Chapter 694: Death of an Old Enemy

"Captain Qin, you must be very familiar with the generals in Ji City."

In a forest thirty miles outside Ji City.

A young man dressed as a commoner sat on the ground with Qin Shan, describing the situation inside Ji City to him.

He was a spy from the Four Courts lurking in Ji City.

When Qin Shan marched toward Ji City, the people from the Four Courts had arrived in Ji City a step earlier, allowing him to gather information on the troop deployments and the generals within the city.

In every war, the Four Courts would penetrate deep into enemy camps to gather intelligence.

"Who?" Qin Shan asked.

"Yuan Li!" A cold glint flashed in the young man's eyes.

"So it is him." Qin Shan's eyes narrowed.

Because they had not considered attacking Ji City from the very beginning, they had not paid attention to the situation there.

"Great, this son of a bitch has been wreaking havoc in Yanzhou for so many years; now we can finally settle the score with him." Qin Shan clenched his fists.

Then he asked: "How is the defense of Ji City?"

The young man took a piece of paper from his bosom: "Originally, Ji City was garrisoned with one hundred thousand troops, but after His Highness led the entire Prince's Personal Army to march on Yang City, forty thousand troops were transferred to Yang City, leaving only sixty thousand Yuan Family troops."

After a pause, he continued: "For the past two days, they were quite diligent in their patrols, but they have become lax again these last two days."

Qin Shan nodded; His Highness Yan Wang marching toward Yang City with such fanfare was highly deceptive.

He feared that Han Zheng and the others truly believed the Yanzhou troops were going to fight them to the death at Yang City.

But unfortunately, they were wrong; they could not yet fathom the thoughts of Yan Wang, so how could Han Zheng and the others possibly predict them?

"Sixty thousand troops aren't even enough to be an appetizer for this general." Qin Shan sneered, looking at the slowly setting sun, and said: "We attack the city tonight; I just hope we don't let Yuan Li run away again."

The young man smiled: "General, there is no need to worry. Actually, there is a way to keep Yuan Li here; we just need our Four Courts to take action."

Qin Shan revealed a look of surprise: "How will you take action?"

The young man said: "When Yuan Li was in Yanzhou years ago, he assassinated His Highness Yan Wang several times, and once he even used a Gunpowder Barrel. This time, we might as well let our Four Courts give him a taste of his own medicine and let Yuan Li experience the feeling of being assassinated."

Qin Shan looked at the young man and suddenly felt a chill.

Because they needed to obtain intelligence from the battlefield, they had contact with the Four Courts, but they knew too little about this mysterious organization.

Not only him, but even officials in the imperial court spoke of the Four Courts with deep apprehension.

Now, with the young man casually mentioning the assassination of Yuan Li, he felt even more apprehensive in his heart.

He was glad he was under the command of Yan Wang; otherwise, he feared he would also taste the iron fist of the Four Courts in the future.

He nodded and said: "From now until midnight, do whatever you want; I will launch the attack at midnight."

The young man said: "That is enough; lend me a few Grenades to use."

Qin Shan collected six Grenades and handed them to the young man.

Hiding the Grenades in his clothes,

the young man turned and left.

Ji City.

The sun set, and a curfew began here.

However, at this moment, inside the most prosperous brothel in the city, the Bichun Courtyard, Yuan Li and the Yuan Family generals were drinking and making merry.

After three rounds of Wine, a Yuan Family general said: "Head of the Family, is it true that we are to flee south this time?"

"Sigh, fleeing here and there, when will it ever end?" another general said, his expression dejected.

"I really miss our days in Fanyang; back then we could drink Wine and eat meat to our hearts' content every day, why would we need to look at anyone else's face?"

A general slammed the table heavily.

The others fell silent; after fleeing to Qizhou, their lives were actually not easy.

Although Han Zheng trusted them, they were, after all, living under someone else's roof.

The other Han Family generals were not as polite to them, often secretly cursing them as freeloaders.

Regarding this, they were angry but helpless; after all, they had nowhere else to go.

This time, when Yan Wang attacked Yang City, they had hoped to distinguish themselves in the war to shut the mouths of the Han Family generals.

But they did not expect to be transferred to Ji City, which meant they were sidelined again.

"This is all the gift of Yan Wang; I do not know when or what day I, Yuan Li, will be able to avenge this great grudge."

Yuan Li's face was flushed, and he was already seven or eight parts drunk.

Ever since Yan Wang captured the Southern Three Commanderies and he was forced to join Han Zheng's command, he had often drowned his sorrows in drink to keep his hatred from driving him mad.

Now, with the generals complaining, the resentment in his heart was stirred up once again.

"We couldn't kill Yan Wang before, and it's even harder now," a general sighed.

"The only things hard to deal with are the troops under Yan Wang; Yan Wang is only flesh and blood. As long as we can find an opportunity, we can still take revenge." Seeing Yuan Li's face turn purple with anger, another general comforted him.

"Right, well said; if we want to kill Yan Wang, we still have to find a way to assassinate him." A sharp light burst from Yuan Li's eyes.

He only wanted Yan Wang dead.

Having said that, he continued to exchange cups with the generals, while his mind constantly dwelled on revenge.

But he also knew that he was powerless now and could only fantasize to relieve the frustration in his heart.

An hour later, the generals were full of food and drink, and they crowded around Yuan Li as they emerged from the Bichun Courtyard.

Just then, the window on the second floor of the shop opposite suddenly opened.

Before they could react, they saw a bundle of things fall at their feet.

Then, they smelled the scent of Gunpowder.

Yuan Li's drunkenness instantly vanished, but it was too late.

With a loud bang, the six Grenades tied together exploded, Flame shot into the sky, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The nearby soldiers were stunned, and once they regained their senses, they rushed toward Yuan Li and the various generals to check the situation.

By the dim light of the Wine house, they discovered Yuan Li lying in a pool of blood, his entire body covered in wounds, blood constantly gushing out, and he had no breath left.

Most of the other generals had died on the spot, and those who remained were severely wounded, groaning incessantly.

Just at this moment.

A Firecracker shot up into the sky, exploding into a cluster of Flame in the air.

"Assassins, assassins!" the Yuan Family soldiers shouted, and a large group of them rushed toward the shop opposite to surround and annihilate the assassins.

But when he rushed inside, he discovered that the assassin had jumped down from the window at the back of the shop and reached the alley next door.

They immediately gave chase, but after circling through several alleyways, the assassin's figure suddenly vanished.

As they pursued further, a patrol squad of Yuan Family soldiers came over from the opposite direction.

"Did you see anyone pass by?" the pursuing Yuan Family soldiers asked.

"No," the patrolling soldiers answered very crisply.

Hearing this, the Yuan Family soldiers continued forward once again.

Once the Yuan Family soldiers had left, one soldier said to the person behind him, "Do not forget what you promised us; once we return to Yanzhou, you will give us Yanzhou household registration and land."

"Of course." The one speaking was precisely the youth from the woods, only he was currently wearing a soldier's Armor.

For these past few years, the Four Courts had been keeping an eye on Yuan Li and had long since bribed some Yuan Family soldiers.

After all, the Yuan Family soldiers were also people of Yanzhou, and having wandered outside for so long, there were always those who wanted to return to their homeland.

It was precisely by utilizing this point that he had recruited a minor general and over ten soldiers.

That he could freely enter and exit Ji City was also thanks to their efforts.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Just as they were speaking, the sound of explosions came from the direction of the city gate.

The youth was overjoyed; he had launched the fireworks to signal to Qin Shan that the assassination was a success.

With such a golden opportunity, Qin Shan naturally did not need to wait until midnight to attack the city.