The night was as dark as ink. On the city tower, which was stained with blood, beacon fires burned. In the flickering candlelight, soldiers walked back and forth, clearing away the corpses in the city tower.

Unlike usual nights when there are still lights on in the inner city of Anyang County, tonight the residential area is unusually dark and quiet.

Meanwhile, on the streets leading to the inner city's residential area, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were leading a group of men towards the city.

The two rode on horseback for a long time but still couldn't see a single person. In the residential area near the inner city where the battle was taking place, the people had all fled.

They fled in a great panic, and many houses were not even closed.

After riding a little further, I saw a group of refugees ahead. They looked panicked, carrying their children and holding packages of various sizes.

Hearing the sound of horses' hooves from behind, they panicked even more. Some people abandoned their belongings and ran forward at breakneck speed.

Xu Huang sighed and shouted from afar:

"Don't run! Although the Prince has entered Anyang County, he will not harm you in the slightest!"

"Anyang Prefecture will remain the same as before!"

Despite a loud shout, the crowd of people did not stop and continued to run forward in a panic. Some of the young children had never seen such a scene before and were so frightened that they cried loudly.

Zhang Liao shook his head, pulled on the reins, and looked at Xu Huang, saying:

“Historically, when a city is attacked, it is looted after it falls. These people have long understood this and are terrified of it.”

"The people are afraid of war, because in the end, they are the ones who suffer."

"Let's wait a few more days. If we don't cause any trouble in the city, these people will come back on their own."

Xu Huang nodded, and the two of them stared at the group of fleeing people for a long time before finally turning their gaze away.

——

Military camp in the inner city.

Inside the tent, candlelight flickered, and Qin Ze sat upright in a chair, with a geomantic map on the table in front of him.

At the entrance of the camp, Dian Wei stood with his arms crossed, looking somewhat sullen.

Qin Ze's gaze swept across the geomantic map. Anyang County was a military stronghold, leading directly to the East China Sea to the east and southwards to the capital.

The next part of the journey involved several small towns. Qin Ze knew that these towns did not have many troops, so he was not too concerned about them.

Anyang County has been captured, and one or two hundred thousand people have been killed today. With such thunderous methods, how dare the commanders of those small towns resist them?

With Anyang County as a cautionary tale, those small towns will naturally fall without a fight, and surrender is only a matter of time.

But after passing these small towns, the road ahead became much more difficult, as they had to cross a mountainous area.

Qin Ze's gaze fell on the mountain marked on the geomantic map.

Yanlu Mountain.

The reason for paying special attention to this mountain is not because there are any large cities around it. On the contrary, this mountain is rarely visited by people. After all, as its name suggests, this mountain is extremely steep.

There is only one straight road in and out of Yanluo Mountain, and the inside is flat.

Now that Anyang County has been captured, Jin Fengluan will be furious at losing such an important town, and she will definitely send a large army to attack.

Previously, Huang Long was stripped of his military power, and the Panlong Army under his command has not been used until now. Qin Ze guessed that Jin Fengluan would definitely use this army next.

Given the formidable natural defenses of Yanluo Mountain, Qin Ze believed that Jin Fengluan would most likely send the Panlong Army here to use it as a battlefield.

Thinking of this, Qin Ze stroked his chin and looked away from the geomantic map.

Looking into the distance, he saw Dian Wei's appearance and couldn't help but purse his lips slightly, smiling faintly:

"What? You've taken Anyang Prefecture, what's there to be unhappy about?"

Upon hearing Qin Ze's question, Dian Wei turned around, sighed, and said:

"Lian Xiaoru was killed by Xu Huang with a single blow."

"In today's battle, I did not kill a single general."

Hearing this, Qin Ze shook his head, secretly amused. He stood up and said:

"What do you mean?"

"Although Da Gan is now terminally ill and rotten because of Jin Fengluan, she still has some fierce generals under her command."

"Although Lian Xiaoru is a third-rank Annam General, he is just a lowly soldier. She has the generals under her command in her hands, protecting her capital."

"If you want to fight, there will be plenty of opportunities."

Dian Wei's eyes lit up, and he peeked out, saying, "Oh? There's another fierce general?"

Qin Ze said calmly, "That's natural. Jin Fengluan values ​​imperial power above all else. How could she not have troops in order to consolidate this power? All her actions over the years have been aimed at delegating military power to her direct descendants in the Jin family."

"Take Prince Qing's sons for example. The eldest, Jin Jianren, has been fighting for many years and had a reputation on the battlefield. Now that Huang Long is dead, Jin Jianren has probably taken over his military power. He also has several other sons and nephews, each with their own troops."

At this point, Qin Ze pointed to the two characters "Jinling" on the geomantic map and continued:

"This Kim Geon-in will have a battle with us sooner or later."

"Then you won't have to worry about having no one to fight. The Jin family has quite a few people..."

Upon hearing this, Dian Wei grinned, his eyes narrowing as well.

Just then, the tent door was lifted, and Zhang Liao and Xu Huang walked into the tent.

"My lord, notices have been posted throughout the city. Those people living near the city will likely return soon."

Qin Ze nodded slightly, and then said:

"That's good. Don't take anything from the people. We have enough food and supplies, and we can get the supplies needed for marching and fighting from Lian Xiaoru."

"Today's great victory has terrified the people of Anyang County, but... there's nothing we can do about it."

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