Emergency Summons
As night deepened, General Lin Gangluo reduced the number of guards on the city walls and increased the patrol troops instead. Then he set an ambush at the entrance of the water channel and waited for Liang's spies to slip into Longyang City.
High atop the walls of Longyang City, the fires of the braziers flickered with the wind.
Seizing the moment when the moonlight grew hazy, figures in black night attire pressed themselves flat against the wall and crept closer. One by one, they slipped swiftly into the deep, wide water channel and swam into Longyang City.
There were about ten of them, all elite soldiers of the Zhao Family Army. They had just infiltrated carefully into the city when they spotted patrol soldiers shouldering their torches and circling the ramparts. Pressing themselves flat against the channel wall once more, they held their breath and sank beneath the water, lifting their heads just enough to watch the surface above. Only when the light drew farther away did they raise their heads again and clamber quickly ashore.
Once all thirteen of them had made it onto dry ground, their leader spoke in a hushed voice.
"Move separately. Two of you go to Jin's granaries. Two of you capture two Jin soldiers and find out whether the reinforcements have arrived. The rest of you, follow me to rescue the young master! Half a shichen from now, whether we succeed or fail, we must be out of the city!"
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the Liang troops were about to scatter, a light flashed from the city tower. The Jin soldiers who had been lying in wait drew their blades and closed in around all thirteen of them.
Realizing they had walked straight into a trap, the Zhao Family elites drew their swords and plunged into the water, trying to escape.
But the first elite soldier to break through the encirclement and leap into the channel had his throat pierced by an arrow from nowhere, and died on the spot.
The second man who tried to dive in after him had his throat shot through as well, and the moment a third was run through by the blades of Jin's great army and fell into the channel, its water ran red.
An arrow whipped through the wind and tore through the leader's chest. The Zhao Family elites immediately closed ranks around their wounded leader to shield him, longswords drawn, glaring with wary eyes at the Jin soldiers who had encircled them.
"Fall back!"
Lin Gangluo bellowed.
The soldiers who had surrounded the Zhao Family Army immediately withdrew, clearing a path.
Lin Gangluo walked slowly toward the Zhao soldiers, leading several of his generals, and regarded them with cold, fierce eyes.
"They've come to rescue Zhao Tong. Send them all to Zhao Tong!"
The Zhao Family troops who had infiltrated Longyang City were stripped of their weapons and thrown into prison all together.
A strange feeling had begun to seep over them the moment they entered the cell, thick with the stench of burnt flesh. When they saw Zhao Tong stripped of his trousers, his limbs bound to a wooden plank, they finally understood — and with reddened eyes, they dropped to their knees in a rush.
"General!"
"You dogs! How dare you do something so vile to our general!"
Unable to contain their fury, the Zhao Family elites lunged at the Jin soldiers who had escorted them in, as if ready to fight to the death. But bound hand and foot as they were, they were no match for the Jin troops, and were kicked to the floor.
"General! General!"
Still on their knees, the Zhao soldiers crept toward their general, who had fainted from the pain, gritting their teeth as tears streamed down their faces without end.
"We merely dealt with the Liang army the way old General Zhao used to! I thought the Zhao Family Army would have long since grown accustomed to this kind of punishment. Apparently, your general knows exactly how much it hurts!"
Nuo Ping taunted them with leisurely contempt.
"You dogs! I'll tear you limb from limb! Our Young Marshal will lead the Liang army and trample your entire country underfoot! We'll crush you — every last pig and dog of you!"
The Zhao soldiers glared, gnashing their teeth like cornered beasts, looking at Nuo Ping as though they could kill him with their eyes alone.
"There is a very simple way to save General Zhao. Speak. Where is the Gaoyi County Princess? Refuse, and you will end up just like Zhao Tong."
Nuo Ping said, his eyes like ice.
One of the Zhao soldiers, an arrow still lodged in his chest, sneered.
"Pah! You want the Gaoyi County Princess? Then prepare to see her corpse very soon!"
"There's no hurry. The night is long, and we have plenty of time."
Nuo Ping ordered a metal case brought in. Inside lay a set of small iron balls, each strung along a wire, descending from the largest to the smallest.
The faces of the Zhao soldiers went deathly pale. They knew exactly what this was.
It was a technique the Zhao Family Army itself used when extracting information from enemy captives: the little iron balls were heated glowing red and then set against a prisoner's navel, one after another. A man subjected to this torture would beg for death as a mercy.
"This is the very device your old General Zhao used on our Bai family's Onoya, and on the Bai brothers."
Nuo Ping raised his hand and idly caressed the metal case. Hiding the hatred smoldering deep in his eyes, he continued slowly, his face set like stone.
"Old General Zhao used this method, but he got nothing at all from our Onoya. The Bai brothers couldn't bear the agony and let slip a few scraps of information — but they couldn't live with such cowardice, and paid their debt in the end with their lives. Only one man was rescued from the hands of our Young Marshal! So I've been curious. I wonder whether the resolve of the Zhao Family Army is truly firmer than that of our Bai brothers."
* * *
Bai Jingyan did not come down from the city tower. Noticing that the number of Zhao Family troops who had entered the city was too small, she guessed that someone must have remained outside to keep watch. If the infiltrators failed to leave the city within the promised time, that sentry would return straight to the Liang camp to report.
Shen Qingzhu had come to Mount Chunmu ahead of them, and had already made a study of the temperaments and favorite strategies of most of Liang's generals. Besides Zhao Tong, the Zhao Family Army was led by another general — Zhao Sheng.
Zhao Sheng was an exceptionally meticulous man. He would never have sent every one of his men into the city; without doubt he would have left at least a messenger waiting outside.
General Wang Xiping raced swiftly up the tower and saluted Bai Jingyan, who stood concealed in the darkness.
"General Bai, Nuo Ping has interrogated the Zhao Family Army and learned where Liang's granaries are. Not at the camp itself, but in the mountain valley between Fuwen City and the Liang military camp — about two li from their camp. The men who will leave the city are already prepared and can move out at any time.
We suspect there are Liang troops outside waiting for word, so I've handpicked soldiers who can hold their breath underwater for the mission. My only concern is the distance from inside the city to the perimeter — we Jin men are not strong swimmers. So I plan to send them out by the east or west gate, even if it means taking the longer way around."
Marshal Xun Tianzhang was indeed a cautious man.
"Open the gate and send them out by the north gate! Once all the soldiers are out, order handlers with hunting dogs to follow them. We must search the area beyond the walls. If you see any Liang soldier trying to slip back to their camp with word, cut him down on the spot!"
Bai Jingyan turned her head and spoke to Wang Xiping.
"Tell the men burning the granaries that on their way back, they are to capture more Liang soldiers. I intend to interrogate them about where the Gaoyi County Princess is being held."
It was not that she feared Nuo Ping would fail to extract anything from the Zhao Family Army. Zhao Yi, Zhao Tong's grandfather, had interrogated his enemies with every manner of brutal cruelty — he had been called the King of Hell of this world. Those same methods would now be turned on the Zhao Family Army. It was impossible that every captive they had taken possessed unbending will.
The real reason she gave the order to Wang Xiping was to obtain information that was more precise and more certain.
Wang Xiping saluted.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Bai Jingyan nocked an arrow and drew it to the Sun-Shooting Bow. Darkness had long since thickened over the land, but her eyes, long adjusted to watching the dark, could pick out the faintest movement within it. If anything stirred out there, she would know.
The drawbridge lowered slowly as the gates swung open. More than twenty black-clad warriors, Du Sanbao among them, sprinted from within the city and out into the night. Stripped of their armor and dressed in light clothing, they carried only fire-starting tools and shot off toward the Liang camp like arrows released from the bowstring.
Hidden in the darkness, flat against the ground, a Zhao Family soldier clutched uneasily at the scabbard at his waist, alert and watchful.
A galloping fine horse swept past him, and only then did the Zhao soldier slowly lift his head. He glanced once in the direction of Longyang City. The drawbridge had not yet been raised, and the gates still stood open. Without knowing why, his heart began to pound.
Before long, dogs began barking suddenly from within the city. Rising on one foot, bending at the waist, he shifted his weight and began to retreat.
When the Jin soldiers emerged from the gates with torches held high, dragging the ceaselessly barking hounds behind them, he gripped his scabbard tight and backed away slowly.
Bai Jingyan, her gaze fixed on the darkness, caught sight of a murky silhouette shifting backward. She drew the bow back without hesitation, aiming the coldly gleaming arrowhead at the slowly moving black shadow.
The archers standing atop the tower with her drew their bows in unison, aiming toward the direction her arrow pointed.
"Loose!"
The instant Bai Jingyan's command fell, a chorus of whistling arrows tore through the darkness. The shafts arced up into the sky and poured down on the Zhao Family Army like a swarm of locusts blanketing the heavens.
The Zhao soldier who had been backing slowly raised his head at the sound of wind cleaved apart. A single chill-white arrow punched through his terror-stricken pupil.
A harrowing scream split the night sky. The Jin soldier standing on the drawbridge began releasing the hounds. Nine hunting dogs bared their fangs and raced madly toward the source of the scream, the Jin soldiers running close behind.
Before long, the Zhao Family soldier — his body bristling with arrows like a hedgehog — was dragged lifeless back into the city.
The hounds even ferreted out the horses the Zhao troops had ridden in on. The Jin soldiers led the animals away as well.
"A fine haul indeed!"
Wang Xiping marveled as he looked the fourteen black horses over, one by one.
Bai Jingyan surveyed the horses as well, then approached the sturdiest of the fine steeds. Stroking its mane, she fell deep into thought.
There had been a reason Xiao Rongyan had spoken with such certainty that Liang would declare war on Jin.
Northern Rong needed Great Yan's help. But Great Yan feared that in aiding Northern Rong, Jin might draw a blade at its back. So the best course would be to drag Jin into the war — and Northern Rong would naturally help bring that about.
Then Liang would gain not only a stronger army but fine horses as well. What was more, the Zhenguo King Bai Weiting and all the men of the Bai family had fallen in battle at the Southern Border, and the Rongdi had been swallowed up in their own internal strife. With Yan declaring it would send troops to aid the Rongdi, this was the golden opportunity for Liang to reclaim its lost lands. It was, truly, the perfect alignment of Heaven's timing, Earth's advantage, and men's harmony. How could they possibly sit still?
Xiao Rongyan had read the situation exactly.
"Have you searched everywhere? Only one man?"
Bai Jingyan asked, looking at the Zhao soldier bristling with arrows.
"We searched every inch of it. Even checked the hoofprints. Fourteen horses in all, sir — we brought back every one."
One of Wang Xiping's men answered respectfully.
Bai Jingyan nodded.
"You've toiled hard in the dead of night. Go back and rest."
When Bai Jingyan mounted her horse and headed somewhere other than the camp, Wang Xiping hurried after her.
"General Bai, are you not returning to rest?"
"I'm going to the prison."
Bai Jingyan answered, gripping the Otgon tally that the Jin soldiers had handed over.
"General, please go rest! You haven't rested a single moment since we arrived at Longyang City. If you keep this up, you'll do yourself real harm."
Wang Xiping pleaded.
"It's fine. I know my own body best."
Before Bai Jingyan could even crack her whip, one of Wang Xiping's men came sprinting up.
"Reporting, General Bai! General Wang! Grand Marshal Liu Hong has entered through the north gate bearing an imperial edict. He commands all the generals inside Longyang City to assemble at the training grounds at once to receive his orders!"
The Emperor had named General Liu Hong as Grand Marshal. Before the great army had set out, the Emperor had summoned Liu Hong to the palace and emphasized it again and again: in the war against Liang, he was to make every effort to avoid employing Bai Jingyan, and to exclude her from any operation where it was possible.
The Emperor had no wish for other nations to see that the men of Jin were so incompetent that victory depended on a single woman.