"Supervisor Zhao, do you think anything has happened in Tanyang? There were some unusual barks a moment ago."

When Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong went to the southern city gate, someone knocked at the door of room A of an inn in eastern Tanyang, and asked this question the moment he was allowed in.

Another man sat up in bed in a flurry of clothes. "Is there any news from the Prefecture Yamen?"

"Not for now."

"What about Ling family?"

"Well... Shall I go and recall the one staking out that place?"

Before long, the man who had just left came back. "Your Lordship, it is said that Ling family's carriage went to the Prefecture Yamen late at night and then returned not long after that."

"What happened in Ling family?" snapped Supervisor Zhao.

"Ur... we failed to find that out, but after that carriage returned, Ling family has been quiet all along, and there has been no news since then. Is it possible...Is it possible that something happened to the marshal?"

"It's not possible. The marshal is under protection of personal guards."

"Then what should we do now? Because of the presence of the marshal, sneaking into Ling family to check is not an option for us. Given that Ling Xingzhong has left Tanyang, we won't be able to fulfill the task Second Young Master assigned us any time soon."

"Then figure out a way to invite Ling Zhaowen to somewhere else tomorrow."

"I'll make some arrangements."

"Do it quick."

After the man left, Supervisor Zhao secretly cursed his bad luck. They had returned to Tanyang at a bad time — Ling Xingzhong had left Tanyang, which made Ling Zhaowen the only member of Ling family that was still in Tanyang. He had made some inquiries and had been informed that this Ling Zhaowen was far more difficult to deal with than Ling Xingzhong. 'If we are to have Ling family call off the engagement, achieving this by threatening Ling Zhaowen is definitely a long shot. It seems that I'll have to resort to adopting more ruthless means to this end,' thought Supervisor Zhao.

...

In the Prefecture Encampment.

"Commander, what do we do now?" Like Zhang Chong, all four deputy commanders had just been woken up, their clothes untidy, their faces ghastly pale.

Even Wang He, who had always been the most composed one in ordinary times, had a flustered look on his face. It was true that they had made a lot of preparations for mounting an armed revolt, but they would never take any action until their allies in the capital city were ready and success was certain. Currently, the time was far from ripe, not by any means, but everything was brought to light ahead of schedule.

To make things worse, both the Sixth Prince and Concubine Shu had been placed under house arrest, which meant that they didn't even have anybody to serve.

The army dispatched from the capital city had arrived. The secrets on the Grand Mang Mountain had been exposed. Would they be able to get away with this?

Submitting to arrest with folded hands? They would undoubtedly be sentenced to death.

'No. We can't wait to be arrested!'

"Commander, let's revolt!" said Wang He through gritted teeth.

All people looked at Wang He.

"Even if we don't revolt, we'll still end up being beheaded. If we revolt, at least we'll have a glimmer of hope of survival."

"That's easy for you to say. How are we supposed to revolt? The route on the Grand Mang Mountain has been blocked. Without a shortcut to get us to the capital city in a short time, we'll be wiped out midway!"

"We retreat."

"Retreat? To where?"

"To the south-west."

"The south-west? You think troops stationed in the south-west will let us through? Would you please say something sensible?"

"Then what do you suggest we should do?! Our deaths are certain if we stay here, so we might as well retreat to the south-west. As long as we figure out a way to convince Sun Qi, the commander of the south-west army, we definitely stand a chance of holding that area in the south-west. The south-west is easy to hold but hard to attack for both enemies coming from outside and those from inside. The imperial court won't be able to overpower us any time soon. We've still got a chance."

"What if Sun Qi refuses? The reason why the emperor assigned Sun Qi to defend the south-west was because Sun Qi is on nobody's side. You think we stand a chance of convincing someone like him? We would probably be wiped out by pursuers before we convince him."

"Bai Jun! You keep dramatizing the enemy's power and disparaging that of ourselves. How about you tell us what we should do?! If you have a way to get us out of this difficult situation, I'm all ears!"

"You..."

"Enough!" Zhang Chong thundered. Trying hard to subdue his anger, he managed to forbear from kicking them. "Wake up everybody immediately! We're going to Tanyang!"

"Tanyang?" The other four men were amazed.

"Commander, from the vantage point of the present, going to Tanyang won't do us any good!" said Wang He anxiously.

"And you think we stand a chance of surviving if we go to the south-west? In no circumstances will that son of a bitch Sun Qi let us through, let alone rise in revolt with us," observed Zhang Chong.

"But Commander, if we don't try, we'll never know, will we? If we go to Tanyang, we'll surely end up being besieged by Dai Cheng's army, even if we somehow manage to take the city."

"That's true, Commander. Let's just retreat!"

Zhang Chong clenched his teeth. "Who said I want to take Tanyang? We can go through the east city gate and take the main road leading to the east. Our destination is in the east, and Tanyang will serve as a buffer zone and buy us some time."

"The east?"

"From the vantage point of the present, our only choice is to retreat to the east. Japanese and pirates have been making trouble all along this year. The South-eastern Navy has been occupied dealing with them and won't be able to spare any men to stop us. We should take this opportunity and retreat to the Donghai Sea. With our power, it won't be difficult for us to take an island to be our foothold. We can accumulate our strength there and some day, we'll make a comeback."

"You are so visionary, Commander!" Wang He rejoiced. "That's true. We can take an island. Under no circumstances will the South-eastern Navy be able to spare any troops to deal with us. This is exactly what we need to start anew!"

"Then what about Tanyang?"

"Let's go into the city," said Zhang Chong in a sinister and ferocious tone. "I'll capture Yuwen Tong and he'll beg for death when I torture him!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

All soldiers in the encampment were woken up by the alarm bell, unaware of what was going on, at a loss what to do.

The bodyguard disguised as a member of heavily armored infantry was instantly on alert. "It's happening."

Outside the Prefecture Encampment, another bodyguard, who had been keeping a close watch on the Prefecture Encampment, saw what was happening inside and immediately sent a message back to the city in the knowledge that Zhang Chong had been informed and was going to take action.

"Judging from what they are doing, the Marshal's prediction has actually been confirmed. They're going to Tanyang first," observed a bodyguard staking out the encampment.

"Retreating to the east is their only option now, which Zhang Chong will undoubtedly take, as long as he's not a fool," said a man standing beside him.

"Humph. Fortunately the Marshal anticipated this and took precautions."

Two hours later, headed by their commander, Zhang Chong, all soldiers of the Prefecture Guards marched towards Tanyang.

At the same time, a signal flare was seen sent up into the sky in Qi County, the bright color of which struck alarm into the hearts of many residents.

"It's Yao Yi. They got out!" chorused the bodyguards in delight.

But Zhang Chong and his men, who also saw the signal flare, were not in a mood as good.

"Commander, that's a signal flare. Does it mean that Dai Cheng has already made it out of the Grand Mang Mountain?" Bai Jun's face paled visibly with fright.

"There's a long distance between Qi County and Tanyang. We'll definitely get to Tanyang before them. As long as we hurry there and enter the city, Dai Cheng's army will be shut out," commented Wang He.

Zhang Chong's face fell even more sullen. "Speed up. We must get to Tanyang as soon as possible!"

At this moment, all of them were burning with anxiety, wishing only if they grew wings and flew to Tanyang, but none of them seemed to still remember that though Dai Cheng's army had not reached Tanyang yet, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the Great Yue was in there!

Maybe it was not that they had forgotten this but that they believed Yuwen Tong was no threat, because he didn't have any troops stationed in this area. What they were unaware of was that Yuwen Tong was still able to bring Zhang Chong down, even though currently he had no troops at his disposal.

Distantly, people on the Southern Gate Tower of Tanyang saw countless lighted torches heading their way. "They're coming!"

"Zhang Chong is really staging a rebellion!" exclaimed Tao Feng, who was standing on the gate tower, angry and somewhat alarmed.

The Prefecture Guards had so many troops. They were vastly outnumbered. Would the city gate hold?

"Childe Ling, why is the Marshal still absent? Will we be able to defend the city gate against their attack?" Tao Feng couldn't help but look at Ling Zhang who was standing beside him.

In fact, Yuwen Tong was hiding right behind them on the rooftop of the gate tower. It was just that Tao Feng and others were unable to spot him.

"We will, as long as Lord Tao does as what I just told you," replied Ling Zhang, looking collected.

Tao Feng saw the calm on Ling Zhang's face and cooled down somewhat. Recalling the plan that Ling Zhang had just told him, he regained some of his composure.

Actually Ling Zhang's calm was only pretence. His palms were wet with sweat.

Those lighted torches were as thick as huckleberries and almost lit the sky in the south. The troops number of the Prefecture Guards was huge. Though having faith in Yuwen Tong, he was still worried that they might not be able to hold the city gate for over an hour.

If they failed to defend against the attack, residents in the city as well as themselves would be in grave danger.

Zhang Chong and his men were now rebels. No matter they were to flee or fight, they would need money, which meant they would surely rob and even kill Tanyang residents if they entered the city.

"Rest assured, we can hold them back for much longer than an hour." Suddenly Yuwen Tong's voice was heard.

Thinking that Yuwen Tong jumped off the rooftop, Ling Zhang hurriedly twisted his head around but there was nobody behind him.

"I'm still up here. Stop looking around lest Tao Feng notice," said Yuwen Tong. His voice was very soft yet could be heard distinctly.

Ling Zhang hastily turned his head back facing the front. He stole a glance at Tao Feng and, unsurprisingly, found that he indeed didn't hear Yuwen Tong's voice. Unaware of what kind of kung fu this was, Ling Zhang wondered in amazement. Since he didn't have any skills of this kind and was incapable of talking to Yuwen Tong without being heard by Tao Feng, he had no choice but kept silent.

"Yao Yi and Dai Cheng are quicker than we have expected. They'll arrive in less than an hour. Zhang Chong is anxious to get out of Tanyang, so he will definitely stamp on the trap, which would delay them for half an hour or so, and when they arrive at the city gate and launch an attack, it will be too late for them. But that will also be a real tough battle, and all we have to do is hold the gate until reinforcements come," Yuwen Tong informed him.

Ling Zhang grunted "Um" in an extremely soft voice. They had talked about this some time ago. Yuwen Tong repeated it only to rid Ling Zhang of worry.

Those torches were moving continuously, heading straight for Tanyang. Surprisingly, as they got closer and closer, Ling Zhang gradually calmed down, and his palms stopped sweating as well.

"Lord Tao, they'll be here soon. Please leave the gate tower lest you get hurt by any stray arrows after the attack starts."

Naturally, Tao Feng himself also wanted to leave. He was not as composed as Ling Zhang. Till this moment, he had still been worried that those traps might not work, but he was also aware that he couldn't leave. Through gritted teeth, he replied, "It's okay. As the governor of Tanyang, I'm obliged to rise and fall with this city."

Ling Zhang fell speechless with embarrassment.

There was nothing wrong in Tao Feng's remarks, but hearing his words in these circumstances, Ling Zhang couldn't help wondering, 'Why am I feeling this is inauspicious?'

Yuwen Tong's chuckle was heard. "Tao Feng's legs are trembling."

Ling Zhang lapsed into silence again. Unnoticeably, he stole a glance at Tao Feng's legs and, as expected, did see some movements, presumably trembles.

Ling Zhang didn't say anything in the knowledge that Tao Feng would undoubtedly take great offence if he laid this bare at this, given the circumstances.

No matter what, Tao Feng buckled at the knees but still decided to stay, which definitely made him deserve some credit.

"Enemies approach!" A soldier on guard yelled in a nervous voice, which brought all people's attention onto the south.

Countless lighted torches as thick as huckleberries were getting closer and closer. Before long, people on the city wall felt that the wall was quaking. Hordes of troops and horses were charging towards Tanyang.

Tao Feng raised his hand, wiped the sweat off his forehead and, surprisingly, observed, "Fortunately, Zhang Chong withdrew his guards stationed in the city that day. Otherwise we would have had to face enemies from both inside and outside. Can you imagine how doomed we would have been if that's the case?"

Ling Zhang fell speechless with embarrassment.

'Doesn't it worry him that this kind of words might undermine the morale of our soldiers?' he wondered.

"Lord Tao, stay cool."

Tao Feng gave an embarrassed smile, adjusted his clothes and put on a sulky face, which not only concealed his nervousness but also made him seem fairly dignified.

In the distance, large numbers of warhorses were closing in to the quake of the ground. The concentrated clatter of horses' hoofs threw people into deepening tension, as if those horses were stamping on their hearts. The daunting momentum of the powerful army was also sending waves of fear over them.

Ling Zhang involuntarily clenched his fists again. When actually faced by this advancing army, he still felt some pressure.

Apart from the sounds of horses' hoofs, there were also footsteps of infantry following in the wake of the cavalry. Sharp blades in their hands were reflecting torchlight, looking wicked.

All people at the city gate swallowed hard in nervousness, tightening their grip on their weapons.

They were all staring at the army closing in on them, their eyes fixed on the same spot.

They laid some traps there the night before. Apart from traps, there were also rows of sharpened tall stakes in front of the city gate.

Ling Zhang also couldn't help gazing at that place. Those traps were simple and ingenious, which had been laid under Yuwen Tong's instructions. Soon they would find out whether these traps were effective or not.

As if time had slowed down, all people had their hearts in their mouths, and they were even holding their breath involuntarily.

Meanwhile, soldiers of the Prefecture Guards had also caught sight of the southern city gate where there were lanterns ablaze everywhere. Four deputy commanders clenched their teeth and cursed in their mind.

"Commander, Tao Feng is there, along with that Ling Zhang of Ling family!"

"Sons of bitches. It seems that they have been in collusion all along!"

"I don't see Yuwen Tong."

Miraculously, the last remark sent others into silence. Everybody was secretly delighted.

None of them put it into words, but Yuwen Tong's very existence was a great threat. They were aware that currently Yuwen Tong had no troops at his disposal, but however hard they tried to pretend to be indifferent, deep down there, they knew exactly how they actually felt. They were afraid — afraid to frontally engage Yuwen Tong.

"He must be hiding. Yuwen Tong is merely a man with unearned reputation," someone stated his opinion first.

After this person took the lead, others immediately followed suit.

"That's true. It turns out that we've been overestimating Yuwen Tong all the time."

"What a shame. I thought that I would get to fight Yuwen Tong in open battle this time. This is so disappointing."

Every deputy commander made a remark, but Zhang Chong kept silent. He just stared fixedly at the gate tower, eyes glinting with rage, killing intent and deep vigilance.

Seeing that Zhang Chong remained silent, the other four shut up.

They themselves were the only ones who knew whether they meant the words they just said or not.

"Commander, they are so bold as to wait for us on the gate tower. Is this by any chance a trap?" Bai Jun couldn't help asking.

"Stop acting like a paranoid. In Tanyang, except for gate guards, those Yamen runners with average kung fu are the only ones who can fight. No matter how good at fighting they are, it doesn't change the fact that they are vastly outnumbered," observed Wang He after flicking an admonitory glance at him.

'This guy's such an idiot. What good could it possibly do to say this under the circumstances? It would only undermine the morale of our troops. No matter it is a trap or not, charging forward and is our only option!' thought Wang He.

That admonitory glance Wang He gave him brought him into the realization that he should never have said that, so he hurriedly shut up.

They were closing in on the city gate, but surprisingly, people on the gate tower took no action. They just kept staring at them, which made others involuntarily fall suspicious.

'Is this by any chance really a trap?' they wondered.

But they knew very well how many troops the garrison of Tanyang had. 'What could they possibly do?'

Zhang Chong also squinted his eyes. He stared at Tao Feng and Ling Zhang on the gate tower for a while, and then his eyes swept through others. "Keep your fucking eyes peeled!" he yelled.

"Yes, Marshal!"

Sensing that the enemies were slowing down, people on the gate tower had their hearts in their mouths. 'Did they find out?'

Ling Zhang was also worried, but he kept his worry to himself.

Yuwen Tong, who had been on the rooftop observing the enemies, sneered. It surprised him that Zhang Chong was pretty cautious.

Unfortunately for him, he was cautious about the wrong thing. He fixed his eyes on the gate tower but failed to notice the trap beneath his feet.

The army was getting closer and closer.

Ling Zhang clenched his fists.

All of a sudden.

An alarmed neigh was heard.