looking for trouble on purpose?"

"Get lost!"

The boss was so disgusted she wanted to spit in Young Master Xiao's face. She then turned to Lu Shuang and said, "Two hundred copper coins, not a penny more."

"Two hundred coins is too little. This river deer should be worth at least eight hundred coins."

"That was in the past," the boss immediately replied. "Right now, with a massive army pressing down on our borders, who has the leisure to eat this kind of thing? Besides, this thing doesn't yield much meat. The price is two hundred coins at most, not a single coin more."

...