Efficient and fully considering the matter of resting the troops and nurturing the soldiers, even with the reservoir of knowledge standing on the shoulders of predecessors, does not necessarily mean she can fully achieve achievements contrary to common sense.

So, there was only one choice left.

“General Du is being too modest with your words. With Lu Gong as your teacher, naturally you wouldn’t dare to make such presumptuous moves,” Qiao Yan replied, “Besides, I’ve already taken advantage of my grandfather’s favor.”

To set up a general’s flag in the camp to deceive Zhang Liang, the words on this flag had to be carefully chosen.

First, it needed to be convincing enough.

At least, if she wrote the character ‘Cao’ on this flag, it would only make Zhang Liang think it wasn’t reinforcements arriving, but rather a failed show of force.

But it couldn’t be too strong either.

If she hung a flag with the characters ‘Huangfu’ on it, Zhang Liang would probably immediately realize that Huangfu Song had completed the suppression of the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

News of the meeting between Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi would either prompt Zhang Liang to immediately ride to Guangzong, arriving before Lu Zhi’s infantry, which still constituted the majority of the troops, or simply pack up and leave, abandoning Quzhou.

For such a large number of people to abandon the city, whether it was to raid and attack elsewhere, or to choose another place to defend, or even to sweep through other provinces and counties, it would indeed be a waste of Lu Zhi’s previous layout in this area.

This would truly be a disservice to the assistance Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, two loyal and righteous men, had given her.

After much deliberation, she finally settled on the character “Qiao”.

In the court of the Han Dynasty and within the territory, the only one with the opportunity to lead troops and fly a flag with the character “Qiao” was the Qiao family of Liangguo.

However, it was no secret that Qiao Xuan had resigned from office due to serious illness.

At over seventy years old, he could not possibly serve as the main force to confront the Yellow Turbans.

But there was one person who could, and that was Qiao Mao, the most promising among Qiao Xuan’s clan in terms of official career advancement.

During the chaos of Dong Zhuo’s governance, he had successively served as the Inspector of Yanzhou and the Prefect of Dong Commandery.

Qiao Yan flipped through the memories of the original host and also found the promotion trajectory of this clan uncle.

At this time, he had been appointed as a Gentleman at the Court, stationed in Luoyang.

The position of Gentleman at the Court, like the situation with Huangfu Song before, when experience had accumulated to a certain extent, it required some external experience, such as Huangfu Song’s subsequent appointment as the Prefect of Beidi.

However, if the situation of the war was urgent, coupled with Qiao Xuan’s mediation, and faced with the unique background of the Yellow Turban uprising, it was highly likely to skip the process of being Prefect and directly proceed to leading troops.

As for why this general’s flag would overshadow Lu Zhi’s?

“If the person who comes is indeed Qiao Mao, then either the Emperor is expressing dissatisfaction with Lu Zhi for his long-standing lack of military achievements, or it’s because that young man has a high opinion of himself, even thinking he can replace Lu Zhi’s position with the support of Qiao Xuan’s influence, and can seize the initiative to take us down.”

Zhang Liang tried to interpret the meaning behind this character “Qiao,” and ultimately came to the conclusion Qiao Yan hoped for.

One of his subordinates asked, “General, should we show them some force?”

“Foolish!” Zhang Liang scolded his subordinate, “When Qiao Xuan was appointed as the General Who Calms the Liaodong, it was the first time a large army was led by a senior, and he still managed to defeat the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Goguryeo. Who knows if Qiao Mao also has the abilities of his elders, and furthermore, today you only see dust rising, unable to clearly report how many people they have brought. How can I rashly engage in warfare?”

Some methods may seem like overused tricks in later times, but still hold some novelty today.

For example, Qiao Yan had these troops, who left the camp at night and returned during the day, tie branches behind their horses to create some illusions when riding.

After battling with Zhang Liang and Lu Zhi for two months, it was said that the strength of one’s opponent often influenced one’s own.

Zhang Liang exhibited such traits here.

He subconsciously chose to act cautiously.

As he frowned and looked at the erected “Qiao” character flag, he suddenly felt it was difficult to judge whether the relationship between the flag and him was that Qiao Mao, a newly appointed official, was targeting Lu Zhi, an old general, or if Lu Zhi wanted to use this matter to play a trick on him.

This seemed like something Lu Zhi would do.

So he couldn’t make a move.

Seeing Zhang Liang’s displeased expression, his subordinates who were eager to solve his worries quickly asked, “Should we write to the wise and virtuous teacher, asking him to inquire with the heavens and give us an answer?”

“…It’s not necessary for now.”

Zhang Liang was unwilling to speak.

If he sought his elder brother’s advice over a minor issue, wouldn’t it damage his reputation as a ‘people’s general’?

He also didn’t want to admit that the so-called divination and fate theory was just a fabrication, brought up by them to resist the Han Dynasty.

He glanced at the Han army camp outside the perimeter, where there seemed to be figures moving around but it was unclear, and finally said a few words, “We’ll just watch and wait for now.”

But as long as he chose not to act, for Qiao Yan, it was already the first step towards success.

As Zhang Liang looked at the new flag erected in her camp, Qiao Yan also looked at the “Qiao” character flag.

The choice of this “Qiao” character was a matter of weighing options, and the meaning behind this character also had the implication of using a tiger’s skin to create a grand banner.

But when she saw this flag fluttering in the wind, she inexplicably felt a subtle sense of emotion.

After all, this was the flag belonging to her surname!

Although her sentiment was quickly overshadowed.

At first, Dian Wei was feeling a bit full from eating, but the process of cutting down and hauling back the tree he could wrap his arms around had consumed quite a bit of his energy.

Now, he said with considerable satisfaction, “I didn’t expect that I, Dian Wei, had such skill.”

This was a general’s flag!

He wondered how impressive it would look when he carried this flag outside.

Just as he thought about this, he noticed an additional gaze on his face, it was Qiao Yan looking at him thoughtfully, with a hint of scrutiny in her eyes.

“Could you handle this thing alone?” Qiao Yan remembered his record of lifting the Yamen flag with one hand before, and now, suddenly thinking about it, she found it not impossible for her to do the same.

Dian Wei scratched his head, not understanding why such a non-issue question came from Qiao Yan. “Of course.”

Qiao Yan’s mind raced as she replied, “Alright, this afternoon, you will carry this flag and go to the city with Captain Zou Jing to challenge them to battle.” ——

Who is Zou Jing?

He was the leader of one of the two teams left by Lu Zhi for her.

Considering Liu Bei’s five hundred men and some local allies, all were under his command.

However, because Lu Zhi saw Qiao Yan getting along well with Liu Bei, and Liu Bei was indeed not only good at making friends, he was directly temporarily transferred to Qiao Yan’s command and became her second-in-command in the current camp.

Zou Jing’s relationship with Liu Bei was still decent, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit sour in his heart.

He pondered that his performance was just human nature.

But before he could dwell on it for half a day, he received Qiao Yan’s assignment.

Zou Jing was not a fool.

After suddenly receiving Qiao Yan’s appointment, he first replied, “The Deputy General has ordered us to hold the line with Zhang Liang’s troops from Quzhou. We must not take any risks. Why does Miss Qiao make such arrangements?”

Qiao Yan showed no surprise at his question, calmly replied, “What do you think holding the line means? If both sides remain in their camps, cooking, training, sleeping at night, and waking up to watch each other in the morning, without any action, that’s not called fighting against the enemy.”

She held the general’s seal temporarily entrusted to her by Lu Zhi between her fingertips.

At this moment, as she played with it in her hand, the Northern Army Colonel suddenly felt a pressure as if facing a superior.

It was as if the person sitting here wasn’t a ten-year-old girl, but Lu Zhi himself.

He heard Qiao Yan saying, “You can rest assured. This time, sending you to challenge the enemy is just to confuse Zhang Liang.

You don’t need to engage in actual combat with him. Once you hear the sound of the trumpet in our army, immediately withdraw your troops without any delay!”

Seeing Qiao Yan’s gaze fixed on him like an arrow, Zou Jing instinctively straightened his posture and replied loudly, “Yes.”

“In addition, I need you to do one more thing.” When Qiao Yan’s gaze shifted from their eye contact to his chin, Zou Jing suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, he then heard Qiao Yan saying, “Shave off your beard.”

“….?”

People in that era often considered a full beard as a sign of beauty, and Zou Jing was no exception.

He had grown what he considered a very handsome beard.

But the determination in Qiao Yan’s tone, coupled with the general’s seal held in her hand, made him realize that this was obviously not a decision he could refuse.

So he swallowed back the question “Why?” that was on his lips.

Perhaps what made him unable to refuse even more was the second half of Qiao Yan’s sentence, “Whether or not Zhang Liang remains motionless until Lu Gong returns from Guangzong, ensuring the safety of the camp, will depend on Captain Zou’s sacrifice.”

As the powerful young lady spoke these words, she even got up and nodded to him, showing a significant level of trust.

Zou Jing could only comply.

Although what puzzled him greatly was why, after shaving off his beard, he was also asked to apply a thin layer of powder on his face.

He had always felt that his fair complexion compared to the other soldiers in the army already made him seem less masculine, and now, with his beard gone and powder applied, it was even more so.

Fortunately, he still had his armor on, which at least gave him some semblance of the aura of a warrior.

Shortly after noon, he led most of the troops in the camp, along with Dian Wei, the strong man carrying the flag, straight to Quzhou City.

Meanwhile, the other half of the camp was led by Liu Bei, ready to provide support from a distance.

Within a short while, there were only dozens of riders patrolling back and forth on the outskirts of the camp, and only a few people remained in the central area.

However, Qiao Yan seemed completely unconcerned about the danger of being attacked by the people in the city.

She just took out some biscuits prepared earlier by the Fire Tiger Army for breakfast, treating them as snacks for lunch, while casually looking at the map marked by Lu Zhi.

For someone who was adept at reading maps and recognizing military situations, the information left by a commander on the map was invaluable

This moment, indeed, there was a gaze that she found impossible to ignore, somewhat affecting her concentration on her studies.

Qiao Yan spoke up, “Mr. Zhongde, if you had spoken up earlier, you could have replaced Zou Jing’s position.

But I asked Mr. Zhongde to come to Jizhou to listen to the words of the Yellow Turbans, which was already a difficult task.

If I were to sacrifice Mr. Zhongde’s beard as well, then it would truly be my fault.”

Cheng Li smiled at her teasing words and replied, “Using the Qiao family’s flag to make Zhang Liang mistakenly believe there’s a rift between the reinforcements and Lu Zhi’s main force,

And having Zou Jing disguise himself in such a manner within the army to make Zhang Liang think the Emperor is dissatisfied with Lu Zhi’s army’s speed of advancement, these are all clever tactics to confuse the enemy. Your quick wit is rare.”

His words of praise stopped here, then his tone changed, “But too much of anything is not good. If Zhang Liang truly believes that the conflict between the two sides gives him an opportunity, what will happen if he decides to attack the camp directly tonight?”

However, Qiao Yan did not show any surprise at this reminder.

She replied calmly, “If that is the case, since it is what Mr. Zhongde has pointed out, I will trouble Mr. Zhongde to deal with it.”

Cheng Li felt like he had just walked into a trap with his own words.

But Qiao Yan’s interest in Lu Zhi’s military arrangements intrigued him, and as a strategist, he couldn’t deny his own interest.

Under her gaze, Cheng Li could only nod his head and replied, “I am willing to serve Miss Qiao.”

Cheng Li was a man of action.

Since Qiao Yan entrusted this matter to him, he immediately took action.

With few people left in the camp, when Lu Yuan mentioned that she could also assist from the side, Cheng Li did not refuse.

When she intervened, Cheng Li found that, compared to the soldiers who needed his explanation, Lu Yuan almost understood his intentions without needing much guidance.

This showed that her decision to trap the Yellow Turbans in the dungeons of Quyang was not an extraordinary feat, but rather her own ability.

“This Lady Lu is really extraordinary,” Cheng Li remarked as Qiao Yan handed him the defensive map left by Lu Zhi.

Qiao Yan glanced at Lu Yuan and saw her observing the possible points of infiltration along the camp’s defenses.

In Qiao Yan’s eyes, her judgment was not wrong.

She replied to Cheng Li, “Mr. Zhongde, haven’t you heard of a saying, ‘A hero asks not about the origin’?”

Cheng Li understood her attitude from this remark. “In that case, Miss Qiao doesn’t need to consider us. Just pay attention to the timing of sounding the trumpet.”

Qiao Yan was already very confident in Cheng Li.

Though one shouldn’t have fixed impressions of people, Cheng Li’s actions at this moment indeed met her expectations.

It doesn’t seem like Xu Fu, a seedling who has not yet undergone learning and polishing, has already demonstrated his current level in his conversation with her.

Plus, there’s also Lu Yuan, whose origin is unclear but seems quite capable.

If he can’t even handle a bit of defensive traps, then that’s really disappointing.

Her gaze had already turned towards the direction of Quzhou City.