Xiao Yingtao undid her own robes, and soon she too was left wearing only a set of night clothes.
Unlike Feng Jiu’er, if she wanted to keep her outer garments intact, she had to undress slowly and carefully.
After the two of them discussed things for a while and went outside, Xing Zizhou was already waiting by the door.
“Jiu’er, it’s almost time. I wonder how things are going for Jian Yi…”
Before Xing Zizhou could finish speaking, a crackling sound came from outside.
The three exchanged glances and nodded, understanding at once.
Xing Zizhou blew out the two brightest lamps and went to push open the window.
Three figures leapt through the window one after another, vanishing from the room.
Reinforcements had yet to arrive, the tally had yet to be retrieved, the enemy army was closing in, the estate had been set ablaze, and two of the grain stores were gone besides—Feng Rui, at this moment, had his hands full and no time to spare.
He had only sent two thousand troops toward Chen Family Village, unable to go in person.
Less than half an hour before the hour of Hai, a crowd of common folk surged into the Yuelai Inn.
There were so many of them—over a hundred had gone inside, with several hundred more gathered outside.
The leader left behind to guard the inn looked at the dense crowd of heads packed inside and waved someone over.
A soldier hurried forward. “Leader, what should we do?”
“Go inform General Feng,” the leader said, waving a hand.
“Yes.” The soldier cupped his hands and turned to leave.
The common folk pushed their way in despite every attempt to stop them, coming on fierce and unrelenting.
With a great battle imminent and no orders given, the leader did not dare harm anyone recklessly.
“We’ve all heard—Old General Yuan was poisoned and is in mortal danger,” said one sturdy commoner, raising a long arm and glaring at the soldiers closing in around him.
“Old General Yuan was perfectly fine just today—so why has he been poisoned? Shouldn’t General Feng give us a reasonable explanation!”
Feng Rui was a general, and a high official of the court besides—by rights, the common folk ought to show him respect.
But the scent of war smoke was already drifting over from nearby, and the only reason they hadn’t yet fled was Old General Yuan, wasn’t it?
Whoever it might be, so long as they meant Old General Yuan harm, they would become the enemy of nearly every commoner in Xiyuan City.
“Where is Old General Yuan? We want to see him.”
“We want to see Old General Yuan!”
“We want to see Old General Yuan!”
“We want to see Old General Yuan!”
Over a hundred commoners raised their arms as one, shouting in unison.
Before the leader who had gone inside could speak, the same cry rose up again from behind him.
Yet another wave of commoners poured in, until every last space was packed with people.
“Quiet!” the leader bellowed.
The crowd lowered their arms and fell silent.
The leader looked at those rows of resolute, unwavering eyes, and felt more at a loss than ever.
He had long heard that the people of the city respected Old General Yuan, but who would have thought they’d be willing to stand against a court official for the sake of one exiled general?
“Old General Yuan is fine. He’s resting in his chamber. Are you trying to disturb the old man’s rest?” the leader said, softening his tone.
“If Old General Yuan is fine, then why won’t you let us see him?” said the commoner staring the leader down, without a trace of fear.
“I told you, he’s resting, you all—”
“We’ll only send two people in. Once we’ve confirmed Old General Yuan is unharmed, we’ll leave right away.” Before the leader could finish, the crowd cut him off.
The leader frowned, his voice dropping low. “Are you trying to start a rebellion?”
“The enemy army is stirring—they might attack the city any moment—and instead of helping, you come here to make trouble?”
“If we lose this battle, you won’t even have homes left to—”
“Wherever Old General Yuan is, that is our home!” the crowd’s voices rang out together, loud and clear.
“Wherever Old General Yuan is, that is our home!”