Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 372: Chapter 357 Prince, rest assured, everything is under the control of this old minister!

Outside Qinghua Prefecture City, within the military camp of the Tenglong Guard.

Two soldiers from the Tenglong Guard were reporting to Yang Zhenshan about enemy Cavalry sightings around Guard City.

Upon learning that the enemy Cavalry had not charged into Guard City right away, Yang Zhenshan was already relieved.

As long as the enemy didn’t raid Guard City by surprise, there shouldn’t be a big problem.

”Three thousand Cavalry, these must be Prince Qing’s forces!”

Yang Zhenshan said to the subordinates in the tent.

Xie Yuan laughed and said, ”Prince Qing probably wants us to come to his aid, but it seems he’s underestimated our Tenglong Guard!”

No sooner had he spoken than a sudden realization struck Yang Zhenshan’s heart.

”Wait, you just said Prince Qing wants us to come to his aid!” said Yang Zhenshan with shining eyes.

”Uh, isn’t that the case? Otherwise, why would he have his Cavalry raid Guard City?” Xie Yuan asked, confused.

Yang Zhenshan grinned, ”No, that’s exactly what they want, for us to come to their aid!”

Xie Yuan and the others looked at each other, not understanding his meaning.

”Pass the order, assemble the Five Army Camps immediately, we’re going to provide aid!” Yang Zhenshan said with a laugh.

Although this was merely his speculation, he was willing to give it a try; after all, even if he guessed wrong, there wouldn’t be any loss.

Conversely, if he guessed right, they might easily take down Qinghua Prefecture City.

”To the aid!” Xie Yuan still hadn’t figured it out, while Song Dashan had already passed the order.

Yang Zhenshan told him, ”After I lead the Five Army Camps away, you close the camp gates and hold the camp!”

Xie Yuan’s thoughts raced, and a sudden insight flashed across his mind, ”Are you saying they might attack our camp?”

”Mmm, very possibly. They want us to aid them, so let’s spring the trap and see what they are up to!”

”Perhaps we don’t need to lure the snake out of the hole; they might just come out on their own!”

Yang Zhenshan said with a stroked beard, smiling.

Moments later, clad in golden lacquered armor and mounted on Red Cloud, Yang Zhenshan led six thousand Cavalry out of the camp from the Five Army Camps.

The six-thousand-strong Cavalry procession could not sneak past those at Qinghua Prefecture City, including Prince Qing.

”Great, haha, our plan has succeeded!”

Inside the mansion’s hall, Xu Maocai said with excitement.

Prince Qing also displayed a look of pleasure; with six thousand Cavalry gone, only about eight thousand soldiers remained in the Tenglong Guard’s camp outside the city.

And under his command were eleven thousand soldiers; they outnumbered the opposition. If they could catch them unprepared, they had a great chance to overwhelm the Tenglong Guard forces.

He didn’t aim for a complete defeat of the Tenglong Guard, just a satisfying and clear victory to prove his capability and strength.

But clearly, they celebrated too soon!

On the twenty-seventh day of May, at night.

The blackness of the night seemed like endless, thick ink painted heavily across the sky. The night fog rolled in, hiding the faint crescent moon, and the twinkling stars also vanished one by one.

Inside the Tenglong Guard camp, apart from the burning bonfires and brazier fires, there were no other lights.

The soldiers on the night watch couldn’t help but feel sleepy in such a silent and peaceful night.

In the tent, Xie Yuan and Song Dashan sat together, lazily sipping tea.

”Hey, are they coming or not?”

”They didn’t come yesterday; they’re not going to skip today too, right?”

”What if they don’t come at all?”

Song Dashan said somewhat anxiously.

He was always straightforward and disliked waiting the most.

They had already been waiting for a day and a night, and even Song Dashan was getting restless.

Xie Yuan looked at him helplessly, ”Old Song, can’t you just stay quiet?”

Song Dashan looked at him, curled his lip, and said, ”I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep if I fall silent!”

”...”

Xie Yuan was at a loss for words. Alright, Song Dashan did sleep well; no matter where he was, no matter how noisy it got, as long as he wanted to sleep, he’d fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Xie Yuan was somewhat envious of Song Dashan; to eat well and sleep well was a blessing indeed!

”If you’re so bored, practice some martial arts here!”

”Practicing martial arts in the middle of the night? Why didn’t the chief take me with him?”

”If you went too, how would this place be managed?”

”Aren’t you still here?”

”My cultivation isn’t as high as yours!” Xie Yuan said.

”That’s true. But Old Xie, your cultivation has improved rather slowly these years! In five years, you’ve only gone up two layers! I used to be lower in cultivation than you, but now I am one layer higher!” Song Dashan thought that Xie Yuan had become somewhat complacent over the years, with such slow improvement in his cultivation.

Xie Yuan was speechless, really wanting to give the simpleton in front of him a beating.

Two layers in five years, was that considered slow?

Previously, it took him twenty years just to reach Postnatal Fourth Layer. Before joining the Tenglong Guard, he had just broken through to the Postnatal Fifth Layer not long before, and in almost five years at the Tenglong Guard, he had made two consecutive breakthroughs, reaching Postnatal Seventh Layer.

He had once doubted whether his cultivation would one day reach the Postnatal Seventh Layer.

Now he was forty-eight years old, and still improving his cultivation at this age seemed miraculous to him.

So, he was actually quite content with his cultivation.

However, thinking of Song Dashan, he felt that his cultivation really might be a bit low.

Song Dashan was only thirty-five years old and had reached the Postnatal Eighth Layer.

Not only Song Dashan but many in the Tenglong Guard had cultivation levels that were no less than his, including Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingzhen, Yang Minghao, Luo Feiyu, Wu Chongzhe, and others whose cultivation were not much weaker than his.

Since last year, young people like Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen had successively broken through to the Postnatal Seventh Layer.

Now in the Tenglong Guard, the only person he could really compare himself to was probably Wu Chongzhe, who was around his age with similar cultivation.

As for others, including Song Dashan, they were, truthfully, a generation younger than him.

Compared to these young people, he felt old and couldn’t help but be somewhat despondent.

But soon he let go of these feelings; he was old indeed, but his son was in the prime of his youth.

Over the past few years, his sons had been training in the Personal Guard Camp, and each of them had grown considerably; this alone filled him with satisfaction.

”Alright, Old Song, sit down and have some tea. If they really plan to lure us outside as the General predicts, they’ll surely come tonight!” Xie Yuan said with a smile.

”Why?”

”Since we’re so close to Tenglong Guard, even if they run back and forth and engage in a major battle, two to three days would be more than enough time! If they don’t come tonight, the General is likely to return tomorrow!” Xie Yuan explained.

Song Dashan thought about it and felt that Xie Yuan’s words made sense. He then suppressed the anxiety in his heart and sat down to drink tea.

Just as Xie Yuan had speculated, Prince Qing was indeed preparing to attack Tenglong Guard’s main camp tonight.

Under the gloomy night sky, the two South City Gates of Qinghua Prefecture City slowly opened, and vague silhouettes emerged from within the city.

Over ten thousand soldiers silently slipped out of the city, a testament to the well-trained nature of Prince Qing’s guards and the Qinghua Guard soldiers.

However, they still couldn’t escape the watchful eyes hidden in the dark. The moment they left the city, several shadowy figures near the city gate merged into the misty night fog like specters.

Twenty li from the east of the city, near a small village, the soldiers of the Five Army Camps were busy preparing their horses and arms.

The adjacent village was not large, with around two hundred households. During the day, they hid in this village, and at night they gathered the villagers in their homes and assembled outside the village.

”Dad! Freshly roasted chicken leg!” Yang Mingzhi handed over a golden-brown chicken leg to Yang Zhenshan.

Taking it, Yang Zhenshan asked, ”Did you pay for it?”

”Yes, we gave three Silver pieces to each household. We also paid for the chickens and sheep, thirty percent above market price!” Yang Mingzhi replied.

”Hmm.”

Yang Zhenshan nodded and began gnawing on the chicken leg.

Three Silver pieces weren’t much since they were only staying for less than two days, and despite keeping the villagers locked in their homes, they hadn’t caused any harm.

As for the chickens and sheep, well, Yang Zhenshan had bought up all of those in the village, with each soldier getting a bowl of soup.

In this way, Yang Zhenshan was treating himself, gnawing on an extra chicken leg!

”Report to the General, the enemy has left the city!”

Hearing the report, Yang Zhenshan swallowed his bite of chicken and casually tossed the bone on the ground.

”Issue the command, let’s move out!”

He jumped onto his horse, his eyes twinkling like stars.

Finally, they’d come out!

If not tonight, by tomorrow he’d have to return to camp.

Soon, Yang Zhenshan, leading six thousand soldiers, advanced towards the camp at a measured pace. The darkness prevented them from moving too quickly, but they weren’t in a hurry. The camp hadn’t lit up with flames yet, indicating that the enemy hadn’t launched an attack.

...

On the city walls, Prince Qing stood in front of the city gate tower, looking in the direction of Tenglong Guard’s main camp.

”Teacher, nothing will go wrong, right?”

His heart couldn’t settle down, a mix of excitement and worry.

Excited because they were about to crush Tenglong Guard’s army, and worried about the possibility of unexpected developments.

”Your Highness, rest assured, everything is under this old official’s control!”

”Yang Zhenshan has already returned to Tenglong Guard. Tonight is our best opportunity to take down their main camp!”

Xu Maocai stroked his grizzled beard with confidence.

As soon as he finished speaking, cries of battle rose from the distant camp, followed by flames that tore through the murky night fog.

Duan Heng smashed through the camp’s large gates with his soldiers, then swarmed into the camp.

The camp’s wooden gates were only two zhang high, not very sturdy, and Martial Artists with Postnatal Fifth Layer cultivation or higher could easily break through them.

After entering the camp, Duan Heng’s face was ferocious as he looked at the tents lined up in front of him and shouted, ”Kill!”

”Kill!”

The cries of battle shattered the heavy night, and many soldiers knocked over braziers to set the tents ablaze, the flames soaring skywards in an instant.

But it quickly became apparent that something was wrong—there was nobody inside the tents!

Not just the tents, the entire camp was empty, not even a single night guard to be found.

”My Lord, it’s empty!”

A Hundred Households shouted loudly.

Duan Heng, who was gesturing to his soldiers to push into the camp, paused abruptly and turned his head sharply towards the shouting Hundred Households.

”There’s nobody!”

”My Lord, there’s not a single person!” the Hundred Households called out again.

Duan Heng suddenly snapped to his senses, ”This is bad, it’s a trap!”

But his realization came too late.

”Kill!”

Another wave of battle cries rang out.

Numerous Tenglong Guard soldiers charged from deeper within the camp.

Amidst the flames, bloody combat unfolded.

”Ha ha ha, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time, and you’ve finally come!” Old Song laughed heartily as he burst into the fray like a tiger descending the mountain.

Duan Heng, seeing the fierce Old Song, had no desire to fight and yelled, ”Retreat, retreat quickly!”

But retreating now was not going to be easy. Thousands of soldiers had already squeezed into the camp, and the tumultuous cries of battle and screams drowned out his voice.

Soldiers inside the camp wanted to withdraw, but those outside kept pressing forward, eager to charge into the camp.

”Damn it!”

Noticing the chaos, Duan Heng abandoned thoughts of attacking and leaped up, stepping on the soldiers’ bodies to vault out of the camp.

”Retreat! Retreat quickly!”

Finally, the soldiers outside the camp heard the command.

The clang of retreating bells sounded, signaling the surrounding soldiers to start withdrawing.

Duan Heng’s face turned deathly pale, however, when he saw a long line of torch-bearing figures racing towards them from the east.

”Ming Zhi, Ming Zhen, you two take the gate! The rest follow me into battle!”

At Yang Zhenshan’s command, the Five Army Camps split into two groups; Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen led two thousand Cavalry charging towards the wide-open city gates, while Yang Zhenshan led the other four thousand Cavalry towards the direction of the main camp.