The Ji army had finally bowed its head.
So that was it!
They had wondered why the Ji army had suddenly announced its withdrawal. As it turned out, the Grand Chanyu had been captured alive by the Jinyang Army!
Rong Hei looked at the dispirited soldiers, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.
He knew this would come to light sooner or later. After all, more than a hundred thousand Ji soldiers had gone to provide reinforcements—there was no way to keep it hidden.
But not now. Not in front of the Han slaves!
Yun Ce paid no attention to how ugly his expression had become. “Well? Have you made your choice?”
On the official road, Zhou Sui rode at a leisurely pace, surveying everything in Shangjing Commandery as though he were inspecting his own territory.
Ji Yuzhu ground his teeth. “General Zhou seems rather free.”
Zhou Sui forced a smile. “How can this be called being free? Inspecting my lord’s territory and observing the people’s circumstances—that is my duty.”
Then he changed the subject. “As for you, as the Ji army’s commander, you’re about to withdraw. You should go see to your own affairs.”
The muscles on Ji Yuzhu’s face twitched, but he managed to pull out a smile. “There’s no hurry. Someone else is taking care of those matters.”
A cold glint flashed through his eyes. “The world is unpredictable. Shangjing Commandery once became the territory of the Ji people. Who can say what will happen in the future? Perhaps one day I’ll have to come back and manage this land again.”
Zhou Sui let out a mocking laugh. “I’m sorry. I usually don’t laugh, but I really couldn’t hold it in.”
He looked Ji Yuzhu up and down. “My lord reclaimed Wenxia City with only a few thousand men, forcing your army of more than a hundred thousand to stand down. In the end, you obediently returned the two commanderies. With a record like that, do you really think your Ji army still has a chance?”
Ji Yuzhu was so enraged he nearly keeled over. This was the first time he had learned that the Grand General of the Yan Kingdom could be so sharp-tongued.
Seeing his unpleasant expression, Zhou Sui consoled him, “There’s no need to lose heart. My lord is a heaven-chosen one. Your defeat was only natural. You’ll have to slowly adapt to it. In time, you’ll get used to it.”
Ji Yuzhu: “…”
Meanwhile, Hua Ruo was leading a group of people toward Fan County, a county in Shangjing Commandery that she needed to take over.
“Why does my lord want even those Han dog lackeys?” Mu Chunhua asked in confusion.
The “Han dog lackeys” she referred to were Han people who had submitted to the Ji tribesmen.
Hua Ruo smiled. “My lord is worried that the Ji people will use them to force ordinary Han civilians to leave the city with them.”
Mu Chunhua frowned. “You mean the Ji people will coerce the civilians into going with them?”
Hua Ruo nodded. “Exactly. To the Ji people, we Han people are also a form of property. Naturally, they want to take as much of that property with them as possible.”
Mu Chunhua suddenly understood. “So now the Ji people can’t use the excuse that these people are their slaves or that they’ve already pledged allegiance to them. They won’t be able to take a single one of our Han civilians.”
“Mm,” Hua Ruo replied.
The current handover was, in its own way, another clash.
Without that provision in the treaty, the Ji people would certainly have used excuses such as “They’re my slaves” or “They’ve already submitted to us” to take away large numbers of Han civilians.
Some of those Han people had genuinely submitted to the Ji army, but Hua Ruo believed that most were merely ordinary civilians.
The Han and the barbarians looked very different, so they could be distinguished at a glance.
With this rule in place, even if the Ji army took away a single Han person, it would be easy to identify.
Hua Ruo truly admired Jiang Jin. She had thought of everything from every possible angle.
As for whether all the Han people who remained were sincere in their allegiance, that was unimportant.
Both the Jinyang Army and the civil officials and local administrators had ways to tell them apart—by having the people report on one another.
As for spies who were better at concealing themselves, Mu Ning’s State Security Bureau would identify them.
Thinking of this, Hua Ruo smiled. “The State Security Bureau is going to be busy for a while.”
“They’re always busy, aren’t they?” Mu Chunhua said with a laugh.
At that moment, the Mu Ning they were discussing was in Daqing Commandery.
She really was always busy. Ever since Fengzhou had come into the open, there had been spies from Sizhou, as well as agents sent by the Jiao tribe. In short, she had to stay on guard everywhere.
“When are we setting out?” Ding Ying asked excitedly.
Mu Ning smiled faintly. “There’s no hurry. In a couple of days. We’ll go after the handover with the Ji army is complete.”
Recently, they had been assisting Luo Qingci with investigating the prominent families in Daqing Commandery and identifying spies.
Ding Ying was still excited. “Is Commandery Governor Luo not going this time?”
“That’s right. Lord Qiu is in Punan Commandery, and things here in Daqing are not yet settled enough for Luo Qingci to leave.”
She looked at Ding Ying. “I’ll go when the time comes. You stay here and keep watch, and assist Commandery Governor Luo.”
Ding Ying looked disappointed. “Can’t I go with you?”
“This place is more important.”
By evening, the rosy sunset looked almost bloodstained, dyeing half the sky red.
In Wenxia City, Jiang Jin lowered her head over the official documents while Dongzhi reported from the side, “My lord, we’ve sent our people out. Most areas of Punan Commandery have been assigned personnel to monitor the situation.”
Jiang Jin hummed in acknowledgment. “Have Zhou Sui and the others set out?”
Dongzhi quickly replied, “Judging by the schedule, they should have left this morning. Bailu has been keeping watch. She’ll come and report as soon as there’s any news.”
As she spoke, Bailu hurried in.
“My lord, the commander and the others left Chun’nan Commandery early this morning. They’ve already begun taking over Shangjing Commandery. Punan Commandery has sent roughly twenty thousand soldiers, led by Meng Chong.”
Jiang Jin nodded. “Have Yao Ji, Qiu Liao, and the others come here to discuss an important matter.”
Bailu acknowledged the order. “Yes.”
A quarter of an hour later, everyone arrived in the council hall.
Jiang Jin got straight to the point. “Zhou Sui has sent twenty thousand soldiers to Punan Commandery. They should reach Qinglian County in two or three days. Once they arrive, they’ll proceed directly to take over the various counties.”
Qinglian County was the county in Punan Commandery closest to Shangjing Commandery.
She swept her gaze around the room before finally turning to Nan Wen and Chu Qing. “You’re familiar with Punan Commandery, so you’ll go meet them. Make absolutely certain that our people are returned safe and whole.”
Nan Wen and Chu Qing immediately rose and acknowledged the order. “Yes!”
She then looked at Yao Ji. “Have the Ji army’s eighty thousand soldiers withdrawn from Punan Commandery?”
Yao Ji nodded. “They’ve left Punan Commandery, but they’re stationed along the border.”
This did not surprise Jiang Jin in the least. “As long as they don’t cross the border, it’s fine. Keep an eye on the movements in every county. Don’t let the Ji army exploit any loopholes.”
Qiu Liao sighed. “Fortunately, my lord had the foresight to make arrangements beforehand. Otherwise, if they killed civilians outside the cities and simply buried them, how would we ever know?”
Jiang Jin had anticipated such a situation from the start. That was why, during the negotiations with the Ji army, she had included multiple provisions concerning the civilians.
Yun Yu asked curiously, “Did you ask the Ji army how many Han civilians there are in Punan and Shangjing Commanderies?”
Qiu Liao shook his head. “We did ask, but they hadn’t kept much of a record. They said there were more than three hundred thousand.”
Everyone knew that there could not actually be that many, because Han civilians were dying every day.
