Sun Xi and Sun Yuan quickly gathered their belongings. There was hardly anything to pack—just a cooking cauldron, two chipped bowls, and a tattered, filthy quilt that had become stiff with dirt.
Sun Bu did not urge them. He simply watched them with a gentle smile.
It was only after arriving at their new home that Sun Xi and Sun Yuan realized it was a small courtyard. An oil lamp was burning in the main room.
“Elder Brother, this… this must have been expensive, right?” Sun Yuan asked, both delighted and uneasy.
Sun Bu smiled. “It’s all right. Don’t worry. I can collect quite a substantial monthly allowance now.”
He helped them place their bundles on the table in the main room. “We don’t know when the fighting here will end, so settle in and live here for now. Later, you can go to Gefeng to find Mother.”
“I’ve bought some cloth for the household, as well as rice, flour, oil, salt, and other necessities. As for working, you can go if you want to. If you don’t, then don’t.”
The general store would not officially open until tomorrow, but as one of their own, he could still purchase supplies.
As he spoke, he set down a string of copper coins. “Here are five hundred coins. If there’s anything else the household needs, use them as you see fit.”
He had borrowed three months’ pay in advance from the army. He had never expected to run into his elder and younger sisters here, so he had not brought much money with him.
After buying rice, grain, cloth, oil, salt, and other necessities, and renting the courtyard, he had only five hundred copper coins left.
Sun Xi hurriedly waved them away. “No, no, we don’t need them. We’ll start receiving our wages tomorrow. We can earn money ourselves.”
Sun Bu shook his head. “Buy more meat and vegetables. You need to build yourselves back up.”
The three of them had been separated for so long that there were countless things to say, yet for a while, none of them knew where to begin.
After a long silence, Sun Yuan asked, “Elder Brother, is Mother doing well in Gefeng?”
At the mention of her, a smile spread across Sun Bu’s face. “She’s doing well. We bought a courtyard there, even larger than this one. Mother has even gone into business with someone…”
Sun Bu stayed in the courtyard for less than half an hour before returning to the barracks. The army had its rules. He had taken leave to come out, but he had to return that night.
Wenxia City had finally been thoroughly cleared out, and the stench of blood no longer lingered in the air.
The general store, cloth shop, and coal shop all opened for business.
Because of the “divine punishment,” the underground tunnel had been left untouched. Even the Ji army did not dare send anyone inside.
Jiang Jin decided to make good use of it. She had sent a large quantity of honeycomb coal, iron stoves, and other household goods through the tunnel.
Wenxia City had been surrounded, and fuel was a serious problem. This solved it perfectly.
She had stocked up on these supplies in her spatial storage long ago. However, on the day of the attack, they had needed to transport more important items such as food and weapons, so these goods had been postponed.
After emerging from the tunnel, she sent people back in to carry everything out.
The Ji army’s forces gradually increased to around one hundred and twenty thousand.
Looking at the Ji army’s densely packed tents stretching endlessly into the distance, Jiang Jin lowered her telescope. “It looks like the Ji troops from the other commanderies have all arrived.”
Yao Ji nodded. “That seems to be the case. I wonder if Shangjing Commandery has mobilized troops as well?”
If Shangjing Commandery sent reinforcements too, Zhou Sui could wait for the right opportunity and take advantage of its weakness to launch an attack.
Jiang Jin shook her head. “I’m afraid Shangjing Commandery will only tighten its defenses.”
The corners of her lips lifted slightly. The Ji people were not as united as they appeared. Ji Duoyan’s capture would only intensify and magnify those internal conflicts.
“Begin recruiting soldiers,” she ordered.
Yao Ji acknowledged her. “Yes!”
Wenxia City had around forty thousand Han Chinese residents. At the very least, they should be able to recruit roughly two thousand soldiers.
At the Ji army’s camp, Bian Huai surveyed the gathered officers, his gaze lingering especially on the generals from the newly arrived Xigan, Fuping, and Shouci Commanderies.
Qiu Lin’s expression was grim. “What exactly happened? Wenxia City was so heavily defended. How was it taken?”
He was the senior commander of the garrison in Xigan Commandery.
Bian Huai pointed to the map. “The Jinyang Army dug a tunnel from here and entered Wenxia City through it. We don’t know the exact details. At present, not a single living person has come out of Wenxia City.”
Bi Tu, the senior commander of the Shouci Commandery garrison, frowned. “Can the tunnel still be used? Could we enter Wenxia City through it as well?”
Bian Huai replied helplessly, “We’ve already tried. Everyone who entered the tunnel died in extremely bizarre ways.”
He could not help recalling the sight of those corpses. Apart from the ones who had been burned, most had died in horrific poses, proof of the immense agony they must have suffered.
Even Ji Cang’s face had been twisted into a grotesque expression. What had he seen at the time?
Bi Tu was stunned. “Why?”
Bian Huai shook his head. If he knew why, he would not be so troubled—and frightened.
Bao Yi hesitated for a moment before speaking. “After entering, people find it difficult to breathe. According to the soldiers who escaped, it was divine punishment.”
Hu Qiude, the senior commander of the Fuping Commandery garrison, slapped the table. “What divine punishment? It’s nothing but superstition and trickery. Why don’t we go see for ourselves tonight?”
Bian Huai shook his head. “The existence of the tunnel is no longer a secret. Whether or not there’s any divine punishment, the Jinyang Army must have stationed heavy forces at the exit inside Wenxia City. Even if we entered, we wouldn’t be able to break through their defenses.”
“So, to us, this tunnel is like a piece of tasteless meat—useless, yet impossible to discard.”
After considering it, everyone realized that he was right. The whole point of a tunnel in warfare was to launch a surprise attack and catch the enemy off guard.
Now that the enemy knew they were aware of it, they had no real opportunity left.
Likewise, the Jinyang Army could no longer use the tunnel to leave the city.
They now controlled the tunnel’s exit in the dense forest. No matter how many soldiers the Jinyang Army sent out, they could annihilate them one by one.
The opening was narrow, after all. Only a few people could emerge at a time—too few to withstand even a single volley from their weapons.
Bian Huai sighed. “The Grand Chanyu and the civil and military officials are all in Wenxia City, in the hands of the Jinyang Army. They have now proposed exchanging them for three commanderies. What does everyone think?”
Bi Tu gave a cold laugh. “Three commanderies? Chongzhou has only five in total, and she wants three of them?!”
Bian Huai frowned. “The Grand Chanyu is in the Jinyang Army’s hands. That puts us at a disadvantage.”
Qiu Lin’s eyes flickered. “Even if the Grand Chanyu were here, he would certainly refuse such a proposal. I suggest we attack the city directly. As long as we take Wenxia City, we can surely rescue the Grand Chanyu and the others.”
The corners of Bi Tu’s lips curved upward. “Exactly. No matter how powerful the Jinyang Army is, it cannot stand against an army of more than a hundred thousand. We took Dingyang with only sixty thousand soldiers back then. I refuse to believe Wenxia City is harder to take than Dingyang.”
Hu Qiude frowned. “That would be unwise. If we attack the city, the Jinyang Army may immediately execute the Grand Chanyu as a sacrifice before their banners.”
Bian Huai’s expression darkened as well. “Indeed. Even if the Jinyang Army doesn’t execute the Grand Chanyu, he may not survive until the day the city falls.”
“The Jinyang Army said earlier that they would give the Grand Chanyu and the others only water, not food. Four days have already passed since they took Wenxia City. We don’t have much time left.”
Bi Tu’s eyes shifted, and he snorted. “Even so, we cannot abandon the honor of our warriors for the sake of the Grand Chanyu and the others.”
Bian Huai concealed the coldness in his eyes. “If the Grand Chanyu is truly tortured to death by the Jinyang Army, that would be the real insult to our honor!”
“I know some of you may resent the Duoyan branch of the Ji clan, but you have all seen how powerful the Jinyang Army is. If we fail to unite now, there is a very real possibility that they will defeat us one by one.”
The Ji people were made up of twenty-three tribes. Ji Duoyan, Bian Huai, and Ji Yuzhu all belonged to the Duoyan branch, the most powerful tribe among the Ji.
Qiu Lin, Bi Tu, and Hu Qiude belonged to the three other major tribes of the Ji clan, each ruling over Xigan Commandery, Shouci Commandery, and Fuping Commandery, respectively.
