Left Martial Guard General Yang Jingyuan took his own troops as vanguard and surged northeast to break through.

Meanwhile, the great mass of Left Martial Guard soldiers who had been constructing defensive works outside Ting’an County were suddenly told to retreat — which left even them bewildered.

This, too, was exactly what the Prince of Wu had intended.

Two days prior.

The Prince of Wu had summoned his generals for a council of war.

“Tang Pidi’s command is unfathomable — godlike and ghostlike alike. His mind is precise, his decisions exact, his composure unshakeable. In my entire life, I have seen no equal.”

“Given such a man — with dozens of divisions deployed around us in meticulous formation — how do we twist and maneuver, and tear open a gap in his net to break through?”

Yang Jingyuan said: “Your Highness, I believe we should split our forces and fight independently in multiple directions, pulling the Ning Army east and west. That is the only way to strain their encirclement and force cracks to appear.”

The Prince of Wu nodded, then looked at Nie Qitai. “Your assessment?”

Nie Qitai said: “I think Yang Jingyuan’s view is excellent. I also believe we should divide and push in multiple directions simultaneously, pulling the Ning forces back and forth — only that way will an opening emerge.”

The Prince of Wu smiled. “Both of you are right. You are men of genuine military talent. Against almost anyone else conducting an encirclement, your approach would break through cleanly. But…”

His tone shifted.

“Against Tang Pidi, your approach — while entirely sound — has no chance of success. To be precise: absolutely no chance.”

“Tang Pidi commands by reading minds above all else. His greatest skill is placing himself in our position and predicting what we will do. Whatever you have conceived, Tang Pidi has already conceived it.”

Yang Jingyuan asked: “Your Highness, then how do we tear open that gap? If we hold our position, aren’t we simply giving Tang Pidi the time he needs to complete his encirclement?”

The Prince of Wu smiled. “We hold our position. That is exactly what we do.”

He began to pace as he spoke: “Did I not have you deploy extensive scouts to probe the southeast?”

Yang Jingyuan answered: “Your Highness did give that order. And you said there was no need to worry about the Ning Army detecting us, because we couldn’t hide it anyway — better not to try.”

The Prince of Wu nodded. “And did I not then have large forces assigned to construct defensive works outside the city? Dig trenches, raise earthen walls, lay down obstacles?”

Nie Qitai said: “Your Highness assigned that task to me.”

The Prince of Wu continued: “And did I not send half the cavalry to show themselves when the Ning Army was crossing — to probe whether they had ambush forces in position?”

Yang Jingyuan said: “That was I who went, Your Highness.”

The Prince of Wu asked: “Given all that I’ve done — how would Tang Pidi read it?”

His generals all stood in silence. None of them could quite predict how Tang Pidi would interpret it.

The Prince of Wu smiled. “If Tang Pidi and I had equal forces and equal conditions, our odds against each other would be fifty-fifty.”

Hearing this, the Left Martial Guard generals felt something uncomfortable stir in their chests — they were unwilling to accept it.

In their minds, the Prince of Wu was an eternal god, invincible. However strong Tang Pidi might be, he could not be placed alongside their Prince of Wu.

The Prince of Wu continued: “Now, his forces vastly outnumber mine. If I hope to defeat him in an open-field engagement, there is not a fraction of a chance. That is precisely why I arranged everything as I did.”

He walked back and forth as he spoke: “I sent out scouts — to let Tang Pidi see that I have the will to break through. I built defensive works — to let Tang Pidi see that I have the will to hold and defend. I sent cavalry to probe — to let Tang Pidi see that I have the will to strike.”

He looked at Yang Jingyuan: “I let Tang Pidi watch me pursue all these thoughts and accomplish nothing. How does Tang Pidi then see me?”

Yang Jingyuan opened his mouth.

The Prince of Wu said: “He will feel that I’ve grown old.”

He gave a slight smile. “He will also feel regret — he is young, and yet his only worthy rival has already aged. It will be the sorrow of a hero meeting his twilight. He will grieve on my behalf, and feel the loss for himself.”

“He may also think: I’ve grown old, so I’ve become unusually cautious and hesitant, no longer possessing the sharpness of my former years. He may even wish he could have faced me at forty-something — that would have been a real fight.”

The Prince of Wu swept his gaze across his assembled generals, an expression of complete ease on his face.

“To tear open a gap in Tang Pidi’s carefully woven net of heaven and earth — no matter how we move, he will find a way to plug it. That is the truth.”

The Prince of Wu said: “Because he is Tang Pidi. He will predict every move we make.”

“But the one thing he cannot predict — is my indecision. My stillness. My apparent loss of faith in myself.”

“At that moment, they will relax — just slightly — and press forward with completing the encirclement.”

Yang Jingyuan asked, confused: “But Your Highness — aren’t we simply giving Tang Pidi more time to close the net by holding still?”

The Prince of Wu said: “We are not holding still. We are waiting for the one single moment to move. If I move first, Tang Pidi’s forces will intercept — and his reinforcements are already here, far more than we’ve seen. If my estimate is correct, the man who came is the Ning King Li Chi himself. Li Chi traveled from Jingzhou. His total force would not be less than one hundred and fifty thousand. Why did we only see forty to fifty thousand?”

“First reason: Li Chi received word of our hard assault on the Panxing River and worried Tang Pidi couldn’t hold against the Left Martial Guard — so he rushed ahead with an advance contingent.”

“Second reason: by doing so, he conceals their true strength from us. We believe only forty to fifty thousand reinforcements came. In fact, at least one hundred and fifty thousand arrived — and the remaining force can serve as a surprise formation.”

He looked at Yang Jingyuan: “I had you take cavalry to probe Tang Pidi. You stopped ten li from their lines. The Ning Army showed not one reaction — they completely ignored you. That composure could only come from having overwhelming numbers. Their very indifference was what revealed their true strength.”

Yang Jingyuan felt a shock of something deep in his chest — and then shame.

It wasn’t only Tang Pidi who had thought the Prince of Wu had grown old, hesitant, and was letting opportunities slip away — even the men who had followed him for years had allowed the same doubt to flicker through their hearts.

Looking around at the others with downcast eyes, he could see the guilt was widely shared.

“If we had moved first, Tang Pidi would have shifted his tactics in response — deploying that hidden force of over one hundred thousand to seal our path.”

“But because we don’t move, that force will be deployed exactly as Tang Pidi originally planned — to the southwest.”

“Outside right now, the Ning Army has countless eyes watching us. Our men are still digging trenches and raising earthen walls.”

“Which means at this very moment, those one hundred thousand troops are probably taking position along the southwest line. And since I haven’t moved, Tang Pidi won’t change his plan — he’ll keep things as they are and wait for the Qingzhou forces to arrive and seal the east.”

“What we’re targeting is the gap in time — not space, but time. I said I wanted to find a crack in the Ning lines. That crack is a crack in time.”

The Prince of Wu closed his eyes. “If I’ve judged it correctly — roughly two days from now is our moment. The Qingzhou army will not yet have arrived, but his forces will already be fixed in their positions.”

He said quietly: “I am older. But I have not yet grown decrepit.”

Two days later: the Prince of Wu was ready to personally lead the vanguard southeast to break through — but Yang Jingyuan refused to allow it. He had Nie Qitai hold the Prince of Wu back, and took his own unit charging out.

This — was something the Prince of Wu had not anticipated.

And at this very moment, back in the main camp, Tang Pidi called in several of the scouts who had been monitoring Ting’an County. He needed a direct report.

Shortly after, several scouts stood before Tang Pidi and bowed.

Tang Pidi asked: “Is there anything unusual happening on the Ting’an County side? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Grand General,” one scout replied, “from this morning onward, the Chu Army has increased the manpower in the trenches and sent more soldiers into the completed sections.”

A second scout said: “All Chu cavalry has withdrawn inside the city walls. Large numbers of crossbow wagons have been mounted on the ramparts.”

A third scout said: “From the observation point on the eastern side of Ting’an County, no unusual movement has been detected among the Chu forces.”

Tang Pidi nodded: “Understood…”

Then he stopped.

Tang Pidi looked at the scout. “On the eastern side of Ting’an County — no unusual movement?”

The scout replied: “Correct. None.”

Tang Pidi had spent the last two days managing the river crossing and settling Li Chi’s forces into position. He hadn’t yet had time to go personally observe the Ting’an County lines.

Now, hearing the scout say there was nothing unusual on the eastern side, his expression changed.

“No trenches?”

“None.”

“No earthen walls?”

“None.”

Tang Pidi immediately turned and walked out. “This is not good.”

He strode rapidly toward the door, calling as he went: “Bring Gao Zhen to me!”

An aide sprinted out. Moments later, General Gao Zhen was at Tang Pidi’s side.

Still striding forward, Tang Pidi said: “Take all the cavalry east-southeast immediately. The Chu forces may have already broken through. If you intercept them, hold them at any cost for three shichen. Three shichen — that’s how long it’ll take the Ning King’s main force to come up from the southwest.”

Gao Zhen clasped his fists immediately: “Understood!”

He turned and ran.

“Cheng Wujie.”

Cheng Wujie, who had just arrived, said at once: “Your subordinate is here.”

Tang Pidi said: “Take every unit remaining here and launch an immediate assault on Ting’an County. Not a feint. Understood?”

Cheng Wujie acknowledged and ran out.

Tang Pidi reached the open ground outside, pulled his horse to him, and swung into the saddle: “I’m going to find the Ning King. Except for Gao Zhen’s cavalry — all other forces fall under Cheng Wujie’s command for the assault.”

The assembled generals clasped their fists.

Tang Pidi spurred his horse forward at full gallop, riding toward Li Chi’s position.

The young general Gao Zhen rallied all the cavalry, left camp, and accelerated east.

They had barely departed when a scout came galloping back — the Prince of Wu’s army had suddenly moved. They were already heading southeast.

At this moment: the Qingzhou forces were still roughly two hundred li away. The Yuzhou forces were still one hundred li out.

The net of encirclement from all directions was mere inches from closing — and yet the Prince of Wu had moved.

The Ning King had only just finished settling his forces on the western side when the Prince of Wu’s troops moved — as if he’d seen it all with perfect clarity. Utterly beyond anyone’s reckoning.

By the time Gao Zhen led the cavalry east to intercept, Chu cavalry was already there.

It was Yang Jingyuan’s vanguard force — and they appeared fully prepared. The instant the Ning cavalry appeared, the Chu cavalry launched their attack.

This was a force that had come with the resolve to die or die trying. Their spirit was fierce and their killing intent absolute.

Yang Jingyuan led the charge, waving his battle saber:

“Open the way for His Highness!”

“Open the way for His Highness!”

The Chu cavalry came howling forward.