The Great Chanyu Qu Zhao had just received word that Liuxiang Commandery had fallen and was on the verge of vomiting blood when news arrived that the Jinyang Army had captured Ze'a Commandery.
At last, he could not withstand the double blow. He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
Meng Su and the others panicked, rushing to call for a physician.
After a brief commotion, the Great Chanyu finally regained consciousness. Ignoring his condition, he went to the council hall, his face pale.
Meng Su sighed and offered reassurance. “Great Chanyu, there is no need to worry. Springnan Commandery and Ningding Commandery are still in our hands.”
The Great Chanyu closed his eyes. “It has only been two or three months since spring began, yet we have already lost three commanderies. How can I not be worried?”
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Everyone present was anxious, but what use was anxiety now?
After a long while, Meng Su asked, “How many soldiers escaped from Ze'a and Liuxiang Commanderies?”
Tie Yu replied, “Only a few thousand made it out of Liuxiang Commandery, but more than ten thousand returned from Ze'a.”
His brows drew together. “There is one thing I do not understand. Why did the Sizhou Army join the fighting? Have the Jinyang Army and Sizhou allied themselves?”
When Dongcheng County fell, word had already reached them that the banners of the Sizhou Army had been spotted. Yet Qu Zhao still had no idea what was going on.
Sizhou had completely abandoned Fengzhou before. Why had they suddenly joined forces with the Jinyang Army?
He Xin looked concerned. “The Jia Army is already struggling to deal with the Jiao Army. If they have suddenly intervened in Ze'a Commandery, they must be after something.”
Meng Su frowned. “You mean Sizhou wants to borrow troops from the Jinyang Army so they can defend Sizhou together?”
He Xin nodded. “That possibility cannot be ruled out.”
Tie Yu was puzzled. “If they intend to borrow troops from the Jinyang Army, why would they follow them in attacking us?”
He Xin thought for a moment. “Could that be the condition for their cooperation?”
It would be a show of sincerity between the two sides, and it was not unreasonable.
Meng Su fell into thought. “If the Jinyang Army really lends troops to Sizhou, that would be good news for us. The pressure on our side would be greatly reduced.”
“But the Jinyang Army does not have many troops. Under normal circumstances, they would never lend any out.”
“Regardless, our situation is extremely critical. I suggest we seek cooperation with the Jiao Army and the Ji Army and face the Jinyang Army together.”
Chang Gai shook his head. “I am afraid neither of them will cooperate with us.”
Meng Su gave a cold laugh. “Whether they cooperate or not, they will have to. We can tell them plainly that if we are left with nowhere to retreat, Qu Zhao will withdraw directly to Juan Prefecture or Chong Prefecture.”
The Great Chanyu sighed. “The Ji Army may still be approachable. Ji Duoyan has little ambition. But the Jiao Army… I fear they will make their move before we even retreat to Juan Prefecture.”
He Xin frowned. “You mean that if we clash with the Jinyang Army, the Jiao Army may come to Fengzhou and take a share of the spoils?”
The Great Chanyu nodded. “Exactly. They will wait until both sides are battered and exhausted, then profit as the third party.”
That was indeed the sort of thing the Jiao Army would do.
Meng Su pondered for a while before saying, “If that day truly comes, perhaps we should consider preserving our strength and abandoning Fengzhou altogether. We could then establish ourselves in either Chong Prefecture or Juan Prefecture.”
Everyone was startled, but they soon understood what he meant.
They currently had eighty to ninety thousand troops. Against the Jinyang Army, equipped with repeating crossbows, victory would be extremely difficult.
If the Jiao Army, already watching them like a tiger stalking its prey, joined in, they might truly be annihilated.
Rather than wait passively, they might as well abandon Fengzhou, which would be difficult to defend, and take the initiative by attacking either the Ji Army or the Jiao Army. If they concentrated their forces on a single commandery, they still had a chance of winning.
But if they did that, Qu Zhao's forces would inevitably be reduced to almost nothing.
No matter which path they chose, the situation was difficult.
The Great Chanyu remained deep in thought for a long while before finally nodding. “Very well. Go negotiate with the Jiao Army and the Ji Army.”
After thinking it over, he added, “And go negotiate with the Jinyang Army as well.”
Meng Su frowned. “Do you intend to cede territory to the Jinyang Army and make peace with them?”
The Great Chanyu nodded. “We have fewer than ninety thousand troops left.”
As he said this, a dull pain seized his heart. Qu Zhao had once commanded nearly three hundred thousand soldiers.
Those not killed by the great clans of Ze'a Commandery and Luo Lan had all been wiped out by the Jinyang Army.
He suppressed the bloody taste rising in his throat. “Since we began fighting the Jinyang Army, we have almost never won. Our soldiers are already afraid of them.”
“To confront them head-on now would put us at a disadvantage. If we can negotiate peace, ceding two counties would not be unacceptable.”
Meng Su shook his head. “I am afraid the Jinyang Army will not agree.”
The Great Chanyu's expression darkened. “We must at least try. If it fails, we can discuss our next move.”
This would also buy them time—ideally enough to negotiate an alliance with the Ji Army or the Jiao Army, preferably with both.
He turned to He Xin. “You will negotiate with the Ji Army. You must secure an agreement. We can offer them one or two counties.”
He Xin rose and bowed. “Yes.”
Two days later, Hua Yuanyi and the others, led by Xie Nanxiao and Hua Ruo, finally entered Gefeng.
But what drew their attention and left them astonished was not Gefeng's bustling prosperity or its many novel goods. It was the reverence and grief in the eyes of the common people as they looked at them.
Hua Yuanyi turned back toward the procession behind him.
Those were the remains of the soldiers from the Jinyang Army and the Sizhou Army.
Nine-tenths of them belonged to the Sizhou Army.
Chen Xi stood in the middle of the street with a group of students. Looking at the bodies of the soldiers behind Hua Yuanyi, he spoke in a solemn, grief-stricken voice:
“Welcome home, heroes.”
For some reason, Mo Song's tears spilled down his face at once.
Home.
Such a simple word.
Yet for those who had fought across the realm while their homeland was destroyed and their families scattered, it was as unreachable as a natural chasm.
And yet the Jinyang Army had truly accomplished it. Though the fallen soldiers had belonged to another side, they had still given them the highest respect due to those who had died in battle.
Xie Nanxiao and Hua Ruo had already dismounted.
Hua Yuanyi and the others followed suit.
A low, mournful song rose from Chen Xi and the students:
The setting sun stains the old city walls red,
A rain of arrows cleaves the bitter moonlight.
Wind and sand bury the medals of heroes,
But cannot scatter the stubbornness of your loyal souls.
The mountains and rivers will forever remember
The way you shed blood for them.
…
Come home, come home—the spirits of heroes shall never perish.
The world has taken on a brand-new shape.
Spring winds sweep across fields of fragrant flowers,
While the lights of countless homes illuminate the streets.
…
The song was both stirring and sorrowful, carrying reverence for the dead and hope for the living.
Amid the singing, the procession of remains moved slowly forward.
The townspeople followed along both sides of the street, mourning as though they were seeing martyrs off.
When they entered the cemetery and saw row upon row of gravestones, even the veteran general Hua Yuanyi, who had witnessed countless deaths, felt tears well in his eyes.
