Chapter 341: Poisoning Pu Mingsheng

Just as Pu Mingsheng was deploying his troops, sudden booming cannon fire erupted outside the city.

The generals under Pu Mingsheng's command exchanged bewildered glances, and Bai Cha exclaimed in shock, "They've come this quickly?"

Li Yaxuan clasped his hands and said, "Tusi, let me lead men out to fight!"

Bai Cha stepped forward to block him, saying, "No! Even if we don't retreat, we should hold the strong city walls and defend!"

Pu Mingsheng's eyes were red as he slowly swept his gaze over his subordinates, grinding his teeth, "No, I will go out of the city myself!"

An hour later, Pu Mingsheng led his force out from the south gate, with Li Yaxuan and other generals accompanying him. Behind them, the Tusi soldiers covered the mountains and fields, completely filling the entire open ground before the south gate.

Weimozhou City sat in a small basin hemmed in by mountains, with ridges encircling the west and north; only on the east and south sides was there flat ground suitable for forming battle lines. At this moment, Ma Xianglin's troops were continuously pouring out of the jungles and river valleys to the east, and the vanguard had already set up an artillery position outside the east gate. Three-pounder mountain guns hammered the rammed-earth walls, sending dust flying across the entire eastern part of the city.

After Pu Mingsheng's Tusi army exited the city, they did not rush to attack. The main force formed ranks and adjusted their formation, while small detachments dispersed, slipping into the mountains and jungles.

The Xia army sent out scout cavalry who swept along the Pu army's line of march, harassing them continuously with javelins and crossbow bolts, while the Pu soldiers replied with bows and crossbows.

The Pu army's formation kept probing closer, and the Xia army could only contract their formation, clustering together in defense. The smell of gunpowder grew heavier and heavier.

Wan Cailian heard the news and climbed onto the city wall. The surrounding Tusi soldiers and officers saw her and bowed their heads in salute, saying, "Mistress."

Wan Cailian walked to the parapet and saw that her only remaining son was also on the wall. She breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and asked, "How goes the battle?" A general laughed and said, "Ma Xianglin has advanced deep with an isolated force—he's already fallen into the Tusi's ambush circle."

Wan Cailian then looked at Bai Cha: "Apu, what do you think?"

Apu was the tribe's respectful term for an elder. Given Wan Cailian's status, the words were spoken very politely. Bai Cha first bowed in salute, then said, "Though the Tusi acts in fury, he still deploys with sound judgment—truly rare."

Wan Cailian pressed further: "What are our chances of victory in this battle?"

Bai Cha glanced at the battlefield and analyzed, "Ma Xianglin commands only the Xia army's vanguard, with a force of just two to three thousand men. After a small victory, he's grown arrogant, looking down on everyone. Without joining forces with Qin Liangyu, he's advanced deep with an isolated force—with so few men, he dares to attack the city.

The Tusi has brought out three thousand elite soldiers, and there are still five thousand warriors in the city—our numbers far exceed the enemy's, and the Tusi also holds the advantage of terrain.

In this old man's view, we have a seventy percent chance of victory."

A young general beside him said, "Old Steward's words are too cautious—cowering and timid, that's no look for a warrior. As I see it, the Tusi already has a one hundred percent chance of victory!"

As his words fell, a long, drawn-out ox-horn blast sounded from Pu Mingsheng's formation, followed by urgent bronze drumbeats.

The Pu soldiers let out a unified roar that enveloped the entire east and south gates of Weimozhou and the great mountains around them—an awe-inspiring display of momentum.

The Xia soldiers formed a square formation beside a high ground southeast of Weimozhou, with the artillery position protected on the elevated slope in the center. Several more cannons were scattered among the wall of men, and the entire army was utterly silent.

Seen from the city wall, the Xia army looked like a green hedgehog curling up its body, its dense, gleaming bayonets like the creature's sharp spines.

The charging Pu army managed to keep its formation orderly at first, but as the bronze drums grew more frantic, the soldiers' ranks scattered halfway through the charge.

Then gunfire rang out, and a layer of white smoke immediately enveloped the surroundings of the Xia army's hedgehog cluster.

A ring of Pu soldiers fell, struck by bullets, but amid the surging tide of the charge, this loss was entirely negligible.

Several hundred poison-crossbowmen surged in from all directions, pulling their triggers simultaneously.

The sound of bolts cutting through air joined into one continuous roar, and crossbow bolts coated with monkshood poison poured like a black cloud into the gunsmoke.

"Hahaha, kill them well!" On the city wall, the generals who had not gone out to fight all shouted encouragement.

Only Bai Cha wore a look of astonishment: "Something's wrong! How could—"

Wan Cailian heard him and asked, "Apu, is something amiss?"

Pu Zuoyong then spoke up: "Mother, I want to lead troops too—I want to go help Father!"

Wan Cailian snapped angrily, "Hold your tongue!"

Outside the city, gunfire and cannon fire had merged into a continuous roar. The thunderous booms were deafening, forcing people speaking face to face to shout at the top of their lungs.

Bai Cha said, "When Ming army firearms meet damp heat, most of them won't fire at all—why do the Xia army's guns and cannons never stop?"

Before Wan Cailian could reply, a general beside her said offhandedly, "What does it matter if they have more firearms? In the woods, poison crossbows and javelins are what work!" As he spoke, the Pu and Xia armies had already exchanged several volleys. The Xia army's formation was shrouded in gunsmoke, its casualties impossible to discern, yet their guns and cannons never ceased, their rhythm never faltering. The Pu army's losses were considerable—the poison-crossbowmen were nearly wiped out, and even the shield-spearmen and javelin-throwers had lost a full layer. Corpses ringed the Xia army's formation in a circle as high as a man's shin.

On the city wall, many people coughed uncontrollably from the pungent sting of sulfur.

Wan Cailian asked, "Why are they just trading volleys with the Xia army? Why not charge in?"

Bai Cha was about to answer when Pu Zuoyong cut in: "The Xia army's formation is tight—Father is looking for an opening."

Bai Cha nodded: "That's right."

A general said, "Rest assured, Mistress. That Ma fellow can't hold out much longer. The Han are a bunch of soft eggs—their army can hold its own trading volleys, but the moment you get in close, they'll turn tail and flee!"

"Hahaha..." The other generals burst into mocking laughter together.

These words were not idle talk. Pu Mingsheng had been conscripted by the imperial court and had fought in the southwest for over a decade. He and his men knew very well what the Ming army was really like. The Xia army enjoyed tremendous prestige in the southeast, claiming a hundred victories in a hundred battles—but that reputation was built by beating the Ming army, and it carried no real weight. After all, who couldn't win a hundred battles against the Ming army?

The Tartars beyond the passes, the refugees of the northwest, the She-An rebellion in the southwest—which of them hadn't won a hundred battles?

The bronze drum's rhythm changed, slowing down, and the Pu soldiers besieging the Xia army immediately fell back over a hundred paces, like the tide receding.

Across the open ground around the hedgehog formation lay a ring of Pu corpses. Within the fifty-pace range of the poison crossbows, the bodies were especially dense, some piled two or three deep, as high as a man's knee—the ground beneath was nowhere visible.

Near the cannons, one could also see large red fan-shaped patches where the corpses were especially fragmented, spread evenly across the ground like meat paste—the gruesome result of being hit by grapeshot.

From fifty to a hundred paces out, the corpses gradually thinned, scattered in a radial pattern, most of them struck by stray bullets.

Flintlock musket lead balls were relatively soft and round, with tremendous stopping power. Once they struck a human body, they would tumble and fragment, creating a massive cavity. Those hit often had only a small hole in the chest but a fist-sized hole in the back, with internal organs ruptured, flesh and blood flying, and bone splinters bursting outward—a most miserable death. Beyond a hundred paces, there were also furrows plowed by cannon fire, channels of blood. There should have been corpses in those furrows, but they had all been blasted into minced flesh and body parts, scattered radially across the ground—not a single intact body could be distinguished.

Seen from the walls of Weimozhou, the Pu corpses formed a garland full of thorns, looped around the outside of the Xia army's hedgehog formation, with flowing blood reflecting a dazzling red light under the sun.

The city wall fell silent for a moment.

During the charge, the dead and wounded had been hidden from view—one only felt that the Pu soldiers covered the mountains and fields, their momentum like a rainbow.

Now that they had retreated, like the tide going out, all the reefs were exposed, and the sight was simply horrifying.

The city wall was silent for a long moment.

The sense of foreboding in Wan Cailian's heart grew heavier. She asked, "Have we lost?"

A general said with displeasure, "This is nothing yet! As the Mistress, how can you deflate the Tusi's prestige?"

Bai Cha rebuked him: "You are not permitted to be disrespectful to the Mistress!"

Then he explained, "When people fall, they take up a lot of ground. This ring of bodies looks like a lot, but the actual casualties are only a few hundred. The Tusi is merely withdrawing for now to observe the enemy's weaknesses."

As Pu Mingsheng retreated beyond the range of the guns and cannons, the gunsmoke above the hedgehog formation gradually dispersed.

Wan Cailian saw that there was not a single corpse around the outer edge of their formation—the bayonets still stood like a forest, the formation still tight.

Inside their formation, soldiers were constantly running about shouting, rushing to treat the wounded.

Artillerymen pushed cannons forward into the outer ranks of the formation, while cavalry galloped through the formation, guarding the corner gates at each side—everything proceeding in perfect order. This was the hollow square formation that Lei Sanxiang had improved by combining it with the Ming army's wagon formation, integrating artillery, cavalry, and infantry together—far more aggressive than the traditional bayonet square.

If one were to compare them to animals, the traditional square was like a hedgehog, while this new formation was like a porcupine.

A hedgehog's quills can only prick a person, making it hard for beasts of prey to take a bite—but a porcupine can stab a predator to death.

Wan Cailian asked, "Well? Any weaknesses?"

This time, none of the generals on the city wall said a word—some even cursed under their breath. The Xia army was utterly unlike any force they had ever seen. Even Zhu Xieyuan's elite troops would have shown gaps in their formation after being attacked in such waves, yet the Xia soldiers stood rooted to the ground as if their feet had grown roots, motionless. Were it not for the sight of them tending to wounded within the formation, one might have thought every Xia soldier was made of iron and bronze, incapable of being hurt.

Pu Mingsheng seemed dumbfounded as well. The Pu troops' formation remained still for a long while, and the two sides held their standoff for nearly an hour.

Suddenly the Pu formation shifted—five or six small detachments armed with bows and crossbows ran out and loosed arrows at the hedgehog formation's front.

Bai Cha praised, "The tusi wants to exhaust the enemy's gunpowder!"

Southeast of Weimo Prefecture, the terrain was rugged and uneven, and with the large number of corpses scattered about, all could be used to shield against bullets. These crossbow teams hid among them, continuously firing sneak shots, suffering few casualties while achieving excellent results.

But the good times did not last. The Xia formation opened its corner gates, and four streams of blue flowed out, also dispersing to exchange fire.

The Pu troops were suppressed almost instantly, while the Xia soldiers, in groups of seven, advanced under the cover of the barrage, systematically clearing out the crossbowmen's positions.

In less than an hour, the Pu troops had suffered heavy casualties.

"Moo—" A short blast of the ox-horn sounded from the Pu army, followed by a rumbling from the ground as over a hundred cavalrymen rode out, charging toward the Xia skirmishers.

The Xia army's corner gates opened, and Wei Wenkui's cavalry rode out to meet them head-on. Even though their guoxia horses were as small as donkeys, Wei Wenkui charged at the very front, shouting loudly without cease, rousing his cavalry's morale to great heights.

Since ancient times, cavalry charges have always been decided by morale above all—collisions into a tangled melee almost never happened; victory was determined by sheer momentum during the charge itself. Though both sides' cavalry were tusi soldiers, their morale was worlds apart.

Lin Qian had personally ordered that the Wolf Troops accompanying the army be treated the same as the regular soldiers—if wounded, military doctors would treat them; if too severely injured, they could be transported back to the rear to recuperate; and if they fell in battle, their families received compensation. They had no worries about what lay behind.

Under Pu Mingsheng, by contrast, the rule was closer to jungle law. Light wounds were tolerable, but if one was severely injured and could no longer fight, he became a useless man, all too easily abandoned in some mountain cave with some water and food left behind, left to live or die on his own.

If one died in battle, missing out on compensation was the least of it—his wife and children would be transferred to his deceased brother, and his property would be divided among his clansmen. This was called the "levirate system." For the soldier himself, having his property and family distributed within the clan could be seen as keeping wealth within the family, but compared to the Xia army's all-out effort to treat each soldier individually, the levirate system's certainty was somewhat lacking.

Thus the Pu cavalry scattered more and more as they ran, ragged and uneven in every direction. By fifty paces out, there was almost no one in the center—they either veered to one side or turned around and fled.

The next moment, the two forces crossed paths—and it became a one-sided slaughter of the Pu cavalry by the Wolf cavalry.

Wei Wenkui had never fought such an easy battle in his entire life. He swung his curved saber, joyfully hacking and slashing at will, chasing all the way to the edge of cannon range before turning his horse around and returning—then going off to hunt down the slower crossbowmen.

The Xia and Pu armies together numbered over five thousand, their formations spread across several hilltops, yet all watched in silence as the Guangxi Wolf cavalry slaughtered their allies.

Pu morale plummeted to rock bottom in an instant. Some soldiers, refusing to accept it, ignored orders and rashly advanced—only to be met head-on by cannon fire, leaving five or six corpses behind before fleeing back in disgrace.

The crossbowmen could be seen running back toward their own formation, wailing for their fathers and mothers, only to be pinned to the ground by javelin after javelin, blood spraying as curved sabers swept past. Not many crossbowmen actually died, but the entire army could only watch helplessly, unable to rescue them—the humiliation was immense.

On the city wall of Weimo Prefecture, for a moment, nothing could be heard but the whistling of the wind.

Wei Wenkui's cavalry, having killed all the crossbowmen, still did not return to formation. They rode back and forth provocatively beside the ring of Pu corpses, leisurely retrieving their javelins one by one. Dusk was approaching, and the setting sun stretched the cavalrymen's shadows long across the ground.

Before long, the sound of the gong signaling retreat came from the Pu formation, and the soldiers dispersed like the tide, slowly withdrawing into the city.

Wei Wenkui led his cavalry in pursuit from behind, but the Pu army's core strength was still intact, and their rearguard soldiers were highly elite—little damage was inflicted.

Bai Cha looked at the Xia army's great formation, cold as iron, and let out a sigh.

Wan Cailian asked, "A Pu, do you know where Qin Liangyu's main force has reached?"

"That is what this old man worries about as well. By common sense, Han troops march slowly through mountain forests—from Guangnan Prefecture to Weimo Prefecture would take at least ten days or so. But the Xia army is different in every way. This old man heard this morning from the young master's routed troops that the Xia army fears neither miasma nor night battles, and their gunpowder is not afraid of dampness..."

"This old man thinks that mountain forests, streams, and valleys certainly cannot stop Qin Liangyu's march either..."

"I understand." Wan Cailian said in a low voice.

After Pu Mingsheng returned to the city, his expression was extremely ugly. He had spent half his life commanding troops without a single defeat, rising from a minor border post to become a regional tusi through military merit alone. After raising his banner, he had ambushed and defeated the Yunnan Governor's army of over ten thousand in their encirclement campaign, then taken city after city and territory after territory, carving out a vast domain—how glorious he had been.

How could he have imagined he would suffer two defeats at the hands of Ma Xianglin? How could he possibly accept this?

After returning to his residence, Pu Mingsheng refused to see anyone. He dismissed his attendants and called for pork and rice wine, drinking alone.

Wan Cailian pushed open the door and walked into the room. Hearing the sound, Pu Mingsheng roared in anger, "Didn't I say no one was allowed in?"

Holding his wine bowl, he turned around furiously—and seeing it was his wife, he froze for a moment, then said, "Sit. Don't worry, I will definitely avenge Yuan'er! Tomorrow I will continue to fight. I've already thought of a way to counter the Xia army's hedgehog formation."

Wan Cailian sat down at the table and said, "If even a mere Ma Xianglin gives us this much trouble, Qin Liangyu's main force is still coming behind him!

According to intelligence reports, the Xia army has twenty to thirty thousand men in total, and Qin Liangyu has brought heavy cannons with the army—when they attacked Guangnan City, a single volley brought the walls down." Pu Mingsheng smiled disdainfully, tilted his head back, and drained a bowl of rice wine: "Let your husband tell you a story. In the Tianqi era, Wang Sanshan, the Governor-General of Guizhou, was killed by the turncoat general Chen Qiyu, and the She-An rebels besieged Guiyang City for a second time.

If things had been handled poorly, the scene of Han Chinese in Guiyang eating human flesh to survive would have repeated itself. Heh heh... pour me more wine!"

Wan Cailian obediently poured wine for Pu Mingsheng, and while he wasn't paying attention, took out a small bottle and emptied its contents into the wine jar.

Pu Mingsheng raised his wine bowl and drained it in one gulp, then grabbed a piece of pork and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing while speaking indistinctly, "In that moment of crisis, it was I who stepped forward, leading seven hundred Juke armored soldiers, charging into the camp of an army of tens of thousands under cover of night to capture and kill Chen Qiyu!"

"Juke" is a Yi language term, similar to the Han Chinese's household retainers, personal guards, or suicide squads.

Wan Cailian forced a smile and praised her husband's achievements.

Pu Mingsheng said, "Now Ma Xianglin has only two thousand soldiers—how does that compare to the She-An rebels? And even that Qin Liangyu, what of her twenty thousand? When I pacified the She-An Rebellion, were her accomplishments greater than mine?"

Wan Cailian poured Pu Mingsheng another bowl of wine, then said, "But the Xia army is different from both the Ming army and the tusi soldiers. I can see that this time the Xia army came with ample supplies—this doesn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision.

I've heard that in Guangnan Prefecture, they even raised the banner of emulating Lord Mu's entry into Yunnan. Relying only on ourselves, I'm afraid we're no match for them."

Pu Mingsheng snorted coldly, displeased, "You think I can't beat them? Never mind Qin Liangyu—even if that little whelp Xia King came in person, I wouldn't fear him!"

Wan Cailian gritted her teeth and said, "I've already lost one son—I can't lose another!"

"Smash!" Pu Mingsheng shattered his wine bowl and rose furiously, "You want to go beg that treacherous little man Sha Dingzhou again? I am the master of Yunnan! Why would I need... why would I need...

Pu Mingsheng suddenly realized his speech was failing him, as if he'd drunk too much and his tongue had gone thick. Then his legs gave way, and he could only stand by gripping the table. A numbing sensation rose from his lower abdomen, spreading to his shoulders, arms, neck, and face. His vision began to blur, and a buzzing sound filled his ears. Pu Mingsheng looked at the wine bowl on the ground, then jerked his head toward Wan Cailian, his eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.

Wan Cailian picked up a ladle, scooped up some rice wine, and drank it herself.

Pu Mingsheng was first bewildered, then suddenly understood. Clutching his abdomen, he said in disbelief, "It was you? Why?"

There was no trace of affection left in Wan Cailian's gaze as she looked at him. Coldly, she said, "Why? Didn't I just say so?" "Bitch! I'll kill you!" Pu Mingsheng roared in fury, reaching out with an iron-clamp-like hand—but the moment he stepped forward, he collapsed to the ground. His strength was completely gone, and darkness closed in before his eyes.

"Someone... come... ugh—" Pu Mingsheng could no longer call out. The moment he opened his mouth, he vomited violently. His vision grew darker and darker, his chest felt as if a great weight were pressing down on it, and his face turned red from suffocation.

The poison in the ladle of wine Wan Cailian had drunk now surged up as well. She felt a burning, searing sensation in her stomach and intestines, a numbness spreading outward from them—but she still waited until Pu Mingsheng had completely lost consciousness before crying out in alarm, "Husband, husband... someone come!"

Pu Mingsheng's Juke armored soldiers were standing guard just outside the room. Hearing the commotion, they all rushed in and saw the tusi lying in his own vomit, while Wan Cailian wept loudly beside him: "Husband, husband..."

Two of the Juke soldiers cried out in shock, "It's aconite poison!"

The Yunnan soldiers were fond of coating their arrows with monkshood poison, so they were quite familiar with the signs of this kind of poisoning.

"Call for help!" one of the Zhike soldiers shouted.

Wan Cailian clutched her stomach and said sharply, "Call Baicha Apu here! This must not be spread abroad—if it gets out, the two of you won't live!"

"Yes, Mistress!" The Zhike soldier acknowledged and went out the door.

Wan Cailian directed the remaining Zhike soldier to induce vomiting in Pu Mingsheng, while she herself grabbed a pair of chopsticks and, steeling her resolve, thrust them into her own throat. "Ugh—" Wan Cailian doubled over and vomited, filth spattering her hair and the front of her clothes, looking utterly wretched.

After one round of vomiting, the numbness in Wan Cailian had greatly lessened, but she still hardened her heart and shoved the chopsticks down her throat again.

When Baicha walked into the room and saw the mess, he was so startled his soul nearly flew from his body. His voice trembling, he said, "What happened here?"

Wan Cailian said weakly, "Someone poisoned us... it must not be spread abroad..."

Then she fainted to the floor.

In truth, she had drunk very little, and after so many rounds of vomiting, she was essentially out of danger—but she still had to put on a show of being poisoned.

Baicha ordered the Zhike soldiers to carry her onto the bed, and had people boil indigo juice mixed with the Yi people's secret antidote for the two of them to drink.

The Yi people used monkshood poison year-round and knew well how to treat it. Wan Cailian had not been feigning sleep long when she felt someone prop her up and pour the medicinal broth down her throat. Before long, the numbness in her body had almost completely faded.

Not long after, she heard Baicha ask, "How is it?"

A soldier reported, "The cook has been silenced..."

Baicha cursed under his breath, "Damnation!"

Wan Cailian's heart settled somewhat. She feigned sleep for a while longer, then slowly opened her eyes.

"The Mistress is awake!" a soldier exclaimed in a low voice.

Baicha hurried forward and asked with concern, "Mistress!"

Wan Cailian looked around nearby, spotted the unconscious Pu Mingsheng, and asked, "How is my husband?"

Even as she asked, she caught a foul, rank odor wafting from beneath Pu Mingsheng.

Pu Mingsheng had already lost control of his bowels—which meant that even if this "Lord of Yunnan" survived, he would be a cripple.

Sure enough, Baicha lowered his head and said, "The Tusi is dead... he drank too much of the monkshood juice..."

Hearing this, Wan Cailian threw herself onto her husband's corpse and wailed. Baicha was just about to console her when Wan Cailian wiped away her tears, sat up, and said, "With powerful enemies without and a young master within, this is no time for weeping."

Baicha was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Indeed."

Wan Cailian said, "Apu, how many of my husband's Zhike armored soldiers can you command?"

Baicha said, "I can mobilize five hundred, though in a few days that may no longer hold. Under this old man's hand, there are also a thousand clan troops."

"That's enough," Wan Cailian said. "Gather all your forces and surround the Tusi residence, then bring my son Pu Zuoyong here!"

"Yes!" Baicha nodded in assent.

At this time, the various local headmen and outpost chiefs scattered around the Tusi residence saw the troop movements within the city and dimly sensed that something momentous was afoot. But Pu Mingsheng's prestige ran deep, and without his orders, none of the headmen or outpost chiefs dared make a move.

Before long, the crowd saw Pu Zuoyong enter the Tusi residence, followed by the other powerful chieftains of the Pu clan.

Shortly after, Li Yaxuan, Li Achu, and other trusted generals of Pu Mingsheng were also summoned into the Tusi residence.

Before dawn, the outlying headmen and outpost chiefs were called into the Tusi residence as well. Wan Cailian told them that Pu Mingsheng had died of poisoning and that Pu Zuoyong would succeed him as Tusi—and the assembled headmen immediately exploded into an uproar.

To them, the Tusi's death was a small matter; what truly mattered were their own tribes, people, property, and status.

According to Tusi custom, when the Tusi died and the heir was young, authority should pass to the principal wife. If that were so, wouldn't everyone have to listen to Wan Cailian from now on?

That would be fine in peaceful times, but right now they were in rebellion, with Qin Liangyu's army pressing down upon them—if things were mishandled, heads would roll at any moment. Wan Cailian gestured for the crowd to quiet down, then said, "After the young master takes the throne, all tribes shall remain under the governance of their original headmen and outpost chiefs. Every rule shall be exactly as it was when the Tusi lived—not a whit of difference."

At these words, the crowd quieted considerably.

Wan Cailian continued, "And at dawn tomorrow, we lead our forces in a breakout to the west, returning to Ami Prefecture."

With Pu Mingsheng dead, the crowd had lost the object of their loyalty, and having witnessed the might of Ma Xianglin's hedgehog formation the day before, they all harbored thoughts of flight. These words happened to match their own sentiments, and the voices of dissent grew even fainter.

Wan Cailian went on, "In all the years the Tusi lived, he relied on you all risking life and limb in battle, yet never properly rewarded you—this was also the Tusi's dying regret. My son has decided that once we reach Ami Prefecture, he will open the treasuries and reward the troops."

Wan Cailian had already briefed Pu Zuoyong beforehand, so while his mother spoke, he simply stood beside her, not uttering a word.

At this promise, every general beamed with joy.

Wan Cailian secretly breathed a sigh of relief—at least this way, the road from Weimo Prefecture back to Ami Prefecture would be stable.

By now it was nearly dawn, and Wan Cailian released the people to return to their respective tribes and prepare.

After everyone had left, Wan Cailian thought for a moment, then wrote a letter to Sha Dingzhou, pouring out her grief and bitterness at losing her husband, tearfully begging Sha Dingzhou to avenge her.

After finishing, she sprinkled a few drops of water on the letter, thought a moment more, then tore open a sachet and fumigated the letter with its fragrance before sealing it and sending it off with a trusted confidant. Meanwhile, Baicha dispatched troops to impose martial law within the city, supervising the tribes' march preparations and strictly forbidding anyone from seizing the opportunity to set fires or loot.

Just as the sky began to lighten, the west gate of Weimo Prefecture swung wide open, and Wan Cailian led her people onto the westward road.

On the other side, Ma Xianglin had been certain Pu Mingsheng would launch a night attack, yet after waiting bitterly through the whole night, there was not a sound.

Just as he was privately wondering at this, a scout cavalry report arrived: the Pu troops had abandoned the city and were fleeing in the direction of Ami Prefecture.

His force numbered only two thousand—not enough to besiege the city—so he had used Pu Mingsheng's son's head as bait to provoke him, stalling until Qin Liangyu's main force could arrive. Against a vainglorious brute like Pu Mingsheng, provocation had never failed.

He had never imagined it would fail this time. Hearing the report, he barked in a deep voice, "Saddle my horse! Bring me my great spear!"

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen