"I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die..." Little Rui seed to recall sothing terrifying and began to panic.
"There, there, it’s okay. It’s all okay now," Siniang said soothingly.
"Committing suicide as a family allows one to die with honor and might even earn a good na in the historical annals," the blind man said.
"Enough. It’s hard to define what’s right or wrong in this situation." Zheng Fan didn’t want to drain any more energy on these matters and said again, "Those who should rest, rest. Those who should get back to work, work."
Zheng Fan didn’t sleep well that night, perhaps because Siniang wasn’t with him.
Therefore, he had a dream. In it, he was sitting behind a bead curtain. A queen, wearing a Golden Phoenix Crown and acting coquettishly, sat on his lap. Outside the bead curtain was a grand hall. A screen separated him from the throne where Prince Fu’s son, dressed in a dragon robe, sat. The prince listened to the movents behind the curtain while receiving the kneeling tribute from the officials, who shouted, "Long live the King!"
"THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!"
A burst of rapid hoofbeats startled Zheng Fan from his wonderful dream.
After opening his eyes, Zheng Fan even savored the dream a bit. He laughed and sneered at himself, What a damn pervert I am.
At that mont, Liang Cheng lifted the tent flap, poked his head in, and reported, "My lord, a Qian army has been spotted forty miles southwest of the city."
"A Qian army? From the Southwest?" Zheng Fan mused. If they’re coming from the Southwest, they’re certainly not reinforcents from the Qian border army. In fact, given the speed of the Yan Army’s assault, even if the Qian border army had chosen to provide imdiate reinforcents at the outset, it would be impossible for them to have caught up by today. The Yan Army, after all, consists entirely of cavalry.
"How many enemy troops?"
"The exact number is unknown, but it should be over twenty thousand."
Zheng Fan imdiately rose, donned his armor, and then went out with Liang Cheng.
On the street, the North Town Army knights were quickly assembling, with scouts continuously reporting the enemy’s situation. Cavalryn were continuously being dispatched from the city to prepare for the confrontation.
Zheng Fan furrowed his brows slightly. "What’s going on here?" he muttered.
Chuzhou was a newly occupied territory. Despite the threat of military force and various inducents, an "auxiliary" corps had been scraped together at the governnt office last night. However, the entire city was still in a state of unease.
To so brazenly spread news of the Qian army’s approach—wouldn’t that stir unrest among the Qian commoners and nobles within the city walls? In any group, at any ti, the silent majority is the main force. One mustn’t give them hope at a ti like this.
Zheng Fan squinted.
Just then, a knight rode up to him, saluted, and said, "Chief Zheng, the Chief Commander summons you."
Zheng Fan saluted him back. "Understood."
Zheng Fan swiftly mounted his horse and rode with Liang Cheng to where Li Fusheng was.
Li Fusheng had stayed in an ordinary house the previous night, not choosing any fancier residences. According to the original plan, they would be leaving again in a few days, so finding any place to sleep would have sufficed.
Admittedly, these high-ranking generals of the North Town Army didn’t particularly crave luxury.
As Zheng Fan rode down the street, scouts and cavalry units rushed past him. The Yan Army in the city and the camp outside had also begun to mobilize. The people of Chuzhou were also growing restless.
Behind the compound walls, countless heads were poking out, secretly observing the situation outside. Seeing this made Zheng Fan’s fingers itch; he longed to draw his bow and practice his headshot archery.
The most authoritative building in Chuzhou, symbolizing the center of power, was the Governor’s Mansion. However, Qian State did not have governors; instead, they had regional military commissioners.
However, when the Yan Army conquered the city the previous day, the regional military commissioner of Shu Prefecture was not in Shu Prefecture. He was in Antian City, eighty miles south of Chuzhou, busy expediting the transport of grain and fodder. Therefore, this big fish had not been caught.
But now, in the Governor’s Mansion, an old man with white hair sat in the chair of his docunt signing room, his face showing deep exhaustion from the previous night’s drinking.
The night before, he had drunk continuously. The wine was "Peach Blossom Brew." Wuchuan was renowned for its fine wines, and the best vintages were quite expensive. Yet, that night, the fine wine he usually savored sparingly tasted increasingly bland, no matter how much he consud.
The day before, when the Yan people had stord into his mansion and held blades to the throats of his entire clan, this old man had chosen to submit.
He had agreed to the Yan people’s demands, taking on the new role of regional military commissioner of Chuzhou. The Yan people then assigned him nurous officials, and he himself found so others. Within a single day, he had managed to cobble together this makeshift administration.
However, it was rely a paper-thin façade. Currently, although everyone was in the governnt office, no one was truly working; indeed, no one had the heart to.
Nevertheless, everyone had arrived at the governnt office early that morning to "work," their usual laziness and procrastination conspicuously absent. But once they settled into their positions, they began whispering amongst themselves, mostly about whose family had been annihilated the previous night, or which family had been singled out for promotion.
The Yan people had co too quickly.
Their blades had struck too swiftly.
These officials, who had just "surrendered," had not yet adjusted to their new roles.
Fortunately, their nominal "Lord Regional Military Commissioner" seed to share their sentints.
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