"Please give me some pointers, Brother Wu."
"So, when you came from Leiming City, did you notice anything unusual about Peng Yuancheng when you passed through Dagu City?" Wu Tong's words seemed to show no respect for Peng Yuancheng, who was of equal status to his master Jiang Runqun, which surprised Shang Huaiyi.
"What happened to Peng Yuancheng? When I arrived, everything was normal in Dagu City. I was in a hurry to get on my way and didn't stay there for long."
“No wonder.” Wu Tong looked around and, seeing no one else around, leaned forward and whispered, “We received a secret order from Mr. Feng Jiutian that Peng Yuancheng is showing signs of treason. The cities of Huichang and Pingyi are to be on high alert and prevent him from colluding with the rebels of Chen.”
"What! How could this be?" Shang Huaiyi was shocked. He had been promoted by Li Jun from a low-ranking officer position because of his familiarity with warfare. He knew that Peng Yuancheng's abilities were far beyond those of Jiang Runqun and Sun Qing of Pingyi City. Moreover, judging from the current situation, Peng Yuancheng could advance directly from Dagu and Yuyang cities to Leiming City, one of the foundations of the Heping Army, and then threaten Kuanglan City. The only correct choice at this time was to urgently send a message to Li Jun to return to his army, and not to take any action within Yuzhou to avoid alerting Peng Yuancheng. But now Peng Yuancheng's rebellion was only a sign, and Feng Jiutian had already hastily ordered Jiang Runqun and Sun Qing to react. If this reached Peng Yuancheng's ears, wouldn't it force him to rebel immediately?
"A scholar is utterly useless! How could he come up with such a terrible plan?" He began to curse Feng Jiutian in his heart. Although he had once admired Feng Jiutian's ability to manage logistics and supplies, it seemed that in the face of major changes, the measures he took were even worse than his own.
"Brother Wu, could you lead me to see Lord Jiang?" he asked. The only option now was to discuss it with Jiang Runqun first. If possible, he could persuade Jiang Runqun to quickly reinforce Pingyi to threaten Dagu City, which would at least relieve the pressure on Leiming City and prevent Peng Yuancheng from defeating them one by one, while waiting for Li Jun to return with the news.
But Wu Tong looked troubled and said, "After hearing the news, the city lord has been traveling day and night to the front line of Chen Kingdom to report military secrets to Commander Li. It will probably take more than a day or two to see him."
Hearing this, Shang Huaiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Li Jun learned the news as soon as possible, with Li Jun's wisdom, he would naturally be able to find a solution. Shang Huaiyi, like other former generals of the Peace Army, had absolute confidence in this.
"If that's the case, then we'll rest in the city tonight and hurry to Chen tomorrow morning. Perhaps we'll meet the commander on the way," he thought to himself. After all, his main task at the moment was still escorting this batch of grain.
That night, he was resting in the inn, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The news of Peng Yuancheng's rebellion was unprecedented for the usually united Peace Army, and it had greatly shocked him. When he arrived from Dagu City, everything was as it had been, with no signs of rebellion. Why had news of Peng Yuancheng's rebellion reached Huichang before he even reached it? Although he had seen messengers hurrying past him on the road, he hadn't expected them to carry such a message. Why hadn't Feng Jiutian sent anyone to inform him? He knew he would be escorting a large amount of grain and supplies through this route. Moreover, with Peng Yuancheng's rebellion, Dagu City was no longer theirs. How could those messengers have passed through the outposts outside Dagu City and reached Huichang?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and the more confused he became, the less he could fall asleep. He simply got up, put on his clothes, moved around in the room for a bit, and then went out to check on the grain and supplies he was escorting.
As he approached the village where the vehicles were stored, he was slightly taken aback. For some reason, the sentries were not standing at the gate. They should have been taking turns on duty here. Could it be that they had gone inside to keep warm because of the freezing weather? His heart tightened. If that was the case, then the sentries were extremely irresponsible. With so much supplies, what if someone sneaked in and set it on fire?
Just as he thought of fire, he saw thick smoke billowing from the large camp. Most of his soldiers were camped and sleeping in the camp. As the smoke rose, they jumped out of their beds, shouting "Fire! Fire!" But then a dense rain of clappers sounded, and countless arrows, under the cover of night, shot towards these unarmed Peace Army soldiers.
"Damn it!" Shang Huaiyi suddenly realized that the one plotting the rebellion was probably not Peng Yuancheng, but Jiang Runqun. The reason he hadn't made a move in the wild was probably because he was afraid that if he fled when things went wrong, the news would be leaked. Now that he had set up camp under Jiang's arrangement, he was like a lamb entering a tiger's den, and he could only let Jiang do as he pleased.
Thinking of this, he looked back and saw that the inn where he was staying was also engulfed in flames. If he hadn't left a step earlier, even if he hadn't been burned to death, he would certainly have been riddled with arrows by the archers lying in ambush! Shang Huaiyi was furious, but seeing the strength of the enemy, he knew that even if he rushed over, he would only be another corpse in the fire.
"I'm sorry, brothers, I will definitely come back to avenge you!" Hearing his men's screams, he suppressed the urge to turn back and fight them to the death. He quietly drew his waist knife, his only weapon and reliance now. He crouched down, shrinking into the shadows, and stealthily made his way towards the city gate.
The Peace Army soldiers in the stronghold also began to realize their mistake and ceased their futile efforts to put out the fire. Although their commander was absent, under the command of their squad leaders, they used the firelight to find any usable weapons and began to charge outwards. A relentless rain of arrows turned their courage and anger into blood and cries of agony. Even so, over two hundred Peace Army soldiers charged into the enemy ranks, launching a frenzied retaliation against the soldiers who had ambushed them. But this remaining tenth of their fighting force, after killing and wounding enemies several times their size, was also completely engulfed in a sea of red flames. Not one of the two thousand Peace Army soldiers survived; under Jiang Runqun's meticulously planned and executed scheme, their corpses were left behind in Huichang City.
Shang Huaiyi, knife in hand, stumbled through the darkness, occasionally stepping into puddles of varying depths, or slipping and falling due to the uneven terrain. This winter was exceptionally cold; although the puddles hadn't frozen, they were still icy cold, and the ground was frozen as hard as iron, making it feel as if one's bones would shatter if they fell on it.
The physical pain was almost imperceptible to Shang Huaiyi; he even thought he was numb. Compared to his brothers who had died tragically, what was this pain?
I don't know when it started, but tears welled up in my eyes. When was the last time this grown man in his thirties cried? Was it when I was fifteen and saw the woman I loved being pinned down by that rich man's son, or when I killed that rich man's son and was then hung up and beaten by the authorities? Was it after being spared death by the Tong family, or when I had fought many battles and made many merits but was not promoted because of my background?
Unable to answer himself, all he could do was suppress his grief and anger, suppress the urge to roar, and continue to stagger forward.
Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from behind him, which made Shang Huaiyi struggle out of the darkness in his heart. He hurriedly hid behind a tree and stole a glance at the people coming from behind.
A lone warrior stood, holding a torch high. The wind whipped up by his galloping horse caused the torch to trail a long, luminous tail. In the dark, moonless night with its low-hanging clouds, this beam of light shone exceptionally brightly.
Seeing the rider heading towards the west gate, Shang Huaiyi had a sudden thought. He knew that the fact that he hadn't been burned to death in the post station must have been discovered, and this cavalryman was probably going to the west gate to warn people to be on high alert. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he decided to take a risk.
The rider was only focused on getting on his way, and the torchlight was limited. Suddenly, someone pounced out from behind a tree. Instinctively, he pulled on the reins and cursed, "Are you looking for death?!"
"Exactly." Seeing that his momentum had been halted, Shang Huaiyi gritted his teeth and swung his sword. The soldier recognized Shang Huaiyi at this moment, sounded a warning, and tried to flee, but Shang Huaiyi's sword had already slashed between his waist and leg, penetrating half a foot into his body.
But the blow didn't hit a vital spot. Although the soldier fell off his horse, he wasn't dead yet. He struggled on the ground, letting out a shrill scream. In the night, his screams were particularly piercing.
Shang Huaiyi forcefully reined in his frightened warhorse, then leaped onto it. As a cavalry commander of the Tong family, he was naturally skilled in horsemanship. Once on horseback, he cast a venomous glance at the soldiers on the ground.
"Don't blame me! Blame your city lord for being a despicable villain, and blame you for killing so many of my brothers!" Shang Huaiyi spurred his horse and trampled the soldier several times until his groans disappeared and his body was trampled into a bloody mess. Only then did Shang Huaiyi feel some of his resentment subside, and he spurred his horse toward the west gate.
On the way, he threw off all his Peace Army uniforms, wearing only his civilian clothes underneath. When he saw the city gate in the distance, he shouted loudly, "Open the gate quickly! Open the gate quickly! By order of the city lord, there is an urgent military matter!"
Seeing the fire break out in the city, the soldiers guarding the city knew that the city lord had attacked the Peace Army, and they were unsure of the outcome. Upon hearing this, they asked, "Who are you? Do you know if the Peace Army in the city has been completely wiped out?"
“Not a single one escaped; they are all dead!” Shang Huaiyi suppressed his pain and answered loudly, deliberately avoiding the other party’s previous question.