Crossing the vast fields of the western outskirts of Jingyuan, the towering Juhan Mountain suddenly appeared before Qin Yu’s eyes.
At the eastern foothills of Juhan Mountain lay Jingyuan Commandery.
This time, the rebellion was led by the Jingyuan Commandery Marshal and the Governor.
Jingyuan was not a strategic military stronghold, housing only about three thousand troops stationed permanently, all concentrated in the commandery seat, Jing City.
When they were a hundred li from Jing City, Qin Yu ordered a halt to their march and commanded the camp to be set up on the spot.
The camp was located beside a river, and Qin Yu recognized from the map that this river was called the Jing River.
Their camp was upstream along the Jing River, which flowed from east to west through Jing City, then reached the foot of Juhan Mountain, turning northward along the mountain’s north-south orientation before flowing into the sea.
“Are we upstream?” Qin Yu looked at the terrain, quickly forming a concrete plan based on her strategy.
The setting sun bled red as it hung low over Juhan Mountain.
Evening had arrived, and the soldiers began preparing dinner.
Dinner consisted of a baked flatbread and a piece of beef.
The soldiers took out their portable stoves and started frying the beef.
“Zhong Ge! Why don’t you eat with us?” The soldiers sat around in a circle on the ground, inviting Qin Yu to join them.
Qin Yu’s face darkened in embarrassment: ‘I am not Zhong Chang Gong. If I eat with you all, won’t I just reveal my identity?’
To avoid blowing her cover, Qin Yu intended to minimize communication with the soldiers.
She waved her hand and said, “I have a slight cold, so I won’t infect you all.”
The soldiers burst into laughter, “Zhong Ge is invincible in battle, yet today he’s been defeated by a cold!”
“Heh heh…” Qin Yu laughed awkwardly and slipped away with Luo Shangyu to a corner.
“I didn’t expect Zhong Chang Gong to get along so well with the soldiers, no trace of a superior’s airs!” Luo Shangyu marveled.
“Yeah, it’s really unexpected. But I think I already know why he’s been targeted.”
“Oh?” Luo Shangyu’s interest was piqued.
“I recall that the military rations and funds allocated to soldiers by the court are meager. Supplying meals like theirs barely breaks even, leaving no room for embezzlement by officers. I suppose Zhong Chang Gong insisted on proper disbursement of military funds, cutting off the corrupt pockets in the Ministry of War. That must’ve earned him a lot of enemies who wanted to sabotage him by cutting off his financial channels,” Qin Yu speculated.
“That makes sense,” Luo Shangyu agreed.
“The Left Yulin Army numbers fifty thousand. Three meals a day, each meal embezzling three copper coins—that’s 450,000 copper coins a day. In a year, that number becomes…”
The staggering figure silenced Luo Shangyu’s calculation.
“To maintain integrity in the face of such vast wealth, Zhong Chang Gong is no ordinary man!” Qin Yu sighed with admiration, deciding then to recruit him as her subordinate.
The sun had already dipped below Juhan Mountain, and darkness enveloped the camp, with only scattered lights flickering faintly.
In the distance, faint moving flames flickered on Jing City’s walls — likely sentries on watch.
The time had come.
Qin Yu began executing her plan.
She gathered the soldiers and led them to a small grove a few li east of the camp.
Then, she instructed each soldier to hold two torches, one in each hand, and line up in a single-file column.
One by one, they walked out of the grove at a moderate pace toward the camp.
Luo Shangyu waited at the camp, guiding the returning soldiers to extinguish their torches before returning to the grove to await the next round.
In this manner, the soldiers made several circuits back and forth before Qin Yu finally called off the exercise.
Everyone was puzzled, unsure why Qin Yu ordered such a strange maneuver.
Qin Yu smiled faintly and said: “At night, the enemy can’t see each individual clearly; they only judge our numbers by torchlight. When you walked into the camp carrying torches, the enemy will think reinforcements have arrived. Then, when you extinguish the torches and return unseen, the enemy will believe our troops are endless and overestimate our numbers, causing them to fear us.”
Upon hearing this, everyone praised, “Lord Zhong is truly ingenious!”
Luo Shangyu, who knew the real identity of “Zhong Chang Gong,” was surprised: ‘The usually careless Qin Yu actually came up with such a brilliant trick?’
She pulled Qin Yu aside to a secluded corner and asked, “Where did you learn this?”
Hearing the question, Qin Yu recalled the history of her previous life.
Back in the late Eastern Han dynasty, during the Ten Regular Attendants’ rebellion and Dong Zhuo’s seizure of power, Dong Zhuo had his troops secretly sneak out of the capital at night and parade back in the daytime.
This created the illusion that he had a massive army.
Now, Qin Yu was simply borrowing the tactic.
Seizing the moment to boast, she pretended to be profound and said to Luo Shangyu, “I’ve read extensively on military strategy. This little trick is nothing!”
***
Eastern Palace, Yongan City.
Grand Tutor Yin entered the Eastern Palace, intending to check on Qin Yu’s work, but aside from a pile of neatly organized documents, he couldn’t find her.
“Where is the Crown Princess?” Grand Tutor Yin asked a Maid.
“Your Grace, Qin Yu left the Eastern Palace this afternoon…” the Maid replied.
***
After a thorough inquiry, Grand Tutor Yin learned of Qin Yu’s whereabouts.
“Skipping class to play and still not back at this hour?” Grand Tutor Yin was somewhat angry.
Finally, following the Maid’s directions, he arrived at the last place Qin Yu had appeared — the servant quarters.
Grand Tutor Yin called all the eunuchs in the quarters together and questioned them directly, “Did any of you see the Crown Princess this afternoon?”
His tone was stern and face dark.
The small eunuch who had attended Qin Yu that afternoon, seeing Grand Tutor Yin’s grim demeanor, thought he was about to be executed.
Terrified, his legs gave way, and he kowtowed rapidly, recounting the afternoon’s events in detail, hoping for leniency.
Listening to the small eunuch’s account, Grand Tutor Yin realized the moment Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu had taken two eunuchs’ clothes — he immediately understood Qin Yu’s plan.
‘Impersonating someone to sneak out of the palace? Interesting!’ Grand Tutor Yin mused.
With no choice, and the culprit already gone, Grand Tutor Yin could only report to Qin Ling.
***
Between the Imperial Palace’s main gate, Zhengyang Gate, and Yongan City’s main gate, Vermilion Bird Gate, stretched the wide Vermilion Bird Avenue.
Though it was already nine at night, the street was still bustling with people.
A lone rider made his way through the crowd toward Zhengyang Gate.
The street lamps cast shifting light on his handsome face.
This was Zhong Chang Gong.
That afternoon, a friend of Zhong Chang Gong from the Ministry of War, having overheard Vice Minister of War Guo Qing’s plot, rushed to Zhong Mansion to warn his family and protect them from Guo Qing’s scheming.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Zhong Chang Gong himself.
After exchanging information, Zhong Chang Gong was shocked—not only had the Ministry’s hatred toward him reached such a degree that they wanted him eliminated, but he himself had never received any official orders for troop deployment!
Determined to clear up the misunderstanding, Zhong Chang Gong urged his horse forward, quickly reaching Zhengyang Gate.
He drew out his token—the Left Yulin Army Command Silver Badge—and shouted, “Left Yulin Commander Zhong Chang Gong requests audience with His Majesty, utmost urgency!”
The soldiers, seeing the Yulin Commander’s badge, dared not neglect him and hurriedly ushered him into the Imperial Palace.
***
At Jing City’s city tower, a middle-aged man stood atop the walls, dark red hair blowing in the wind.
He was Governor Yang Wei of Jingyuan Commandery.
Beside him stood Jingyuan Commandery Marshal Yang Dan, also with dark red hair.
Looking closely, their features bore a resemblance — obviously brothers.
Their family had long held military and political power in Jingyuan Commandery, effectively local overlords.
But this generation’s Yang Wei and Yang Dan had wild ambitions and declared the rebellion.
That afternoon, Yang Wei initially felt confident when only a small detachment arrived to quell the uprising, but as more troops arrived throughout the night, fear crept in.
He worried the imperial forces were too many to resist.
In truth, the Yang brothers were incompetent—lacking even a fraction of their predecessors’ abilities.
They had no military talent or governance skills, yet dreamed of carving out their own domain.
It was sheer fantasy.
Marshal Yang Dan had never been to a battlefield nor seen real war but fancied himself a great warrior.
Upon seeing the opposing troops, he suggested, “Big brother, let’s strike before they establish their foothold and crush them!”
Yang Wei pondered briefly.
“Better not. Their reinforcements are still arriving, and their strength is unknown. We should be cautious.”
Thus, Yang Wei abandoned the idea of a nighttime assault.
***
Yongan City, Imperial Palace, Yude Hall in the harem.
It was now quarter past nine.
Grand Tutor Yin was recounting Qin Yu’s afternoon escapade to Qin Ling.
Qin Ling only chuckled lightly, “Qin Yu is young; it’s natural she loves to play. Besides, she completed her mission without neglecting her studies. You need not worry.”
Grand Tutor Yin opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a eunuch shouting from outside, “Report to His Majesty: Left Yulin Commander Zhong Chang Gong requests audience!”
“Let him in,” Qin Ling said.
No sooner had he spoken than Zhong Chang Gong rushed into the hall, knelt before Qin Ling, and kowtowed repeatedly, “I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness! I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness!” then prostrated himself in frantic obeisance.
Qin Ling was dumbfounded, “Why do you say such things, my lord?”
Trembling, Zhong Chang Gong lifted his head, “Your Majesty, I took leave today to stay home, but a rebellion broke out in Jingyuan, and the Ministry of War ordered me to suppress it. However, I never received any orders to deploy. After inquiring, I learned the Ministry had already sent military commands in my name. According to the Left Yulin Army records, ‘I’ had already gathered troops and marched toward Jingyuan around three this afternoon.”
His voice shook as if on the verge of tears.
Upon hearing this and recalling what Grand Tutor Yin said about Qin Yu’s afternoon activities, Qin Ling roughly pieced together the truth: Qin Yu, to avoid exposing her identity, had impersonated Zhong Chang Gong to quell the rebellion.
Qin Ling looked at Yin An for confirmation, and Yin An nodded subtly.
Having confirmed his suspicion, Qin Ling said to Zhong Chang Gong, “You need not worry. Here is what happened…”
He proceeded to explain how Qin Yu had impersonated Zhong Chang Gong that afternoon and been forced to lead the troops.
“Oh? Is that so?” Zhong Chang Gong exhaled in relief.
‘If the Crown Princess replaced my identity, I shouldn’t be punished, right?” Zhong Chang Gong thought to himself.
***
At the home of Vice Minister of War Guo Qing.
“Bad news, Lord Guo!” an officer reported.
“According to reports from Yongan City to Jingyuan Commandery’s various towns, this afternoon Zhong Chang Gong led troops to Jingyuan. But just now, palace spies reported Zhong Chang Gong entered the palace and had an audience with the emperor.”
“Hmm?” Guo Qing was stunned.
After pondering, he concluded, “Zhong Chang Gong must have sent a substitute to suppress the rebellion!”
The officer could not think of a better explanation and nodded.
Guo Qing stood and issued orders, “No matter what Zhong Chang Gong says before the emperor, he cannot hide his crime of disobeying orders and using a false identity. Treason against the sovereign warrants extermination of his entire clan! Find a Mage and have him lead a squad to the front lines to capture the ‘Zhong Chang Gong’ impostor! This time, he will surely die!”
The officer accepted the order but soon raised a concern, “My lord, what if the impostor adamantly denies being a fake?”
“That’s easy! Take the imperial edict. I’ll make it now. You just need to present it to legitimize your actions.”
“But where will you get the edict now?”
“I’ll write one on the spot,” Guo Qing said dismissively.
“Someone’s backing me. Nothing will go wrong.”
The officer nodded blankly.
Forging an imperial edict was a capital crime punishable by extermination of the entire family!
He was just a lowly official — did he want to risk annihilation?
Guo Qing took up the brush and wrote, “By Imperial Edict: Someone has impersonated Zhong Chang Gong to lead troops in rebellion. Capture him immediately!”
Then he stamped it with the Imperial Seal.
Ironically, although Guo Qing’s imperial seal was forged, the magical imprint it left was indistinguishable from the real Imperial Seal — remarkably convincing.
***
Night deepened, but the camp remained restless.
Soldiers awaited Qin Yu’s orders for a nighttime raid.
Inside Qin Yu’s quarters, she and Luo Shangyu studied the map, preparing a probing attack on Jing City under cover of darkness.
Suddenly, eleven figures descended from the sky, rushing into the camp.
Leading them was a man holding the imperial edict high, loudly proclaiming, “Zhong Chang Gong, come to receive the imperial decree!”