Chapter 656: Chapter 656: Is It Feasible?

The black stains were incredibly faint, blending in with the soil and nearly impossible to spot. Only upon close inspection could one make out the traces.

And those stains did not belong here.

Ye Chutang stood up, casually wiping her hands on a handkerchief as she surveyed her surroundings.

The vegetation had yet to flourish, so the mountain was covered in yellow and white patches of withered grass.

It wasn’t hard to imagine, however, that this place would be lush and overgrown come spring and summer.

When that time came, it would be even less likely for anyone to notice this ordinary, unremarkable grave.

Xiao Wu walked over curiously and squatted where Ye Chutang had just been. She reached out her small hand, wanting to touch the ground as well.

Ye Chutang stopped her.

"Don’t touch it. It’s just traces of someone having burned paper offerings here."

Hearing this, Xiao Wu immediately froze. She scurried over to Ye Chutang’s side on her short little legs, her eyes wide.

’Burned paper? This is the middle of nowhere. Why would someone come all the way out here to burn paper offerings?’

Ye Chutang smiled. "There’s a grave here, so isn’t it normal for someone to come burn paper?"

Xiao Wu nodded instinctively. ’That’s right! There’s even a tombstone—’

She glanced back, the realization dawning on her a moment later.

’Could the person who burned the paper be a relative of this "Wuya"?’

’But if that’s the case... why is this Wuya buried all alone out here?’

’Besides, the surroundings look so desolate. It doesn’t seem like anyone comes here regularly.’

’If her family truly cared about her, how could they bear to leave her in such a lonely place?’

’It’s all so... so contradictory!’

"Xiao Wu, you’re still young. You don’t understand that there are many things in this world that people are forced to do." Ye Chutang shook her head gently, her gaze falling on the tombstone. Though the inscription was blurred, the stone itself was still clean, which further confirmed her suspicions.

Xiao Wu looked bewildered.

Ye Chutang gazed into the distance.

It was vast and empty, with distant mountains under a wide sky.

"She must have thought her plan was foolproof, that all traces of her movements were perfectly hidden, and that no one would ever find out."

"But she forgot about one thing—herself."

"She is the biggest flaw in her own plan."

...

「Long City.」

A troop of horsemen rode out from the city gates.

Tuoba Yu watched them from a distance. Only when they had completely vanished from sight did the knot in his chest finally loosen.

A burly man standing beside him snorted. "We finally sent those lords on their way! They were just here to deliver a decree, but they still put on such airs!"

They had spent the last two days putting in a great deal of effort, using every trick in the book to placate those men.

In the end, they had to part with a significant amount of silver coins before those men finally relented and left.

Tuoba Yu’s expression was cold. "Most officials from their court are like that. This assignment may be arduous, but it’s a lucrative one. They wouldn’t have left without lining their pockets. Besides—"

"Besides, the real King Yan Nan isn’t even in our custody. We have a stand-in to fool them, but that ruse can only hold for so long."

The longer those men remained in Long City, the greater the risk of our secret about the fake King Yan Nan being exposed.

For the sake of security, it was worth spending the money to buy ourselves some peace.

"You are right, my lord!"

The man cupped his fists. As he spoke of this, his brow furrowed in concern.

"But our men still haven’t found any trace of King Yan Nan. What are we going to do? Surely he hasn’t escaped the city already!? If he musters reinforcements, we’ll lose the upper hand!"

"He won’t," Tuoba Yu said, shaking his head. "He is afflicted by a poisonous insect and has lost all his martial arts. He’s no different from a cripple now. On his own, he’d be trapped and dead before he even made it over the mountains. Besides, several hundred of his personal guards are still in the city. Knowing his character, he would never abandon them to save himself."

King Yan Nan’s reputation was renowned throughout the Southwest. Before launching this operation, Tuoba Yu had made a point to study his temperament.

If he hadn’t understood the man so well, King Yan Nan wouldn’t have fallen into his trap so easily.

He never fights a battle unprepared.

After hearing this, the man’s brow smoothed, and he nodded. "Right! He’s most likely still hiding somewhere in the city!"

Tuoba Yu ordered in a low voice, "Tell them to keep searching! Even if they have to dig three feet into the earth, I want him found!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

In a mountain hollow several miles outside the city, a large number of soldiers had already gathered.

Inside a makeshift tent, a group of men was huddled around a map of Long City.

It was an expanded version that Ye Yunfeng had redrawn from memory.

The letter that Xun Cheng had sent via Long Jiu had been burned long ago. After spending some time incognito within Long City, Ye Yunfeng had become even more familiar with its layout.

Thus, after pooling ideas and incorporating suggestions from several companions, he had drawn a new one.

If Xun Cheng were here, he would surely marvel that this map was even more detailed and meticulous than the one he had sent.

It even marked the locations of the main military encampments within Long City.

Ye Yunfeng stood in the center, his tone calm and composed.

"Their supplies have been burned, and it’s difficult for them to call for outside help, so they won’t be able to hold out for long. To win this battle, we only need to adhere to one word: delay! We’ll drag this out until their food and ammunition are depleted. When they’re forced to send word out for help, we will launch a surprise night assault. We can take them in one fell swoop!"

His hand sliced decisively across the map.

"Long City is easy to defend and hard to attack, but there’s a crucial weakness: most of the soldiers stationed in the city don’t know that it has fallen under the control of the Southern Hu people. Once they learn the truth, it will undoubtedly cause a riot. The city will descend into infighting, which will be to our advantage."

He looked up at the officers around him, his expression solemn.

"However, our forces are insufficient. Even with the help of the city’s own garrison, we won’t be able to organize a powerful counterattack immediately. Therefore, the real hard fighting will still be up to us."

An officer of about thirty nodded in agreement. "A Feng is absolutely right!"

Another man scratched his head, looking troubled. "But there are so few of us. The city is filled with five thousand Southern Hu Soldiers alone. The disparity in our numbers is immense. How can we possibly fight this and guarantee a win?"

Defeating a larger force with a smaller one is easier said than done. On a real battlefield, it’s incredibly difficult.

Ye Yunfeng’s finger tapped a spot on the map.

"That’s why we absolutely cannot divide our forces. We will concentrate our attack on the East Gate! Their guard rotations are extremely regular. All we have to do is choose the perfect moment—"

He lowered his voice.

"When the time comes, we will..."

After he finished laying out the plan, Ye Yunfeng looked up and asked,

"What do you all think?"

Seeing them all staring at him with strange expressions, Ye Yunfeng faltered. "Why are you... all looking at me like that? Is there something on my face? Or was the plan I just outlined not feasible?"

After a long moment, the oldest officer sighed, clapped him heavily on the shoulder, and shook his head with a wry laugh.

"It’s not that it isn’t feasible, it’s that it’s *too* feasible! No wonder Lord Feng Zhang holds you in such high regard. The younger generation is truly something to be reckoned with! A Feng, you—you have a boundless future ahead of you!"

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