The Attack of the Wastrel

“This…Princess Rong, was the news really released by Rong Yuan? Why would he do that?” The Empire would be able to make preparations for their resistance since they were now aware that the Alliance knew of their plans. Rong Yuan was not stupid, but why did he make such a senseless decision this time round?

Rong Huachang replied icily, “For Rong Yuan to do such a thing, he naturally has his own reasons.”

“But he didn’t have to make it known to everyone…”

Mao Dingling followed up with condemnation, “Exactly, regardless of Rong Yuan’s merit, this is still too reckless. If our eastern side of defence were to fall because of this…”

“Ridiculous!” Mei Ying could not stand hearing anymore, “Based on your words, if the eastern line of defence falls, then it is completely the fault of my righteous brother? But if it wasn’t for him and his fiancée, we would not even have known if the eastern borders had changed owners.”

“Even if that was the case, he should not have…”

“Shut up!” Rong Huachang interjected Mao Dingling, “Whether or not Rong Yuan has earned some merit or is at fault, it is not up to you to decide!”

She then turned towards Lord Fashen and quietly awaited his decision.

Lord Fashen had been watching the argument with interest, but he quickly regained his bearing when Rong Huachang looked at him. He nodded slightly, “I am completely clear about the news that Rong Yuan has passed back. As for the issue regarding the Empire, he had consulted me for my opinion before releasing it. Hence, it is definitely beneficial for us, not harmful. Don’t worry about it, Brother Mao.”

With that, Mao Dingling had nothing else he could say, and could only quietly sit back down.

Lord Fashen nodded his head in satisfaction at Mao Dingling’s obedience and proceeded to explain Rong Yuan’s plan.

Back then, when Gu Lingzhi had heard about the Empire’s plan through the Communication Conch, they had already informed Lord Fashen about it. Otherwise, the two of them would have been so reckless about such a big issue. Although Lord Fashen had mostly been a listener throughout and only had to give his assent at crucial points, it also meant that he agreed with Rong Yuan’s plan.

Regarding the Empire’s scheme, Rong Yuan’s strategy was to counter their schemes with his own. Since the Empire wanted to infiltrate some members into the Alliance’s ranks, he was going to let them do so. As for whether these members would be able to return back to the Empire, that was entirely up to the Alliance’s whims. Furthermore, he planned to strike back through the western side just as the Empire was celebrating its victory, paying back everything with interest.

This way, the Empire would be forced to redirect its troops from the eastern borders in response, weakening the forces there. This would give their offensive on the eastern front a greater chance of success. This way, by slowly laying a trap around the Empire, Rong Yuan would be able to take the Empire down in one go without leaving them time to react.

Lord Fashen did not go into the details in his explanation, only saying that Rong Yuan released the news to everyone in order to resolve the deadlock in the East.

Although not everyone was convinced by his explanation, with most still being sceptical of the effectiveness of this strategy, they still took Lord Fashen’s word for it. The discussion thus moved on to how to organize the logistics and manpower for the upcoming war.

As the Alliance was pondering about the predicament, the Empire was in no way relaxed as well. Pan Yu had had a bad feeling ever since he received the secret report that the Alliance was aware of the Empire’s schemes and were already preparing to move their soldiers over to the East. Then, he heard that the Alliance had taken advantage of the weakness in the West to launch a more intense assault. The Dayin Kingdom was stretched to their limits and were already prepared to retreat at any moment. Pan Yu almost fainted in anger.

“How did the news leak? Didn’t all the leaders swear a death vow not to leak the plans? How could it still be leaked!”

“I…I have no idea.” The confidante on whom Pan Yu had taken his anger out on, nervously wiped the sweat on his forehead, “My guess is that…the news wasn’t leaked from the inside, but that it was discovered by the Alliance during the troop deployment.”

“Do I need you to tell me that? Anyone can tell that it is impossible for the news to be leaked from the inside!” Pan Yu turned around in anger. He muttered, “This cannot do, the plan has to be changed. It looks like it’s time for our ancestors to make their move. This bunch of useless fools! They can be discovered even when they are just deploying troops, trash indeed!”

As Pan Yu continued to mutter to himself, he arrived in the depths of the North Qiu Royal Palace with a group of soldiers. All ancestors who had retreated from the public were here. With their schemes having been revealed, Pan Yu could not bear the burden of possible failure. He decided to inform the ancestors early so that they could dispatch someone to help deal with the situation.

The accompanying guards waited outside the Earth Palace while Pan Yu gritted his teeth and walked inside as he trembled.

On the other hand, Gu Lingzhi, who was disguised as Pan Wen, continued to lead a degenerate lifestyle. Every day, she hugged that male pet of hers who greatly resembled the Xia Kingdom’s Third Prince. Evidently, there were no plans to change the person who served her anytime soon.

When Zhang Jun and Liu Yu found out about the news leak and went to find Pan Wen to discuss the countermeasures, they saw a certain person leaning into Pan Wen’s embrace, with a spiritual fruit that was about to be fed into his mouth.

This was certainly not your typical scene.

Even though this was not their first time seeing similar scenes, the two of them were still unable to get used to seeing the Xia Kingdom’s Third Prince and their master together. Their mouth twitched as they headed towards Pan Wen, “Your Highness, the Empire has relayed the news that the plan has been exposed. They want us to speed up the plan and act within two days.”

“What? The plan has been exposed?” Gu Lingzhi feigned surprise. Then, she rolled her eyes and lay back down on the couch. She waved her hand disinterestedly, “What can they do even if they know about it? With the Empire’s 10,000 elite troops and the several 10,000 troops from the Sangna Kingdom, we will definitely be able to take over the eastern border.”

“What Your Highness says is true, but since the Empire has relayed the instructions, it is best to start the assault earlier lest it makes your life harder in the future.”

“Alright, I know.” Gu Lingzhi chased them away impatiently, “Do I need to tell you how to deploy the troops? Go and do it, quickly! When the troops are fully deployed, then come back to me again for my orders.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

Hence, Liu Yu left. Gu Lingzhi looked at Zhang Jun standing at the side and was wondering how to make him leave, when she saw Rong Yuan place his hand on her chest, and his head into her arms as he spoke in a trembling voice, “Your…Your Highness…Has our plan been exposed? Will the Alliance dispatch a lot of soldiers? I’m scared…”

Gu Lingzhi was silent as she strongly resisted the urge to throw this shameless man out. Her skin was crawling with goosebumps. She touched Rong Yuan’s face and looked at Zhang Jun, “I am going to rest, aren’t you going to go out?”

Zhang Jun understood that His Highness was going to mess around with his male pet again. He kept his mouth shut despite his objections as he recalled his previous punishments, and slowly walked out and closed the door. He had become a doorman.

However, the scene inside was not developing as Zhang Jun had imagined. Upon hearing the door close, Rong Yuan had given Gu Lingzhi a peck, before he immediately changed back into his original identity.

Gu Lingzhi glared at him and retrieved a dark green bottle from her Storage Ring and summoned the Duobao Spiritual Squirrel.

The Duobao Spiritual Squirrel had been taking a nap on one of the large trees in the Fenlan Painting. It was still in a daze when it was summoned with a warning. A medicine bottle was stuffed into its hands and Gu Lingzhi’s voice sounded, “Senior, please help to put this medicinal powder into the soldiers’ food tonight.”

The Duobao Spiritual Squirrel looked at the jade bottle in its hands as it suddenly recalled the issue that Gu Lingzhi had mentioned to it two days ago. She had requested it to add an extra “ingredient” into the food of the Empire’s soldiers when needed. It seems like the time has come. It yawned and waved its paw to indicate its understanding. It swallowed the jade bottle into its magical storage space in its stomach and climbed out of the window.

Once the Duobao Spiritual Squirrel disappeared from sight, Rong Yuan once again leaned into Gu Lingzhi’s embrace. He grinned at Gu Lingzhi evilly, “Your Highness, let me wait on you.”

Gu Lingzhi immediately held onto her clothes tightly as she shook her head vigorously, “No need, I am fine just sitting here.” Her body still had not recovered from the previous night. If Rong Yuan were to have his way a few more times, she had no idea what excuse she could give for herself anymore.

“Sigh, what a pity.” Rong Yuan blinked his eyes in disappointment and looked completely innocent. Gu Lingzhi’s heart skipped a beat and she almost gave in to the temptation.

Shameless! Rong Yuan knew that she was weak to his innocent looks and always tried to use that to advantage!

Rong Yuan’s scheme failed as Gu Lingzhi firmly resisted the temptation. Hence, the two of them sat on the bed and stared at each other until the skies turned dark. Zhang Jun only dared to knock on the door when it was time for dinner. In a small voice, he inquired, “Your Highness, it is time for dinner. Would you like to head out and have dinner with everyone?”

Normally, Gu Lingzhi would find this very troublesome and call for them to send the meals into her room instead. Why did Zhang Jun still ask this question despite knowing her usual preferences?

Gu Lingzhi was about to say no when she had a sudden realisation and that Zhang Jun was very understanding indeed.

She had been afraid that the soldiers would have lost their appetites after hearing about the impending assault. Zhang Jun hence provided her with a chance to interact with and persuade them. Immediately, she called out, “Send out the orders. I will be eating with the soldiers.”