Thirteenth year of Taixing, the fifth day of the tenth month.

Left Brave Guard General Yuwen Bo attacked the bandit camp on Longmen Mountain and was soundly defeated.

...

In the early winter season, the fallen leaves were desolate.

The small grove to the west of Huntian Academy mostly had bare branches, with only one red maple tree remaining vibrant.

Tang Xiaobai sat alone on a large rock under the red maple, with a stack of papers on her lap, diligently writing and sketching while muttering to herself: "... a hundred and ten li east to the prefecture... Does the prefecture refer to Zhengping County?... Fen River... Fulong Plain, is it southwest or southeast?"

"Eighteen li southwest of the county."

Tang Xiaobai gathered the papers and pen and jumped up.

In her haste, the pen dropped to the ground, rolled a few times, and gently stopped at a pair of black cloth shoes.

The owner of the shoes bent down, with long, fair fingers slightly curved, picking up her pen.

His stature was tall and graceful, with a subtle smile at the corners of his brows, elegant in manner, like the moon reflecting on a pear blossom.

"What are you doing here?" Tang Xiaobai asked in surprise, clutching the papers.

"Invited by Mr. Lin to gather," Wenren Jia responded with a smile, handing the pen back to her and asking, "Is the Second Miss drawing a map of Longmen County?"

"No!" Tang Xiaobai denied flatly, clutching the papers tightly to her chest.

Although Pei Xuan had said that her crude doodles didn’t count, it was better to keep a low profile.

The laughter in Wenren Jia’s eyes deepened. Retrieving the pen, he extended another hand: "Shall I draw it for you?"

Tang Xiaobai hesitated for a moment, removed the top two sheets, and handed the remaining blank paper to him.

He held the paper with his left hand, smiled at her, and began to draw with the pen—

"Longmen County, a hundred and ten li east to Zhengping County... Fen River... five li... Fulong Plain... Yellow River..."

He recited as he continuously sketched on the paper.

Tang Xiaobai leaned closer out of curiosity.

The lines were clean, and the markers were precise, much more standard than hers!

If anyone were to be punished, it would be his work bearing the heavier sentence.

"Have you also read ’Hedong Geography’?" Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but admire someone who could casually draw a standard map, reminding her of her high school geography teacher.

Wenren Jia nodded, added a couple more strokes to the map, and said, "Longmen Pass is located twenty-two li northwest of the county—" the tip of the pen lifted, "On the mountain is the Great Yu Temple, and above the temple’s peak is the Ancestor Emperor Temple."

Tang Xiaobai was even more surprised.

This wasn’t just a casual reading of ’Hedong Geography’; the book didn’t mention the Great Yu Temple and the Ancestor Emperor Temple.

Wenren Jia noticed her expression and smiled warmly: "I am from Hedong Jiangzhou and have been to Longmen Pass."

Tang Xiaobai responded with an "Oh."

There was only a rumor that Wenren Jia was from Hedong, but she hadn’t expected he was precisely from Jiangzhou.

"You’re not also from Longmen County, are you?" Tang Xiaobai asked casually.

"No," Wenren Jia also answered casually and tapped the paper with the pen tip, drawing her attention back to the map.

"Longmen Mountain is extremely steep. The previous dynasty had installed a fort here called Longmen Pass, but in this dynasty, the pass was abandoned and later occupied by bandits;

"The bandits of Hedong are entrenched, with Longmen Village being the closest to the Capital City, and with the Ancestor Emperor Temple on the mountain, Prince Qing would order the first attack on Longmen Village."

Tang Xiaobai shook her head after hearing this: "What does it matter if the Ancestor Emperor Temple is on the mountain? Losing to mountain bandits in front of the Ancestor Emperor is even more shameful!"

Wenren Jia chuckled: "Victory and defeat are common in warfare."

Tang Xiaobai disagreed: "If they first attacked the bandits of Taihang Mountain, then victory would be a common occurrence in warfare!"

Taihang Mountain borders Zhenzhou, and Li Xingyuan has been stationed at Jingxing Pass in Taihang Mountain for years.

"By bringing in the Taiyuan troops familiar with the terrain and working with the Zhenzhou army to flank them, how could the bandits of Taihang Mountain not be eradicated?"

Starting there would increase success probability and allow the inexperienced young lord to gain some experience first.

"After dealing with Taihang Mountain, with morale high, they could turn to attack Longmen Village, and those bandits, upon hearing Taihang Mountain had been overrun, would likely be scared senseless!"

Choosing to attack Longmen Village first for the sake of the Ancestor Temple would only make sense if Tang Ziqian hadn’t been injured, and if it weren’t for Prince Qing and the Yuwen Family’s interference, she would feel that with overwhelming strength, the sequence wouldn’t matter.

But now, they clearly lost!

It certainly wasn’t her brother or the young lord’s decision!

"Hmph! It must be Prince Qing!" Tang Xiaobai muttered.

After muttering, she tried to drag Wenren Jia down with her: "Don’t you agree?"

Wenren Jia chuckled: "I have little understanding of military affairs."

Tang Xiaobai nodded.

Indeed.

Not everyone, like her young lord, knows a bit of everything.

Still, Wenren Jia had his strengths!

"You’ve been to Longmen Pass, can you tell me about the terrain there?" The young girl’s eyes sparkled with inquisitiveness.

Wenren Jia turned the pen tip back, gently tapped the paper, and said with a smile: "It would be an honor—"

...

The scroll unfurled, revealing a range of mountains.

Tang Ziqian couldn’t help but stand and take a step closer, eyes filled with shock: "This map... where did you get it from?"

They also had a topographical map of Longmen Mountain, but it wasn’t as detailed as this one.

Because when Emperor Hui Zhao was managing Hedong, the region fell into disarray after his death.

Their map of Longmen Mountain was already over a decade old. Though not ancient, it was still inferior to the map before them.

Moreover, this map was drawn with great detail, with an artistic touch of meticulous craftsmanship.

Who could have drawn this?

He directed his question to Li Mu.

But Li Mu did not answer.

Tang Ziqian glanced over, only to see Crown Prince with a shadow over his gaze, showing no joy at acquiring something valuable.

Inside the room, besides them, there were Qin Rong and other generals, so Tang Ziqian refrained from asking too much.

Once the topographical map was fully unfurled, Tang Ziqian set aside his doubt, picked up a pen, and pointed at the paper: "Here, here, and here, are where Yuwen Bo and others were ambushed last time. If we take the same route, the ambush will still be here—" the pen pointed to another spot, "If we switch to the east route, this, this, and this can also be ambushed, and it is even more dangerous!"

"But the bandits are limited in number, unlikely to set ambushes at so many passes. We can have someone from the Yuwen Family feign an attack in the center, as if avenging the past defeat, then take the elites to launch an assault from the east!"

Tang Ziqian couldn’t fight in battle, but formulating such a plan to eliminate bandits was easy for him.

Additionally, due to his injury, Tang Shigong selected elite troops and talented generals for him, ensuring that even a direct onslaught would pose little problem; a more strategic approach simply aimed to avoid casualties.

His plan had many generals nodding in agreement.

Except Li Mu.

Tang Ziqian’s eyelid twitched slightly, raising his brow in the Crown Prince’s direction.

Do you have something to say?

"Have Miss Qin feign a middle route attack; I’ll lead a team to launch an assault from the east route." Li Mu declared.

Not just Tang Ziqian and the generals, even Qin Rong was surprised: "Me?"

"Nonsense!" An older general grumbled, blowing his beard in frustration.

Even Tang Ziqian regarded him as if looking at a besotted foolish lord.