Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 475 - 454: Second Update

Chapter 475: Chapter 454: Second Update

After half a day’s march, Ju Nanyi’s troops finally saw a small team of riders galloping towards them at high speed. Moments later, they had arrived.

"Are you the brothers from the Fire Order Squad?" The newcomer wore a thick fur hat, and his breath formed a layer of white frost on the scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Is that you, Brother Zhu Ping?" Yu Yuan called out instantly, recognizing the voice of the person approaching.

"Hahaha, Yu Yuan, you brat—" The man from the other side immediately jogged a few steps to reach the front of the troop.

"Lord Ju—" The newcomer, with his face red and darkened, cheeks covered in a thick layer of scabs from the cold, didn’t care about his appearance and first gave Ju Nanyi a bow, then immediately clapped Yu Yuan on the shoulder.

General Zhu Ping was one of General Ling’s top soldiers, and back when the Crown Prince had first started, when these covert forces were not as numerous, Zhu Ping and Yu Yuan had worked together for two years. Both men had bold and straightforward natures, and it had been two years since their last meeting.

Zhu Ping had heard early in the morning that the Fire Order Squad was coming and had specifically asked General Ling for permission to meet them.

"Lord Ju, this is General Zhu," Yu Yuan immediately began introducing his brother-in-arms.

Ju Nanyi also bowed in response. Though Zhu Ping’s rank was not as high as his, he was still the second in command who could make decisions in the Northwest Military Camp and shared the same reckless nature as Yu Yuan.

Moreover, Ju Nanyi knew Zhu Ping. In his previous life, it was this man who had carried General Ling’s body back from a thousand miles away at the border. Despite multiple ambushes along the way, he never left General Ling’s body behind. When Ju Nanyi took over from Zhu Ping, this fierce and combative unit had less than one fifth of its soldiers left, and many were gravely injured. In a critical moment, Ju Nanyi employed a stratagem to lure the tiger away from the mountain, which allowed the entire squad to escape danger. Since then, Zhu Ping became one of his most loyal soldiers. This loyalty led the Crown Prince to decisively hand over the squad to him.

Therefore, this bow from Ju Nanyi was given wholeheartedly, and Zhu Ping was worthy of it.

"I dare not accept such courtesy, Lord Ju," Zhu Ping immediately responded, his opinion of Ju Nanyi changing. He had originally thought that the Fire Order Squad would surely be Yu Yuan’s in the future. Later, when the Crown Prince handed the squad over to a civil official who couldn’t shoulder burdens or handle chores, even though he didn’t know Ju Nanyi’s capabilities, he felt some discontent. Now, his visit was also intended to bolster his own brothers.

Before arriving, Ju Nanyi had already thoroughly researched the strength of General Ling’s troops, and with the memories of his past life, he knew even more that General Ling’s forces were more elite than outsiders could imagine. The military provisions and supplies secretly transported every two months had grossly underestimated the actual power of this military camp that outsiders thought had no more than fifty thousand soldiers.

"General Zhu is known for his bravery and skill in battle. I have already heard of it back in Zheng Capital, especially the capture of three chieftains from North Meng at the Northwest Border. That story has already become a fine tale in Zheng Capital," said Ju Nanyi, calmly commending the general before him with an air of sincerity.

"Hahaha, Lord Ju, I’m just a rough fellow. I can’t help but itch for a fight if I don’t engage in battle every day," Zhu Ping responded with a hearty laugh, feeling flattered and becoming much friendlier in his speech.

"Please, Lord Ju—" Zhu Ping stepped aside with great deference, now finding Ju Nanyi quite agreeable, "I heard that Lord Ju’s visit this time is concerning the Qiandao Temple business? You needn’t worry; those mages from the Qiandao Temple have been fiddling around at the checkpoint for days, not even a shadow of the enemy seen, not a trace of bloodshed. Our men have been watching them," Zhu Ping immediately added.

Ju Nanyi nodded slightly, listening to the flood of information that Zhu Ping spilled. Clearly, the soldiers on the frontier didn’t buy into the practices from Qiandao Temple; they didn’t in their past life, and they didn’t in this life either.

Ju Nanyi was noncommittal, merely collecting the information that was useful to him. In just a few words, Zhu Ping got to the point: The people from Qiandao Temple hadn’t blocked anyone since they had been guarding the pass from dawn, so that young man was still in Nanzheng.

Thinking of this young man, especially his submissive demeanor beside Zheng Nianru, Ju Nanyi felt no fondness for the youth at all.

In his past life, Master Yin He had disappeared with the death of the Second Prince. He remembered this detail only because of his good memory. But when he had known Zheng Nianru, there had never been such a young man by his side, nor had he heard anyone mention this youth in the long years that followed.

So, in his past life, had Zheng Nianru never encountered Master Yin He?

Ju Nanyi fell into deep thought, considering whether there was something he had overlooked or if, this time, the young man would die?

...

In the cold black night, the military camp of the Marquis of Zhenbei and General Ling’s camp were separated by two mountain peaks. It took half a day to reach one camp from the other by taking the lower path around the foot of the mountain. One camp was stationed within the fortress at the pass, while the other was positioned at the front end of the entry route, nearly sealing off the border completely.

Intending to conduct reconnaissance, the Marquis of Zhenbei’s side had dispatched several scouting squads. At this time, the Northern Border had entered its coldest season, and the soldiers sent to Cat Ear Cave could not endure for long before needing to be replaced, which unfortunately increased the risk of exposure. However, if a soldier were to freeze to death in the cave, that observation post would require significant effort to make operational again. For this reason, the Marquis of Zhenbei had increased the number of soldiers in Cat Ear Cave from one to two, allowing for mutual rotation to ease the burden, and to better handle sudden emergencies under the harsh, prolonged cold.

Therefore, in the Cat Ear Caves closest to the Qiandao Temple camp, the soldiers who were initially utterly bored started to chat idly, as there was no activity at the campsite before them to observe. Their own camp rang with the sounds of military exercises—riding and archery. Here, they only saw groups of disciples sitting around fire pits to keep warm and eat or drink, or staying in their tents, not emerging for long stretches of time.

"What are we even watching for when there’s not even a ghost’s shadow? It’s beyond me why the Marquis has us do this," complained a reconnaissance soldier, who, despite his many layers, felt his hands and feet go cold from inactivity, his body half frozen stiff.

"It’s been quiet like this for several days; I bet everyone has already fled," another soldier who had just woken from sleep said, glancing at the sparse lights within the camp as the sky gradually darkened. "Someone will come to relieve us in the second half of the night; once we’re back, we need to plead with the Captain — hope he won’t assign us this task again."

But before the soldier could finish speaking, he suddenly retracted his body and quickly pulled back his companion’s head.

"There’s movement—"

In the dim light, they could only see two dark figures slowly approaching the direction of the camp.

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