Jiang Jin shook her head. "Qu Zhao's forces are powerful. How many people do we in the Jinyang Army have? It would be nothing more than throwing eggs against a rock."
Sheng He was on the verge of tears. "Princess, we are all Han Chinese. Our Ze'a Commandery has been destroyed—that brings you no benefit at all."
"As long as you act, as long as you retake the two counties in the east, we are willing to offer those two counties directly to you."
Dong Si sneered coldly. "You take us for fools? If we retake those two counties, they're ours by right of conquest. Why would we need you to 'offer' them?"
Zhou Sui snorted. "You're playing a clever game. If we take East County, we'd become your gatekeepers."
Sheng He grew frantic. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all. Please don't misunderstand."
He turned his gaze back to Jiang Jin. "Princess, though the Yan Kingdom has fallen, we are still subjects of your Jiang imperial house. I beg you, Princess—save the people of Ze'a Commandery."
Jiang Jin lowered her head and took a sip of tea, her expression unreadable. This again—trying to guilt-trip her with morality.
Dong Si slammed his palm on the table with a bang. "Ha, subjects? Now you remember you're subjects? Where were you before?"
Sheng He tried to speak again, but Jiang Jin cut in. "It's not that I won't help. It's that I don't have the strength. I have only this many troops, and I must use them to guarantee the safety of my own people."
Sheng He's heart turned cold. He felt a dull ache pressing against his chest.
Jiang Jin rose to her feet. "Captain Sheng, if you wish to stay in Gefeng for a few days, you are welcome. Even your family and relatives may come to my Gefeng."
"As long as you are a citizen of Gefeng, I will do everything in my power to protect you."
Sheng He was stunned. Was she asking him to defect from the Sheng family?
It wasn't until Jiang Jin and the others had walked out that he still hadn't fully collected himself.
After a long moment, Sheng He rose unsteadily. He knew—this time, Princess Jinyang would not act.
He felt completely despondent, wondering how he would explain this to his clan leader.
Leaving Gefeng, he looked back at the heavily guarded city gates, let out a sigh, and spurred his horse into a gallop toward Ze'a Commandery.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jin led Zhou Sui and Dong Si to another meeting hall in the county office.
Soon, all the senior officers had assembled.
"The time is ripe. Prepare to move!" Jiang Jin's voice was steady.
The crowd was stirred with excitement. They had waited a long time for this moment.
Night fell. The moon hung low and dim.
The horse ranch near Shantong County lay quiet and still, broken only by the occasional crackle and pop from the torches burning on either side of the main gate.
A guard was dozing off when the squad leader beside him kicked him awake. "What were you doing all day? Stay alert, damn it."
The guard jolted awake and gave an ingratiating smile. "Heh, just dozed off for a second. What could possibly happen?"
The squad leader snapped coldly, "Whether something happens or not, keep your eyes open. The higher-ups said we could see fighting break out in Donghu Commandery at any moment."
The guard nodded hastily. "Yes, yes, we must guard against a Jinyang Army raid. You've said it eight hundred times already."
The squad leader shot him a glare and was about to continue his tirade when a dull thunk sounded—a flash of red before his eyes.
The guard found himself splattered with blood. He looked up in shock and saw that the squad leader who had been talking to him just moments ago now had a blood-tipped arrow protruding from his neck!
Before the guard could even cry out, he felt a chill at his throat. It seemed he heard his companions shouting in the distance, but the sound grew farther and farther away, fainter and fainter.
Thud. The body hit the ground.
Yun Ce swept his hand forward. "Kill!"
The moment the word left his lips, several hundred Jinyang soldiers surged out of the darkness, charging toward the horse ranch.
At the main gate, only a dozen or so Qu Zhao soldiers still lived—not even enough to withstand a single wave of the Jinyang Army's assault.
Within moments, Yun Ce had seized control of the gate.
"Split up and move!" he barked.
"Yes, sir!" The Jinyang soldiers acknowledged.
Leaving a few dozen to hold the gate, the force split into several groups and charged into the ranch.
By now, every guard and horse groom inside had been roused from sleep. Chaos reigned.
As Yun Ce's men cut through, screams tore through the night, setting off a cacophony of horses' whinnies.
Fortunately, the Jinyang soldiers who had headed for the stables had already secured the area and were calming the animals.
Yun Ce brought his blade down in a single stroke. Blood sprayed, splattering across him, but he felt nothing—his eyes burned with excitement. The winter had kept him cooped up for far too long.
An arrow flew toward him. Yun Ce raised his blade and deflected it. Before he could even spot who had loosed it, the Qu Zhao archer was already shot dead by a Jinyang soldier beside him wielding a Dragon Feather Crossbow.
The slaughter resumed.
Several riders burst through the ranch's side gate, galloping at full speed toward Shantong County.
Sun Bu, in charge of that direction, wore a strange smile on his face. He waited until the hoofbeats had faded entirely before leading his men forward and quickly seizing the side gate.
Yun Ce received the news promptly. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. He shouted, "Brothers, kill them all!"
At Shantong County's North Gate, all was calm. A guard stamped his feet against the cold. "It's already the fifth month, and it's still this freezing."
"We're up against the mountains here, so of course it's colder. The days are tolerable, but the nights really bite." A guard with a scar at the corner of his mouth rubbed his hands together.
Another stocky guard shook his head. "You should count your blessings. We're a small county, nestled against the mountains, nice and safe. You don't know how brutal the fighting is over in Ze'a Commandery."
The first guard looked puzzled. "I heard we've already taken two cities."
The stocky guard sighed. "True, but you must know how hard East County was to take. Lost quite a few men. Once we capture Feng'an County, I reckon the Grand General will order a massacre of the city."
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of hoofbeats came from the distance.
The guards all tensed, staring in the direction of the sound.
Within moments, the hoofbeats stopped in front of the North Gate. A breathless voice called out, "Open the gate! The horse ranch is under attack!"
The stocky guard was alarmed. "What did you say? Who's attacking the ranch?"
"The Jinyang Army!" the voice shouted again.
The stocky guard's heart turned to ice. The Jinyang Army!
"Quick, light the torches!" he ordered.
Before long, several torches blazed atop the city wall. In the dim, flickering light, the guards finally made out the man below—it was Tie Mao, the pasture officer in charge of the ranch.
Tie Mao was drenched in sweat. "Hurry! Send the city guards to reinforce the ranch at once, or we'll lose all the horses!"
The stocky guard didn't hesitate long. He quickly gave the order: "Open the gate!"
"Go inform the county magistrate," he said, turning to the scarred guard.
Rescue or not? How to rescue? That wasn't for a mere guard to decide. He just had to follow orders from above.
The scarred guard nodded and hurried down from the city wall, racing into the city.
Meanwhile, the great gate slowly creaked open, its dull, grating sound cutting through the silent night.
Tie Mao tugged at his reins, about to lead his men inside, when suddenly an arrow pierced his throat, drawing a spray of blood.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Almost simultaneously, the dozen or so Qu Zhao soldiers riding with him were struck down by arrows as well.
The stocky guard's eyes bulged in fury. He roared, "Shit! Close the gate! Close it now!"
But it was too late.
Jiang Jin charged out from several hundred paces in front of the gate on horseback, raising her Dragon Feather Crossbow and loosing an arrow.
The stocky guard was still shouting at the soldiers below the wall when a wave of deadly dread washed over him. Before he could turn, the arrow plunged into his throat.
