Qu Bai's complexion was very poor. "We should be worrying right now about whether the Jinyang Army will coordinate from the inside and outside to besiege us from both the front and back."
Qu Tie was dismissive. "That would be even better. Gefeng is only relying on the advantage of its city walls. If they really come out of the city, we certainly wouldn't be afraid of them."
Qu Cong said helplessly, "If this Jinyang Army on the outside attacks us holding repeating crossbows and drives us near Gefeng City, the Jinyang Army inside the city wouldn't even need to come out to attack us..."
Qu Tie furrowed his brows. "Since they only dare to act so sneakily, it means they don't have many people. Our Quzhao Army is fierce and brave; we don't fear them."
Qu Cong shook his head. "Even if their numbers are few, with such powerful repeating crossbows, if they launch a night raid or a surprise attack, how many rounds of their volleys can we withstand?"
The main point was that the range of Gefeng's repeating crossbows was too far. Aside from defending with shields, they hardly had any other means to strike back.
"Moreover," Qu Cong added, "their numbers shouldn't be small, otherwise our military rations couldn't have been snatched away so easily."
He looked up at Qu Bai, feeling a faint unease in his heart. "General, what should we do now?"
Qu Bai lowered his eyes in deep thought. After a long while, he said, "Go request reinforcements again. Report the current situation of Gefeng up the chain, and ask the Grand Chanyu to give me twenty thousand men to attack the city directly!"
Qu Cong's eyes flickered. He already understood his plan in his heart; this was preparing to retreat!
Qu Bai indeed had thoughts of retreating. This battle had been incredibly frustrating for him. He had lost tens of thousands of soldiers, yet he wasn't even sure who the enemy was.
He had a premonition that if he continued the siege, he would be even more frustrated and lose even more soldiers.
Since that was the case, he would either attack the city directly or retreat. He wasn't going to just maintain the siege anymore.
He handed the choice over to the Grand Chanyu. If troops were truly dispatched to him, he would fight.
If there were no reinforcements, then he would have a reason to withdraw his troops.
He Li and the others didn't have time to visit the furniture store until the next day. They had moved into a new home yesterday and were busy all afternoon.
Looking at the various kinds of furniture in the shop, which were completely different from what they were used to, they were all pleasantly surprised.
"What... what is this?" He Qiuchi asked, pointing to a sofa set.
Li Qing smiled as warmly as a spring breeze. "This is called a sofa. You can lie or sit on it. Look at the cushions on top; it's very comfortable to sit on. You can try sitting on it."
Li Qing was exactly Luo A'man's mother. After the furniture store opened, she was made the manager here, temporarily managing two shop assistants under her.
Speaking of which, their furniture store had not yet made any large sales. The commoners in the city simply couldn't bear to spend money on things like sofas and chairs.
Most of their furniture was made by their own hands.
Fortunately, quite a few people bought the cheap and simple four-legged small stools, so the furniture store's sales weren't zero.
He Qiuchi curiously sat on the sofa and gently leaned against the backrest. She only felt comfortable in her posture, her whole body relaxing, wishing she could just lie down on it.
Guan Rong took a liking to a dressing table, a kang table, a kang cabinet, and a wardrobe.
She pointed to a small object hanging a piece of clothing in the wardrobe and asked, "What is this object?"
The shop assistant was very enthusiastic. "This is our custom-made clothes hanger. As you can see, it's very convenient for hanging clothes."
Gu Wenxin picked up a hanger, looked at it, and sighed in admiration, "How wonderful. This is good, how much is it?"
Guan Bailing, on the other hand, developed an interest in a desk and chair set. "Is this a barbarian stool? How peculiar."
The shop assistant pulled the chair out and made a welcoming gesture. "This is a chair, it comes with a backrest. You can try it first. When you get tired from writing, you can lean against the backrest, it's very comfortable."
Guan Bailing sat down and tried it, sighing in admiration, "It really is comfortable. How much is this? I'll take it. This bookshelf of yours isn't bad either, I'll take it too."
He realized that coming to Gefeng was truly the right choice.
Yesterday afternoon, the servants had bought quite a few novelties back.
For example, an iron wok. Yesterday, he ate a dish called a stir-fry for the first time, and the taste was simply too delicious.
Another example was the iron stove, honeycomb coal briquettes, a whistling stainless steel kettle, hot pots, and so on.
He boldly guessed that Gefeng could, perhaps, have an iron mine!
With an iron mine, there would be countless agricultural tools and weapons. With agricultural tools, they could farm; with weapons, they could recruit soldiers.
Grain and soldiers were the foundation of confidence in troubled times!
Simply put, Gefeng had confidence.
One must know, the Daqing Commandery where he was previously located didn't even have an iron mine.
So was Gefeng truly a city blessed by heaven?!
As for the matter of the heavenly punishment, he didn't need to specifically inquire about it. The servants who stayed behind in Gefeng had described the events to them vividly.
He Li and Sun Jiang were very interested in the rocking recliner. They took turns rocking on it, clicking their tongues in wonder, "Too comfortable, this is great, I want this one."
When the group left, they had bought almost all the finished products in the furniture shop along with the inventory in the warehouse, and even placed orders for many custom-made furniture pieces.
This couldn't be helped. The three families had all rented large courtyards with many rooms. The furniture each family needed was far more than just a few sets.
Li Qing smiled so widely her eyes narrowed into slits. Today's order was truly massive!
After He Li and the others came out of the furniture workshop, they strolled around the commercial street. They quickly spotted the shops they wanted to rent and planned to find Dong Si later to lease them.
Wuqin.
The Grand Chanyu of Quzhao looked at the small slip of paper in his hand, his brows furrowed so tightly they could crush a fly.
After a long time, he handed the slip of paper to the military advisor Meng Su, who was sitting below him. "Take a look. This was sent by Qu Bai via carrier pigeon. He doesn't want to maintain the siege on Gefeng anymore."
Meng Su's brow twitched. He took the slip of paper and began to read.
The note briefly explained the situation in Gefeng, and at the end was a request for reinforcements, asking for twenty thousand elites right off the bat.
It didn't mention a single word about retreating. It only asked for reinforcements, indicating that he wanted to attack Gefeng.
This was clearly Qu Bai using a tactic of retreating in order to advance.
The meaning was very clear: he was currently beset with crises, and continuing to besiege Gefeng could lead to annihilation at any moment.
You either send him troops, or he retreats.
Right now, the battle in Ze'a Commandery was at a stalemate. Where would he have any troops to send?
The Grand Chanyu rubbed his temples, feeling a bit exhausted. "The Jinyang Army? Where on earth did they pop out from? Why have I never heard of them before?"
Meng Su shook his head. "I don't know. Could it be a former noble clan of the Yan State?"
The Grand Chanyu also had this suspicion. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "How much longer until Ze'a Commandery can be taken?"
Meng Su's eyes darkened. "I'm afraid it will still take quite a while. Ze'a Commandery has the Sheng family. They have allied with several major noble families and are putting up a stubborn resistance."
The Grand Chanyu closed his eyes briefly. "Let Qu Bai retreat."
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of April.
Jiang Jin stood on the city tower, watching the retreating Quzhao Army, and thought to himself: They really did retreat!
Zhou Sui's brows and eyes relaxed. "They've retreated!"
Jiang Jin gave a soft sound of agreement. "The soldiers guarding the city must not slack off. Continue to strictly defend the city in case this is a trick."
Inside Gefeng City, He Li was directing the servants to arrange the furniture. It had to be said that the furniture store in Gefeng City worked quite fast.
In less than ten days, his custom-made furniture had been arriving one after another. So far, about half of it was completed. Looking at his increasingly comfortable home, a smile appeared in his eyes.
The shop had also been rented and was undergoing simple renovations. It would be ready to open for business in a while.
Just then, a servant walked in briskly. "Master, the Lord has requested that you make a trip to the county office."
