However, staying is his own choice,
perhaps dying there would be a kind of relief!
...
Throughout the journey, silent,
Gu Zhan was led by Qin You, weaving through a series of tents, and arrived outside a massive tent.
Qin You was about to send someone to report, when a soldier walked over, cupped his hands and said, "Lord Qin, the Marshal has instructed that if Marquis Gu arrives, you may directly enter, as the generals are currently strategizing the deployment."
Immediately,
Gu Zhan and Qin You entered the tent together.
This tent was large, inside gathered no less than twenty people, who were intently discussing a gigantic map of Yunzhou, the atmosphere was very heated, seemingly no one noticed Gu Zhan and Qin You.
Seeing this, Qin You hastily pointed to a chair, saying, "Marquis, would you like to sit for a while? The situation is dire, everyone is rather anxious, pray forgive the slighting, Marquis."
Gu Zhan chuckled lightly, directly carried the chair beside the generals, then set it down, sat down with an air of confidence, crossed his legs, and watched with great interest as the group passionately discussed the plans.
Gradually, inside the tent,
the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive,
everyone was made uneasy by Gu Zhan’s mocking gaze, that once fervent discussion quickly diluted.
The Marshal Ji Fu and Military Supervisor Lü Chang standing at the forefront had a slightly unpleasant expression.
Just then,
a burly bearded general suddenly slapped the table, pointed at Gu Zhan, and shouted angrily, "Who let this brat in here, does he not know where this is?"
Inside the tent, it was exceedingly quiet,
everyone looked at Gu Zhan with a hint of mockery.
Gu Zhan sat on the chair, slowly lifted his eyelids, looked at the bearded man, and softly said, "Kneel!"
Inside the tent, suddenly silent,
however, before they could react, a terrifying aura was suddenly released from Gu Zhan, overwhelming like a tidal wave, a dreadful might towering over them,
everyone felt a strong oppression in that instant.
But when they looked at the bearded man, they realized they were merely caught in it, the true target of the oppression was the bearded man.
A grandmaster, at this moment, directly knelt on the ground, his knees sank into the earth, cold sweat covered his forehead, his head and back incessantly bending towards the ground.
His bones were audibly creaking.
"Thud"
The grandmaster-cultivated bearded man ultimately couldn’t hold for a few moments, his head knocked onto the ground, his body shaking.
Inside the tent, everyone stared at Gu Zhan.
And at this moment, Gu Zhan nonchalantly crossed his legs, beckoned to a young general, and said, "Bring me some tea!"
That young general was one of the rare prodigies in the Xia Kingdom’s military, in his early twenties, already a Grandmaster, a rising star in the Xia Kingdom military, accustomed to seeing high officials, [the] current Emperor he had seen several times.
Yet, he had never felt the pressure he was experiencing facing Gu Zhan, with that mere beckon he shivered, cold sweat broke out, involuntarily started pouring tea, then tremblingly handed it to Gu Zhan, saying, "Gu... Marquis Gu... please, have some tea!"
Gu Zhan accepted the teacup, took a slow sip, looked at Ji Fu and Lü Chang, and said, "Duke of Lu, Marquis Pingjin, I came here to the Northern Territory leading troops, not to play games with you!"
As he spoke,
Gu Zhan slowly got up, walked to the kneeling bearded man, kicked him flying, directly crashing onto the table in front of Ji Fu and Lü Chang, which shattered loudly.
Inside the tent, the atmosphere was very somber,
Ji Fu and Lü Chang’s faces were unsightly.
Gu Zhan randomly dragged over a chair and sat down, saying, "I don’t care whether you’re trying to give me a hard time or have other plans today, put them all away, my patience is limited!"
At this moment, Qin You quickly came over to mediate, saying, "Marquis Gu, Marquis Gu, do not be angered, you must have misunderstood, just now that general hadn’t seen you, hence he..."
Gu Zhan’s eyes narrowed, staring at Qin You.
At once, a terrifying pressure descended, Qin You instinctively retreated two steps, dared not speak further.
Gu Zhan snorted coldly, saying, "Spouting nonsense about not knowing me is unnecessary."
Gu Zhan glanced at Qin You, then looked at Ji Fu and Lü Chang, saying, "These are all your men, your intent is clear to me, no more than to deliberately provoke me with your subordinates, then use my supposed insufficient prestige as an excuse not fit to lead the entire army, so that I obey your command, afterwards lose a couple of battles, and obediently hand over the Ten Thousand Mountains!"
Ji Fu and Lü Chang’s expressions were both very embarrassed.
Ji Fu forced a smile, saying, "Why would Marquis Gu say such a thing, there must be some misunderstanding, the Marshal..."
"Enough," Gu Zhan cut off Ji Fu’s words directly, saying, "I’m not interested in listening to trivial talk, handing over the Ten Thousand Mountains is simple, three days from now, all forces will strike, launch an assault on Dao Ma Pass, I will personally lead, if we cannot take Dao Ma Pass, the Ten Thousand Mountains, I’ll hand them over!"
Ji Fu’s pupils shrank, looking at Lü Chang, meanwhile Lü Chang outwardly remained calm, while he was already pondering internally.
Lü Chang cupped his hands, saying, "Marquis Gu, Dao Ma Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, if forced to assault, the losses would be traumatic."