"This Chu Chen is so cunning, deliberately using a bonfire in the distance to attract our attention, making us think there's no one under the city, and sending people to probe only to fall into an ambush! Utterly detestable!"
A general cursed angrily, a hint of dissatisfaction with Prince Liu, Li Mengdie, flashing in his eyes.
The commander of the thousand-man force that had gone to probe was his brother-in-law! Now that the man was lost, he didn't know how he would explain it to his second wife.
Looking at the scene below, Li Mengdie's face was extremely grim, and she said angrily, "I don't believe it. If I don't go out, what can this Chu Chen do to me!"
With that, she turned and left the city wall.
From the skirmishes and probes so far, they had lost nearly twenty thousand men without gaining any advantage, a complete loss.
She only had eighty thousand troops here, and losing twenty thousand was already a serious blow.
Returning to the prefectural mansion, Li Mengdie shut herself in her boudoir, furious.
"Damn Chu Chen! Damn fake eunuch! This scoundrel, just a mere fake eunuch with a lowly upbringing, how can he be so powerful!"
Since her rebellion, Li Mengdie had never suffered such a great loss. Even as the second princess, apart from occasional setbacks when dealing with her elder sister and third sister, she had never been so thoroughly defeated.
Only this Chu Chen, in all their encounters, she had not gained the slightest advantage.
"Damn fellow, I tried so hard to win you over back then, and you refused! If you had agreed, the position of Prime Minister Fan Ju would have been yours by now. Why bother being your mother's prime minister in court, working hard for the new policies, and risking being discarded by your mother when you're no longer useful!"
"If you wanted to marry a princess, wouldn't I be a good choice? My fifth sister, apart from her looks being slightly inferior to mine, what else is she better than me? I am the one most likely to ascend the throne!"
"If we had joined forces, we would be unstoppable now! After conquering the world, wouldn't it be glorious for our children to ascend the throne after my death!? Why assist your mother and fifth sister!"
"In the end, what will you gain besides being a powerful minister?"
Li Mengdie's anger grew as she spoke. If her rival were more capable than herself, it would be one thing, but this person was inferior to her and yet succeeded!
This made Li Mengdie even more resentful. She couldn't understand why she couldn't win Chu Chen over, and why Chu Chen was so devoted to assisting fifth sister Xin Yue.
Was the first impression, the initial discovery, so important?
While Prince Liu, Li Mengdie, was fuming with resentment, she never would have imagined that Chu Chen's plan against her had only just begun.
"Marshal, the hot air balloons are all assembled! The coal is also ready!"
Within an hour, the officer in charge of the hot air balloon progress rushed over to report.
"You've worked hard!"
Chu Chen patted his shoulder, then called out to the five thousand soldiers sitting on the ground, ready for deployment, "All attention! Stand at attention!"
"Swish!"
At the sound of the order, the five thousand men, no matter what they were doing on the ground, quickly stood up straight, their legs together.
Chu Chen nodded with satisfaction and pointed to the hot air balloons in front of them, "These are hot air balloons. Someone on board will teach you how to operate them. You don't need to worry about safety; this has been tested many times and will not cause problems."
"Now, all of you, form groups of ten and enter the hot air balloons!"
The five thousand men did not know what hot air balloons were, but they obeyed orders without question, lining up to enter the balloons.
Five hundred hot air balloons were spread out densely on the open ground. After everyone had entered, Chu Chen gave the order, "In one incense stick's time, release the hot air balloons and proceed as planned!"
"Yes!"
Soon, Chu Chen left the area and headed for the main military tent.
Meanwhile, the six thousand troops who had been surrounding Qiancheng County from three sides had already begun to withdraw in batches after ambushing the troops from the city. Now, more than half had withdrawn, leaving only an empty shell and some scarecrows.
Under Chu Chen's plan, these sixty thousand troops had secretly marched in various directions and were lying in ambush along the routes.
After one incense stick's time, when the five hundred giant hot air balloons were released and soared into the sky, the entire night sky was illuminated as if by countless specks of starlight.
Before long, Qiancheng County discovered something was wrong.
"Look quickly, what is that?!"
"Uh~ I think I see fire flying in the sky? Am I still asleep?"
"Damn it, you really can't be out at night, even the city guards are seeing ghosts!"
The soldiers on the city wall shouted in alarm, in a frenzy. None of them had ever seen such a sight, and even the officers guarding the city did not know what to do.
Soon, the news reached Prince Liu, Li Mengdie. She had just lain down and had only managed to doze off for a short while before being woken up.
"What is it?"
Li Mengdie looked at the eunuch outside the door with a grim expression.
"Your Highness, it's bad! The soldiers on the city wall reported seeing ghost fires flying in the sky!" the eunuch said, trembling with fear.
"Ghost fires flying in the sky?" Li Mengdie was bewildered. What was this? How could there be ghosts in this world?
"Are you sure the soldiers on the city wall weren't mistaken?"
Li Mengdie looked at him with displeasure.
"Oh, Your Highness, how dare I lie to you? Look, we can even faintly see them here."
Saying that, the eunuch pointed to the approaching lights in the distance.
Li Mengdie was initially confused, not knowing what it was. But she quickly realized what it might be, and if it was that, then the battlefield would be in trouble!
"No! That looks like a hot air balloon! The imperial court intends to attack from the air!"
"Quick, quick, summon all the generals, and order all the soldiers to rise and defend the city!"
Li Mengdie shouted urgently.
Although she didn't know how they would attack from the air, the eunuch quickly relayed her orders.
Soon, all the soldiers in Qiancheng County were in motion. The city walls were crowded with people, ready to fight at any moment.
On the streets, twenty men per squad, more than a dozen squads patrolled everywhere, looking up at the sky as they walked.
"What is this thing? Will people really come down from above to attack?"
"How is that possible! It's so high, even a martial artist would die from falling!"
"Uh~ that's true, but what if they don't come down, but just drop things?"
"...Then we'd better run."
The morale of the patrolling soldiers plummeted rapidly. No one was stupid; they could think of such a simple attack method.
But they had no idea how to defend against it. The best solution was for no one to be on the streets and for everyone to hide in their houses.