The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"That old guy likes to procrastinate in everything he does. He's almost catching up with the tortoise."

Tong Tai had just finished expressing his feelings when someone behind him said, "You old man, who are you talking about? You are the turtle? And an old turtle at that!"

"Who are you calling an old turtle? You old bastard!" Tong Tai retorted without thinking.

He didn't even need to think about it, the only person who dared to confront him like this was his extremely mean brother He Chao.

"Old man, you came quite quickly this time. How come a thousand-year-old turtle has become a spirit? You finally stopped dawdling?" Tong Tai turned around and glared at He Chao, saying harsh words but with a smile on his face.

Although their territories were not far apart, it was rare for them to see each other on weekdays.

No matter when or where, it is always a happy thing to meet brothers who have known each other for many years.

"If I hadn't come earlier, how would I have known that you, an old man, still haven't changed your habit of talking bad about others behind their backs."

He Chao smiled and walked up to Tong Tai and punched him, then turned to look at Shen Tingzhi and was about to kneel down to pay his respects.

Shen Tingzhi quickly helped He Chao up and said, "We are family, there is no need to be so polite."

After He Chao sat down, the three of them began to get down to business.

"I've troubled you two uncles to come here today because I have something important to discuss with you." Shen Tingzhi looked up at Tong Tai and He Chao and said, "This time I plan to take over Pingzhou City, eliminate the Qian family's influence, and make the Duke of Chen's Mansion disappear from Shangjing."

Shen Tingzhi's words made Tong Tai and He Chao's eyes light up with excitement. Their defense area was close to Pingzhou, and they knew best how chaotic Pingzhou had been in recent years.

In the past, it was not that they did not want to manage, but that they wanted to manage but did not have the power to do so. The duty of the garrison commander was to maintain peace in the area, and he had no right to manage local administrative affairs.

So no matter how dissatisfied they were with the chaos in Pingzhou, they could only keep it to themselves.

Now, Shen Tingzhi is here to take them to quell the rebellion. What else is there to say? Just roll up your sleeves and get to work.

"Second Young Master, just give your instructions. You give the order and we'll do it." Tong Tai spoke first.

"Yes, Second Young Master, you give the order." He Chao rarely agreed with Tong Tai.

Although these defenders are supposed to be guarding a certain area, their daily lives are actually very boring. There are no battles to fight and they cannot move around freely.

All year round, he could only guard the small piece of land under his jurisdiction. Apart from training soldiers, he would occasionally go hunting.

These dull days have almost worn away their temper and bloodiness.

Now that they heard that they could follow Shen Tingzhi to quell the rebellion and have a great time, it would be strange if they were not happy.

"Okay, let's get started." Shen Tingzhi's blood was boiling and he felt like he was back to when he was young and followed his father in battles.

"The Qian family discovered an iron mine in Fuping, and they took the private soldiers that Shen Pingzhi had raised in Wuya Mountain to mine it."

"Myself and Uncle Wang were surrounded and attacked with 5,000 elite soldiers from the Xishan Camp, but we don't have any accurate information on how many people are there now."

"So, uncles, which one of you will lead the troops to Fuping to help Uncle Wang take over that iron mine?"

Hearing that Wang Zongyuan had also come and had led his troops to Fuping, Tong Tai and He Chao were both excited. They hadn't seen each other for some years.

"Old Wang is here too. Okay, after this is done, we brothers can get drunk at the celebration banquet."

Tong Tai's eyes lit up with joy, and He Chao next to him was laughing so hard that his mouth was almost stretched to the back of his head.

"Old man, you are best at mountain warfare. You lead the troops to support Old Wang, and we will stay and lend a hand to the Second Young Master."

Although Tong Tai usually likes to bicker with He Chao and even likes to compete with He Chao, he still knows what to do at critical moments.

"Okay, I'll go." He Chao didn't refuse vaguely. He turned around, clasped his fists, and said to Shen Tingzhi, "Second Young Master, I'll go now. Take care of yourself."

"Thank you, Uncle He. Take care! Tingzhi will wait for your triumphant return and give you a toast to celebrate your success."

Shen Tingzhi held He Chao's arms and helped him up. Perhaps it was because he was getting older, he used to think that fighting in the battlefield was the most normal thing, but now he felt a little sad about parting.

"Okay." He Chao raised his hand and patted Shen Tingzhi's shoulder, then turned around and strode away.

After seeing He Chao off, Shen Tingzhi and Tong Tai sat down together and began to discuss how to attack Pingzhou City in order to minimize casualties and not bring disaster to the people.

"The best solution would be for someone to open the city gate from the inside. This way, there would be no casualties, and the people wouldn't be disturbed."

"Because once we start attacking the city, there will be a large number of casualties. And once the siege begins, it will inevitably alert the Qian family. There's no guarantee that they won't do something stressful to protect themselves."

"By then, I'm afraid the entire Pingzhou City will be in chaos. What's even more terrifying is if the Qian family incites those ignorant people to cause trouble. In order to protect the safety of those people, our actions will be restricted."

"The cost will be even greater, and the casualties will be even greater. When it comes to suppressing riots, it's best to cut the Gordian knot quickly. Otherwise, the longer it takes, the more trouble it will cause, and the more difficult it will be to deal with things later."

Tong Tai has done a lot of things like attacking cities and suppressing rebellions before, and the above are all his experiences.

If today's matter was to attack an enemy country, it would be easy. We could just attack the city without any scruples, without worrying about whether the civilians would be hurt.

Although the people of the enemy country are also human beings, they are not Yun Li’s people after all. In war, casualties are inevitable.

But in Yunli Kingdom, especially the soldiers under the command of Marquis Zhenbei, they all knew the rules of Marquis Zhenbei and were not allowed to point their swords and guns at the people of Yunli.

Protecting the people would increase the difficulty of attacking the city.

Shen Tingzhi lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, "Uncle Tong, what do you think of this?"

"I have selected a small team to open the city gates. Those guarding the gates are still officials of Yunli. If they are willing to cooperate and take the initiative to open the city gates, then I promise that no matter what they did in the past, I will forgive them."

"But if they stubbornly resist and refuse to open the city gates, we will kill them without mercy and let our people open the city gates."

"Those people from the Qian family are used to being domineering in Pingzhou. They won't be so easily submissive and surrender."

"The best way is to take them by surprise, surround the Jixiang Lane where they live, and then slowly deal with them."

"Okay, let's do it." Tong Tai nodded and said, "I do have a few capable people here. I'll call them over and discuss it with them. I'll have them organize a siege team. It's just a matter of opening the city gate, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

As someone who has been marching and fighting all year round, who doesn't have some capable people under his command who can do everything?

"Okay, call them over, we'll study it, and then we'll wait until nightfall before we act."

Shen Tingzhi looked at the sky outside. It was almost noon. By the time these things were dealt with and he led his troops over, it would be almost midnight.

It is a good time to act while the night is quiet.

When Yu Sheng got up in the morning, she hurried out of the palace and headed towards Wuya Mountain.

As the captain of Shen Tingzhi's guard, his duty is to follow Shen Tingzhi forever and protect him no matter what happens.

When Yu Sheng arrived at Wuya Mountain, she happened to see Tong Tai organizing a siege assault team and preparing to set off.

Seeing Yu Sheng coming back, Shen Tingzhi suddenly felt relieved. The brothers had been accompanying each other for so many years, and they had long become one.

"Yusheng, lead the team to attack the city. Find a way to open the city gate without a single soldier. Can you do it?"

Shen Tingzhi never doubted Yu Sheng's ability. He was just worried that Yu Sheng's body would not be able to bear the running back and forth.

"Okay, no problem." Yu Sheng immediately switched to combat mode. The eldest lady's decision last night not to let him rush back immediately but to let him rest in the palace for a night before coming back was the right one.

Without the rest he got last night, he wouldn't have had the energy to cope today.

"Okay, then you lead the team and try to resolve this matter after nightfall."

"If they resist stubbornly, there's no need to be lenient."

Shen Tingzhi didn't finish his words, but how could Yu Sheng not understand?

"Yes." Yu Sheng turned around, mounted his horse, and set off with the small group of people.

Yu Sheng and his men quickly arrived at the gate of Pingzhou City. The time was just right, as the gate of Pingzhou City had just been closed.

On the way here, Yu Sheng already had a general understanding of the group of people she brought with her and knew what they would do.

Yu Sheng called Sun Kai over. After hearing about the plan to attack the city gate, Sun Kai volunteered to come along.

He is a native of Pingzhou and has worked as a prison guard for many years, so he has some connections and relationships in Pingzhou.

"Let's do as we agreed just now." Yu Sheng looked at Sun Kai. He was actually a little hesitant. Sun Kai was not good-looking and looked like an honest man who didn't talk much.

It is not easy to convince the minor officials guarding the city gate with such a person.

However, according to the original plan, Sun Kai was to first persuade the clerks guarding the city gates. If persuasion was ineffective, he would then resort to force.

"Don't worry, sir. I have some friendship with the gatekeeper."

"Maybe he will listen to what I say."

Sun Kai clasped his fists towards Yu Sheng, then turned around and went to knock on the city gate.

"Don't you see it's late at night and the city gates are already closed? Why are you still knocking? If you want to enter the city, wait until the gates are opened tomorrow morning!"

The person inside heard the knock on the door and shouted impatiently.

"Is that Wang Liu? I'm Sun Kai."

As soon as Sun Kai finished speaking, he heard the man who had been yelling impatiently just now say, "Sun Tou? Why are you outside the city so late?"

"Oh, I left the city today to go back to my hometown to do some business. I didn't expect to lose time on the way and missed the closing time of the city gate."

"Brother, I have to be on duty later. Please do me a favor and let me in."

Sun Kai told this lie without blushing or feeling nervous.

"Oh, okay, Suntou, wait a moment. I'll tell our boss to put the basket down and bring you in."

There are rules for guarding the city gate. Once the city gate is locked, no one can open it unless there is an emergency or an order from above.

Although the city gate cannot be opened before the appointed time, there are exceptions. In case of emergency or special circumstances, the people inside can use a transfer basket to transfer people in.

This not only does not violate the regulations, but also solves the urgent problem.

"Okay, go ahead." Sun Kai said to Wang Liu.

Soon the gatekeeper arrived. He was an old acquaintance of Sun Kai, named Gan Jiu.

"Old friend, I haven't seen you leave the city today, so why are you outside now?"

As Gan Jiu spoke, he put down the basket.

"Well, our brother sent me a message today saying that some of his brothers were passing through Pingzhou on official business, and he asked them to bring back some things for his mother in the countryside."

"I was in a hurry to pick someone up, so I didn't say hello to you when I left the city."

"Look, these brothers have been following me all the way here until now, and they haven't even had a sip of water."

As he was speaking, the basket had already been put down, and Sun Kai did not hesitate to jump in first.

When the people above saw Sun Kai enter the basket, they began to slowly raise the basket.

"It was Ah Yu who brought something back to me. It was not easy for him. Now he is in the capital, so he can be considered successful."

When Gan Jiu heard Sun Kai say that it was Sun Yu who asked someone to send something back home, he couldn't help but sigh.

"What a achievement! You're still just a private." Although Sun Kai said this, it was not difficult to hear from his tone that he was still very proud of his younger brother.

"Hey, don't say that. There's a difference between being a private and being a private. Ah Yu is a soldier in the Xishan camp in the capital, and that's under the command of the Marquis of Zhenbei."

"Who is the Marquis of Zhenbei? He is the patron saint of our Yunli and the greatest hero in the world."

"Not everyone can serve under him. If Ah Yu can serve under him, isn't that a great achievement?"

Gan Jiu's tone was filled with envy. Almost all the men in Yunli had a kind of admiration that was almost worshipful towards the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Many people are proud to be able to join the Shen family army and serve under the Marquis of Zhenbei.

"That's true. It's his blessing and good fortune to be able to serve under the Marquis of Zhenbei."

As he was talking, Sun Kai was carried to the city gate tower. Gan Jiu grabbed his hand and helped him out of the basket.

Sun Kai came out of the mixing basket, and without even having time to brush off the dust on his body, he said to Gan Jiu, "Brother, I'll trouble you again. Please get those people down here in as well."

"They all served in the Xishan camp with Ayu. They are all good men of our Yunli."