Chapter 51: Why are there monkeys here?

When the people of Dan County heard the news of General Huo's sister's funeral, they didn't care whether it was true or not; those who had time came to help send her off.

Cui Niang took the initiative to wear mourning clothes. It is an ancient custom for concubines to observe mourning for their mistress, but carrying the coffin and crying at the funeral is a bit too much.

Cui Niang had just learned that her mistress was the sister of the Great General, so wasn't the ghost she had just seen the real General Huo?

For a moment, Cui Niang was both happy and sad. She was happy to have met General Huo, but sad that the First Madam had left so suddenly. Now the Huo family was completely wiped out.

The funeral was a grand affair; Huo Rouzhen received all the dignity she had never had in life, even in death.

The people wept with genuine emotion.

"If I had known that Master Zhu's wife was General Huo's sister, I should have kowtowed to her before she died."

"Stop talking. How could a lecherous man like Master Zhu marry General Huo's sister? I heard that his household is run by concubines."

"This concubine is also good. Madam Huo has no children, yet she is willing to wear mourning clothes and act as a filial son."

...

The funeral was a complete success. Su Zhenzhen bid farewell to Cui Niang and headed north again with Hensheng in her arms.

General Huo explained the terrain ahead to the two men. There was a large forest to the north of Dan County, which provided an additional layer of protection for Dan County.

The dense forest stretches out like a giant crescent moon embracing Danxian County.

Even if the Hu people broke through all the defenses and marched south, this dense forest could buy time for the people of Dan County to escape.

It was already dark when Su Zhenzhen entered the dense forest, and that's when the flashlight came in handy.

Having traveled for days, Su Zhenzhen naturally didn't forget to have Hensheng act as a human support to charge the flashlight by shining it in the sun.

General Huo was still worried and insisted on staying outside. "I have never stationed troops here, but I have heard that this forest is fraught with danger. We should be careful."

Su Zhenzhen had no objections, since Hensheng was by her side and could sustain her mental strength.

Hen Sheng suddenly remembered something and said, "General Huo, please tell me about the distribution of Jiang Dynasty's troops."

General Huo was taken aback. "It was my oversight. I forgot that Your Highness has not received any training in this area. Next, this old minister will explain to Your Highness the four directions of heaven and earth."

As a Han Chinese power in the Central Plains, the Jiang Dynasty was coveted by barbarian tribes from all directions.

The main enemy was the northern barbarians, the Hu people. Bianzhou and Huzhou bordered the Hu people, but Huzhou had a natural geographical advantage, so the Hu people mainly broke through from Bianzhou to move south.

However, Huzhou could not be left without a general to guard it. At that time, the general guarding the city was Hu Bugui, who was also the father of Old Madam Xu.

"Before I died in battle, I had not heard any bad news from Huzhou, and I had no idea what happened afterward."

Su Zhenzhen thought of how Old Madam Xu wished she could kill Hensheng, and figured that this general named Hu Buwei must have died on the battlefield long ago.

In Bianzhou, General Huo commanded an army of 300,000; in Huzhou, Hu Buwei commanded an army of 100,000; in Xijun, Prefect Duan Duan held 50,000 troops; and in the capital, General Xu Kaijiang commanded an army of 200,000.

Based on the information currently available, not all of the 200,000 troops of the Central Committee at that time were truly loyal.

The siege of the capital was also due to the inaction of these people. Xu Kaijiang originally wanted to break out of the siege with the emperor and empress, and at the same time sent letters to Bianzhou and Huzhou. Only General Huo of Bianzhou replied.

In fact, the situation in the border region was not optimistic at the time, and the western prefecture had also been breached by the barbarians. However, General Hu was too old to deal with the barbarians, which was probably why he did not reply to the capital.

Xu Kaijiang was preparing to break out of the city with the emperor and empress, but then Song Anbang, a traitor, appeared. Jiang Yichun had no way to escape, and coincidentally, the empress gave birth on the day the city fell.

Xu Kaijiang then prepared to take the young prince away to seek refuge with General Huo.

The escape was not smooth, and many people died. By the time they reached Bianzhou, General Huo had already died in battle. Fortunately, he entrusted Old Man Bai with his dying wish.

Su Zhenzhen had a question: "If that's the case, then all the military generals in the court are loyal to Jiang Yichun. Who can recruit those rebellious troops?"

General Huo stroked his beard, his expression turning to reminisce. "I've been away from the capital for a long time, but there's one person whose name I often hear about."

Su Zhenzhen's eyes flickered slightly, "Could this person's name be Song Anbang?"

General Huo nodded. "That's right, it's him. I heard that he rose from humble beginnings, is the Empress's brother, and is skilled in both literature and martial arts. He is deeply trusted by His Majesty."

Su Zhenzhen sighed. The capital is so far from the border prefecture, yet the news still reached General Huo's ears. It seems that Song Anbang and Jiang Yichun are not just ordinary brothers.

As an emperor, Jiang Yichun should have been well aware of the dangers of raising a tiger, so how could he not know Song Anbang's character after spending so much time with him?

Su Zhenzhen then asked about something else, "If, and I mean if, we were to take over the capital, how many troops would we need?"

General Huo didn't even think about it. "A million-strong army can be defeated in a day, a five hundred thousand-strong army would require a month to besiege, and a two hundred thousand-strong army would probably take a year and a half to fight."

Su Zhenzhen was dumbfounded, "Why is there a time limit?"

"The capital city is well-built and has ample supplies. If someone hadn't opened the city gates from the inside back then, General Xu and his men could have held out until I could withdraw some troops to provide support."

Life is truly unpredictable.

As they spoke, Su Zhenzhen and Hensheng did not stop walking; they had now entered the heart of the dense forest.

“These trees are growing quite neatly, they look like they were planted by hand.” Su Zhenzhen looked at the trees along the road. “And they didn’t even lose any leaves in the fall.”

"You must be careful," General Huo's tone turned serious. "We may have stumbled into a formation."

Su Zhenzhen also got serious and took out the submachine gun that the viewers had asked the organizers for last time and gave it to Hensheng.

Thank you all for your great support, Sister Wang. Now I don't have to worry about bullets anymore.

"Rustling sound—"

There was a sound of something whizzing through the leaves.

The speed was so fast that Su Zhenzhen couldn't even see what it was.

"Bang--"

Su Zhenzhen gritted her teeth in anger after being hit on the back of the head. A round fruit rolled from behind her feet to her eyes.

"Damn it, why didn't he smash it on you?"

Hensheng hadn't expected Su Zhenzhen to care about this, so he shouted into the woods, "We were just passing through and didn't mean to disturb your peace. Please be lenient."

"Sizzle—Sizzle—"

A figure darted through the woods, and Su Zhenzhen finally got a clear look at what it was.

A monkey, a black monkey as tall as a person, covered in hair.

No, why are there monkeys here? Are they wild or kept by people?

General Huo hadn't expected such a sudden situation. "Don't provoke it. These animals from the deep forest might become spirits."