Chapter 140

Chapter 140

The rebels hiding among Youzhou's residents were exposed by several townsfolk, opening a breakthrough in the northern front of Western Shu. The exposed rebels seemed not to expect such reports from the people, but when they were brought before the Imperial Army, they faced not execution, but offers of amnesty.

Those who refused amnesty would be sent along with other rebels to the Youzhou city prison, awaiting trial.

Even the rebels themselves had not expected such treatment following defeat…

The people found that the Imperial Army did not trouble them. Moreover, a scholar-official approached them, inquiring about the affairs of Youzhou, asking about the corrupt officials who had fled, and about Youzhou's former prefect.

"Will we be beheaded if we speak?" a resident asked tremblingly.

Weng Yanqing's nose stung. "No, the court will seek justice for you."

The residents dared not speak at first, but then little by little, they began to pour out everything they had not dared to say in the presence of high-ranking officials over the years. That day, Weng Yanqing's hands trembled as he recorded their words until late, yet he wrote down everything the people said into a petition.

Years ago on the streets of the capital, he had also written petitions.

But he had never imagined that one day he would pick up his brush to write another petition in the land of Western Shu.

Yet whether in the past or in the future, what he wrote was always for the people of Dayuan.

These petitions were all collected and sent to the Crown Prince's camp.

The evidence on the papers enraged everyone; several generals could not help cursing on the spot. Ying Fusheng read the testimonies line by line. After confirming the truth of the accusations, several officials of Youzhou were dragged from the prison by the Imperial Army and executed in front of the people.

The order came from the Crown Prince's camp; the executioners were soldiers of the Imperial Army. In the end, the heads of the corrupt officials were hung on the walls of Youzhou City.

The city was not filled with joy, but the residents stared blankly at the heads on the wall, leaving only heart-wrenching wails.

"Will the court really think of us in Western Shu?" a rebel locked in a prison cart asked.

"I don't know… but it seems they are different from the rumors."

Another quietly watched the heads hanging on the wall. All this time they had held these corrupt officials, their minds full of resisting the court. Their leaders said keeping the officials' heads would be useful, but they did not think of usefulness; they wanted to avenge their innocent relatives who had died under the oppression of these officials.

Beheading was such a simple thing, yet in the end, it was the court's Crown Prince who gave the order.

The day after the execution of the corrupt officials, some rebels in the prison accepted amnesty and handed over intelligence on the northern part of Western Shu.

That intelligence revealed the layout of the rebel forces in Western Shu. The Imperial Army discovered that there were truly very few soldiers left in the north; the bulk of the rebels' forces were concentrated in the central and southern parts of Western Shu, tasked with eliminating the remnants of the Prince of Qin and attacking Jiangnan. Originally, these northern rebels were supposed to capture Tianguan Pass and march south to join them, but their plans were disrupted by the Imperial Army's timely reinforcements.

"Go ask the people—those refugees who fled from the south will have more intelligence," Ying Fusheng said. He knew the intelligence on the current situation in northern Western Shu was too chaotic. Rather than sending scouts to probe, it would be better to gather intelligence from Youzhou.

The Imperial Army immediately sent men to inquire, and many residents were willing to speak.

Their words might contain exaggerations, but because of the Imperial Army's disaster relief and aid during this time, these people were willing to tell what they knew.

"Is what we say useful?" a resident asked.

Weng Yanqing, moving among the people, was trusted by them. "It's useful."

This intelligence came at just the right time. The Imperial Army made its own judgments, seeing at a glance that the rebel who had submitted the information was not lying, supported by the residents' testimonies. The new intelligence gathered covered nearly half of northern Western Shu. The commander immediately sent scouts to deliver the intelligence to the front lines in Liangzhou, allowing Junior General Qi and General Lu to make more accurate judgments on the rebel troop numbers.

The Imperial Army did not linger long in Youzhou. Leaving part of their forces to settle the refugees, they hurried on to the next location. In Youzhou, front-line battle reports arrived daily. The people thought the Imperial Army had abandoned them, but they had not—the Crown Prince remained in Youzhou.

The intelligence arrived at the main Imperial Army camp outside Liangzhou City by fast horse.

Upon receiving the victory report from Youzhou, Ye Xuanjiu immediately sought out Qi Hanzhou and the other generals, along with a letter of persuasion personally written by the Crown Prince. The generals in the camp stared in silence at the amnesty letter and the victory report for a long time. Learning that the Imperial Army in the north was recapturing territory along the way, attempting to rendezvous with them, they felt deeply moved.

This was also a victory report from the north. The generals immediately used it to analyze the rebel troop deployment.

They had indeed broken through the first line of defense of Liangzhou City, but unlike the remnants in northern Western Shu, Liangzhou City had gathered a massive rebel force. The main force was the Liangzhou Army that had started the rebellion. They had tried to persuade them to surrender, but it was completely ineffective against this particular army.

"They use these veteran tactics against us—tactics once used against the Northern Barbarians—now turning their weapons on us," General Lu said after a moment of silence. The Liangzhou Army was a southern force, formerly under the command of the Prince of Pingnan, and had little interaction with the Lu Family Army, which usually fought in the central plains. But they had seen the Prince of Pingnan's army; the great force that conquered Western Shu was led by the Prince of Pingnan, and the Liangzhou Army was one of its most valiant units.

"Is there no army in the court familiar with their fighting style?" a general asked.

"You are familiar with their style, and they are familiar with yours… The Liangzhou Army are veterans. Who among those who fought with the late emperor is not famous now? Old General Chen in Jiangnan, Old General Lu guarding the capital—ah, and the Qi family in the north!"

General Lu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Speaking of which, the army with the best relationship with the Prince of Pingnan's forces was Old General Qi's Qi Family Army. In the late emperor's time, when they fought from Western Shu all the way to the north, if not for Old General Qi's advanced age and Qi Shen's eventual stay in the north… perhaps the entire southern frontier would have been under the Prince of Pingnan's command. They were originally from the same camp."

At this, everyone turned to look at Qi Hanzhou in the camp. If speaking of the Qi Family Army, among the current Imperial Army only Qi Hanzhou and his Light Garment Guard belonged to that lineage. But they were of the younger generation, no longer the same Qi Family Army that had fought alongside the Prince of Pingnan. They might not be familiar with the old generals' tactics. Yet when they looked at him, they found his expression somewhat strange.

Ye Xuanjiu was startled. "Junior General?"

Qi Hanzhou's hand clenched the secret letter, wrinkling it. He turned abruptly to General Lu: "What did you say just now?"

General Lu was accustomed to Qi Hanzhou's composure and had never seen him so distraught. "That the Qi family had the best relationship with the Prince of Pingnan's forces…?"

Qi Hanzhou frowned: "The sentence before that. You said the Qi family and the Prince of Pingnan's forces had once been in the same camp?"

"I heard this from my father in passing. In those days, each commanded their own army, but since they fought on the same battlefield, there was frequent contact between the soldiers." General Lu recalled. "Some generals stayed with the Prince of Pingnan to guard the southern frontier, while the rest followed the Qi family on their northern expedition. There was a unit under the Prince of Pingnan that seemed to have gone with the Qi family."

At the time of the Western Shu campaign, the Prince of Pingnan took the southern route, while the Qi family took the northern one.

Everyone thought these two armies were split north and south, but in truth, only the old generals of that era knew that before leaving Western Shu, both armies had fought together and shared a single camp. General Lu was not entirely sure—these were just idle talks among the older generation, and whether they were true or false could no longer be verified.

"Are you worried about the north?" General Lu asked. "According to the Crown Prince's deductions, the problem lies with the current Prince of Pingnan's residence. It should have nothing to do with the Prince of Pingnan's army from those days, right?"

Qi Hanzhou knew that his father Qi Shen had good relations with the Prince of Pingnan, forged through their service under the late emperor. He also knew that the Qi family had fought in Western Shu. But he had not known that his father's forces had once included soldiers from the Prince of Pingnan. Now that the existence of a Secret Faction at the Prince of Pingnan's residence was confirmed, what about that army from those days…

No, the timing did not match.

That was during the late emperor's era. The Prince of Pingnan's Heir was still a young man then, unlikely to have the capability to plant spies under his grandfather's nose. Qi Hanzhou suddenly recalled the rebel commander at Tianguan Pass asking about the Pei family of Mobei. He remembered the innocent lives lost in Youzhou City, and his senior brother.

The incident at Youzhou City must have involved hidden circumstances. Those in the know understood that the Youzhou City case was inseparable from the Secret Faction. But that was an entire city, guarded by his senior brother Pei Zhuiyun. How could the city have been massacred, how could it have become hell on earth? They could only speculate about these cause and effect chains. But to achieve a massacre of that scale, the infiltration must have been deep, and the person's status in Youzhou City must have been extraordinary.

Did his father know?

In the camp, the generals all sensed Qi Hanzhou's silence. General Lu said, "This might just be a coincidence."

"It might not be a coincidence. You all know of the old case in Youzhou City in the north." Qi Hanzhou nodded. "How the Secret Faction engineered the Youzhou City massacre, how they infiltrated the north—the Qi family is also investigating."

The Prince of Pingnan's residence was enough to make most generals sense the gravity of the problem. If the north also faced trouble now, Dayuan would truly be attacked from both sides. Qi Hanzhou briefly apologized to General Lu, turned, and walked out of the camp, summoning Ye Xuanjiu.

"Send a fast courier. Have the Light Garment Guard report all Western Shu battle conditions to the Qi Family Army. In particular, investigate the generals who had close ties with the Prince of Pingnan's forces. Also, investigate any possible connections between the Pei family of Mobei and the Western Shu rebels."

Qi Hanzhou instructed: "This must be done in secret."

Ye Xuanjiu was alarmed and immediately set off to carry out the order.

Having arranged everything, Qi Hanzhou looked at Liangzhou City, now right before him.

A strong feeling told him that the answer to the old Youzhou City case might lie within these walls. Suppressing the fury in his heart, he lowered his gaze to the crumpled secret letter still clutched in his palm. The handwriting of Ying Fusheng was already creased, but upon seeing those words, the anger buried in his chest was gradually smoothed away.

After a long moment, he withdrew his gaze.

Liangzhou City—he had to take it.

...

Urgent reports from Liangzhou were dispatched to distant destinations, as the imperial army in northern Xishu was marching south in an orderly manner.

After recovering Youzhou, the imperial army's southern strategy required the capture of Yuzhou; if they could reclaim Yuzhou and its surrounding counties and towns, they could coordinate with Liangzhou within half a month.

The intelligence from the people proved extremely useful. The defending forces in Yuzhou were not strong.

Having won a prior victory and with foreknowledge of the rebels' situation, the imperial army fought bitterly for three days and finally recovered Yuzhou. This was the second victory since Youzhou's recovery, and news of it soon spread back to Youzhou.

When news of Yuzhou's recovery reached Youzhou, the people were dumbfounded. Some residents of Youzhou had fled from Yuzhou, and upon hearing that their homeland was spared from the ravages of war, they were filled with emotion.

"His Highness said that thanks to you, your words have been very useful, helping the imperial army avoid many unnecessary detours," the soldiers stationed in Youzhou said.

The imperial army’s southward advance had recovered two prefectures in succession, and the people of Xishu along the way were properly cared for. The terms of the amnesty—disaster relief, pacification—were all fulfilled one by one. Though the people of Youzhou had been wary of the imperial army, the successive news brought not another wave of war, but the gradual peace of northern Xishu.

In the prisoner camp, the surrendered veteran soldiers were relocated together with the garrison troops of Tianguan Pass. When the prison carts entered Youzhou, the prisoners saw the soldiers of Tianguan Pass distributing relief supplies along the city walls. It was winter and drought-stricken; the rebels hadn’t managed to cut off too many military supplies, and northern Xishu was the region worst affected by the disaster outside the core territory.

But now, the imperial army did not mistreat these disaster-stricken people. On the distant city walls hung the heads of corrupt Youzhou officials, while the people of Youzhou walked freely within the city... This was a sight they had never seen before.

"I heard the imperial army has already gone south!"

"Yes, Yuzhou has been taken. They are guiding the people of Xishu to our Youzhou."

"There is fighting in the south. I heard from the imperial army that they want us to come to Youzhou..."

The imperial army was recovering lost territory in the south, but with limited forces, they could only guide refugees along the way to seek refuge in Youzhou.

During this time, the imperial army never stopped. Starting from Youzhou, they recovered lost territories along the way. These reports were not concealed by the imperial army, nor deliberately spread to the rebels; what the prisoners in the carts heard came from the people who came daily to the city gates to receive food.

Every two days, supply wagons arrived from the capital. Wagon after wagon of grain—the people of Xishu had long forgotten such stability and peace. Even in wartime, they gained a rare sense of calm. Some able-bodied young men volunteered to help the imperial army transport supplies, while some elders, relying on their prestige among the people, came forward to maintain order. They saw the imperial army was understaffed, yet under such circumstances, they thoughtfully settled these refugees.

But after they had been helping for two days, the Crown Prince came out of his tent.

The people of Youzhou had rarely seen His Highness; they had heard he was in poor health and often stayed in the military tent. But when he emerged, the surrounding people all gathered around. They only then realized that the Crown Prince had indeed come to the battlefield in person. He had not stayed in a safe place but had been with them in Youzhou, eating and living together.

As soon as the Crown Prince appeared, the notices at the city gate were updated.

Those who could read pressed forward to see—a list of new regulations was posted:

"His Highness said that every day we can earn money by working."

"There's money to be had?"

Some who had been waiting and watching crowded in. Their eyes stopped on the notice, reading it word by word, lingering for a long time before they finally left, pushed along by the crowd.

"And this—enlisting in the army—there's compensation for the families of the fallen, and money after the war!"

Voices grew louder. The people were stunned, as if unable to believe it.

But those who helped that day soon received money from the imperial army.

This single measure seemed to calm the people’s restless hearts. On the streets of Youzhou, the gathered crowds grew larger.

The prisoners on the transport carts were drawn by the sound and looked toward it, unable to take their eyes off the joyful crowd.

This thriving Youzhou was something they had never seen before. As they were being taken to prison, they could still hear the cheers echoing from the streets.

The prisoners couldn’t get a better look, as their carts turned into Youzhou Prison.

The prison was spacious. The prisoners looked at each other; during the transfer, they had not seen any other prisoners, yet they were deeply moved by what they had seen on the journey.

How long had it been since the people of Xishu were this happy?

Among the prisoners was an old general, the commander who had attacked Tianguan Pass. This group of rebels captured at Tianguan Pass refused to surrender. No matter how golden the imperial army’s amnesty terms sounded, they dismissed them as nonsense. They had already resigned themselves to death...

"What a lively scene..." someone said.

A few prisoners tried to press forward for a look, but the guards blocked them. An unforgettable emotion lingered in the locked cell, refusing to dissipate.

"Don’t be taken in by the enemy’s tricks," someone warned.

"How do you know it’s not an act?"

"How could they put on such a convincing act? Those people outside—I’ve never seen them like this before..."

Those who had stepped back, but their expressions showed doubt: "This imperial army seems different from the Xishu prefectures that abetted the tyrants."

The cell fell silent, but the prisoners’ hearts could not calm down.

The old general’s clouded eyes looked past them. He knew that these brothers who had fought alongside him, even if shaken, would not speak at this moment. They had been captured for days, subjected to torture, but the imperial army hadn’t killed them... He could see the enemy’s soft-hand tactics, and the change in the people of Youzhou.

Finally, he pushed himself to his feet.

The liveliness of Youzhou reached the command tent. The officers were taken aback that the Crown Prince would do such things during wartime. Several officers who had just returned hurried over, entering to find the Crown Prince’s civil officials drafting detailed strategies.

"The worst thing in war is having no security for the future. Disaster relief can fill bellies for a moment, but once their bellies are full, they start worrying about the future," Ying Fusheng said. He didn’t want these people to endure war and then worry about what came after—he had seen this scene before in Jiangling. He had to make these people believe that the war would end, and that the money they earned would give them hope for the days ahead.

"But this money confiscated from the corrupt officials..." an officer hesitated.

Ying Fusheng smiled: "General, the corrupt officials of Xishu stole the people’s life-saving money."

"If anyone in the court dared to make an issue of this money, would it be the Ministry of Revenue?"

After the war in Xishu, the Ministry of Revenue would probably be in trouble itself—collusion with the prefectures of Xishu, collusion with the gentry... The Yun family and those powerful families had accounts to settle. Someone would settle them.

"Have those rebels not given any information?" Ying Fusheng asked.

The officer answered: "Those in Youzhou followed the leader’s orders. That man fled when Youzhou fell. The remaining rebels mostly joined after Liangzhou rebelled; some were former garrison troops of Youzhou. A few had ties to the Prince of Pingnan’s army... but they committed suicide by concealing knives within the prison."

Ying Fusheng was silent for a moment: "Question the remaining rebels, then separate them and make appropriate arrangements for them."

"Your Highness! An urgent letter from Liangzhou—from Junior General Qi."

Soon, Ye Xuanqi arrived and handed a secret letter to Ying Fusheng.

Ying Fusheng was slightly taken aback. After glancing over it, his expression turned rigid.

Seeing what Qi Hanzhou had written, his expression turned grave.

The officers had grown used to following the Crown Prince’s orders during this time, but they had never seen his expression so solemn. All fell silent, none dared to speak, afraid of breaking His Highness’s train of thought. At that moment, there was the sound of hurried footsteps outside the tent—a soldier in charge of the prisoner camp came running, breaking the silence.

Ying Fusheng looked up, hearing the man say: "The rebel commander captured at Tianguan Pass earlier—he says he wants to see Your Highness."

They knew that rebel commander—a hard nut to crack. He had not uttered a word despite enticements and torture. Even his men were the same. When no more information could be extracted, they had been locked in the prisoner camp, to be escorted back to the capital for trial. Before leaving, Junior General Qi had ordered strict supervision, and to send word to Liangzhou if anything was learned.

"He also said he was from Liangzhou." At these words, Ying Fusheng immediately said: "Bring him to me."