Regarding the issue of whether to continue dredging up the past, Pei Ying ultimately did not receive a definitive answer, because, as luck would have it, a report came from outside just then.
A guard reported that a force had launched a night raid on the Youzhou army camp, and what's more, they were using the same "fire swine" tactic from last time.
"Please rest first, Madam. I will return shortly." Huo Tingshan first acknowledged the call from outside, then said to Pei Ying.
After saying this, without waiting for a reply from the person before him, he turned and strode out of the tent, still holding the telescope Pei Ying had given him as he left.
Huo Tingshan was tall and long-legged, vanishing from the tent almost in the blink of an eye.
Pei Ying's almond-shaped eyes widened completely.
He just left like that? And he didn't give her a clear answer about that matter.
Pei Ying hesitated for a moment, then lifted the tent flap to go outside. The area outside the command tent was much livelier than before. Guards armed with weapons came and went, someone lit new torches, making the firelight even brighter.
"Madam, do you have any orders?" Guo Dajiang saw that Pei Ying had come out.
Seeing them strengthening their guard, poised for action, Pei Ying said, "No orders. I just heard about the enemy raid and the release of fire swine, and I was somewhat concerned."
Guo Dajiang reassured her, "Do not worry, Madam. The General anticipated that the enemy might try to copy our tactics. He had two trenches dug on the back side of the mountain, where our guard is relatively less dense."
Pei Ying felt relieved. "Very good."
With nothing to worry about, Pei Ying went back to sleep. Even as she drifted into dreamland, she could faintly hear the clamor outside.
She didn't know how much time had passed when Pei Ying suddenly had a dream.
In the dream, she returned to modern times and went hiking with colleagues. As they walked, they heard a sound like a waterfall cascading down. A colleague suggested going to find the waterfall for a group photo.
But a strange thing happened: they could only hear the water, but after wandering around, they bizarrely couldn't find the waterfall.
Then the water sound stopped.
Her colleague, unwilling to give up, left the stone steps and took a small path winding around the mountain. Pei Ying looked hesitantly at that pebbled path overgrown with weeds, but as she hesitated, her colleagues, as if hearing her consent, continued forward together.
Just as she thought to catch up, a mist suddenly drifted through the mountains. She lost her direction in the fog, and even more strangely, the ground abruptly gave way.
Vines hanging from branches above fell down, entangling her body like snakes and beginning to tighten. They were like snakes but not entirely; snakes are cold and slippery, but these vines were warm.
Panicked, Pei Ying tried to push away the thick clusters of vines, but they only wound tighter.
The rough vines even slipped inside her clothes.
Pei Ying was jolted awake.
When she opened her eyes, it was pitch dark all around. A dark shadow cast from above enveloped her completely. Pei Ying gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently.
"Did Madam have a nightmare?" a deep male voice came from above.
Pei Ying grabbed the man's wrist, trying to pull out the large hand that had undone the ties of her inner garment and was now wreaking havoc inside. "And you have the nerve to ask?"
Yet it didn't budge an inch.
"Then let me apologize to Madam," Huo Tingshan said with a laugh.
Pei Ying pressed down on his hand. "With the war underway, you, as the commander, must not break military discipline."
"I know."
In the dimness of the tent, faint rustling sounds could be heard. Moments later, a pair of apricot-colored silk trousers gracefully fell from the side of the soft bed.
The beautiful lady had just woken from sleep, her voice still carrying a trace of drowsy softness, and her exclamation was also excessively gentle.
At first, Pei Ying tightly gripped Huo Tingshan's wrist, trying to pull him back up, but as his fingers began to stir, her breath hitched slightly, and her hands gradually lost their grip on him.
He chuckled lowly and continued his apology to her.
Large patches of crimson bloomed on her fair, jade-like skin. Her face flushed, glowing radiantly against the peonies embroidered on her bellyband.
At a certain moment, the beautiful lady tightly grasped a corner of his robe, which had fallen open beside her. Her slender, pale fingers suddenly clenched, crumpling the fabric. Her delicate form, shrouded in darkness, trembled uncontrollably, and the long leg resting against his waist tensed like a drawn bowstring.
The darkness was like a tide, rising and falling.
Pei Ying closed her eyes and pulled a corner of the brocade quilt over her face. But the quilt seemed to have taken on the scent of his robe too, carrying a hint of soap and the grassy, dusty smell of the wind and sand.
Pei Ying bundled herself in the quilt and turned over, her back to Huo Tingshan. But it seemed useless; the quilt didn't block sound. She could still hear his low, pleased chuckle, and the sound of him presumably picking up a silk handkerchief to wipe his hands.
Huo Tingshan casually set the handkerchief aside and went to embrace her. "How did Madam find it?"
Pei Ying had entered a state of post-climactic clarity and ignored him.
"Madam is stingy with her evaluation. It seems I still have room for improvement," Huo Tingshan assessed himself.
Pei Ying couldn't take it anymore. "Huo Tingshan, go to sleep."
Huo Tingshan was still restless and couldn't sleep. He proceeded to tell Pei Ying about earlier events. "Madam's telescope is very useful. It performed a great service, helping me catch the tail end of the enemy's retreat."
Pei Ying opened her eyes. "Caught them all? Whose forces were they?"
"Not all of them, I'm afraid. It was dark; we only caught about seventy or eighty percent." Huo Tingshan said with a light sneer, "They wore the shell of Jingzhou, but the core was likely from Sizhou. The fire swine tactic has only been used in Sizhou. Li Xiaotian couldn't restrain himself and came to test our defenses."
Pei Ying remembered Guo Dajiang's words. "I heard you had two trenches dug. Were there any casualties in the Youzhou army?"
"The trenches weren't long, and the enemy released quite a few fire swine. A few slipped through the net. Combined with the enemy's charge from behind, a dozen or so of our soldiers sustained minor injuries. However, the grain stores and the camp tents were undamaged," Huo Tingshan said.
Hearing there was no serious damage, Pei Ying stopped worrying. This man was not one to suffer losses. He had probably already thought of a follow-up plan when the enemy released the fire swine.
Let him handle it.
"That's good then..." Drowsiness washed over her again, and Pei Ying closed her eyes once more. She had woken in the middle of sleep, so falling back asleep came quickly.
She was asleep, but the person beside her was not. Huo Tingshan recalled the earlier events. His thoughts were unusually tangled and chaotic; he was in turmoil and remained sleepless throughout the night.
When Pei Ying woke up, it was already bright daylight outside.
The usual breakfast was wheat porridge or rice gruel, but today there was an additional dish of roasted pork. The cook who delivered the meal was all smiles. Knowing Pei Ying was always approachable, he said to her, "Madam, there are over a dozen roasted pigs in the camp today. Everyone is in for a treat."
Pei Ying guessed it was the pigs "gifted" by Sizhou last night. "That's quite good."
Meng Ling'er and Huo Zhizhang were also there. The latter remarked with feeling, "Learn from one's mistakes. I reckon this will be the only time."
Whether it would be the only time was unknown, but Meng Ling'er just thought the pork didn't taste good, even if it was given freely by Sizhou.
The pigs hadn't been castrated, so the smell was very strong.
"Even roasting can't hide that gamey stench. The pigs Mother raises are much more delicious. I really want the war to start soon. After we take Jingzhou and reward the troops, I'm going to feast heartily," Huo Zhizhang grumbled.
Those looking forward to the start of the war were not limited to Huo Zhizhang alone; they included all the generals of Youzhou as well.
Thanks to the two trenches, the night raid resulted in significantly fewer casualties and also prevented the Si Province forces, who had initially intended to probe their strength, from discerning their true situation.
Had the Youzhou army already been completely infected by the plague?
Li Xiaotian had no answer either.
There was no more time for further reconnaissance, because the farthest force, from Yizhou, had already arrived.
Arrayed from west to east, the armies of Yi, Yong, You, Si, and Yu Provinces were all in position, forming an iron-hoofed encirclement around Jing Province.
The Governor of Yizhou was named Wei Cong. The previous incidents of the "Fish Belly Prophecy" and "Fox-Fire Howls" had both originated from Yizhou. This time, however, Wei Cong, Wei of Yizhou, did not come in person. The representative leading the one hundred thousand Yizhou troops was Wei Cong's Grand Commander, Mu Qianqiu.
This Mu Qianqiu was related to Wei Cong by marriage; his own younger sister was one of Wei Cong's favored concubines. Coupled with his own considerable abilities, he had quickly established a firm footing within the Yizhou army and was not merely a figurehead.
The five provinces gathered to discuss the grand strategy for attacking Jing.
For this gathering, Li Xiaotian did not attend. He sent an unfamiliar military officer, who introduced himself as Wu Xiao'er, the Deputy Commander of Si Province.
When the name Wu Xiao'er was announced, whether it was Zhu Yanwu of Yong Province or the governors of the other provinces, their brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
They had never heard of this person.
Communication in ancient times was indeed underdeveloped, but that didn't mean information between provinces was completely blocked. Especially for military officers who needed to accumulate merits for promotion, the process of earning those merits was also how formidable generals made their names known.
For instance, the core circle of officers around Huo Tingshan—when they announced their names outside, the governors of other provinces were aware of them.
But this Wu Xiao'er...
He seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with no reputation preceding him at all.
Could he have risen through nepotism? But that didn't seem right either; those who rose through connections also had rumors spread about them, like that former Si Province Commander Liu Baiquan, whose wife was Li the Governor of Si Province's legitimate daughter.
Or perhaps this person had been promoted very recently, so word hadn't had time to spread?
Everyone had their own thoughts.
Huo Tingshan knew the truth full well, occasionally coughing a few times and pretending not to notice Wu Xiao'er's repeated glances.
Mu Qianqiu of Yizhou was the last to arrive. The other provinces had already largely settled on a plan, and now it was merely being presented to him—
For this campaign against Jing, they would take the three northern official routes into Jing Province: "Huaigu Pass," "Chenyuan Path," and "East Gate Pass," dividing the forces into three routes.
Among them, Huaigu Pass was the westernmost checkpoint on Jing Province's northern border, and East Gate Pass was the easternmost.
The western Huaigu Pass was relatively treacherous. Furthermore, Yizhou was located west of Jing Province, sharing a considerable border with it. Therefore, Huaigu Pass was assigned to the combined forces of Yizhou and Yong Province; this route would be taken by their armies together.
The central Chenyuan Path was extremely perilous, the most dangerous of the three passes. It was assigned to the Youzhou army, which had brought the largest force south on this campaign, and the Si Province army, which bordered Jing Province and claimed familiarity with this route.
The remaining, relatively gentle East Gate Pass was to be handled solely by Lei Chengshuang's Yu Province army.
Mu Qianqiu considered the plan and had no objections.
Taking the western Huaigu Pass was fine; a bit further on would be Yizhou territory, with their main rear base close at hand, much better than the long-distance trek facing the Youzhou army.
With the plan finalized, the march began immediately.
Except for the independently acting Yu Province, which had no reservations, the armies of the other provinces maintained a certain distance from their allies.
From the start of the march, the Si Province army quickly adjusted its troop deployments.
Li Xiaotian employed a stratagem of the golden cicada shedding its skin. He left only three thousand soldiers to manage the banners and standards, but at night, a dense ring of outer tents was erected, and the number of cooking pots was set according to the original full army count.
After setting up this decoy, the true main force of the Si Province army split in two. One half trailed far behind the Youzhou army like vultures, while the other half of the main force changed course eastward, with infantry heading in the direction of the Yu Province army.
"Great General, we reach Chenyuan Path tomorrow. Do we close the net?" Sha Ying rubbed his hands eagerly.
Si Province's troop movements this time were exceedingly cautious. Had they not known in advance of Li the Governor of Si Province's treacherous intent, even with scouts paying attention, they would certainly have been deceived.
After all, when the tents, cooking pots, and even the banners and standards were all present in undiminished numbers, and the two armies weren't marching in tight formation, who would suspect that the Si Province main force had already slipped away?
Huo Tingshan stroked his bushy beard and said nothing.
Xiong Mao, seeing his apparent hesitation, asked puzzledly, "Great General, the timing is perfect now. Why not move immediately?"
He stated his view directly, "The Si Province main force has withdrawn, leaving only three thousand soldiers beside us. We can easily swallow those three thousand first. Fifty thousand cavalry surrounding three thousand—they'd be wiped out in an instant. Then we can turn around and deal with the Si Province army behind."
Their scouts wouldn't have time to report; they could definitely catch them off guard. Eliminating Si Province first would remove a potential threat from the rear. Wouldn't it be better to deal with Jing Province afterwards?
Huo Tingshan glanced sidelong at Xiong Mao, ignoring this blockhead, and looked at Huo Zhizhang. "Huo Er, what do you think, boy?"
Huo Zhizhang pondered, then after a long while said, "Father, I think we can wait a little longer. While waiting, we should pretend the plague in our army is worsening. Since Si Province has allied with Jing Province, presumably Jing Province also knows our army is infected. As long as we make the Jing Province army believe we are weak and on our last legs, they will surely come out. After all, to be safe, plague corpses must be burned."
Chenyuan Path was shaped like a bag, undoubtedly easy to defend and hard to attack. If they launched a strong assault, they could probably take it, but the losses would be extremely heavy.
If the Jing Province troops inside the pass came out on their own, that would be a different matter.
Huo Tingshan curled the corner of his mouth. "You're only clever at times like this, boy."
"Father, I have a request," Huo Zhizhang said earnestly.
Huo Tingshan thought he wanted to lead troops. "Let's hear it."
But he had only guessed half right. The young man pleaded, "Your son wishes to lead an elite force to engage the Jing Province army that comes out of the pass. If I can achieve a great victory within half a day, I wish to borrow Father's telescope to observe."
The corner of Huo Tingshan's mouth slowly fell.
