"Let Tagg handle this matter. He wants to find out who killed the Earl and who is the mastermind behind the scenes, so let him." Tang Mo stepped out of the room, descended the stairs, and then mounted his carriage.
Wes stood by the door of Tang Mo's carriage, slightly bowing his head, "I understand. I will hand over the clues to him later."
"The rest is easy." Tang Mo's face remained devoid of any smile, cold as frost, and it stayed unchanged even after Wes had closed the carriage door for him.
But the rest was actually not easy at all. The reason Tang Mo had rushed from Wolf City to Ice Crystal City was that he still had another problem to solve.
This problem, from certain perspectives, was even more challenging than investigating the assassination of Count Fisheo.
After learning that Count Fisheo had been murdered in Ice Crystal City, the Suthers Kingdom, which had ceded Ice Crystal City, was not reconciled to its defeat and had once again beco restless.
The enemy had assembled 6,000 n at the border – four legions in total – preparing to march south across the Ice Crystal River and reclaim the lost territories south of it.
War could erupt at any mont, and that also served as an external reason why Tang Mo was able to swiftly take command of the Northern Ridge's military power.
Everyone was worried that the Suthers's advance southwards would bring disaster to Northern Ridge. In the absence of leadership, they were naturally willing to comply with Tang Mo's dispatches.
On the Suthers side, the King of Suthers was keen to avenge his failure in Northern Ridge, so he planned to make the most of the opportunity presented by Count Fisheo's assassination to exact a great vengeance.
The force, hastily assembled, was commanded by the hero who had saved Suthers's southern territories in the last war—Earl Roml.
You read that correctly, Roml had been promoted. Although he had been pursued and routed by Tang Mo's 300 brave Brunas soldiers and several thousand hastily ard peasants in the southern part of the Kingdom, he had still been promoted.
Because according to nearly everyone's report, Sir Roml had withstood the pressure at a critical mont, rallied the routed soldiers, and stabilized the southern part of the Kingdom at a crucial juncture, suppressing the rebellious rioters.
Such a towering figure was naturally to be promoted. So Roml had now beco an Earl, replacing Tucci, as one of the celebrated generals of the Kingdom.
Well... in short, he was now a rising military star in great demand within the Suthers Kingdom, also known as the most likely commander to regain Suthers's honor, succeeding General Tucci.
This ti, because they were unprepared, the Suthers had hastily assembled so of the forces originally stationed along the border, intending to grab opportunistic benefits.
They lacked sufficient supplies and hadn't gathered enough forces, hastily mobilizing 6,000 soldiers and preparing to approach the Ice Crystal River.
This force, having reached the Ice Crystal River with great montum, had actually taken two days, while across the river, the Northern Ridge troops had already sent back the strange movents of the Suthers forces to Ice Crystal City.
By the ti Earl Roml rode to the banks of the Ice Crystal River, he was still full of lofty aspirations.
After all, if he could indeed take back the ceded territories amidst the chaos, his great fa would truly be recorded in the history of the Suthers Kingdom.
"Fisheo is dead, Northern Ridge has no notable generals left!" He pointed across the river with his riding crop, boasting to the few senior officers beside him.
"They probably aren't ready yet, their troops are still in the barracks. Just as long as we cross the river, we've already won." A general, buttering up Roml, nodded and said with a smile.
"Surprise them with an attack when they least expect it! Earl Roml, you truly are a general of our age!" Another officer was also a master of flattery, opening his mouth with complints of the highest caliber.
"Hahahaha!" Sure enough, Roml was flattered and laughed loudly without any restraint.
As he laughed heartily, a knight rushed over on horseback and pulled on the reins in front of Roml. "My Lord! A letter has been sent from the south shore."
Upon hearing this, Roml's face grew even more radiant. "Ha! They've finally sent their surrender letter! Haha! It seems there are still a few wise n among those fools to the south."
The group of officers imdiately began a new round of praise. "With you taking personal action, success is assured, my Lord!"
Roml beca even more smug, receiving the letter from the knight's hand while indulging in his ego, "Hmph! If it weren't for my rallying the troops and stabilizing the front last ti, the southern part of the Kingdom—heavens, we can't even begin to guess how much land we might have lost!"
"Those damned peasant yokels! Following that calamitous star wreaking havoc—it's infuriating just to think about it!" ntioning the war from more than half a year ago, the faces of the Suthers officers all showed pained expressions.
As nobility and upper-class individuals, most of them had personally experienced the disgraceful turmoil in the south.
In that chaos, they suffered devastating losses against the mob's onslaught, so of which have yet to recover their vitality to this day. Their families were plundered, decades of wealth turned to ash and smoke, the re thought still drives them to the brink of despair.
Imdiately, other generals chid in, "Exactly! And they won't even let us reclaim the gold coins they stole... Just thinking about it feels like bad luck!"
At that ti, the entire southern region was in turmoil, and at one point the enemy was less than 100 kiloters from King City.
What was terrifying was that the enemy had even coerced peasants and refugees into their ranks, distributing firearms and arming these scoundrels, sweeping through the possessions of the southern nobility.
One officer, swearing an oath, prepared to exact retribution for the blood debts of the past from the farrs of Northern Ridge, "Those people have now scurried off to Northern Ridge. This ti, if we march there, we must capture them all! Hang them all! Let not a single one escape!"
"You're right!" His words garnered unanimous agreent from all the generals, who nodded fervently, their morale soaring to the zenith.
Amidst this enthusiastic discussion by the Suthers officers, they had yet to notice that among them, Lord Earl Roml's complexion had turned deathly pale.
Most of them were laughing confidently, as if the victory over Northern Ridge was already firmly grasped in their hands.
So they laughed triumphantly, unabashedly roaring with laughter in the face of Earl Roml's bloodless visage, "Ha ha, ha ha ha ha!"
Finally, soone sensed that sothing was amiss because they were sitting right next to Earl Roml yet hadn't heard a single laugh from him.
This Suthers officer saw Roml gazing down at the letter in his hand, with an expression of pain akin to constipation on horseback.
Uncertain of the reason, all he could manage was to address Roml half-remindingly, half-inquisitively, "My Lord?"
"Hmm? My Lord?" The officer sitting beside Roml also caught on, almost simultaneously asking with a puzzled face.
After receiving no response from Earl Roml, his expression turned to panic as he asked again, "Earl Roml, what... what's wrong with you?"
It was then that Roml snapped out of his reverie, shifting his gaze from the letter with difficulty, and spoke anxiously, seeking the opinions of his fellow generals, "I... I suddenly... suddenly feel... my stomach is uncomfortable. Perhaps, perhaps we should set up camp here for today?"
He really didn't want to say such things because he knew from last ti that it was his delay that had led to the loss of victory at the crossroads.
As expected, a general imdiately spoke out in counsel, "My Lord, speed is of the essence in war! If we don't take advantage of the chaos in Northern Ridge and Fisheo's assassination to strike quickly, once Northern Ridge is ready, our 6,000 n may not fare so well..."
"Yes! My Lord, stopping here to make camp seems a bit unjustifiable," another general joined in.
As he spoke, he pointed ahead, "Just ahead is the Ice Crystal River. Shouldn't we cross first to prevent the enemy from being prepared and launching a flank attack on us by the river..."
"Silence, silence!" Roml interrupted the generals' babbling in agitation.
"Hmm?" Everyone looked at him, sowhat astonished.
"Everyone, shut up!" Roml couldn't contain himself any longer, his voice abruptly rising in a sharp rebuke.
Finally realizing there was an issue, one officer, looking puzzled at the letter in Roml's hand, asked, "My Lord, what... what exactly is written in this letter?"
Roml, like a deflated balloon, handed the letter to the officer who had asked, his voice filled with despair, "You... just read it yourself!"
The officer took the letter, glanced at it, and imdiately gasped sharply, "Hss... cough, cough, cough cough cough cough cough!"
He seed as though he'd choked on water, struggling to catch his breath after a fit of coughing, and with an embarrassed red face, he agreed with Roml's decision, "If you ask ... well, setting up camp here isn't so bad after all."
"Huh? I say, what the hell is wrong with you people? How can a letter make you all so afraid?" Another officer frowned, snatched the letter from the officer's hand, and with disdain looked at his peers.
Then he bent his head to read it and within seconds, felt the letter burning hot in his hands.
He looked awkwardly around, forcing a laugh, "Well... I too think, think this is a good spot. Let's just set up camp here, heh heh, heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha."
"A letter scares you out of your wits! His Majesty the King would have none of it if he knew. You'd all be in a world of trouble! Cowards!" A burly commander with a stubbled face snatched the letter, glanced at its contents, and read, "Dear Commanding Officer. I am Tang Mo, the one who took 63,100 gold coins from Suthers last ti. Since you seem to have forgotten who I am, please be prepared...
Now, I am coming. Sound the music."
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