Chapter 71

Dozens of riders scattered across the wilderness.

Muddy floodwater submerged the horses’ hooves as the Chong Province army quickly closed in behind them.

To lure the enemy deep into the gorge, Xie Zheng had deliberately ordered several dozen personal cavalrymen to feign defeat and retreat, encouraging the enemy to lower their guard.

Sui Yuanqing was tightly bound and tied across a cavalryman’s horse.

No one knew how many of his ribs had been broken. His entire chest felt crushed, every breath sending waves of agony through him.

He knew perfectly well that the Chong Province army pursuing behind them was marching toward certain doom.

Yet with himself captured and the Yan Province army pretending to flee in order to lure the enemy forward, there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation.

Suppressing the tearing pain in his chest, he let out a cold laugh.

“The Marquis truly has my admiration. My gilded phoenix-wing spear struck directly through your chest, yet you can still endure the pain and ride for so long.”

His spear had indeed pierced diagonally through the gap beneath Xie Zheng’s arm armor.

But Xie Zheng had remained so calm that even the personal guard who caught Changning had assumed it was only a minor wound.

The others had noticed nothing at all.

After Sui Yuanqing spoke, the cavalrymen couldn’t help glancing toward Xie Zheng.

His goal was obvious.

He wanted to shake morale.

If Xie Zheng fell, the army would be leaderless, and tonight’s battle might still be salvaged.

Thunder roared overhead.

Xie Zheng’s drenched cloak hung against his armor and draped down the horse’s back.

He turned his head slightly.

His posture remained perfectly straight.

Under the pale flashes of lightning, his profile looked as though it had been carved from cold jade.

Lifting his phoenix eyes lazily, he replied,

“It seems the Heir Apparent Sui’s spearhead was made of wax. Next time you go to war, remember to replace it with iron.”

Every word dripped with mockery.

The personal cavalry burst into laughter.

Sui Yuanqing’s expression darkened.

“Then I’ll wait and see how much longer the Marquis can hold on.”

Xie Zheng shot him a cold glance and said to the cavalryman carrying him,

“The Heir Apparent seems full of energy. Let him get off and walk.”

Sui Yuanqing’s face changed instantly.

He knew perfectly well that this would be anything but a leisurely stroll.

The cavalrymen immediately cheered.

With his hands bound, he was thrown into the muddy rain-soaked ground.

Mud and rainwater splashed over his entire body.

Some entered his eyes, stinging painfully.

Before he could even climb up, the cavalrymen had already cracked their whips and urged their horses into a gallop.

Sui Yuanqing was dragged through the rain by a rope.

Even with armor protecting him, his back felt as though it were being flayed alive.

The broken ribs in his chest seemed to shift further out of place.

Grinding his teeth, he stared into the dark rainstorm.

Cold sweat mixed with rainwater and ran down his face.

His mouth was filled with the taste of blood.

At the front of the formation, Xie Zheng lowered his gaze and looked at the inner robe beneath his armor, now darkened by blood.

His pale lips pressed together.

With a crack of the whip, he urged his horse onward toward First-Line Gorge.

His condition truly wasn’t good.

Although Sui Yuanqing’s spear hadn’t pierced any internal organs, it had struck bone.

The wound was extensive, and because it had remained soaked in rainwater, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

After losing so much blood, he was beginning to feel faint.

But the Chong Province army was close behind.

This was not the time to stop.

Ahead, the entrance to First-Line Gorge gradually emerged from the darkness.

In the night, it resembled the fanged mouth of a sleeping beast.

By the time the Chong Province army reached the entrance, they had clearly sensed the possibility of an ambush inside.

Their advance slowed considerably.

Listening to a scout’s report, Xie Zheng suddenly let his eyelids droop.

Then he toppled from his horse.

Several personal guards immediately pulled on their reins and rushed over.

“Marquis!”

After being dragged through the mud for so long, Sui Yuanqing was in excruciating pain.

He wanted to mock Xie Zheng but no longer had the strength to utter a single word.

The commotion was quickly noticed by Chong Province scouts, who immediately rode back to report what they had seen.

The Chong Province general leading the pursuit was now caught in a dilemma.

If he halted before entering First-Line Gorge and failed to recover Sui Yuanqing, Prince Changxin would undoubtedly punish him.

But if he pursued into the gorge and fell into an ambush, losing the entire army, he wouldn’t have enough heads to satisfy the executioner’s blade.

The scouts’ report became the final push he needed.

Combined with testimony from Sui Yuanqing’s personal guard who had escaped earlier, it confirmed that Xie Zheng had indeed been wounded.

The chance to rescue Sui Yuanqing and capture the Marquis of Wuan alive was simply too tempting.

The Chong Province commander quickly made his decision.

The cavalry would lead the way.

The entire army would advance at full speed.

—

Only then did Xie Zheng’s personal guards realize that he truly was injured.

And not lightly.

The spear wound had entered beside his right ribs and cut diagonally across his chest, growing deeper toward the left side.

It was a horrifying sight.

The rain was pouring so heavily that even after emptying two bottles of wound medicine into the injury and hastily bandaging it with strips torn from military robes, blood still seeped through continuously.

One cavalryman who had been monitoring the enemy’s movements rode back and reported,

“All of the Chong Province cavalry are coming this way.”

The several dozen riders immediately grew uneasy.

Xie Zheng, who had been sitting briefly in the rain while his wound was treated, opened his eyes at that moment.

As if nothing were wrong, he donned his outer armor and mounted his horse.

“This time we’ve completely lured the rebels into First-Line Gorge. Proceed according to the original plan.”

The personal guards stood frozen.

For a moment, none of them could tell whether his fall from the horse had been genuine or merely part of the deception.

When they finally realized the truth, they quickly mounted up and followed.

Now that speed was essential, they no longer had any interest in tormenting Sui Yuanqing.

As he was loaded back onto a horse, Sui Yuanqing suddenly understood the purpose behind Xie Zheng’s collapse.

It had been deliberate.

Completely deliberate.

With Xie Zheng wounded, not only the current Chong Province commander—even Sui Yuanqing himself would never have missed such an opportunity had he been in command.

The horse’s movement jostled him violently.

Hanging upside down, the whites of his eyes became bloodshot.

The mountains flashing past seemed tinged with red.

As he watched Xie Zheng continue riding at the very front of the formation, a strange thought suddenly entered his mind.

Did this man not feel pain?

Sui Yuanqing didn’t believe Xie Zheng’s injuries were lighter than his own.

Yet he himself felt as though he had died several times from the agony.

Aside from intentionally falling from his horse to lure the enemy, Xie Zheng had shown no sign of discomfort whatsoever.

Before he could think further, the cavalry rounded a bend.

A signal arrow was fired into the sky.

Instantly, thunderous crashes echoed through the valley.

Massive boulders began tumbling down from the cliffs.

The Chong Province cavalry, only an arrow’s flight away from catching up, were thrown into complete chaos on the narrow mountain road.

They tried to retreat.

But the infantry entering behind them blocked the exit.

There was nowhere to run.

In fact, more infantrymen were trampled to death by panicked horses than were crushed by the falling rocks.

Even the deafening thunder overhead could not drown out the screams filling the gorge.

Lightning flashed.

Bound across a horse’s back, Sui Yuanqing gazed at the devastated Chong Province army in the distance.

Slowly, he closed his eyes.

His fists clenched tightly.

His fingernails dug into his palms until blood seeped between his fingers.

This vengeance…

He would remember it.

After countless infantrymen were trampled by frightened horses, the Chong Province commander finally rode forward to restore order.

He forbade the cavalry from retreating.

Instead, he ordered them to charge ahead at full speed.

At least by moving forward, they would spend less time exposed to the falling boulders.

The infantry who had not advanced far into the gorge quickly turned and retreated.

However, when the cavalry reached the exit of the gorge, an entire line of archers awaited them.

Every bowstring was already drawn.

At the same time, another Yan Province force emerged behind the Chong Province infantry still outside the gorge.

The rear formation instantly descended into chaos.

Those who escaped the gorge alive had barely recovered from their terror before finding another battlefield unfolding outside.

Their morale collapsed.

Many fled in panic.

The Chong Province commander knew he could not escape responsibility for this disaster.

All he could do now was preserve as much of his army as possible.

Seeing the Yan Province infantry block his retreat, he came up with a desperate plan.

He ordered his soldiers to shout:

“The Marquis of Wuan is dead!”

“The Marquis of Wuan is dead!”

The goal was to destroy Yan Province morale.

The tactic worked surprisingly well.

The Yan Province army, whose offensive had been fierce moments earlier, began showing signs of hesitation amid the spreading cries.

—

On the mountain.

After hearing the scout’s report, Xie Zheng ignored his own injuries and used his halberd to push himself upright.

The military physician didn’t dare stop him.

Gongsun Yin, however, immediately shoved him back down.

“That brat from the Sui family struck a vicious blow. If the spear had been even a fraction off, it would have pierced your organs. Try valuing your life for once. In your current state, what can you accomplish even if you go down there?”

The soldiers had found a cave on the mountain.

Though it sheltered them from the rain, cold wind still carried moisture inside, leaving everyone shivering.

The vegetation outside had been soaked through.

The soldiers below had been unable to find dry wood for a fire.

Xie Zheng’s armor had already been removed.

He wore only his inner robe.

His chest was fully exposed.

A savage spear wound stretched diagonally across it from right to left, punching deep into his flesh.

The military physician had applied crushed medicinal herbs to the injury, but hadn’t even had time to wrap the bandages yet.

Xie Zheng said coldly,

“Shi Yue is a veteran general under Prince Changxin. He’s fought countless battles and cannot be underestimated. We must not allow him to stabilize morale and counterattack the ten thousand troops we have below.”

There were still twenty thousand Chong Province infantry stationed beneath the mountain.

If the enemy recovered their composure, the ten thousand Yan Province troops conducting the surprise attack would end up completely surrounded.

Gongsun Yin looked toward the armor stacked nearby.

“I have an idea. Find a personal guard with a similar build to yours. Put him in your armor and send him down the mountain on horseback. That should stabilize morale. In this darkness, who can tell whether it’s really you or not? Shi Yue is cautious by nature. After falling for your trap and charging into the gorge, he’s already learned a painful lesson. If he sees you appear below again, he won’t dare continue fighting.”

The deputy general standing nearby quickly agreed.

The plan was feasible.

After weighing the matter carefully, Xie Zheng finally nodded.

The physician resumed treating his wound.

Only then did Gongsun Yin glance toward Changning.

Wrapped in his own dry cloak, the child was asleep against the cave wall.

Her features were delicate and attractive.

Even with her damp hair now dried into messy little tufts that made her resemble a fluffy chick, she remained endearing.

The only problem was that her face seemed unnaturally red.

Gongsun Yin reached out and touched her forehead.

His expression immediately changed.

She wasn’t simply asleep.

After spending an entire night in the rain, she had developed a fever.

He quickly turned to the physician.

“Treat this child after you’re done here.”

Hearing that, Xie Zheng also looked over.

Seeing the unhealthy flush spreading across Changning’s face, he instructed the physician,

“See to the child first.”

The physician had no choice but to leave Xie Zheng pressing his own bandages in place while he checked Changning’s pulse.

Gongsun Yin had intended to help Xie Zheng.

Instead, he watched the man lower his head, grip one end of the bandage with his teeth, and expertly tie it off himself.

It was obvious he had done such things many times before.

Gongsun Yin had long wanted to learn more about Fan Changyu.

Originally, he had assumed that any woman capable of slaughtering pigs must be broad-shouldered and powerfully built.

After Xie Zheng returned from rescuing people in Qingping County, Gongsun Yin had privately asked the personal guards whether they had seen the woman.

Their answer had left him utterly confused.

Beautiful.

Capable of lifting a grown man with one hand and throwing him several yards.

Gongsun Yin simply couldn’t imagine such a woman.

For a time, he suspected that Xie Zheng’s personal guards shared the same peculiar taste in women as their commander, which was why they considered her attractive.

But after seeing Changning tonight and learning she was Fan Changyu’s younger sister, he began doubting his own assumptions.

If the younger sister possessed such delicate features, surely the elder sister wasn’t unattractive either.

So perhaps the guards had been telling the truth.

The pig-slaughtering girl really was beautiful.

His curiosity about Fan Changyu only deepened.

The physician’s medicine chest contained various remedies for wounds and colds.

After examining Changning, he feared such a young child might not endure the illness.

He went off to find soldiers and see if a fire could somehow be started to boil medicine.

Soon only Xie Zheng and Gongsun Yin remained in the cave.

Clearing his throat, Gongsun Yin said,

“You managed to rescue this child completely unharmed. If you show up before her sister covered in wounds like this, that young woman is going to cry her eyes out from worry.”

Xie Zheng simply gazed out at the rain without responding.

Not wanting to seem too obvious, Gongsun Yin tried a more indirect approach.

“What do you plan to do with the child?”

Xie Zheng glanced at Changning, whose forehead was now covered with a damp cloth placed there by the physician.

“Her sister is in Ji Province. Once she recovers from the illness, I’ll send her back there.”

Gongsun Yin asked,

“You won’t go with her?”

Xie Zheng suddenly turned and looked at him.

Caught red-handed, Gongsun Yin immediately straightened up and began fanning himself while staring out at the curtain of rain beyond the cave.

“Oh my, what a heavy rain. If everything went smoothly at the dam, those fifty thousand Chong Province troops besieging Lu City should be resting at the bottom of the river by now.”

Xie Zheng withdrew his gaze and ignored him.

However, his brows remained faintly furrowed.

Clearly, he too was worried about the situation in Lu City.