Jiang Jin had just returned to Gefeng when Zhou Sui hurried over. Seeing that she was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief in secret. "Master, is everything taken care of?"
Jiang Jin nodded. "Mm, the money and grain have been stored in a safe place. We’ll take them out when needed."
Zhou Sui felt at ease. "All pre-war preparations are ready. Do we strike tomorrow?"
Jiang Jin looked at the scorching sun. "Yes, proceed as planned."
The cool night of September passed quickly, leaving a pale sky dotted with a few sparse lingering stars.
A gray haze shrouded the battered old town of Shanguan County, making it appear even more dilapidated and silent.
At the Shanguan County medical clinic,
a white-haired old man stood in the courtyard, yawning. He looked at the tall man who had already fetched water and said, "Sanqi, why are you so early today? It’s not even light yet."
Sanqi wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Master, you’re up. I just finished hauling a load of water."
The old man, Kong Xinshu, glanced at the dim sky. A vague unease weighed on him; he felt that something was about to happen today.
Sanqi quickly started preparing breakfast.
Kong Xinshu let out a long sigh, suppressing his unease. After a simple wash, he sat at the table and ate the plain meal Sanqi had made.
By the time breakfast was finished, it was only just getting light.
Sanqi hesitated, then said, "Master, I’d like to take the day off today."
Kong Xinshu frowned slightly. "Is something the matter?"
Sanqi replied calmly, "I want to go see Daodou. It’s been a while since I last saw him."
Without much thought, Kong Xinshu agreed. "Go ahead."
Daodou and Sanqi had both been bought into the town by him. As the only physician in town, and with his daughter taken as the county magistrate’s concubine—though against her will—
he still had some standing in the community.
So when Mrs. Mei had come to him with her troubles, given their past acquaintance and his understanding of the hardships of these chaotic times, he had purchased two servants. After all, the clinic’s pharmacy apprentices had all been killed when the Quzhao Army entered the city.
Not long after bringing them in, for some reason, the Li family took a liking to Daodou. The Li family ran a tavern, and their original wine steward had also been killed. Thinking it over, Kong Xinshu resold Daodou to them.
As Sanqi was about to leave, he turned back to glance at Kong Xinshu. "Master, if there’s nothing urgent, it’s best you don’t go out today."
Kong Xinshu looked up, his heart skipping a beat. But before he could make sense of it, Sanqi had already walked away and vanished from sight.
At the west gate of Shanguan County,
a squad of Quzhao soldiers yawned as they changed shifts. "Ah, it’s not as hot as before, but the mosquitoes are terrible. I can’t sleep well at night, and I’m drowsy."
The soldiers coming on shift also yawned. "Count your blessings—we have to sleep during the day, and it’s sweltering."
"You sleep indoors; wait until the sun comes out, and we’ll be baking out here. This year’s a real pain—not a drop of rain the whole year."
The off-duty soldiers waved dismissively. "Enough, I’m too tired. Let’s grab breakfast at Li’s Tavern."
"Yeah, hurry up and eat so we can rest early."
As the shift change ended, the officer on duty slowly ate a steaming bun. "Speaking of which, Li’s Tavern makes great buns—tasty and big."
Another soldier nodded in agreement. "That’s right, it’s a family recipe. These Han people have family traditions for everything—strange, isn’t it?"
He stood straight, looking into the distance as he kept vigilant watch. Ordinary soldiers like him didn’t dare eat while on duty like the officers did.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his voice stammered, "Bai... Baihu, what... what are those people?"
The officer was enjoying his bun and didn’t register the words. "What people?"
The soldier’s voice trembled. "An army! Enemy attack!"
The officer’s heart lurched. Following the soldier’s pointing finger, he saw a mass of soldiers moving swiftly toward them amid billowing dust.
A blood-red flag flapped in the wind, stark against the gloomy sky.
Too far away to read the characters on the flag, but he knew for certain—it wasn’t the Quzhao Army!
In the distant woods, the treetops rustled, clearly hiding many soldiers within.
Terrified, the officer thought of one possibility: "Quick! Quick! Beat the drums! It’s the Jinyang Army!"
Urgent drumbeats rang out across Shanguan County, startling the entire city—soldiers and civilians alike.
Jiang Jin rode at the front of the army on horseback, stopping about seven to eight hundred meters away.
Zhou Sui and Yun Chengxuan rode half a step behind her, followed by Yao Ji and the others.
The group looked on coldly as the drumbeats rose from the city tower and the Quzhao soldiers on the walls scrambled in panic.
The team of five thousand stood in absolute silence, dust still hanging in the air.
Fifty eight-crossbow ballistae were pushed forward to the front line, soldiers loading arrows with practiced ease.
Jiang Jin raised her eyes at Shanguan County and gave the command steadily: "Prepare the scaling bolts—fire!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Arrows streaked toward the walls of Shanguan County like lightning…
The officer stared wide-eyed as the black dots rapidly grew larger. Was this the Jinyang Army’s large crossbows with a range of five hundred zhang?!
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
Just as he thought his life was over, the arrows embedded themselves into the city wall. The massive impact made him feel the entire wall shake.
A soldier trembled and said, "They... they missed?!"
The officer suddenly remembered something and rushed to the battlement, looking down. Sure enough, he saw the spearlike arrows driven deep into the wall, only the shafts visible.
"Oh no!" he cried out in alarm.
Thud, thud, thud…
Before he could retreat from the battlement, dozens more arrows struck the wall. A closer look showed that their arrangement was deliberate and patterned.
Inside a private residence in the city, County Defender Qu Tianshi dressed while asking, "What’s going on?"
His steward helped him into his armor. "I don’t know. A soldier should report soon."
Just then, a soldier ran in, flustered. "Bad news! The Jinyang Army—the Jinyang Army is attacking the city!"
Qu Tianshi sucked in a sharp breath. "What? The Jinyang Army? Why would the Jinyang Army suddenly attack our Shanguan County?"
The soldier, naturally without an answer, lowered his head and gasped, "I don’t know."
Catching himself, Qu Tianshi realized it was a foolish question. "Did you see how many men?"
The soldier reported quickly, "Around twenty thousand."
The steward’s hand shook, nearly dropping the helmet.
Qu Tianshi turned to the soldier in disbelief. "Twenty thousand? Gefeng is just a small place—where could they have gotten twenty thousand troops?"
On Shanguan County’s city wall, more and more Quzhao soldiers gathered. Carts hauling trebuchets were being pushed up from below. Soldiers hurried about in frantic preparations, creating utter chaos.
Zhou Sui, expressionless, raised his hand. "Bridge carts—advance!"
Though Shanguan County was a city of strategic importance, its defenses were decent. Despite the drought, they had managed to divert water into the moat.
Qu Tianshi rushed to the wall to find that a dozen bridge carts had already been pushed to within two hundred zhang of the city.
The deputy commander was directing the archers and, seeing Qu Tianshi, hurriedly saluted. "Defender."
"How could the Jinyang Army have twenty thousand troops?" Qu Tianshi asked, eyeing the force of a few thousand in the distance.
The officer from the morning watch quickly reported, "The woods—there are soldiers hidden in the woods."
