In the morning mist, a train of chariots sped out of the palace. At the forefront was a chariot engraved with nine dragons, on which sat Wu Qi, Guigu'zi, Mo Di, and Wu Tianming. Surrounded by three hundred imperial guards and dozens of well-dressed old eunuchs, the convoy drove straight to the drill ground south of the city.
Wu Qi had made a bet with Wu Dehou that he would use only 100,000 soldiers to unify the entire valley in three months.
Wu Tianming had not a single soldier or horse under him, only seventy-two old eunuchs. So, these soldiers were naturally allocated to him by Wu Dehou. Early in the morning, Liu Qingchen, the officer in charge of all the military affairs of Great Wu, had entered the palace and informed Wu Qi that the army was ready to be inspected. He also told them that all the supplies, salary, armor, and weapons had been prepared for them.
