As dawn approached, Zhang Qilan dragged back a group of overly excited young bloods, their faces covered in dust and dirt. Ye Li and Wei Lin, who had come to relieve Qin Feng, had waited until the fourth watch when the fighting at the front had ceased. After waiting another half hour, they finally saw the group return to camp. The originally spirited young commanders now hung their heads, wilted like frost-beaten vegetables.

Upon entering the main camp, they saw Ye Li sitting in a carriage, smiling at them, which made the young commanders even more uncomfortable. They had always felt that the general had somehow acquired this young military advisor of unknown background, who seemed to know nothing except occasionally making pointless remarks, yet the general valued him highly. These young men naturally didn’t accept this, believing themselves far superior to this pretty boy. Now, having lost face so badly in front of him, their expressions were particularly unsightly.

“Master Chu hasn’t rested yet?” Zhang Qilan naturally stepped forward to greet Ye Li.

Ye Li smiled, “Hasn’t the General also foregone rest? Thank you for your hard work, General. Nothing serious happened, I hope?”

Zhang Qilan sighed, “Fortunately, nothing serious.” He turned to glare at the group and shouted, “Why aren’t you all going to rest?! Are you waiting for punishment?” Hearing this, the young commanders scattered like birds and beasts.

Seeing how everyone treated Zhang Qilan as if he were the god of death, Ye Li couldn’t help but laugh softly, “The General clearly has no intention of punishing them, so why deliberately frighten them?”

Zhang Qilan sighed helplessly, “Those who went out this time were all young fellows who haven’t seen real battle, yet they’re full of hot blood rushing headlong into things. If this were a real battlefield, who knows what might happen?”

It turned out that among tonight’s surprise attacks, the first two waves had indeed thrown the enemy into some confusion. These youngsters, getting carried away, decided to take turns attacking until dawn. This way, the enemy would be sleepless all night while their men could rest in rotation. The idea wasn’t bad, but they forgot to observe the surrounding terrain and enemy situation. Halfway through the third surprise attack, they were quietly flanked by two troops sent by Lu Jinxian.

If Zhang Qilan hadn’t led troops to arrive in time, not just the four or five thousand soldiers they took, but even those four or five young commanders would have been lost there. The battlefield has always been ruthlessly cruel. Among noble families, even hundreds of thousands of troops might not produce many colonels, and among thousands of colonels, less than a hundred might become vice generals, and among these less than hundred vice generals, at most only two or three might become generals. It wasn’t that these people lacked the potential to become generals, but rather that they were swallowed by the shameful battlefield before they could become generals.

“In the future, please help guide these youngsters more, Master Chu,” Zhang Qilan said sincerely. He knew the Princess Consort’s abilities well – not to mention the invincible Qilin that she had personally trained, even people like Qin Feng and Zhuo Jing around the Princess Consort would be rising stars if placed in the military camp. This showed that the Princess Consort’s methods of teaching people were extremely clever.

Ye Li smiled, “General Zhang is a good leader.” In this era, leaders who cared so much for their subordinates were indeed rare.

Zhang Qilan laughed heartily and said straightforwardly, “Although these young men are somewhat impetuous, they are the future of the Mo Family Army. We old fellows will one day be too old for the battlefield, and we’ll have to rely on them in the future.”

Ye Li smiled, “General is in his prime, it’s far too early to speak of being old. I have noted what the General has said.” This was an agreement. Zhang Qilan cupped his hands and said, “Then I’ll trouble you, sir. It’s still early, sir should return to his tent and rest a while.”

“Thank you for your concern, General.”

The next day, when the Eastern Route Army people discovered that the Western Route Army guarding the front still appeared spirited and energetic, a group of young people finally couldn’t help but explode. The main tent became as noisy as a pot of porridge, while Ye Li sat smiling in a corner of the tent, listening to these young people’s discussions.

Zhang Qilan, annoyed by their noise, rolled his eyes and said, “What’s all this noise about? Jian Tian Cliff is only twenty Li ahead. If last night’s garrison was tired out by your harassment, wouldn’t Lu Jinxian just transfer troops from Jian Tian Cliff? If you can’t get past this hurdle in front, are you planning to fly over Jian Tian Cliff?”

Everyone fell silent for a while, looking at each other. “General, doesn’t that mean we worked for nothing last night?” Even if they launched surprise attacks every night, as long as the enemy rotated their two groups of troops unless they could forcefully break through the defense line before them, nothing else they did would matter. Moreover, on their very first night of surprise attacks, they had nearly suffered a major setback.

Zhang Qilan stroked his beard and said, “It’s not entirely wasted effort. You youngsters get carried away with everything you do. One or two harassment raids would have been fine, but you got addicted and took turns going up by the hour. Weren’t you just giving Lu Jinxian a chance to beat you?”

The young commanders were all made to feel somewhat embarrassed, while the older commanders sitting nearby began to chuckle.

“General, what should we do next?” One young commander stepped forward and asked expectantly.

Zhang Qilan frowned slightly, turned to look at Ye Li sitting to the side, and asked, “What does Master Chu think?”

Ye Li carelessly tapped the folding fan in his hand and said, “The enemy has the high ground, trying to force an attack would be both time-consuming and costly. Continue the nightly harassment raids, but… don’t let General Lu catch you again. Next time, General Zhang might not be able to arrive just in time to rescue everyone.”

Several young commanders looked at Ye Li somewhat defiantly and said, “Since Master Chu is the military advisor, surely you must have some clever strategy to defeat the enemy. Just nightly raids won’t help us capture it. If we drag on for ten days or half a month, we might as well surrender without fighting.”

Ye Li raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, “Then what are your thoughts?”

“I request to serve as vanguard and clear the path for the main army!” one young commander bowed to Zhang Qilan, and others followed suit, clearly wanting to engage in direct combat with the enemy.

Ye Li looked at them calmly and said, “I’m not against direct combat. Given the enemy’s approximate strength, we could take this position by wagering half our forces. However, I must remind everyone that although this is just an exercise, if this were a real battlefield, it would mean that half of us here and the hundred thousand soldiers outside would perish before this small hill in front of Jian Tian Cliff.”

“So what?” someone muttered.

Ye Li smiled, “If losing more than half our forces, including your own lives, means nothing, then how would the remaining fifty thousand troops cross the naturally fortified Jian Tian Cliff? After crossing, how many troops would remain? Or do you think… even if we could break through, a single soldier could save General Yuan from being besieged? Let me remind everyone, based on my understanding of Prince Ding, that the troops left at Jian Tian Cliff are at most one-third of the Western Route Army. The remaining two-thirds are fresh forces that haven’t yet engaged in battle. You may die gloriously, but what about General Yuan and the soldiers waiting for reinforcements defending the city?”

Before Ye Li finished speaking, the previously righteous young men were all red-faced with embarrassment. Although somewhat unwilling to admit it, they couldn’t deny that this Chu military advisor was right. At least half the reason for their bravado was because they knew this was an exercise and not a real battlefield. On a real battlefield, would they still charge forward so recklessly? Or even if they remained so brave and direct, what consequences would it bring?

Zhang Qilan knocked on the table and said, “Enough. I will arrange the night operations. Without my orders, no one is to act rashly. Those who disobey will be executed!” Although this wasn’t a real battlefield, his orders were real military orders. Disobeying military orders, whether on the battlefield or not, meant death without mercy. He turned to look at Ye Li and smiled, “Master Chu, I leave these inexperienced youngsters to you.”

Ye Li smiled, “It’s my honor that the General trusts me.”

Zhang Qilan nodded with satisfaction, stood up, and cast a cold glance at the group of still restless youths, saying sternly, “Master Chu’s words represent my intentions. Those who disobey will be executed!”

While Zhang Qilan led the older subordinates in engaging Lu Jinxian’s forces at the front, that group of hot-blooded young commanders was confined to the rear by Ye Li, unable to move. Hearing the troops coming and going in the main camp every day but having no part in it, the young men grew increasingly agitated. Finally, on the third afternoon, unable to contain themselves any longer, they came to argue with Ye Li.

Outside Ye Li’s temporary tent, Ye Li looked at the young men before him with a smile as gentle as the spring breeze. With a beaming smile, he asked, “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”

The leader said, “We want to fight. What right do you have to keep us confined in the rear and prevent us from entering the battlefield?”

Ye Li leisurely played with the folding fan in his hand and said casually, “Because I am the military advisor because General Zhang entrusted you to my command. Because I forbid it, so you cannot go.”

Such a casual response was provocative to this group of young men. Everyone looked at Ye Li as if they wanted to rush up and give him a good beating right then and there. Qin Feng and Wei Lin, standing behind Ye Li, calmly swept their eyes over the young men before them, a flash of coldness passing through their eyes.

Ye Li continued looking at the young men before him: “You want to go to the battlefield? What use would you be there? These past two days, General Zhang’s commanders have been fighting just fine without you, and… there hasn’t been a single situation requiring General Zhang to personally go provide reinforcements. It’s one thing if you lack brains, but even if you want to be fierce generals who prevail through strength alone, you’re not necessarily better fighters than ordinary soldiers. Rather than going to the battlefield and becoming a burden, you might as well stay in the rear.”

The young men’s faces turned red with anger. One hot-tempered youth stepped forward, pointing at Ye Li with a flushed face, shouting, “You’re just a scholar who can’t even tie up a chicken! What right do you have to speak to us like this?!”

Ye Li looked at him with an ambiguous smile and slowly began, “Because…”

With a swoosh, the folding fan was wielded like a blade, sharp and precise as it swept toward the young man’s throat. The man was startled and quickly bent to dodge, but unexpectedly, his lower body was struck hard at a vital point. Before he could react, his body swayed and collapsed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Ye Li waved the fan a couple of times and leisurely continued, “You can’t even defeat a scholar who supposedly can’t tie up a chicken.”

Everyone was speechless, truly struck down this time. In recent years, the Mo Family Army had placed great emphasis on nurturing young commanders, so these young officers were all just over twenty years old, yet most already held positions of vice colonel or even colonel.

However, most of them had never been on a real battlefield, and this was exactly what concerned Ye Li the most. The battlefield had always been an enormous meat grinder; regardless of whether you were ordinary or a genius, once caught in it, those who achieved the most weren’t necessarily the smartest or most capable, but rather those who managed to survive. Throughout history, countless geniuses have been swept away like sand in the tide, leaving no name behind. Although Ye Li didn’t expect them to understand what a real battlefield was like from this experience alone – that was something they could only learn by actually being on one – at least their proud attitudes as heaven’s favored sons needed to be tempered.

As if not noticing everyone’s shocked expressions, Ye Li smiled at them and said, “Don’t say I’m bullying you. These two learned from me. If you can beat them, forget about wanting to engage with General Lu – even if you want to go to Xiling right now to destroy the Southern Garrison King, I won’t stop you.”

Everyone exchanged glances, trading meaningful looks. Ye Li, as if afraid the fire wasn’t burning hot enough, continued to pour oil on it: “If you’re not confident in one-on-one combat, you can all attack together.”

Qin Feng and Wei Lin naturally understood Ye Li’s intention. Wei Lin coldly snorted and said, “Don’t waste time, just all come at once.”

This contemptuous tone finally snapped the last thread of restraint in everyone’s minds. Someone shouted, and five or six young men rushed at Qin Feng and Wei Lin all at once. Of course, Wei Lin, who had just drawn their ire, was their primary target.

Ye Li stepped back to the side, watching leisurely as Qin Feng and Wei Lin moved effortlessly among the young men. Rather than a group fight, it looked more like two people playing with a bunch of agitated kittens. These young men’s skills were indeed inferior compared to their peers in the Mo Family Army, but when matched against Qin Feng and Wei Lin, who came from the Qilin and were among its elite, they were completely outclassed.

The young man who had just been kicked to the ground by Ye Li was still sitting there, not joining the fight. Being on the outside allowed him to see more clearly the gap between himself and Qin Feng and Wei Lin. Looking at Ye Li, he finally lowered his proud head.

Ye Li kicked him playfully and asked, “Why don’t you try too?”

The young man remained seated on the ground, shaking his head, “I’m not a fool. We can’t beat them at all. Why embarrass ourselves further?”

Ye Li nodded and smiled, “You indeed can’t match them, but that’s not important. They’re not the same type as you. It’s good if you can be skilled in martial arts, but if you really can’t match them, there’s no need to compare yourself to them. Even General Zhang might not be their match.”

The young man complained dissatisfied, “Then why did you make them fight us?”

Ye Li raised an eyebrow and said, “Because compared to you, General Zhang has a clever mind, while you have nothing yet believe you have everything. I thought both your minds and bodies needed some adjustment.”

The young man’s eyes widened as he glared at Ye Li, “We’re not stupid!”

They were the rising stars of the Mo Family Army – who didn’t praise them as having limitless potential? Ye Li nodded seriously, “You’re indeed not stupid. How could ‘stupid’ describe your level? Have you ever seen a fool who actively seeks death?”

The young man’s face reddened again – this was saying they were worse than fools.

Ye Li looked at the person before him with amusement, breaking into a smile. It was quite rare in this generally precocious era to see someone in their early twenties whose emotions still fluctuated so dramatically. Seeing Ye Li’s seemingly teasing smile, the young man became angry with embarrassment, “What are you smiling at?!”

Ye Li coughed lightly, covering his lips with the fan, “Nothing, just felt like smiling.”

While they were talking, Qin Feng and Wei Lin had already laid all the presumptuous youngsters on the ground. No matter how much they held back, the difference in strength was simply too great, and so the previously neat and proper young commanders were now sprawled on the ground like dead dogs.

Ye Li looked down at everyone with a smile and asked, “Well? Are you convinced now?”

“We’re convinced…” Although the young commanders were still somewhat dejected, their looks toward Ye Li and the others were vastly different from before. In the military, the strong ruled, and although these young men were spoiled and proud, they still respected strength. The recent fight had made them understand the gap between themselves and their opponents.

“But Master Chu, we can’t always hide in the back letting others protect us, can we?” Although they acknowledged their inferiority, they were on a battlefield now. Whatever thoughts they had needed to be put aside for later; right now, they needed to deal with the current military situation.

Ye Li smiled at them and asked, “Do you truly want to fight?”

Everyone could tell there was hope in those words. Six or seven pairs of eyes stared intently at Ye Li, their expectation and desire making even Ye Li feel some pressure. Looking at these passionate young people before him, Ye Li smiled faintly and said, “It’s not impossible. Go back and select two hundred elite soldiers each from your subordinates, and await orders.”

“Master Chu, what are we going to do?”

Ye Li said in a deep voice, “It’s a secret. Remember, everything must be done discreetly, without attracting anyone’s attention, including General Zhang’s. Those who get discovered will stay behind to reflect on their actions.”

Young people love mysterious and exciting things, and Ye Li’s words made everyone even more excited. Ye Li looked at them with slightly furrowed brows and said seriously, “Also, although this is an exercise, danger still exists. This mission could be called dangerous among dangers. I can’t guarantee there won’t be casualties – do you understand?”

“We understand!” everyone shouted in unison. What Ye Li said wasn’t even an issue for them. Where on the battlefield could one avoid injuries and death?

Ye Li nodded, “Good, go prepare. We’ll meet at the second watch.”

“Yes!”

“Princess Consort, these youngsters are too ignorant. Why should Your Highness bother with them?” Wei Lin said somewhat dissatisfied. These past few days, these youngsters’ disrespect toward the Princess Consort would have earned them a hundred deaths if this were in the royal mansion.

Ye Li smiled faintly, “They’re all young people, quite adorable.”

Qin Feng and Wei Lin exchanged a silent glance, both deciding not to spread the Princess Consort’s evaluation. If the Prince learned of it, these youngsters would truly deserve a hundred deaths.