Chapter 1440 - 347: Leveraging Power (Part 3)

Chapter 1440: Chapter 347: Leveraging Power (Part 3)

Luo Ling growled,

"The Prince is not here, and apart from an imperial envoy, I, Luo Ling, do not feel the need to kneel to anyone!

Unless,

you bring out the Prince’s Tiger Talisman and Royal Seal and place them before me, otherwise..."

Lord Zheng glanced at a hidden compartment under the desk.

Actually, the Tiger Talisman and Royal Seal were right there.

To approve memorandums, the seal was needed, so it was kept here.

As for the Tiger Talisman,

Prince Jingnan does not need it to mobilize troops.

Lord Zheng could take out these two items now, but he did not want to.

To borrow authority too directly is like wind that blows in and then blows away.

This is a skill, a skill to retain the wind, at least some of it on oneself.

Lord Zheng stretched out his hand, pointing at the memorandums scattered across the floor, which he had kicked away earlier,

and said:

"What are these? General Luo has followed the Prince for over ten years; he cannot be unaware of the Prince’s military habits, cannot be unaware of what these are, right?"

Zheng Fan’s voice suddenly rose:

"During this period, I have been temporarily approving these memorandums on behalf of the Prince, and handling military affairs, do you not know?"

Speaking of which,

Zheng Fan spread his arms, resting them on the back of his chair,

and said:

"Don’t feign ignorance, we are all family here. If you insist on breaking the rules, fine. If you insist that I bring out the Tiger Talisman and Royal Seal before you, that’s fine too.

You can stand there, keep standing, hahaha..."

Lord Zheng’s gaze suddenly sharpened, looking at the surrounding Prince Jingnan’s guards,

"I am sitting here because the Prince instructed me to handle military matters here, so my handling of these affairs is the Prince’s order!

General Luo,

has risen high,

become imposing,

set up airs,

and has forgotten,

what the first iron rule is in the Jingnan army,

Have you all,

forgotten too?"

Lord Zheng immediately shouted:

"Listen to the order, royal mansion guards!"

The guards immediately made a salute to follow the command.

"Within ten breaths, if General Luo does not kneel, execute!"

"You dare!" Luo Ling glared angrily.

"One, two, three..."

Lord Zheng closed his eyes, tapping his fingers lightly on his thigh, as if leisurely keeping rhythm.

"Seven, eight..."

Luo Ling watched out of the corner of his eye the royal mansion guards beside him, most of whom were already adjusting their energy.

Having been a royal mansion guard himself, Luo Ling knew that these men valued the Prince’s orders more than their lives.

Though it felt absurd, though it felt incomprehensible,

Luo Ling understood,

they,

would truly draw their swords against him.

"Nine..."

Luo Ling knelt down.

He was not afraid of dying; in battle, he was always adept at charging. But he did not want to die so unjustly!

The guards around him also breathed a sigh of relief.

It was not their fault; the initial impression created by Lord Zheng, supplemented by the countdown, left them unable to discern or think, only to follow instinct.

And that instinct was,

Lord Pingye,

had been handling military affairs on behalf of the Prince for a long time!

On the other side,

Wang Mi, upon seeing Luo Ling kneel, immediately knelt as well.

Now it was settled,

originally two men were kneeling; now four were kneeling.

Lord Zheng opened his eyes, got up, and finally left the chair.

As he walked, rubbing his wrist slowly,

he was not in armor since he was not outside the camp; he wore a purple robe that Siniang hand-embroidered, fitting and breathable.

Though Luo Ling had knelt down, his gaze was still filled with anger.

He genuinely hadn’t expected that upon entering this military tent, he would face such a situation.

What baffled him more was why Lord Pingye would act this way!

Lord Zheng walked before Wang Mi,

the previous scene where Lord Zheng almost ordered the guards to forcibly cut down Luo Ling had truly shaken Wang Mi’s resolve. Seeing Zheng Fan approach, he quickly lowered his head,

and said:

"This subordinate acknowledges the fault!"

"Heh."

Lord Zheng chuckled,

and then kicked Wang Mi in the shoulder. He did not hold back, directly kicking Wang Mi over.

Following that,

Lord Zheng immediately pointed at Hsu Guang and Huang Qi, who were kneeling in the middle,

and cursed:

"What are they doing, arguing over military merits, the two deputy generals are dueling over there! Less than 30 miles from their duel site, there are two Chu army camps yet to be stormed!

If the men below are ignorant,

fine!

But you,

as primary generals, because of these two fools, you fought all the way to the Central Army King’s Tent!

Do you consider the Chu as lifeless?

Do you think the Chu have surrendered completely?

Within Town South Pass, outside Town South Pass, behind Town South Pass,

there are still hundreds of thousands of Chu soldiers!

Do you think this battle is over?

Do you understand,

the civilians in Yan and Jin land, to support our war, have tightened their belts to what extent?

Do you know,

government officials’ salaries have been halved,

the Crown Prince, though of age, still must remain in the prince’s mansion due to the lack of silver from the court!

Do you realize,

if this war does not end victoriously,

If Town South Pass is not taken,

what will that mean?

What will it mean!"

Lord Zheng turned around,

walked to Luo Ling,

and shouted:

"It means the Chu can still anytime emerge from Town South Pass, invade north into Jin land. We must continue to station our troops here to guard against them!"