Chapter 205: Huang Degong, I Have a Secret Edict Here! (Previously Sent in Error)

On the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming, within Licheng County of Jinan Prefecture, along the official road by the Daqing River, thirty or forty riders galloped past. Most of these riders were dressed as travel-worn merchants, yet they carried sabers, bows, and firelocks, and the horses beneath them were tall and sturdy — at a glance, clearly no decent sort.

The lead rider, however, was a veiled beauty in red. Though on the road, she still wore a striking crimson riding outfit. The red garment was tailored to fit perfectly, cinching her fine figure into alluring curves — extremely eye-catching.

Behind the red-clad beauty's horse rode a woman in white, her face likewise veiled, though her clothes were somewhat loose and concealed her figure. Seen from afar, the white robe below her chest swayed ceaselessly up and down with the rise and fall of the horses' hooves.

Two women, both seemingly quite attractive, leading several dozen bold fellows armed with sabers, bows, and firelocks, galloping across the war-torn countryside of Jinan Prefecture — this scene was anything but ordinary!

These several dozen riders had come from the direction of Tai'an Prefecture, south of Licheng, the chief county of Jinan Prefecture. They did not enter Licheng directly but circled around the city and raced toward Yantou Town, some twenty li northeast of Licheng.

Yantou Town had once been the most prosperous commercial town outside the city of Jinan Prefecture. The town sat beside the Daqing River, a reasonably good waterway that ran east to the Bohai Sea and west to join the Grand Canal running north and south. It had thus gradually flourished, and before the chaos of the late Ming descended, it had become a bustling town thronged with merchants.

But ever since the first month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, when the Qing army broke through Jinan on a plundering raid and carried out a great slaughter within the city and its environs, burning and killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers, civilians, and gentry, the once-flourishing Yantou Town had declined sharply.

By the autumn of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, this commercial town that had prospered for over two hundred years was clinging to its last breath — and even that was sustained only by the faint vitality that followed the autumn harvest. Once the weather turned cold, such a large town would likely become a "ghost town" of houses without people.

Though Yantou Town was not yet a ghost town, it was not far from it. The vast majority of shops stood empty; only a few establishments near the Daqing River docks kept up a perfunctory front, hoping to earn a little before the next great calamity struck. Among them, there was only a single tavern that could entertain passing merchants, and when the proprietor saw such a large party of travelers arrive, he personally came out to intercept them on the official road.

A proprietor who could keep a business running amid such chaos was naturally no ordinary man. Seeing these dozens of armed riders and the two women leading them, he knew they had backing. He immediately clasped his hands in salute and spoke in underworld cant: "Passing by the high mountain, look up — upon the mountain a golden signboard: Mount Tai, the North Star, the Great Wall Ridge!"

The red-clad beauty likewise raised a hand in salute from horseback and said with a smile: "So it's brothers from Great Wall Ridge in Shandong. Red Lady from Rooster Mountain offers her respects!"

This establishment was in fact a bandit-run den operated by mountain brigands from nearby Great Wall Ridge!

The shop was black, but today's guests were blacker still — it was none other than Red Lady, wife of Zhu Cilang's strategist Li Yan, who had once taken to the hills at Rooster Mountain in Xinyang!

She was a notorious figure even in the underworld of the late Ming! The bandits of Great Wall Ridge were nothing in her eyes — and what was more, the other woman accompanying her today was a fiend whose fearsome reputation overshadowed all.

The proprietor of the black den was startled at these words and immediately prostrated himself in a grand salute, saying: "This humble one did not know the Red Lady had graced us with her presence, and failed to welcome her from afar — forgive me, forgive me."

Red Lady had already dismounted from her horse. Paying the proprietor no mind, she went to help the white-clad woman down from her horse, saying with a smile: "Sister Xing, this is the only place. Though it's a black den, it does look clean."

The woman addressed as Sister Xing laughed merrily: "A black den it is, then. How black can it be compared to me? I doubt they'd dare lay a hand on me!"

This woman spoke with a Shaanxi accent and was called "Sister Xing" by Red Lady. The proprietor at once thought of a certain person — Xing the Lady, the one who had swindled the Roving King Li Zicheng!

She had even swindled Li Zicheng himself, making off with old Li's family fortune, and on top of that had run off with Li Zicheng's top general Gao Jie — cuckolding the Roving King himself!

And Xing the Lady's current husband, Gao Jie, was garrisoned right in the city of Jinan. If anyone crossed her, would it not be a trivial matter for Commander Gao to send troops and wipe out Great Wall Ridge?

While Red Lady and Xing the Lady spoke, the several dozen armed riders who accompanied them had already busied themselves — some entering the shop to search it, some posting sentries around the perimeter, some leading the horses to the stable to tend them personally — the very picture of seasoned men accustomed to the jianghu.

The squad leader in charge of searching the premises soon came out to report: "Reporting to Madam, the shop is clean enough, with no other guests — but a great deal of food and wine has been prepared."

Red Lady nodded and asked with a smile: "Would that be a banquet ordered by friends of the Sea Sand Gang?"

"Yes, yes," the proprietor nodded. "Brothers of the Sea Sand Gang came with Chief Shen's card to order the banquet, saying they would be entertaining guests at Yantou Town."

"We are the guests Chief Shen invited," Red Lady said with a smile. "First prepare us something to eat, then tidy up a few clean rooms and heat some bathwater."

Having given these instructions, Red Lady said to Sister Xing: "Wait a moment. The Young Master will arrive shortly. We sisters must make ourselves presentable."

The Young Master was Zhu Cilang, who was at that moment aboard a sand boat entering the Daqing River, not far from Yantou Town.

Although he had marched into Jinan Prefecture with a mighty army of forty thousand, his purpose on this trip was not to fight Gao Jie, but to meet with Gao Jie's wife, Xing the Lady.

This Xing the Lady, who had dared to cuckold Li Zicheng, was a heroine among women. In Gao Jie's own words: "Xing has a general's acumen; I rely on her to aid me, not for her beauty." The meaning was roughly that he, Gao Jie, was not truly henpecked, but that his wife Xing possessed the bearing of a great commander and surpassing intelligence, and therefore he heeded her every word.

In other words, as long as Zhu Cilang could win over Xing the Lady, Gao Jie would wholeheartedly throw his lot in with Zhu Cilang.

And among the Four Garrisons of Jiangbei, Liu Zeqing, though he ran wild, was as timid as a chicken on the battlefield and would surely shrink back when the moment came. Liu Liangzuo was cut from the same cloth as Liu Zeqing, and Shi Kefa probably could not control him either. The truly troublesome forces were those of Gao Jie and Huang Degong. Huang Degong had already been dealt with by men sent for that purpose — nothing would go wrong there. Now only Gao Jie remained; once Xing the Lady was won over, Gao Jie could be made use of by Zhu Cilang.

And after Gao Jie defected, the nearby Liu Zeqing would most likely defect as well. Zhu Cilang had brought forty thousand troops into Jinan, and Gao Jie had thirty thousand — together that made seventy thousand, a force Liu Zeqing could not possibly resist.

If Huang Degong withdrew, and Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing went over to the Crown Prince, then Liu Liangzuo among the Four Garrisons would have no choice but to defect as well.

That would leave Shi Kefa with only the small force of loyalist volunteers he had brought from Nanjing — utterly incapable of standing against the more than one hundred thousand troops on Zhu Cilang's side.

By the time the sand boat carrying Zhu Cilang docked at the Yantou Town pier, Xing the Lady and Red Lady had already washed away the dust of the road, removed their sun-shielding veils, changed into clean gauze robes and long skirts, and were standing at the pier with their followers to greet him respectfully.

Seeing Zhu Cilang, dressed in jade-white scholar's robes and holding a folding fan, looking every bit a young student, walking side by side with the equally dashing Li Yan, whose face was like polished jade and eyes like bright stars, Red Lady curtsied deeply and said: "This humble wife respectfully greets the Thousand Years and wishes him peace."

Xing, beside her, watched Red Lady kneel and kowtow, then looked at the young Zhu Cilang descending the gangplank. She too stepped forward two paces, came before the Crown Prince, and knelt, saying in a honeyed voice: "This slave Xing kowtows to the Young Master."

Zhu Cilang glanced down and happened to see Xing's bosom straining fiercely beneath her as she knelt, seeming ready to burst through her clothes as she bowed — truly a display of full-blown allure.

"So you are Xing?" Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Raise your head."

Xing obeyed and lifted her face for Zhu Cilang's careful appraisal. It had to be said, she was indeed a beauty rich in charm — her fine hair was neatly arranged, her moth-like brows faint, her red lips light, her delicate white skin setting off exquisite features, her countenance alluring, her figure graceful. Though she was no longer young, her charm was truly extraordinary.

Zhu Cilang smiled and raised a hand. "Both of you, please rise."

Only then did Xing and Red Lady rise together. Zhu Cilang took the opportunity to appraise the beauty once more.

Though Xing the Lady had long since become a mother, her figure was remarkably well kept — full bosom, round hips, and a waist that could still barely pass for slender. She was truly the finest of mature beauties. Gao Jie's good fortune with women was indeed not shallow!