Chapter 64: A dog that has lost its home must be left with someone to announce the death.
He Pingfei suffered a crushing defeat in Nanqi City. Covered in dust and dirt, he fled with only a few dozen remaining personal soldiers. He finally managed to reunite with the Ruining army that had fled from Nanqi, and then they retreated together to the east in a panic.
The personal guards brought him some cold and hard pancakes, which He Pingfei swallowed without hesitation. However, he refused to dismount and rest for a while. Instead, he looked east and crossed another hill to reach Linzhong.
Linzhong is a well-known river city with a critical geographical location. Once you cross Linzhong, you will officially step into the heart of Ruining.
The Linzhong defenders lowered the drawbridge, and He Pingfei led his troops into the city. When the city gate slammed shut behind him, his personal guards carried him off his horse. The armor he had not taken off for three days was finally taken off, emitting an unpleasant smell of sweat, and his festering wounds were oozing yellow fluid.
"Get out of here!" He Pingfei waved away the hand of his personal soldier who was trying to support him, and looked up at the solid city wall. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, no longer worrying that enemy soldiers would emerge from some dense forest to take his life.
He Pingfei defended the city gate like this for three days. The cast iron drawbridge was retracted and pointed to the sky, and the sandbags at the bridgehead were piled into a barrier three people high, but there was no sign of any unusual movement.
On the fourth day, a soldier saw half a piece of driftwood wrapped in a piece of red cloth floating in the river fog, and was so scared that he lit a signal fire. He Pingfei rushed over with sweat on his forehead, and found that it was just a false alarm, so he turned around and walked towards the soldier.
"General..." The night watchman trembled like a sieve, staggering after being slapped in the face by He Pingfei. "If you dare lie about military intelligence again, I will personally throw you into the river!"
"General, the spy reported!" The deputy general rushed over to deliver the military report.
He Pingfei opened the letter and his eyebrows jumped. Suddenly he burst into laughter. "Humph, I thought so! That woman is busy picking rotten leaves for herself!"
He raised his foot and kicked the trembling soldier: "Get out of here!"
The soldier fled in a desperate hurry. He Pingfei looked at him in a panic, as if he saw Fang Yilan's hasty retreat. He sneered through his teeth and said, "Once that woman has cleaned up the mess, I will immediately send troops to destroy Nanqi!"
That night, a black fog enveloped the entire Ruining Army camp. After days of traveling and fear, most of the soldiers were exhausted and fast asleep, with snoring echoing throughout the camp.
There were only a few soldiers patrolling around the river.
The sound of water mingled with the roar of distant waves. Wang Wu, the soldier on night duty, suddenly caught sight of a few ripples in the reeds. He whispered to his companion, "Old Li, do you think that female Rakshasa would cross the river and attack us so late at night?"
"How dare she?" The light cast a grimace on his companion's face. Old Li scoffed and kicked a stone away. "The river is wide and fast, how can we just cross it? We have tight control over all the accessible bridges, unless they can fly over from the air."
After hearing what he said, Wang Wu felt embarrassed and smiled apologetically.
The laughter startled a night owl in the reeds, and sent a chill down their spines as they stared at the surging waves on the river.
"Listen... don't you think there are strange noises?" Wang Wu just turned around when a pair of black hands stretched out from behind his companion and covered his mouth. The dagger swept across his companion, and his companion fell down softly without even having time to scream.
A black shadow poked half of its face out from behind the corpse. River water flowed into her clothes along the strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, shining like cold iron in the moonlight. It was the female Rakshasa he had been talking about.
Wang Wu's pupils reflected the blood spurting out of his companion's throat. He wanted to scream, but saw the cold light penetrate his chest. The oil lamp in his hand also fell to the ground. The flame swayed on the ground for a few times and then went out. The darkness swallowed everything in an instant.
Fang Yilan's dagger was still lodged in Wang Wu's chest as dozens of dark figures behind her climbed up the embankment like ghosts. She shook off the blood-stained blade of her sword and whispered, "Put on their clothes and seize the bridge!"
"Yes!" The soldiers behind him responded in a low voice, stripped off the patrol soldiers' clothes, quickly put them on, and sneaked quietly towards the bridge entrance.
The guard at the bridge was drunk and collapsed on the sandbag, snoring soundly, mumbling incoherent words in his sleep from time to time.
The other soldier propped up his head in boredom, staring at the empty bridge.
The bridgehead was firmly blocked with sandbags, and the cables hung high at the top, silently proclaiming the strong defenses here. In his eyes, the city defenses were simply impenetrable, and the enemy had no chance of breaking through.
A subtle but clear rustling of chains reached his ears, instantly igniting his already irritated mood. He turned around and cursed, "Which patrolman kicked the chains again..."
The curse was stuck in his throat. He looked down and saw the tip of the knife protruding from his chest. Blood was gushing out. His eyes were full of fear and disbelief, and he fell heavily to the ground, without a sound.
"Put up the bridge."
He Pingfei was dreaming that he hung Fang Yilan's head on the top of Linzhong City.
He was in a deep sleep when shouting outside the tent startled him out of his dream.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
He Pingfei grabbed his sword and rushed to the top of the city wall. The originally high-hanging bridge rope had been lowered, and the square flags were fluttering in the night wind. A team like a fire dragon was rushing across the suspension bridge, and burning arrows drew golden lines in the night sky.
Fang Yilan stood with one foot on the iron chain at the end of the bridge, her dripping battle robe clinging to her thin shoulders. She looked into his eyes, her fiery gaze seeming to devour everything.
"General He." Fang Yilan's voice came with the river breeze, hoarse but clear as the sound of a sword: "Can your sandbags stop our Fang family army?"
...
The Linzhong defenders had previously defended the city walls with all their might, having worked nights and nights to defend, leaving them exhausted and demoralized. Meanwhile, the Fang army, brimming with energy, quickly showed signs of weakness under the onslaught of the city.
"Good...very good!" He Pingfei gritted his teeth until they bled, his face pale. Without needing words, his grim expression betrayed his inner thoughts: this battle was doomed to fail.
He jumped onto his horse in a panic and awkward manner and ordered, "Take the food and retreat!"
The captain with a broken leg clung to the shaft of the cart and screamed, "General, take me with you!" He Pingfei twisted his wrist and flung the man to the ground with the flat of his blade. The wheel crushed the man's spine.
Seeing this, the bodyguards at the side also followed suit, drawing the sharp blades at their waists and slashing at all the wounded soldiers who blocked their way. For a moment, there were screams and blood splattered everywhere.
Amidst the chaos, five carts laden with food and fodder sped toward Linzhong's east gate. Their wheels churned, and in the blink of an eye, they collided with a dozen fleeing soldiers. With a few muffled thuds, the soldiers were sent flying, tumbling heavily to the ground, writhing in agony. The carts, however, showed no sign of slowing, continuing their furious march out of the city.
In a panic, He Pingfei snatched the arrow from the hand of a nearby soldier and stared intently at the pile of his own soldiers at the city gate, a fierce glint in his eyes. With a whoosh, the flaming arrow flew out, hitting the crowd squarely.
Among those figures writhing in the sea of fire, some were his personal guards who had led his horse this morning.
Flames instantly burst out from the bodies of several soldiers, and they twisted their bodies in pain on the ground. In the blink of an eye, they became blazing human roadblocks, just enough to block Fang Yilan's army's pursuit.
He Pingfei couldn't help but look back. He saw the large "Fang" banner on the top of Linjiang City fluttering wildly amidst the blazing flames, as if mercilessly mocking his defeat. He gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffing out, filled with resentment, yet knowing that there was nothing he could do to change the situation.
He could only order: "Go!"
As long as he could protect the grain and fodder and evacuate, Fang Yilan wouldn't be able to penetrate the central region, even if he had extraordinary abilities. With this thought in mind, he whipped his horse whip hard, causing the wooden wheels of the grain cart to spin rapidly, making a creaking sound that blended with the gradually fading cries of killing behind him, sounding particularly tragic and majestic.
Fang Yilan rode Jiaoyue through the fire and rushed to the riverbank. Seeing half a bag of rice floating on the surface of the river, she suddenly pulled the reins, and the horse raised its front hooves high, with an unhappy look on its face.
Lieutenant General Lin also rode up and asked, "General, aren't we going to give chase?"
Fang Yilan was silent for a while, then pulled off his cloak to cover the stumps on the river bank and said, "A dog that has lost its home must be left with someone to announce the loss."
...
The Ruining Army, who had witnessed He Pingfei burning his comrades and even killing his own soldiers in order to escape, were now huddled in cages and shaking like sieves.
They looked at Fang Yilan walking towards them, banged their heads on the ground, and cried out, "Please take us in, General! We are willing to die for you!"
Lu Qi held up the grain register, circled the numbers on the page with a red pen, shook his head and sighed, "The five thousand newly recruited men will consume fifty dan of grain every day, emptying two granaries every day."
Fang Yilan naturally knew that the consumption of food and grass was her biggest headache right now.
She wanted to hunt down He Pingfei, but the problem of food and fodder was pressing. If she pursued him relentlessly and chased him into the central hinterland, He Pingfei would easily receive reinforcements. On the other hand, she herself would most likely be trapped to death due to insufficient food and fodder.
Fortunately, the Linzhong area has abundant water resources, fertile land, and abundant grain production. A considerable portion of the food and fodder needed by the Ruining army over the years was collected from Linzhong.
"How much food did Linzhong supply to the Ruining Army in previous years?" Fang Yilan asked.
Lu Qi replied: "At its peak, it could supply 50,000 shi per month."
Fang Yilan could only go to meet the grain merchants in the city in person to sound out the situation and see how much grain he could get from them.
Fang Yilan was received by the influential Minnong Chamber of Commerce in Linzhong. Almost all local merchants had joined the Chamber, and its president was Zheng Liang.
The two agreed to meet at Jiuyun Building where the Chamber of Commerce was located the next day.
The agreed time had passed, but Zheng Liang had not arrived yet, a full incense stick of time late.
Zheng Liang stepped into the private room. He pretended to pat his sleeves twice, then apologized with a smile on his face, "I'm sorry, General Fang. There was a sudden problem with the grain store at home, and I really couldn't get away. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. I hope you will be tolerant and don't mind!"
Fang Yilan sat upright in the main seat with a calm expression.
Seeing Zheng Liang coming, he didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "Since we have wasted a lot of time, Boss Zheng, let's get straight to the point."
A gleam flashed in Zheng Liang's eyes, and he nodded and replied: "The general is really straightforward! I am stupid, but I guess the reason why the general is petitioning... should be for food and fodder, but the price of this food... is indeed not low." As he spoke, he gestured with a staggering figure.
Fang Yilan laughed and said, "Three times the market price? Boss Zheng is so arrogant."
"Three times the market price isn't that expensive!" Zheng Liang held up his three swollen fingers, bound by gold rings. "That's exactly what General He gave us when he came to collect grain last month."
Zheng Liang remained calm, twirling his goatee with his hand as he explained, "General Fang, you're well aware of the current state of affairs. With all the chaos and war, even fine rice at three times its price is considered a rarity! There's nothing I can do about it."
Fang Yilan didn't argue any further and immediately stood up and made to walk out.
"In that case, we'll take our leave."
Zheng Liang's eyes rolled, and he quickly spoke to persuade him to stay: "Hey, General, please stay! All right, I'll bite my teeth and sell it to you at a loss. One thousand coins per stone, I really can't do any less!"
Fang Yilan did not agree immediately, and said slowly: "Then please trouble Boss Zheng to take us to see the quality of the rice."
Zheng Liang had no choice but to order the manager to take everyone to the granary. When the door of the granary was opened, a musty smell hit them in the face, making them frown.
Zhao Huaixu slowly opened the sack and gently picked up a few yellowed rice grains with his fingertips. He examined them carefully and asked calmly, "Is this what Boss Zheng meant by a losing business?"
"Forty percent of it is old rice." Fang Yilan also held a handful of rice grains in his hand. He squeezed them hard, and the rice grains shattered instantly, shocking the grain merchants behind him and making them gasp.
Fang Yilan turned around and said coldly, "Boss Zheng, do you think I'm blind?"
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