Chapter 27: Qin Shi Huang's Shock!

Wang Yan said nothing, merely looking toward Zhao Feng.

"Your original logistics camp has not yet been relocated, so I have arranged a shelter for you at the main camp's station."

"Also, General Li Teng wishes to see you tonight. I will send someone to inform you when the time comes," Wang Yan said slowly.

"What does General Li want with me?" Zhao Feng asked.

"You will know once you meet him," Wang Yan replied.

"Fine." Zhao Feng nodded, asking no further questions.

"I'm leaving."

Wang Yan glanced at Zhao Feng once more. Seeing that he had nothing else to say to her, a hint of disappointment flickered in her heart, but she turned around immediately, preparing to depart.

However, when she reached the entrance of the wounded soldiers' camp, she paused.

"I did indeed join the army to prove myself, but do you know why I feel the need to prove myself? Do you think I truly want to?"

With those words, Wang Yan left, carrying a sense of resentment stemming from deep within her heart.

Zhao Feng, meanwhile, felt somewhat puzzled.

"Heaven knows why you feel the need to prove yourself. Is there really a need to hold such a grudge against me?" Zhao Feng thought to himself, feeling bewildered. They had only met once, yet he could clearly sense the resentment in her words.

To the side, Master Chen watched Wang Yan depart with a smile, then turned his gaze toward Zhao Feng.

"Kid," Master Chen said with a chuckle, "you've got quite the luck with women."

"What do you mean, 'luck with women'?" Zhao Feng looked at Master Chen, confused.

"I know that girl; her background is anything but simple. If you can win her over, you'll be rising to great heights in the future," Master Chen teased.

"Brother Chen, don't talk nonsense. I'm not even that close to her," Zhao Feng said irritably. "And what do you mean, 'win her over'?"

"I heard previously that someone saved her life amidst the chaos of war. I didn't know who it was, but now I see—it was you, kid."

"A life-saving debt!"

"That is a massive favor. Is that not a massive destiny?" Master Chen laughed.

Zhao Feng shot him a glance and went straight to treating the wounded.

Master Chen watched him, a smile playing in his eyes. "To think... Wang Jian's precious daughter actually has someone she's taken an interest in. At fifteen, she is at the perfect age for an arranged marriage. The King intended to betroth Wang Jian's daughter to Young Master Fusu."

"She joined the army to escape that fate, hoping to change her destiny through military merit."

"Wang Jian's daughter truly is a remarkable woman."

...

Xianyang!

The solemn and majestic Hall of the Qin King!

"Greed for glory and reckless advancement. Failing to deploy reinforcements to hold Yang City, and pursuing the enemy without first clearing the city."

"Allowing Bao Yuan to lead nearly ten thousand troops to hide within Yang City and strike our rear and supply lines."

"Li Teng..."

"You have disappointed me greatly."

High upon the throne, Ying Zheng's face was livid, radiating fury.

"May the King calm his anger!"

The assembled ministers all raised their court tablets and cried out in unison.

Bao Yuan's ambush in Yang City was an undeniable setback in the campaign to destroy Han—it could even be called a failure, and one that could have been avoided.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty," Wei Liao stepped forward and spoke loudly. "Although Bao Yuan launched a surprise ambush, his forces were ultimately limited, and he was facing the Great General Wang Jian. While our Qin supply lines will suffer some losses from this raid, it is not enough to affect our conquest of Han."

Ying Zheng nodded coldly. "I hope so."

"The losses of this battle are the fault of Li Teng. I shall record this crime and punish him at a later time."

As the war was at its height and reached a critical juncture for the destruction of Han, Ying Zheng could not afford to be so short-sighted as to replace a general in the middle of a campaign.

Just then!

"Report!"

A loud shout echoed from outside the Hall of the Qin King.

The eyes of the civil and military officials converged on the entrance, most of them filled with trepidation.

A rapid messenger carrying a command flag rushed into the hall. He held a bamboo tube in one hand and carried a box on his back.

"Urgent report from the Great General!"

"Please, Your Majesty, review it!"

The messenger bowed deeply and hurriedly removed the bamboo tube from his back.

Ying Zheng's gaze immediately shifted toward him.

Beside him, Zhao Gao walked swiftly toward the base of the hall, quickly took the bamboo tube, and then, bowing low, hurried up the steps.

Returning to Ying Zheng's side, Zhao Gao immediately opened the tube and extracted the urgent bamboo slips within.

"Please, Your Majesty, review this."

Zhao Gao knelt, presenting the report with both hands.

Ying Zheng took the report expressionlessly and began to read.

As he read, a look of surprise crossed his face.

Once he had finished, the livid color of his face was replaced by a subtle smile.

"Hahaha!"

"Bao Yuan, Bao Yuan..."

"All your schemes have come to nothing!" Ying Zheng laughed loudly.

With that burst of laughter, the oppressive atmosphere that had blanketed the hall instantly dissipated.

The ministers looked at one another, realizing that this urgent report must be good news from Wang Jian.

"Your Majesty," Li Si stepped forward, asking tentatively, "did the Great General annihilate Bao Yuan?"

"Not only annihilated," Ying Zheng laughed heartily, looking immensely satisfied. "Bao Yuan is dead. After this, Han will have no capable generals left to block the spearhead of Great Qin!"

As the first state to march east to unify the lands, Ying Zheng naturally placed immense importance on this campaign. The first battle of the eastern expansion could not afford failure. Li Teng's reckless pursuit had indeed angered him.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"The destruction of Han is just around the corner!"

The civil and military officials cheered in unison.

"The command capability of Great General Wang Jian is incomparable to Bao Yuan's," Wei Liao said with a smile. "Bao Yuan took a risky gamble, but in the end, he could not withstand the military might of Great Qin."

"You are mistaken, Wei Liao," Ying Zheng said with a smile, a strange expression on his face.

"If it was not the Great General who annihilated Bao Yuan, then who was it? Did Li Teng realize his mistake and retreat?" Wei Liao asked immediately.

"This report will shock you all."

Ying Zheng waved the report in his hand and then handed it to Zhao Gao beside him. "Read it!"

Zhao Gao took the bamboo slips and faced the hall, reading aloud in a raspy voice that echoed through the chamber: "Your servant, Wang Jian, submits this report to the King!"

"In the battle of Yang City, Li Teng's greed for glory led to reckless advancement. He failed to leave heavy troops to garrison the city, allowing Bao Yuan to find an opportunity to launch a sneak attack on our forces and our supply lines in Yang City."

"During Bao Yuan's surprise raid, over nine thousand three hundred of the ten thousand soldiers in our first logistics army were killed in the ambush."

"However, at the critical moment of retreat, a brave sergeant from the logistics army stepped forward. He led his subordinates to engage the enemy, eventually rallying all the fleeing logistics troops to turn and fight. With fewer than five thousand men, acting as a logistics unit, he successfully pinned down nearly seven thousand of Han's elite troops, successfully holding out until five thousand elite reinforcements arrived at Yang City. Together, the two forces successfully annihilated the enemy."

"In this battle!"

"The logistics army fought bravely. Though they were not elite soldiers, they lived up to the name of Qin warriors. This is a merit!"

"And the key to the logistics army's counterattack lies in one man."