“I’ll take my leave now, Commander Li.” Feng Jiutian got up to leave, but Li Jun suddenly felt that this was a good opportunity to show Feng Jiutian his trust in him, so he smiled and said, “No need, Mr. Feng, please stay. What I know, you will know as well.”
Feng Jiutian glanced at Song Yun and his wife. Song Yun's smile seemed somewhat forced, but Chen Ying said, "It's fine for them to stay. Anyway, I don't plan to keep it a secret any longer."
Upon hearing this, Feng Jiutian sat down again. He was quite interested in this woman named Chen Ying; her temperament was vastly different from his husband's. How the two had gotten together was a topic they always avoided discussing. Even though Tu Longziyun repeatedly asked Song Yun to impart his experience, he received not a single word. Although Feng Jiutian had only been there for a few days, his keen eyes immediately sensed that something was amiss.
"Does the commander intend to raise an army to defend the emperor?" Chen Ying's question went straight to the point, which was exactly the question Feng Jiutian had been trying to get from Li Jun.
"What does your sister-in-law mean...?" Li Jun continued to avoid the question and did not give a direct answer.
“If the commander is prepared to raise an army to defend the emperor, then I have nothing to say. However, I request that he,” Chen Ying glanced at Song Yun and continued, “be appointed as the vanguard officer. If the commander is unwilling to send troops to defend the emperor, then please lend a unit to my wife and me.”
Clearly, Chen Ying's request was extremely absurd. If troops were lent to her and her husband, what difference would it make from Li Jun personally leading the troops? Moreover, as the instructor of the Peace Army, Song Yun could only discuss the matter of borrowing troops after he severed ties with the Peace Army. Otherwise, all his actions should be carried out in accordance with military orders.
Although Feng Jiutian's expression changed at Chen Ying's request, Li Jun seemed unmoved. He remained silent for a moment before smiling and saying, "Your Highness, your brother treats you like this, yet he still worries about his safety and the fate of the nation?"
His words were like a bolt from the blue for Song Yun and Chen Ying. The biggest secret they had been trying so hard to hide had been completely exposed by Li Jun's casual remark.
"How...how did you know?" they both asked in unison.
"Haha." Li Jun smiled slightly. "How could no one have told me about such a big event in Chen State? In addition, the timing and location of your joining our army are too coincidental. Most of the generals in the army probably know about this, but you two have been trying to hide it, so everyone is just pretending not to know."
Lan Qiao and Zi Yu, using the aliases Song Yun and Chen Ying, were filled with a mixture of shame and gratitude. They had joined the Peace Army when they were desperate and were treated as family, yet they dared not reveal their true identities, which made them uneasy. Little did they know that what they had kept silent about was already an open secret.
Looking at their expressions, Li Jun found it amusing, but along with the amusement came a shadow.
"If it's so difficult for the two of them just because of their different statuses, wouldn't it be even more difficult for a man and a woman of different races to be together? If it were me and Sister Mo Rong, wouldn't it be even more difficult?"
The shadow grew larger and larger, and soon he realized something.
Since returning to Kuanglan City, he has not seen Mo Rong yet, and others seem to be avoiding talking about her.
Chapter Two: The March
Section 1
Li Jun ultimately decided to march on Chen Kingdom to defend the king, and his attention had to be temporarily diverted from Mo Rong. The next day, he learned that after the city's defenses in Kuanglan City were completed, Mo Rong insisted on leaving to return to Yue Ren Ridge. Although Tu Long Ziyun and Jiang Tang tried their best to persuade her to stay, this cheerful Yue woman had made up her mind, and no one could change it.
Deep down, Li Jun was unwilling to waste his precious military strength on saving the country from those tyrannical bureaucrats, but firstly, he was persuaded by Lan Qiao and Zi Yu, and more importantly, he and Feng Jiu Tian felt that sending troops could bring many benefits.
Firstly, this would expand the influence of the Peace Army in Chen. Undeniably, Li Jun was not satisfied with merely controlling Yu Prefecture; his goal coincided with Ling Qi's. Chen, a medium-sized state in Shenzhou, comprised seven prefectures the size of Yu Prefecture, divided into Xing Prefecture, Tai Prefecture, Han Prefecture, Hui Prefecture, Tan Prefecture, Liang Prefecture, and Yu Prefecture. Li Jun only controlled one-seventh of it. Although, due to his relationship with Princess Lanqiao and Princess Ziyu, Li Jun could not openly display his ambition to annex as he had with Yu Prefecture, deep down he naturally considered Chen as his next target. If Lanqiao and Ziyu objected, then the name of Chen and Pei Ju's throne would remain—like Hua Xuan, a nominal ruler. But if even this was unacceptable, then Lanqiao and Ziyu would have to be eliminated. Although the idea was somewhat frightening to Li Jun himself, Lan Qiao had made many great contributions in the past year, and his presence was extremely beneficial to improving the training level of the Peace Army. Moreover, in fighting side by side, Lan Qiao and Zi Yu had already formed a deep friendship with other generals of the Peace Army.
"There will be a way," Li Jun comforted himself. If all else failed, he would stage an accident to have Pei Ju killed, and then he would avenge him. That way, Lan Qiao and Zi Yu would have no objections, right?
The second advantage of sending troops was to prevent the conflict from spreading eastward. Li Jun harbored deep suspicions about the Lianfa Sect, which had launched the rebellion. While there were disciples of the Lianfa Sect in Yu Prefecture, they seemed uninterested in rebellion. Why were the Lianfa Sect members rising up in other parts of Chen State? Would they extend the war to Yu Prefecture, which Li Jun considered his own backyard? Li Jun was unsure. If war was to break out, it was better to fight on someone else's territory than to fight on one's own land, thus avoiding greater losses.
The third objective of the military campaign lay in Pei Ju's secret edict to Hua Xuan. Li Jun had heard that Heng Guo's general, Liu Guang, was not tolerated by the new ruler, but he hadn't expected Liu Guang to voluntarily defect to Chen Guo, much less that Pei Ju would accept him while simultaneously issuing a secret edict ordering Hua Xuan to monitor him. Li Jun was eager to meet this renowned general, who was considered on par with Lu Xiang, whom he regarded as both a "mentor" and a "father." Moreover, Li Jun realized that most of his subordinates were mediocre; if he could have this general, known for his invincibility, as his deputy, the growth of the Peace Army would be virtually unstoppable.
On the tenth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of Chongde in the Chen Kingdom, Li Jun swore an oath in Kuanglan City. Accompanying him were Meng Yuan and Lan Qiao, while Feng Jiutian and Tu Longziyun remained in Kuanglan City. Their tasks were twofold: to establish a system applicable throughout Yu Prefecture and to guard against another attack by Japanese pirates. With only twenty days until the end of the year, the entire Yu Prefecture was immersed in the festive atmosphere. The wealthy were naturally well-off, and even ordinary families, despite facing a year of famine, had some savings thanks to Li Jun's tax exemption. Impatient children had already begun setting off firecrackers, and the grand procession of 30,000 Peace Army soldiers out of the west gate drew countless civilians to line the streets and set off firecrackers, wishing the army that brought them peace a resounding victory.
The biting north wind seemed to have no intention of supporting Li Jun's expedition. The Peace Army encountered a heavy snowfall upon reaching Thunder City. In the mild climate of Chen, winters typically bring only one or two light snowfalls around the end of the year; such an early and heavy snowfall as this year was a rare occurrence. Chu Qingfeng, in the Magic Academy, felt a vague unease. Although a timely snowfall was said to foretell a bountiful year, for an army, this heavy snow was nothing short of an ominous sign.
"When does the commander plan to depart?" The army, unable to advance due to the snow, camped in Thunder City awaiting better weather. Chu Qingfeng then came to visit Li Jun, and the two of them lingered around the stove, holding hot tea, slowly passing the time.
“As soon as the weather clears up, I will send out troops. If the army stops moving, it will be very difficult to maintain morale, and the daily consumption of supplies will be three times higher than usual.” Li Jun had great respect for this Taoist priest of the immortal level. Not only had Chu Qingfeng fought alongside him, but more importantly, he had gradually developed the idea of giving the priest a greater role on the battlefield.
"With the army about to march, there are some things that shouldn't be said." Chu Qingfeng frowned slightly, a hint of worry on his face, and said, "This year is not a time for military action. To be honest, Commander, I have privately made several divinations about this war in Chen, and they were all ominous signs."
Even Li Jun was extremely disgusted by such words that disrupted morale during battle. Facing Chu Qingfeng, he couldn't lash out, so he just laughed and changed the subject: "How is the Thunder City Magic Academy doing? Has the Immortal Master considered opening a branch in Raging Waves City as well? The funding can be provided by the Peace Army, and the Immortal Master can also use his reputation to attract more mages from all over the country. What do you think, Immortal Master?"
Li Jun's attitude seemed to be within Chu Qingfeng's expectations. He sighed inwardly, "Fate cannot be defied. Even a hero like Commander Li cannot escape the shackles of fate." He smiled and expressed his gratitude for Li Jun's kindness, "Thanks to Commander, the number of people interested in magic has been increasing day by day in the past few months. There are already five hundred students studying at the Imperial Academy, but we feel that there are not enough teaching positions."
"Rest assured, Immortal Master, I will order the merchant ships passing through Kuanglan City to spread the news of the Imperial Academy's selection of talented individuals throughout the Divine Continent. In just a few days, mages from all over the world will flock to us." Li Jun readily agreed. In fact, this was a variation of a plan that Feng Jiutian had given him. Seeing that Li Jun had few talented people under his command, Feng Jiutian had Li Jun issue an order to recruit talented individuals from all over the Divine Continent. Now, Li Jun had extended this to recruiting teachers for the Magic Imperial Academy.
"How can I repay Commander Li for this?" Li Jun's emphasis on mages clearly exceeded Chu Qingfeng's expectations. In this chaotic world, mages, possessing formidable power, were originally a sought-after profession. However, due to the inherent vulnerability of mages in large-scale battles and the difficulty of training a qualified mage, the profession is far less respected than it was at the beginning of the Thousand-Year War. Apart from major powers like Su, Lan, and Heng, almost no other country can form a large-scale mage legion, let alone local forces.