Chapter 45 The Forty-Fifth Massacre
The red flag served as a signal. Although the red color was not very noticeable at night, it was still easy for Zuo Qinghou, with his sharp eyesight, to recognize the red flag.
They waited and waited, and sure enough, something was shaking on the city wall. Judging by its size, it wasn't a flag. Zuo Qinghou immediately sensed something was wrong and ordered the soldiers lying in ambush outside the city to raise their shields in defense.
Sure enough, the city walls burst into flames, the firelight closing in. The reinforcements were right below the Wu army's city walls, and a hail of arrows pierced the unshielded soldiers below.
When Zuo Qinghou looked more closely, the thing shaking on the wall was none other than Chen, covered in blood.
The row of men, swaying precariously, were actually ten men who had launched a surprise attack at night; their faces were contorted with rage and dripping with hot blood.
Only dust remained, its entire body indistinguishable between life and death; the rest were nothing but bloodied heads, swaying and mocking the army's incompetence.
The soldiers behind her were still fighting back against the rockets. Zuo Qinghou couldn't panic. She immediately ordered, "Maintain formation and retreat."
It was truly a case of dying before even getting started; they hadn't even encountered the enemy in a single battle, yet they had already suffered over five hundred casualties.
The wounded were recuperating in the military camp, which was in disarray and morale was low, including that of Zuo Qinghou. She could see the swaying heads as soon as she closed her eyes, like the flag of the Sui Kingdom that had fluttered twice before being cut off and replaced by the flag of the Wu Kingdom.
Chen was not dead; he was either hung from the city wall and thrown down, or he was merely subjected to the shock of weightlessness. Wu's army laughed wildly inside the city, spewing insults and singing and dancing all night long, the sounds reaching the ears of the accompanying troops.
The 20,000 soldiers, having launched a surprise attack all the way, were running low on supplies by this point. Hearing the heavy objects hitting the ground and the enemy's laughter, the Wu army held their breath.
The more he pent up, the more determined Zuo Qinghou became. He wasn't going to drag it out any longer; if he was going to blow something up, he would blow it up at the enemy's location.
The humiliated 20,000 soldiers actually defeated the 50,000.
As he entered the city, Zuo Qinghou rode a tall horse, carrying a Tang sword still dripping with blood, and glanced down at the kneeling commoners on the ground. Each of them was facing the ground with their backs to the sky, their fists clenched.
Without even looking at their expressions, one could tell that they were naturally very resentful of being defeated by such a weak country, but they dared not resist due to the force of the enemy.
Zuo Qinghou disdained to concern himself with it, but he found Chen's corpse. Yesterday he was a living person, but today his bones and muscles were shattered, and he lay sprawled on the ground like rotten flesh.
Those Wu soldiers who had been enjoying themselves just a few days ago now wished they could lower their heads to the ground so that Zuo Qinghou couldn't see them.
Zuo Qinghou's composure in the face of a hundred men vanished instantly. Her face was frighteningly gloomy. She waved her hand, dismissing everyone and leaving only herself.
Suddenly, she squatted down and hugged Chen in her arms. The corpse was like a broken beaded curtain; every limb was hard, but it was loose and limp, and she couldn't lift it.
Zuo Qinghou gritted his teeth, hugged him tightly, found the Tanzhong acupoint, and kept sending his essence into his body.
When her vital energy was depleted, she supported herself with her hands on the ground, absorbing the earth's vital energy. The surrounding land and vegetation instantly turned yellow and withered. Once Zuo Qinghou had absorbed enough, she channeled the vital energy into Chen's body.
Plants wither and die, flowers bloom, and the cycle repeats itself...
In the end, only that one corpse, too heavy to lift, remained on the ground.
He was still called Chen, and had not yet openly placed his name before his father's official title. Zuo Qinghou sat there for a long time, then said softly, "Chen Yusheng, you give life to others, but no one lets you give life."
Composing herself, Zuo Qinghou had Zhang Wanchun brought in. She quietly looked at the silent Zhang Wanchun, trying to see a trace of sadness for her friend's death on his face, but there was none, only evasion and guilt. Zuo Qinghou calmly said, "You can collect his body."
After giving his instructions, Zuo Qinghou said to the soldiers of Sui State, "Throw all of them off the city wall. If they die, they die; if they don't, burn them."
That day, thick black smoke filled the sky above the small town in northern Sichuan, along with the mouthwatering aroma of roasted meat.
Roasted human flesh was a rare sight, and the common people of Shu immediately became much more obedient, fearing that they might become one of them.
Zhang Wanchun became much more obedient, but still followed Zuo Qinghou and said, "We don't kill prisoners of war, that's the rule. Doing this will only damage our reputation as soldiers."
Zuo Qinghou looked at his soldiers from one battalion to another, completely ignoring him.
Zhang Wanchun refused to give up: "Now that you have avenged your great enemy, the Wu Kingdom will also exterminate our prisoners of war!"
Zuo Qinghou stopped and asked, "Did you see how Chen Yusheng died?"
That was Wu Jun deliberately humiliating the soldiers. All the soldiers witnessed it. Zhang Wanchun clenched his fists, pursed his lips and remained silent, as if speaking the truth would render all his positions untenable.
However, it was never a solid position to begin with.
Zuo Qinghou stepped closer: "Your rules and your benevolence only apply when both sides are gentlemen. They are abusing prisoners of war, and you only want me to repay evil with good? Have you taken the Analects out of context and read it like a dog's belly?"
Zhang Wanchun raised his head in anger, but dared not look directly into Zuo Qinghou's bright eyes. He lowered his head again: "It's just a temporary gain or loss. Morality and victory will always stand on the side of the upright."
As if he had heard a joke, Zuo Qinghou said, "Do you know how many brothers died today?"
Zhang Wanchun was unaware that, suppressing his nausea and suppressing his recollections of Chen Yusheng, he rushed over. He knew nothing of the remaining grain, the wounded soldiers, or the death toll.
Zuo Qinghou pointed to a soldier beside him whose body was wrapped in bandages: "His stomach was slashed open by a blade, and his intestines were spilling out all over the ground. You're telling me this is just a temporary loss?"
Zuo Qinghou then pointed to a soldier who had lost an arm and said, "His left arm was cut off by an enemy soldier who was pretending to be dead. You're telling me that's a temporary loss?"
Everywhere you look, there are wounded soldiers like mournful cries. They fought bloody battles, risking their lives for their own future, for the security of their families, and for the future of their country. Their plight cannot be summed up in a simple statement of gain or loss.
The soldiers' miserable condition and their yearning for life... were like a lump of phlegm stuck in Zhang Wanchun's throat, preventing him from uttering any more words of benevolence or morality.
"You call this temporary gain or loss? Zhang Wanchun, let me tell you, these are the living, those who are dead are dead! They have nothing left! This gain or loss is all they have, not something like you, a moral guardian sheltered by your family, cowering in the back, spouting all that bullshit morality and bullshit rules!"
Zuo Qinghou looked down at the fool who was clearly furious but couldn't utter a single word in his defense, and said, word by word, "I'm powerful, and I'm the rule. You're weak, and you deserve to be beaten. That's the rule between nations, understand? I don't want to hear someone in my own army spewing nonsense, diminishing our prestige and boosting the enemy's!"
After berating Zhang Wanchun, Zuo Qinghou left gracefully, not even sparing him a glance. Several wounded soldiers laughed at Zhang Wanchun, one saying, "Little brat, you had connections back in your own territory. Now that you're on someone else's turf, listen to the advice of those who've been there, and do your job."
“Yes,” another person chimed in, “If the general really wanted to target you, you would have turned to smoke like those Wu soldiers today.”
He couldn't refute Zuo Qinghou's words, but he couldn't forget the benevolence and morality he had learned since childhood, and the principle that his parents told him before they followed the female general to destroy Zhu Yan that the greater good was to serve the people.
The conflict between reality and ideals caused him immense pain. Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Zhang Wanchun, filled with shame and indignation, clenched his fists and fled.
Seeing Zuo Qinghou's cruel methods, the elders of the powerful clans in the city immediately held a grand banquet for the army. Fearing that he might tamper with the food, Zuo Qinghou, citing the need to avoid extravagance and disturbing the people, went to the banquet alone.
Only one person came. Zuo Qinghou walked through the crowd, took off his cloak, and said, "I said we wouldn't have a big celebration, why are so many people here?"
The crowd stood motionless, staring intently at Zuo Qinghou, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
But who was Zuo Qinghou? She paid no heed to those few fearful glances and continued, "What, am I not qualified? Can't I eat at your feast?"
The elder, who was probably in his seventies or eighties, was the first to react, bowing and scraping as he served tea and water.
This wine, aged for over fifty years, is indeed potent. Zuo Qinghou stopped him from pouring the wine, twirling the exquisite cup, and laughed, "Decades ago, Fan Qi also fought a battle here. Do you remember whether he won or lost that time?"
"We won! General Fan was invincible back then, fighting all the way to Guanshan Road..." The elder was old, and when he recalled things, he would talk on and on. It wasn't until the person next to him quietly tugged at his sleeve that the elder came back to his senses. The person in front of him was a soldier accompanying the army, not Wu Jun. He quickly laughed it off and started serving dishes and calling a handsome man to keep him company.
Zuo Qinghou laughed and said, "Yes, I also remember Fan Qi's glorious journey, overcoming all obstacles and defeating many generals. It's a pity..." Zuo Qinghou downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, deliberately keeping him in suspense, "It's a pity that he was knocked off his horse by our female general and trampled to death by the chaotic army."
The room was filled with people from the state of Wu. Zuo Qinghou, seemingly afraid that no one could hear him clearly, sighed twice more, "What a pity, what a pity."
The atmosphere at the meal was strange. After Zuo Qinghou had eaten and drunk his fill, the elder finally spoke, saying, "This humble subject has gathered some things to offer you, and hopes you will not find them offensive."
He then presented the gift list, which was filled with gold and silver jewelry, showing great sincerity.
Zuo Qinghou smiled and folded the paper into a paper airplane. Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they had passed this hurdle, Zuo Qinghou said, "You should know that Wu has banned grain, so we don't need this gold and silver. Anyway, this gold and silver is what you exchanged from us back then. We need grain."
Her eerie green eyes were like a wolf's, easily discerning who was the easy target and who was the easy prey. Trying to fool her was utterly impossible.
The elder wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, "Yes, of course there is still some." Then he turned to a middle-aged man and said, "Third brother, go and count how much is left. Make sure there is enough food for the general."
They went to count them first, and they probably didn't have enough. That old man is really shrewd. Zuo Qinghou raised his hand, took another sip of wine, and said, "What a hassle. This general… *burp* I'll go with you. This general is full, but the brothers are still hungry." Zuo Qinghou swayed as he stood up, patting the elder's shoulder heavily, and said like a brother, "Thank you for the hospitality! Thank you for the hospitality!"
The elder instructed everyone inside to follow Jiang Linzhi out and await further instructions.
After Zuo Qinghou left with the third brother with a satisfied heart, the old man's foolishness and idiocy in the elder's eyes vanished instantly. With the help of others, he finally sat down.
The handsome man from before kneaded his legs on both sides and laughed, "Elder, you're really amazing. You tricked her like that and she went to the granary. Once these people are eliminated, the emperor will definitely give you a high-ranking official position."
The elder glanced at the handsome man who had spoken, feeling flattered by the praise, but still maintained the demeanor of an elder. He smugly touched the handsome man's face and snorted, "Ignorant brat, keep your mouth shut, lest you ruin all my good fortune."
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