Chapter 531 - Chapter 531: Chapter 538: Silence Descends (2/2)
“Husband, it’s a good thing I listened to you. Those servants sent by Sikong Ling are peering around every day. You can tell they’re up to no good, trying to pry information from us. Too bad they won’t be able to find anything out,” Su Wenyue observed, as she too had noticed the prying eyes.
“Wife, be good and don’t bother with them. After all, we aren’t doing anything wrong!” Han Yu said this a bit louder on purpose, so that the listening servants would know they had been overly intrusive and left evidence behind. They became somewhat restrained, as they were also frightened by the harsh words Sikong Ling had given them. Knowing how cruel their master could be when assigning blame, they could scare themselves with just the thought of it.
Hearing Han Yu say this, Su Wenyue restrained herself from troubling the servants. After all, they had it hard enough.
Yiyang Prefecture
Liu Xiu looked at the intelligence gathered below; his already furrowed brow became even tighter. Many events had transpired during Han Yu’s absence, one after another, giving him a sense of desperation. Not only were the Imperial Army’s provocations coming intermittently, but serious internal issues had arisen as well. There were more spies in the army than he had anticipated, deeply concealed, resulting in crucial intelligence being passed to the enemy, despite his careful precautions.
“My Lord, the current situation is dire. According to the scout’s information, the Imperial Court has issued a final ultimatum to Zhao Fan, demanding that he conquers Yiyang Prefecture within a set time. Zhao Fan will surely make a significant move soon, possibly launching a full-scale attack on us,” the subordinate said with a worried tone, full of concern.
“Ever since our last major defeat of the enemy, they may have suffered greatly, but after some time to recuperate, they have recovered. With the court sending fresh troops, I worry we are no match for them. We need to plan ahead and prepare for a retreat.”
“What are you saying? You’re just discouraging our own side. Originally, we faced even larger enemy forces than we do now and we still won decisively. Now that the enemy’s forces are far fewer than before, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Thinking of retreat at every turn is the behavior of a coward!”
“What kind of talk is that? You think I, Zhang Han, am a coward who fears death? On the battlefield, when have I not charged to the front? Yet you dare call me a coward?”
“If so, why do you speak such disheartening words? This only serves to break the spirit of our troops.”
“I’m just speaking the truth. Unlike some of you, I don’t hide things. I don’t believe any of you are confident about the court’s upcoming attack. How we were victorious in the previous battle, despite the great disparity in forces, was due to General Han’s tactics and ability, leading everyone to victory. But now, without General Han here, even a small skirmish could be undecidable, let alone a major attack,” Zhang Han held General Han in high esteem, which is why knowing the superior’s dissatisfaction with General Han, he couldn’t keep his words bottled up inside. Additionally, the current situation was indeed as he described, and Zhang Han couldn’t help but voice his perspective, regardless of whom he could offend in the process.