Chapter 970 Meng Zhang’s great gift to Gu Changqing!
"Order the entire army to move camp immediately!"

The moment Su Ye breathed a sigh of relief, no one noticed the half piece of talisman ash falling from his sleeve.

And at Luoxia Ferry, a hundred miles away, the Moon Goddess was holding the young prince and embedding spells into the child's forehead.

"This boy's fate has changed. No one will ever find him again. Duke Su can rest assured."

The whimpering river swallowed up their conversation. The bodies of more than hundreds of Qiankun Guards floating on the river were slowly flowing eastward, like the last sigh of the Daqian Dynasty.

At the same time, in front of the Panlong Hall of the Qiandu Palace, Meng Zhang stopped his horse and looked at this core building that symbolized the 400-year foundation of Daqian. The setting sun stretched his shadow very long, casting a twisted shadow on the white marble steps, like a dormant beast showing its fangs.

The setting sun outside Panlong was as red as blood, reflecting the bronze Taotie incense burner in the hall with a faint glow.

Li Cunxiao had not yet removed his armor, and the Yuwang Spear on his waist was still dripping with blood. He was squatting in a corner wiping his Bi Yan Lao. Qiao Shefei was leaning against a beam with his arms folded. His black cloak was stained with fragments of the golden tiles of the imperial city, shining in the twilight.

"Captain, the brothers are searching the palaces. Do you want to leave some people here to keep watch?"

The blood on Qiao Shefei's armor had not yet dried, and when he spoke, the scabbed wound at the corner of his mouth moved, causing him to grimace in pain.

This man, who is now called "Smiling Devil" by the Yellow Turban Army in the Taiping Sect, still regards himself as the commander of Meng Zhang's personal guards.

"Let the Azure Dragon Corps leave two battalions to garrison, and the other units rest for two hours before setting off overnight."

Meng Zhang waved his hand nonchalantly, and the whip hit the gilded bronze tripod with a crisp sound.

"Zhang Hao, what do you think that senior Gu Changqing is doing now?"

He suddenly turned around and smiled at Zhang Hao who was looking around curiously.

"What else can we do? They are probably dispatching troops to Qianling County, waiting to collect our bodies."

Zhang Hao tore open the gap in the armor, sprinkled some medicine on the wound, and hissed with cold air.

"So the quieter he is at the moment, the more prepared they are."

"Order the commanders of all armies to come to the side hall to discuss matters immediately!"

Meng Zhang suddenly dismounted, threw the reins to his personal soldiers, and strode towards the Panlong Palace.

The twelve bronze Xiezhi animal heads in front of the hall made a loud clanging sound when he clapped them.

When the last ray of daylight sank into the horizon, the side hall of Panlong Palace was already brightly lit by candles.

"The commander-in-chief has such bad taste in choosing his trophies. This chair is so uncomfortable. We might as well dismantle it and use it as firewood."

Li Cunxiao, with his strong upper body naked, was wiping the blood stains on King Yu's spear with a cloth. When he heard Meng Zhang's footsteps, he looked up and smiled.

"Don't tear it down. Keep it for Master Gu as a gift."

Meng Zhang stopped in front of the dragon throne, suddenly drew out his sword and cut off the armrest, looking at the faint light coming from the cross-section of the golden nanmu wood.

"Cunxiao, if I let you lead 50,000 Qinglong troops to face Gu Changqing's 200,000 troops, can you hold out until the reinforcements arrive?"

All the generals in the hall suddenly became quiet; even their heavy breathing could be heard clearly.

"What is the commander-in-chief trying to do? The Yellow Turban warriors just finished taking on the tough bone of Qiandu, so you should give the brothers a break, right?"

Li Cunxiao slammed the tip of his spear heavily on the ground, and the sparks that flew up startled the crows perched on the beam.

"Gu Changqing brought Wu Xiong and Chong Yan, two guards, with the help of Tan Meng's army to suppress the rebellion. The number of soldiers is close to 400,000. If he gathers the defeated soldiers from Qianzhou, I'm afraid he can gather an army of 500,000."

Meng Zhang's fingertips slid across the snake-like marching route on the map and drew a blood-red circle in Qianling County.

"Do you know what an army of 500,000 people means?"

He suddenly looked up, and the candlelight cast dancing shadows in his eyes.

"Back when the Taiping Rebellion broke out, 300,000 members of the Taiping Religion attacked Luzhou City, but were blocked by 120,000 Daqian government troops at the Fangcun Pass in Luzhou and could not advance an inch. The mountains of corpses and the sea of ​​blood were higher than the walls of the pass."

Li Cunxiao was about to speak when Meng Zhang had already answered his own questions.

"Gu Changqing is a hundred times better at using troops than those good-for-nothings. If he had 500,000 troops, he could crush millions of ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers into dust."

He flicked his finger and sent the case to the battle report.

"What the commander-in-chief means is... to take the initiative?"

Zhang Hao suddenly stood up, and the iron chain mail on his waist clinked.

"That's right!" "There is a Hulu Valley thirty miles north of Qiandu. The cliffs on both sides are steep and the official road in the middle is narrow. If we set an ambush here..."

Meng Zhang's eyes lit up and his fingers drew a sharp arc on the map.

"Liang Fang and Liang Lin will lead 30,000 elite soldiers of the Azure Dragon Legion as bait. Qiao Shefei will lead a part of the Yellow Turban Warriors and 20,000 Azure Dragon Legion soldiers to ambush the West Cliff. I will lead 150,000 troops to encircle them from the rear. Let's sing the song of "Luring the Enemy into a Trap" for Grand Tutor Gu!"

He suddenly turned to the two brothers Liang Fang and Liang Lin behind him.

"It should have been done long ago! I've been a sitting duck on the city wall these days, either siege or street fighting, it's frustrating me!"

Li Cunxiao's blood boiled when he heard this, and King Yu's spear danced out snowy shadows.

"No hurries?"

Meng Zhang smiled and held down his spear.

"Gu Changqing has always been cautious in his military operations. If we don't set up a tempting bait, how could he take the bait so easily?"

"This is Si Cangqiong's personal token and the military token of the Twelve Black Dragon Guards. Send someone to deliver it to Gu Changqing by express horse, and tell him..."

He suddenly took out a brocade box from his sleeve like a magician, and inside the box was half a tiger talisman and a golden sword.

"Great! Just say that Si Cangqiong is not dead and is imprisoned in Hulu Valley by us, and lure him to rescue us!"

Qiao Shefei leaned closer to see the pattern of the tiger talisman clearly and suddenly laughed.

"Let the brothers pretend to be defeated soldiers and cry about the fall of Qiandu along the way. We must make Gu Changqing believe that after we captured Qiandu, we were already complacent and relaxed our guard."

Meng Zhang nodded, the candlelight casting flickering shadows in his eyes.

"But Gu Changqing has been a soldier for half his life and is very experienced. If he sees through it..."

Li Cunxiao suddenly frowned and said uncertainly.

“So you have to act it out.”

Meng Zhang tapped the secret letter on the table with his fingertips. It was a copy of the correspondence between Su Ye and him.

“Cunxiao, by then you will go straight to Gu Changqing’s head, Qiao Shefei will lead his troops to intercept the central army, and someone will lead the Yellow Turban warriors to attack the commander’s flag - once Gu Changqing dies, the group will be leaderless, and the overall situation will be determined!”

Meng Zhang was silent for a moment, then suddenly lowered his voice and spoke to Li Cunxiao.

The candle in the side hall suddenly burst into a spark, casting everyone's shadows on the wall like a group of dancing demons.

"Alright! This time I'm going to smash those heavily armored soldiers of the Wuxiong Guard into pulp in front of the Great Army God!"

Li Cunxiao slammed the Yuwang Spear to the ground, causing the dust on the beam to fall down.

"Don't forget that there is a Duke of Zhenguo in Gu Changqing's army."

"The elite Yulin troops under his command are not easy to deal with."

Qiao Shefei suddenly interrupted, and the purple armor on his body emitted a cold light.

"This is the deployment map of the Yulin Army under the command of the Duke of Zhenguo in Gu Changqing's army. It was just sent by the Taiping Guards."

Meng Zhang was silent for a moment, his face looking a little unnatural, and then he suddenly pulled out a roll of parchment from the desk.

"Did you see that? This Duke Zhenguo must patrol the east side of the commander's tent at midnight every night, so the defense on the west side is the weakest..."

He ran his finger over a mark on the diagram.

"Is the commander-in-chief planning a decapitation operation?"

Li Cunxiao suddenly burst into laughter.

"Is beheading enough?"

"I want Gu Changqing to watch his Wuxiong Guards, Chongyan Guards, and Tan Mengjun's rebellion-suppressing army all turn into lonely ghosts in Hulu Valley!"

"Order the entire army to move camp in one hour! We should prepare a great gift for the Jade Pillar of Heaven of the Great Qian Dynasty!"

Meng Zhang suddenly stood up, his face flickering in the candlelight, and then he suddenly raised his voice.

(End of this chapter)