“It’s not that Qu Zhaojun has returned, but that the forty thousand soldiers he sent out have been wiped out by the Jinyang Army. The county of Shanguan has already fallen into their hands!”
The steward’s words left the council chamber dead silent. Everyone stared at him with their mouths agape in disbelief.
Zhang Tinghan even dug at his ear. “What did you say?”
It wasn’t that he refused to believe it—it was simply too surreal. How old was Ge Feng? How many men did the Jinyang Army have?
With so few troops, they had not only taken Shanguan County but also annihilated over forty thousand of the Quzhao Army.
Who would believe that?
The steward wiped the sweat from his brow. “It’s absolutely true. The scout is waiting outside, Patriarch. Shall I bring him in now?”
Sheng Chi snapped back to his senses and quickly said, “Hurry, hurry. Let him in.”
A few moments later, the scout strode in quickly and was about to bow, but Sheng Chi waved him off impatiently. “No need for formalities. Tell us quickly—what happened at Shanguan County?”
The scout lowered his head and respectfully handed him a piece of paper. “According to the message, by the time our agents reached Shanguan County, it had already been seized.”
“Last night, they saw the Quzhao Army camp engulfed in flames, with screams echoing across several mountains. The forty-thousand-strong Quzhao Army must have been completely destroyed.”
Sheng Chi gasped sharply and unfolded the paper with trembling hands.
His scouts were familiar with Fengzhou, but aside from Ze’a Commandery, all other areas had been occupied by the Quzhao Army.
Thus, they didn’t dare venture too far from Ze’a Commandery to gather intelligence, which limited the information they could obtain.
Recently, they had been counterattacking Dongcheng County, and Sheng Chi feared that Qu Bai might return at any moment with the Quzhao army.
That was why he had taken the risk of sending scouts near Shanguan County—to prepare in advance if Qu Bai led his troops back.
But Jiang Jin’s conquest of Shanguan County had been far too swift.
By the time the Ze’a Commandery scouts arrived near Shanguan County, Jiang Jin’s reconnaissance troops were already active in the area.
This kept the scouts from approaching Shanguan County, naturally making it impossible to gather any useful information.
However, from a distance, they spotted the Quzhao Army encamped near Shanguan County and deduced that the county must have changed hands.
At the same time, they noticed the county’s banners had been replaced. They had never seen these black-and-red flags before, and they were too far away to make out the characters, so they couldn’t be sure whose they were.
That wasn’t their fault—the Jinyang Army’s flags had only been officially unveiled during the attack on Shanguan County, so it was perfectly normal not to recognize them.
It wasn’t until last night’s burning of the Quzhao Army camp that they confirmed it was the Jinyang Army occupying Shanguan County.
Watching the flames light up half the sky, the scouts fell silent. Even separated by several mountains, they could sense the brutality of the battle and the ferocity of the Jinyang Army.
Terrified, they immediately used their messenger pigeons to relay the news back to Ze’a Commandery.
Such scouts usually carried messenger pigeons with them.
First, to quickly transmit information in emergencies.
Second, in case they met with misfortune, the pigeons could still deliver their messages.
The scout in front of them was the one receiving intelligence on this end; sometimes, the agents’ messages included special phrasing only they could decode.
“No wonder, no wonder Princess Jinyang insisted at the time that we prepare all the grain for her,” Sheng Chi murmured to himself.
So-called diversionary attacks—that was just an excuse to placate him.
He closed his eyes, feeling as if he were about to vomit blood.
It was clear now—Ze’a Commandery had been played by the Jinyang Army.
Jiang Jin must have long planned to attack Shanguan County, and they had simply stumbled into her scheme.
A full one hundred fifty thousand dan of grain!
Not to mention horse feed and salt!
“Despicable,” Sheng He said, veins bulging with rage.
He had been the one, along with Sheng Shang, to negotiate that deal. Now he was both shocked and furious—and terrified.
Had his failure to detect the Jinyang Army’s plot turned his Patriarch against him?
Zhang Tinghan was still incredulous. “Qu Bai’s forty thousand troops are truly wiped out?”
He had never thought much of Princess Jinyang before, believing she merely controlled the small city of Ge Feng. How much strength could she really have?
The scout nodded. “Last night, the Quzhao Army camp near Shanguan County was set ablaze. Since we were too far away, our scouts couldn’t confirm whether the entire army had been annihilated.”
“However, the message said that by the time they arrived, the piles of corpses at Shanguan County had already been burning for several days. The nearby dead trees were nearly all chopped down for firewood.”
“According to estimates, at least ten to twenty thousand bodies were burned in those first days. Based on last night’s fighting, the Quzhao Army likely lost another ten to twenty thousand.”
“Thus, even if the forty-thousand-strong Quzhao Army wasn’t completely destroyed, hardly any remain.”
“Is the Jinyang Army really this formidable?” Kong Yi murmured.
Huo Chun frowned. “It seems the Jinyang Army has been guarding against us all along, hiding their true strength. Truly underhanded.”
“Could the Emperor have left troops for her?” Kong Yi speculated.
Sheng Chi shook his head. “If the Emperor had troops, he wouldn’t have ended up how he did back then…”
Kong Yi sighed. “Patriarch, this might not be a bad thing. The Quzhao Army is likely demoralized and heavily battered right now. They probably can’t focus on us for the moment.”
If the Jinyang Army had truly only staged a diversion and hadn’t directly clashed with Qu Bai, facing a forty-thousand-strong returning Quzhao army, the present-day Ze’a Commandery might not have been able to hold out.
Sheng Chi was troubled, but his voice remained steady. “That’s right. For now, the best outcome is for the three sides—Ze’a, the Quzhao Army, and the Jinyang Army—to form a stalemate, avoiding conflict and achieving temporary stability.”
But he knew this balance wouldn’t last long.
Before all this, among the three factions, Jiang Jin had been the weakest.
Now, having taken Shanguan County, Jiang Jin would gain a larger population and be able to expand her Jinyang Army. Her strength would become incomparable.
As for Ze’a Commandery, this war had cost them dearly.
Although he still had more soldiers than the Jinyang Army and a larger civilian population than Jiang Jin,
He realized the balance of power had already shifted.
Now, Ze’a Commandery was the weakest of the three!
Kong Yi, recalling the same point, turned to Sheng Chi. “Patriarch, should we also begin taking in refugees to increase our population and military strength?”
After so much warfare, both their civilian and military forces had suffered heavy losses. They had to replenish their numbers.
Zhang Tinghan grumbled, “Who knows if those refugees carry plague? Besides, where would we get enough grain?”
“And it’s all Princess Jinyang’s fault for demanding so much grain from us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have to worry about this. As a princess of the Yan Kingdom, it was her duty to shelter its people, yet all she did was put a price on everything.”
No one responded. That was easy to say, but even when the Emperor was alive, he hadn’t exactly sheltered many Yan Kingdom citizens.
Reputation mattered to some people—it helped attract talent through legitimacy.
But Jiang Jin had never used her princess title, proving she didn’t need that kind of reputation.
When you thought about it, using her identity as the Yan princess would only attract people obsessed with restoring the Yan Kingdom’s glory, which would only tie her hands.
Given how formidable the Jinyang Army was, why would Jiang Jin need such meaningless fame?
Huo Chun suggested, “I heard Ge Feng takes in refugees in designated zones. We could do the same—keep refugees outside for a few days to ensure they don’t have plague before letting them into the city.”
Kong Yi: “Ge Feng distributes porridge. Should we do that too?”
Zhang Tinghan snorted. “Porridge? Why would anyone get free food without working for it?”
