Chapter 1909

Weng Su heard the voice and jumped down from the tree: "Here we are, here we are—are we setting out for Xie City now?"

"No, Qiao State."

"Ah?" Weng Su was one of the few who knew about the plan; after all, he and his brother had once been intermediaries between the Black Armor Army and Doctor Li, "Wasn't it originally decided to be Xie City?"

"It changed; the news we received ten days ago had already changed, and our people have already slipped in under the guise of merchants." Doctor Li handed him the slip, "Look, the lord has once again confirmed the operational target."

Written in code above, the Weng brothers had spent several months memorizing the cipher.

"Alright, let's do it!" Weng Xing rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his palms, but Weng Su looked somewhat worried.

"The target has shifted from city to state—do we have enough manpower for this?"

"The Emperor's prediction was precise; there will be no mistake." Doctor Li said seriously, "Xie City is indeed a good target, but Qiao State underwent a heavenly upheaval just twenty-five days ago, the people's hearts are unsettled, and now is precisely a good opportunity to rise."

"Twenty-five days ago?"

Weng Xing interjected: "That was when you were out on business, Qiao State changed its ruler."

"Changed ruler... such a major event, and when you came back you didn't tell me?" Still brothers?

"I, I forgot. In this place, today you hit me, tomorrow I hit you—changing the state name is routine, the people are still the same people, the city is still the same city, what's so strange about changing the ruler?"

Seeing these blood brothers glaring at each other, ready to fight, Doctor Li hurriedly redirected the topic: "The new ruler of Qiao State is weak, having been on the throne less than half a year; his younger brother has troops at the city gates, forcing him to abdicate, saying this won't harm harmony, and they'll still be brothers afterward. This foolish king actually believed it, flung open the city gates. As a result, when his brother entered the city and seized power, he drew his sword and struck—he didn't just kill him, but also slaughtered his eight sons and five senior ministers, leaving not a trace."

Weng Su spat on the ground: "Faithless and unjust, gaining position through improper means!"

"In short, the new ruler has been on the throne for only twenty-five days, and killed his elder brother only twenty days ago; the entire court dares not speak, but public resentment runs high. Because when he led his troops into the city, he failed to maintain discipline, and soldiers took the opportunity to pillage and extort; afterward, he didn't even take it seriously. When civilians cursed them, they even dragged in our Black Armor Army."

"Oh?" Weng Xing said curiously, "How so?"

"The common folk proclaim that the Dragon God will punish this wicked ruler for them. You also know, everywhere they're spreading the legend that the Dragon God is about to sweep across Shanjin—" Of course, these legends are what they've been spreading. Doctor Li turned his head to order his subordinates to tidy their weapons, then continued, "This new ruler is probably furious and terrified, forbidding idle talk among the people, and even arresting those with big mouths and throwing them into prison; they also forbid private worship of the Dragon God and the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, and once caught, it's either chopping off hands or chopping off heads. In the past twenty days, it's said they've beheaded at least a dozen or so."

Weng Xing exclaimed: "Isn't this just a prophecy? They're hoping for the Black Armor Army, and the Black Armor Army will naturally come!"

Weng Su also nodded: "No wonder this slip mentions, 'The Qiao people long for the Dragon God even more, thirst for the descent of the Black Armor, suitable as the vanguard.'"

No wonder the Emperor let them start the uprising from here—turns out there's popular support. But, "The Emperor is far away, hundreds of li distant—how does he know the Qiao people long for the Dragon God more?"

If there were an unfamiliar young lady a hundred li away thinking of him, how could he know? At most, his nose might itch a little.

Doctor Li let out a long breath, his heart equally surging: "The power of the Dragon God is beyond what we can fathom."

Weng Su remained in plain clothes, only tightening his belt and stretching his neck—

"Come on, let's get started!"

"It's departure." Weng Xing corrected him, "We need to disguise ourselves as a merchant caravan to enter, we have to send out more than ten carts of goods."

……

Two days later, the capital of Qiao State.

Deep into the night, the streets were empty. The notice board at the city gate was covered with announcements, when a gust of wind blew from somewhere and lifted the topmost notice into the air.

The characters on the notice were fresh; the gist was that the emergence of the Dragon God was pure nonsense, misleading the masses, forbidding public discussion, violators to be beaten and imprisoned; forbidding private worship, violators to be beheaded.

When such notices were first posted, people would stand beside them, beating gongs and repeatedly announcing, reading the notice aloud for the illiterate populace.

Now it lay on the ground, unattended; the wind rolled it to someone's feet, and after a few scuffs, it was trampled black.

This person was the night watchman.

It was almost the second watch; he held the gong in his hand but didn't strike it, yet he walked around the base of the city gate.

The city gates had been closed and barred since evening. The gate guards should have been six, but here there were only four; the other two, more experienced, had secretly hidden in the gatehouse annex to sleep soundly.

These four guards were also standing crooked and dazed, half-asleep, with two leaning against the wall, dozing.

This lax detail could be overlooked anyway—after all, the pay was pitifully low, earning barely a few coppers a day.

The watchman stepped lightly, paced around, then turned and hurriedly made two hand signals toward the relay station.

No mistakes, no omissions, no errors, no gaps, no absences—everything is present and correct!

Behind the city gate is usually the relay station, for feeding and resting short- and long-distance travelers and merchants, and for changing horses.

Not far away is the outpost of the Yangshan Merchant Guild, its back door quietly opened.

Thus, more than a dozen figures slipped out from the back door of the merchant guild, went around behind the stables, and rushed toward the main gate.

Normally, there should be no obstacles near the city wall, but here the relay station occupied a patch, and there were also three or four sheds set up by the tax officials.

These more than a dozen people hid behind the sheds, and in two rushes reached behind the guards.

Clang—two sounds, two people fell. One guard suddenly woke up, about to shout, but was seized from behind and choked.

The last one had just drawn breath, his mouth not yet opened, when a heavy blow struck his temple—tonight the watchman carried a club, not striking the gong.

After subduing the guards, these few people quickly pushed aside the iron bolt and flung open the capital's great gate!

There were also patrols on the city wall, but somehow, after their usual evening meal of two pancakes, they yawned incessantly, their eyelids could barely stay open, and at night they'd find an empty corner to curl up in.

Below the city, noisy and strange sounds echoed, like the rapid gallop of hooves; these two struggled to keep their eyes open, peered down—

Someone.

Hmm? Someone?!

A vast, dark mass of troops surged into the city!

Ah? Ah? What happened? The two were so frightened that even their drowsiness fled; they were about to go strike the great bell on the city gate to raise the alarm, when suddenly several feathered arrows struck near their feet, and two Black Armor soldiers leapt in from outside the battlements, their voices muffled and deep: "Black Armor Army enters the city—those who don't want to die, get down!"

After hearing about them for so many days, the Black Armor Army had truly arrived? The two guards stared at their armor, then looked down at the city below where the dragon banner waved, thinking they must be dreaming.

Until the enemy raised their crossbow again and aimed it at them, these two gave a sudden start, and came to their senses.

They didn't hesitate a second, sliding down the stone steps along the wall, not even bothering to ring the bell. Who dares to oppose the Black Armor Army? Whoever does, steps up—anyway, we're not doing it!

In the darkness, the army advanced unimpeded, following the main street's dirt road straight toward the palace city.