Transmigrated as the Princess Consort of a Fallen Nation

Chapter 58

The sun at noon hid behind thin clouds, hanging in the sky like a white shadow.

The morning’s military training had ended, and both inside and outside the martial arts field, people could be seen sitting on the ground, their foreheads covered with large beads of sweat, their faces flushed.

Chu Chengji descended from the platform and casually wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief handed to him by a soldier.

The soldier said, “Military Advisor, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain have started taunting again. They’ve been cursing for the whole morning. Do you want the troops from the dam area to show some strength and intimidate them?”

Chu Chengji said, “No need. At the latest, tonight, half of the officers and soldiers above and below will withdraw.”

Calculating the schedule, the imperial decree for the mobilization of troops should have arrived in Qingzhou today at the latest, and Shen Yanzhi wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

He threw the handkerchief to the soldier and happened to meet Zhao Kui who was looking for him. “Military Advisor, the Chief wants to see you.”

Chu Chengji nodded and said, “I won’t come this afternoon. You can teach them the spear technique they’ve learned in the past two days.”

Zhao Kui clasped his fists, “Yes, sir!”

A temporary shed was set up outside the martial arts field.

When Chu Chengji went over, Lin Yao was instructing a soldier about something.

Seeing Chu Chengji coming, Lin Yao said to the soldier, “You can go down first and have the undercover agents keep an eye on the leaders of each mountain.”

The soldier took the order and left.

Chu Chengji pulled out a chair and sat down, asking, “Is there something happening in the camp?”

“No, I’m just afraid that those old, cunning people still have ulterior motives, so I want our people to keep an eye on them.” Lin Yao looked at Chu Chengji sitting in front of him.

Despite wearing plain clothes, he still couldn’t hide his elegance and nobility.

Last night, after Liao Lao returned home, Lin Yao himself had not been able to sleep all night.

After much thought, he decided to open up: “Today, I found Brother Cheng because there’s something I’ve been holding in my heart for a long time, and I haven’t found a suitable opportunity to talk to you about it.”

“My life was saved by Brother Cheng risking his own life. At that time, I wanted Brother Cheng to be the third in command of my Qi Yun Village, but Brother Cheng politely declined. I know Brother Cheng is a dragon and phoenix among men, and a small Qi Yun Village is probably nothing to Brother Cheng.”

“But now, this army was built by Brother Cheng from scratch, and the food, weapons, and soldiers were all obtained with great effort by Brother Cheng.@@@@

After the uprising, the leader must be Brother Cheng no matter what. I, Lin Yao, don’t have the ability to lead troops in rebellion, nor do I have Brother Cheng’s foresight and strategy.

Whether Brother Cheng establishes himself as king after the uprising or joins a righteous ruler, I, Lin Yao, will lead the brothers of Qi Yun Village to follow you to the death.”

Chu Chengji raised his eyebrows slightly in slight surprise, and smiled faintly, “Although this army has only a few thousand men, it has already taken shape. I have entrusted it to the Chief, and the Chief will lead it.

Soon, there will be a tough battle with the government. If we win, there will be tens of thousands of troops in the future.”

Chu Chengji’s seemingly gentle but boundless tone stunned Lin Yao.

The issue he had been unable to resolve with Liao Lao seemed to have never been taken seriously by this man in front of him.

Lin Yao suddenly shivered and said cautiously, “I am poor and have only one Qi Yun Village. The army you raised, you lead it yourself. I don’t have the money to support these soldiers!”

Chu Chengji said, “...I’ll support the soldiers.”

He had never heard of a general himself paying out of his own pocket to pay the soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao felt a huge weight lift off his heart. “So, we’ve agreed. I’ll work for you, but managing the fate and lives of thousands of people is beyond me.”

Chu Chengji said, “If the Chief were in the army, he would surely be a talented general. There’s no need to underestimate yourself.”

This was why Chu Chengji had been having Lin Yao lead this group.

Lin Yao was skilled in martial arts, but he hadn’t formally studied military strategy or the army’s management system.

These days had been a learning curve for him, and he would soon be able to stand on his own.

Then he glanced at Chu Chengji. “But we can’t take the people’s belongings. Can we use the official goods from Qingzhou?”

Chu Chengji didn’t speak.

Lin Yao chuckled awkwardly, “We don’t have money to support the soldiers. We’ve exchanged all the silk we sold for food and supplies.

If the government has enough official silver, we need to make proper military uniforms for our brothers, or they won’t look like soldiers!”

Chu Chengji nodded. “That can be done.”

Now Lin Yao was worrying about the future. “If we end up like Prince Huaiyang, commanding tens of thousands of troops, we might not even be able to afford rice gruel. Prince Huaiyang has a big family business. Where will we get the money?”

Chu Chengji just said, “When the time comes, there will be a way.”

Although the Lu family has some wealth, they have now joined Prince Huaiyang, so their financial support for them must be limited.

The Great Chu Dynasty has stood for over three hundred years.

There should be quite a few imperial tombs. Digging a few should be no problem.

With Chu Chengji’s words, Lin Yao stopped worrying about the future.

After all, there’s always someone to take the fall if things go wrong.

As for the name they would use for their uprising and the reasons they would publicly announce for their uprising, they didn’t need to think about it.

The Chu Dynasty had just fallen, and Li Xin was still sitting on the dragon throne.

There were plenty of dissatisfied people under him. Once the call to restore the Great Chu Dynasty was made, led by the former Crown Prince, there was no more legitimate leader than him.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.” Chu Chengji glanced at the sun, which was already a quarter past lunchtime.

Lin Yao knew that Chu Chengji always went home for lunch at noon, not eating with them in the big kitchen.

He teased, “It shouldn’t be too late to go back now. I’ve asked Wang Niangzi to take the Madame to Wang Po’s house. They should have just returned.”

Lin Yao didn’t know that Wang Xiu had gone to see Chu Chengji. Chu Chengji’s brow furrowed imperceptibly, and he stood up to leave. “I’ll go first.”

Lin Yao shook his head as he watched him leave.

Married men are different.

Wu Qing always runs home at meal times, too.

He was about to go to the big kitchen but thought of the unpleasantness with Liao Lao last night, so he decided to go talk to him first, only to find that he wasn’t there.

As soon as Chu Chengji entered the room, he saw Qin Zheng sitting at the square table, drawing with the charcoal pen she had made.

Perhaps she was too focused, as she didn’t notice him enter the room.

Chu Chengji approached and saw that she wasn’t drawing but rather staring blankly at the paper with the charcoal pen in her hand.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?” he asked, standing behind her.

Startled, Qin Zheng turned to see him and breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re back. I’ll go to the kitchen and bring the food.”

She was about to get up, but Chu Chengji held her shoulder and looked down at her. “Is something bothering you?”

Qin Zheng always relaxed in front of him. She drooped her brows and nodded. “There are some things I haven’t figured out yet.”

Chu Chengji sat down beside her and raised an eyebrow. “Is it related to me?”

Qin Zheng shook her head.

Seeing that she seemed unwilling to say more, Chu Chengji said, “I heard you went to the Wang family’s house. If there’s something you don’t want to do in the future, just refuse directly. Don’t make yourself unhappy.”

Qin Zheng knew he had misunderstood and sighed. “It’s not about the Wang family girl. It’s just that I suddenly have a lot of thoughts in my mind. You just let me figure it out myself.”

Chu Chengji rubbed her head. “What thoughts? Tell me.”