Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The garrison commander of Jianjia Pass was named Li Sheng, who was also Wu Ji's brother-in-law.

This member of the imperial family was quite famous in the capital.

He wielded spears and clubs, commanded troops in battle, and was well-versed in poetry and literature...

He doesn't know any of these things, and he can't even recognize many characters.

They, on the other hand, were adept at cockfighting, dog walking, romantic strolls, and bullying men and women without any formal instruction.

Actually, he originally got a minor official position in the capital by being made a concubine by Wu Ji because of his sister.

However, he later caused trouble in the capital by breaking a perpetual lamp that the Heavenly Dao Sect had presented to Wu Ji, which enraged Wu Ji. As a result, he was exiled to Jianjia Pass as a garrison commander.

Since Jianjia Pass connects the border between the states of Chu and Wu, and the two states are friendly nations, working here is considered a sinecure, and one can even collect transit fees to line one's own pocket.

Unfortunately, aside from these unorthodox skills, Li Sheng was completely ignorant about military affairs, only having a superficial understanding of them.

When the first shell landed at the pass, he was passionately having sex with a prostitute in a corner on the wall.

As a result, he was so startled by the loud explosion that he immediately retracted his penis into his abdomen.

"what happened?"

Li Sheng hurriedly pulled up his pants, leaving the prostitute behind, and rushed over. When he saw the breach in the city wall that had been blown open, he was dumbfounded.

"What about people?"

He roared, and soon two terrified, pale-faced guards crawled out of the city gate.

Upon seeing Li Sheng, he said in a trembling voice, "Reporting to the general, it seems that the Chu army outside the city has launched an attack. I don't know what kind of sorcery they used, but they directly destroyed this section of the city wall!"

Upon hearing this, Li Sheng's mind went blank for a moment, and he involuntarily looked towards the outside of the city wall.

But in the distance, he saw the Chu army soldiers standing guard in a vast expanse of azure ocean, exuding a powerful aura that made him feel somewhat breathless.

"The Chu army actually dares to attack its allies; they are utterly despicable!"

Soon, an extremely terrifying thought came to his mind.

If the Chu army really launches an offensive, wouldn't I be in trouble?

Boom boom boom——

Just as he hesitated, another roaring sound came from afar.

"Oh no! Get down!"

Although he didn't know what artillery was, Li Sheng relied on his survival instincts to keenly sense the imminent danger. At the most critical moment, he slipped and ran into the city wall, lying down on the ground.

Boom boom boom——

Three explosions rang out; two bullets landed on the city wall, and one on the top of the city wall.

Li Sheng, who was huddled inside the city tower, felt a sudden tremor as dust fell from above, choking him and causing him to cough incessantly.

"Oh my god, this is terrifying! What on earth is this thing?"

Fear instantly spread throughout Li Sheng's body, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.

At this moment, a lieutenant rushed into the room, pulled Li Sheng up, and said, "General, let's defend against the enemy quickly! Judging from this situation, the Chu army is probably about to attack the city!"

"Yes, yes, defend against the enemy! Defend against the enemy quickly! Hurry, hurry, don't just stand there!"

Li Sheng forced himself to calm down and began to direct the garrison to return to their posts as quickly as possible.

At this moment, the guards at the pass had already been terrified by the two rounds of artillery fire from the Chu army.

They were all filled with fear, hunched over and huddled at the edge of the city wall.

"Amitabha, Amitabha, God bless us, God must bless us."

Many soldiers kept muttering to themselves, trying to find psychological comfort in this way.

"Oil, hurry up and bring the oil up!"

"Quickly, move the firewood and set up the pot to boil the broth!"

"Hurry up and move the boulders and logs!"

Because they had not anticipated that the Chu army would actually launch an attack, the walls of Jianjia Pass were not adequately prepared with defensive equipment.

With Li Sheng giving incoherent and haphazard orders, the defending officers and soldiers were thrown into a state of chaos.

It wasn't until two soldiers carrying a can of kerosene up the city wall that one of them tripped and broke the can.

The guards, seeing this, were about to crack their whips and start cursing, but when they saw the debris on the ground, they were dumbfounded.

The jar didn't contain kerosene at all, but rather dried oil residue.

The military supervisor dared not delay and immediately turned around to call Li Sheng over.

Upon receiving the news, Li Sheng rushed over and saw that his pupils had shrunk. He immediately ordered his men to smash several more kerosene cans.

Without exception, the jars were filled with oil residue.

"Where's the kerosene? It's all gone!"

Upon seeing this, Li Sheng burst into curses and pointed at the soldiers, shouting.

"Where is the quartermaster? How was he managing the weapons? This general will cut off his head on behalf of the emperor!"

Upon hearing this, the quartermaster immediately slid down to kneel before Li Sheng: "General, please calm down. Have you forgotten? Half a year ago, you took the kerosene in the armory and sold it to buy money for drinking."

After being reminded by the quartermaster, Li Sheng recalled that he had indeed been short of money for a while and had secretly resold kerosene. After all, who would have thought that one day he would go to war with the State of Chu?

But how could he possibly admit it?

"Guards, take this treacherous soldier who spreads rumors and steals from his post out and deal with him according to military law!"

Upon hearing this, the quartermaster broke out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, the lieutenant advised, "General, with a formidable enemy at hand, executing a general first is an ominous sign. Let us pardon him for now and allow him to atone for his crime through meritorious service."

Anyway, the Chu army is powerful, and this oil won't affect the overall situation. The most urgent task is to get the molten gold burning.

"Then I'll spare your life for now and let you atone for your crimes!" Li Sheng waved his hand. "Hurry up and go boil the molten gold."

"Thank you, General. Thank you, General!"

The quartermaster thanked him profusely and went off to do his work.

The pot was set up, and the golden sauce was poured in.

However, the fire just wouldn't light.

"General, this firewood is damp and moldy, it just won't light!"

"What happened?!"

One wave subsides only for another to rise; upon hearing the devastating news, Li Sheng felt a surge of irritation.

Upon closer inspection, his face turned ashen.

The firewood was visibly unusable; it would crumble into dust with the slightest touch of a finger.

Li Sheng angrily cursed, "Is this kind of firewood even usable? Why didn't we go to Nanshan to cut better firewood earlier?"

"Reporting to the general, two months ago you sold the Nanshan Garden to the local Tang family. The firewood in the armory has long been moldy and damp, and is no longer usable."

Li Sheng's face immediately turned ashen.

Indeed, it was he who secretly sold the Nanshan forest area, which was under the jurisdiction of the military camp, to a wealthy local family.

But what if I don't have the money to pay for prostitution?

I'm a man, I have needs too. Managing military affairs is so tiring every day, what's wrong with occasionally going to a brothel a million times? Besides, who in the military doesn't go to brothels? Who can go a few days without one!

Li Sheng still didn't think it was his fault.

"If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!"

Upon hearing this, the quartermaster immediately replied, "The armory has sold all two hundred crossbows, two thousand fine iron swords, five hundred suits of armor, as well as the boulders and logs."

Now the warehouse only contains some unwanted cast iron swords and rusty spears and lances..."

Upon hearing this, Li Sheng roared, "Damn it, how are we supposed to fight like this!"

Needless to say, he knew he had sold them all.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than another ear-piercing whistling sound came from the void.

"Get down!"

boom--

Three more grenades exploded on the city wall.

In an instant, large numbers of soldiers were blown to pieces.

Upon smelling the bloody odor in the air, Li Shengxiang's pants immediately became incredibly smelly.

All I could hear were cries of agony from the city walls.

"Don't fight, don't fight!"

Li Sheng trembled violently, his body shaking uncontrollably.

At this moment, he completely abandoned the last shred of resistance.

"Hear my command! Lay down your weapons, open the city gates, and welcome our friendly nation into the city with the highest honors!"

……

Three rounds of artillery fire rendered the 100,000 Wu soldiers stationed at Jianjia Pass defenseless, and they laid down their weapons and opened the city gates to welcome the Chu army into the city.

Li Sheng took the initiative to stand at the city gate, waiting for the arrival of the Chu army commander.

After a series of synchronized thuds of iron blades striking the ground, Shen Lang, protected by the Central Army, rode his horse to the city walls.

Li Sheng immediately stepped forward: "Li Sheng, the garrison commander of Jianjia in Great Wu, respectfully welcomes the Marshal of Great Chu into the city."

Shen Lang adjusted his sunglasses and stared coldly at Li Sheng below the horse.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finally broke the whip in his hand and spoke, leaning down from his horse and looking at Li Sheng, asking him a question.

How many troops are still guarding Jianjia Pass?

"Yes, General, 100,000 men."

"One hundred thousand people? Then how did the number drop?"

"I……"

Shen Lang's smile vanished, and he stared at Li Sheng with a gloomy expression, making Li Sheng feel a chill run through his body.

Shen Lang stopped wasting words with him, stood up and shouted, "Lead the horse and lead the way!"

Upon hearing this, Li Sheng was taken aback.

"Why, don't you want to?"

"No, I would be more than happy to lead the general's horse."

Although Li Sheng was very unwilling, he was forced by the situation to slowly pull Shen Lang's mount into the pass.

Thus, Jianjia Pass was breached by the Chu army's three test shots, much to the disappointment of the central army generals who were prepared to witness rivers of bloodshed.