Chapter 59 Two Fierce Warriors

Along with the Great General's words, Zhang Chuang and Zhang Zhen lowered their weapons, looking at the Great General and Zhou Hao.

"Since the old veteran has spoken, I naturally have to believe it. But are you two brave warriors willing to follow me to my fief?"

"I must make it clear in advance: my fief is currently in ruins, and upon arrival, the treatment will certainly not be as good as staying in the military."

Zhang Chuang pondered for a moment and asked Zhou Hao in a clear voice:

"What about our future?"

"If you truly have the ability, what harm is there in handing over the majority of my military authority to you?"

Zhou Hao smiled nonchalantly, brushing the matter aside as if it were nothing.

As long as he could make the soldiers under his command recognize him as the First Prince, even handing military authority to others would merely be a temporary entrustment.

It wouldn't be like the Emperor of Zhou, whose majority of troops did not directly obey his commands.

The brothers looked at each other, their eyes brimming with a hint of excitement.

Before Zhou Hao arrived, the Great General had already sought them out.

In the Great Zhou army, even with the Great General's appreciation, climbing the ranks step by step required time and military achievements.

Yet now, the frontier barbarians had lowered their banners and ceased the drums—where were military achievements to be found?

One could only slowly grind away and crawl upward bit by bit.

However, the Great General had offered them an alternative path.

Though they would have to give up everything in the military, as long as they could stay by the First Prince's side, securing the merits of supporting a new ruler was guaranteed.

Upon meeting Zhou Hao, the two men became even more convinced of their decision.

The First Prince had always been generous to his subordinates; there was no need to fear outshining their master, nor any need to worry about many unseemly complications.

Without a second thought, the two men agreed readily.

"Very well. In that case, starting tomorrow, you shall reside in the First Prince's Manor."

The Great General patted Zhang Chuang and Zhang Zhen on the shoulder.

"You need not hand over your armor and blades; consider them a gift from me. If anyone asks, simply mention the Great General."

Strictly speaking, once discharged from military registration, one was no longer permitted to possess armor.

Privately concealing armor was equivalent to treason.

Yet since these two were following Zhou Hao, they could not possibly lack even the most basic battle gear.

The Great General thus took it upon himself to bestow it upon them.

The two men dropped to one knee, their eyes filled with profound gratitude.

"We thank the Great General!"

They removed their mantles, shouldered their blades, and followed the carriage toward the First Prince's Manor.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hao remained behind to carefully ponder his next moves.

General Li had departed, but an opportunity had to be found to spirit away his family and dependents.

Only by smuggling these people into his own ranks would there be any possibility of persuading General Li to surrender.

Just as Zhou Hao and the Great General were discussing how to proceed, a household servant hurried over.

Zhou Hao cast a sidelong glance at him.

In such a short span of time, had they already investigated so many details?

Truly worthy of being a servant under the Great General—things were done with remarkable efficiency.

"Reporting to the Great General, General Li's family all reside within a single courtyard. There are guards at the entrance, but no other forces were found in the surrounding area."

At this, a look of utter perplexity filled the servant's eyes.

With only guards stationed at the front gate, weren't they afraid that General Li's family might tear down the walls, or that someone might help them scale the perimeter and escape?

"The watch changes approximately every three hours, meaning there should be four shifts of guards monitoring them throughout the day."

"Even when purchasing groceries, servants are sent out to do it. Though they live in a residence, they are essentially under house arrest."

Hearing this, Zhou Hao's eyes narrowed with a hint of doubt.

If that was the case, there was certainly a great opportunity to be exploited.

As long as someone could manage to scale the wall, talk sense into the family, and smuggle them into the First Prince's Manor under the cover of night, it would suffice.

Scarcely any elaborate planning was required.

"Old veteran, do you think there is anything fishy about this?"

Zhou Hao truly found it hard to believe this was the Third Prince's tactical brilliance.

Given such lax security, Zhou Hao could think of ten thousand ways to bypass the guards and establish contact with them.

He could even spirit them away without alarming the watchers.

"Nothing particularly fishy, I suppose. The Third Prince isn't overly bright; coming up with such a mediocre strategy and method is entirely expected."

After a brief moment of thought, the Great General deemed the affair devoid of any hidden traps—at best, it merely showed that many of the Third Prince's subordinates were slackers who loafed around on the job.

"Then I shall make a trip myself. When night falls, I will go take a look."

Zhou Hao understood that in matters like this, no matter what kind of subordinates were sent, none could match the sincerity of his personal appearance.

The likelihood of persuading them to leave the imperial city would thus be much greater.

At first, the Great General disagreed.

For the First Prince to engage in such petty, stealthy behavior in the dead of night was simply too undignified.

Most importantly, did Zhou Hao truly possess the ability to scale walls?

Once Zhou Hao demonstrated to the Great General how quickly he could clear a courtyard wall, the Great General ceased his doubts.

Although the walls of the Great Zhou were tall, with a bit of effort, Zhou Hao could still vault them using the skills from his previous life.

The courtyard walls here were not like those before his transmigration, where every household topped their concrete walls with embedded shards of glass.

These blue bricks and green tiles were simply no match for Zhou Hao.

Yet, agreement granted, the Great General still dispatched a few men to wait outside, standing by to provide backup for Zhou Hao at a moment's notice.

Time drifted quietly by. As the hour of night descended, Zhou Hao, dressed in a black gown and accompanied by several similarly clad household servants, slipped out of a side gate of the Great General's Manor.

Guided by the servants, they swiftly arrived beneath the wall of General Li's courtyard.

Within the imperial city, this residence was not particularly large, and the few guards merely waited inside the gatehouse at the entrance.

They had no intention whatsoever of barging into the inner living quarters.

Zhou Hao took aim at the courtyard wall, scaled it swiftly with a few agile movements, and dropped a rope behind to facilitate their eventual departure.

Just as Zhou Hao had anticipated, numerous lights flickered within the courtyard.

They were clearly lit candles.

Following the illumination, Zhou Hao approached the perimeter of the buildings, first using his finger to puncture a small hole in the lattice window paper to carefully observe the occupants within.

Bathed in the candlelight were an elderly couple and a haggard-looking woman.

At a glance, it was evident that apart from General Li's son, the rest of the household was gathered here.

That being the case, Zhou Hao saw no need for further circumlocution; he shoved the door open and stepped straight inside.

"Who's there?"

The old man reacted first, fixing his gaze squarely upon the pushed-open door, his eyes darting back and forth over Zhou Hao's figure.

Given this build and this stealthy movement, could someone have been sent to silence them?

"Do not panic, good people. I am here to rescue you from this sea of bitterness."

With that, Zhou Hao pulled down the mask covering his face and closed the door behind him.

"Sea of bitterness? We dwell peacefully within the imperial city; how could this possibly be called a sea of bitterness?"

Unimpressed, the old man let out a cold snort and prepared to cry out for the assistance of the two guards outside.

How could their household of the elderly, the weak, and the sick possibly resist such a bold intruder?

"Old master, do not be alarmed. Aren't you curious as to why General Li departed in such haste, and why guards have been stationed at your gates ever since he left?"