Cunning General Si Ning
Chapter 268: Xilie Enemy Of Xiu

Chapter 268: Xilie Enemy Of Xiu

Lan Zhang and Lan Wan led them to a small area deep in the woods, a total of nine men were sitting on a trunk of a tree that was laid on the ground facing each other, five men sitting on one and four men sitting on the other, a small fire that was almost dying out in the middle and a pot of soup hanging over it with the support of sticks. All the men were dressed in armour and all stood up at once when they saw them approaching.

The moment they got closer Si Ning noticed some were now eyeing him like some prey that just fell into their laps while some wore a confused expression because the way they appeared it seemed they were escorted rather than captured while others wore an indifferent look like they couldn’t care less about why Lan Zhang and Lan Wan appeared with two unknown people. It was only one of them that seemed to choke on his spit as he stepped forward, his eyes on Si Ning and he wore a perplexed expression.

"Commander, what do we have here, spies of Xiu?" One snickered, his eyes glinting in mockery as the corner of his lip raised in a wicked smirk.

"No, he is General Si Ning, the Empress of Xiu." The one who almost choked on his spit said.

Just the mention of the name Si Ning made the man that thought they captured spies stiffen, his face fell into a slight panic and the rest all looked so shocked and some directed their eyes to the man that snickered like talking earlier was a very wrong thing to do.

Lan Zhang nodded in affirmation and Si Ning’s eyes narrowed on the man that just said his name, he didn’t expect to be known by one of the men but he likes it.

"I... I had a glimpse of General Si Ning when I went to Xiu with the green wild tiger." The man further explained to show the reason why he was able to recognise Si Ning.

"And this..." Lan Zhang gestured to Song Feng with a look of allowing Song Feng to introduce himself.

"Song Feng the Imperial doctor." Song Feng introduced himself because Lan Zhang had no idea who he was.

Everybody fell silent and there seem to be an awkwardness floating in the air that if a pin drops it would make the loudest noise. Si Ning was quite enjoying himself seeing that they all dropped their gaze and he was now among the most important people present, always had been and always will be.

"Soup?" Lan Wan asked moving to the pot with a plate at hand breaking the awkwardness in the air.

"No, I am the only one allowed to make a meal for General Si Ning." Song Feng said turning down Lan Wan’s offer then he turn to Si Ning hoping he did the right thing because it had been long they ate last and Si Ning might be hungry so rejecting their offer might only be his intention and not Si Ning’s.

"Why am I here?" Si Ning asked, he was in no mood to eat, chitchat or try to act friendly, it seemed they had no intention to kill him or capture him which means he had no reason to stay.

"Come, General Si Ning, have your seat." Lan Zhang gestured to the tree trunk.

Si Ning took his seat and raised a brow to show he had no time but he was going to listen to what Lan Zhang had to say, he couldn’t fight them all so the least he could do was to give them time to talk to him to figure out what they want from him. Lan Zhang sat opposite him while he waved his hands and all the men started to shuffle away and Lan Wan started dishing out their soup for them, they all moved a bit away, their eyes drifting to Si Ning trying to peek because it wasn’t every day they get to see an important person.

"When our Young Mistress left, Ge Liang didn’t pay us, he only want us to swear our allegiance to him so we all left because our allegiance is with Young Mistress and we can only follow Ge Liang if the offspring of the late Prime Minister Ge Sumeng seize to exist, we scattered and took different work only to come back together if Young Mistress show up but we got a letter that she passed away but the Ge army can still not move because the last letter we received from the green wild tiger, a letter from Young Mistress state that she is ready to come back to Xilie, pass the Ge family army to her son General Si Ning so we refused Ge Liang because General Si Ning is the only one who has the right to command the Ge army if he comes to Xilie." Lan Zhang explained. "I got another letter two days ago that General Si Ning of Xiu also passed away so the next in line for the Ge army is Ge Liang but we are here to confirm if General Si Ning and our Young Mistress died so we can pledge our allegiance to him." He added.

"Tsk." Si Ning clicked his tongue as he clenched his hand into a fist till his knuckles turned white, so his mother’s head was taken as proof. It was so bold of him, so bold of Ge Liang.

"But seeing a direct descendant of Young Mistress means you are next in line for the Ge army but we cannot follow you because you are from Xiu and we cannot follow Ge Liang too because he is not the next in line." Lan Zhang further explained. "You can be the General of the Ge army only if you come to Xilie by leaving Xiu." He added.

If this decision was placed in front of Si Ning months ago by Lan Zhang, he would have found a way to probably try to make the Si family army and the Ge family army his but right at the moment he just wants everything to end so he could rest and he doesn’t want to be responsible for two large armies.

"I have no intention of coming to Xilie because I have important people in Xiu and as the Empress, my duties lie only with Xiu but the man called Ge Liang passed his boundary by killing my mother and cutting off her head and displaying it to trap me so I will kill him." Si Ning said firmly like to kill Ge Liang was just with a snap of his finger.

Lan Zhang nodded in understanding. "I can see you are a righteous man General Si Ning so I will help you, we are just eleven in number and those down there with Ge Liang are almost fifty, we can take them on so you will get your revenge General Si Ning, Ge Liang is a user, a usurper and people like him are dirty and shouldn’t exist in this world, I never liked Ge Liang and would have gotten rid of him but I had to follow the Ge army codes and you General Si Ning is out of Xiu’s soil so we will follow you only until Ge Liang head drops because I am quite enjoying my time holding a tournament arena every other day, it has been fun and I don’t want to be a Commander to a war driven by greed because without Xiu’s land from my perspective Xilie had been doing well." He said and stood up. "Everybody!" He yelled to call for attention.

The nine men around jumped up to their feet and some soup even spilled because of their sudden movement, they ignored the bowl that had turned over and quickly arranged themselves into a row.

"Commander!"

"Ge Liang killed our Young Mistress and tried to kill her previous son General Si Ning the Empress of Xiu but General Si Ning is the proof of the evil deed Ge Liang committed, we soldiers of Xilie are enemies of Xiu we do not help Xiu but for today we will help in getting rid of Ge Liang and his followers by following General Si Ning because today we see General Si Ning as the son of our Young Mistress we are going to get justice for and not the Empress of Xiu." Lan Zhang announced.

"Yes!" The soldiers agreed.

"General Si Ning, what is the plan?" Lan Zhang asked.