Luo Qingci smiled. “Since the First Prince claims that he is now the Lord of Yan, shouldn’t he allocate the military pay, provisions, and other expenses Daqing has required over the past few years?”
It was extremely difficult—almost impossible—for Fengzhou to obtain any “subsidies” from the First Prince.
Because Fengzhou was too powerful.
Jiang Chun wanted Fengzhou to submit, but at the same time, he would naturally keep his guard up against it. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for him to allocate funds to Fengzhou.
Daqing, however, was different.
To win over Daqing, this “minor power,” and prevent it from siding with Fengzhou, the First Prince was very likely to provide the money.
Wang Boshan immediately sensed trouble, yet he could not find anything to refute. As the ruler of a country, bearing the expenses of its army was only natural.
He drew a quiet breath. “Is this the Left General’s proposal?”
Luo Qingci nodded. “That’s right. It is not only the general’s proposal, but also the wish of everyone in Daqing.”
With that, she sighed. “These past few years, we have suffered defeat after defeat and now have only a few counties left. With the Jiao Army pressing us relentlessly, defending ourselves has become extremely difficult.”
“If a powerful force could protect us, our soldiers and people would be eternally grateful.”
Wang Boshan fell silent. After a long while, he said solemnly, “This matter is of great importance. I cannot decide it on my own. I must report it to His Majesty.”
Luo Qingci expressed her understanding. “Please do so, Lord Wang. I’ll await your reply.”
Watching Wang Boshan’s departing figure, Li Zan stroked his beard and said with a grin, “So… he’s taken the bait?”
He had come to realize that everyone in the Jinyang Army, from top to bottom, had peculiar ideas—and enormous courage.
After joining such a powerful and domineering force, one that dared to dream and act, he actually felt remarkably refreshed.
It was entirely different from working under Lu You.
Yan Ke looked worried. “Will Sizhou agree?”
Luo Qingci smiled. “Most likely.”
Yan Ke thought for a moment before asking, “Because of our lord?”
Luo Qingci nodded. “Exactly. If our lord had not become a threat in the First Prince’s eyes, he certainly would not pay this sum.”
“It’s a pity that our lord has already gained momentum, so the First Prince will do everything he can to win Daqing over and make it part of his sphere of influence.”
Daqing occupied an excellent location, lying close to Fengzhou and making it convenient to monitor Fengzhou’s movements.
Moreover, with the situation in Sizhou deteriorating, Daqing was by no means a bad fallback option. Given the First Prince’s mindset, he might even hope to use Daqing as a means of infiltrating Fengzhou.
As darkness gradually descended, inside a tent belonging to the Ji Army outside Wenxia City, Bian Huai sat with a grim expression as he watched the endless argument among the others. He felt a splitting headache.
Seeing his displeasure, everyone stopped arguing.
Shi Ju sighed. “Grand General, there is no need to worry excessively. We will surely rescue the Grand Chanyu.”
Three commanderies was a condition they could not accept. That was the main reason for their dispute.
Ji Cang said harshly, “The Jinyang Army is utterly despicable. They actually threatened to withhold food from the Grand Chanyu and the others. Disgraceful.”
This left them very little time to discuss their options and carry out the rescue.
Shi Ju said worriedly, “There is no point in discussing this among ourselves. We must wait until the others arrive before deciding what to do.”
By “the others,” he meant the generals from the other commanderies besides Shangjing. They were currently hurrying toward Wenxia City from their respective territories.
As they continued discussing the matter, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside.
It turned out to be the men who had gone to investigate the forest.
Bian Huai’s expression shifted. “Well? Did you find anything?”
Bao Yi, the general in charge of the investigation, nodded. “The Jinyang Army did indeed dig a tunnel. The entrance was sealed, but they must have acted in haste, so the seal was not particularly secure. It took us only a little over half an hour to break through.”
Everyone became excited.
“Excellent! If the Jinyang Army can enter the city through the tunnel, so can we. We’ll move tonight and catch them completely off guard!”
Ji Cang cupped his fists. “Grand General, I volunteer to lead the night raid tonight.”
Bian Huai was equally excited and was just about to agree when he noticed Shi Ju’s expression. He could not help asking, “What is it? Do you see something wrong?”
Shi Ju hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “The tunnel appears to be fine, but I can’t shake the feeling that we found it far too easily.”
Bao Yi shook his head. “It wasn’t easy at all. We practically searched the entire forest before finding the tunnel.”
Ji Cang’s brows drew together. “Exactly. There is only one stretch of forest north of Wenxia City. The Jinyang Army had no other choice, so it is perfectly reasonable that we found it there.”
It did sound reasonable, but Shi Ju still felt a faint sense of unease.
“Did you send anyone into the tunnel to inspect it?”
Bao Yi nodded. “We did. But it was some distance away, so I returned first to report. I went in quite a way myself and found nothing unusual, so I came back ahead of the others. They should have reached Wenxia City by now.”
Shi Ju thought it over, then said nothing more.
They had witnessed the Jinyang Army’s strength the previous night. A direct assault on the city would indeed be somewhat difficult.
Of course, with the forces accompanying the Ji Army continuing to grow, taking Wenxia City would certainly not be a problem.
But the Grand Chanyu was inside the city, along with Ji Army officials, military commanders, aristocrats, and a large number of common people. All of them would leave the Ji Army hesitant and constrained.
Unless absolutely necessary, they neither wanted nor dared to confront the enemy head-on.
When Shi Ju fell silent, Bian Huai pondered for a moment before saying, “If nothing unexpected happens, we will launch a night raid tonight. For now, let us discuss how to deploy our forces.”
Meanwhile, the Ji soldiers who had entered the tunnel to investigate finally reached its end.
The young officer leading them cautiously pushed upward and discovered that they had emerged in a kitchen. The exit was located beneath a large cooking pot.
“What ingenious construction. If we hadn’t come up through the tunnel, it never would have occurred to us that there was a secret passage beneath the pot,” he exclaimed.
He carefully set the pot on the ground, ignoring the soot covering his hands, and cautiously peered through a crack in the door.
Outside was a courtyard. It was completely silent, with nothing in sight.
He slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the courtyard.
With the soldiers’ help, he climbed onto the courtyard wall and looked outside.
By now, night had fully fallen. Only distant firelight could be seen along the streets. There were few people about, though patrols occasionally passed by.
He was very familiar with Wenxia City and quickly identified their location. “This should be near the northern gate, in the neighborhood where the Han civilians live.”
With a thud, he jumped down from the soldier supporting him. “Leave a few men here to guard the place. I’ll take the others back to report on the tunnel.”
Deep in the night, Wenxia City—still faintly tainted by the scent of blood after the recent battle—seemed to have fallen asleep. Its silence was strangely unnatural.
After making the arduous journey, Ji Cang finally reached the end of the tunnel.
Honestly, he felt that this was the most miserable path he had ever traveled. Though it was only a little over ten li long, it felt as if he had been walking for an eternity. It was stiflingly narrow and oppressive.
The courtyard was already packed with soldiers. He looked at the young officer who had led the way. “What is the situation outside?”
The young officer hurriedly replied, “It’s very quiet. There’s nothing unusual. This area used to be where Han civilians lived, but they should have moved away by now. There aren’t many people here.”
Most of the houses in the area were on the verge of collapse. It was only natural that the Han civilians had moved away. After all, the entire city now belonged to the Han, so they would naturally live in better quarters.
Ji Cang nodded. “Have you searched the surrounding area? Did you find anything suspicious?”
The young officer answered with certainty, “We searched it thoroughly. There’s nothing wrong.”
Only then did Ji Cang secretly let out a sigh of relief, lifting his head to look at the city wall not far away.
No torches had been lit atop the wall. In the pitch darkness, only vague shadows could be seen.
“Tell everyone to move faster,” he ordered.
This time, twenty thousand troops had entered the city in preparation for a night raid. Once they located where the Grand Chanyu and the civil and military officials were being held, they would rescue them and open the city gates.
The Grand General and tens of thousands of troops lay in wait outside the city, ready to pour into Wenxia City.
Tonight would be the night Ji Cang’s army annihilated the Jinyang Army and reclaimed Wenxia City!
