Meng Su sneered coldly. “Isn’t there still Chunyi County? And if all else fails, there’s the Jiao tribe.”
Anwu County was an excellent base for an army with limited forces. Once they had recovered and built up their strength, they could launch small-scale raids against the Jiao army—plundering whatever they could and killing whoever they could.
He looked toward the Grand Chanyu. “Grand Chanyu, now that we have a city to rely on, once our wounded have mostly recovered, we should find a way to take Chunyi County first.”
“After we have complete control of this area, we’ll have the Shishan River and Xiling Mountain as barriers. When the crops ripen, we can look for an opportunity to seize the food the Jiao army has planted near the Shishan River.”
King Anwu could use the waters of the Shishan River to irrigate his fields, and the Jiao army could do the same. Thus, on the opposite bank of the river, the Jiao army had planted quite a bit of farmland as well.
Jiang Jin led the common people onward at a slow pace, and it took them two days to finally leave the Xiling Mountains.
She chose to turn directly from Kang County into Shangjing Commandery of Chongzhou. Compared with the Jiao army, with whom they were on the verge of open conflict, the Ji army—whose relations with them were still relatively amicable—was the better choice for now.
Though they did their best to travel along minor roads, there was no way to conceal the traces left by sixty or seventy thousand people. They were soon discovered by a Ji army patrol.
Jiang Jin showed not the slightest awareness that she was on someone else’s territory. She greeted them with a smile. “What a coincidence. Go back and tell your general that my Jinyang Army is just taking a little trip through Shangjing Commandery. We mean nothing by it.”
The Ji soldiers on patrol were completely stunned.
Wait—how had the Jinyang Army suddenly appeared in their Shangjing Commandery?
And in such huge numbers, too. There were people everywhere, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Although these people appeared to be ordinary civilians, several thousand Jinyang soldiers armed with repeating crossbows were escorting them. With only a few dozen men in their own patrol, how could they possibly dare to act?
Jiang Jin was still being perfectly reasonable. “You don’t need to be nervous. We’re only passing through. If you’re worried, you can take another road.”
The Ji soldiers were speechless.
This was Ji army territory, and she was actually telling them to take another road?
The Ji commander gripped the saber at his waist, sweat beading on his forehead. “You… you…”
Seeing that he could barely get the words out, Xie Nanxiao rolled his eyes. “You, you, you what? If you can’t make up your mind, hurry back and report this. We’ll keep moving slowly in the meantime. We aren’t going anywhere.”
The Ji commander was speechless again.
Yet somehow, he felt that this made perfect sense.
He turned and nodded to his subordinates.
Two soldiers immediately broke away and raced toward Fan County.
The commander hesitated before asking, “Then… are we supposed to follow along with your army?”
Hua Ruo shot him a sidelong glance. “Be our guest.”
Ji Yuzhu was holding an official document in his hand, his face filled with bewilderment. “What does the Jinyang Army mean by this?”
He looked at the messenger. “Is it true that the Jinyang Army has stationed a hundred thousand troops along the border?”
The messenger was equally confused. “Not a hundred thousand, but there are definitely several tens of thousands.”
“The army is being led by General Zhou Sui,” he hurriedly added.
The day before, while patrolling the Fengzhou border, the Ji army had discovered that a considerable number of Jinyang soldiers had appeared along the frontier.
Just as they were growing extremely tense, believing that the Jinyang Army was about to attack Shangjing Commandery in Chongzhou, the Jinyang Army handed them an official document.
Xi Yang frowned. “General Zhou Sui has personally come out? What exactly is going on?”
Ji Yuzhu passed him the document. “The Jinyang Army says they have a group of people who need to borrow a road through Shangjing Commandery.”
Xi Yang accepted the document. “So this is a threat backed by troops?”
Ji Yuzhu shook his head. The Han people naturally wouldn’t put it so bluntly. They claimed they were merely here to escort their people home.
“The problem is that we haven’t detected any trace of Jinyang soldiers operating within our territory. Could they have made a mistake?”
At the thought of a certain possibility, his heart jolted. “Or perhaps this is a plot by the Jinyang Army, meant to provoke a conflict between our two armies?”
They could claim that their people were in Ji territory, then say those people had disappeared—and just like that, they would have a reason to attack.
Qu Lin shook his head. “The Jinyang Army just finished fighting Qu Zhao. Surely they’ll need some time to rest, no matter what?”
Ji Yuzhu was about to speak when a soldier came to report, “General, the patrol soldiers have an urgent matter to report.”
The patrol soldiers soon hurried in.
“Report! The Jinyang Army is escorting several tens of thousands of Han civilians near the Xiling Mountains, heading toward Fengzhou.”
Ji Yuzhu was startled. “What? Several tens of thousands of Han civilians?”
Qu Lin hurriedly asked, “How many Jinyang soldiers are there?”
The soldier quickly replied, “Roughly several thousand.”
Ji Yuzhu’s brows knitted together. “Where did these Han civilians come from? And when did the Jinyang Army raid its way to the Xiling Mountains?”
Qu Lin drew a sharp breath. “The Qu Zhao army. Anwu County!”
The moment his voice fell, the council chamber fell silent.
A few breaths later, Ji Yuzhu also sucked in a cold breath. “The Jinyang Army went to Anwu County to pick up people?”
Xi Yang followed up with another question. “Did Qu Zhao really clash with the Anwu army? Who won and who lost? How is the battle going?”
No one could answer him.
That was the downside of closing one’s country off from the outside world: it was extremely difficult for them to learn what was happening beyond their borders.
Besides, Anwu County and Chongzhou were separated by the entire Xiling Mountain range.
Ji Yuzhu abruptly rose to his feet. “Come on. Let’s go meet the Jinyang Army.”
Liu Xiaomei was extremely nervous. More and more Ji soldiers had begun following them. At first there had been only a few dozen, but by now there were several hundred, all Ji soldiers from nearby patrol units arriving one group after another.
The feeling was strange. In the past, whenever they saw the barbarians, they had been terrified and either fled or knelt. Yet the Jinyang soldiers protecting them were completely unafraid.
Even more unbelievable was the fact that the Ji army truly did not dare to act, despite being on Ji territory.
She looked at the woman riding at the head of the procession. She had heard that this was Princess Jinyang—the master of the Jinyang Army, and now their master as well.
Just as she was thinking this, clouds of dust began to billow ahead. Liu Xiaomei tensed, unsure who was approaching.
Jiang Jin was not surprised in the slightest that Ji Yuzhu had come in person. Looking at the more than ten thousand soldiers behind him, she couldn’t help smiling.
Were they preparing to give her a show of force?
Ji Yuzhu looked at her hesitantly. “You… you are Princess Jinyang, the ruler of Fengzhou?”
Jiang Jin did not bother to conceal it. “That’s right.”
Ji Yuzhu’s heart lurched. He had not expected her to truly be Princess Jinyang. No wonder General Zhou Sui had personally set out and stationed troops along the border.
He looked at the several thousand Jinyang soldiers dispersed among the Han civilians. He wondered whether his ten thousand-plus troops would stand a chance against them.
Jiang Jin raised her eyes and stared steadily at him. “I suggest you don’t entertain any thoughts you shouldn’t. Otherwise…”
She glanced at the soldiers behind Ji Yuzhu. “Otherwise, these soldiers of yours may never make it home.”
Xie Nanxiao, Hua Ruo, and Yun Chengxuan stood protectively on either side of Jiang Jin, their expressions grim.
Ji Yuzhu’s heart tightened, but he maintained a cold sneer. “Hah. Where does that confidence come from? This is Chongzhou!”
Jiang Jin merely smiled. “You’re welcome to try.”
To be honest, given the power of her repeating crossbows and the terrain here, several thousand men facing more than ten thousand was hardly a difficult battle.
Ji Yuzhu was left speechless. He had never experienced the might of the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows and had no idea that Jiang Jin’s confidence was genuine. He only thought that Princess Jinyang had no idea how high the heavens were or how deep the earth was.
However, with the tens of thousands of Jinyang soldiers stationed along the border, the Ji army did not currently wish to clash with them.
At this moment, not only could Ji Yuzhu not make a move, he had to ensure Jiang Jin’s safety as best he could.
The troops stationed along the border had made it perfectly clear: if anything happened to Jiang Jin, the Jinyang Army would fight the Ji army to the death.
Ji Yuzhu forced a smile that did not reach his eyes. “With Princess Jinyang gracing us with her presence, naturally I must see you off.”
