Dong Si slapped away the hand covering his face. “What do you mean, you’ve got the wrong person? I saw you clearly. How could I have mistaken you? Aren’t you Lord Sun from Sizhou?”
“We only met a couple of days ago. How could you have forgotten me already? You didn’t choke yourself silly just now, did you?”
“Tsk, tsk. What’s going on in Sizhou? It’s normal not to have youtiao, since those were invented by our lord—but no matter how delicious they are, you didn’t have to eat them like a starving monkey.”
Sun Zheng: “…”
The onlookers erupted into an uproar.
“Isn’t Sizhou the First Prince’s fief? They really don’t have youtiao there?”
“Hmph, youtiao were invented by the princess. How could Sizhou have them? I’ve lived this long, and I’ve only ever seen youtiao in places under the princess’s rule.”
“That’s true. But the people of Sizhou are awfully gluttonous. They choke once, then choke again, all over a youtiao.”
“Exactly. And they’re all important officials, too. Looks like life in Sizhou isn’t very good.”
“How do you know he’s an important person?”
“Didn’t you hear Lord Dong call him Lord Sun just now? The one who choked to death earlier was Lord Mo. They’re both important figures from Sizhou.”
“Whew, it seems life in Sizhou really is difficult. If even the important people are like this, then what must it be like for ordinary folk?”
“Of course it’s hard. Nowhere do people live better than in Ge Feng. We’re a city blessed by Heaven.”
Sun Zheng finally could not take it anymore. He kicked out with both legs and fainted from sheer humiliation.
By the time Ji Wangfei heard about it that afternoon, the rumor that people from Sizhou choked whenever they ate youtiao had already spread throughout Ge Feng and was rapidly making its way across Fengzhou.
Ji Wangfei did not know what to say. “…Lord Sun, what happened to you?”
Sun Zheng woke up not long after being brought back. The most infuriating thing was that even in his condition, that bastard Dong Si still charged him a care fee, while the pharmacy demanded an exorbitant price for his medicine and the tavern charged him for the broken bowl.
At that moment, he lay on the kang in utter despair, his mouth covered in blisters. Enduring the pain, he explained with his swollen tongue, “What do you mean, what happened to me? I only ate a youtiao.”
Ji Wangfei: “…”
You only ate a youtiao?
You ate one and managed to ruin Sizhou’s reputation completely.
Rumors were flying everywhere. People were saying all sorts of things, such as that the people of Sizhou lived in misery, that they ate nothing but dirt, and that the officials of Sizhou were as stupid as rats.
Seeing Sun Zheng’s miserable state, Ji Wangfei sighed and said nothing more. He merely postponed their return to Sizhou by a few more days.
Come to think of it, His Majesty had given him thirty thousand taels to buy grain. Now the grain had not been purchased, while nearly all the money had been spent.
He had no idea how he was supposed to explain this to His Majesty once they returned.
At the Wenchang County yamen.
Shuangjiang made a request. “My lord, most of the Ji troops have already withdrawn from Punan Commandery, and our people will be arriving soon. Should we take the nearby counties first?”
Jiang Jin was reading official documents and did not even look up. “Weren’t you training troops?”
Shuangjiang gave a sheepish laugh. “Lu Ping is handling the training.”
Wenxia City had recruited only two thousand soldiers.
The troops Jiang Jin had brought this time were all elite soldiers. Any one of them, whether a squad leader or company commander, could easily train these raw recruits. Besides, Lu Ping, a regimental commander, was keeping watch over them.
Jiang Jin looked up at her. “You want to go take a county?”
Shuangjiang scratched her head. “Yes. I feel uneasy knowing that our people are still in the hands of the Ji tribesmen.”
Jiang Jin smiled faintly. “All right. You can go to Yunmeng County.”
Ji Duoyan and the civil and military officials were still in her hands. Under normal circumstances, the Ji army would not dare attack her people at a time like this.
Xia Chanyi’s eyes lit up. “My lord, what about me?”
Jiang Jin was helpless. “You want to go too?”
Xia Chanyi looked a little embarrassed. “If that’s possible.”
After a moment’s thought, Jiang Jin said, “Then you can go to He County.”
“Yes, my lord!” Xia Chanyi replied excitedly.
The two women quickly left to muster their troops.
Not long afterward, Yun Yu and Ye Shang hurried in.
“My lord.”
Jiang Jin frowned. “What is it?”
Yun Yu scratched his head. “Well… we want to go take a county too.”
They had only learned that Shuangjiang and Xia Chanyi had been assigned missions after seeing them muster their troops. Naturally, they could not allow themselves to fall behind, so they had rushed over.
Jiang Jin: “…”
She spread her hands. “There are no counties left to take. The other counties are too far from Wenxia City. If anything happens, we won’t be able to rescue you in time. Wait until the main army arrives.”
Yun Yu and Ye Shang exchanged a glance, then could only leave reluctantly.
As they walked down the street, Yun Yu sighed. “Our lord really does favor Shuangjiang and Xia Chanyi.”
Ye Shang could not help laughing. “I think we were simply too slow. We’ll have to move faster next time.”
Yun Yu laughed along with him. “Ha ha, that’s true.”
The harmonious atmosphere in Wenxia City was in stark contrast to the scene at Shishan River, where Jiao Tai was so furious he nearly fainted.
“What did you say? The Jinyang Army launched a night raid and seized four of our counties in Daqing?”
Mu Qi’s expression was grave. “Our main forces are all here at Shishan River. The Daqing army cooperated with the Jinyang Army and took advantage of our absence. They moved too quickly, and their repeating crossbows were devastating. We had no time to react.”
Jiao Tai slammed his fist onto the table, his teeth clenched. “I’m afraid it wasn’t simply a matter of the Jinyang Army cooperating with Daqing. Daqing may already have submitted to the Jinyang Army. Otherwise, why would the Jinyang Army commit itself so fully?”
They had initially predicted that Daqing would not make a move because they believed Daqing lacked the strength to do so. Although they had not stationed many troops in Daqing, the city walls gave them an advantage.
But things were different if the Jinyang Army had made the attack. When it came to siege warfare, the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows were utterly overwhelming.
Zhan E was stunned. “That can’t be. Although they attacked the city together, if Lu You intended to submit to Princess Jinyang, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?”
Jiao Tai pondered for a moment before saying, “Jiang Chun of Sizhou has declared himself emperor. As the former First Prince of Yan, he must harbor ambitions of reclaiming the entire country. It is only natural that he would want to take back Daqing.”
“Daqing borders Fengzhou, and Lu You has cooperated with the Jinyang Army several times before. He must know how formidable they are. It would therefore make sense for him to surrender directly to Princess Jinyang.”
Zhan E drew in a sharp breath. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Jiao Tai exhaled slowly. “It seems that when Princess Jinyang burned the grain in Anwu County, she wasn’t merely trying to make Qu Zhao clash with us. She was also paving the way for Daqing.”
Du Qing stared at him in disbelief. “Are you saying Princess Jinyang had already anticipated what would happen today?”
Jiao Tai shook his head without answering. Instead, he turned to Mu Qi. “What are the casualties in the four counties?”
Mu Qi shook his head. “Almost the entire army was wiped out. Fewer than a thousand men escaped.”
Jiao Tai nearly choked. He clenched both fists and said nothing.
At that moment, he finally understood how aggressively the Jinyang Army had come—and, for the first time, experienced the same frustration Qu Zhao had felt before him.
Mu Qi rubbed his aching temples. “What should we do now? Attack Daqing and retake the four counties, or continue holding our position here?”
Qu Zhao’s army was becoming increasingly cunning. No one knew where they had learned such tactics. Whenever they saw the Jiao army, they fled. The moment the Jiao army left, Qu Zhao’s troops would reappear and seize their grain.
They never struck from the same place. One day they attacked from the east; the next, they might launch a surprise assault from the west. They appeared and disappeared like ghosts, making them impossible to guard against.
The Shishan River was extremely long. Even after deploying seventy or eighty thousand troops, they still could not secure every stretch of it.
After all, Qu Zhao’s army was not weak, and its numbers were substantial.
The Jiao army could not accurately predict its enemy’s next move, so it had no choice but to spread its forces across multiple locations.
Jiao Tai stared at the map, his expression grim. “What do you all think?”
