Chapter 78

There were flames of war in the distance, but in the central military camp on the mountain, there was still silence.

Gongsun Yin walked quickly to the tent, unable to conceal his excitement, "You had the soldiers at the foot of the mountain scrape tree bark and dig up grass roots to create the illusion that the food and grass on the mountain had run out. The bandits really fell into the trap! They thought we had been out of food for many days, so they deliberately killed pigs and sheep and roasted them to disrupt our morale!"

Xie Zheng's wounds were not serious, and his face was still a little pale. He was wearing a loose outer robe and leaning against the head of the bed. The white cloth belt wrapped around his shoulders could be vaguely seen. He was holding a map of the mountains with his fingertips. There was a bit of laziness between his handsome eyebrows. He raised his eyes and asked, "Have you sent the letter to the reinforcements down the mountain?"

Gongsun Yin said, "I sent Hai Dongqing there yesterday."

Xie Zheng threw away the map in his hand and said, "Make some noise to delay the anti-bandit forces so that the reinforcements down the mountain can burn food and grass."

He seemed to want to get up, but when he moved, the wound on his chest hurt so much that Xie Zheng's handsome face turned frosty. He asked, "How is Sui Yuanqing these days?"

Gongsun Yin said, "He has been exposed to the wind and rain, and a bowl of porridge a day is keeping him alive. He seemed to have a fever yesterday. I didn't think he would die, so I didn't ask the military doctor to see him."

The cold wind blew against the curtains, and the faint sunlight slanted in and fell on Xie Zheng's face. He curled his lips coldly and said, "Follow Yuan Qing to the front of the battle. If the thieves are grilling meat, you can grill it too."

Gongsun Yin understood what he meant and shook his head with a smile: "If the fire is burned on Sui Yuanqing, it will probably burn the heart of Prince Changxin. With him as bait, there is no need to worry about the thieves not being able to take the bait."

This was a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain, making the rebels mistakenly think that they were short of food and come to surrender. Sui Yuanqing was also pushed out as a bargaining chip to tie up most of the rebels' forces. The reinforcements from Yan and Ji states that stayed at the foot of the mountain to support them could take the opportunity to attack Huanglong and burn the rebels' food and grass.

Once the rebels run out of food and grass, no matter how many troops they have stored up, it will only take another day or two for them to change their offense and defense.

Gongsun Yin left the tent and was about to take Yuan Qing to the front when a personal soldier suddenly ran back and cried, "Mr. Gongsun, something terrible has happened! Miss Fan has gone to the back mountain to attack the enemy camp!"

Gongsun Yin's face suddenly changed. He quickly looked back in the direction of the big tent to make sure that the distance was far enough and Xie Zheng probably didn't hear him. Then he shouted, "Didn't she go hunting? Why did she go to the enemy camp again?"

The guard said, "We were on our way back from hunting when we heard an emergency horn at the foot of the mountain. Miss Fan heard that the guards at the back of the mountain were weak, so she rushed over to kill them."

Gongsun Yin paced back and forth for a few steps, and quickly gave a solution: "The Marquis is seriously injured and has not recovered yet. Don't let the Marquis know about this. You should quickly take a hundred light cavalrymen to chase after them, and make sure that the girl is safe."

The personal guards did not dare to delay at all and went to count the troops as soon as they received the order.

Gongsun Yin murmured with a headache: "At this critical moment, please don't let anything go wrong..."

-

Back mountain.

Fan Changyu, the remaining bodyguard and eight other soldiers were lying on a mound of earth covered by bushes, wearing simple hats made of branches and vines.

Fan Changyu stared at the narrow path that led to the foot of the mountain for a while, and couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Are there no soldiers guarding here?"

The guard replied: "They are all hidden in the mountains and forests."

Fan Changyu said "Oh" and was wondering if they needed the consent of the guards at the mountain pass before they could go to the enemy camp, when he saw a patrol team of friendly troops coming up the winding mountain road. There were fresh bloodstains on their uniforms, and they looked around as they walked, with bows holding arrows in their hands, which looked a bit strange.

Fan Changyu stared at the mountain road for a long time, but couldn't see clearly where they came from. She whispered to the guard beside her: "Is this a change of post?"

The bodyguard seemed to find it a little strange as well. He put his hands to his lips and made a few sharp bird calls. Suddenly, a swarm of arrows flew towards the bushes like locusts.

The bodyguard's face turned pale and he wanted to pull Fan Changyu to find cover, but Fan Changyu moved faster and rolled on the spot and hid behind a big tree.

Some soldiers panicked and tried to stand up and run, but were shot and turned into targets.

Fan Changyu looked at the people who had been hunting with her not long ago, and in the blink of an eye, they fell to the ground, blood gushing out of their bodies, and their eyes were open until their death. She couldn't help but purse the corners of her lips, feeling very uncomfortable in her heart, and cast a leopard-like gaze at the people who were shooting arrows.

Even if she was slow to react, she could see that there was something wrong with this group of people.

Most of the blood-stained uniforms on them were stripped from the Yanzhou Army.

After a wave of random arrows, the group of people came over here with swords and knives, as if to make sure if they were all dead.

The bodyguard hiding behind a tree opposite Fan Changyu used his mouth to signal Fan Changyu to escape when he got the chance. Fan Changyu pursed his lips and did not respond.

When the rebels disguised as Yanzhou soldiers were still a few steps away from them, the bodyguards shouted and rushed out to kill. The surviving soldiers were still shaking with both hands holding the knife handles, but they also shouted bravely and rushed out with their knives raised.

Fan Changyu saw that one of them, who looked like a teenager, was also about to rush out, so he grabbed him by the collar. The teenager kicked his legs and struggled, saying, "You are a girl, run for your life! The men of Yanzhou will drag someone with them even if they die!"

Fan Changyu glanced at him and said, "You, go back and report the news."

She aimed at the right direction and threw the boy with great force, and he was thrown far away.

Several counter-thieves spotted her and came over with knives in hand. Seeing this, Fan Changyu pulled out her bloodletting knife and boning knife, and scraped the blades hard, making a harsh metal friction sound. She did not even move away, but instead rushed towards the counter-thieves with a knife in each hand.

The bodyguard's martial arts were very good. After forcing back the rebels who were surrounding and killing him, he became worried about Fan Changyu. He looked back and saw Fan Changyu chopped down one rebel after another with her sword. Although she avoided the vital parts, the rebels who were chopped by her could not get up for a long time.

She was alone, holding two pig-killing knives, whirling around in the crowd like a little whirlwind. She was originally chasing and killing the thieves, but now it seemed that she was chasing and beating the thieves.

The bodyguards were dazed and couldn't help sighing in their hearts that the girl their Lord Marquis liked was indeed not an ordinary girl.

The young man who was thrown out of the crowd by Fan Changyu was also dumbfounded. After he came to his senses, he quickly got up and rushed back to report: the rebels had made two preparations, setting up a large-scale battle in the front and secretly launching a surprise attack in the back mountain!

Not long after he ran out, he ran into another personal soldier who was returning to report the news. When the young man saw him bringing people with him, he almost cried with joy and pointed behind him and said, "Quick! Quick! The rebels are coming up the mountain disguised as our people!"

The personal guards thought of Gongsun Yin's instructions and hurriedly took a hundred light cavalry to help.

With the reinforcements, the rebels who disguised themselves as Yanzhou soldiers and went up the mountain were quickly subdued.

After the scout went to investigate various strongholds in the back mountain, he came back and shook his head heavily, saying: "All our people were shot to death by random arrows."

The personal soldier who fought alongside Fan Changyu was so angry that he punched the tied-up anti-bandit leader twice with his fists.

The leader of the soldiers was beaten so hard that he spat out a mouthful of blood foam. He laughed and said, "Brothers, we came up the mountain and helped so many people. It was worth it!"

The bodyguard punched him hard on the nose again.

After some questioning, they quickly found out how they got up the mountain.

This group of people put on the Yanzhou military uniforms stripped from the dead Yanzhou soldiers on the battlefield, pretending to be the support troops wandering around at the foot of the mountain, tricking the guards on the mountain into letting down their guard, and then shot them to death with random arrows after getting close to them.

The purpose of their trip up the mountain this time was to rescue Sui Yuanqing while there was chaos ahead.

Both guards suggested taking the rebels back to the barracks and handing them over to the military advisor and Marquis Wu'an for capture.

Fan Changyu glanced at the place where the smoke was coming out from the kitchen at the foot of the mountain and said, "They have all come up the mountain. There should be no one down there, right?"

The personal soldier who went to ask for help was afraid that Fan Changyu had not given up yet, so he said: "Miss Fan, the rebels have many soldiers and horses, and the deployment of troops at the foot of the mountain is complicated. It is not advisable..."

"Wait a moment."

Fan Changyu suddenly interrupted him and walked away carrying a tied-up soldier.

She threw the soldier behind a tree and pointed down the mountain and asked, "How many of you are there down there? Where are you hiding?"

The soldier said arrogantly: "I am not the kind of person who is greedy for life and afraid of death..."

Before he could finish his words, a fierce punch had already hit his nose.

The soldier let out a scream and two streams of blood quickly flowed from under his nostrils.

Fan Changyu continued to ask with a fierce look on his face: "Will you tell me or not?"

"There are only a thousand soldiers left at this mountain pass, waiting for support at the foot of the mountain."

Fan Changyu dragged the man back. The captured soldiers only heard the screams of being beaten but did not hear any specific conversation. When they saw that the soldier who was brought back had his face covered with blood from his nose, they all felt sad for a moment.

Fan Changyu picked up another soldier and asked the same question.

This method was something she had heard from Captain Wang before. Captain Wang said that when the county court tried prisoners, they were afraid that the prisoners would make false confessions, so they would be tried separately. This way it would be easy to tell whether someone was telling the truth or lying.

She asked three or four people, and after getting the same answer, she said to the two guards, "There are only a thousand people left at the foot of the mountain, and they are all guarding the foot of the mountain."

The two guards looked at each other, and one of them said, "Miss Fan, please wait a moment. I will go back and bring some troops."

After the personal soldier went back to get reinforcements, Fan Changyu and the personal soldier he had fought with previously, along with a hundred or so light cavalry trained by Xie Zheng, went down the mountain and secretly observed the movements of the thousand rebels guarding the foot of the mountain.

The mountain road was steep and the cavalrymen did not ride horses, but being able to become cavalry meant that their physical fitness was inherently stronger than that of infantrymen, so it was no problem for them to fight one against two. This was also the reason why the personal soldiers felt at ease letting Fan Changyu come down the mountain.

They were originally going to wait for the personal soldier to bring more troops before taking action, but a strong horse came galloping from a distance, and the scout on the horse seemed to say something to the small bandit leader, and the thousand bandits guarding the foot of the mountain suddenly turned around and followed the scout.

Fan Changyu asked: "Why did they leave?"

The guards didn't know what happened, so they just said, "Maybe something happened in the front mountain."

Fan Changyu still understood the principle of shaking people in a fight, so she immediately said, "Then we have to find a way to hold back this group of people, otherwise what if we can't defeat them in the front mountain?"

While the personal soldiers were still hesitant, Fan Changyu had already run towards the rebels' military tent stationed at the mountain pass with a clear goal.

The personal guards were afraid that something might happen to Fan Changyu, so they had to follow him. The rest of the soldiers also rushed out in a swarm.

Fan Changyu rushed into the rebels' tent, not wanting anything, but searching through all the boxes and cabinets for salt.

After finding the place where the thieves stored food and salt, Fan Changyu picked up two bags of salt and ran away.

Seeing this, the rest of the soldiers also started carrying food.

As soon as the rebels walked away, they saw the Yanzhou Army coming down from the mountain to steal food, so they quickly withdrew and tried to encircle and suppress Fan Changyu and her group.

This was just a small garrison for fighting bandits, and the food stored there was not much. Even the hundred or so soldiers who came with them couldn't even carry a full bag.

The personal soldiers had fought beside Xie Zheng for many years. When they saw the rebels turning around, they ordered everyone to run away and set fire to the empty tents.

Afraid that Fan Changyu would have trouble carrying two bags of salt, he took another bag and carried it himself.

Fan Changyu was like a bandit coming down the mountain, with empty hands. Thinking that Changning and Yanzheng had no bedding to sleep on at night, he grabbed two of their cloaks hanging in their tents and ran away.

Passing by the place where the bandits were cooking, he saw a whole roasted lamb that was specially used to feed the Yanzhou army on the mountain still on the fire. He threw his cloak on the salt bag and reached out to pull up the crossbar on which the roasted lamb was hung.

The thieves who had chased her back were stunned when they saw her running very fast with a bag of salt in her left hand and a roasted whole lamb in her right hand.

The anti-bandit leader riding on horseback drew his bow and was about to shoot an arrow at Fan Changyu.

The scout who caught up with them shouted, "General, the Yanzhou and Jizhou armies at the foot of the mountain are about to burn the granary. General, don't delay the opportunity to fight!"

The little leader cursed loudly: "The swallow bandits on the mountain have come down to steal my food! They burned down my camp. Can't you see?"

The arrow had a long range, and his personal guard shouted "be careful", so Fan Changyu simply used the bag of salt on his shoulder as a barrier and successfully blocked the arrow.

The frustrated rebels finally caught up with Fan Changyu and his group who were carrying food. The personal soldier who went to get reinforcements also came with the Yanzhou Army from the mountain.

The Yanzhou troops on the mountain used random arrows to force the rebels out of range. In the end, the 1,000 Chongzhou troops could only watch in frustration as Fan Changyu and others carried food and salt up the mountain.

Fan Changyu climbed to the middle of the mountain, only to notice thick smoke rising in the distance.

She gasped and asked, "Which mountain do you want to burn down?"

When the guard saw the direction where the thick smoke was rising, he was overjoyed. He put a bag of salt on the ground, sat down and laughed: "It has rained heavily for several days, and the grass and trees on the mountain are soaked. The bandits can't burn the mountain. It's our people who burned the bandits' food and grass!"

Fan Changyu led them to rob food, and accidentally delayed the thousand troops at the foot of the mountain, which could be regarded as an invisible help to the friendly forces who were going to burn the food and grass.

He looked at Fan Changyu with admiration in his eyes: "Miss Fan has done a great job this time!"

-

The truth was revealed. Gongsun Yin suddenly sent a large number of troops to the back mountain, which alerted Xie Zheng. He asked, "Is there something wrong in the back mountain?"

Gongsun Yin's expression froze, and he said, "There were some bandits who disguised themselves as our people and sneaked up the mountain, but they have all been caught. We sent people there just to reinforce the defense."

Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes and asked, "Has she not returned from hunting yet?"

Gongsun Yin knew that he could not keep the secret any longer, so he sighed and said truthfully, "Miss Fan is in the back hills."

Xie Zheng's eyes turned cold and he shouted, "Nonsense! If you know it's dangerous over there, why let her stay there?"

He tried to get up, but Gongsun Yin stepped forward and held him down. "I have ordered Xie Qi and Xiao Wu to follow, and I have also sent a hundred light cavalrymen. They will be able to bring Miss Fan back soon..."

Xie Zheng was about to brush his hand away with a sullen look on his face, but at this moment a personal soldier rushed into the tent and said excitedly, "My Lord, Miss Fan is back!"

Xie Zheng's expression eased a little, and Gongsun Yin also breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, when they saw Fan Changyu coming into the tent with a red velvet cloak in one hand and a roasted whole lamb in the other, they both fell silent.

Where did this cloak with the Chongzhou emblem come from?

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