Chapter 14: Zhu Di's Excitement!

Coming back to his senses, Zhu Zheng fixed his gaze on the other treasures that had appeared.

“Fasting pills—could these be like in those old novels where one pill lets you go days without eating?”

“Ten bottles—that’s a hundred pills. This is a treasure for marching and warfare.”

“Golden wound medicine—I haven’t tried that before.”

“And this protective golden silk armor.”

“Let me extract it and see.”

Zhu Zheng thought to himself and immediately extracted the golden silk armor.

In the next moment, a piece of soft, pure golden armor appeared in his hands.

This was no ordinary inner armor.

“Although it’s called golden silk armor, the material is clearly not made of golden threads.”

“I wonder if a refined steel blade could cut through it.”

Curious, Zhu Zheng drew the refined steel blade beside him and slashed at the golden silk armor.

With the sharpness of the refined steel blade, ordinary inner armor would be easily cut, but this golden silk armor didn’t even leave a mark—it had extremely high defense.

“This is a good item.”

“From now on, wearing this, except for the head and neck, I won’t have to worry about hidden arrows hitting my torso. This golden silk armor absolutely can stop them.”

Zhu Zheng thought happily, took off his military uniform, and put on the golden silk armor beneath it—safety first.

His future was full of boundless opportunities; he couldn’t afford to be cut down halfway.

With this inner armor, his safety factor had greatly increased.

“One martial skill, one cultivation method.”

“This ‘Pearl String Divine Archery’ is an archery technique.”

“As for this ‘Body Refining Technique,’ let’s see what it’s about.”

Zhu Zheng pondered and first extracted the Body Refining Technique.

In the next moment, a halo enveloped him, and a sudden surge of knowledge flooded his mind as the cultivation method was imparted to him.

After a while, Zhu Zheng looked over the Body Refining Technique and immediately understood.

“The Body Refining Technique can improve strength and stamina through cultivation.”

“According to the novels of my past life, this should be categorized as external cultivation.”

“Cultivating one day grants 5 points in strength and 5 points in stamina, and it can be cultivated up to 1,000 points without diminishing effects.”

Seeing this method, Zhu Zheng felt a flicker of joy.

Though the daily attribute increase was small, it was sustainable and would greatly enhance his strength and stamina over time.

Snapping back to reality, Zhu Zheng extracted the archery technique next.

...

Beiping City!

The Prince of Yan’s Mansion.

Night had fallen, yet the main hall of the Prince of Yan’s Mansion was brightly lit.

Zhu Di sat upright on his throne, surrounded by a few capable generals and Guo Zi, who handled administrative affairs.

But no one spoke; the atmosphere was tense and wordless.

Clearly, Zhu Di and his men were waiting anxiously for news from Tongzhou.

For Zhu Di, capturing Tongzhou was his only lifeline.

If he failed to seize Tongzhou, even controlling Beiping City would be a dead end, facing the full might of the imperial court’s siege.

After all, the court had long encircled Beiping City like a trap to deal with him.

At that moment—

“Report!”

A loud shout came from outside the hall, followed by hurried footsteps.

Zhu Di snapped to attention and looked toward the hall’s entrance, where everyone’s eyes gathered, filled with nervous anticipation.

This was a matter of life and death.

The messenger burst into the hall, dropped to one knee, and loudly reported to Zhu Di, “My lord, General Zhang and General Chen Heng have successfully captured Tongzhou City without disgrace.”

Hearing this, Zhu Di’s eyes widened with joy, and a great relief surged through his heart.

“Good, good,” Zhu Di laughed heartily, feeling exceptionally pleased. Then he scanned the room and said, “Everyone, the first crisis is over.”

“Having taken Tongzhou, Beiping City now has a buffer zone. The treacherous schemers who laid a siege on all sides have a hole in their encirclement.”

“Next, we will proceed carefully to gradually reclaim all of Beiping Prefecture.”

At these words, the people in the hall rose and echoed, “Your wisdom is unmatched, my lord.”

“Give a detailed report on the battle results.”

“How many of the original Beiping troops in Tongzhou have submitted?” Zhu Di asked eagerly.

In the past, under his peak, Beiping’s army was formidable: one entire guard station, with active and logistical forces totaling around 100,000.

Among the many border guard stations and vassal states in the northern frontier, Beiping Prefecture was undoubtedly strong and well-manned, and Zhu Di had managed it excellently.

However, after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he repeatedly stripped power away, dismantling the Beiping army and even removing many generals appointed by Zhu Di.

Many defected and pledged loyalty to the court.

Fortunately, Zhu Di had foreseen this and deliberately left some moles in the army, like Chen Heng.

On the surface, Chen Heng had no connection to Zhu Di, but in truth, he was Zhu Di’s man.

In this campaign to seize Tongzhou, Chen Heng had played a major role.

“Reporting, my lord,” the messenger said respectfully.

“Tongzhou was defended by 25,000 troops.”

“Of these, 20,000 were former Beiping army soldiers, and 5,000 were forces loyal to the treacherous faction, serving as the supervisory troops.”

“In this battle, aside from a few stubborn defectors, most of our former brothers have returned to your command.”

“In total, over 3,000 enemies were slain, nearly 2,000 of the traitorous soldiers were captured, and General Zhang is currently reorganizing the original Beiping forces.”

Hearing this, Zhu Di’s smile broadened.

Having reabsorbed 20,000 troops, his total forces now reached 30,000.

Though still insufficient against the court, his strength had naturally grown compared to before.

“Good.”

“Send my orders to commend Generals Zhang Yu and Chen Heng,” Zhu Di said with a smile.

“My lord,” a general spoke up, “Tongzhou City was commanded by Xie Guizhi’s son. Was this man captured?”

Zhu Di immediately looked at the messenger.

“My lord,” the messenger replied, “Xie Gongchu, son of Xie Guizhi, has been executed. Here is his severed head, along with General Zhang’s official battle report.”

The messenger then took a box and a sealed report from behind his back.

Zhu Di waved his hand, and a servant quickly stepped forward to receive the documents and handed them respectfully to Zhu Di.

“Let me see General Zhang’s battle report,” Zhu Di said with a hearty laugh.

Opening the report, Zhu Di’s expression soon turned somewhat strange.

“Xie Gongchu was actually killed by a logistics soldier,” Zhu Di said in surprise.

At this, Guo Zi, standing at the foremost left, twitched his brow and showed concern.

His son-in-law was currently serving in the logistics troops.

Though the two families treated each other with mutual respect, this was still his daughter’s husband, his own son-in-law.

How could Guo Zi not care?