Preparation
It was just dawn and the cold air condensed into a layer of white frost on the window paper.
Zhang Wang swallowed the last bite of the multi-grain pancake, drank half a bowl of warm rice soup, wiped her mouth, and stood up to get her thickest old cotton-padded jacket. She moved swiftly and looked calm, as if she was just going out normally.
"What are you doing?"
Her husband Zhang Shuanzi was squatting by the doorstep sharpening a chipped axe and asked without raising his head.
"Let's go to the city walls." Zhang Wangshi tied the cloth belt of her jacket tightly. "I heard yesterday that the construction is still far from complete and they are short of manpower."
Zhang Shuanzi paused, and the whetstone made a harsh scraping sound on the gap.
He raised his head, his brows knitted into a knot. "Why are you going to join in the fun? The wind is strong and the dust is heavy up there. That's a man's job! Stay home. I'll go and save people from gossip."
Zhang Wangshi didn't look at him. She bent down and picked up a few bundled wooden sticks in the corner. They were prepared by taking apart the legs of a broken stool at home.
"Stay home and wait for the Western Qiang to attack again?"
Her tone was so calm as if she was talking about someone else.
"Wait until they drag me away again, or just kill me with a knife, then you won't be afraid of what people will say?"
"You!" Zhang Shuanzi stood up suddenly as if he was scalded, his face flushed red, and the hatchet fell to the ground with a clang.
He looked at the woman's face, which was calm and almost numb, and her eyes, which were once bright but now covered with dust. Thousands of words were stuck in his throat, including shame, anger, powerlessness, and a trace of fear that he himself did not want to admit, but he could not utter a word.
The wife is the leader of the husband, and a woman should listen to the man. But if the man is useless, there is nothing to say. When his wife was bullied by the enemy, didn’t he not fight back?
The last spark in the stove went out, and the room was filled with deathly silence.
After a long while, Zhang Shuanzi bent down to pick up the hatchet, rubbed the dust on his trouser legs, and said in a muffled voice, "Wait, I'll go with you."
Pushing open the creaking broken wooden door, a biting cold air hit me in the face.
The sky was brighter than inside the house, but it was still gray. The alley was not deserted. Groups of people were coming out of each house. Men were carrying hoes and shovels and heavy baskets on their backs; women were carrying baskets filled with dry food, water bags, or bundles of cloth; and half-grown children were following behind, holding some scraps of wood and stones.
Without much talk, people simply merged silently onto the avenues leading to the different city gates. Their footsteps rustled on the frozen mud, punctuated by a few suppressed coughs. Each face was solemn and exhausted, but for the sake of their families and their recently revived lives, they had to hold on. If the city fell, the masters might be able to escape, but they would never be able to.
Besides, if you run away, you will be a refugee. If you meet any thieves or soldiers on the road, you will be dead at any time. In the city, you have the family property you have accumulated for several lifetimes. How can you abandon it?
Qinghe City is using up its last bit of strength to arm itself.
The lights in the back hall of the government office were on all night.
Ning Lingyi put down the red brush and rubbed her throbbing temples with her fingertips.
The pile of files on the desk had not decreased much. The candlelight reflected her increasingly thin profile. There was a thick dark shadow under her eyes, and her lips had lost their color. Only her eyes were still as calm as a deep pool, without any ripples.
Nong Zishi has been traveling north for five days.
Where can Helian Bo's army advance in five days?
Is five days enough for Nong Zishi to find Beishuo Khan Tuoba Hong?
On the fifth day, every brick and stone on the top of Qinghe City was counting down the time.
She picked up the strong tea that had already gone cold and took a sip. The bitter taste rushed straight to the back of her throat. She forced herself to suppress her anxiety. She couldn't panic, not even a little bit.
"Your Highness." The guard called out from outside the door.
"explain."
"Several prominent families and gentry in the city have requested an audience."
Ning Lingyi's eyes flickered slightly, and she put away all her fatigue. She sat upright like a pine tree: "Please go to the front hall."
In the front hall, a charcoal fire burned brightly, dispelling the chill. Several gentry representatives, dressed in respectable fur coats, stood with their hands hanging down, their faces adorned with just the right amount of respect, their eyes wandering.
The leader was still the white-haired elder.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Several people bowed.
"No need to be so polite." Ning Lingyi's voice was emotionless.
"You all have come here at this time, presumably to defend the city?"
The elder stepped forward hurriedly, his face filled with sorrow. "Your Highness, we understand the difficulty of defending the city. We have already exhausted all our savings in offering food and supplies, not holding back a single cent. Now the treasury is empty, and our family is truly stretched to the limit."
Several people behind him echoed him and talked about their difficulties, as if they were going to go out to beg on the street in the next second.
Ning Lingyi listened quietly, her eyes sweeping over their well-maintained, weather-resistant faces, finally landing on the clan elder, and the corners of her lips seemed to twitch upwards.
"I see." She spoke slowly, her fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of the seat.
"I was not considerate enough. You all have done your best. I am grateful for your help."
Seeing that Ning Lingyi was easy to talk to, those people were delighted and continued to compliment her.
Ning Lingyi continued, "But I heard that the city defenses are in need of lumber. I heard that the mansions, pavilions, and towers of your noble families all use high-quality wood. Instead of leaving it unused, why not dismantle it and send it to the city walls to be used as logs and rocks? What do you think?"
The voice was not loud, but the words were hard to hear.
The expressions of several gentry changed. Demolishing their ancestral home? Demolishing the dignity accumulated by generations?
This hurts more than cutting their flesh!
"Your Highness! You absolutely cannot do this!" The elder fell to his knees with a plop, tears streaming down his face. "How dare we destroy our ancestors' legacy so easily! Your Highness, please have mercy, please have mercy!"
The others also hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.
Ning Lingyi lowered her eyes and looked at the people crawling on the ground, without any ripple in her eyes. She knew these people's calculations too well. They offered some superficial wealth to buy peace, but wanted to preserve their real foundation.
As for the fall of the city, what does it have to do with them? They are short-sighted and greedy, always hoping for luck.
"Oh?" She said calmly, "Then what do you think?"
"Donate! We're willing to donate again! We'll sell everything we have to help His Highness defend the city!" the elder shouted eagerly, fearing he'd be late. "We still have some old things at home, sell them immediately! We'll go back and gather the rest of the clan and raise another one! A bigger share!"
"In that case," Ning Lingyi nodded slightly, "I'll trouble you all then. Mr. Su will send someone to take notes. I hope you will act accordingly, live up to your words today, and live up to the expectations of the people of this city."
"Yes! Yes! I dare not! I dare not!"
Several people retreated tumbling and crawling as if they had been pardoned, their undershirts already soaked with cold sweat on their backs.
Ning Lingyi stood up and walked to the window.
Pushing open the window, the cold wind brought the sounds of horns and knocks from the city walls into the hall. She looked at the gray sky in the distance and saw countless tiny but tenacious figures like ants moving on the city wall.
Food is temporary; human hearts are fragile; time is a sword hanging over our heads.
She walked out of the government office, and her personal guards led the horses over. She jumped on the horses and rode slowly along the somewhat deserted streets. The doors and windows of the houses on either side were tightly closed, but she could sense countless eyes peeking through the cracks at the commander who would decide their fate.
Climbing to the top of the city wall, the cold wind cuts my face like a knife.
The scene before him had changed compared to the previous few days. The city walls had been thickened, the trenches had been dug deeper and wider, and all the strategic locations were filled with newly made logs and stones. Soldiers and laborers were shouting slogans as they carried the heavy stones onto the battlements. Even in the cold winter, sweat mixed with dust left grooves on their faces.
"Your Highness!" Wang Mengzi came forward, his armor covered with mud and his eyes bloodshot.
"The fortifications at the East and South Gates are basically complete, and work is still underway on the North and West Gates. As per your instructions, roadblocks have been set up throughout the city, traps have been dug, and kerosene has been prepared. If a street fight really breaks out, we'll be able to give them a good beating!"
Ning Lingyi looked around carefully and saw several women working together with men to drag a thick beam. Among them was Zhang Wangshi. She pursed her lips and her movements were no slower than the men. Ning Lingyi's gaze stayed on her face for a moment and then moved away.
"Very good." She patted the cold wall. "Tell the brothers that you did a good job. But it's not enough. Helian Bo won't give us much time."
She stood at the highest point, looking towards the north, "Nong Zishi, where are you now?"
Is it safe? Have you seen the wolf from Beishuo?
*
At the same time, deep in the northern wilderness.
The cold wind blew up snow foam, which blew on faces like sandpaper. A team of more than 50 riders was struggling to trudge through knee-deep snow. The horses were emitting thick white mist, and their nostrils were frosted. The riders were wrapped tightly, leaving only their red eyes exposed, and their eyes were filled with increasingly intense anxiety.
It was Nong Zishi, and the team led by Wang Dayong and Niu Zhuang.
"Mr. Nong!" Wang Dayong's voice was distorted by the wind, and he was filled with suppressed irritation. "How many days have it been? We haven't even seen a ghost. Is that place you mentioned even remotely reliable? If we keep beating around in circles like this, that bastard Helian Bo might have already reached the gates of Qinghe City! Our people..."
He didn't say the rest of the words, but everyone knew what he meant. "Our people are probably all dead!" Of course he was afraid. In an unfamiliar place, away from the main force, he was afraid that something might happen to him and the main force. He was afraid that when he returned, he would see only corpses everywhere.
Niu Zhuang couldn't help but mutter, "Yes, sir, it's icy and snowy here, and there's not even a living thing to be seen. Would the Beishuo army really set up camp in such a desolate place? Otherwise..."
He glanced at Nong Zishi secretly and didn't dare to say the word "mistake", but he kept slandering him in his heart for a long time. He always felt that this person was unreliable. He also suspected that this person would escape secretly, so he watched him closely in secret.
Nong Zishi reined in his horse and raised his hand to wipe the ice chips off his eyebrows. He looked more haggard than anyone else, with chapped lips and a pale face. Only his eyes calmly scanned the outlines of the mountains ahead, blurred by the wind and snow.
"Commander Wang, Niu Zhuang," he said in a hoarse voice, "Tuoba Hong is always as cunning as a fox in his military tactics. If he wanted to take advantage of the situation, he wouldn't have deployed troops on the border in a big way, attracting attention. Although this place is remote, it controls the key route to the south and is sheltered from the wind. It's the perfect place for the army to hide and wait for an opportunity to move."
He pointed to a faint mountain pass in the distance: "Go through that valley, and you'll definitely find something. If not..."
"It was Nong who misjudged me and implicated you all. When I return to Qinghe, I will apologize to Your Highness. But for now, please believe me."
Wang Dayong looked at Nong Zishi's lips, which had turned purple from the cold. He forcibly suppressed the irritability in his chest. He spat out a mouthful of icy saliva and roared, "Damn it! I'll trust you again! Brothers, work harder and get through the mountain pass ahead!"
The team moved forward again with difficulty, and the wind and snow seemed to be even stronger.
*
At the east gate of Qinghe City, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.
The defenders and civilians who had not slept all night were still reinforcing the city with their exhausted bodies. Zhang Shuanzi and several others were working together to stuff a heavy stone into the gap of the parapet. Not far away, Zhang Wangshi was handing bundles of sharpened wooden stakes to the soldiers on the city wall with her red, frozen hands.
Sudden!
"call out!"
A sound of breaking through the air tore through the silence of the early morning!
A young laborer standing next to Zhang Shuanzi suddenly stiffened his body and let out a short "huh" sound from his throat. A thick and long arrow pierced his neck, and blood spurted out instantly, splashing all over Zhang Shuanzi's face!
The civilian's eyes widened, and his body collapsed limply, hitting the bricks of the city wall.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment. Everyone on the city wall was stunned, looking at the spurting blood and the bodies that lost their lives in an instant.
Dead silence, deathly silence.
Then, it was like the gates of hell opened!
The low sound of a horn rumbled from the distant horizon like thunder. The sound became louder and louder, and closer and closer, shaking the city wall beneath his feet even slightly!
“Enemy attack!!!”
Wang Mengzi shouted with all his strength: "Shield!"
With this roar, everyone felt as if they had been whipped! The soldiers instinctively raised their massive wooden shields, while the civilians frantically searched for cover.
Zhang Shuanzi subconsciously dragged the still dazed Zhang Wangshi behind a stone slab and protected her with his body. He didn't dare to look up, and his whole body was shaking with fear.
In the dim morning light, people looked up in fear and looked in the direction where the horn sound came from.
On the gray horizon, a boundless black tide surged towards Qinghe City with overwhelming force. It was tens of thousands of cavalrymen! Their armor and weapons reflected a cold light, converging into a torrent of steel!
The horses' hooves trampled the ground, making a dull and terrifying roar. The entire earth trembled under their iron hooves! The sky was covered and the sun was blocked out, as if the end of the world had come!
The ferocious flags of the Western Qiang were fluttering in the strong wind!
Ning Lingyi stood at the highest point of the city wall, staring at the surging black tide. Helian Bo's army was finally here!
Her heart was cold.
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