If there's no love, then create one for him

“Then do you have any way to deal with it?”

“For example, do you have any old acquaintances at Linjiang Ferry?”

“Could they sneak into the garrison commander’s residence, kill the garrison commander, and seize Linjiang Ferry?”

Zhang Shi asked this directly.

But Lu Chaosheng shook his head. “General Zhang Shi, I’m afraid I can’t do that this time.”

“The main problem is that the garrison commander at Linjiang Ferry is… a little unusual.”

“According to the information I’ve received, that garrison commander locks himself inside the garrison residence every day and devotes himself entirely to practicing archery. He practices all day long, and aside from archery, he pays no attention to anything else.”

“My old acquaintances would have a hard time finding an opportunity.”

“If we launch a direct assault, Linjiang Ferry’s terrain means that once the wolf beacon is lit, it can be seen directly from Zhenjiang City. That would alert the enemy.”

Zhang Shi suddenly understood.

So that was the problem.

They could not lure the man out, but attacking would easily alert the enemy.

However, he quickly caught the hidden meaning in Lu Chaosheng’s words. After only a brief pause, he immediately asked, “From what you’re saying, it sounds as though that garrison commander…”

“He has some sort of problem!”

Lu Chaosheng nodded. “General Zhang Shi, it’s not that he has some sort of problem. He has a huge problem.”

“The kind where there’s something wrong with his head!”

The moment those words were spoken, Zhang Shi perked up.

In a place like Yunjing, whenever someone was connected in any way to the phrase “something wrong with his head,” there was almost no need to think about it. It definitely meant that the man had been bewitched by love—he was unquestionably a love-enchanted monster.

And what Zhang Shi was most eager to fight right now was precisely a love-enchanted monster!

Even if he could not take it down right away, fighting one would still earn him a tremendous amount of experience.

“Tell me about it. Quickly, tell me about it.”

Lu Chaosheng sighed. “That garrison commander surnamed Wang is technically the commander of the navy, but he has always been obsessed with archery. He once had a wife who fell for him because of how dashing he looked while riding and shooting.”

“However, his wife later eloped with one of the grooms from his household. Ever since then, he has shut his doors to all visitors and refused to see anyone. Every day, he hides in his residence practicing archery, weeping his eyes out from morning to night!”

As he spoke, Lu Chaosheng could not help but grow furious. “I’ve long since been unable to stand the way Commander Wang behaves. I’ve written him letters cursing him out more than once.”

“His wife was willing to elope with a groom, which proves she never loved him in the first place. She wasn’t worth it. Why does he insist on acting like a corpse every day?”

“A real man should put the past behind him as quickly as possible and devote himself to improving his life.”

General Zhang Shi immediately waved his hand, cutting him off. “General Lu, that’s where you’re wrong. Was that really an elopement? That was love!”

“If his wife eloped for love, then it would be perfectly normal whether she ran away with a groom or even a beggar.”

“And if he shut himself away and wept every day for love, wouldn’t that be normal too?”

Zhang Shi quickly formed a judgment about the matter, then asked, “But why does he practice archery all the time?”

“Is it to commemorate his wife?”

Lu Chaosheng was somewhat dumbfounded by what Zhang Shi had just said. What was this? General Zhang Shi seemed to hold love in high regard. But if he did, why was he always so merciless when attacking people?

Still, since Zhang Shi had asked, he immediately replied, “That’s probably part of the reason. But I heard that the groom who eloped with his wife was also quite skilled with a bow.”

“It seems that during one archery contest, the groom narrowly beat him. Commander Wang has always believed that his wife eloped with that groom because he had been defeated in the archery skill he was most proud of. That’s why he became like this.”

As Lu Chaosheng spoke, he could not help growing angry again. “That Commander Wang is simply ridiculous!”

“The groom only happened to win once. How does that prove he was better? And even if he was better, he was still one of the people in Commander Wang’s household. How could Commander Wang possibly believe his wife left him because the groom was more skilled at archery?”

“Now he spends every day practicing archery in his residence. Is he trying to win back his pride? Even if he wins, will his former wife come back? She’s already gone rotten!”

“I’m done with this!”

While Lu Chaosheng continued venting, Zhang Shi’s thoughts became increasingly clear.

His wife had run off with another man, and he practiced archery…

Once these clues were combined, the image of a certain person gradually took shape in Zhang Shi’s mind.

His eyes began to shine.

No matter how he looked at it, Commander Wang had enormous weaknesses.

And if there were weaknesses, then they could be exploited!

He immediately asked, “General Lu, can Commander Wang’s runaway wife and that groom be found?”

Lu Chaosheng shook his head. “I’m afraid that won’t be easy. If they could be found, the brothers at Linjiang Ferry would have helped Commander Wang locate them long ago. After all, they’ve suffered more than enough because of him.”

“He doesn’t do a thing all day. Who wouldn’t be anxious?”

Zhang Shi saw that his plan had failed, but he was not discouraged.

Instead, he asked, “If they can’t be found, can the brothers at Linjiang Ferry imitate the handwriting of that groom or Commander Wang’s wife?”

“Commander Wang’s love has disappeared.”

“So we’ll create another one for him. There’s no way we won’t be able to lure him out!”

Lu Chaosheng: “???”

“Damn, that can work too?”

Then he nodded. “General Zhang Shi, you know what? That… really might work!”

…

Linjiang Ferry, the garrison residence.

A servant held a letter in his hands and stood at a distance, not daring to approach Commander Wang, who was practicing archery.

After all, when Commander Wang practiced archery, he was frighteningly focused—and his temper was at its worst.

Anyone who provoked him would be shot through with an arrow!

His predecessor had died that way.

When he died, there was not even a place to bury him. He had been burned to ashes and scattered into the Yangtze River. It was utterly tragic.

The servant was determined not to make the same mistake.

Thus, it was not until an entire incense stick had burned that Commander Wang finished practicing. Only then did the servant approach him.

“My lord, you have a letter.”

Commander Wang wiped away his sweat and drank some water, ignoring the servant completely.

The servant did not mind. He knew this was normal.

He merely reminded him in a low voice, “My lord, this seems to be a letter from your wife!”

“What?”

The single sentence made Commander Wang leap three feet into the air like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He snatched the letter away at once.

The moment he saw it, tears began streaming down his face.

“It’s her. It’s her handwriting.”

“She finally knows to send me a letter.”

Commander Wang read it at incredible speed. The tears on his face grew heavier and heavier, but the moment he finished reading, he suddenly exerted force and tore the letter to pieces.

The letter had been filled with apologies and longing for him.

It had even contained an admission of guilt!

“Hmph! Utter nonsense. You were wrong? What exactly were you wrong about? Clearly, my archery was inferior to his, so I handed you over to him. And now you write me a letter like this—are you insulting me?”

“You’ve even learned how to insult me now?”

Commander Wang turned around and resumed practicing archery.

Then he suddenly thought of something and asked the servant, “Is that man here? Where is he?”

The servant was confused. “Lord Wang, what man?”

“The groom who was slightly better than me at archery!”

“I… I don’t know!”

“No, he must have come too. I’ve painstakingly honed my archery skills, and today I’ll finally wipe away my past humiliation and win my wife back.”

Commander Wang threw down his bow and arrows and swung himself onto his horse.

He dug in with both legs. The sturdy steed let out a shrill neigh and charged off at a gallop.

At last, after being confined to the commandery for several years, he had left the garrison headquarters. Almost immediately, he ran straight into the clerk from Linjiang Ferry.

Pulling on the reins, he asked, “Where’s that horse groom? You were the one who brought the letter in, weren’t you? The man who delivered it—did he have that horse groom with him?”

The clerk was already nervous, and Commander Wang’s question left him momentarily dumbfounded. “What horse groom?”

But the clerk reacted quickly. Realizing this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he improvised, “Oh, now I remember. He’s just outside the stockade.”

“Would Your Excellency like to take a look?”

Before the clerk had even finished speaking, Commander Wang had already spurred his horse on. He galloped away at full speed, charging straight out of Linjiang Ferry.

…