Thus, Su Rong began to make a prescription for the muscle relaxant, instructing Fen Ling and others to find the corresponding medicinal herbs.
Zhou Gu added, "Move quickly, don’t expect to get enough all at once, bring back whatever you can as soon as possible."
Fen Ling nodded in understanding and immediately left with her men.
As Su Rong petted the head of an eagle, she said to Zhou Gu, "We need to send a message to the city."
Zhou Gu also thought it essential to send a message, at least to let Ning Chi prepare. Each household usually has a water tank; they urgently need to fill them up. At least this way they can last three days without drinking poisoned water.
Thus, Su Rong wrote a brief letter, tied it to the eagle’s leg, patting its head, she said, "Fly high, don’t act foolishly, don’t let the soldiers outside the city shoot you down. Better to soar above the clouds, then once you’re over the city, dive down."
The eagle was specially trained and seemed to understand. It rubbed its head in Su Rong’s palm and then soared into the sky.
Every time Zhou Gu saw this, he couldn’t help but admire, "This little creature is really useful."
Now he didn’t need to envy anymore; he had one too, given to him by Su Rong.
Having grown up reading books about the wonders of the world, he always found many of the things written in them astonishing. He wondered if they were real? However, upon witnessing these eagles under Su Rong’s control, capable of delivering messages over thousands of miles, more effective than any human messenger, he thought, the world is vast, full of wonders. It was just that his vision was too narrow, and he hadn’t seen enough.
From atop the city walls of Nanping, one could clearly see the soldiers below reorganizing their formation.
Ning Chi’s face was solemn, "It looks like the Jibei Army is preparing to besiege the city."
He ordered, "Have everyone prepared during the night."
The city guards were instantly alert, gathering all their energy, waiting for the Jibei Army’s siege.
Hurrying down from the city wall, Ning Chi estimated the time and returned to his residence. He gathered his men and said, "The Jibei Army is likely to attack, and the army of the Duke Residence may not be able to arrive in time. The soldiers in our city can only hold out for a day at most."
Ning Ze’s face turned pale, "Big brother, what should we do?"
He didn’t want to die. He still had dreams of becoming an official in Nanchu.
Ning Chi didn’t expect Ning Ze to come up with any ideas; he looked towards Jiang Zhu, "Brother Jiang, have you thought of any strategies?"
Jiang Zhu said, "As far as I know, there are over thirty thousand civilians in the city. Strong, able-bodied men should account for over ten thousand. We can summon this portion of the population to resist alongside the soldiers. If we include the women, we might accumulate nearly twenty thousand people. With the heart of the masses united, we can buy at least half a day."
A half-day is still a considerable amount.
Ning Chi immediately ordered to summon the citizens house by house.
"What else, is there anything else?" Ning Ze looked at Jiang Zhu like he was a lifesaving straw.
Jiang Zhu said, "We have another option; we can collect as much firewood and oil as possible. When the Jibei Army attacks the city, throw the burning wood down. The dry wood will only burn brighter with oil, and if a soldier comes into contact with it, it will burn, especially if we pour oil over them, we could hold on for another day."
"Now that the city is at winter, every household has dry firewood, but how much oil we can acquire is uncertain, as it is costly. Not just firewood and oil, any stone or iron object that can cause harm can be collected." Ning Chi ordered again.
"Are there any other methods?" Ning Ze asked Jiang Zhu again.
Jiang Zhu shook his head, "There are only these two methods. I can’t think of any more. After all, it’s hard to make bricks without straw. The disparity in military strength is significant, and we’re trapped. All we can do now is hope that Brother Zhou and Lady Su Qi can do something outside the city."
"Yes, yes, Brother Zhou and Lady Su Qi will surely come up with a plan; they won’t just watch the Jibei Army attack the city." Ning Ze felt as if his hope of surviving had increased.
Ning Chi gave Ning Ze a disdainful look, not understanding how Su Rong could ever tolerate taking someone like him in. Could it be because of his innocence and foolishness?
While the city was preparing vigorously, the Jibei Army outside was also preparing for the imminent siege.
An eagle flew over Nanping City through the high clouds and, after estimating its position over The Marquis Nanping Residence, swooped down.
The eagle knew the path since after all, it had lived with Su Rong and Fen Ling in Jibei City. It was much easier for it to deliver messages than it was to find Zhou Che on the march to the Capital.
"There’s an eagle." One of the guards was the first to see it.
Upon hearing this, Ning Chi got up quickly and asked, "What kind of eagle? Where is it?"
The guard immediately pointed to the eaves of a nearby building.
Upon seeing it, Ning Chi’s eyes lit up, he stretched out his hand to beckon the eagle. The eagle tilted its head to inspect Ning Chi, then flew over, landing on Ning Chi’s shoulder.
Ning Chi swiftly grabbed the eagle and began searching for the message. Sure enough, there was a letter tied to its leg.
He opened the letter; it detailed how Zhou Gu had thought of poisoning the river outside the city. It specifically informed him that the river was relatively wide and required a considerable quantity of the muscle relaxant to take effect. The muscle relaxant might be difficult to gather in such large quantities, and the effect of smaller quantities was uncertain. Still, regardless, they had done what they could and asked him to notify the city’s citizens to stock up on water beforehand.
Hearing this, Ning Chi immediately sent people into the city to inform all the citizens to prepare water.
Jiang Zhu said in astonishment, "Is this message delivered by an eagle?"
"Yes," Ning Chi knew that Su Rong and Zhou Gu were also working on a plan, and felt immensely relieved. "This eagle was trained by Su Rong’s secret guards. It’s incredibly intelligent. During crucial times, it’s more useful than any messenger."
After all, with the city being under siege, not even a fly could come in or go out, but this eagle was different. It could avoid people by soaring high above the clouds.
"Remarkable." Jiang Zhu was even more determined to follow Su Rong. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The prescription Su Rong provided was made up of common medicines. She had deliberately altered the formula of the strong muscle relaxant since a herb in the original formula was rare and difficult to find. The modified formula might be less effective, but it was certainly more accessible.
Thus, Fen Ling and her men, each leaving empty-handed, returned several hours later carrying bags full of medicinal herbs.
Obtaining a large amount of herbs during the siege of Nanping City by the Jibei Army was not easy. Over these few hours, they had covered a lot of ground, buying out all the pharmacies in towns dozens of miles outside the city. A portion of them went directly into the mountains to dig for herbs.
Ziye and the secret guards, under the guidance of Su Rong and Zhou Gu, set up big pots to boil the medicines, eventually producing numerous pills. These pills were casually loaded into bags and quietly thrown into the river by the guards.
By nightfall, the Jibei Army launched a fierce assault on Nanping City.
Standing on the mountaintop, Su Rong and Zhou Gu looked towards Nanping City. The sound of combat and flickering fires made their way to them, indicating that the drug had not taken effect, or that its quantity was insufficient, or perhaps the Jibei Army soldiers hadn’t drunk much water today.
In any case, they now had to rely on the soldiers within Nanping City to resist as much as they could.
Although Zhou Gu was a master of martial arts, even he couldn’t hope to stand against the two hundred thousand Jibei soldiers at this moment. All they could do was endure and wait.
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