Chapter 145

Chapter 145

When Qi Yun saw Xiao Zhen, the first thing he asked was, "How could you be so sure that Shi Jinhu would definitely try to kill me?"

Xiao Zhen smiled and said, "I heard that when the Shi family first rose up, it was because Shi Jinhu competed in arm wrestling with a guard from a landlord's household. After winning five consecutive matches, he lost to the sixth person. Unable to bear the ridicule of the crowd, Shi Jinhu killed the guard who had defeated him that night. When Shi Yi learned of this, he feared official retribution and gathered a group of tenant farmers to strike first. A man like that can't tolerate even a minor defeat in front of a dozen people. Yesterday, he lost face in front of both armies and couldn't leave the city to take out his anger on us, so he targeted you."

Recalling Shi Jinhu's various actions, Qi Yun sat down and, after taking a sip of wine, said resentfully, "That brute from the Shi family, I've endured him for too long."

Qiao Changshun, curious, asked, "If you had the ability to capture him alive, why not continue defending Yin City? You could have written another letter to Shi Yi explaining the situation, with Deng the strategist as a witness. Shi Yi would certainly understand your predicament. Why did you come to join us directly, without fearing that Shi Yi might harm your parents and sister once he found out?"

Qi Yun replied, "Shi Yi is a capable man. Although he appreciates me, Shi Jinhu is his son. After yesterday's incident, as long as Shi Jinhu lives, he will continue to hold a grudge against me. While you are here, you can suppress his son and win our loyalty. But once you withdraw, Shi Jinhu will surely come after me. At that time, whose side will Shi Yi take? Rather than sit and wait for my doom, I decided to take down Shi Jinhu first. If Shi Yi wants to save his son, he wouldn't dare to harm my family."

Sun Dian said, "You're a straightforward man. Here, I'll drink to you!"

Xiao Zhen also raised his wine bowl and said to Qi Yun, "Our Xiao family has pledged to General Han to capture Shuozhou. Because we are few in number and Yin City is difficult to attack, I had no choice but to resort to this strategy, placing you in danger. Please forgive me, sir."

Qi Yun waved his hand, "Second Young Master, you are too polite. Yesterday, we were enemies, and naturally, defeating the enemy came first. In your place, I would have done the same. There's no need to mention it again."

After one bowl of wine, Sun Dian wanted to drink more, but Xiao Zhen had the wine jars removed beforehand.

Sun Dian glared, "We've already won, and you won't let me have a few more drinks?"

Xiao Zhen replied, "Qi Yun has come to join us with a broad mind and without holding grudges. I am happy and drinking to celebrate. If I get drunk and cause trouble, can you afford the consequences?"

Sun Dian huffed.

Qi Yun admired Xiao Zhen's strict military discipline even more. He thought about how Shi Jinhu often drank, showing no signs of being a proper commander.

Xiao Zhen asked him, "What is the current situation in Yin City? Are there any old Shi family loyalists causing trouble?"

Qi Yun answered, "When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. We executed a small group of those loyal to the Shi family, and the rest are willing to follow me and surrender to Second Young Master. Since I don't know your next move, I ordered the city gates to be guarded strictly, and no one is allowed to enter or leave without my command."

Xiao Zhen praised, "Sir, your thinking is meticulous. If Shi Yi had only sent you to defend the city, we would have had no choice but to force an attack."

Qi Yun said, "Second Young Master's troops are elite, and their morale is strong. Our soldiers, upon hearing that General Han has arrived, have already lost heart. Second Young Master's attack would certainly succeed, but it would result in more casualties."

Xiao Zhen said, "These are innocent civilians forced into rebellion by corrupt officials. I cannot bear to see anyone die unjustly. The current situation is the best possible outcome."

Qi Yun bowed, "Second Young Master is truly noble!"

Xiao Zhen said, "I heard that your brother, Qi Ling, is currently stationed in Lu County. Could you write a letter to persuade him to join us?"

Qi Yun smiled bitterly, "If my elder brother had listened to my advice, he would have convinced our father not to ally with the Shi family in the first place. He is a man of blind loyalty. Seeing my letter of persuasion, he would only scold me for disgracing the family and would never betray the alliance with the Shi family, unless it was a personal letter from our father. Moreover, Shi Lin, who shares the defense of Lu County with him, is calm and steady and won't fall for Second Young Master's stratagem."

Xiao Zhen pondered for a moment and then smiled, "Then please lead a detachment of troops to pretend to be a defeated army and personally head to Lu County. Tell them that Yin City has been taken by me, and I am leading three thousand five hundred cavalry to Yanmen Pass to coordinate with my grandfather to break through Yanmen Pass. Shi Yi is hiding in Shuozhou and dares not leave the city, so Shi Lin will certainly send reinforcements to Yanmen."

Qi Yun said, "... Second Young Master is indeed cunning, and I am thoroughly convinced."

Xiao Zhen humbly replied, "It is fortunate that Sir shares my sentiments; otherwise, all my strategies would be in vain."

The two discussed the details further and then went to Yin City together, where the Xiao family's troops took control of the city. Qi Yun selected fifty brave soldiers from his own troops and fifty poor soldiers from the Shi family's troops. After explaining the stakes and rehearsing their story, they pretended to flee hastily from the city gate, heading straight for Lu County, which was a hundred miles to the west.

Riding swiftly, they reached the outskirts of Lu City within an hour. Noticing that there were troops camped on the eastern side of the city, Qi Yun took a detour to the western gate.

The troops guarding the city were led by Xiao Ye, Qiao Changan, and Zhang Wengong, another detachment of the Xiao family's army.

Since Lu County was northwest of Shuozhou, Xiao Ye and his men had the longest route to travel. Additionally, the area around Lu County was mountainous, and they had to be cautious of ambushes. They only arrived at the outskirts of Lu City yesterday afternoon, rested overnight, and this morning, they had just finished trying to provoke the defenders to come out, but unfortunately, Shi Lin and Qi Ling, observing from the city walls, ignored them completely.

"Fourth Young Master, a group of cavalry is heading to the west of the city!"

Xiao Ye, Qiao Changan, and Zhang Wengong rode over to check. Seeing the hundred or so soldiers in tattered clothes and the bloodied leader, Xiao Ye smiled, "It must be that Second Brother has succeeded."

Qiao Changan said, "This is frustrating. We've been marching and haven't even shown our skills yet."

Xiao She, who had joined them, also looked unhappy, "If I had known, I would have gone with Second Brother to attack Yin City."

Xiao Ye said, "Do you really think war is fun? I wish we didn't have to fight all the way south and could just follow Grandfather and Second Brother to claim credit. Besides, even if Yin City is taken, Shuozhou still stands. There will be plenty of battles to fight. Let's break camp immediately, take a detour to Yin City to join forces with Second Brother, and then launch a direct attack on Shuozhou!"

Xiao She said, "Wait, we're leaving now?"

Xiao Ye said, "Staying here is like fighting a turtle shell. The road from Yin County to Shuozhou is clear. What's the point of lingering in Lu County?"

Qiao Changan and Zhang Wengong exchanged glances and laughed as they went to organize their troops.

Inside Lu City, Shi Lin and Qi Ling had just received Qi Yun and his men at the western gate.

Qi Yun had a knife wound on his left shoulder, and half of his clothes were soaked in blood. As he tried to rein in his horse, he fell off the saddle.

"Second Brother!" Qi Ling rushed over to help his brother, his expression anxious, "What happened? Did Yin City fall?"

Qi Yun looked at him, then at Shi Lin, who was bending down beside him, feeling both hatred and pain. Tears rolled down his eyes. "Xiao Er is cunning. He surrounded Yin City but didn't attack. First, he sowed discord among our troops. Yesterday, he used a trick to provoke Jinhu to fight outside the city. Despite the advice of Deng the strategist and myself, Jinhu became overconfident and was captured alive by a general named Sun Dian."

"I wanted to continue defending, but Deng the strategist was afraid of the Xiao family. At dawn today, he secretly opened the city gates and let the Xiao family's troops in. We barely managed to fight our way out!"

Shi Lin, in his thirties, was the only son of Shi Guanglei and the cousin of Prince Dai, Shi Yi.

As he listened to Qi Yun, he observed the soldiers Qi Yun had brought, recognizing some familiar faces from his own troops, before continuing to stare at Qi Yun.

Qi Yun's face contorted with pain from the knife wound.

Qi Ling clenched his fists in anger, "The prince repeatedly instructed us to hold the city gates. How could Jinhu..."

Qi Yun explained the strategy Xiao Zhen used, sending two unnamed generals to provoke Shi Jinhu: "Jinhu had been holding back for several days. This time, he couldn't stand it anymore. Even Deng the strategist, who clung to him, was thrown against the wall. If I hadn't agreed, he would have chosen someone else. Unfortunately, Jinhu lost the battle and didn't even manage to escape."

At that moment, a scout reported excitedly, "General Shi, Prince Qi, the Xiao family's troops have withdrawn!"

Qi Ling was incredulous, and Shi Lin's face changed dramatically, "This is bad. They must have guessed that Yin City has fallen and are going to join forces to advance on Shuozhou!"

Qi Yun said with difficulty, "It's worse than that. After escaping the city, I intended to go to Shuozhou to report. But when I noticed no enemy troops were pursuing us, I found it suspicious and went back to investigate. I discovered that Xiao Zhen was leading over three thousand cavalry south..."

Shi Lin: "He's going to Yanmen Pass to rendezvous with another army! Shuozhou is well-fortified; the Xiao family’s tens of thousands of troops alone won’t be enough. But if they can break through Yanmen and Dingwu Passes from the inside, once General Han’s hundred-thousand-strong army enters, the fall of Shuozhou will be imminent. No, I must lead my troops to pursue Xiao Zhen!"

Qi Ling: "I'll go with you!"

To ensure mutual support between Lu City, Yin City, and the two strategic passes, Shi Yi had specially divided his ten thousand cavalry among the four locations. Each pass was assigned a thousand cavalry, while Lu City and Yin City each received four thousand. If the Xiao family’s army tried to bypass these cities and advance on Shuozhou, the two cities could send cavalry to attack from behind, forcing the Xiao family’s army to capture the cities first.

Despite his urgency, Shi Lin remained rational. Qi Ling was loyal, but Qi Yun was less reliable and could be persuaded by the Xiao family.

"No, Brother Yun has already been injured. The task of holding Lu County and intercepting the infantry from Yin City can only be entrusted to the Prince. I will suffice to reinforce Yanmen Pass!"

Wasting no time, Shi Lin immediately gathered four thousand cavalry and galloped out of the city.

On the map, it appeared that traveling from Yin City to Yanmen Pass was much shorter than from Lu City to Yanmen Pass. However, the route between Yin City and Yanmen Pass was mountainous and required several detours, whereas the path from Lu City was smooth. With his familiarity with the terrain, Shi Lin was confident he could reach Yanmen Pass before Xiao Zhen and set up an ambush in the mountains.

By late April, the sun was scorching. Shi Lin and his four thousand cavalry had galloped for about an hour, covering roughly 120 miles, moving from the northwest of Shuozhou to its southeast, leaving only thirty miles to Yanmen Pass.

The men still had energy, but their mounts were exhausted and needed rest.

Shi Lin looked at his subordinates who were trying to persuade him and pointed to a nearby range of hills: "Just hold on a bit longer. Once we cross Little Yan Ridge and run another five miles, we’ll reach the only path to Yanmen Pass. We’ll rest there and wait for them."

The cavalry had no choice but to obey.

Finally reaching the intersection of two mountain paths, with only one direction leading to Yanmen Pass, Shi Lin inspected the road. Seeing no new hoof prints or obvious signs of recent activity on the trees and grass, he laughed: "Xiao Zhen hasn’t arrived yet. Let’s move forward another mile and set up an ambush."

Though tired, the cavalry regained their fighting spirit. The main force moved to the ambush point, while a few foot soldiers waved their clothes to erase the hoof prints on the ground.

A mile away, Shi Lin and his men dismounted, just as they were about to lead their horses into the surrounding woods, enemy troops suddenly emerged from both sides of the hill, launching a barrage of arrows.

Shi Lin was shocked, parrying the arrows with his sword while scanning the hillside. He noticed that the soldiers were dressed in civilian clothing...

Suddenly, Shi Lin spotted a woman holding a bow.

He was stunned, staring intently at her face.

Tong Sui aimed her arrow at him, taking advantage of Shi Lin’s distraction from the other arrows, and shot him in the shoulder.

After the chaos, Shi Lin was bound and brought before Xiao Mu.

Shi Lin’s eyes turned red: "Old man! When did you seize Yanmen Pass?"

Xiao Mu smiled: "Not long ago, just two days before Yin City surrendered. Last night, I received an urgent report from my second grandson, so I specially waited here for General Shi."

Shi Lin clenched his teeth until they bled, looking toward Yanmen Pass: "What have you done to my father!"

Anyone could surrender, but not his father!

Xiao Yan, who had just finished slaughtering enemies and was counting the horses nearby, heard this and shouted back: "Your father is Shi Heilei, right? He’s long dead!"

Shi Lin immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.