Chapter 217: Offense

Chapter 217

Which general could it possibly be?

The strongest, Zhou Qichen, had already rebelled! Even the several deputy generals sent last time had turned traitor! The Prime Minister was worried sick, yet he dared not utter a word of complaint.

He was about to open his mouth to make a recommendation.

But a minister spoke up more quickly: "Your Majesty, I recommend the son of the Vice Minister of War. He is this year's top martial arts graduate. Defeating the rebel Zhou Qichen would be no challenge for him."

Seeing someone take the lead, other ministers also hastily recommended people they had long had their eyes on.

They also wanted to take this opportunity to form factions and alliances.

The Prime Minister cast a disdainful glance at those ministers who usually pretended to be deaf and mute when nothing was happening, but became extremely enthusiastic about recommending people as soon as there was a position available in the court.

That martial arts graduate had strength but no strategy. If he were to be made a general, it would be a disaster.

The Prime Minister's dissatisfaction was quite evident on his face!

The rebels were almost at the capital's doorstep, yet these ministers were still racking their brains over positions, trying to place their own people in power.

The Prime Minister stepped forward, feeling compelled to speak:

"Your Majesty, I recommend my disciple Tang Liangcai. Though his martial arts skills are not high, he is good at strategy and especially adept at defense—"

However.

Before he could finish, another minister interrupted him.

"Prime Minister, your recommendation seems biased. This is about defending a city, it's about warfare, not an opportunity for your disciple to gain undeserved merit."

"Although Tang Liangcai knows some martial arts, it's all just for show. How can a civil official lead troops and fight battles? It's laughable!"

Seeing a minister object, other ministers also stood up to voice their disagreements.

The final decision, however, lay in Pei Changying's hands.

Pei Changying pondered for a long time. In the past, all these matters were handled by Gu Sang. Now, he didn't understand the intricacies involved. A good general didn't necessarily need to be the strongest in martial arts, but must understand strategy and know how to lead troops.

Thus.

Pei Changying turned his gaze to the Vice Minister of War.

"Then let your son take the position of commander-in-chief. He must keep the rebel army outside the Mountain City at all costs!"

The Vice Minister of War was overjoyed and hurriedly came forward to kowtow in gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust. I hereby swear that my unworthy son will certainly keep the rebel army outside the Mountain City and absolutely not allow the rebels to set foot in the capital!"

The entire terrain was sloped, making it impossible for cannons to be pushed within effective attacking range, and hand grenades couldn't be thrown that far either.

The Elder Princess was aware of this, so she didn't rashly attack the city. Instead, she set up camp nearby to discuss strategies.

As the Elder Princess's army had not engaged in battle for ten days, the soldiers in Mountain City had let their guard down.

Early in the morning, women and commoners from the foot of the mountain loaded chickens, ducks, fish, meat, and fresh vegetables onto carts.

A few scattered soldiers stood at the city gate, merely glancing at the group of nearly forty-year-old female commoners before letting them enter.

"It's been ten days already. Why haven't the rebels attacked? Could it be that they're afraid?" One soldier said while yawning.

"Of course they are. We're not far from the capital, and this Mountain City is easy to defend but hard to attack. They must be scared," another soldier said dismissively.

"I heard there's some kind of women's army among the rebel forces. They say these female soldiers are incredibly brave," a third soldier joined the conversation.

"Hahaha, you really believe women can fight? I think those soldiers in the previous cities were just useless. They couldn't even beat women, and they were afraid of being laughed at, so they exaggerated about how brave the women's army was."

"Except for those things like cannons and hand grenades, which I'm a bit scared of, if it were just the women's army, I could take on ten women by myself."

The other soldiers all laughed, belittling the women's army.

However, they didn't know that the women's army they looked down upon had already infiltrated among the commoners who had just delivered vegetables.

"Come on! You lost, drink up!"

"Drink! Drink!"

As they delivered the vegetables, all they saw along the way were lazy, scattered troops, and even leaders drinking in broad daylight.

Seeing their relaxed state, the few soldiers disguised as commoners felt their tense nerves relax. The original plan was to pretend to be vegetable delivery people to sneak into Mountain City and check the guard situation.

But seeing the lax behavior of the soldiers in the city, the group exchanged glances and decided to stay a bit longer to gather more intelligence on the enemy.

After delivering the vegetables to the kitchen, they split up, agreeing to return to this spot within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Otherwise, staying too long would inevitably attract attention.

Ge Qing successfully gathered information and was about to return to the kitchen.

On the way, however, she was stopped by a military officer.

"You, come here."

Ge Qing's heart skipped a beat.

Had she been discovered?

"What are you dawdling for!"