Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 131 Lin Chen's Plan

At the same time, on a hill thirty miles away from the camp.

Three men in black lay prone in the grass, holding monocular binoculars, staring intently at the distant military camp.

"Did you see it clearly?" the leader of the men in black asked in a low voice.

"I see clearly, Lin Chen does indeed travel by carriage, and he only shows up once a day at noon, spending the rest of the time in the carriage."

Another person replied, "There are three women accompanying him; they must be his wives."

The guards... on the surface, are only the Eight Vajra Guards and the personal guard.

"How many guards are there?"

"About five hundred riders, who should be the knights who appeared in Jiangnan back then, all of them with first-grade cultivation."

The leader of the men in black pondered for a moment:

"Even the most elite troops number no more than five hundred. Although the Eight Vajras are Grandmasters, we have dispatched two Celestial Elders and the Sword Emperor this time, so we should..."

Before the words were finished, a figure in a green robe appeared silently behind the three of them.

"What should we do?"

The three turned around in shock, only to see Li Bai holding a wine gourd, smiling at them.

"Li...Li Bai?!" The leader of the men in black exclaimed in disbelief.

"Do you know me?" Li Bai took a sip of wine.

"That makes things easier. Tell me, who sent you? After you've spoken, you'll be left with a whole corpse."

"Run!" The three men in black made a quick decision and shot off in three different directions.

But they had only traveled ten zhang when they crashed into an invisible barrier of sword energy.

"Puff puff puff—"

Three heads flew into the air, and the corpses collapsed limply to the ground.

Li Bai didn't even look at it, and said to the air, "Zilong, take care of it."

Zhao Zilong emerged from the forest, cupping his fists and saying, "Sword Immortal Li, this is the third batch already."

"Hmm, just a small fry." Li Bai waved his hand.

"The real big fish hasn't arrived yet. Go and tell Mr. Kongming that these spies are too weak and won't get any information out of them."

"Yes."

Zhao Zilong picked up the three corpses and disappeared into the forest.

Li Bai gazed at the distant military camp, took another sip of wine, and murmured:

"Wanyan Honglie, Wanyan Honglie, couldn't you send someone decent? This old man's sword is almost rusted."

……

Campsite, commander's tent.

Although it was the commander's tent, Lin Chen remained inside the carriage, with only Zhuge Liang, Li Chunfeng, Zhao Zilong, and others discussing matters there.

"We cleared out three more groups of spies today, all of them Grandmaster level," Zhao Zilong reported.

"Judging from the style of the technique, it should have originated from the 'Night Owl Camp' of the Northern Shuo Army."

Li Chunfeng planted several small flags on the sand table:

"Judging from the distribution of our scouts over the past few days, the Northern Shuo have a thorough understanding of our marching route."

Within a hundred li on both sides of the official road, there are at least three suitable locations for an ambush.

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan: "Wanyan Honglie is a shrewd and experienced strategist; he will certainly not engage in direct confrontation in the early stages."

Liang believed that Liang would first focus on harassing and exhausting the enemy, and then launch a general offensive once our army approached the northern border, taking advantage of their rest and fatigue.

"Where do you think he will set up an ambush?" Zhao Zilong asked.

Zhuge Liang pointed to a canyon on the sand table:

"'Fallen Eagle Gorge' is two hundred miles from the Northern Frontier Camp. The mountains on both sides are steep, and there is only one narrow path that can be passed through it."

If we were to ambush them here, using our superior formations to move mountains and rain down arrows, even with our superior troops, our ordinary soldiers would suffer heavy losses.

Li Chunfeng nodded: "This place does indeed have the rudiments of a natural formation. If we add human intervention to set up the formation, trapping and killing celestial beings will not be difficult."

"Then let's go down to Eagle Gorge." Lin Chen's voice came from outside the tent.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Lin Chen walking in, wearing a loose brocade robe and cloth shoes, followed by Qin Shuyan and the other two women.

"My lord," Zhuge Liang rose, "knowing there was an ambush, why did you still...?"

"Because it's interesting." Lin Chen sat down in the commander's seat, crossed his legs, and said.

"Think about it, Wanyan Honglie painstakingly laid out an inescapable trap, only to have it easily broken by us. Wouldn't he be so angry he'd vomit blood?"

Li Chunfeng laughed and said, "The lord is trying to play a trick on him."

"It wasn't really playing around, just making things a little difficult for him." Lin Chen stroked his chin.

"Besides, how can we lure out the big fish behind him if we don't go down Eagle's Gorge?"

Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up: "My lord, you mean... the man in black robes?"

"Hmm." Lin Chen nodded. "The spies we've sent along the way are too weak, ridiculously weak."

I suspect that Wanyan Honglie is deliberately feigning weakness to lower our guard.

"In that case, let's cooperate with him and put on a show of arrogance."

Qin Shuyan, who was taking notes, looked up upon hearing this and asked, "Eighth Brother, how do you plan to act?"

"Simple," Lin Chen said with a smile. "Starting tomorrow, reduce the marching speed by another 30%."

I will continue to ride in the carriage, while the three of you play and frolic outside every day. It would be best if you also acquired some skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—the more extravagant and luxurious, the better.

Xiao Yulou chuckled: "Are you trying to portray yourself as a pleasure-seeking,纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled, dissolute commander)?"

"Exactly." Lin Chen snapped his fingers.

"Doesn't Wanyan Honglie think I'm a good-for-nothing who relies on others? Then I'll show him what a good-for-nothing I am."

"When he thinks he has the victory in his grasp, we'll give him a big surprise."

Ye Qingying said softly, "Do you need me to send a message to the Bad Guys and cooperate with the charade?"

"Yes," Lin Chen said with a light laugh.

"Let them spread the word in the north that Duke Lin Chen is traveling with his beauty, marching at a snail's pace, and spending all his time in the carriage with his wife, causing the soldiers to complain bitterly."

Zhao Zilong frowned: "My lord, won't this affect the morale of the army?"

"Don't worry, Zilong. If the Tiger Legion can't even accept this, then there's no point in their existence." Lin Chen waved his hand.

"As for the Great Snow Dragon Riders... they don't need to act; they can just be themselves."

Everyone recalled the five hundred Great Snow Dragon Riders—those guys always had cold faces and looked unapproachable, so they really didn't need to act.

"Furthermore," Lin Chen looked at Li Chunfeng,

"Mr. Li, are you confident you can break the formation at Falling Eagle Gorge?"

Li Chunfeng stroked his beard and smiled: "Your Majesty, rest assured, there are no more than five formations in the world that can trap me."

The shallow terrain of Luoying Gorge could be easily breached.

"Then it's settled." Lin Chen stood up and stretched.

"Let's go, it's time for dinner. What did the chef prepare today?"

Qin Shuyan laughed and said, "They said they hunted a mountain deer and made soup with it."

"Let's go, let's go have some soup." Lin Chen put one arm around Qin Shuyan and pulled Xiao Yulou with the other, while Ye Qingying followed silently behind.

Zhuge Liang and the others looked at each other and smiled as they watched the four figures depart.

"My lord's temperament..." Zhao Zilong shook his head.

"That's good," Li Chunfeng said with a smile. "To handle heavy tasks with ease is a sign of great character."

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan:

"Pass down the order: do as our lord says."

Furthermore, instruct the Eight Great Vajras to keep the Tiger Legion in check and prevent them from revealing any weaknesses.

"yes!"