Ji Yingying was taken to a cleared area. The deputy commander personally escorted her there. He gave her a felt blanket, his tone rather caring: “Autumn nights are cold, don’t catch a chill.”
Like all the captured women, Ji Yingying was still wearing the same thin clothes from over a month ago. The temperature here was lower than in Yizhou, and the river wind was bitter. After being confined by the river all day without food or water, she was already shivering. She wrapped the blanket around herself and said bluntly, “Afraid I’ll die and you won’t be able to explain it to your superior? Send some food over, so I don’t die of hunger before I freeze to death or fall ill.”
The deputy commander was startled, not expecting her to see through his thoughts. He sneered, “You’re quite clever. Your husband killed our Qingping Official’s son. Starving to death might not be such a bad thing.”
Ji Yingying said contemptuously, “Two armies facing each other, each serving their own master. Unable to defeat my husband, you take revenge on his family. Are Nanzhao men such cowards?”
Angered, the deputy commander shouted for soldiers to bring hot food. Only after yelling did he realize he’d been provoked. He glared at Ji Yingying, unconsciously drawn to her bright eyes. He thought regretfully how much better it would have been if her husband hadn’t beheaded General Du. Perhaps he could have even taken her for himself as a reward for his military service.
When the food arrived, Ji Yingying invited the other women there to eat together. No one spoke, all sitting on the ground with lowered heads, eating large mouthfuls.
The deputy commander remembered the small knife hidden in Ji Yingying’s boot. Somehow, he found himself thinking that if the higher-ups intended to torture her, she could use that knife to give herself a quick end. He stared at her for a while, then turned and left with his soldiers.
After spending a night on the riverbank, at dawn, the Nanzhao people began driving people across the bridge again. The crying woke Ji Yingying. She silently watched them board the floating bridge.
When Niu Wuniang and the Zhao family women were leaving, they passed in front of Ji Yingying. She stopped: “Second Lady Ji, we’ll meet again in Nanzhao.”
Ji Yingying suddenly thought of the fallen city of Yizhou and Deputy Governor Niu. She asked Niu Wuniang softly, “Since you found out that Yang Jingyuan killed the Nanzhao general in Zitong, did you learn anything about Deputy Governor Niu, your mother, and Seventh Miss?”
“No.”
Ji Yingying saw Niu Wuniang’s back stiffen for an instant. She smiled knowingly: “You have Sheng Fengze’s golden token. You colluded with him and betrayed your father, didn’t you?”
“I did not!” Niu Wuniang’s raised voice betrayed her inner turmoil.
“Niu Wuniang, you’ve implicated your father in treachery! Is it that you didn’t inquire, or that you didn’t dare to?” Ji Yingying grew agitated as well, shouting to the nearby Nanzhao soldiers, “Sir, when Yizhou fell, do you know what happened to Deputy Governor Niu of the Xichuan army? He was a third-rank governor, he must have led troops – do you know of him?”
Her voice caught the deputy commander’s attention. He strode over, his face cold: “Deputy Governor Niu? Hmph, he killed General Chi Kuang’s brother and hung the body in the streets. Unfortunately, Prince Bai respected him as a true man and ordered him to be given a proper burial.”
Niu Wuniang closed her eyes, her face veil seemingly trembling in the river wind.
Ji Yingying burst out laughing: “The daughter conspires with Nanzhao while the father dies on the battlefield. How could Deputy Governor Niu have given birth to a daughter like you? Perhaps it was because you betrayed information that your father died!”
“Shut up!” Niu Wuniang lunged at Ji Yingying, “I didn’t cause my father’s death! If it weren’t for worthless people like you, he wouldn’t have died!”
The deputy commander grabbed her arm, eyes narrowed as he examined her: “You’re Deputy Governor Niu’s daughter? Ah, Lady Zhao née Niu.”
How had he forgotten? Tang women took their husbands’ surnames after marriage – the Second Madam Zhao before him was from the Niu family. Another person General Chi Kuang wanted had fallen into his hands. Another achievement. The deputy commander smiled grimly.
“Let go of me! I have an agreement with Prince Bai…” Niu Wuniang struggled desperately. Her strength couldn’t budge the deputy commander’s hand at all. She was dragged and pushed into the enclosure.
“Stay put. The General will be very pleased to see you.” This was the daughter of the man who killed the General’s brother – she had almost slipped past them.
The enclosure door was locked again.
The Zhao family masters and maids only gave Niu Wuniang a sympathetic glance before silently continuing on their way. They weren’t close to her, to begin with. Now that she was locked up, she wasn’t even the camp leader anymore. Who would care about her? Madam Zhao thought of Second Master Zhao who died tragically in the hall, and having heard Niu Wuniang mention an agreement with Nanzhao’s Prince Bai, she spat on the ground and walked away.
Niu Wuniang caught her breath, rubbing her painfully gripped arm while glaring fiercely at Ji Yingying.
“Why glare at me? You should be grateful you had a father who died for the people! Otherwise, the military families here would tear you apart,” Ji Yingying sneered, “I don’t know what Sheng Fengze promised you that made you so confident. As far as I know, he’s a wolf who doesn’t even spit out bones. Niu Wuniang, are you truly clever, or is your head filled with paste, making deals with him?”
The lion-headed golden token dug painfully into Niu Wuniang’s palm. She didn’t believe Sheng Fengze would break his word. Seeing the cold looks from the military families, Niu Wuniang proudly found an empty reed mat to sit on, no longer acknowledging Ji Yingying.
So confident? That deputy commander wasn’t buying it. Hopefully, General Chi Kuang would arrive before Sheng Fengze, leaving Niu Wuniang no more chances to do evil.
By afternoon, the men were finally driven out of their enclosure. Passing by, Zhu Erlang’s face showed urgent concern when he saw Ji Yingying.
“Brother Zhu, don’t worry about me!” Ji Yingying understood that Zhu Erlang was concerned about her still being in Nanzhao’s hands.
She suddenly saw Zhao Xiuyuan at the back of the line, saying something to a soldier. Ji Yingying grew alarmed: “Brother Zhu, Zhao Xiuyuan is talking to the Nanzhao soldiers!”
Zhu Erlang couldn’t spare attention for Ji Yingying. His eyes swept past, and the dozen men around him concealed him within the crowd.
By the time Zhao Xiuyuan finished speaking, Zhu Erlang’s group had already approached the bridgehead.
“Stop them!” the Nanzhao soldiers shouted.
There were at least a thousand people in this group, and no one knew who they wanted to stop.
In a flash, the crowd suddenly erupted – the men simultaneously lunged at the nearby Nanzhao soldiers. All were young and strong men, and the Nanzhao soldiers hadn’t expected unarmed people to dare resist. In an instant, several were tackled and their weapons seized.
Chaos broke out on the bridge. Zhu Erlang bent down and lit a fire starter. From under his clothes, he took out a wooden stick wrapped in oiled cloth. His brothers followed suit, and over a dozen torches blazed to life.
The floating bridge was no more than two zhang wide. They threw the torches at the rope connections. The Nanzhao soldiers were blocked by the men, and occasionally both soldiers and civilians fell into the river together.
“Loose arrows!”
Bowstrings twanged as arrows flew toward the floating bridge.
The river water had soaked the connecting ropes, making them impossible to burn. Zhu Erlang grew desperate and picked up a Nanzhao soldier’s spear to cut them.
“Erlang, run!”
The binding ropes were thick and couldn’t be cut quickly. Arrows were already thudding into the planks beside him.
Zhu Erlang spat fiercely: “Brothers, jump!”
He leaped from the floating bridge. Before he could see what happened behind him, the waves instantly swept him away. Those who could swim jumped, and even those who couldn’t swim jumped as well.
The chaos ended as quickly as it had begun. In less time than it took to drink a cup of tea, this group had been surrounded by Nanzhao soldiers.
The deputy commander walked to the riverbank, his sword viciously striking down to kill a wounded man who was groaning: “Don’t think that because I’ve been feeding and caring for you all along the way I won’t start killing! Bind all the men and take them away!”
Hopefully, Zhu Erlang could escape alive. Looking at the wolf-like Nanzhao soldiers outside the enclosure, Ji Yingying knew that now they were on guard, these people would find it much harder to escape.