Beacon fires blazed in the distance, yet inside the command tent atop the mountain, silence prevailed.
Gongsun Yin strode quickly into the tent, his excitement evident in his voice: “The soldiers at the foot of the mountain stripped tree bark and dug up roots as you ordered, creating the illusion that we’ve run out of provisions. The rebels took the bait! They believe we’ve been without food for days, which is why they’re deliberately roasting meat to disturb our troops’ morale!”
Xie Zheng’s injuries were far from healed, and his complexion remained pale. He wore a loose outer robe, with white bandages visible beneath, wrapped around his shoulder. His slender fingers held a map of the mountainous terrain as he reclined against the bed’s headboard. His refined features carried a hint of languor as he looked up and asked, “Has the message been sent to our reinforcements below?”
“I had the sea eagle deliver it yesterday,” Gongsun Yin replied.
Xie Zheng tossed aside the map and said, “Create some commotion to keep the rebel forces occupied while our reinforcements below burn their provisions.”
He attempted to rise but winced as pain shot through his chest wound. His fine features frosted over with discomfort as he asked, “How is Sui Yuanqing faring these days?”
“He’s been exposed to wind and rain, kept alive on a bowl of thin porridge daily,” Gongsun Yin reported. “He seemed feverish yesterday, but I didn’t bother calling the physician since he wasn’t likely to die.”
A cold wind rustled the tent’s curtains as pale daylight slanted in, falling across Xie Zheng’s face. His lips curved in a cold smile: “Take Sui Yuanqing to the front lines. If the rebels are roasting meat, you should do the same.”
Gongsun Yin understood his meaning and shook his head with a wry smile. “With Sui Yuanqing as the bait, the fire will burn straight to Prince Changxin’s heart. With such bait, the rebels are sure to take the hook.”
This was a strategy to draw the tiger from the mountain. They let the rebels believe they were short on provisions and used Sui Yuanqing as leverage to keep the majority of rebel forces occupied. Meanwhile, the Yan and Ji Prefecture reinforcements waiting below could strike directly at the rebels’ supplies and burn them.
Once the rebels lost their provisions, no matter how many troops they had stationed above and below the mountain, they would be forced to yield within a day or two as the tactical situation reversed.
As Gongsun Yin left the main tent to take Sui Yuanqing to the front lines, a guard came running back with a distraught expression: “Master Gongsun, terrible news! Lady Fan has gone to raid the enemy camp on the back mountain!”
Gongsun Yin’s expression changed dramatically. He quickly glanced back at the main tent, making sure they were far enough that Xie Zheng couldn’t overhear, before demanding, “Wasn’t she supposed to be hunting? How did she end up at the enemy camp?”
The guard explained, “On our way back from hunting, we heard emergency horns from the mountain base. When Lady Fan heard the back mountain’s defenses were weak, she charged in that direction.”
Gongsun Yin paced back and forth before quickly deciding: “The Marquis is still seriously injured. Don’t let him know about this for now. Quickly take a hundred light cavalry and follow her. You must ensure that young lady’s safety.”
The guard didn’t dare delay and left immediately to gather the troops.
Gongsun Yin muttered worriedly to himself, “At this crucial moment, we can’t afford any mishaps…”
At the back mountain, Fan Changyu lay with her remaining guard and eight soldiers on an earthen mound covered by shrubs, wearing makeshift hats woven from branches and vines.
Fan Changyu had been staring at the winding mountain path leading to the base for a while before asking puzzledly, “Are there no guards on this side?”
“They’re concealed in the forest,” the guard replied.
Fan Changyu made a sound of acknowledgment, wondering if they needed permission from the mountain pass guards to approach the enemy camp when she spotted a patrol of friendly troops coming up the winding mountain path. Their uniforms were stained with fresh blood, and they glanced around while walking with arrows nocked to their bows, appearing somewhat strange.
After watching the mountain path for a long while without seeing where they had emerged from, Fan Changyu quietly asked the guard beside her, “Are they changing shifts?”
The guard also seemed to find something odd and made several sharp bird calls with his hands cupped around his mouth. Suddenly, arrows flew toward their shrub-covered position like a swarm of locusts.
The guard’s expression changed drastically. He tried to pull Fan Changyu to cover, but she moved even faster, rolling behind a large tree.
Some panic-stricken soldiers tried to stand and run, only to become target practice.
Fan Changyu watched as people who had been hunting with her moments ago now lay on the ground, blood flowing freely, their eyes still open in death. Her lips pressed together, her heart heavy as her panther-like gaze turned toward the archers.
Even if she was slow to realize it, she could now see these men were suspicious. The bloodstained uniforms they wore were likely stripped from Yan state soldiers.
After the volley of arrows, the group approached with swords drawn, seemingly wanting to confirm their kills.
The guard hiding behind a tree opposite Fan Changyu used lip movements to signal that she should escape when she had the chance. Fan Changyu pressed her lips together without responding.
When the rebels disguised as Yan state troops were just steps away, the guard shouted and charged out. The surviving soldiers, though their hands trembled on their sword hilts, also shouted to boost their courage and charged forward.
Fan Changyu saw one who appeared to be just a youth about to charge out as well. She grabbed his collar as he struggled, kicking his legs: “You’re just a girl, save yourself! We men of Yan will take some of them with us even in death!”
Fan Changyu glanced at him and said, “You, go back and report this.”
She threw him with great force, sending him flying far away.
Several rebels spotted her and approached with drawn swords. Fan Changyu pulled out her bleeding knife and a bone cleaver in response. She struck the blades together, creating a harsh metallic screech, and rather than retreating, she charged straight at the rebels with a blade in each hand.
The guard was skilled in combat and after forcing back the rebels surrounding him, he looked back worried about Fan Changyu. He saw her take down a rebel with one strike. Though she avoided vital points, those she struck couldn’t get back up.
She whirled through the crowd like a small tornado, wielding her two butcher knives. What started as rebels hunting them had somehow turned into her hunting the rebels.
The guard watched in a daze, marveling that their Marquis had indeed fallen for no ordinary woman.
The youth Fan Changyu had thrown clear of the fight watched stupefied before coming to his senses. He scrambled up and rushed back to report: while the rebels made a show of taunting them from the front, they were secretly launching a surprise attack from the back mountain!
He hadn’t run far when he encountered another guard returning with reinforcements. The youth almost wept with joy upon seeing them and pointed behind him: “Hurry! The rebels have disguised themselves as our men and come up the mountain!”
The guard thought of Gongsun Yin’s instructions and quickly led the hundred light cavalry to help.
With reinforcements arrived, the rebels disguised as Yan state troops were quickly subdued.
After scouts checked the various posts on the back mountain, they returned shaking their heads heavily: “All our men were killed by arrows.”
The guard who had fought alongside Fan Changyu was so enraged he struck the captured rebel leader twice across the face.
The rebel leader spat out a mouthful of bloody spittle and laughed: “My brothers came up the mountain and took plenty with them – worth it!”
The guard landed another heavy punch on his nose.
After questioning, they soon learned how the rebels had made it up the mountain.
This group had donned Yan state uniforms stripped from dead soldiers on the battlefield, claiming to be from the reinforcement army below the mountain. They gained the mountain guards’ trust, then killed them with arrows once close enough.
Their goal in coming up the mountain was to take advantage of the chaos at the front to rescue Sui Yuanqing.
Both guards suggested taking these rebels back to camp for the Military Advisor and Marquis of Wu’an to deal with.
Fan Changyu looked again at the smoke rising from below the mountain and said, “Since they’ve all come up, shouldn’t the base be empty now?”
The guard who had gone for reinforcements feared Fan Changyu hadn’t given up and said, “Lady Fan, the rebels have many troops and complex deployments below. It’s not advisable to…”
“Wait a moment.”
Fan Changyu suddenly interrupted him, grabbing a bound rebel soldier and walking away.
She threw the soldier behind a tree and pointed down the mountain: “How many men do you have below? Where are they hidden?”
The soldier replied defiantly: “I’m not one to fear death…”
Before he could finish, a fierce punch landed on his nose.
The soldier cried out in pain as blood began flowing from both nostrils.
Fan Changyu glared and continued questioning: “Will you talk?”
“There are only a thousand troops left at this mountain pass, waiting below to provide support.”
Fan Changyu dragged him back. The other captured soldiers had only heard screams of pain but not the conversation. Seeing their comrade return with a bloody face, they all felt a chill.
Fan Changyu grabbed another soldier to question similarly.
This method she had learned from Constable Wang, who said that when questioning criminals at the county office, they would interrogate them separately to prevent collusion and more easily determine truth from lies.
Only after questioning three or four soldiers and receiving the same answer did she tell the two guards: “There are only a thousand men left below, all stationed at the foot of the mountain.”
The two guards exchanged glances, and one said: “Lady Fan, please wait a moment while I bring more troops.”
After that guard left to get reinforcements, Fan Changyu and the guard who had fought with her earlier led about a hundred of Xie Zheng’s trained cavalry down the mountain to secretly observe the movements of the thousand rebels stationed below.
The mountain path was steep, so the cavalry didn’t ride their horses. However, being cavalry meant their physical conditioning was naturally superior to infantry, and they could each handle two opponents – this was why the guard felt comfortable letting Fan Changyu go down the mountain.
They had planned to wait for more reinforcements before acting, but suddenly a swift horse approached. The scout seemed to say something to the rebel commander, and a thousand rebels stationed at the mountain’s foot abruptly turned and followed the scout.
Fan Changyu asked: “Why did they leave?”
The guard didn’t know the reason either and could only say: “Perhaps something happened at the front of the mountain.”
Fan Changyu understood the principle of gathering reinforcements for a fight. She immediately said: “Then we need to find a way to delay this group, or what if they’re overwhelmed at the front?”
While the guard was still hesitating, Fan Changyu had already run purposefully toward the rebels’ tents at this mountain pass.
Fearing for her safety, the guard had to follow, and the rest of the soldiers swarmed after them.
Fan Changyu burst into the rebel tents, ignoring everything else as she searched through boxes and cabinets for salt.
After finding where the rebels stored their grain and salt, she hoisted two bags of salt and ran.
Seeing this, the other soldiers followed suit and carried off-grain.
The rebels had barely gone far when they saw the Yan state troops coming down from the mountain to steal provisions, so they quickly turned back to try to surround Fan Changyu’s group.
This was just a small rebel outpost, without much stored grain. The hundred-odd soldiers couldn’t even get a bag each.
The guard, having campaigned with Xie Zheng for years, ordered everyone to run as soon as he saw the rebels turning back, and set fire to the empty tents.
Worried that Fan Changyu would struggle to carry two bags of salt, he took one to carry himself.
Fan Changyu acted like a bandit raiding the mountain. When her hands were free and thinking of how Changning and Yan Zheng had no blankets to sleep with at night, she grabbed two cloaks hanging in the tents as she ran.
Passing where the rebels cooked, she spotted a whole roasted lamb on a spit meant to taunt the Yan state troops on the mountain. She draped the cloaks over the salt bags, freeing her hands to grab the pole holding the roasted lamb.
The returning rebels watched dumbfounded as she ran swiftly while carrying a bag of salt in one hand and a roasted lamb in the other.
A rebel commander on horseback drew his bow to shoot at Fan Changyu.
The arriving scout shouted: “General, the Yan and Ji state forces below are going to burn the granary. Don’t delay the battle!”
The commander cursed: “The Yan thieves have all come down from the mountain to steal my provisions! They’ve burned my camp – can’t you see?”
His arrow flew wide due to the distance, and after the guard shouted a warning, Fan Changyu successfully blocked it with the bag of salt she carried on her shoulder.
The furious rebels had nearly caught up to Fan Changyu’s group carrying the provisions when the guard who had gone for reinforcements returned with more Yan state troops from the mountain.
The mountain troops forced the rebels to halt outside arrow range with volleys of arrows. Finally, the thousand Chong state troops could only watch in fury as Fan Changyu and the others carried the provisions and salt up the mountain.
When Fan Changyu climbed halfway up the mountain, she noticed thick smoke rising in the distance.
Catching her breath, she asked: “Are the rebels burning that side of the mountain?”
Seeing where the smoke was rising from, the guard was overjoyed. He put down his bag of salt and collapsed sitting, laughing: “After days of heavy rain, the mountain vegetation is soaked through – the rebels can’t burn it. That’s our people burning the rebels’ provisions!”
Fan Changyu leading them to steal provisions had inadvertently helped delay a thousand troops below, indirectly assisting their allies in burning the granaries.
He looked at Fan Changyu with new respect in his eyes: “Lady Fan has accomplished quite a feat today!”
The paper couldn’t contain fire forever. When Gongsun Yin suddenly dispatched large numbers of troops to the back mountain, Xie Zheng grew suspicious and asked: “Did something happen on the back mountain?”
Gongsun Yin’s expression froze as he said: “Some rebels disguised as our men snuck up the mountain, but they’ve all been captured. I sent men just to strengthen the defenses.”
Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes: “She hasn’t returned from hunting yet?”
Gongsun Yin knew he couldn’t hide it anymore and sighed, telling the truth: “Lady Fan is at the back mountain.”
Xie Zheng’s eyes grew cold as he snapped: “Nonsense! If you knew it was dangerous there, why did you let her stay?”
He struggled to rise, but Gongsun Yin quickly pressed him back: “I’ve sent Xie Seven and Little Five after her, along with a hundred light cavalry. They’ll bring Lady Fan back soon…”
As Xie Zheng was about to brush away his hand with a dark expression, a guard rushed excitedly into the tent: “My Lord, Lady Fan has returned!”
Xie Zheng’s expression softened slightly, and Gongsun Yin let out a relieved sigh. However, when they saw Fan Changyu enter the tent carrying a red wool cloak in one hand and a roasted lamb in the other, both men fell suddenly silent.
Where had she gotten that cloak bearing the Chong state insignia?