Seeing the arrival of the Zhong family army, the 1,000 Jin cavalrymen no longer cared about making detours and turned around to retreat northward.
Yin Shuke nearly fell off his horse when he heard the news of the Zhong family army's arrival. Even if the Zhong family army traveled day and night without sleep, they couldn't move so fast. He couldn't help but feel suspicious, so he rode to observe for himself.
Yue Fei led another two thousand Song cavalrymen, their horses' tails tied with branches, and they galloped in from afar. Dust billowed, and on the flag of the leading general was a large "Zhong" character.
Yin Shu could hear the neighing of war horses and the billowing dust in the distance. It seemed the main force of the Zhong family army had arrived. As a lesson learned from the previous incident, Wanyan Zongwang, a skilled warrior, had been beheaded by the Zhong family army. He was terrified and fled on horseback. The remaining Jin soldiers abandoned their baggage and followed them in a desperate flight northward.
Word spread quickly from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. By the time Wanyan Zonghan got here, he knew that Zhong Shidao's army of millions had caught up with them.
Wanyan Zonghan was about to not believe it, but Yin Shu was afraid that the deputy commander would charge him with the crime of deserting the battlefield, so he lied and said that he had seen it with his own eyes. Although the Zhong family army did not have a million troops, it still had more than 100,000 main forces.
Wanyan Zonghan was horrified, and the Jin soldiers, unable to distinguish the real from the fake, abandoned their looted baggage and fled. Although the Jin army suffered few casualties in the west, they had thrown away most of their food and baggage.
When Wanyan Zonghan reached the north bank of the Yellow River, his troops slowly gathered together. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. The Zhong family army was already approaching.
"Wu Ge, I ordered you to investigate Yao Pingzhong's night attack case. How is your investigation going?"
"I have some clues. The Jin troops are approaching, and the four cities are under siege. Lord Li Gang has issued a strict order that only people can enter, not leave. If you need to leave the city urgently, you must carry official documents and leave a record of your exit. Ordinary people cannot easily enter or leave the city gates."
Zhao Huan was delighted: "So all we need to do is check the records of those few days of leaving the city?"
Wu Ge bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that simple. Since the traitor was able to leave the city, he must have had his own way. You can't find out by checking the records of leaving the city."
Wu Ge smiled slightly as he said this: "But the soldiers on duty at the city gate that day have all been thrown into prison. Once they are in the prison, they have no choice but to confess."
Zhao Huan slapped his head and said, "Right, right, right. The guards at the city gate will naturally know who left the city. Investigate thoroughly!"
The Sky Prison had never been so full before. All those imprisoned there were soldiers guarding the city gates.
Wu Ge didn't need to go in, he could guess what the prisoners in the prison would say with the back of his head.
"It's unfair, sir. I'm wronged."
"Sir, this is unjust. What crime have I committed?"
The warden was a little nervous. The prison had been in turmoil lately. The emperor's visit nearly frightened him to death. And now so many city gate guards had been arrested. He carefully led Wu Ge to the prison.
"What are you yelling about! We have reasons for arresting you. Haven't you done enough to block the doors and collect fees and oppress the people? If any of you feel wronged, stand up!" Wu Ge said carelessly.
The guards in the prison immediately fell silent, all knowing that guarding the four city gates was a lucrative job. Those who delivered food and goods to the city, those who smuggled contraband, and eunuchs who stole treasures from the palace and sold them inside the city were all obliged to pay tribute to these guards.
The Emperor wouldn't throw us into prison for this, would he? And not even the Kaifeng prefectural prison, but the Emperor's own prison. A tyrant emperor is indeed a tyrant.
Wu Ge held a list in his hand: "Zhang Dahu, Liu Sanjiang. Come out!"
Two people in the prison stood up. These officers and soldiers were all captured in the same group. They were just thrown into the prison without changing into prisoner clothes.
Wu Ge ordered the jailer: "Take these two to the interrogation room."
The two of them peed themselves immediately, screaming like pigs being slaughtered: "Sir, help me! This is unfair!"
Everyone knows about the interrogation room. There are hundreds of tortures there that make your life worse than death. How could Zhang Dahu and Liu Sanjiang not be afraid?
The jailer dragged the two men, who looked like dead dogs, to the interrogation room.
Arriving at the interrogation room, Wu Ge waved his hand and said, "Change them!"
Two jailers threw two sets of clothes over to them. Zhang Dahu and Liu Sanjiang saw that they were white prisoner uniforms.
It would have been fine if they had just changed into prisoner uniforms, but the terrible thing was that there was a big word "Kill" written on the uniforms with a red pen.
These two men were not stupid. They knew that this was worn by prisoners sentenced to death, and that they would be beheaded.
"Sir, please spare my life!"
"I've been wronged!"
Wu Ge got the effect he wanted. He found a bench and sat down, one foot on it: "Tell me, before Yao Pingzhong attacked the Jin camp at night, who left the city?"
Zhang Dahu and Liu Sanjiang exchanged a glance and said, "Sir, I really don't know."
"Nonsense!" Wu Ge pointed at him and said, "I've already checked. No one entered or left the East Gate or the South Gate that day. You two were on duty at the West Gate, how dare you say you didn't know?"
Seeing that they could no longer deny their mistake, Zhang Dahu and Liu Sanjiang knelt down and begged for mercy.
Zhang Dahu kowtowed repeatedly: "Sir, yes, it was Deng Gui, a retainer of Master Li Rui. He gave us five hundred taels of silver, saying that his mother was seriously ill and he wanted to leave the city to visit her."
"Li Rui from the Privy Council? You just opened the door for him?" Wu Ge said coldly.
Liu Sanjiang knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately: "I know the military situation is critical. Lord Li Gang has issued a strict order that opening the gate is a crime punishable by death for all nine generations of the family. I wouldn't dare to do this even if I had ten thousand guts. Yes, yes..."
Wu Ge was furious: "You're just hesitating. What are you afraid of? Speak!"
Liu Sanjiang shuddered. "It was Li Bangde, the Grand Marshal, and Wang Xiaodi, the Imperial Secretary. They followed me to the city gate and forced me to open it. The West Gate is under the jurisdiction of Li Bangde, the Grand Marshal. He's my immediate superior, so I dared not refuse."
Wu Ge gasped, having never imagined so much was involved. He continued calmly, "Du Yuhou disobeyed the order. Why didn't you two report this to Lord Li Gang?"
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