A few days after Yuan Cheng left, Mo Zi welcomed her own second brother, Jin Yin.
“You calculated this, didn’t you?” Mo Zi watched Niu Gao direct the new ship to weigh anchor, ignoring his grinning face. “He leaves on his front foot, you arrive on your back foot.”
Jin Yin fanned himself with a fan, clicking his tongue. “How can Third Sister speak like this? As if I’m afraid of him.”
Mo Zi suddenly slapped him hard on the back. “If you’re not afraid of him, why have you come twice but not dared to show your face before him?” Looking at his side, there was no Dou Lu, only Bai Liang and Qian Liang. “Where’s my sister?”
“What would she come here for? She’s neither good at riding horses nor knows how to build ships. She can just stay home and plant flowers.” Jin Yin shook his fan, squinting at the massive object before him. “This is a warship? Why is it so big?” He avoided the question of whether he feared Yuan Cheng; as for whether he was hiding in the shadows during the Dragon Boat Festival, he dodged.
“A sea-going warship. To withstand ocean waves and winds, it naturally must be much larger than river vessels.” Mo Zi answered simply. Stay home and plant flowers? At home? She smiled falsely. “You left her alone in Ping City, a place that Daqiu could trample at any moment?”
Jin Yin leisurely waved his fan. “First, she’s not alone but surrounded by a heap of people. Second, the place about to be trampled at any moment is Daqiu, not our Song territories.”
Mo Zi pressed down on his fan. “Young Master Jin, when you fanned a paper fan in the dead of winter, I let it pass—after all, you’re uncomfortable if your hands aren’t fanning something. But in this blazing heat, you’re holding a silver fan, and it’s even hollow-carved, dazzling my eyes without a hint of breeze. What are you doing? Even painting cakes to satisfy hunger isn’t as exhausting as what you’re doing! Stop fanning. Don’t you know pregnant women fear heat the most? I’ve been waiting forever for some wind—are you adding fuel to the fire?” Sweat dripped from her temples.
Jin Yin wore quite an innocent expression. “I don’t feel it’s particularly hot. The fan has always been to display this young master’s romantic elegance—I never intended to create coolness. By the way, why are pregnant women especially afraid of heat?”
Mo Zi glared at him irritably. “With a hot baby warming up your belly, it’s like carrying a copper brazier—how could you not be hot?”
Jin Yin made sounds of understanding.
“Is everything well in Ping City?” This didn’t refer only to Dou Lu.
“The King of Daqiu might be ill.” Jin Yin finally became serious. “So this past half year has only been defensive.”
“What illness is it this time?” Mo Zi hadn’t expected to hear such news.
“My people only discovered that since returning to the palace after the New Year, he hasn’t left the palace gates. Moreover, many physicians have been going in and out. I came to discuss with the Cabinet. Doesn’t Yuan Cheng still have informants in the capital? It would be best to investigate quickly. If the King of Daqiu is truly gravely ill, our opportunity has arrived.” The opportunity to counterattack. “Hmm—what illness again? Has he been ill before?” Her reaction was a bit slow.
“Vomiting blood. However, I thought it was just from anger.” Wu Yan had feigned illness for ten years but secretly practiced martial arts. He was skilled in riding and archery—even Daqiu’s most formidable Black Armor warriors might not be his match. Therefore, Mo Zi was somewhat dismissive. “Your information may not be accurate. How many emperors frequently go out? With physicians coming and going, perhaps it’s for a concubine.”
“I always feel something’s unusual.” Jin Yin continued fanning his drafty fan—this was his signature move proving he was clever and handsome. He didn’t want to change it.
“To have you personally make a trip for something like finding spies—you’re really idle.” Mo Zi prepared to board the ship.
Jin Yin blocked her. “What are you doing?”
“Testing the new ship.” Mo Zi invited him. “Want to come aboard and broaden your horizons?”
“Your husband isn’t here—that doesn’t mean you can defy heaven.” Jin Yin called over the twin silver brothers. “Watch her, don’t let her board the ship or go into the water.”
“My husband can’t even control me—you have even less chance.” Mo Zi also had brothers who could fight. “Zan Jin, it’s been a long time since you sparred with Qian Liang and Bai Liang. A good match would be nice.”
Qian Liang and Bai Liang already knew they couldn’t stop Mo Zi. She had many capable people around her, and this was her territory—the young master spoke without understanding the difficulty. Hearing they could spar with Zan Jin, the two brothers were delighted and even thanked Mo Zi in unison.
Jin Yin’s face darkened. “These two boys—when Yuan Cheng is around, they fawn over him. When he’s not, they fawn over you. They treat me, their master, as if I’m dead.”
Mo Zi couldn’t stop smiling and pulled him along. “That’s because you overthink things. Don’t worry, if there’s a problem with the ship, at worst we’ll just swim. Your third sister’s swimming ability—I dare not claim to be the world’s number one, but I’m not much worse than the three stinky fish brothers.” An exaggerated claim.
Jin Yin stared at her big belly. “You can still swim like this?”
“Why not? Pregnancy isn’t a disability.” There were even people who gave birth in water.
How could Jin Yin prevail over her? He carefully followed behind her up the gangplank onto the ship. “Whether I came for the Dragon Boat Festival or not doesn’t actually matter to him, but if I were here and something happened to you, he would make me pay with my life.” Yuan Cheng would absolutely do it.
Mo Zi stepped onto the deck and turned to tell Jin Yin, “Don’t take the Daqiu situation lightly. Wu Yan is a very formidable person. I don’t believe he’s ill—I’m more inclined to believe he has some plot.”
“What plot?” Jin Yin, up to now, still hadn’t dealt directly with Wu Yan.
“I don’t know.” Mo Zi shook her head. “Just be more vigilant.”
Jin Yin agreed.
Now for Yuan Cheng’s side.
Previously, because the Song army responded to the people’s hearts, when attacking Nande’s forces, they collapsed for a thousand miles with virtually no ability to fight back, encountering almost no proper resistance. However, fighting the Jiang clan in the southern rear was not easy. Father and son Jiang Hua were beloved and supported by the common people. United in purpose, everyone participated in battle, establishing solid defensive fortifications in border towns.
The eight hundred thousand troops Yuan Cheng led were exactly double Jiang Hua’s four hundred thousand, and the warships Mo Zi designed had complete superiority. But at the very first city, they encountered stubborn resistance including from ordinary people. Although Jiang Hua ultimately withdrew, in this battle Song forces lost fifty thousand dead and over a hundred thousand wounded—losses could be called devastating. The populace followed Jiang Hua’s one command—absolutely do not leave the Song army a single grain of rice or one coin. They set fire to the city themselves, destroyed all usable supplies into ash and charcoal, and poisoned the water and fields, turning a perfectly good city into a dead city.
Vanguard General Teng Guo had these people who wouldn’t listen to persuasion encircled layer by layer in an open area outside the city and asked Yuan Cheng how to deal with them.
Yuan Cheng rode forward and saw thousands of people without battle dress, without weapons in hand, their gazes all filled with hatred, their faces bearing the smoke-stained color of having just experienced the fires of war. Behind him, the blood of many Song soldiers dyed the earth red. Before him, raging flames mocked these lives’ sacrifice that gained nothing. This battle—winning it filled him with fury and murderous intent.
Slaughter the city. A very easy decision to make. Just as Daqiu initially attacked Yuling—wash the city in blood, leave no survivors, thereby shattering the rulers’ courage, making subsequent surrender demands simple.
“We live as citizens of Duke Jiang, die as ghosts of the Southern Nation. You bandit invaders can cut off our heads but cannot destroy our souls. Just go ahead and kill us.” Standing at the very front was a middle-aged man with a robust physique and eyes radiating cold light. “Yuan the Corrupt Official, Nande has already fallen—is there still any need for you to pretend to be a good person?”
“Prime Minister, these people are incorrigibly stubborn. Kill them to warn others.” Having lost so many soldiers, Teng Guo didn’t want to show mercy, even if the opponents were just ordinary people.
Yuan Cheng had originally intended to kill them. War was not child’s play—showing mercy to enemies was being cruel to oneself. But when he heard that middle-aged man’s words, suspicion arose. Waiting for him to kill? Expecting him to kill? Though the Jiang clan enjoyed high popular support, the region wasn’t necessarily completely unaffected by Nande’s corrupt government, and it was impossible for all the common people to be willing to die for the Jiang clan. Once he killed these people, Jiang Hua could use the excuse of having no way out to make the populace resist to the bitter end. This was clearly a trap set for him—the more people he killed, the more would be loyal to Jiang Hua.
His mind suddenly became clear. His icy expression didn’t soften as he addressed the middle-aged man who spoke first. “You killed my soldiers, burned my spoils of war, destroyed my Song soil and Song water—you indeed deserve to die. However, I don’t want to give you the satisfaction of beheading you so quickly with one stroke.”
The middle-aged man sneered coldly. “You think we’ll be afraid?”
“Do you have wives, children, or elderly parents?” Yuan Cheng asked.
Those people didn’t know what he meant.
Still the middle-aged man answered, “Everyone is born of parents—how could we not have family? My wife and children are in Hai City—a place you can’t reach.”
Yuan Cheng didn’t respond further, turning to instruct Teng Guo. “Bind them securely and take them south with the army. In the next battle, behead them before the formation in front of their relatives. Since they won’t live many more days, don’t skimp on rations. Let people see that even if Song forces don’t eat their grain, we can still slaughter them without leaving a single piece of armor.”
“As ordered.” Teng Guo took his adopted son to deal with the prisoners.
Wei An was accompanying as a military advisor. Seeing Yuan Cheng give such orders, he was somewhat puzzled. After returning to the tent, he asked, “Why didn’t the Prime Minister execute those people on the spot, but instead wants to keep them until the next city, consuming our military provisions?”
“When I said I’d kill them before the formation, I didn’t mean it.” Yuan Cheng smiled.
“Uh, this is—” Wei An didn’t understand.
“These people are probably not ordinary citizens but Jiang Hua’s soldiers, resolved to die, so they’re not at all afraid of me killing them. Setting fires, poisoning, plus leaving no prisoners—if word spreads, it would be that our Song army slaughtered the city.” A very good trap.
Wei An suddenly understood. “The Prime Minister’s consideration is truly comprehensive. I didn’t think of it at all.”
“I won’t kill them now, but I fear they’ll harm themselves, which is why I said that about beheading them before the formation. Actually, when we reach the formation, I’ll release them. They can’t very well commit suicide in front of their own people.” Wanting to splash dirty water on him, yet he loved cleanliness. “Also, those mountain bandits I had you find some days ago can now be put to use.”
“The Prime Minister’s ingenious strategy makes this military advisor like a mere decoration. I’m ashamed.” Wei An also quickly understood.
Yuan Cheng smiled indifferently.
After ten days, Song forces and Jiang family troops met in battle at Ge City.
Before the formation, Teng Guo read the Song decree. “Nande has been merged into Song territories. Though Duke Jiang has governed the two provinces for generations, he merely carried out the Son of Heaven’s commands. Now self-proclaiming himself king, acting against heaven, abandoning the people’s life and death without regard, he provokes conflict. Song forces have no intention of harming the innocent, but Duke Jiang used despicable methods, secretly using death warriors to burn the city and poison it, attempting to pin the crime of city slaughter on Song forces—we have already seen through this. Today before the formation, we release a thousand death warriors who falsely posed as ordinary citizens of the two provinces. All along the way, they had good food and drink and were not mistreated. We hope henceforth you will be upright and honorable, accepting victory or defeat magnanimously, and not engage in petty schemes again.”
The general defending the city heard this from atop the city wall and angrily shouted that Yuan Cheng was slandering them.
Yuan Cheng didn’t care and only ordered the prisoners released.
Those prisoners hadn’t expected this and were caught in a dilemma before the city gates.
Suddenly, a volley of swift arrows shot out from Ge City, killing about seventy to eighty percent of them.
Jiang Hua was not in Ge City. He hadn’t expected the dirty water he’d splashed out to be splashed back at him, drenching him unprepared. Rumors arose everywhere saying he was sinister and vicious, while the people in cities and towns occupied by Song forces lived stably, calming their panic. Therefore, the situation gradually became unfavorable to him, and by the ninth month he was besieged in the final city—Hai City.