Changning’s Imperial Army - Chapter 130

Chapter 130 – Trap
When Shen Leng’s fleet entered Taihu’s waters, they did not go further. Instead, they stopped by the bank to rest and reorganize. They were able to vaguely see several masts over at Yanping Island. How was he going to fight this battle? Standing on Yanping Island surveying all round, looking at the panoramic view; a sneak attack? Not possible at all.

After the ships were docked, the three Garrison B generals went to look for Shen Leng to see what he had planned. In the end, they were informed that Shen Leng was not in the ship. Upon arrival, he switched over to a small boat and went to survey the topography of Yanping Island. The three of them were somewhat annoyed and vexed. The young commander-in-chief seemed to be continuing in his own way without the intention of consulting them about anything.

Even though General Bai Shangnian did inform them to follow Shen Leng’s military orders, the three of them were not of a lower rank compared to Shen Leng. For Shen Leng to not hold them in any regard, it made them extremely unhappy.

However, surveying the battlefield in advance to get more intelligence about the enemy gave no cause for criticism. If Shen Leng did not go, the three of them had to take the boat and do it themselves.

The journey was rough; Ma Ji was a crude person, hence his speech was crude as well. In his words, getting onto a boat or ship was like getting on an old mother pig – closing one’s eyes made one want to vomit, let alone opening one’s eyes.

Shen Leng, however, was not surveying the area. Earlier on, halfway through the journey, when they stopped the ships at the bank, he had already left his post. At this very moment, he was currently in Zhuang Yong’s tent on Yanping island.

Zhuang Yong and Bai Shangnian went to climb Mount Hulu together. On their way up, Zhuang Yong told him that he did not feel well and went back down. When he returned to his tent, Shen Leng was squatting down in a daze. Hei Yan got there much earlier than Shen Leng, hence, Zhuang Yong already knew about Mu Xiaofeng’s death. When he saw Shen Leng squatting there staring blankly, he thought that Shen Leng was feeling guilty and was blaming himself, while feeling terrified at the same time and was at a loss. Hence, causing him to be in a daze.

It was impossible for a young man as such to not feel any emotions after doing such a major thing. In the moment he looked at Shen Leng, Zhuang Yong was filled with sorrow too.

Thereafter, he saw some chicken bones next to Shen Leng’s feet. They had been bitten clean. He was at a loss completely because he had suddenly returned. Hence, it was very awkward.

“Forget it, take it as the last meal of a prisoner who’s awaiting execution.”

Zhuang Yong had a cold look on his face, as he returned to his chair and sat down. Shen Leng rubbed some oil against his leather armor. It was not that he did not care about hygiene, but the more oiled up things like leather armors were, the more useful they became. When a dagger struck it, it would slip.

He was already a Fifth pin general; by right, he should be wearing an iron armor. However, that fella Shen Leng always said that it was not very mobile. He had already gone to the arsenal to take two sets of leather armors used by scouts. He was hardly in his general’s attire as well, hence, when he was with a bunch of combat soldiers, it was hard to tell him apart.

“Save me, general.”

Shen Leng stood there with an innocent look on his face. “I fell for it.”

Zhuang Yong was taken aback. He started feeling anxious; he thought to himself: Don’t tell me there was another accident?

“What happened?”

“I…I couldn’t control the temptation.”

Shen Leng acted miserable and said, “I was originally going back to the camp to use the bathroom. For some reason, I discovered Mu Xiaofeng’s remote courtyard. And for some reason I can’t explain, I entered it and happened to see Mu Xiaofeng killing a young lady!”

Zhuang Yong replied, “Enough…do you really think this is something trivial?”

Shen Leng sighed. “Before I got here, I kept thinking about how I should explain things to you. I thought about all kinds of excuses and how to begin explaining myself over and over again. However, I kept feeling that something’s amiss. Regardless of how I tried explaining, it just sounded too far-fetched. This is because no matter how you look at it, I killed Mu Xiaofeng due to a personal feud, and not because of Great Ning. Of course, it did touch upon Great Ning on some levels…Earlier, when I entered your tent, I saw a plate of chicken on the table so I had a sudden epiphany.”

Zhuang Yong pulled a long face. “What epiphany did you have?!”

Shen Leng said earnestly, “Why was there a plate of chicken in your tent? Were they leftovers from last night? Clearly not. Hence, the only explanation is that you specially instructed someone to prepare it for me. You know that I’m coming here, all travel-worn, with a stomach rumbling with hunger. This plate of chicken was truly delicious. Naturally, nobody can resist a temptation as such. Just like Mu Xiaofeng…he lived in that courtyard, which is akin to this table. And Mu Xiaofeng himself was like the plate of chicken that you placed there intentionally.”

Zhuang Yong said, “Be more cultured in your speech!”

Shen Leng thought to himself: How am I not cultured?

Zhuang Yong added, “You’re trying to say that I intentionally gave you the opportunity to kill Mu Xiaofeng?”

Shen Leng stood upright before saluting. “General, with luck, I was able to complete the mission that you had given me!”

After he said that, he moved nearer in front. “This is the only reasonable explanation I can come up with, and it makes me appear to be loyal and righteous.”

Zhuang Yong suddenly realized that regardless of how long of a face he pulled, he was unable to get mad. That little bastard was practically like a natural enemy before his eyes. The bane of his existence…his deadly earnest and shameless look was exactly the same as Shen Xiaosong’s. No, in fact, he was more shameless than Shen Xiaosong.

“Do you really think that you can get away with killing an important person like Mu Xiaofeng by being thick-skinned and laughing it off? Do you think that if I forgive you, the whole world would be at peace? Ultimately, the end result of this matter depends on His Majesty’s stance towards it, and we’ll have to see how far Mu Zhaotong would go.”

“Hence, I have already made some preparations.”

Shen Leng said earnestly, “I’d like to get a few months’ worth of salary in advance, for my expenses while I’m on the run.”

Zhuang Yong was speechless.

He pointed to the chair. “Go there and sit down before you continue talking!”

Shen Leng answered, “Alright.”

He walked there and moved the chair over, before sitting down across from Zhuang Yong. At this moment, he was so obedient, like a child who was called to the desk by his teacher.

“Spill. What are you thinking about?” asked Zhuang Yong.

Shen Leng said, “The news about Mu Xiaofeng’s death has no reached Yanping Island yet. We all know about this, but Bai Shangnian doesn’t. If this was set up to take you out and if it were to end just like that, wouldn’t we be letting them off too lightly? If they know about Mu Xiaofeng’s death, their plans will definitely come to a stop. Everything that has been planned would be meaningless. Why don’t we use Mu Xiaofeng’s death to force His Majesty to deal with you and me?”

Zhuang Yong said, “Most importantly, it’s you.”

Shen Leng replied, “Yes, yes, yes…hence, start the drill ahead of time.”

Zhuang Yong narrowed his eyes slightly. “Ahead of time?”

“Yes, ahead of time. Start the drill ahead of time, while Bai Shangnian is still unaware of the situation. Get them to carry out every single step of their plan. Only after they revealed themselves then we are able to take the initiative back. Of course, this will have no impact on the imperial court’s investigation pertaining to Mu Xiaofeng’s death.”

Shen Leng’s lips curled upwards. “Hence, this is possibly the last time I’m able to act willfully like a child in front of you, general. If ultimately, the matter gets out of hand, the only thing I can do is flee. I cannot die. I still have to take care of Mr. Shen and Master Cha. How can I die?”

All of a sudden, Zhuang Yong’s chest tightened. He started to go into a trance. He saw the reflection of several people in Shen Leng; the reflection of every fallen strong man who took part in the battle at Feng Yan Tai in the northern border at that time, including Li Yong, who was not dead but humiliated.

“Someone has to take responsibility for the entire thing.”

Shen Leng laughed and said, “I have already prepared an escape route. Hence, if you are unable to deal with this matter, no matter what, the Navy cannot land in the hands of those people.”

He left his seat; once again, he did the standard military salute. “Great Ning’s people are rich and strong. It will continue to be the case through the ages all the way into the future. How can it tolerate degenerates and scums?”

Thereafter, he turned around and left.

“Get back here!” yelled Zhuang Yong.

Shen Leng stopped in his tracks.

“You never follow the rules and I have always disliked a person who breaks the rules. But you are different. Shen Leng…if His Majesty heard your last sentence, he will definitely be satisfied and relieved.”

Shen Leng did not say anything, and neither did he know what to say.

“We’ll do according to what you just said. I will inform Bai Shangnian in a while that the drill will begin tomorrow. You come back here and sit down. There are some things you have not understood. How can you win this battle without knowing anything?”

Shen Leng smirked slightly. He smiled mischievously as he walked back. “General, general. Did I move you?”

Zhuang Yong said, “Alas…did I get deceived by you.”

Shen Leng replied, “Clearly, you were touched by my sincere feelings.”

Zhuang Yong suddenly asked, “If we really fight, are you confident of winning me?”

Shen Leng responded, “General, the people you brought with you are able to go one round around Yanping Island if they join hands. How can I defeat you?”

Both of them talked to each other in the tent for at least an hour or so. When Shen Leng left, the sky was already starting to get dark. After he left, Zhuang Yong immediately went to look for Bai Shangnian. In the end, Bai Shangnian made him wait outside for quite a while. He claimed that he was not acclimatized and was having diarrhea.

Yanping Island, laborers’ camp.

It took five full years to build the grounds for this Navy drill on Yanping Island. Over the past five years, several artisans and laborers lived below Mount Hulu. The continuous stretch of shacks where they lived in looked like a patch against a beautiful piece of clothing, which was the beautiful scenery of the island. No matter how one looked at them, they did not look good.

According to the plan, almost 2,000 water bandits entered the laborer’s camp in advance. Zhang Baihe’s capability was clear and obvious. He managed to deceive all those people to go there. The water bandits were cunning and mistrustful. They had total disregard for human life. For them to fall for his words, it proved how capable he was..

The commanders of the water bandits gathered around Zhang Baihe asking him several questions. Zhang Baihe looked calm and composed. There was absolutely no loophole in his manner of speech, which was filled with self-confidence.

“You have to keep it very simple.”

Zhang Baihe acted very natural and said, “You have already successfully completed the first step; by infiltrating Yanping Island, the general is very satisfied with your performance thus far. Of course, this was not because of your own capabilities – I made it easy for you. Of course, I did that not just for you. By incorporating more than 2,000 people, naturally, the imperial court will reward me handsomely. I will take the reward to exchange for your new identities. In that way, everyone will be happy.”

“Tomorrow, the general will personally test your combat skills. The general will be stationed on top of Mount Hulu. All you have to do is to charge up there and subdue his subordinates who will be surrounding the pavilion on top of the mountain.”

One of the people asked out of curiosity, “Just that simple?”

“It’s for others to see.”

Zhang Baihe said earnestly, “You have also seen how many ships and troops have come here over the past two days. The Navy’s commander, Zhuang Yong, and Garrison B’s general, Bai Shangnian, are here. Do you know why? This is a major matter. Incorporating all of you into our troops is equivalent to purging the water bandits who have been rampant on Nanping River and the Grand Canal, without killing and fighting. Who’s willing to fight and kill? What’s happening tomorrow is only a formality for other people to see. Once all of you charge up and prove your abilities, it justifies the Navy’s act of incorporating all of you into their troops. In the future, you will all be combat soldiers, and receive soldiers’ salaries. Do not go back to your old ways. You don’t know how much effort I put in just for all of you.”

Another person quickly said, “Thank you for your hard work, sir.”

Zhang Baihe said, “It’s not hard at all. Let’s drink to celebrate! Everything has to go smoothly tomorrow.”

Everyone started raising their cups. Shortly after they drank the wine, everyone collapsed.

Zhang Baihe walked out of the room and gestured. A group of men in black entered and killed the commanders.

“Pass down an order to those people. Tell them that their commanders spent the night in my room to discuss official business, and that the moment they hear the bugle, they have to charge up the mountain.”