C148

Jiang Yi had always been a straightforward person who highly respected the heroes of the martial arts world. Now that he had met people from the Central Plains like Fan Yicheng, Tian Gan, Jing Ke, and the others, he was naturally overjoyed as well. When Sky Gan and Jing Ke brought Sima Kong into the city, Jiang Yi had already prepared food and wine for the armies to enjoy. In the end, however, they were still the customs of the people. Unlike the Central Plains, they didn't use altars, jars, cauldrons, and bottles. Most likely, they used bamboo to pierce the intestines of cattle and sheep, then heat them on a wooden shelf to cook their food. If one were to talk about food and utensils, it would be the bamboo, branches and a sharp dagger. As for the sake of food, they mostly used the skulls of cattle and sheep as utensils. Although they looked a little barbaric, they still tasted quite generous. Fan Xian, Tian Gan, and the others were all outspoken people, so they entered the country together and followed the customs of the people from the Nine Barbarians to celebrate. Sima Kong was the only one who was born as a scholar, so he was naturally not used to this kind of crude and unrestrained way of eating. However, since he was a guest, he had no choice but to eat with the others.

"Hahaha, today's heroes are all here. This king has the honor of meeting all these Central Plains heroes in person. Come, come, this king will first toast to all of you. I hope you won't mind the rough food in the rough lands." Jiang Yi occupied the land and became the king. As the head of the family, he naturally took the seat of honor. Now that they were gathered together, it was like a grand speech. As he spoke, he raised his goblet to invite them.

Fan Yuzhan and the other commoner soldiers were already at the end of their tether, and Jiang Yi being able to temporarily live here was already a sign of gratitude in their hearts. How could they not be alarmed by Jiang Yi's courteous gesture? He quickly stood up and raised his cup as well, bowing in return. Only Si Kong sat down and did not get up. As a scholar, he had always worshiped the Ancestor of the Sovereign King and was not used to bowing to this Savage Tribe that did not have a culture of the Central Plains.

At this time, Jing Ke, who was sitting in the side seat, noticed this detail, so while everyone was drinking, he bowed towards Sima Kong and said in a cordial manner, "I have heard that Mister Sima is a knowledgeable and knowledgeable man and have long admired you. Now that I've seen it, my heart is extremely excited.

Although Sima Kong was an extremely high-minded scholar, he couldn't refuse this invitation from Jing Ke. He raised his glass and said, "Hehe, no matter how knowledgeable Sima Kong is, he still has obediently fallen into little brother's hands. The Mo family is truly extraordinary."

After hearing his words, Jing Ke knew that in his heart, he was still brooding over the matter of him using estrangement to force him to surrender, so he said with extreme shame, "This one came up with this plan out of necessity, I hope Sir will forgive me."

Sima Kong only smiled and said, "Young Hero Baozi is too modest. Back in the days of the Hundred Families, Kong, Meng, and Mo were among the top three families. My master had always been unconvinced of this, but now I, Sima Kong, have lost to Mo Zhai's descendant once again."

The Master Sima Kong was referring to was naturally Lu Buwei. If it was a school, then Kong, Meng, and Mo Yuan would have been created much earlier than those other schools. However, Lu Buwei had created his own school, claiming to be the Prime Minister of the Qin Kingdom, and his hanger-ons were everywhere in the world. Therefore, he wholeheartedly wanted to match his school with Kong Meng's and the others. As a direct disciple of Lu Buwei, Sima Kong was influenced by Lu Buwei's thoughts, so he was always arrogant and did not put the other families in his eyes. He originally wanted to become an official in the Qin Nation and use his achievements to make a name for himself. He didn't expect things to go the other way, because instead of being successful, he ended up losing to others. Thus, his smile contained a bit of bitterness and helplessness.

"All families are fighting! This was supposed to be a major event in the rise of the world, so why should there be any differences between high and low?" At this moment, Tian Gan also understood the bitterness in Si Kong's heart. He raised his cup and said to Si Kong, "Mister Si Mi wants to become famous in this world, just like how a thousand-li horse wants to find happiness, and not gain or lose in this short period of time."

"Hahaha, that's right. Young master Tian Qian's golden words have greatly benefited this king." Originally, Tian Gan's words contained a sense of praise towards Sima Kong and his stallion, but he didn't expect that the moment he finished speaking, he would hear the nearby Jiang Yi laugh as he started praising Tian Gan nonstop.

Ever since Jiang Yi had helped Fan Xian with the Great Broken Fox Bamboo City, he had always regarded Tian Gan with great importance. Earlier, he had been angry at Sima Kong's insolent attitude, but now that the Heaven was in harmony, not only did he lose all his previous sullenness, he was actually overjoyed.

"The Heaven is just a wandering cultivator in the martial world. He is not some wealthy member of the Wang family. Naturally, there is nothing golden or jade in his words. It is just a matter of opinion." Tian Gan looked straight at Sima Kong, then casually replied back to Jiang Yi with a humble tone.

"Hey, Young Master Tian Gan is brimming with talent and schemes, how can a reckless person like him be compared to you? If you are willing to submit to me, and I betroth my daughter to you, and let my young master be a son-in-law and become the crown prince of the Nine Barbarians, wouldn't that be golden words and words? " Jiang Yi had actually disregarded the presence of his daughter as he spoke these words in front of everyone, causing the face of Princess Jiang sheathe, who had been sitting by his side, to flush red from embarrassment.

Jiang Xiao was originally born into the army, and her personality was always mischievous and boorish. She never would have thought that her face would turn red from her father's words, and she immediately began to shout in embarrassment, "Daddy, you're talking nonsense! I'm ignoring you! " After shouting, he covered his face and ran out.

"Calyx! Calyx!" Even though Jiang Yi had called out to her a few times, it was to no avail. Jiang Zhu was so preoccupied with running out of the hall that she completely ignored her father's shouts.

Only after Jiang Zhu had left the entrance of the hall and disappeared from the sight of the crowd did Jiang Yi sigh helplessly. He was both extremely sympathetic and helpless as he apologised to the crowd, "My daughter has been spoiled by this duke since I was young, so my temper is a little disrespectful. I hope that everyone doesn't mind her."

Everyone knew that the matter of this girl's family was unfathomable, and with the way the Nine Barbarian King spoke, it was within reason that Jiang Zhong reacted in such a manner. Therefore, they all cupped their fists in thanks to the Nine Barbarian King as a sign of understanding. When Tian Gan returned the greeting, he did not forget to explain to Jiang Yi, "It's best to let the princess decide everything for herself. I hope that the Nine Barbarian King won't bring up any more of this farce in the future."

He had admired this young man for a long time, and now, he had taken advantage of this opportunity to mention him. He had originally wanted everyone present to be a witness, but he didn't expect that Jiang Yi would so casually reject him now. He immediately felt as if something in his heart was too powerful, and yet he had no way to speak of it. He was just about to explain the situation to Tian Gan when he heard the report from the garrison guard, "Reporting to the King, we have found traces of the Central Plains Army about ten kilometers away from the city. According to the estimates of the watchmen, they have at least a hundred thousand men."

"A hundred thousand?!" Jiang Yi was just about to explain the matter of the marriage when he suddenly heard the report from the garrison. His eyes immediately glared as he blurted it out.

"Is there a black curtain at the top of the banner of the vanguard, embroidered with golden patterns?" At this time, Sima Kong, who was sitting on the right side of the hall, was sitting upright. He had a calm expression on his face as he asked the guard in a very calm manner.

"Exactly." The guard nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. Pan Tong is quite fast. It seems that the Qin Army is going deeper into the nine barbarians." Sima Kong muttered to himself when he heard the reply of the guard.

The crowd couldn't help but look at each other in dismay when they saw him answering them in such a manner. They didn't know how Sima Kong came to the conclusion that it was the Pan Clan and Huan Feng's troops. Only Tian Gan and Jing Ke were able to figure out what was going on, and they all sighed in admiration towards Sima Kong's direct attack.

"How did Mister Sima know that these people were part of the Qin army?" Hearing Sima Kong's words, Jiang Yi was completely baffled as he asked.

Mister doesn't ask about the words' Qin 'or' Huan 'because he knows that these people may not be able to understand the characters of the people of the Central Plains. At that time, it would actually be easy for him to be unable to understand them. Tian Gan raised the feather fan in his hand, looking at Sima Kong as he explained in a slow and unhurried manner.

"Oh, I see." Jiang Yi, as a member of the Rong family, naturally didn't understand the composition of the Qin Nation's banner. Now that he heard Tian Gan's explanation, he came to a sudden realization and admired it greatly in his heart. However, his praise wasn't for Sima Kong, but rather for the Heaven that had explained this matter.

"Hmph, I'm coming at the right time. I was just thinking of taking a good look at this Marshal Huan!" The anger that had been building in his heart for many days surged up to him, and he put down the goat-horn cup in his hand with a loud smack, as he spoke in a stern voice.

"General Fan, don't worry. Since you've come to the Land of the Nine Prefectures, you're my, Jiang Yi's, guest. If you're determined to fight against the Qin, I'll naturally give my all!" Jiang Yi saw the sullen look on Fan Yuzhen's face and knew that he had hated the Qin Army for a long time.

"I wonder how many troops General Fan and the Nine Barbarians have under their command?" The moment the indignant voices of the two leaders fell, Sima Kong, who was sitting beside them, suddenly asked in a firm voice.

Fan Yuzhen glanced at Sima Kong, only to see that he was unperturbed. He didn't even care about his own anger, so he casually said, "I have thousands of elite soldiers!" The previous incident between Fan Yicheng and Yang Duan, as well as the superior cultivators, had resulted in considerable losses. Now, there were more than ten thousand people left, of whom the elderly, the sick, and the handicapped had taken up quite a bit. In truth, Fan Yuzhen did not want to lose in terms of prestige and morale.

"I also have tens of thousands of members of the Rong Family in the city. If I send another letter to the other tribes in the city, I will be able to gather fifty thousand within three days." Jiang Yi didn't understand what Sima Kong meant by this question and only replied in the truest terms.

"Although General Fan has over ten thousand men, at most ten thousand men, not to mention the old and the sick, the Nine Barbarian King still has less than ten thousand men, and the Qin Army is on the verge of collapse. They don't want you to have three days to gather up your men, so right now, we only have twenty thousand." "According to what I know, this headquarters already has one hundred thousand troops, not to mention the troops of Pan and his group. Since this is the case, the disparity in power between the two armies has already been established. Would General Fan want to do something so foolish as to strike a rock with an egg?" Upon hearing Fan Yicheng and Jiang Yi's replies, Sima Kong once again calmly and calmly analyzed the situation.

"Hmph, each and every one of my soldiers are well-trained, so why would I be afraid of his unjust master?" It was obvious that Fan Yicheng was not convinced by Sima Kong's logical analysis, and thus counterattacked without thinking.

"The upper mediocre army is known for their courage to fight, but this was more than ten years ago. Since Yang Duan and his underlings returned, it has already been so long, can General Fan still guarantee that the current army will be as valiant as they were in the past?" On the other hand, the Qin soldiers led by Huan Feng were the elites of Lan Tian Army. They had been practicing day and night for many years, and had gone through hundreds of battles. Only then did they break through Han and Zhao Lai's defenses. In other words, even if the upper echelons of a mediocre army were brave enough to fight, it would still be an unfathomable number of people wanting to win by a small margin with the help of the Nine Barbarians. Even if he won, it would be a miserable victory. If Qin Bing were to send more troops over, what would General Fan be able to use to resist him? " Sima Kong's words were still as casual as before, but it caused people to have no choice but to accept his words.

"Mister Sima, we admire your talent and thus did everything we could to invite you to meet us. How can you extinguish your own prestige with the courage of others?" Although Sima Kong's words were reasonable, Fan Yuzhen was extremely unhappy.

At this time, Jing Ke, who was seated below, had already understood the conflict between their words, so he gave a mischievous laugh and said to Fan Yuzheng and Huan Feng, "The world knows General Fan's prowess, so it is natural that a mere Huan Feng is nothing to be afraid of. But since Mister Sima is asking, I presume you also have a brilliant plan of seizing the heaven's fortune, would Mister like to share it with everyone?"

"Oh? Could it be that this mister really has an ingenious plan of winning by a small margin? " Jiang Yi's interest was piqued as he heard Jing Ke speak in this manner as well, and he spoke to Sima Kong.

"I don't dare to call your brilliant plan. A trivial trick like this has a plan, but I wonder if General Fan will be interested in it?" Although Sima Kong was answering Jiang Yi's question, his target was Fan Yicheng, and that was to see how he would answer.

"I am a boorish fellow, I would like to hear Mister Sima's brilliant plan." Although Fan Yuzhen was a bit unwilling to accept Sima Kong's actions, he knew that it would be difficult to tear him down since they were in the big picture. Thus, he cupped his hands and invited him over.

"General Fan has been a general in the Qin Kingdom for many years, so he should already be well aware of the Qin soldiers and thus, Sima Kong's general demeanor is quite similar to Huan Shou's ?"

"Hmph, how could that Scoundrel Huan be on par with me? Is Mister Sima deliberately trying to humiliate me?!" Before Sima Kong could finish his sentence, Fan Yicheng interrupted him with a low roar of anger.