Dozens of riders scattered across the open fields, with muddy floodwater covering their horses’ hooves. The Chongzhou army quickly caught up, snapping at their heels.
To lure the Chongzhou forces deep into the valley, Xie Zheng deliberately had several dozen of his cavalry feign a retreat, making the enemy underestimate them.
Sui Yuanqing was tied up and bound to a cavalryman’s horse. With countless broken ribs, his entire chest cavity ached from the pressure. He knew the pursuing Chongzhou army would surely meet their doom, but being tied up and with the Yanzhou army feigning defeat to lure the enemy, there was nothing he could do to change the situation.
Enduring the excruciating pain in his chest, he laughed coldly, “My Lord, for someone stabbed in the heart and lungs by my gilded phoenix-wing spear, you’ve managed to ride for quite some time. Sui truly admires your endurance.”
His spear had pierced through a gap in Xie Zheng’s armor under the armpit, but Xie Zheng’s demeanor was so composed that even the cavalryman who caught Changning thought he had only suffered a minor injury, let alone the others.
After Sui Yuanqing spoke, the others couldn’t help but look at Xie Zheng.
Sui Yuanqing’s goal was to disrupt morale. If Xie Zheng fell, the army would be leaderless, and there might still be a chance to turn the tide of tonight’s battle.
Thunder rumbled as Xie Zheng’s rain-soaked cloak clung to his armor, draping over his horse. He turned his head slightly, his posture ramrod straight. His profile, illuminated by stark white lightning, seemed as if carved from cold jade. With his phoenix eyes half-raised, he spoke nonchalantly, “It seems Young Master Sui’s spear tip was made of wax. Next time you go to battle, remember to use an iron one.”
His tone was full of mockery.
The personal cavalry all snickered, while Sui Yuanqing’s face darkened. “We’ll see how long you can hold out, My Lord.”
Xie Zheng gave Sui Yuanqing a cold glance and said to the cavalryman carrying him, “Young Master Sui seems to be in high spirits. Let him walk for a while.”
Sui Yuanqing’s face changed abruptly. He knew this would be no simple “walk.”
The cavalrymen cheered. With his hands bound, he was thrown into the muddy, rain-soaked ground. Mud mixed with rainwater splashed all over him, some getting into his eyes and stinging badly. Before he could get up, the cavalrymen had already gleefully raised their whips and spurred their horses into a gallop.
Sui Yuanqing was dragged along the wet ground by the rope. Even with armor protecting him, his entire back felt like it was on fire from the friction. The broken ribs in his chest seemed to be displaced even more severely. He gritted his teeth and stared intently at the black curtain of rain, cold sweat mingling with rainwater as it slid down his forehead. His mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
Xie Zheng rode at the front, glancing down at his inner robe, now dyed a deep color by blood, in a flash of lightning. His pale lips pressed tightly together as he cracked his whip, urging his warhorse to continue towards Yixian Gorge.
His condition was indeed not optimistic. Although Sui Yuanqing’s spear hadn’t pierced any internal organs, it had bruised the bone, and the wound was quite large. Constantly soaked by rain, it was difficult for the blood to clot. After losing so much blood, he was beginning to feel dizzy.
But with the Chongzhou army right on their heels, now was not the time to stop.
Ahead, the entrance to Yixian Gorge was faintly visible, looking like the bared teeth of a sleeping giant in the night. When the Chongzhou army reached this point, they sensed an ambush inside and slowed their advance considerably.
As Xie Zheng listened to the scout’s report, his eyelids suddenly grew heavy, and he fell from his horse. Several of his cavalry, seeing this, quickly reined in their horses and dismounted to help him. “My Lord!”
Sui Yuanqing, who had been dragged along by the horse, was in excruciating pain all over. Though he wanted to mock Xie Zheng, he didn’t have the strength to utter a single word.
The unusual situation on their side was quickly detected by the Chongzhou army’s scouts, who raced back with the news.
The Chongzhou commander leading the pursuit now found himself in a dilemma. If he stopped at Yixian Gorge without bringing back Sui Yuanqing, he would surely face the Long Xin King’s wrath upon his return.
But if he pursued Yixian Gorge and fell into an ambush, resulting in the annihilation of his entire army, even several heads wouldn’t be enough to pay for that mistake.
The news brought back by the scouts was undoubtedly the last straw. Along with the testimony of Sui Yuanqing’s guard who had gone back to report, it was confirmed that Xie Zheng had indeed been wounded by Sui Yuanqing.
With the prospect of rescuing Sui Yuanqing and capturing the legendary Wu’an Marquis as an extraordinary achievement, the Chongzhou commander quickly made his decision. He ordered the cavalry to lead the way and commanded the main army to advance at full speed.
It was only then that Xie Zheng’s guards realized he was truly injured. The wound, grazing his right ribs and deepening towards the left, was heart-wrenching to behold.
The rain was too heavy. Two bottles of wound medicine were entirely sprinkled on the injury, and the guards hastily bandaged him with torn strips from the lining of his battle robe. Blood still seeped from the wound.
A cavalryman who had been watching the movements of the Chongzhou army rode back and reported, “All the Chongzhou cavalry are coming this way.”
For a moment, all several dozen cavalrymen felt apprehensive. However, Xie Zheng, who had been sitting on the wet ground tending to his wound and resting briefly, opened his eyes at this moment. As if nothing was wrong, he put on his outer armor, mounted his horse, and said, “This time we can lure the rebels completely into Yixian Gorge. Proceed into the valley according to the original plan!”
The personal cavalry, stunned in place, looked at each other, almost unable to discern whether Xie Zheng’s earlier fall was real or a ruse to deceive the Chongzhou rebels. After they realized this, they all mounted their horses and followed him.
As they needed to move at full speed, they naturally had no more interest in tormenting Sui Yuanqing.
When Sui Yuanqing was placed back on the horse, he suddenly understood Xie Zheng’s intention in falling from his horse earlier. It was deliberate!
With Xie Zheng injured, not only would the Chongzhou commander leading the troops not pass up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even if Sui Yuanqing himself were leading the troops, he wouldn’t let it slip by!
As the horse galloped, Sui Yuanqing, head down, was jolted so much that even the whites of his eyes were tinged with blood red. When he looked up at the rapidly receding rocky mountains, they too seemed to be covered in a faint layer of blood.
He watched Xie Zheng, still riding at the front, and for a moment suddenly doubted whether Xie Zheng could feel pain at all.
He didn’t think Xie Zheng’s injury was lighter than his own, but while he felt like he had died several times over from the pain, Xie Zheng had shown no signs of distress apart from his earlier fall from the horse to deliberately lure the enemy.
As he pondered this, the cavalry had already passed a bend and shot a signal arrow into the sky.
Immediately, enormous boulders thundered down the entire valley like rolling thunder. The Chongzhou cavalry, who were just about to catch up, found themselves in chaos on the narrow mountain path as giant rocks tumbled down from the cliffs above. They tried to retreat, but the infantry who had just entered the gorge blocked their way out. They couldn’t withdraw, and more infantry were trampled to death by panicked warhorses than were crushed by the falling rocks.
Even the ear-splitting thunder couldn’t drown out the screams from the gorge. In a flash of lightning, Sui Yuanqing, lying on horseback, looked at the distant Chongzhou army with its heavy casualties. He closed his eyes tightly, his hands clenched into fists, his palms broken by his fingernails, blood seeping between his fingers.
He would have his revenge.
After the Chongzhou cavalry trampled many of their infantry in the gorge, the commander quickly rode forward to stabilize the situation. He ordered the cavalry not to retreat but to charge forward in a mass, thereby reducing the chances of being hit by the falling boulders from above.
The infantry at the rear, who hadn’t advanced deep into the gorge, quickly turned to retreat.
However, when the Chongzhou cavalry reached the exit of the gorge, they were met by rows of archers with bows already strung and ready.
At the rear of the infantry formation that hadn’t fully entered the valley, another Yanzhou force emerged. The infantry’s rear ranks were thrown into disarray. The soldiers who had escaped alive from the gorge, still in shock, saw the chaos outside and their morale plummeted, leading to a near rout.
The Chongzhou commander, knowing that the battle’s outcome made him culpable, only wanted to preserve as much of his force as possible while retreating. Blocked by the Yanzhou infantry cutting off their path, he came up with a plan. He ordered his troops to shout “Wu’an Marquis is dead!” to disrupt the Yanzhou army’s morale.
This tactic indeed worked. The Yanzhou forces, which had been attacking fiercely, began to show signs of faltering amidst the shouts of “Wu’an Marquis is dead!”
On the mountain, Xie Zheng heard the scout’s report. Despite his injuries, he struggled to get up, supporting himself with a long halberd. The military doctor didn’t dare to stop him, but Gong Sun Yin pushed him back down, saying, “That Sui boy’s spear thrust was quite vicious. If it had been a bit more to the side, it would have pierced your internal organs. You should value your life more. In your condition, what could you do if you went down the mountain?”
This was a cave the personal guards had found on the mountain. Although it kept out the rain, the cold wind blowing in, carrying moisture, still made people shiver.
The grass and trees in the forest were all soaked by the rain, and the soldiers below couldn’t find any dry firewood.
Xie Zheng had removed his armor and wore only his inner robe. His chest was exposed, revealing a fierce spear wound that stretched from his right chest across to the left, with a deep puncture. The military doctor had applied crushed herbs to it but hadn’t had time to wrap it in bandages yet.
With a stern expression, Xie Zheng said, “Shi Yue is an experienced general under the Long Xin King, with countless battles under his belt. We can’t underestimate him. We absolutely cannot let him stabilize his troops’ morale and counterattack our ten thousand troops at the foot of the mountain.”
The Chongzhou infantry amassed at the bottom of the mountain still numbered twenty thousand. If the Chongzhou army regained its composure, their ambushing force of ten thousand would be surrounded.
Gong Sun Yin looked at the pile of armor Xie Zheng had removed and said, “I have a plan. Find a personal guard with a similar build to yours, have him wear your armor, and ride down the mountain. That should be enough to steady our troops’ morale. In the darkness, who could tell it wasn’t you? Shi Yue is a cautious man. Having fallen for your trap and advanced into the gorge, he’s already learned his lesson. If he sees you appear at the foot of the mountain, he surely won’t dare to continue fighting.”
The deputy commander standing nearby also quickly said this plan was feasible.
After careful consideration, Xie Zheng finally nodded.
As the military doctor continued to bandage his wound, Gong Sun Yin finally glanced at Changning, who was sleeping against the cave wall wrapped in his dry cloak. The child had fine features, and even with her hair disheveled after being wiped dry, looking like a fluffy chick, she was still endearing.
But her face seemed unnaturally red. Gong Sun Yin reached out to feel her forehead and realized Changning wasn’t just asleep, she had developed a fever after being rained on all night.
He quickly said to the military doctor, “After you finish bandaging, please take a look at this child as well.”
Xie Zheng turned his head to see the thin flush on Changning’s face and said to the doctor who was wrapping the bandages, “Go check on the child.”
The doctor had to let Xie Zheng hold the wrapped bandages himself while he went to check Changning’s pulse.
Gong Sun Yin had originally planned to go help Xie Zheng, but he saw him lower his head and use his teeth to hold one end of the bandage, quickly tying it off. It seemed he was quite experienced at this.
He wanted to inquire about Fan Changyu, having previously thought that a woman who could butcher pigs must be large and stout. After Xie Zheng returned from rescuing people in Qingping County, he privately asked the personal guards if they had seen the girl.
The guard’s answer, however, left Gong Sun Yin quite perplexed. They said she was very beautiful and could throw a grown man several zhang with one hand.
Gong Sun Yin couldn’t imagine what kind of girl this was.
He had once thought that Xie Zheng’s guards might have the same taste in women as their lord, which was why they found such a girl attractive.
Seeing Changning tonight and knowing she was Fan Changyu’s sister, Gong Sun Yin suddenly doubted his previous assumptions. If the younger sister had such striking features, surely the older sister must be quite good-looking as well.
So the guards’ description of the pig-butchering girl as quite pretty must be true?
He became increasingly curious about Fan Changyu’s appearance.
The military doctor’s medicine box contained plenty of wound medicines and cold remedies. After checking Changning’s pulse, fearing the small child couldn’t endure, he went to find a personal guard to try and start a fire to brew the medicine.
Only Xie Zheng and Gong Sun Yin were left in the cave. He coughed lightly and said to Xie Zheng, “You’ve brought this child back safe and sound, but when you go to see her sister with your injuries, that girl will surely shed many tears of distress!”
Xie Zheng looked at the rain curtain without answering.
Gong Sun Yin, not wanting to appear too obvious, had to continue beating around the bush: “What do you plan to do with this child?”
Xie Zheng glanced at Changning, whose forehead was now covered with a cloth by the doctor: “Her sister is in Jizhou. Once her cold is better, I’ll send her back to Jizhou.”
Gong Sun Yin asked, “You won’t go with her?”
Xie Zheng suddenly turned to look at him. Realizing his intentions had been seen through, Gong Sun Yin quickly straightened up and looked at the rain curtain outside the cave while fanning himself: “My, this rain is really heavy. If everything goes smoothly at the dam, those fifty thousand Chongzhou troops surrounding Lu City should all be buried in watery graves by now.”
Xie Zheng withdrew his gaze and no longer paid attention to him, but his brows furrowed slightly, clearly also worried about the battle situation in Lu City.