Jiang Jin had brought five thousand soldiers this time. Including the troops previously brought by Xia Chanyi, Shuangjiang, and the others, they now had more than six thousand men in total.
The casualties had not yet been fully counted, but only a little over four thousand were still fit for battle. Around a thousand had to remain in the city to maintain order and clear out the surviving Ji troops.
That left only a little over three thousand men to defend the city.
Everyone had been fighting since last night. Their bodies and minds were utterly exhausted.
The Ji army, however, had grown from around forty thousand last night to sixty or seventy thousand. Clearly, the garrisons from the nearby cities and counties had been arriving one after another.
And the Ji army would only continue to grow. After all, this was the heartland of the Ji people.
Jiang Jin pondered for a moment. “Then hang Ji Duoyan from the city wall and have a proper talk with them.”
Yao Ji nodded. “Yes.”
Qiu Liao was also extremely busy at the moment.
Wenxia City was where the Ji army’s Great Chanyu resided. There were a great many Han civilians and servants in the city—at least tens of thousands of them.
Fortunately, Uncle Liu, who was familiar with Wenxia City, was there to assist him.
Uncle Liu, however, was distracted and looked worried. “With only our lord’s men, I’m afraid this city will be difficult to hold.”
Although he had witnessed the might of the Jinyang Army the previous night, their numbers were simply too small, and the soldiers would have to take turns resting.
The Ji army, on the other hand, would only continue to grow. There were already sixty or seventy thousand troops gathered here, and in a few days, there might be more than a hundred thousand.
Qiu Liao was not particularly worried. “There’s no need to rush. Lord has already made arrangements.”
Uncle Liu frowned. Although he did not know what those arrangements were, seeing how calm and unhurried Qiu Liao remained, he gradually felt his own heart settle as well.
Qiu Liao looked up at him. “Our top priority now is to ensure the absolute safety of the city, so that Lord and the soldiers can fight at the front without any worries and guard the walls.”
“Also, once the population has been counted, quickly organize several logistics teams among the civilians. They can clean the city, dispose of the bodies, help prepare food, and so on.”
Uncle Liu nodded in agreement, unable to hide his amazement. “Who would have thought that the entire Jinyang Army could read and write? Now, while searching every household, they can even register everyone in the household records.”
For this surprise attack, Jiang Jin had brought only a little over thirty civil officials. The registration work therefore had to be handled by the Jinyang Army soldiers.
After a night of fierce fighting and cleanup, all the Ji troops openly present in Wenxia City had been eliminated. However, no one could be certain whether some had hidden themselves in the homes of Han civilians.
Thus, the Jinyang Army was searching every household while registering the population.
Qiu Liao smiled. “In Lord’s territory, it isn’t only the military that has literacy programs. The entire population is taught to read and write. It will be the same for all of you in the future.”
Uncle Liu pressed his lips together. “The characters you use—were they created by Lord?”
Qiu Liao gave a quiet “Mm.” “You know that the imperial family and the great clans each have their own writing systems. We practically have to learn several sets of commonly used characters, and their strokes are complicated. So Lord created this set of simplified characters.”
Uncle Liu hummed in acknowledgment before changing the subject. “There are roughly twenty thousand bodies in the city. The weather is hot. How are we supposed to deal with them?”
Disposing of the bodies was indeed the greatest problem. In this kind of weather, they would begin to stink within two days. The city did not have enough open land, nor enough manpower, to bury so many corpses.
Qiu Liao thought for a moment, his expression turning strange. “Perhaps we could have the Ji army haul the bodies back?”
Uncle Liu stared at him in astonishment. “What did you say?”
Qiu Liao sighed helplessly. “You don’t understand Lord’s way of doing things. In any case, you’ll understand later. For now, have the men clear out the bodies.”
As he spoke, he sighed again. “And remember to arrange our soldiers’ bodies properly. Let them leave this world clean and presentable.”
The weather was hot, and they were at a critical point in defending against the enemy. There was certainly no way to transport the bodies back to Gefeng. They would probably have to bury them in the city.
A relatively clean residence in the city had been converted into a temporary infirmary. Liu Mi was treating the wound on Wei Tai’s arm.
He had injuries all over his body, including his face, but to someone who had fought on a battlefield, those were merely minor wounds.
The most serious injury was the slash Ji Bo had dealt to his arm.
Although Wei Tai had been wearing armor, which had absorbed some of the force, the flesh on his arm was still torn and bloody.
Liu Mi pressed around the wound. Seeing that Wei Tai’s face remained expressionless despite the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, she could not help asking, “Does it hurt?”
Wei Tai hesitated. “…A little.”
Liu Mi sighed helplessly. “Why didn’t you come for treatment earlier?”
Wei Tai said nothing. Naturally, it had been because he wanted to kill the enemy.
Last night had been the most exhilarating night he had experienced in the past two years. He had lost count of how many Ji soldiers’ heads he had cut off.
Seeing him remain silent, Liu Mi reminded him, “Your injury isn’t as simple as it looks. The torn flesh is the least of it. The bone underneath is probably fractured. You really shouldn’t use this arm for the time being.”
Wei Tai pressed his lips together. Only after a moment did he answer in a low voice, “Understood.”
As for whether he would actually do so… well, that depended on the circumstances.
Liu Mi could tell what he was thinking from his expression. Most of the soldiers in the army were like this. They would agree to anything while in the infirmary, then resume fighting as soon as they left—especially at such a critical moment.
Bai Caotang in Xianglu County.
Old Master Qiu was reading the Jinyang Times. The more he read, the more excited he became.
“Good! Hahaha, excellent! Who would have thought the princess would be so formidable?”
The article reported how Jiang Jin had led her people to Anwu County and rescued tens of thousands of civilians.
Old Master Qiu had only learned about the newspaper after arriving in Fengzhou. He thought it was an excellent invention, so he bought every issue and studied them repeatedly.
In order to become literate, he had even spent money to hire someone to teach him at home.
As a result, he had learned very quickly. By now, he had little trouble reading the newspaper or writing. Whenever he encountered a character he did not recognize, he could simply look it up in a dictionary.
Qiu Tai, however, was staring motionlessly at one particular name. After a long while, he suddenly cried out.
“Ah! Grandfather, Grandfather, look! Could Captain Hua be Lady Hua?”
Old Master Qiu froze, then took a closer look. Sure enough, the name Captain Hua appeared in the article.
Only then did he remember his grandson’s beloved Lady Hua. His expression became rather complicated.
“Perhaps they simply share the same surname?”
He knew that the daughter of the Hua family was quite skilled in martial arts. After all, his eldest grandson had once been beaten by her without being able to fight back at all.
He frowned slightly and thought to himself: Could Hua Yuanyi’s daughter have already pledged herself to Princess Jinyang?
Then he remembered that Fengzhou placed no restrictions on what women could do. Women could enlist in the army, enter government service, and earn merit. They could also teach and nurture generations of students, register their own households, conduct business, and amass great wealth…
Thinking again of Hua Yuanyi’s attitude toward Fengzhou, he began to understand the situation.
Qiu Tai was taken aback. “The same surname?”
He let out a sigh. “That’s true. Lady Hua is in Sizhou. How could she possibly be in Fengzhou? Sigh, I must be imagining things.”
Old Master Qiu: “…”
The boy really was a little foolish.
Still, there were countless people with the same name and surname in the world. And in this case, they only shared a surname, so there truly was no way to determine whether this “Hua” was that “Hua.”
Qiu Tai propped his cheeks up with both hands and looked down at the pedestrians coming and going along the street below, his voice filled with melancholy.
“Do you think Lady Hua would spare me a glance if she knew that we’re holding free clinics for ten days and cutting medicine prices in half?”
They were on the second floor of Bai Caotang. The windows were made of large panes of glass, so not only was the room bright, they could also clearly see the many scenes of life unfolding on the street below.
