After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The dignified Vice Minister of War, Jia Shi'an, was dressed in a coarse linen shirt, his straw sandals covered in a thick layer of mud. He sat cross-legged, looking as disheveled as an old farmer in the fields.

The deputy envoy of the Southern Kingdom, his face charred black, hesitated for a long while before finally looking up and sighing:

"The Grand Prince Consort Wen Tao was already famous throughout the north and south, but unexpectedly, his military strategy was even more outstanding, truly deserving the title of 'divine military commander'."

"I, Jia, have studied military books for a few years. The books say that there are no constant formations in warfare, just as water has no constant shape. One who can adapt to the enemy's changes and win is called a god. In the past, I, Jia, did not quite understand this principle. I thought it was a bit exaggerated. Shouldn't we respond to all changes with constancy?"

"Why then does military strategy demand adaptability to all changes? We were trapped in the mountains for days, facing countless troubles and lacking any good solutions. Yet, in a single day, the Grand Prince Consort allowed us to see the bright moon and clear sky. Such military prowess is truly a living military manual. What does it mean to be a master strategist? I, Jia, now understand."

He gave a heartfelt exclamation of praise.

He actually had a few more thoughts in mind: "Respond to the enemy's unchanging nature with the ever-changing; if you can force the enemy to make a change, the situation will change."

However, these were merely his own words for today, so he refrained from showing off his limited knowledge in front of the Grand Prince Consort and making a fool of himself. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a myriad of emotions within him.

At this moment, the mountain moon shines brightly, and the pine trees rustle in the breeze.

The sprouting grass swayed restlessly in the night breeze.

Ning Nan did a few stretching exercises to loosen up her sore shoulders.

Turning his head to look at the somewhat disheveled-looking Vice Minister, he shook his head and smiled:

"Lord Jia, please don't belittle me. With such excellent examples before me, I am merely imitating others blindly."

"A few hundred people is alright. They are all altar masters and incense masters, and quite a few of them can read."

"If Ning can command them, they can also command the dozens of people below them. After all, these incense masters led dozens of people from their respective villages, traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to Beijing."

"This is not easy; it's not something you can achieve simply by being fearless."

"If there were more people, we wouldn't be able to fight this kind of guerrilla warfare; we probably wouldn't even be able to march in step."

"Is there a precedent for excellence? Or is it a case of blindly imitating others?"

While admiring the Grand Prince Consort's humility, the thirty-seven-year-old Jia Shi'an frowned.

"Have there ever been military strategists like this before?"

He moved erratically, sometimes to the east, sometimes to the west, unpredictable and mysterious, leading seven or eight hundred men to outmaneuver an army of twenty thousand.

Ning Nan didn't say much, his eyes becoming calmer.

The dry, cold wind blew against my body. Now that I had handed over the armor to someone else, my body felt a little chilly.

Multiple layers of armor meant multiple lives, but those were left to those who risked their lives; he himself was only wearing a Taoist robe.

Standing in front of the cave, my gaze swept down the mountain, past the grass, past the trees, past a stretch of plain. Campfires dotted the area around Miaofeng Mountain. The sentry posts to the north had become much less fortified, and Master Lu, along with Qian Sijin and Sanzhuang, had taken control of one of them.

But if they really wanted to escape, they couldn't relax for even a moment for the next two hours.

During the more than twenty days he was confined to the Prince Duan's mansion, he made a point of reading a set of "Reading History and Geography" to learn about the terrain of the north.

In such flat terrain, it is extremely difficult to escape completely. One can only rely on the terrain to the greatest extent possible to maneuver and look for opportunities while constantly moving.

He changed the subject:

"Xu Xiyin and Zheng Baoju in the east should be faster, while Peng Liangang and Shen Shou in the west will be slower."

Seeing that the Grand Prince Consort wouldn't say much, Jia Shi'an didn't press further. He simply smiled, stroked his mud-covered, not-so-handsome three-strand beard, and praised Old Man Peng:

"Master Peng is still vigorous despite his age; perhaps he can even go faster."

Ning Nan smiled. He had originally arranged for Peng Liangang, who was over sixty and had a limp, to stay with him, but the old man Peng refused to admit his age and insisted on showing off in front of him that even with a limp, he could walk briskly on the mountain, and most young people in their twenties or thirties could not keep up with him.

Ning Nan did as the old man wished, letting him go to the west with Shen Shou, leading men in shifts to set fires on the mountain and harass the western outposts.

The location for setting fires is also very important; they are often chosen in valleys or downwind areas, with simple firebreaks in place.

It's currently late spring, March, so it's not easy to set the whole mountain on fire, and there's not much worry about getting burned.

But to create a stir, you still need to pile up flammable materials, such as easily combustible pine branches and dead wood.

Old Peng and his men used up all the timber, wine, and cooking oil they had hidden in the mountains these past few days.

The thirty or forty riders on the east side were cavalry led by Su Su and Er Lai. They had been resting on the outskirts, waiting for Xu Xiyin and the others to break through from the east.

Dressed in the red official robes of the Liang Dynasty and riding horses... they were nothing more than scarecrows made of wooden frames and straw.

With the red official robes concealing their identities and the cover of night, the pursuers could never see them clearly.

Su Su, Er Lai, and a dozen others were among the lighter-weight members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and household servants.

The horses, lightly burdened, always outran their pursuers. They led the horses with scarecrows riding on their backs.

After rounding a grove to the east, the scarecrow continued onward, while Su Su and the others, dressed in black, turned into a forest path, which should be enough to shake off their pursuers.

Let the pursuers continue chasing the scarecrow's horse.

The wind blew the clouds in the sky, the shadows on the ground slowly faded, and the moonlight was obscured.

After a while, I heard a rustling sound from the left and turned my head to look.

Then I saw one dark figure after another emerging from the left.

Ning Nan rubbed his wrist, and his wrist bones made a cracking sound.

Jia Shi'an also stood up.

Ning Nan glanced at the large seal of the mission tied to the other party's waist, his eyelids slightly lowered.

The Southern Kingdom delegation was at Miaofeng Mountain, but they were not there.

The mission's seal is in place.

The deputy envoy, Jia Shi'an, was present.

However, King Jing was not present, nor were the other important officials of the delegation.

Upon seeing him for the first time, Jia Shi'an breathed a sigh of relief, then solemnly said:

"After Han Qing, the leader of the sect, saw us out of the city, he met with me and mentioned an idea."

"I have defied all conventions and acted on my own initiative to conclude an alliance with the other party as the deputy envoy of the Southern Dynasty, and affixed the official seal of our dynasty to the alliance."

Ning Nan was taken aback, raised his eyebrows slightly, and listened as Minister Jia, who was deeply trusted by his brother-in-law, continued:

"Su Lang, one of the four generals of the Heavenly Principle Sect, will soon launch a rebellion in Zhuolu. Xiang Qi of Shaanxi and Gansu will also soon lead his troops to threaten Nian Gengyao's army. Lin Zhang and Yue Li of Shandong have gathered 5,000 men and will harass the supply lines of the main force of the Eight Banners heading south... In return, our dynasty needs to supply the Heavenly Principle Sect with a certain amount of armor, weapons, and gunpowder every year..."

Ning Nan's pupils contracted.

Jia Shi'an took a breath and looked at Ning Nan solemnly:

"It is precisely because Leader Han wants to launch another attack that he summoned all the altar masters and incense masters under the Tartars' noses, so that the Northern Dynasty emperor would ignore the growing forces that the generals from all directions have been gathering over the past few months in order to focus on annihilating the Heavenly Principle Sect..."

Finally, Jia Shi'an said with even more emotion:

"I was prepared to use myself as bait and perish here... so that person could use my head and the delegation's seal to create the illusion that King Jing was dead, and also allow half of the people here to escape..."

…………

5:00 AM (卯时).

The crowing of roosters rang out in the distance.

A sliver of white appeared on the horizon.

When Han Chang opened the tent flap and came out, a fog was gradually spreading outside.

Led by a dozen or so stern-faced guards, he walked to the main tent.

Inside were Ortai and Huang Zhongcai, who had barely slept for half an hour.

The two bowed to him.

Huang Zhongcai straightened his back, puffed out his chest, and made a promise to the two officials:

"Your Highness, Lord Ortai, Jige has returned with his men. They have caught up with the fleeing cavalry."

He smiled with relief, his expression seemingly a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Thanks to the proper command of Your Highness and the Lord, those so-called escaped Southern Dynasty envoys, however..."

Huang Zhongcai shrugged, his smile a mixture of helplessness, relief, and a touch of smugness.

"They're just a bunch of scarecrows on horseback..."