Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 49

"You've seen Uncle Tian's attitude towards us, so you should know that what I'm saying is true!"

"Yes! I will follow your orders!"

There will be no more hesitation this fall and winter.

“That’s more like it.” Lu Wei took out two One-Star Pearl Grasses from his pocket and tossed them to the other party: “These are your identification documents, don’t lose them.”

"Also, tell me your brothers' real names."

“...We brothers are called ‘Spring and Summer’ and ‘Autumn and Winter’!” Autumn and Winter held the pearl grass in their palms, avoiding the question of their real names.

"This is not the answer I want!" Lu Wei walked step by step to the boy, looking down at him:

"Since you know the story of repaying kindness with kindness, you should understand the greater good!"

"Given the kindness I have shown you, you two brothers should repay it with your lives. How can you still lie in your words?"

"Yes, I was wrong!"

As he knelt for the third time in the autumn and winter, recalling his father's teachings of loyalty and trustworthiness when he was young, his eyes momentarily glazed over: "My brother and I were formerly named Yan Shen and Yan Bing, respectively."

"The offspring of General Yan Xing?" Lu Wei pressed.

Yan Bing remained silent for a while: "...Shen and Bing are incompetent and have disgraced our father's name. We dare not call ourselves the sons of the Great General..."

"And what about Yan Yi, your uncle?"

Hearing this name from the outside world after so long, Yan Bing's eyes blazed with fury: "This scoundrel is Shen Bing's mortal enemy!"

"The hatred of having one's family wiped out should never be forgotten."

These brothers are very valuable!

Passing by his newly recruited underlings, Lu Wei returned to Yan Shen's side, squatted down, and his eyes darted around:

"You two brothers will have the opportunity to personally recount your grievances to Yan Yi in the future!"

"At that time, I will make you take your revenge with your own hands!"

Chapter 69 The Eternal Hegemony's Military Manual

When Yan Shen woke up, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

His memory was still of being knocked away by an ox. After opening his eyes, he was stunned for a while before turning his head to look at his surroundings:

The bamboo window covered with plain silk had simple, indistinct patterns; the wall hung with a "five grains portrait" that would never exist in a rural farmhouse; and on the rosewood tea table were small white ceramic bowls...

This scene wasn't exactly elegant, but it vaguely reminded Yan Shen of what the General's Mansion used to look like...

"Isn't this Yamada Village?" He struggled to get out of bed, his chest still throbbing with pain. He held onto the edge of the bed and managed to stand up.

The room here was much better than the rural environment, but the unfamiliarity and the fact that his most important younger brother was not by his side made Yan Shen very uncomfortable.

He carefully approached the window and peered out through a small crack in the window frame, but found nothing except for the long corridor.

The surroundings were deathly silent, but a sudden burst of hurried footsteps stood out starkly against the stillness...

Sensing the footsteps rapidly approaching him, Yan Shen's expression changed slightly. He instinctively wanted to find a place to hide, but his weak body protested decisively in his dissatisfaction. Yan Shen's legs gave way, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The footsteps quickened after the muffled thud, and a cry of surprise, "Brother!" rang out as the door was pushed open...

...

"Yan Shen!" "Yan Bing!"

"Thank you, Steward Lu, for saving my life!"

An hour earlier, Yan Shen, who had fallen due to stress and fright, was told the whole story by Yan Bing, who arrived later. He then decisively pulled his younger brother to visit his benefactor and express his gratitude.

But Steward Lu was always busy and only now had time to meet with the two.

"You two brothers are now disciples of the Farmers' School, so it's only natural that I'm treating you."

The two brothers were, after all, of noble birth. Even after three years of hardship, their former manners were still ingrained in their bones, and their actions were never unpleasant.

"You are too modest, sir."

"The farmer's act of taking me in and treating me is an act of kindness in itself, and I, your foolish younger brother, also accidentally killed his ox, adding to my debt..."

Yan Shen's lips were pale, but that did not prevent him from speaking with righteous indignation: "Since you already know that we brothers are the most wanted criminals that Yan Yi wants to arrest, you are still willing to bring us back to Ji City and promise to help us take revenge. This is like a second life!"

"The Yan brothers, despite their best efforts, could not repay your kindness; they could only repay it with their lives..."

At this point, he coughed violently a few times, causing Yan Bing to worry: "Shen knows the location of a treasure and wishes to offer it to the Grand Steward as an apology for my first act of deceiving Zhenming!"

Yan Shen gestured to his younger brother with his eyes to keep him from moving, and bowed in response.

The first thing this nobleman's son did upon waking was to present the treasure, which piqued Lu Wei's interest: as the son of a former general of the Yan Kingdom, the treasures he knew must have been his father's possessions!

"What is it?" the steward asked casually, staring at the two men before him.

"The Book of Military Strategy for Eternal Domination!"

Upon hearing this name, both Yan Shen himself and Yan Bing, who had been silently kneeling beside his brother, became serious.

"Oh?" Lu Wei also sat up straighter, gesturing for him to continue.

The Eternal Hegemony's Military Treatise? I've never heard of that name in later generations...

“My grandfather was once the captain of Changguo Jun’s personal guard. He followed Changguo Jun in battles for many years and personally witnessed the war in which five states attacked Qi!”

"Unfortunately, Lord Changguo was later tricked by the State of Qi into fleeing to the State of Zhao, and his promising situation was forced to collapse..."

Before his departure, Lord Changguo sadly wrote down his summary of military strategy and entrusted it to our great-grandfather, hoping that it could be passed down in the State of Yan.

"When Father received the military treatise, he used it to establish great prestige in the army, thus rising to the rank of Grand General..."

At this point, Yan Shen paused in silence, while Lu Wei, who had little knowledge of ancient history, suddenly realized: the "Eternal Hegemony Military Treatise" did not refer to a "military treatise that can lead to eternal hegemony," but rather to the "Yue Yi Military Treatise"!

The ruler of Yanchang State was Yue Yi, courtesy name Yongba.

"General Yan Xing has repeated the mistakes of Lord Changguo in the past; he is truly a villain."

Shaking his head and getting up, Lu Wei offered a few words of comfort to the two brothers before continuing, "Didn't Yan Yi get this book?"

"How can the possessions of the Lord of Changguo be used by a petty person!"

After calming down, Yan Shen said heavily, "That scoundrel Yan Yi does indeed want the Yongba Military Manual, but our fathers have long been prepared and have hidden the manual in a safe place, where no outsiders would know!"

"The Grand Steward is upright and benevolent, making him the perfect owner of this military treatise!"

A truly upright and benevolent person cannot command a large army...

The thought flashed through his mind, and Lu Wei pursed his lips: "This treasure shouldn't be hidden in darkness, much less be tarnished by villains. If what you say is true, brother, then I will take it..."

"Let this book be kept safe for the sake of the world for now!"

Actually, when it comes to military strategy books, Lu Wei's online store has quite a few, and they're cheap too.

However, regarding the "Eternal Hegemony Military Treatise" mentioned by the Yan brothers, he still hoped to acquire it quickly!

Military treatises that are worthy of being passed down through the ages, like famous swords and ancient zithers, retain the essence and spirit of their original owners.

It is far beyond the reach of ordinary objects; it is truly a unique treasure in the world.

Lu Wei was able to discover this secret after obtaining the Hao Cao Sword and deeply experiencing its sword intent: he was able to read the exquisite sword moves engraved on the sword's 'body'.

Although Yue Yi was just one person, his name was undoubtedly much more famous than that of Hao Cao!

His military treatise is definitely not just an ordinary bamboo scroll.

------

The Yongba Military Manual is hidden beneath the pond in the backyard of the General's Mansion.

The current owner of this place is Yan Yi. This villain who framed his brother for wealth and power has not only taken over his brother's position as general, but also his brother's general's mansion.

Only by regularly tapping the artificial rocks beside the pool and splattering the blood of a swimming fish onto a special tile can the mechanism leading to the bottom of the pool be opened.

Yan Shen was asked to draw a map, roughly depicting the layout of the General's Mansion's backyard. Then, Lu Wei personally went to keep an eye on the guards inside the mansion for several days. Once everything was ready, the operation began!

Lu Ni is the only one who can accompany us; anyone else could become a burden.

Beforehand, they arranged for the steward of Yan Chunjun's mansion to meet the current Grand General Yan Yi for drinks at Huangjintai. After the leader of the group left, the two of them sneaked into the mansion in a mysterious manner.

Avoiding all the visible and hidden sentries, we arrived at the backyard. Since this was a recreational area for sightseeing and entertainment, and there were no treasures worth guarding, it was actually safe.

Following Yan Shen's blueprints, they located the special stones and struck them rhythmically. They then bent down and listened intently, and it was clear that something underground had been activated.

The noise was minimal, and it didn't make much of a sound in the quiet night. I wonder whose mechanical invention this was.

Have Lu Ni use the Jingni Sword to stab a large fish into the ornamental pool. Starting from the ornamental bridge over the pool, walk sixteen squares east and seven squares north to find a special tile. Split the fish open and throw it onto the tile, and the fish blood will slowly flow down the cracks in the tile.

Thump! Suddenly, another paving stone next to the pool stood upright, revealing a dark, gaping hole... enough to inspire fear.

When they opened the tinderbox and threw it in, they realized that the cave was not deep, only about five meters high. Looking down, they could see that the tinderbox was still burning and had not been extinguished.

They descended into the passage together with Lu Ni, where an ancient bamboo scroll held in a pure gold hand was right before their eyes.

Even from a few meters away, the steward could sense the intense, chilling aura emanating from the bamboo slips.

This is the essence of Yue Yi's military strategy; Lu Wei only needs to extend his hand to receive it...

Chapter 70 Snow Princess

The operation to obtain the military treatise went smoothly, and no unexpected incidents occurred at the last moment.

Yan Yi used all his intelligence to deal with his brother. After Yan Xing died, Yan Yi's arrogance was no less than that of Prince Yan Xi, and Lu Wei easily took the things away.

Apart from the Crown Prince's faction, the entire Yan court was basically in a state of complacency, waiting for the country to perish.

The Crown Prince's residence had just suffered a disaster a few days prior, losing almost all of its loyal servants. With Yan Dan absent, veteran officials like Ju Wu were not qualified to recruit new servants for the Crown Prince's residence, so the system remained inactive.

For a moment, Lu Wei felt that if he secretly recruited the ten thousand disciples of Gonggong Hall into Ji City, he would have a chance to wipe out the entire Yan Kingdom's high-ranking officials!

Of course, this is just a feeling; I can't actually do it on a whim: if I did, Prince Dan might raise his voice and hundreds of thousands of troops would be able to overwhelm the peasants...

Destruction is never the hardest part; the key is how to protect and maintain the gains made.

------

The military treatise "Yongba" contains Yue Yi's strategies for using troops. Each time I study it, I immerse myself in it and truly understand the meaning of "troops," and I always gain something from it.

On the third floor of Luqiu Pavilion, Lu Wei put down the bamboo slips in his hand and closed his eyes to savor what he had learned.