In the dead of night, in the scout's military tent, Lin Gu suddenly opened his eyes.

He silently crawled up from the bed, looked back at the people still asleep inside the tent, a glimmer of coldness flashed in his eyes, and after pondering for a moment, his expression gradually calmed down. He shook his head and directly walked out.

From the moment he got up to the time he left, no one, not even the night watchers, noticed him in the entire Imperial Guard Camp.

In the Imperial Guard Camp, the lowest cultivation level was the Grandmaster Realm, with even Yinyang Boundary Martial Artists present, yet not a single person noticed him.

...

Deep night, January 5, 1333, New Yu Era

In Lingcang City, Wanyan Lie was holding a wine cup, his brows furrowed in worry.

As the Marquis of Ziquan, one of the twenty-eight Marquises of Great Jin, the standing of Wanyan Liang was undeniably high, but such is human nature, the higher one climbs, the more restless one's heart becomes.

Currently, Great Jin is engaged in a three-pronged war, and practically all the three emperors, six kings, and twenty-eight Marquises have been mobilized, each with a task. However, these tasks have different levels of urgency and importance. The three emperors and six kings he need not compare to; his primary concern is with the twenty-seven Marquises of similar standing.

The main combat tasks are divided amongst the three emperors and six kings. From the remaining twenty-eight Marquises, only those with strong power and high-ranking positions may have battles to fight.

Yet, he was sent to guard the Lincang Path.

Originally, all three paths were personally guarded by Emperor Yuliang. As Emperor Yuliang took on the heavy responsibility of the eastward expedition, he had the Emperor of Jin dispatch the top ten Marquises to guard the three paths, and he was amongst them. Initially, he thought it would be an opportunity, after all, as long as the situation changed, someone like him, close to the battlefield, would immediately be called into action.

Indeed, the situation did change. Jiuhua, Wangchuan, and Linjiang turned coats and allied, with a coalition of the Hou Clan, Jiangbei Alliance, and Lu Family totaling thirteen million troops marching north to simultaneously strike east and west against Emperor Yuliang.

Sensing the opportunity, Wanyan Lie immediately dispatched someone to volunteer for battle, but his actions were still a step slower than others.

Emperor Yuliang assigned the Pingcheng King to handle the three-family coalition. Since Pingcheng King Wanyan Jun was from his own clan, to avoid suspicion, the four Marquises stationed at Gyeonggi Path were deployed, and thus, he missed the battlefield once again.

The three-family coalition claimed to have thirteen million, but only the two hundred thousand troops of the Red Flame Army from the Hou Clan were noteworthy. To Wanyan Lie, this was a military achievement delivered right to his mouth, leading to even more frustration.

There are six Marquises stationed at Gyeonggi Path, while both Lincang and Shuofeng have two each. He was the one stationed at Lincang Path, along with Marquis Qingyang, Tuoba Tao.

With this in mind, Wanyan Lie sighed slightly. This content is presented by M4VLEMPYR.

Upon learning he would be stationed with Tuoba Tao at Lincang Path, he realized the reason. Emperor Yuliang had reservations about both him and Tuoba Tao, or rather, the Great Jin Imperial Court had such reservations.

The reason lies in the Battle of Hedong ten years ago.

That year, he and Tuoba Tao, following Wuwei King Hou Jing to war at Xuzhou Hedong, ended with the betrayal of Wuwei King Hou Jing. Although they managed to clear themselves of liability, some responsibility lingered. Even if the Emperor of Jin didn't speak of it, subordinates inevitably held opinions.

They both faced inevitable marginalization.

Thus, now they were dispatched to guard the less significant Lincang Path.

Feeling troubled, Wanyan Lie lifted the wine jar in his hand and took a fierce gulp. This eastward expedition was led by his very ancestor, Emperor Yuliang Wanyan Cheng, yet even his ancestor treated him this way, and of course, he had feelings about it.

"Report..."

Suddenly, a loud voice came from outside the hall, causing Wanyan Lie's expression to freeze, then he jolted awake at once.

This was the voice of a scout from his Huben Guard. Clearly, the scout was over ten miles away from the hall, and such a far shout only meant one thing: an urgent military report, something so pressing that the scout feared even the slightest delay.

Wanyan Lie composed himself and, in a flash, appeared beside the scout.

"What is the situation?"

"Second Elder of the Hou Clan, Hou Yucheng, led two hundred thousand Red Flame Army troops and launched a surprise attack within our path territory last night. Within a day, they captured two counties, nine districts, and eleven cities, and are currently fiercely attacking Junyang Prefecture to the south of Lincang Path. Marquis Qingyang, Tuoba Tao, who is guarding Junyang Prefecture, is in grave danger. I urge the Lord Marquis to swiftly send troops for reinforcement!"

"This... how is this possible!"

Upon hearing the scout's report, Wanyan Lie let out an angry yell, his face filled with disbelief.