Chapter 95: Chaos

A gust of cold wind blew up, sweeping across the slightly yellowed pasture on the Grassland, signaling that the cold season on the Grassland was about to arrive.

Kutu stood before the camp tent; in front of him, on a high platform built of skulls, a wolf-head-shaped banner fluttered in the wind.

In the customs of the Northern Di people, the wolf is sacred.

They believe the wolf is the messenger of the Heavenly God; they are powerful, fierce, and the guardians of the Grassland.

At the same time, they can learn the ways of war from the wolf pack's process of surrounding prey: scouting, attacking, breaking through, and retreating.

Therefore, the banners of the Northern Di through the generations have all used the wolf as their totem.

Looking past the high platform, Kutu's gaze fell upon the nine Great Song soldiers kneeling on the ground.

Before the Autumn Hunt begins, it is customary to perform a blood sacrifice, using the blood of enemies to pray for blessings from the Heavenly God.

"Begin," Kutu raised his hand slightly.

As his voice fell, the low, mournful sound of a horn rang out.

Bare-chested executioners came behind the Great Song soldiers.

"Northern Di dogs, just wait, my brothers will avenge us..."

A Great Song soldier glared with wide eyes, shouting curses.

Before his words were finished, a flash of a blade passed, and the soldier's head rolled to the ground.

His wide-open eyes were filled with anger and unwillingness.

The executioners picked up the heads and placed them one by one on the high platform.

Every skull that made up the high platform represented a fresh life of a Great Song person.

"Charha, you lead five thousand Cavalry to Shanggu Commandery, Guangning Commandery, and Dai Commandery."

"Tamu, you lead five thousand Cavalry to head toward Ping County and Liaojun."

"Muto, you follow me to lead twenty thousand Cavalry toward Yan Commandery; if we take Yan Commandery, then we shall go to Fanyang."

Eight people knelt on one knee before Kutu, after he had called the names of the three.

He said to the remaining people, "The rest of you guard the Royal Tent."

"Yes, Great King," the group replied.

Rising, the three who were named stayed behind, while the others dispersed.

They were all Wolf Commanders under the Royal Tent, each commanding ten thousand troops.

"Great King, let me go to Yan Commandery; I will certainly offer the head of Yan Wang to the Great King," the burliest of the three requested of Kutu.

His name was Charha.

He was the brother of Tuoba Lie's wife; this time Tuoba Lie had been reprimanded, and he had lost face, so he had long been plotting to avenge his brother-in-law during the Autumn Hunt.

"Charha, this is the Great King's decision; you had better manage your own hunting ground. If you don't bring back enough spoils, watch out for the Great King's whip," a man with a goatee mocked.

He was Muto, who was following Kutu this time.

"Hehe, Charha, do you want to swap hunting grounds? You have three commanderies, and I only have two," the man speaking had a red face; he was Tamu.

Of the Yanzhou Seven Commanderies, six of them were like an irregular fan.

To the west of Yan Commandery, from top to bottom, were Shanggu Commandery, Guangning Commandery, and Dai Commandery.

To the east of Yan Commandery were Ping County and Liaojun; these three commanderies all faced the sea.

And Fanyang Commandery was located at the tail of the fan like stars surrounding the moon, having the other six commanderies as a barrier, so it suffered the least loss during every Autumn Hunt.

Moreover, Fanyang was where the Yuan Family was located, often garrisoned with heavy troops, making it difficult to gain any advantage.

Therefore, it was often the last to be probed during the Autumn Hunt.

"Keep dreaming, Tamu. Even two commanderies are too many for you; this year you will surely still be the worst one," Charha showed a look of disdain.

Kutu was long accustomed to the bickering of the three; he looked toward the south and said, "You two finish the hunt as quickly as possible and meet me at Yan Commandery. Yan Wang is the greatest prey of this Autumn Hunt; this time I will offer the head of the Great Song Imperial Prince to the great Khan."

"Yes, Great King," Charha and Tamu answered with bowed heads.

A wild light flashed in Kutu's eyes.

Tuoba Lie had said that there were Beauties in Yancheng, and that the Yan Prince Mansion had mountains of gold and silver treasures and full granaries of grain.

Before long, all of this would be his.

Because the Autumn Hunt would surely return with a full load.

Yancheng.

The frequent movements of the Prince's Personal Army made the commoners in the city feel a sense of unease.

And the sharp-witted merchants inquired from all sides, soon learning the news that the Northern Di were about to conduct the Autumn Hunt.

And after this news spread among the merchants, the traders from outside the city left Yancheng one after another.

To them, Yanzhou was about to become the most dangerous place in the Great Song.

They did not want their wealth and lives to be taken by the Northern Di Cavalry.

The flight of a large number of merchants made the once-prosperous Yancheng quiet again.

It was hard to see the scene of flowing crowds on the streets anymore.

Even the women in Tianxiang Lou had no business, standing on the balcony all day, bored, cracking melon seeds.

"Get out, get out of here!"

It was just noon when Feng'er's scolding suddenly came from the Prince Mansion.

Then a group of merchants scurried out of the Prince Mansion, fleeing in all directions.

"Tch, what are they acting so high and mighty for? The Northern Di will attack soon; let's see how many more days your Yan Prince Mansion can be smug," one merchant said with no lack of malice.

"Exactly, truly stubborn as a dead duck."

"..."

As they were speaking, they turned their heads and saw Liu Fu standing before them, followed by some officials from the Prince's Mansion.

Staring at these merchants, Liu Fu smiled, "Although it is said that a gentleman uses his hands rather than his mouth, I will hit..."

Having said that, he punched the merchant in the eye.

Seeing Liu Fu take action, the other officials did not hesitate, and one by one they rushed up, beating these merchants until they were howling like ghosts and wolves.

Not until these merchants had all fled without a trace did he head toward the Prince's Mansion.

Xu Lie had watched the whole battle from the entrance, and when Liu Fu entered the gate, he gave a thumbs-up.

These merchants truly deserved to be beaten.

After learning that the Northern Di were about to hold the Autumn Hunt, several groups of merchants came to the Prince's Mansion—and actually wanted to purchase the brewing techniques and Secret Medicine formulas from the Prince's Mansion.

According to them, the Prince's Mansion might not survive this Autumn Hunt, so it would be better to sell the techniques to them.

And use this Silver to plan an escape route.

To these merchants, Yan Wang naturally told them to "get lost."

He even ordered that the trading firms were not allowed to do business with them in the future.

But perhaps blinded by greed, there were still merchants coming one after another.

"Where is His Highness?" Liu Fu asked.

"He just returned from the Armory Bureau and is in the study," Xu Lie said.

Liu Fu nodded and led the officials toward the study.

At the door of the study, Liu Fu said, "Your Highness, the County Magistrates of the seven counties have all arrived."

"Come in," Zhao Xu said; he was studying a map of Yan Commandery.

Hearing this, Liu Fu led the County Magistrates into the study.

"Your Highness, these merchants are truly detestable. They say people kick others when they are down, but we haven't even fallen into the well yet, and they are already throwing stones. I just ran into a few who were bad-mouthing us, so I beat them up."

"You hit them too lightly."

"I'll hit them again next time I see them."

"..."

The seven County Magistrates spoke one after another.

"Merchants pursue profit; it is their nature. However, they certainly deserved to be beaten; well done," Zhao Xu said.

The Northern Di have not yet arrived, but already the monsters and demons of Yancheng are emerging.

Once the Northern Di truly arrive, there is no telling how many collaborators will crawl out.

However, this also made him realize a problem.

A major factor in the poverty of Yan Commandery, and even Yanzhou, is that merchants have no confidence in this place.

Even the common people are the same; over these years, the number of people fleeing Yanzhou has been massive.

Therefore, he must win this battle to establish the world's confidence in Yan Commandery.