After discussing it back and forth, they still felt that digging a tunnel was the most reliable option. They then began working out the practical details.
Based on his memories, Qiu Liao even drew a complete map of Wenxia City’s layout, the surrounding terrain, and more.
While the others were discussing their plans, Zhou Leng went to Jiao Tai to bid him farewell.
Jiao Tai’s expression was complicated. Qu Zhao had actually retreated without putting up a fight!
It was an outcome he had never expected.
By now, the entire Chun’an Commandery was in the hands of the Jinyang Army. At this rate, it seemed that the whole of Fengzhou would soon fall to them as well.
Jiao Tai forced a smile. “I hope your Jinyang Army will honor its promise. We’ll refrain from attacking each other and coexist peacefully.”
Zhou Leng smiled faintly. “Naturally. The Jinyang Army always keeps its word. We also hope that the Jiao Army won’t interfere in the matter between us and Qu Zhao.”
In Sizhou, at the Mo residence—
When news of Mo Song’s death arrived, Mrs. Mo could not bear the loss of her son while she was still alive. She fainted on the spot.
Fortunately, preparations had been made in advance. The physician who had accompanied the messenger immediately treated her according to his instructions.
The scene was extremely chaotic. Mo Song’s wife and children were already grief-stricken, but they had no time to mourn themselves. They hurried to care for the old lady.
Master Mo was not doing much better. He stared at the messenger in disbelief. “How could this happen? Wasn’t my son going to Fengzhou? Isn’t Fengzhou Princess Jinyang’s territory?”
He hadn’t gone to the barbarians’ land. How could he have died?
Master Mo suddenly thought of something and asked, “Was it Princess Jinyang?”
The messenger hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, Commandant Mo… He, well… You’d better not ask.”
Master Mo grew even more anxious and exchanged a glance with the steward.
“Please, you must tell me the truth.”
The steward understood at once. He stepped forward and discreetly slipped two gold beans into the messenger’s hand.
The messenger tried to refuse, but seeing how insistent the steward was, he accepted them. His manner immediately became more respectful.
“Since you insist, I’ll tell you.” He glanced around.
Master Mo waved his hand, and soon only he and the steward remained in the room.
Only then did the messenger lower his voice and say, “Commandant Mo… choked to death.”
Master Mo and the steward froze. It took them a long moment to understand. Both stared at him in disbelief and asked again, “What did you say?”
The messenger fully understood their reaction. When he had first heard the news, he, too, had thought he must have misheard. To die that way—it was simply too undignified!
“It’s true. Apparently, Ge Feng has a particularly delicious food called youtiao. Commandant Mo loved it so much that he ate twenty sticks every time. He ate too quickly, and then…”
Even after the messenger had left, Master Mo still had not recovered from the shock.
“He choked to death? He loved them so much that they killed him!”
It had to be said that Commandant Mo’s death had become the hottest topic in Ji’an City—without question.
Before the messenger even reached the Mo residence, the news had already spread throughout Ji’an City’s upper circles. Whenever people met, they could not help exchanging meaningful glances.
Not long after Hua Yuanyi returned to the General’s Residence, his most trusted personal guards were dispatched to various parts of Sizhou.
Only then did he finally let out a sigh of relief. He rubbed his temples, feeling an overwhelming fatigue.
The steward asked worriedly, “General, what’s wrong?”
From all the arrangements the general had made since returning, the steward sensed that something major was about to happen. Moreover, after returning from Fengzhou, the general seemed to have changed somehow.
Hua Yuanyi glanced at him. After a long silence, he said, “Fengzhou is a good place. Princess Jinyang is a good person.”
The steward was stunned. He immediately understood what Hua Yuanyi meant. “You intend to…?”
Hua Yuanyi nodded. “That’s right.”
Night settled over the city in silence. The servants of the Mo residence walked on tiptoe, afraid of provoking their master.
Mrs. Mo had already awakened—or rather, this was the second time she had come to.
The first time had been when she heard of her son’s death. The second was when she learned how he had died. Neither piece of news was something she could bear.
At present, she and Master Mo were discussing the construction of a grave for their son’s clothes and belongings. He was, after all, their own child. His death might not have been dignified, but the arrangements after his death had to be.
Mrs. Mo’s face was deathly pale. “We’ll have to make another trip to Fengzhou as well. We need to find where Dalang was buried. Who knows what they did with him…”
As she spoke, tears began to fall again. The thought of her son dying alone in a foreign land, with no one knowing where he had been buried, caused her heart to ache so badly that she could barely breathe.
Master Mo sighed and gently patted his wife’s hand. “All right. Once the clothing tomb is finished, I’ll arrange for someone to go.”
As they were speaking, the steward hurried in.
“The Hua family steward has arrived.”
Master Mo initially assumed the man had come to offer his condolences, but then he thought better of it. Who would come to pay respects in the middle of the night?
“Take him to the study next door.”
Before long, the steward led the visitor inside.
“May I ask why the Hua family steward has come?” Master Mo asked directly. He was in no mood for pleasantries.
The Hua family’s steward had adopted Hua Yuanyi’s surname. His name was Hua Ping.
He did not waste words, simply handing over a letter. “You’ll understand once you read this.”
Master Mo was puzzled, but he still took the letter and opened it. The familiar handwriting brought tears instantly to his eyes. Yet the more he read, the more something seemed wrong. After a long moment, he abruptly raised his head.
“You—you’re saying my son is still alive?”
Hua Ping nodded. “I believe Commandant Mo explained everything clearly in the letter. What you do next is up to you. Our general is merely passing along the message.”
Master Mo wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. Suddenly, his headache was gone, his back no longer ached, and even the pain in his hands had disappeared.
Overcome with excitement, he said, “Good! Good! Hahaha! Please thank General Hua for me.”
At the First Prince’s residence—
Jiang Chun asked with a dark expression, “Are you certain Hua Yuanyi showed no signs of anything unusual?”
The soldier standing before him was one of those who had accompanied Hua Yuanyi to Fengzhou.
The soldier shook his head. “We were indeed tricked by a general from Fengzhou into going to Feng County. We weren’t familiar with the situation there, so we followed him.”
Jiang Chun frowned. “And you noticed nothing afterward?”
The soldier was puzzled. “No. When we attacked the cities, the Jinyang Army fought alongside us. Their repeating crossbows were formidable, and our casualties weren’t heavy.”
Jiang Chun fell silent.
Not heavy? He had been sent back with only three hundred soldiers, and now the man was telling him their casualties had not been heavy?
But when Jiang Chun thought about the results of the campaign, he realized that the losses had indeed been minimal—almost absurdly worthwhile.
Unfortunately, the achievements were not his. Neither was the credit, nor the territory they had seized!
The soldier continued, “The Jinyang Army even gave our fallen soldiers proper burials. They have a Martyrs’ Cemetery…”
Jiang Chun heard the emotion in the soldier’s voice and secretly clenched his teeth.
This was one of his trusted men. He had sent him to Fengzhou, and the man had unconsciously begun speaking in favor of Fengzhou.
That kind of heartfelt change—one he was not even aware of himself—was the most dangerous of all.
His good little sister truly had an impressive ability to win people over. Who would have thought she possessed such a talent for winning hearts?
Sun Zheng saw the First Prince’s dark expression and waved at the soldier.
“You may leave.”
The soldier did not understand, but he was obedient. He bowed, took several steps backward, then turned and left.
Sun Zheng sighed. “It seems the Sixth Princess is no simple woman.”
Jiang Chun’s expression remained grim. After a moment, he changed the subject.
“Has Feng Gexuan’s investigation uncovered anything?”
Perhaps the contrast had been too stark, because the soldier had not thought to mention it himself. He still did not know that, in the eyes of the Ge Feng forces stationed in Sizhou, he had become a complete sucker.
