The frail woman froze for a moment, her expression turning despondent. She wanted to join the army too, but she was so thin and small that she doubted they would accept her.
It took the middle-aged woman quite a while to process what she had heard. Her gaze was complicated as she murmured, “General Qu Zhao… really died just like that?”
“Why does it feel so unreal?” she whispered.
That had been General Qu Zhao—the formidable man who had conquered their Ze'a Commandery, the powerful figure from Qu Zhao who had slaughtered their city with a single wave of his hand.
Everyone fell silent. To be honest, they found it difficult to believe as well.
“Then does that mean Feng'an County will be under the jurisdiction of the Jinyang Army from now on?” the frail woman asked.
She had once revered the aristocratic clans. Now, she hated them just as deeply.
The middle-aged woman looked somewhat lost. “I suppose so.”
Xia Chanyi and the others had also heard the shouts. That was the signal that the city gates had been seized. It was time to bring the battle to an end!
All the squads led their people toward the various city gates to launch their attacks.
On the northern gate tower, sensing the commotion within the city, the deputy commander defending the gate frowned slightly. He walked to the inner wall and looked down into the city.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Is that the Jinyang Army?”
The soldiers beside him followed his gaze. More than a hundred cavalrymen were galloping toward them, with the man at their head carrying a severed head in his hand.
A severed head?!
Then they heard what the Jinyang soldiers were shouting. The deputy commander’s pupils contracted. He focused his eyes, but the distance was still too great for him to see clearly.
When they drew closer, he finally saw it clearly.
It really was their general’s head!
The deputy commander’s eyes bulged with fury. He roared, “Han dogs! How dare you kill our general! Prepare to die!”
He failed to notice that many of the Qu Zhao soldiers behind him were already showing fear and a desire to retreat.
“Fire! Fire at them!” the deputy commander shouted.
But before the arrows could even be released from the city wall, Yao Ji waved his hand, and a hundred bolts shot from the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The soldiers on the city tower instantly fell in droves.
Yao Ji tugged on the reins and brought his horse to a stop.
Holding Qu Shilang’s severed head aloft, he shouted, “Qu Shilang is dead! His head is here! Qu Zhao soldiers, surrender at once! Those who surrender will be spared. Those who refuse will die!”
The Jinyang soldiers behind him joined in, their voices filled with bloodlust.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Yao Ji swept his gaze around the area, then turned his horse and galloped toward the southern gate.
The Qu Zhao soldiers hiding in the shadows of the streets and alleys stared at one another.
Their general was really dead!
The hundred thousand-strong Jinyang Army had actually entered Feng'an County!
What in the world was going on?
It was no wonder they had no idea what was happening. The Jinyang Army had broken up into small groups and infiltrated every part of the city, ambushing and killing any enemies they encountered. Those who had not run into the Jinyang soldiers were simply the lucky ones.
The soldiers exchanged helpless looks. For a moment, they had no idea what to do. Their general was dead, and the commanders defending the city gates had also been killed. How were they supposed to continue fighting?
They did not hesitate for long. Most of them decided to flee.
Even if the Jinyang Army had numbered only ten thousand, they would have found it difficult to win with their commander dead—let alone against an army of one hundred thousand.
More importantly, the northern gate was empty at present. No Jinyang troops were guarding it, making it the perfect opportunity to escape.
Seeking advantage and avoiding danger was human nature. The fact that they had not dared to charge the Jinyang soldiers earlier proved that these men were not particularly courageous.
They looked toward the northern gate and saw that many Qu Zhao soldiers on the city wall had already begun fleeing.
The others no longer cared about anything else and sprinted toward the northern gate.
If they did not escape now, when would they? Once the Jinyang Army seized the northern gate as well, they would be trapped!
Quite a few Qu Zhao soldiers had the same thought. In addition to those at the northern gate, large numbers of soldiers rushed out from different directions, all searching for a chance to flee.
Ba'e rode on horseback and stared at the empty wharf. Furious, he roared, “Those Han people are treacherous, and the aristocratic clans are even more so! They actually escaped! Damn them! Damn them!”
His deputy commander was equally enraged. “They didn’t leave even a single small boat behind. What are we supposed to do now?”
Qu Zhao had wanted to establish a navy, and ships were the foundation of that plan. Yet now, they had nothing left.
Ba'e turned toward the aristocratic clan soldier tied to a horse and asked viciously, “Apart from this place, are there any other wharves in Ze'a Commandery?”
The soldier had vomited all the way here and was now barely clinging to life. Hearing Ba'e’s question, he answered weakly, “No, this is the only one. There’s also the saltworks. They have a small wharf, but it’s only used by the salt-transport boats. There are only a few of them.”
Ba'e frowned. “How far away is it?”
The aristocratic clan soldier answered honestly, “About several dozen li.”
The deputy commander fell into thought. “I’m afraid those boats have been taken away too.”
Since the aristocratic clans had fled, they must have made preparations long ago. How could they have simply abandoned the boats at the saltworks?
Not only the boats—the finished salt had probably been taken as well.
Ba'e ground his teeth in secret, then fixed the soldier with a cold, vicious stare. “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”
The soldier broke out in a cold sweat and shook his head. “No. I’ve told you everything you asked me to.”
Ba'e glared at him darkly. Once he was certain the man was not lying, he immediately ordered, “Kill him!”
The soldier from the aristocratic clan cried out in horror, “No…”
Before he could finish, his head had already been sent flying, blood splattering across the ground.
The deputy commander frowned slightly. “Are we going back now?”
Ba'e nodded. “Yes. Let’s go.”
The saltworks were there anyway, and the boats had probably already been taken by the aristocratic clans. There was little point in going now.
The saltworks that Ba'e considered pointless had already been taken under Dong Si’s control.
Of course, there was no one there in the first place, so they had merely taken control of an empty facility.
Dong Si did not mind at all. He smiled until his eyes curved into crescents. “Excellent. With this, our lord now has two saltworks. At last, we won’t have to worry about a shortage of salt.”
Qiu Wu nodded. “Exactly. We have so many people now. Without saltworks of our own, it really would be a serious problem.”
Dong Si sighed. “Those aristocratic clans are truly despicable. They tricked all the guards and salt workers at the saltworks into going into the city to fight.”
The entire saltworks was deserted and looked dilapidated and abandoned. Most of it would have to be rebuilt.
Qiu Wu said helplessly, “They probably did it to make it easier to transport the salt away.”
Dong Si nodded. “Have people keep watch here. We’re heading back to the wharf at Feng'an County. Things should be about finished on our lord’s side.”
Ba'e and his men galloped hurriedly toward Feng'an County. However, halfway there, several riders came rushing toward them from ahead.
“General! General! This is bad! The Grand General has been killed, and the city has been taken by the Jinyang Army!”
Ba'e thought he had heard incorrectly. “What did you say? The Grand General was killed? Explain yourself!”
The soldiers reporting the news quickly reined in their horses and stopped. With tears in their voices, they said, “It’s true. The Jinyang Army suddenly appeared inside Feng'an County and began ambushing and killing our soldiers everywhere. Even the Grand General…”
They gave him a brief account of what had happened.
Ba'e glared at them, his eyes wide with rage. “You—you’re certain you saw the Grand General’s head?”
The soldier nodded. “I saw it. It was definitely the Grand General. The four deputy commanders were killed as well, and Military Adviser Yu hasn’t appeared either. I’m afraid he’s probably dead too.”
Ba'e nearly ground his back teeth to powder. “The Jinyang Army!”
The soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead. “General, what should we do now? Should we go back and recover the Grand General’s body?”
[I write 4,000 Chinese characters a day because anything less means I lose my perfect-attendance bonus. This book hasn’t received much promotion from the platform, so I’m relying entirely on all you lovely readers who keep following the updates. I’ve thought about stopping before, but I didn’t want to let down everyone’s kindness and support, so I’ve kept going. Thank you all for sticking with me along the way! Please consider showing your support out of love. Love you all (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤~]
