No title, no marriage? Do you think I'm some kind of lapdog?

For three days after the negotiations ended, Su Chuang dutifully remained "confined" to the Duke of Xin's mansion.

He didn't even go to see Yue Fei train his personal troops.

Every morning, the system notification sound arrives as scheduled.

[Sign-in successful! Obtained A-rank powerhouse "Shadow Seven"!]

[Sign-in successful! Obtained A-rank general "You Jiu"!]

[Sign-in successful! Obtained A-rank general "Absolute Thirteen"!]

The three names exude a menacing aura that keeps strangers at bay.

Su Chuang didn't even meet him; he directly assigned the person to Lu Bing through the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard).

"Skilled in stealth, assassination, and killing with a single blow."

Lu Bing's only response was this sentence.

Su Chuang didn't ask any more questions, but continued to work on the abacus.

The list of channels in Jiangnan brought by Mi Zhu has already begun operation.

The first batch of sugarcane raw materials arrived in Beijing three days later. The expansion plans for the distillery were laid out on the table, and Jia Xu had neatly written the two characters "feasible" in his annotations.

Everything is flowing in the shadows.

On the fourth day, before dawn.

Su Chuang sat in his study, with the last stars still hanging outside the window.

Lu Bing emerged from the shadows, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a very low voice:

"My lord, at three-quarters past Chen hour, Wanyan Zongbi left the capital."

"The guards number fifty-six, all of whom are elites of the unit."

"The route is set on the official road. We will pass 'Yinmajian' at 9:00 AM, arrive at 'Heifengxia' at 1:00 PM, and exit the gorge around 1:00 PM."

"The gorge is three miles long, with cliffs on both sides over ten feet high. There will definitely be thunderstorms this afternoon."

A simple diagram is laid out on the table.

"What about Wenhe's plan?"

Su Chuang's gaze fell on the three characters "Black Wind Gorge," and his fingertips tapped them unconsciously.

"Here."

Jia Xu appeared silently by the door, his gray cloth shirt still damp with night dew.

He pushed a slip of paper over; it contained only twelve characters:

Using thunder and rain, a fake mountain collapses, and a false bandit group is created to eliminate future troubles.

After reading it, Su Chuang held the note close to the candlelight.

"specific."

The flame licked up and turned into a small clump of ashes.

"At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), Yingqi led his men to administer a small dose of medicine at the Yinmajian water source."

"Only by exhausting the horses and making the men drowsy, thus slowing their journey, we must ensure that they enter Black Wind Gorge at precisely the hour of Wei (1-3 PM)."

Jia Xu spoke slowly and deliberately, as if he were discussing today's vegetable prices.

"At noon, You Jiu led his men to set up explosive devices on the cliff tops on both sides of Black Wind Gorge. When thunder and rain started, they detonated the rocks and blocked the way in front and behind."

"When the rain was at its heaviest, Jue Shi led fifty Imperial Guards, dressed in tattered fur coats, with painted faces and tattoos, disguised as northern bandits, and charged out."

"Primary target: Wanyan Zongbi. Secondary target: Annihilate the guards, leaving no survivors."

"General Zilong will keep watch on a high slope two miles outside the gorge. If anything unexpected happens, he will be shot with a crossbow."

"General Yue is leading his personal troops in a military drill thirty li to the west today. The commotion should be significant."

After Jia Xu finished speaking, he stood with his hands at his sides.

Su Chuang remained silent for a moment.

"Where is that curved sword with the character 'Xiao' on it?"

"It will remain at the scene and be inserted into the body of Wanyan Zongbi's deputy."

Su Chuang finally raised his eyes.

"Go."

"Here you are."

Lu Bing and Jia Xu left as quietly as they had arrived.

Outside the window, the sky was gradually turning blue.

---

At Chenshi (7-9 AM), Su Chuang changed into the official uniform of the patrol army commander and swaggered to the commander's mansion to "check in".

Feng Feng reported several neighborhood disputes, and Su Chuang listened with a constant yawn, finally waving his hand dismissively:

"Just follow the law. Why bother me with such a trivial matter?"

The newly promoted team leaders below were trying to suppress their laughter.

He seemed bored, but his hand, hidden in his sleeve, was constantly stroking a copper coin.

That was the signal money that Lu Bing sent last night; warm meant peace, and cold meant something was wrong.

At 9:00 AM, the copper coins are warm.

At noon, the sky indeed darkened, and rumbling thunder rolled through the clouds.

The copper coin was still warm.

At the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), raindrops the size of soybeans began to pelt down.

As Su Chuang was pretending to reprimand a lazy soldier who was taking shelter from the rain, a series of sounds suddenly reverberated in his mind!

[Hint: Operation Shadow Seven is complete. The target cavalry has been delayed.]

[Hint: The Nine Gates mechanism has been triggered. The paths leading to and from Black Wind Gorge are now blocked.]

[Hint: Encounter battle has begun.]

Su Chuang paused in his cursing, and the soldier trembled in fear.

Immediately afterwards, more information flooded into my mind in fragments.

It wasn't the visuals, but the cold, hard system judgment and the secret message Lu Bing sent through the Embroidered Uniform Guard:

The enemy guards put up a fierce resistance.

Shadow Seven sustained minor injuries.

[Zhuge Shisan kills the centurion.]

[…Zhao Yun's arrow was thrown.]

This made Su Chuang raise an almost imperceptible brow.

The target leader (Wanyan Zongbi) fell from his horse.

[Thirteen of Jue is close at hand.]

[Lu Bing makes his move.]

[Target Boss Status: Dead.]

[Cleanup in progress.]

[Disguise setup complete.]

[Evacuate all personnel.]

The last coded message was written by Lu Bing himself, and it contained only four characters:

Success is achieved without leaving a trace.

The rain was still falling, pattering loudly on the tiles.

Su Chuang kicked the soldier in the backside: "Get back to your post! If you slack off again, I'll dock three months' pay!"

The soldiers scrambled away.

Su Chuang turned and walked into the inner room, opened the window, and let the rain wet half of his shoulder.

He gazed northwards, towards Black Wind Gorge and beyond to the more distant northern frontier.

---

The rain stopped in the evening.

Su Chuang returned to the Duke of Xin's mansion. As soon as he stepped into the study, Lu Bing was already kneeling in the shadows.

Almost simultaneously, a roar filled my mind!

[Warning: Advanced mission "Assassinate Wanyan Zongbi in the capital without being detected" is in progress...]

[Judgment Criterion 1: Kill completed.]

[Judgment Condition 2: No investigation by the imperial court or diplomatic dispute has been triggered. (Current Status: Perfect)]

[Judgment Condition 3: Disguise Successful. (The scene has been arranged to resemble a fire between bandits and Huns disguised as a merchant caravan.)]

[Approved!]

[Comprehensive Negotiation Mission "Reach a Favorable Agreement and Assassinate" Final Rating: SS!]

[Reward: 300 SS-rank special unit "Mystic Armored Swordsman Guard"!]

[Gain bonus: Unit trait "Armor Penetration" (deals 30% extra damage to heavily armored units)]

The "Black Armored Sword Guards" have been deployed to the "Manor" thirty miles west of the city. They can be summoned at any time.

A barrage of prompts left him dizzy, but Su Chuang only managed to grasp the last one.

Three hundred SS-level units.

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again and said to Lu Bing:

"Tell Pengju to take over the new army in the farm thirty miles away and train them rigorously."

"The necessary military equipment and provisions can be obtained directly from Mi Zhu."

"Here you are."

After Lu Bing left, Su Chuang sat alone for a while.

As dusk settled outside the window, the autumn wind swept through the corridor, carrying the chill of post-rain mud and the fading stench of blood.

He got up and picked up a knife from the wall.

However, it was a long-handled, double-edged, and palm-wide giant blade.

The blade was dark and incredibly heavy, with a handle wrapped in tanned cowhide for a non-slip grip.

Mo Dao (陌刀).

The standard weapon of the Xuanjia Modao Guard.

Su Chuang gripped the handle with both hands and slowly raised it horizontally.

The blade was heavy, and even with his S-rank warrior physique, he felt a slight strain.

The blade gleamed with a dark, ominous light in the twilight, as if it had drunk countless drops of blood.

He imagined three hundred such long-handled swords, under Yue Fei's command, advancing like a wall, invincible and unstoppable.

He gently stroked the cold blade, a faint, chilling smile curving his lips.

Outside the window, the last ray of sunlight disappeared.

The north wind picked up, and dawn broke.

Grandpa Gui rushed in anxiously.

"Duke Su! Something terrible has happened! Come to the palace immediately! His Majesty summons you!"