A dark-skinned warrior beside him was likewise sprayed from head to toe with blood.
The dark-skinned warrior wiped a hand across his face. His palm came away sticky, and he still had no idea what had happened.
He caught sight of what seemed to be a blood-covered blade coming at him. As a battle-hardened warrior, he had immense combat experience. Though his mind was racing, his reaction was lightning-fast, and he raised his saber to block.
But he, too, had misjudged Shuangjiang’s strength. One slash split him in two.
Ye Shang, the dark-skinned warrior’s opponent, was speechless. As a hidden piece, this was his first time fighting in a champion duel!
His first time!
He had only just raised his saber to meet his opponent when that opponent vanished—cut in half right in front of him!
Shuangjiang, unaware that she had wounded Ye Shang’s pride, was about to engage Ji Xin’s opponent.
Ji Xin was startled and shouted, “Wait! Don’t come over. He’s mine.”
Shuangjiang: “…”
Holding her bloodstained saber, she looked toward Li Qian.
Li Qian hurriedly shouted, “Don’t come over! I don’t need your help.”
Shuangjiang: “…”
She couldn’t understand it. Why did they all dislike her?
This wasn’t a one-on-one fight. It was a melee, so of course everyone could attack whoever they wanted!
She turned toward Chu Qing, who was still somewhat stunned. He had already engaged his opponent, but he had also seen her kill two men in succession from the corner of his eye.
Over the past few days, he had heard the Jinyang Army speak of Shuangjiang’s ferocity and knew that she was formidable.
But this was the first time he had fought alongside her, and the shock was still tremendous.
In his daze, he forgot to shout. Then his opponent was gone!
Truly, he and his opponent had exchanged two blows, going back and forth, and Chu Qing had only just begun to get a feel for the fight when Shuangjiang came charging over with her dripping saber.
Perhaps her performance had been so shocking that when her opponent saw her coming, he panicked.
And then there was no “then.”
His opponent was split in two, blood staining the ground like some slaughterhouse in the depths of hell.
Chu Qing’s face went blank.
He realized that it had been completely unnecessary for his lord to send them into battle!
He looked up at Ye Shang. Ye Shang was looking at him as well. The two fellow sufferers could only exchange helpless, bitter smiles.
Then they each charged toward the opponents of Ji Xin and Li Qian.
Ji Xin and Li Qian: “…”
Bian Huai and the others had never imagined that the Jinyang Army would have more than one formidable general!
Shi Ju’s lips trembled. “Great General, perhaps we should concede. Otherwise, General Hu Zuo is going to die.”
It was an extremely difficult decision, because the fate of the entire Punan Commandery was at stake.
But at this point in the champion duel, they had no hope of victory.
General Hu Zuo was already in grave danger. It was only because of his years of experience—and because his opponent did not seem eager to kill him—that he had managed to evade each killing blow.
Rather than lose yet another great general, it would be better to concede now and save their man from making a pointless sacrifice.
Bian Huai tightened his grip on the reins and looked at Bi Tu and the others. “What do you think?”
Everyone fell silent. Naturally, they were unwilling to give up. That meant surrendering the entire Punan Commandery!
But things had come to this, and they had no other choice.
Bian Huai sighed inwardly and signaled to the deputy general beside him.
The deputy general raised his head and called to Jiang Jin, “The Ji Army concedes. Let us end the champion duel here.”
The instant his voice fell, blood sprayed into the air.
Yun Chengxuan had cut off General Hu Zuo’s head with a single stroke.
At almost the same time, the other two warriors were also cut from their horses after being overwhelmed two against one by Chu Qing and the others.
Thus, not one of the six Ji Army champions survived.
Bian Huai’s pupils contracted. He shouted angrily, “What is the meaning of this, Jinyang Army? We already conceded. Why did you slaughter them anyway?”
Jiang Jin frowned. “Blades and swords have no eyes. You shouted too late. Isn’t it perfectly normal that we couldn’t stop in time?”
Bi Tu clenched his saber and ground his teeth. “You clearly did it on purpose.”
Jiang Jin looked at him and let out a cold laugh. “If you’re dissatisfied, we can add a few more rounds and wager another commandery. How about it?”
Bi Tu was left speechless.
Add a few more rounds and wager another commandery?
Were they asking to die faster and lose even more land?
Seeing the Ji Army fall silent, Jiang Jin finally seemed satisfied. “The result of the champion duel has been decided. Do you acknowledge it or not?”
The Ji Army remained silent. Everyone stared at the scattered limbs lying before them. Along with their fury and unwillingness, a chill of fear crept into their hearts.
In the distance, Qiu Lin and the others had also witnessed the Ji Army’s crushing defeat. More than a hundred thousand soldiers stood in utter silence, so quiet that even a pin could be heard dropping.
Their morale had already been low because of the heavenly punishment, the Grand Chanyu being hung up for display, and the loss of Wenxia City. Now it had sunk even further.
Shi Ju looked at Jiang Jin, standing calmly atop the city wall.
At last, he understood why Princess Jinyang had proposed the champion duel.
If she had simply taken a tougher stance, with the Grand Chanyu and the others in her hands, they would eventually have agreed to hand over the Punan Commandery anyway.
So that was it.
This had been her true objective all along.
Not only had she cut down seven of the Ji Army’s generals, including General Hu Zuo, but she had also dealt another devastating blow to their morale.
Such planning. Such an accurate reading of the human heart.
If the Ji Army were to become her neighbors in the future, would they ever have peaceful days ahead?
Jiang Jin did not rush them. She waited patiently for their answer. If only she had more soldiers, she truly would have liked to shoot Bian Huai and the others dead where they stood.
Unfortunately, there were only a few thousand troops in the city. If she killed Bian Huai and the others, the demoralized army outside would undoubtedly be roused once more and launch a frenzied assault on the city.
After a long while, Bian Huai finally spoke, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth.
“We acknowledge it.”
Jiang Jin smiled. “Good. Now let’s discuss how to hand over Shangjing Commandery and Punan Commandery.”
A cold glint flashed in Bian Huai’s eyes. “The grain belongs to us. It is harvest season now, so we will wait until the grain has been gathered before we leave.”
Without waiting for Jiang Jin to respond, he continued, “I heard that you burned all the grain in Anwu County. If you refuse to let us take the grain, we are willing to fight. Even if we are defeated, we can still burn it all. We will never leave it for you.”
Jiang Jin: “…”
She gave a cold laugh. “You may take the grain, naturally. But these two commanderies already belong to us, and we are taking control of them immediately.”
“Furthermore, from this moment onward, all the Han Chinese commoners in these two commanderies are subjects of the Jinyang Army. If the Ji Army wants them to help harvest your grain, you will have to pay them wages.”
Bian Huai: “…”
For a moment, he did not know how to argue.
They had no right to take the commoners away. That had been agreed upon from the beginning.
Put that way, if the people were working for them, paying wages was indeed reasonable.
“What are the wages?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Jiang Jin answered without hesitation. “Ten copper coins per person per day, or five jin of grain per day.”
“How about you just rob us?” Bi Tu raged.
Jiang Jin glanced at him. “What are you talking about? If you think it’s too expensive, you don’t have to use our people to harvest the grain. You can do it yourselves.”
That struck a nerve.
The Ji Army was not skilled at farm work. Normally, such labor was done by their Han slaves.
Shi Ju gritted his teeth. “No. There’s no way wages are that high anywhere else. We can harvest it ourselves, but the work will inevitably be much slower. Then the schedule for our withdrawal…”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “Three days. I’ll give you three days at most.”
“And one more thing: you cannot take away any of the Han Chinese in these two commanderies, including those you consider your slaves.”
“Why not?” Bi Tu shouted angrily.
The corners of Jiang Jin’s lips curved upward. “Because I won.”
