Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Layout

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A dead end becoming a chaotic situation would only expose more flaws.

The players who had set this game in motion could never have imagined that Gao Changsheng, originally intended to be a mere piece on the board, would one day leap off it and stand on equal footing with them.

“Wang Yong. County Magistrate.”

“Do you know what crimes you have committed?”

Gao Changsheng questioned them sternly.

“Your Highness, spare my life!” the county magistrate pleaded through his tears and runny nose.

“Your Highness, we had an agreement…”

Wang Yong protested, but before he could finish, Gao Changsheng silenced him with a murderous glare.

“The accidental fire in the military depot is a grave offense. If it affects the war on the northern frontier, it becomes a capital crime.”

“One of you neglected his duty while guarding the military depot. The other, as the county magistrate of Phoenix Rest County, allowed foreigners to enter the town, resulting in the fire.”

“Once I report this matter to the court, execution would be the least of your punishments.”

“If the war on the front lines suffers because of this, His Majesty will certainly order the extermination of all three of your clans!”

Gao Changsheng continued to threaten them.

“Is it really that serious?”

Wang Yong wore a foolish expression.

He was nothing like the county magistrate, who had served as an official for decades and understood the unspoken rules of officialdom all too well.

Many crimes did not depend on whether one had actually committed them. Once the time came to take the blame, there would be no way to escape it.

How could a tiny military depot possibly affect the entire war on the northern frontier? If it could, then the army of the Great Yong Dynasty would be far too fragile.

It was much the same as the crime of disturbing military morale: it could be treated as either a major offense or a minor one—or even ignored altogether.

The crucial question was who had the authority to define it.

“Your Highness, please save this old servant!”

“As long as Your Highness can spare my life, I am willing to do anything!”

The county magistrate was genuinely terrified.

He had spent his entire life climbing to the position of magistrate of Phoenix Rest County. A sixth-rank official was already the limit of what he could attain.

Although Phoenix Rest County was a complicated place with plenty of profits to be made, only those sitting in such positions knew the truth: no matter how much money they skimmed, the largest share always went to someone else.

Otherwise, why would such a prosperous post have remained his for more than a decade?

The mere scraps left behind by others had been enough to keep the county magistrate content. A man like that would naturally treasure his life more than anyone.

“You have made quite a fortune in Phoenix Rest County over the years, haven’t you?”

Gao Changsheng asked with a contemptuous smile.

“This… Since matters have come to this, I dare not deceive Your Highness.”

“This old servant has indeed embezzled a considerable sum. If Your Highness requires it, I am willing to sell everything I own and offer all my wealth to Your Highness!”

The county magistrate spoke with grim determination.

His life was nearly forfeit already. He might as well spend his fortune to avert disaster.

“Very well.”

“Since you have shown such sincerity, I will help you this once.”

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“Listen carefully.”

“After nightfall, bring a few trusted men and set fire to the granary.”

“Be certain that no one discovers you.”

Gao Changsheng deliberately lowered his voice.

“What?”

The county magistrate was horrified.

The fire at the military depot had nearly cost him his life as it was.

Now Gao Changsheng actually wanted him to burn the granary himself.

Was this not simply driving him to certain death?

“Your Highness, this old servant would never dare!”

The county magistrate shook his head repeatedly.

“Very well. Since you have no desire to live, then there is no point in my saying anything more.”

“Return home, wash your neck, and wait for death.”

Gao Changsheng waved him away with an expression of disgust.

“Please, no!”

“I simply do not understand Your Highness’s intentions.”

“Forgive this old servant’s stupidity. Could Your Highness enlighten me?”

The county magistrate forced out a bitter smile.

Gao Changsheng, however, ignored him.

Instead, he turned to Wang Yong.

“I promised Cloud Goose that I would keep you alive.”

“I did not expect an accident to occur.”

“If you wish to survive, then obey my orders. What do you say?”

After all, Wang Yong was Chu Cloud Goose’s cousin.

For Chu Cloud Goose’s sake, Gao Changsheng would save him.

But that depended on Wang Yong being willing to cooperate.

“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice.”

Wang Yong sighed helplessly.

Gao Changsheng had no time to indulge his feelings.

“After nightfall, set fire to the granary.”

“When it happens, take several men and run around the granary shouting battle cries.”

“If anyone approaches, simply run. Under no circumstances are you to engage them.”

He issued his instructions.

Wang Yong and the county magistrate exchanged a glance, completely unable to understand Gao Changsheng’s intentions.

Yet Gao Changsheng clearly had no intention of explaining himself.

For the sake of their lives, the two men could only do as he commanded.

In truth, what Gao Changsheng had ordered them to do was not difficult.

At present, nearly all twenty thousand soldiers of the supply convoy were inside the granary, while a smaller number were temporarily staying in the rear courtyard of the county office.

With Song Ziyong under house arrest by Gao Changsheng, the supply convoy was effectively leaderless.

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Setting fire to the granary in secret would be effortless.

Once the granary caught fire, chaos would inevitably erupt inside.

At that point, it would be even harder for anyone to notice Wang Yong and his men creating confusion outside.

As for why Gao Changsheng had not revealed his true objective to the two men, the reason was simple.

He still could not trust them completely.

As long as that suspicion remained, Gao Changsheng had no choice but to keep certain things to himself.

“General, it is time for you to show what you can do.”

“Help me find some capable, trustworthy men.”

“Find as many as you can before nightfall. I do not want to be stabbed in the back by my own people when the fighting begins.”

Gao Changsheng looked at the false Dou Yuan with an exasperated expression.

In truth, the false Dou Yuan was Han Cong.

A veteran of countless battlefields and Dou Yuan’s former thousand-man commander, Han Cong possessed an extraordinarily keen instinct.

With a single glance, he could distinguish the murderous aura radiating from a person.

It sounded almost mystical.

But it was simply the experience forged amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Afterward, Han Cong selected men under the pretext of reorganizing the supply convoy.

He bore the title of Great General, after all, and no one dared to disobey him.

Before nightfall, Han Cong had chosen a full three hundred men.

He stationed them in the new military depot.

Although the previous fire had destroyed most of the depot’s supplies, a considerable amount had still been salvaged—enough to equip all three hundred men.

“It is far fewer than we expected, but this is the absolute limit of what we can accomplish for now.”

“Old Han, tell me—when someone encounters a situation like this for the first time, is it normal for them to be afraid?”

Gao Changsheng sat inside the military tent, chatting idly with Han Cong beside him.

“Heh.”

“Young Master does not know this, but when I first joined the army, I followed the Great General into battle.”

“When I heard that I was going to the battlefield, I was so frightened that I wet my trousers.”

“Later, my comrades gave me a nickname: Han the Trouser-Wetter.”

Han Cong gazed into the distance, as though recalling the past.

“But when we raw recruits finally stood on the battlefield and faced the enemy’s vast army, all fear vanished.”

“There was only one thought in our minds: kill them all.”

“Only then would we have the right to survive!”

Han Cong’s face turned icy and grim, as though he had returned to that battlefield of old.

He was momentarily lost in thought, but before he had time to savor the mood, the night sky on the horizon suddenly blazed blood-red beneath the glow of fire.

“The fire has spread!”

“The granary is burning!”