Like rain after a long drought, or meeting an old friend in a foreign land! These are two of life's greatest joys, especially with a fiancée to whom he is already engaged. Qin Mu held Princess Changning's small hand and never let go.
Although Princess Changning was shy, she didn't pull away; instead, she gripped Qin Mu's hand tightly. She then invited her friends to sit down, and Qin Mu had meat grilled to serve them.
From Cheng Huaimo's introduction, we learned that after arriving in Shuofang and learning that Qin Mu had left the pass, they headed straight for the border. They learned from Niu Jinda that they had captured a large number of warhorses and wanted to leave the pass to find Qin Mu.
Unable to resist their pleas, and also worried about Qin Mu's safety, Niu Jinda borrowed three thousand cavalrymen and sent them out of the pass to find Qin Mu and return immediately. Of course! This was because Niu Jinda was unaware that Princess Changning was in the group.
Not only Princess Changning, but also the Cheng sisters and the Yuchi sisters, were dressed as men and mingled in the crowd.
“We resigned from our positions in the Six Doors. You don’t know, since you left, there’s been no motivation to work in the Six Doors,” Yuchi Baolin said.
"Is that even possible? His Majesty would allow you to resign from your posts?" Qin Mu asked in surprise.
"Hehe! Such a trivial matter doesn't need His Majesty's approval," Cheng Huaimo said with a smile.
“That’s right. Anyway, with Ma Binwang and Li Chongyi around, the affairs of the Six Doors won’t be delayed.” Yuchi Baolin nodded.
Qin Mu finally understood. Given their relationship, it would be easy for them to resign. They would just need to find an excuse. Besides, Li Chongyi would probably be happy for them to leave and would help them out.
For officials like Yuchi Baolin and his ilk, taking up their posts was merely a means to gain experience and enhance their resumes. Even if Li Shimin knew this, he wouldn't interfere, unless it was for a very important official position or an assignment to a remote area.
Qin Mu smiled happily. Although they hadn't known each other for very long, they were willing to risk their lives for him on the grasslands. That was true friendship.
Qin Yue returned to Juyong Pass. Because there might be fighting there as well, he went back ahead of schedule. He even wrote a letter to Qin Mujiu, saying that he would return after the New Year.
And then there's Fang Yi'ai, that simpleton, who actually ran away with Princess Changning. In just over half a year, he's grown even taller, and is now the tallest one in the crowd, with towering muscles like an iron tower.
Upon seeing Qin Mu, Fang Yi'ai couldn't stop grinning; he had complete faith in his master.
"Our mission is complete. We'll set off back tomorrow," Qin Mu said gently, patting Princess Changning's hand tenderly.
"What? Go back?" Yuchi Baoqing exclaimed in surprise.
“Yes! We’re just here to delay the wolf clan’s attack. Now that the silver wolf clan has stopped there, they can leave.” Qin Mu nodded.
"No! Huai Dao, we've come all this way, are you just going to let us go back empty-handed?" Cheng Huai Mo asked, craning his neck.
With their matching beards, the two brothers resembled Zhang Fei with his leopard-like head and piercing eyes, making Qin Mu want to laugh. He raised an eyebrow, pointed behind him, and asked, "So what do you want? The Silver Wolf Clan has 200,000 troops over there. What can we do with just a few people?"
"I don't care, we're already here, you have to cause some trouble, you can't let us leave empty-handed." Cheng Huailiang said somewhat shamelessly, and then, as if angry, he cut off a wolf leg and bit into it fiercely.
“Yes! Cheng Lao Er is right! Huai Dao, you have to think of a way to cause trouble, like what you did before, lure some people out to kill.” Yu Chi Bao Lin nodded in agreement.
Qin Mu cut off a piece of wolf meat, took out salt, scallions, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns, and sprinkled them on it. There were still quite a few of these things in the Heavenly Mystery Tower.
He handed the wolf meat to Princess Changning, then said with a wry smile, "On the grasslands, it's not easy to set up an ambush. Even if we find a place to ambush, others can't possibly chase us that far, and besides, they know the area better than we do. If we fail to lure them in and end up being surrounded, that would be a huge joke."
"Ah! What should I do? My father will definitely beat me to death when I get back," Yu Chi Baoqing cried out in despair.
"The old man won't hit me, he'll just break my legs!" Yuchi Baolin said calmly.
Qin Mu then realized that the group had actually run away from home without their families' knowledge. Given Cheng Zhijie and Yuchi Gong's temperaments, they might actually take action if they didn't bring back happy news.
Deeply moved, Qin Mu pondered for a moment and said, "We certainly can't stop the wolf army, but we can try to wipe out the wolf tribes. After all, when the wolves go on an expedition, someone has to stay home to guard them."
"Great, great, let's set them off from behind!" Cheng Huaimo sat up straight and said excitedly.
“The wolf clan prepares for winter every year. This year, they launched the war ahead of schedule, which means they are planning a quick victory. There must be many people left behind to defend the rear. This method is feasible,” Princess Changning agreed.
"Now that we're deep behind enemy lines, will the wolves abandon the front lines and instead surround us?" Xiangli Yanran asked.
“No, Liang Shidu of Shuozhou has been defeated, and the Wolf Clan has lost its biggest source of salt. They will have to fight a major battle no matter what. If they win, they will gain a stable source of salt and also make a considerable profit. Even if they lose, they can coerce the court to open up the salt trade to them.” Princess Changning said, stroking Xiangli Yanran’s hair.
"If we don't trade with the wolf clan, wouldn't that leave them without salt to eat?" Xiangli Yanran asked, tilting her head back with an excited expression.
"It's not that simple. Even if the imperial court doesn't sell them, there are private sellers. In that case, it's better to keep them in the hands of the imperial court," Princess Changning said with a smile.
"Ah! Private trafficking? How do they get out of the country? The imperial court can just issue a decree." Xiangli Yanran asked in surprise.
"This isn't the first time the imperial court has issued a salt ban, but it hasn't stopped the unauthorized sale. Those guys cross the Great Wall and sell salt to the grasslands," Princess Changning explained to her.
"Oh! There are so many people who aren't afraid of death." Xiangli Yanran nodded as if she understood but not quite.
Qin Mu understood, of course, that when there's profit to be made, there will always be people who aren't afraid to die.
"Hey! As long as there's money to be made, there are plenty of people who aren't afraid of death. The key is that the medicinal herbs and furs on the grasslands are also very valuable. Besides, if we don't sell to the wolf tribe, the other beast tribes won't agree, and the northeastern region will definitely rise up in rebellion, which would be a big problem," Cheng Huaimo explained.
"Since the wolf clan is destined for war, let's go behind them and cause a ruckus!" Qin Mu slapped his thigh and said.
“Going is no problem, but you have to think about how to come back! The safety of so many people is on your shoulders,” Princess Changning said gently to Qin Mu.
“I’ve thought about this problem! The Golden Wolf Clan is currently the most powerful, occupying the most fertile grasslands, especially the area outside the Great Wall and the Yinshan Mountains. So we’ll go around them first and launch a surprise attack on their rear; then we’ll head straight for the Wolf Clan’s ancestral home! After we’ve finished off the Golden Wolf Mountain area, we’ll come back from the Western Regions.”
Qin Mu drew several arrows on the ground. Although his explanation was simple, the distances involved were actually very far. First, from the vicinity of Shengzhou, they had to avoid the main force of the wolf tribe and head northeast. Then they would turn back and head towards Outer Mongolia, and finally, along the desert, they would march into the Western Regions. It was a very long detour.
"Yes! We'll head towards Yinshan first. Even if the wolf clan knows, they'll assume we'll choose Juyong Pass and Yuyang County as our route back. Then we'll launch a surprise attack, which will definitely catch them off guard. As long as we don't get entangled with other tribes along the way, the chances of breaking through and returning are very high."
“Don’t forget, in the Western Regions, even in the ancestral home of the Wolf Clan, many tribes don’t obey the Ashina family’s orders, so they’ve left behind a lot of troops. It won’t be easy to break through from there. If we can enter Longyou Road, then we’ll be safe. We might as well head this way! We can enter Longyou Road at any time!” Baili Rou pointed an arrow to the west and said.
“No! Although there are many tribes over there, they are dispensable to the Golden Wolf Clan, so they don’t have much impact! We must kill the two places they care about most to force them to be caught between two difficult situations,” Cheng Huaimo said, shaking his head.
Baili Rou knew he was right. The Golden Wolf Clan, especially the Ashina family, cared most about their own homeland; and Golden Wolf Mountain was the ancestral home of all the wolf clans, home to many tribes and the spiritual pillar of the wolf clan. It couldn't be lost! If anything went wrong, the Ashina family's rule would be shaken.
"Just as Huai Dao said, we'll march on Golden Wolf Mountain and seal the Wolf's Lair! This very morning!" Yuchi Baolin shouted excitedly.
"Why are you so excited! According to Huai Dao, we're going to fight our way through thousands of miles, if not tens of thousands. Are our logistics sufficient?" Cheng Huai Mo asked calmly.
Cheng Huaimo looked at Qin Mu. He knew that Qin Mu had mustard seed equipment that could carry a lot of things, but with such a large team, it wouldn't be so easy.
“No problem! Emperor Wu once said, ‘If the enemy can go, so can we!’ We are killing the wolf clan’s remaining tribes, who don’t have much fighting power. We can easily feed them! Besides, we have the great treasure, the Triangular Ox, which can carry the grain for tens of thousands of people.” Qin Mu nodded and said.
"Let's do it!" As soon as Qin Mu said that, Cheng Huaimo slapped his thigh and said excitedly.
After making the decision, the group began to add details, such as the selection of scouts. In someone else's territory, scouts are of utmost importance. They must ensure that they know the movements within a hundred miles so as not to be surrounded by others.
Finally, the supplies were gathered together and handed over to Qin Mu for distribution. Fortunately, the troops sent out this time were all elite, skilled in archery and horsemanship, which gave them considerable confidence.
Since he was going to do something big, Qin Mu was not stingy. He summoned all the middle and lower-ranking officers in the army and rewarded them with pills. Not only that, he even dissolved pills in water and fed them to his mounts for two days.
A large amount of timber was made into arrow shafts, javelins, and arrowheads. The arrowheads also included wolf teeth seized from the wolf tribe. Moreover, after annihilating 20,000 wolves, the harvest of wolf tooth arrows was already quite substantial.
After two busy days, this force of six thousand men set off again, heading towards the heart of the wolf clan's territory.
Watching the messenger depart, Qin Mu and his group of young people were full of vigor and showed no fear whatsoever.
The Golden Wolf Clan held absolute power, especially the Ashina family, whose prestige had been extremely high through generations of management. As a result, the grasslands remained peaceful for decades, particularly the area beyond the Great Wall, which belonged to the Ashina family and was not dared to be offended by any other wolf clan.
The Golden Wolf tribe never imagined that death would befall them. The men were away at war, while the women busied themselves herding livestock and harvesting wild grass. Each day, their oxen would carry bundles of hay back to the tribe. These massive haystacks were their guarantee for surviving the winter.
"Boom! Boom boom!" The sound of thousands of horses galloping did not cause them to panic. Recently, this sound had been heard frequently; it was the sound of wolf riders passing by on their way to war. Occasionally, they would pass by the tribe without disturbing them.
Many people opened their tents to see if it was someone from their own tribe passing by. Red-eyed horses, leather clothes, and golden wolf flags—these things clearly indicated that they were from their own tribe, which reassured the tribe members. Many people laughed and talked as they walked toward the tribe's gate, wanting to get a closer look, hoping that perhaps one of their men was there!
However, they did not notice that the closer these people got to the tribe, the more their formation dispersed, forming a fan shape as they surrounded them.
As they approached the tribe, the warhorses actually picked up speed, and the bows in their hands were drawn, which made them realize that something was wrong. What's more, the soldiers wearing iron armor behind them were not from the wolf tribe at all.
Screams! Run! The tribe erupted into chaos!
"Swish! Swish swish!" The arrows struck first, and many wolves were shot down to the ground.
Then a large number of cavalry charged into the tribe. With just one charge, the tribe was scattered. Then, some of the cavalry dismounted, raised their weapons, and charged toward the tents.
All the tents were searched, and then the looting of the tribe began.
Actually, looting a tribe is very simple; it mainly involves looking for supplies inside their tents and their livestock.
All the livestock were slaughtered, and the supplies were piled up. Some were placed on the backs of the triangular oxen, while Qin Mu collected the rest. The triangular oxen now carried only one person and some supplies, which was very easy for them.
Murder! Looting, arson! After this whole process, the mounts had rested enough, and the group set off again. Based on the information gathered by the scouts and interrogations, they would head to their next tribe.
The flames of war broke out on the grasslands, and Ashina Duobi only received the news more than half a month later. He was only five days' journey from Shengzhou when he learned that a force was ravaging the grasslands and had already wiped out many tribes. This was a passing caravan that discovered a tribe had been destroyed. After seeing the tribe burned to the ground, they investigated and found that this was not an isolated incident.
Actually, this was mainly because Qin Mu and his men did an excellent job. Every time they operated, they would surround and eliminate anyone who might be present! Therefore, no one could pass on the message; they could only wait for passersby to discover it. And on the vast grasslands, if someone passed by from a distance, no one would see those traces. After all, being homeless was a true reflection of their lives; before winter, they were all out storing up food for the winter!
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