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Chapter 192 - 192: 138: Returning to Changning Again_2

Moreover, deep down, Lu Yuan knew that the court might be tolerating him up to the limit. If he continued playing the game of not moving his troops, a confrontation was bound to happen.

He didn’t want to have a falling out with the court just yet.

After all, the court currently had four Inborn Grandmasters as well as hundreds of thousands of soldiers; their strength was not weak.

Based on their recent actions, the court was even trying to win over the innate sects from the Jianghu. If they were to succeed, the sinking ship that was Da Yue might hold on for another few decades.

Turning against them now was not a good time.

‘Fine, fine, I’ll deploy troops. The prefecture only asked me to save Hengyang, not to suppress the Seven Star Sect.

At most, I’ll lead these 15,000 soldiers to Hengyang and drive back the invading enemy forces.

We don’t necessarily have to fight to the death.’

With this half-hearted idea in mind, Lu Yuan finally managed to send Cui Changqing away after much persuasion.

This old man was indeed a good official who worked for the country and the people, and his open-minded character was rare for a scholar.

In the past two years, Lu Yuan had gotten along well with him.

Even so, during these months, he had given considerable assistance under the pretense of being non-committal.

Therefore, it was necessary to give him face at this time.

Although the decision to deploy troops was made, it wasn’t so simple to set the huge army in motion.

After Cui Changqing returned, he immediately began to prepare food and fodder for the expeditionary force in his office.

The logistics support for 15,000 soldiers required the same number of civilian workers, even if they were fighting within their own territory. Feeding 30,000 men and horses was not a small task.

Without proper preparation, these tens of thousands would go hungry.

So, for the next few days, from Cui Changqing to the lower-ranking officials, they were all busy with the preparations.

As the prefecture was busy, Lu Yuan’s side also began to take action.

In the barracks,

Soldiers on leave were ordered to return, and those in training were notified of their upcoming mission. The armory in the barracks began to be checked to ensure that no problems would arise during the war.

Soon, the entire barracks were bustling with activity.

Time passed, and five days later, the prefecture had gathered the civilians and supplies, while the barracks were finally ready for the expedition.

Without further delay, Lu Yuan ordered the troops to march out.

The mighty force trampled through the dust, stretching over ten miles as they embarked on their journey.

The journey to Hengyang took only six days of marching fifty miles a day, and after another four days, they arrived at the Hengyang City.

Upon arrival, Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised since he didn’t see any trace of the Seven Star Sect’s rebel army.

‘Weren’t the Seven Star Sect supposed to have 30,000 soldiers marching towards Hengyang?’ Lu Yuan wondered.

Later, during a meeting with the Hengyang Prefect who had come to greet him, he couldn’t help but ask about his doubts.

“In response to Lu Fenwu, after our city received news that the Seven Star bandits were heading north, we immediately mobilized local militias, gathering 10,000 people. We then deployed 2,000 city soldiers, forming a force of 12,000, marching southward to block the enemy.

At present, the local forces, led by Commander Zhu, are resisting the bandits in the southern Changning county, keeping the enemy out of our borders.” The Hengyang Prefect, surnamed Jiang, was also an old acquaintance of Lu

Yuan.

Last year, when Lu Yuan was recruiting soldiers, he had passed through Hengyang and helped them repel a group of rebelling Miao People in their territory. That was when they first met.

Thus, when hearing that the battlefield was in Changning County, Jiang Prefect’s face was somewhat strange as he gave Lu Yuan a couple of extra glances.

Lu Yuan knew what he was thinking; It was nothing more than his own past experience of spending six years in Changning, and now that the place had become a battlefield, Jiang Prefect was worried that he would think too much

of it.

However, this concern was certainly misplaced.

Although he spent six years in Changning, Lu Yuan was indeed very happy there.

But his happiness was built on the condition of living with Zhou Qing and Sun Siwen.

If these two were not there, Changning would just be an ordinary small county town for him.

Now that both his good friends and apprentices had left Changning, the place had no special significance for Lu Yuan.

Having traveled dozens of miles today and with time running out, though it wasn’t impossible to march further, Lu Yuan felt it was safer to camp nearby Hengyang City in this unfamiliar territory.

With tens of thousands of local soldiers holding the line in the south, the Seven Star rebels wouldn’t be able to break through for now, so there was no need to rush.

At night, refusing Jiang Prefect’s dinner invitation, Lu Yuan hid in a secluded military tent within the camp, not staying in the general’s tent in plain sight.

Being on an expedition was different from the safety in Shaoyang Prefecture.

Considering that he was also targeted by the hatred of the Five Poisons Sect and risked being assassinated by the Inborn Grandmaster, he couldn’t let his guard down.

As a result, in the entire camp, in addition to the visibly erect commander’s tent, Lu Yuan arranged five hidden tents.

However, these hidden tents were merely the first layer of deception for the enemy. Among the five tents, he didn’t stay in any one of them.

Instead, he opted for one of the ten prepared second layer hidden tents beneath the hidden ones. Lu Yuan would randomly choose one to stay in each night..