Yu He was furious. “A mere princess thinks she can seize our Jianzhou? How dare she threaten the Jiao army!”
Zhou Leng glanced at him. “This isn’t a threat. The Jinyang army never threatens anyone. I’ve delivered my message. What you decide to do is your business.”
Yu He slammed his hands on the table and rose, reaching for his saber.
Jiao Tai shouted, “Enough. Why don’t you go get some rest, Ambassador Zhou?”
Zhou Leng nodded and left with Meng Chong and the others, all of them on high alert.
Only after Zhou Leng’s back had disappeared from view did Mu Qi sigh. “Qu Zhao is in grave danger this time.”
Yu He frowned. “Qu Zhao still has nearly a hundred thousand soldiers. How could the Jinyang army drive them back so easily? Besides, this is a siege!”
Mu Qi shook his head. “General Qu Zhao and several of his senior commanders have already been killed. Qu Zhao has no capable generals left, and morale is at rock bottom.”
“As for the siege, didn’t Qu Zhao say so himself? The Jinyang army has powerful siege weapons. A siege is a major problem for us, but not for them.”
“Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken most of Fengzhou in such a short time. This battle will be difficult for Qu Zhao.”
Jiao Tai knitted his brows and looked at Mu Qi. “What do you think we should do?”
Mu Qi pondered. “The best choice is not to send aid to Qu Zhao.”
Yu He glared at him. “Are you really afraid of the Jinyang army?”
Then he suddenly remembered something. “Wait. Wasn’t the person sent to Liangcheng to the general back then some kind of princess?”
Mu Qi did not answer. There was no point in discussing that now. Instead, he continued analyzing the situation. “Zhou Leng was clearly more confident this time than he was before.”
Jiao Tai frowned. “You mean the Jinyang army truly has the confidence to attack Jianzhou?”
Mu Qi nodded and pointed at the map. “The Ji army in Chongzhou may be inferior to us in both numbers and combat strength, but Chongzhou is relatively poor and was the first province to be occupied. There’s barely any wealth to be gained there.”
“Jianzhou, however, is fertile and prosperous. More importantly, if the Jinyang army attacks our Jiao army, it will greatly relieve the pressure on Sizhou and force us to fight on two fronts.”
Zhou Leng had been right about one thing: Princess Jinyang and the First Prince were siblings.
Whatever the reason for Princess Jinyang’s presence in Fengzhou, it was only natural that the brother and sister would unite when faced with an outside enemy.
Moreover, although they had never fought the Jinyang army themselves, they could still judge its military strength from Qu Zhao’s reports and from the fact that it had seized half of Fengzhou in such a short time. It was clearly far stronger than the Great Qing army.
If possible, they naturally did not want to face the Jinyang army—especially at this critical juncture.
Although their Jiao army had occupied Jianzhou and Haijiazhou, they knew better than anyone that neither province was truly pacified. Some factions were far from easy to subdue.
Take Daqing Commandery, for example. To conquer it in a short time would require them to pay a tremendous price.
If they also had to contend with a powerful Jinyang army, their forces would be stretched thin on every side. Factions that were currently being suppressed might well rise in rebellion.
Wu Qin.
The Great Chanyu of Qu Zhao had just received the envoy’s report. Though he had anticipated the result, he was still inevitably disappointed.
After a moment of thought, he ordered, “Tell him to come back. If there’s no agreement, there’s no point in continuing the negotiations.”
The soldier hurried away to deliver the order.
Meng Su could not shake the unease in his heart. “Great Chanyu, I’m afraid negotiations with the Ji and Jiao tribes won’t go smoothly.”
The Great Chanyu’s face was dark. “There’s no need to rush. All our commanderies and counties are already prepared for battle.”
As he spoke, Tie Yu hurried in.
“Great Chanyu, something has happened to Strategist He!”
The Great Chanyu’s heart jolted. “What happened?”
Tie Yu’s face was filled with grief. “Strategist He was killed. The entire envoy delegation is gone!”
The Great Chanyu froze for a moment. Then he shot to his feet. “What did you say?”
“Who? Who did this?” he roared.
Tie Yu ground his teeth. “The Jinyang army!”
The Great Chanyu stared at him in disbelief. “The Jinyang army?”
Tie Yu nodded. “Jinyang has also entered Chongzhou this time. We can question the Ji envoy for the details. Ji Yuzhu of Shangjing Commandery has sent a messenger.”
“Quickly, bring him in!” the Great Chanyu ordered.
Jiang Jin also received the news that Meng Chong had killed He Xin. She smiled approvingly. “Well done.”
Zhou Sui sighed helplessly. “It was still rather dangerous, doing that in enemy territory.”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “A little boldness is a good thing. Since we’ve reached an agreement with the Ji army, it’s time to move.”
“Target: Shu County!”
At Gefeng, Dongzhi escorted the envoy out through the city gates.
“Safe travels. I won’t see you off any farther.”
The envoy snorted and climbed into his carriage. At last, he could return to Wu Qin. He never wanted to stay in Gefeng for another moment.
The smiles on the faces of those Han Chinese left him brooding. He felt as though every one of them was laughing at him—and at Qu Zhao.
The next morning, at dawn, the magistrate and county commandant of Shu County hurried up onto the city wall. Before them stood the Jinyang army, dark and seemingly endless.
“Quick, send word to the Great Chanyu!” the magistrate ordered loudly.
A soldier hurried over. “The message has already been sent.”
But the county commandant’s face had gone deathly pale as he stared at the general standing before the Jinyang troops.
“It’s Zhou Sui!”
The magistrate naturally knew who Zhou Sui was, and his expression grew even more grim. “Perhaps we should challenge them to single combat to buy some time. As long as we can hold out until the Great Chanyu’s reinforcements arrive, we’ll be saved.”
The county commandant saw the situation more clearly. Given the Jinyang army’s usual methods, they likely would not allow the reinforcements to arrive.
And the Great Chanyu might not even send them. He understood the Jinyang army’s tactics better than anyone.
Still, with matters having reached this point, they could only try.
Zhou Sui was in no hurry to attack. Since the enemy had asked for single combat, he was happy to oblige. He sent Shuangjiang forward.
With one man and one saber, Shuangjiang killed one opponent with each strike, cutting down three enemy generals in succession.
Blood stained the ground.
Qu Zhao had hoped to use the single combats to delay the enemy and raise his soldiers’ morale. Instead, they had barely bought any time, and what little morale remained was utterly crushed.
Zhou Sui curled his lips into a smile and pointed his Cold-Scale saber at the walls of Shu County.
“Kill!”
Inside the hall, the Great Chanyu of Qu Zhao paced back and forth, anxious and restless. Before long, Meng Su and several advisers hurried in.
“Great Chanyu, the Jinyang army is attacking Shu County?”
The Great Chanyu stopped. “That’s right. Let’s discuss whether we should send reinforcements.”
Meng Su considered the matter. “Shu County has more than ten thousand troops stationed there. If they can’t stop the Jinyang army, then no matter how many reinforcements we send, the city’s fall will only be a matter of time. Still, we could inflict heavier losses on the Jinyang army.”
“But Ze’a Commandery lies to the east, and Daqing Commandery to the south. If we move troops out, either of them could launch an attack at any moment.”
“There’s also Lin County,” he added.
The Great Chanyu frowned slightly. “Are you suggesting that we abandon Shu County?”
Then he shook his head. “If we abandon Shu County, the Jinyang army will break through our cities one by one.”
A ruthless glint flashed through Meng Su’s eyes. “Since the Jinyang army is pressing us at every turn, we might as well give up Chun’nan Commandery and focus on defending Wu Qin and the surrounding cities.”
Tie Yu frowned. “How would that be any different from what the Jinyang army proposed? If we had agreed to negotiate with them back then, we could at least have secured a two-month ceasefire.”
