RWNEFE -Chapter 278 They Never Said Hailing Was Captured by Bandits—So How Can You Talk About ‘Taking It Back’?

Chen Xiong immediately gave the order to mobilize the troops.

Shen Lanxi stormed into Hailing City, charging in and out three times. Just as she was about to reach Chen Xiong, the one-hour deadline was nearly up.

“Withdraw!”

“Yes!”

To make the bandits seem more convincing, they took away a large amount of gold, silver, and grain when they left. They retraced their route back to the city gate, regrouped with the other half of their force stationed there, and swiftly withdrew from Hailing City.

In the blink of an eye, the “bandits” vanished without a trace.

When Chen Xiong’s troops finally arrived, they saw the two city gates lying collapsed on the ground. The soldiers guarding the gates were either dead or had fled, leaving Hailing City wide open.

If foreign enemies attacked at this moment, they would be able to march straight in and seize the city without resistance.

“How could so many bandits suddenly appear?” Chen Xiong demanded angrily.

One of his subordinates said, “General, could it be that these bandits are actually foreigners in disguise?”

Some echoed this view, while others disagreed.

“If they really were foreigners in disguise, why wouldn’t they seize the opportunity to capture Hailing City outright?”

“I think they’re just violent mobs formed from refugees of the nearby cities. Those people have no livelihood left, so they’ve turned to banditry.”

“That makes sense!”

Chen Xiong also believed it was those wretched mobs. When several cities had fallen earlier, those unruly commoners wanted to enter Hailing City for refuge, but he had blocked them outside the walls.

Now they had come to take revenge on him!

“Increase the troops and wipe out the bandits! Dig out their lair and level it to the ground!”

“Yes!”

…

The bandits stepped up their harassment of Hailing City. Under Shen Lanxi’s direction, her forces clashed back and forth with the bandits—advancing and retreating in turns. In the end, after Shen Lanxi’s side suffered heavy losses, the bandits temporarily disappeared without a trace.

Soon, word came back from Zhou Ruan: there was no need to return to the city—continue eliminating threats for the people and pursue the bandits.

There was also an unspoken implication: if the bandits couldn’t be found, there was no need to come back at all.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and winter arrived again.

At last, the imperial decree from the court arrived—three days from now, thirty thousand dan of grain would be delivered to the northwest.

Zhou Ruan was ecstatic. This decree not only announced the arrival of grain supplies, but also included commendations for him.

Song Daoxi said, “Congratulations, Second Prince! Well deserved!”

The decree praised Zhou Ruan for his wisdom and bravery, for containing the three tribes outside the borders, and for successfully persuading the Northwest King Liang Shao to surrender—an outstanding merit. Further rewards would be granted once he returned to the capital.

Zhou Ruan was overflowing with pride, his spirits soaring.

In the past, Zhou Ruan had always overshadowed the other princes. Their father had never noticed him—now, at last, his father would know that Zhou Ruyuan wasn’t the only one who could wage war.

If Father Emperor had handed military power to him earlier, the title of Prince of Zhennan would have been his!

His father really was biased!

Fortunately, his father wasn’t foolish. Now that he saw Zhou Ruan was more capable than Zhou Ruyuan, he had finally begun to value him.

“This is all thanks to your efforts, sir. If not for your strategies, Father Emperor wouldn’t have granted me the grain so readily!”

Song Daoxi reminded him, “Second Prince, thirty thousand dan of grain is extremely valuable. I worry someone may sabotage it along the way—we should make preparations.”

Zhou Ruan’s eyes flickered. He thought Song Daoxi made a lot of sense.

There was already the precedent of the Wei family army—their grain had disappeared inexplicably. Even a fool knew that matter was far from simple.

“What does Sir Song suggest?” Zhou Ruyuan asked.

Song Daoxi replied, “Have our own troops go to escort the grain.”

That was exactly what Zhou Ruan had in mind. His question was merely to give Song Daoxi face.

“Sir truly has extraordinary insight. In your opinion, who should we send?”

Song Daoxi spoke with implication. “This is a very tricky assignment…” He changed the subject slightly and continued, “Send those who don’t need training and aren’t of one mind with us. Kick them out to handle the task. If something happens on the road… well, of course, it’s best if nothing happens.”

Zhou Ruan understood perfectly.

Song Daoxi truly lived up to his reputation as a Guigu disciple—his schemes were ruthlessly precise. No wonder people said that whoever gained a Guigu disciple could rule the world. Song Daoxi was indeed a sharp blade.

The next day, Qian Feng, Xiao Fang, and several other male members of the Shen family received the order to escort the grain. That very day, they set out with a unit of troops.

Soon after, someone reported back to Zhou Ruan.

“They took three thousand soldiers, half of them female guards.”

At first, upon hearing “three thousand soldiers,” Zhou Ruyuan was displeased, thinking they had taken too many troops. But when he heard that half were female guards, he relaxed.

“Second Prince, should we send someone to follow them?” a subordinate asked.

Song Daoxi immediately objected. “No need. It’s best if there’s no trace of our involvement in this matter.”

Zhou Ruan thought it over and nodded. It was just an escort mission—if nothing happened, all would be well. If something did happen, it wouldn’t be connected to him.

After all, those people were all Shen family confidants. They already had a prior case of stealing the Wei family army’s provisions—stealing a bit more would be perfectly ‘reasonable.’

If the grain matter weren’t such a big deal, he would even have wanted to arrange for the supplies to be robbed outright and have the Shen family completely eliminated.

Half a month later, Chen Xiong, the garrison commander of Hailing City, sent a letter asking Zhou Ruan for help.

Zhou Ruan summoned his advisors.

“Chen Xiong says that Hailing City has been repeatedly harassed by bandits and requests that we send troops to help eliminate them.”

After reading the letter, Zhou Ruan snorted in disdain.

A few bandits—how could they possibly threaten such a large city as Hailing?

Song Daoxi shared the same view.

“They’re just bandits, not foreign invaders. We border commanders defending against foreign enemies haven’t even complained, yet he, an inner-city general, is scared to this extent?”

“You think there’s something suspicious?” Zhou Ruan asked.

Song Daoxi nodded and was about to speak when a soldier came to relay a message to Zhou Ruan.

The soldier spoke in a very low voice; outsiders could vaguely make out the words “inner residence.”

Zhou Ruan’s face soon turned icy. Women interfering in politics—this was utterly outrageous.

“Continue the discussion. I’ll be right back,” he said.

Zhou Ruan hurried off to the inner residence.

…

Shen Lanxi had already been harassing Hailing City for over half a month. During that time, Chen Xiong himself had suffered three assassination attempts. Each time he only sustained superficial injuries, but he was now utterly terrified. He no longer stayed in the city, instead living directly in the military camp outside.

Shen Lanxi’s influence steadily infiltrated Hailing City. It was no exaggeration to say that the entire city was already under her control.

All that was missing now was a legitimate pretext.

And that pretext was delivered to her personally by Chen Xiong.

…

Zhou Ruan rushed back to the inner residence and furiously berated Chen Mianmian. He was thinking that Hailing City was Chen Xiong’s domain, and that keeping Chen Mianmian around would still be useful.

Unexpectedly, the very next day he received news of Chen Xiong’s death.

Chen Xiong had been slain by bandits!

Song Daoxi quietly sought out Zhou Ruyuan. “Second Prince, this is an excellent opportunity!”

After a detailed discussion, Zhou Ruan decided to personally lead troops to avenge Chen Xiong—and to retake Hailing City from the bandits!

The subordinates looked at one another in confusion.

They never said Hailing City had been captured by bandits—so how could there be any talk of taking it back?