The Bad Girl's Quick Transmigration System: Traveling Back and Forth

Chapter 812 Dark Night Spark (Page 12)

"So what should we do now?" Lin Xue's voice trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the chaos of the situation and her inner anxiety. Zhao Kang was dead; this rebel leader, who had dominated the region and stirred up trouble, had finally fallen in a pool of blood during his own internal strife—a cause for celebration, in itself. However, the ensuing power vacuum and the increasingly complex situation plunged those of them trying to set things right into a deeper fog of confusion. She desperately needed a clear goal, like finding a lighthouse in the darkest night.

Zhou Mi didn't answer immediately. Her fingers tapped lightly on the cold stone table in front of her, making a soft "tap, tap, tap" sound that was particularly clear in the quiet, secluded room lit only by an oil lamp. The dim yellow light of the oil lamp flickered on her face, illuminating her young yet unusually resolute profile. Her long eyelashes cast faint shadows, obscuring the turbulent thoughts in her eyes.

Lin Xue waited patiently. She knew Zhou Mi, this seemingly quiet, even somewhat bookish woman, who possessed a deep and shrewd mind, often able to find a glimmer of hope in the most chaotic times. They had served together under Sister Lin Ping, going through life and death together, and were already sisters who had risked their lives for each other. Now, with Sister Lin Ping imprisoned, Zhao Kang dead, and the army leaderless, it was a critical moment of survival.

After a moment, Zhou Mi stopped tapping and slowly raised her head. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with starlight, flashing a sharp light that swept away her previous hesitation.

"I've got it!" she said decisively, her voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable force. "Now that Zhao Kang, the rebel leader, has just died, the army is leaderless and morale is low; and Sister Lin Ping has been unjustly imprisoned by the governor, which is our biggest weakness and the enemy's biggest loss of popular support. We must now take a two-pronged approach, but we must prioritize them!"

She stood up, walked to the only small window in the secret room, and looked out at the deep night and the faint lights of the military camp in the distance. Her tone became more determined: "The first step, the most important and the highest priority, is to rescue Sister Lin Ping! She is not only our backbone, but also the most prestigious and popular general in the army. As long as she can come out, we will have a banner and a core that unites our people!"

Lin Xue nodded vigorously, hope igniting in her eyes: "Yes! Eldest sister can't be harmed! But... the governor's mansion is heavily guarded, and we don't have many people at our disposal. How can we rescue her?" This was the most pressing problem. Lin Ping had been imprisoned by the governor on charges of "treason." Although everyone knew this was a frame-up, a dirty trick by the governor and the powerful families behind him to eliminate dissidents and seize military power, the "crime" had been set, and the guards would undoubtedly be tight.

Zhou Mi turned around, her gaze calm as she looked at Lin Xue: "Forced entry is definitely out of the question; that would be walking into a trap. Not only would we fail to rescue our eldest sister, but we would also get ourselves caught up in the mess, bringing pain to our loved ones and joy to our enemies. We must outsmart them. Zhao Kang is dead; that's the biggest variable we can utilize!"

"Zhao Kang's death? What does that have to do with saving my older sister?" Lin Xue asked, puzzled.

“This is a huge deal!” Zhou Mi walked to the table, dipped her finger in tea, and drew a simple relationship diagram on the stone table. “Why did the governor dare to imprison Sister Lin Ping? First, there was the pretext of ‘colluding with the enemy.’ Second, the threat of Zhao Kang’s rebel army was still there, and he could use excuses like ‘stabilizing morale’ and ‘changing commanders in a crisis’ to cover it up. But now Zhao Kang is dead! The rebel army is leaderless, and the threat to the prefecture has suddenly lessened. At this time, imprisoning a meritorious general who should be in charge of the overall situation seems even more inappropriate and untenable!”

She paused, her eyes gleaming with wisdom: "We can use this to create public opinion, shake the governor's resolve, and even sow discord between him and the powerful families behind him. At the same time, we must secretly contact the generals and soldiers in the army who are loyal to our elder sister and dissatisfied with the governor, accumulate strength, and wait for the right opportunity."

"And what's the second step?" Lin Xue pressed, feeling her thoughts gradually becoming clearer.

"The second step," Zhou Mi said solemnly, "is to immediately restore Sister Lin Ping and your positions in the army after we rescue her, or create favorable conditions during the rescue! Lin Xue, you come from a military family, are highly skilled in martial arts, and have a reputation for bravery in the army. However, you have always assisted your elder sister and kept your talents hidden. The governor dismissed you to install his own people. We must regain military power! Without military power, everything is just empty talk!"

"Reinstatement...how easy is that? The governor certainly won't agree." Lin Xue frowned.

“If he doesn’t agree, we’ll ‘restore’ ourselves!” A ruthless glint flashed in Zhou Mi’s eyes. “As long as our eldest sister comes out, and as long as most of the soldiers support her, we can hold a meeting of generals in the military camp, expose the governor’s conspiracy, and announce that our eldest sister has been reinstated. By then, the die is cast, and even if the governor is unwilling, he will have to consider the morale of the army and the people, and the potential threat posed by the remnants of the rebel army—he needs a fighting and obedient army to clean up the mess, not a bunch of useless sycophants.”

Lin Xue's heart began to race. Zhou Mi's plan was bold and meticulous, full of risks, but also contained a huge possibility of success.

"And then?" she pressed, her gaze fixed intently on Zhou Mi.

“Then,” Zhou Mi took a deep breath, as if exhaling a stale air from her chest, her eyes becoming incredibly sharp, “it’s the third step! And it’s also our most urgent military task right now—to take advantage of Zhao Kang’s death and the chaos within the rebel army to immediately send troops to completely wipe out the remaining rebel forces!”

"Suppress the rebels?" Lin Xue was somewhat surprised. She thought that after rescuing her eldest sister and regaining military power, the primary target should be dealing with the governor and those powerful families.

“That’s right! We must wipe them out immediately!” Zhou Mi’s tone left no room for doubt. “This is crucial; it’s even the key to whether we can gain a foothold and counterattack the governor and the powerful families!”

Seeing Lin Xue's confusion, she explained, "First, although Zhao Kang is dead, the main force of the rebel army still exists, but they are leaderless. If we don't take this opportunity to completely eliminate them, once they elect a new leader or are absorbed by other forces and rise again, all our previous efforts may be in vain, and we may even find ourselves in a situation where we are attacked from both sides. At that time, the governor can use this as an excuse to accuse us of 'ineffective suppression of the rebellion' again, and suppress us with a legitimate reason."

“Secondly, suppressing the rebellion is a great achievement! A tremendous military exploit!” Zhou Mi emphasized. “As long as we can quickly and effectively eliminate the remaining rebels, it will be enough to silence everyone, prove Sister Lin Ping and our military capabilities, and greatly enhance our prestige within the army and even the entire prefecture. At that time, with military merit in hand and the army’s morale high, the governor and those powerful families will have to think twice before trying to harm us!”

“Third,” Zhou Mi continued, her eyes gleaming with a profound light, “by eliminating the rebels, we can seize their provisions and weapons to replenish our own strength. At the same time, we can also take this opportunity to thoroughly purge any unstable elements in the army that may have been planted by the rebels or the governor, and truly take control of this army.”

Lin Xue was deeply moved. Every step Zhou Mi took was meticulously planned and executed, hitting the nail on the head. She had only thought about saving people and getting revenge, but she hadn't expected there to be so many intricate details and strategies involved.

"The final step," Zhou Mi's voice turned cold and firm, carrying a sense of resolute revenge, "is that after we rescue our eldest sister, restore her military rank, quell the rebels, and gain military power and merit, we can turn around with dignity and settle accounts with the governor and those powerful families behind him who treat human life like dirt!"

"Let's settle the score!" Lin Xue clenched her fist tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, her eyes burning with rage. She thought of those loyal and virtuous people who had been falsely accused, of the suffering her elder sister Lin Ping might have endured in prison, and of the tyrannical and oppressive faces of the governor and the sons of powerful families who usually bullied and exploited the people.

“Yes, settle the score!” Zhou Mi repeated each word with force, “What they owe us, what they owe the soldiers, what they owe the people of the whole prefecture, we will collect it all, penny by penny, with interest! We will make them pay the price for their greed, selfishness, and ruthlessness!”

The light from the oil lamp seemed to brighten slightly because of the impassioned vow, illuminating the equally unwavering belief in the eyes of the two women. The air in the secret room was no longer stuffy and oppressive, but filled with a determination and strength that allowed them to rise from the ashes.

“Alright! We’ll do it your way!” Lin Xue stood up, her gaze meeting Zhou Mi’s firmly. “Rescue our eldest sister, reinstate her to her post, wipe out the rebels, and settle scores with our enemies! Zhou Mi, from now on, whatever you say, I’ll do! I, Lin Xue, will go through fire and water without batting an eye!”

Zhou Mi looked at Lin Xue with a relieved smile. She knew their strength had united. "Good sister!" She reached out and clasped Lin Xue's hands tightly. One hand was calloused and strong from years of martial arts practice; the other was slender from holding books and ink, yet equally firm and powerful. In this dark, secluded room, it was as if they held the hope of the entire future.

"Without further ado, let's split up and start planning now." Zhou Mi immediately began to strategize. "Lin Xue, you're in charge of secretly contacting our old comrades in the army, especially those reliable brothers who followed our eldest sister in battles across the country. Tell them that our eldest sister has been wronged and that we're going to rescue her. Ask them if they're willing to work with us. Remember, it must be done in secret. Don't alert them. The key is to get in touch with those in crucial positions, such as the heads of the city gate guards, the armory, the granary, and the mid-level officers of the main battalions."

"Understood!" Lin Xue replied in a deep voice. This was her forte. Although her reputation in the army was not as high as Lin Ping's, she had made many loyal and reliable brothers with her martial arts skills and forthright personality.

“I will be in charge of matters within the city,” Zhou Mi continued, “On one hand, I need to find a way to infiltrate the vicinity of the governor’s mansion or the prison to find out my elder sister’s specific situation, understand the guard deployment, and find a breakthrough for the rescue. On the other hand, I need to use the connections left by my father to spread news and create public opinion among the gentry and common people, saying that Zhao Kang is dead, the rebel army is about to be quelled, but the governor is imprisoning a meritorious official, his intentions are unclear, and this will shake people’s morale. At the same time, I also need to try to contact some other forces that are dissatisfied with the governor or have conflicts with the powerful families behind him, to see if I can find allies.”

Zhou Mi's father was once a minor official in the state. He was an upright man, but unfortunately he died young. However, he left behind some old friends and information channels, which were valuable resources that they could use in the city.

"How often do we contact each other?" Lin Xue asked.

“Three days,” Zhou Mi thought for a moment, “Three days later, we’ll still be here to exchange intelligence and formulate the next specific plan. Lin Xue, you must be careful, there must be spies of the governor in the army now.”

"You too, Zhou Mi. The governor's mansion is a den of dragons and tigers, so please be careful," Lin Xue said with concern.

"Don't worry." Zhou Mi smiled slightly, her smile carrying a hint of composure and confidence. "The more dangerous the place, the more opportunities there are often."

The two then discussed some details in hushed tones, such as codes, tokens, and emergency response measures, to ensure that everything went smoothly.

The oil in the lamp was running low, and its light was beginning to dim. On the horizon, a faint, fish-belly white light seemed to be appearing.

"It's getting late, we should go." Zhou Mi blew out the oil lamp, and the secret room was instantly plunged into darkness.

The two groped their way to the door of the secret room. Zhou Mi gently opened a crack, observed the situation outside, and nodded to Lin Xue after confirming that no one was there.

Lin Xue took a deep breath, glanced one last time at Zhou Mi's blurry figure in the darkness, said nothing more, just nodded vigorously, and then, like a nimble cat, silently glided out and quickly disappeared into the shadows before dawn.

Zhou Mi watched the direction she left in, stood there for a moment, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes—worry, determination, and a sense of heaviness for the future. But quickly, she composed herself, closed the door to the secret room, and turned to walk towards another secret passage leading into the city.