DLWAV CH147

But that wasn’t even the most important part.

Most importantly, if she hadn’t chosen to be a salted fish, she might have recognized their founding Emperor Taizu long ago, and met their founding Emperor Taizu long ago.

—She could definitely qualify for the Annual Dumbest Fan Award.

Fortunately, however, it still wasn’t too late.

Originally, she had simply thought that although the Yangji imperial family weren’t good people, the fact that they managed to become emperors proved they had some capability.

Now, though, she didn’t think so anymore.

Her idol’s enemy was her enemy—

As a true, dedicated fan, she felt she had to do something.

Meng Jiao clenched her fists tightly.

Right at that moment, her father returned.

Speaking of her father in this world, he was practically identical to her dad in her previous world.

Both were “phoenix men.”

In the truest sense of the term.

Her dad in her past life had come from a rural background. By pulling strings through his girlfriend, he became the final disciple of his professor father-in-law, and over a decade later, successfully became a university professor himself.

Unlike the vast majority of phoenix men, however, he knew how to repay kindness.

When his father-in-law pointed east, he never looked west.

When his father-in-law fell gravely ill, he took a leave of absence from work and stayed home to take care of him for several months.

When his wife passed away early, he stayed with his daughter, never remarrying until the day he died.

Her father in this world also hailed from a farming family. Relying on the support of his in-laws, he passed the imperial examinations as a Jinshi, ultimately securing the position of Minister of War.

After his wife died, he also looked after his daughter and never remarried, keeping his inner courtyard completely clean without a single concubine.

Coupled with the fact that at first glance they actually bore quite a resemblance, Meng Jiao had once genuinely wondered whether her dad had transmigrated to this world back then too, bringing her along with him.

Precisely because of this, after transmigrating to this world, she had integrated into this household very easily.

Then, as if struck by inspiration, her eyes lit up, and she went straight forward to greet him.

“Father, the Wu army will soon be marching upon us. What are your thoughts?”

At almost the exact same time, her father Meng Heyi’s voice rang out: “The rebel army will soon march upon us. Tonight, Father will send you away—straight to the South Seas. Father has a few merchant friends over there, and they will take care of you.”

“If Great Yang can emerge victorious in this battle, I will personally come to bring you home.”

“If we cannot…”

At this point, Meng Heyi couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

Meng Jiao: “…”

Alright, she didn’t even need to ask further to know what Meng Heyi was thinking.

He was dead set on living and dying alongside the Great Yang.

Still, Meng Jiao didn’t feel disappointed.

She had long anticipated that Meng Heyi would make such a choice. After all, as a scholar who had absorbed decades of loyalist ideology and steadfastly upheld his moral bottom line year in and year out—a veritable paragon of an ancient gentleman—making this kind of decision was only natural.

What Meng Jiao hadn’t expected, however, was that Meng Heyi had already resolved to send her away.

This clearly violated his principles.

It proved just how profound his paternal love was for her.

Because of this, she couldn’t stand by and watch him do something foolish.

Anyone with half a brain could figure out that an old, useless fool like Emperor Jianzhao couldn’t possibly be a match for their wise, martial founding Emperor Taizu.

Meng Heyi’s end could only be one thing.

“No—”

Meng Heyi, however, had clearly anticipated her reaction.

He had come fully prepared.

In the next second, several servant boys and maids filed in.

Meng Heyi instructed them directly: “Go on, help the young miss pack her luggage.”

“Father?”

Fortunately, Meng Jiao had a flash of wit: “I’ll go, alright? I’ll go!”

She choked up, sniffling: “I know you are a benevolent, upright gentleman who could never commit treason or betray your lord, so I won’t try to dissuade you. But parting now, who knows if we father and daughter will ever meet again.”

“In any case, haven’t the rebels not arrived yet? I just want to stay and keep you company for a few more days.”

“Father, you have dedicated your life and your loyalty entirely to the Emperor and Great Yang, and I don’t blame you for it. But can’t you leave me with even this last bit of solace?”

Hearing this, Meng Heyi’s eyes rimmed red in an instant.

He couldn’t resist pulling Meng Jiao into an embrace: “My dear daughter.”

How could he not wish to look upon Meng Jiao a little longer himself?

“If you want to stay for a few more days, then stay a few more days.”

“But you must promise me: the moment things look amiss, you leave immediately.”

Meng Jiao: “Understood.”

Right at that moment, the housekeeper arrived to report that Emperor Jianzhao had summoned him urgently.

Meng Heyi was forced to release Meng Jiao and head out to see Emperor Jianzhao first.

Choking with tears, Meng Jiao saw Meng Heyi off to the door.

Yet the instant Meng Heyi’s sedan chair disappeared around the street corner, the expression on her face collapsed entirely.

She couldn’t help rubbing her cheeks, which had gone stiff from the strain.

Putting on a full acting performance was honestly asking far too much of an otaku shut-in.

Only Meng Heyi, blinded by his doting parental filter, would fail to see right through her routine.

Immediately afterward, she headed straight for Meng Heyi’s study.

Meng Heyi was the dignified Minister of War; practically every military deployment across Great Yang had to pass through his hands. Fearing he might forget crucial details, he inevitably kept written records of critical matters… Wasn’t that just handing her an opportunity on a silver platter?

In fact, that very night, Meng Heyi noticed that his study had been touched.

However, because Meng Jiao immediately admitted that she had been in his study, explaining that she used to be naive and had hardly done anything for him, and wanting to do a little something for him in these final days, had tidied up the room on his behalf.

Hearing this, Meng Heyi naturally harbored no suspicions.

Over the next few days, using the excuse of delivering herbal soup three times a day, Meng Jiao lingered inside Meng Heyi’s study, occasionally asking indirect questions about personnel deployments under the guise of worrying about the situation.

Just like that, in a matter of days, Meng Jiao pieced together a clear picture of the capital’s defense layout.

Exactly as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet had predicted, five days later, the Wu army rolled up to the foot of the capital.

Surveying the military encampments stretching for miles outside the walls, Emperor Jianzhao took a deep breath before turning to face the civil and military officials gathered behind him.

“Beloved ministers, whether Great Yang survives hinges entirely upon this battle.”

“So long as Great Yang wins this fight, every one of you will be a hero of the dynasty. I shall not mistreat you, and the history books will not be stingy with their praise. Your names will endure throughout eternity.”

Hearing this, Meng Heyi was the first to fall to his knees, declaring with resolute conviction: “We are willing to die for Your Majesty, and live or perish with Great Yang!”

The other officials promptly fell to their knees alongside him, raising their voices in a thunderous cry: “We are willing to die for Your Majesty, and live or perish with Great Yang!”

“We are willing to die for Your Majesty, and live or perish with Great Yang!”

For a time, the impassioned, righteous cries echoed throughout the skies above the capital.

And almost at the exact same moment.

Meng Jiao, having just slipped out of the capital, eagerly hailed her carriage driver, saying with pure excitement: “Quick, turn around! Head for the Wu army’s main camp!”

…

Upon learning that the only daughter of the court’s Minister of War, Meng Heyi, had suddenly run to their camp to present the capital’s defense maps, along with the court’s detailed ambush plan to wipe out their vanguard and destroy their flintlocks, everyone was stunned.

Yao Wenju immediately cautioned: “Your Majesty, beware of deceit.”

After all, throughout the entire Great Yang, who didn’t know that Minister of War Meng Heyi was one of the rarest, most upright gentlemen alive? How could he possibly betray the court?

Ao Ruize, however, merely smiled: “It is fine. Formulate the battle plan to take the capital strictly based on the ambush plan and defense maps Miss Meng provided.”

Yao Wenju paused.

He quickly grasped the situation, however. Though he didn’t know why Ao Ruize was so certain that the ambush plan and defense maps offered by Meng Jiao were authentic, he knew that without absolute certainty, Ao Ruize would never give such a command.

“Understood.”

He flipped open the plan, took a look, and chuckled.

How should one put it? The court’s plan was quite clever: knowing their flintlocks, like bows and arrows, required aim to be lethal, they opted for a nighttime sneak attack under poor lighting conditions.

Except for one critical error: the court mistakenly assumed the storehouse used to keep their gunpowder was where their vanguard soldiers were quartered. If they actually charged into the gunpowder storehouse to set a blaze, no matter how many men they sent, that’s how many would perish.

Then again, the manpower guarding the storage depot was more than double that guarding the vanguard, so it was only natural for the court to draw such a mistaken conclusion.

Since that was the case, they could easily beat them at their own game.

That night, exactly according to the original plan, the court dispatched thirty thousand elite troops who burst out of the city gates and charged straight at them.

How could Emperor Jianzhao possibly sleep?

He simply summoned all the civil and military officials up to the city walls to wait for the army’s return.

Emperor Jianzhao and his cohort originally believed that with the Wu army’s defenses being so airtight, executing a successful sneak attack would be an arduous feat.

What they didn’t anticipate was that, judging by the distant sounds of slaughter, in barely a quarter of an hour, the thirty thousand elite soldiers they dispatched tore through unimpeded, crashing straight into the Wu army vanguard’s encampment.

“The rebel camp is in chaos!”

Someone shouted out.

Emperor Jianzhao and the others quickly cast their gazes elsewhere.

Sure enough, outside the vanguard’s tents, torchlights were scattered in complete disarray.

Before long, battle cries swept across the entire Wu camp.

Evidently, with the lighting being so dim and visibility low, the Wu army mistook their own comrades for the enemy and began slaughtering one another.

Moments later, they watched as clusters of torches converged into a concentrated force, smashing through the erratic lights and charging directly back toward the capital.

“That’s the Marquis of Changyang! It must be the Marquis of Changyang! They have successfully wiped out the rebel vanguard and are returning!”

“Excellent!”

Everyone clenched their fists in wild excitement.

They never dreamed the operation would proceed with such sheer perfection.

Great Yang was saved, and their wealth and status were secured.

Emperor Jianzhao was thrilled beyond measure: “Open the gates! Open the gates at once! I shall personally welcome the Marquis of Changyang… no, the Duke of Changyang, back into the city!”

“Yes, Sire!”

Because the lighting was far too poor, the city wall sentries couldn’t make out the faces of the generals below at all. Seeing that the returning cavalry were dressed in imperial court armor, they permitted them to approach unhindered.

One could well imagine how utterly bewildered Emperor Jianzhao and his entourage were upon realizing that not a single approaching general looked familiar.

Most tellingly, the lead general suddenly broke into a grin: “What do you know—it really takes zero effort when it lands right in your lap, doesn’t it?”

Emperor Jianzhao was the first to react. His eyes opened wide in terror, screaming hysterically: “Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor—”

Too late.