Jiang Jin’s lips curled into a smile. “Deal.”
Though it was a rock-bottom price, she agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Her real goal had been to dispose of the corpses and buy time for the soldiers to rest. The money was merely a bonus, and she had named the price off the top of her head.
Chu Qing and the others were dumbfounded. Corpses on a battlefield could actually be sold for money?
No, wait—their lord had merely wanted to dispose of the corpses, yet not only had she gotten rid of them, she had even made money in the process?!
Bian Huai felt that something was off, but what could he do?
Surely he couldn’t let the Jinyang Army humiliate the corpses of their soldiers in front of tens of thousands of troops.
More importantly, the Grand Chanyu and all the civil and military officials were in the hands of the Jinyang Army. If things went wrong, the Jinyang Army might simply kill them.
Jiang Jin pointed to an empty stretch of land in front of the city gate. “Transport the money here. Once we’ve received it, we’ll bring the corpses here, and you can take them away.”
Bian Huai snorted. “And what if you fail to keep your word?”
Jiang Jin smiled. “We’re Han Chinese, members of a nation known for propriety. We value honesty above all.”
“Besides, your soldiers will be watching, and ours will be watching too. How could dishonest people win anyone’s trust?”
The matter was settled. Bian Huai glanced at Ji Duoyan uneasily.
Jiang Jin reassured him, “There’s no need to worry. We’ll treat your Grand Chanyu well. Once the matter of the corpses is settled, we’ll discuss his situation. So I hope you’ll move quickly.”
With that, she magnanimously gave the order, “Take down the Great Chanyu of the Ji. Hanging him there like a salted fish is rather undignified.”
The fighting had stopped, and the matter of the corpses had been settled. It would hardly be pleasant if he were accidentally hanged to death.
Bian Huai gritted his teeth but held his tongue.
It was only after he saw the Grand Chanyu lowered and taken into the city tower that he finally relaxed a little.
Not long afterward, a note was shot down from the city wall.
Bian Huai looked at the amount of silver written on it and couldn’t help frowning. “You’ve made a mistake, haven’t you? There are only a little over twenty thousand defenders in the city, but this number is almost thirty thousand.”
Jiang Jin waved a hand. “Aren’t there Ji slaves and a small number of civilians as well? It was the middle of the night, so we couldn’t see very clearly.”
Especially at Ji Duoyan’s Grand Chanyu’s residence, where servants had been everywhere. Anyone who resisted had been killed.
She couldn’t help adding inwardly, They really need to educate their people better next time. We told them not to move, but they kept trying to run outside. We had no choice but to act.
Bian Huai felt as though he were about to vomit blood. Why did she have to be so infuriating?
Anyone who didn’t run would have been an idiot, wouldn’t they?
Thinking of all the Ji tribesmen who had died—and wondering whether any of them might have been his relatives—his heart ached.
Shi Ju and the others were equally outraged, but they were helpless. Apart from cursing the Jinyang Army as despicable and shameless, there was nothing they could do.
Watching the Ji army withdraw to prepare the silver, Jiang Jin quickly gave an order. “Take turns washing up and resting. We probably won’t be attacked for the time being.”
Everyone hurriedly acknowledged the order.
Before long, nearly thirty percent of the soldiers quietly withdrew from the city wall.
The Ji army moved quickly. In less than an hour, they carried box after box of silver to the place Jiang Jin had designated.
Meanwhile, carts loaded with corpses had been prepared inside the city.
When Bian Huai saw the gates of Wenxia City open and the drawbridge lowered, his eyes flickered.
Ji Cang suggested, “Why don’t we charge over now?”
The strategist Shi Ju shook his head. “It’s too far away. By the time we get close, the drawbridge will already have been raised.”
After experiencing the power of the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows, the Ji army had stationed its troops and set up its lines two or three li away, whether they were camping or preparing for battle.
This wasn’t because he wanted to undermine their own morale. The Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows truly were formidable.
Even if their cavalry charged toward the city gate at full speed without regard for anything else, the drawbridge would certainly be raised by the time they arrived.
Ji Cang was unwilling to accept it. “Are we really going to let this opportunity slip away?”
Shi Ju replied helplessly, “What else can we do?”
He then turned to Bian Huai. “General, the Jinyang Army raided Wenxia City at night. There must have been a considerable number of them. It’s impossible that they infiltrated the city beforehand.”
Bian Huai frowned. “What are you implying?”
Shi Ju pondered for a moment. “I suspect they dug a tunnel nearby. Why don’t we send men to search the surrounding area?”
Ji Cang frowned. “Impossible. It’s all flat land around here, and we have soldiers patrolling every day. How could they dig a tunnel without being noticed?”
Bian Huai’s heart suddenly lurched. “The forest to the northwest of Wenxia City?”
Shi Ju nodded. “Exactly.”
Bao Yi exclaimed, “How could that be? That forest is more than ten li from here, and they would still have had to dig beneath the moat, which is so deep. How could they have managed it?”
“Besides, we have soldiers patrolling that forest too. They haven’t discovered anything unusual.”
Shi Ju gave him a look. “It’s true that soldiers patrol there, but do you think they actually go into the forest during their patrols?”
Bao Yi was instantly at a loss for words. Who would climb into the mountains every day while on patrol?
They merely checked the usual routes. Besides, the forest was enormous. Even if they occasionally went inside, they would only look around the foot of the mountain. It was impossible for them to search the entire forest.
Shi Ju had also thought it impossible at first. But after eliminating every other possibility, digging a tunnel had become the most likely explanation.
After hesitating for a moment, Bian Huai nodded. “Send men up the mountain to investigate. Make sure you search the area thoroughly.”
The deputy general accepted the order and quickly gathered more than ten thousand men before leading them toward the forest in a great procession.
Holding a telescope, Jiang Jin watched the suddenly departing troops, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
Xia Chanyi noticed them too. “My lord?”
Jiang Jin smiled faintly. “There’s no need to hurry.”
Dongzhi was slightly worried. “My lord, why don’t you rest for a while first?”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “I’m fine.”
The silver outside the city had already been transported back and counted. After confirming that the amount was correct, the corpses of the Ji soldiers were transported out one cartload at a time.
It was a lengthy process because only about fifty handcarts had been found in the city.
Each cart could carry only five or six corpses. Once it was taken outside and the Ji soldiers moved the bodies away, the cart had to be pushed back before it could be loaded again.
For the sake of letting her soldiers rest, Jiang Jin naturally wasn’t in any hurry.
The Ji army had also sent men into the mountains to investigate, so they were in no hurry either.
After watching for a while and confirming that there were no problems, Jiang Jin left Yao Ji in charge of defending the city and went down from the city wall.
“You should go get some rest too,” she instructed Xia Chanyi.
Xia Chanyi nodded. “Yes, my lord!”
The city was chaotic yet orderly. Under the direction of the Jinyang Army, the civilians cleaned the blood from every part of the city.
There were wells within the city. As a precaution, water from the wells was used for drinking and cooking, while the underground water brought in from outside was used only for cleaning, washing clothes, and bathing.
At that moment, Liu Mi was still busy.
After more than two years of training, she had become the foremost military physician.
That wasn’t to say her medical skills were better than those of Suo Qian and Mu Zhuo. Rather, she was young and physically fit, which allowed her to accompany Jiang Jin on campaign after campaign.
When Jiang Jin arrived at the temporary medical clinic, Liu Mi was performing an operation. Jiang Jin didn’t go in to disturb her. Instead, she asked Kong Huaying, who had just finished an operation nearby, “How is the situation?”
Another map update—Wenxia City has been added.
