Chapter 838: Whatever Happened to the Agreed-Upon Self-Torture Stratagem?

Song Jiang's claim to the throne was illegitimate; the "Diligent King" armies rallying to his aid from various regions were few and far between.

With the Jia Family Army slaughtering its way in, those troops still loyal to Song Jiang and fully under his command had already been wiped out almost to the last man.

As for the rest, even if they rushed over, Song Jiang did not doubt for a moment that they were coming to serve the king.

Rather, they would watch him and the Jia Family Army mutually destroy each other, then come out to pick up the pieces.

"Thirty thousand, plus the commoners in the city... how are Lin Chong and the others doing?" Song Jiang asked.

"Judging from the occasional aura leaking out, advancing another step to become Grandmasters is no problem." Wu Yong said, pausing, "It's just that until they emerge from seclusion, at least ten more days are needed."

"Can we hold out for ten days?" Song Jiang asked.

"The grain in the city alone, even under siege, can last at least two months." Wu Yong shook his head, "But the enemy comes with overwhelming force, and Jia Rong is a Grandmaster. If he charges at the front, attacking the city recklessly, we simply have no one who can stop him."

"Grandmaster!" Song Jiang's face darkened.

Great Yin naturally had its own Grandmasters, two of them in fact.

It was just that neither of these two were Song Jiang's men; one belonged to the Great Yin imperial house, and had already passed away long ago.

Designed and murdered by Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and the others.

The other was Zhou Tong. He had previously run a martial arts school; Lin Chong, Wu Song, and Lu Junyi had all studied martial arts under Zhou Tong.

Later, Zhou Tong grew old and wandered everywhere, becoming a true carefree recluse. Even when Lu Junyi and the others went up to Liangshan, all but formally declaring rebellion, Zhou Tong had no reaction.

After the amnesty, when Song Jiang usurped the throne, Zhou Tong still had no reaction, truly minding his own business.

Even though Lu Junyi and the other two were his disciples, when Lin Chong was down on his luck back then Zhou Tong didn't intervene, and afterward he wouldn't intervene either.

After Song Jiang became emperor, the first thing he did was search for the untraceable Zhou Tong.

A Grandmaster roaming free outside — Song Jiang was uneasy!

This even caused some quarrels with Lu Junyi, Lin Chong, and the others, before the matter dropped.

After news of Lu Junyi's crushing defeat arrived, Song Jiang sent people to search for Zhou Tong again, but unfortunately, to this day, no trace of him has been found.

"Any news of Zhou Tong's whereabouts?" Song Jiang asked.

Wu Yong shook his head.

Song Jiang frowned, silent. A Grandmaster was not a Supreme Grandmaster; if Jia Rong were a Supreme Grandmaster, they might as well surrender now.

But a single Grandmaster with no one to oppose him would still cause tremendous losses.

True, Song Jiang's side still had two Masters: one was Qin Ming the "Lightning Fire," the other was Guan Sheng the "Big Saber," known as the "Little Guan Yu" — Guan Sheng happened to share the surname Guan and admired Guan Yu immensely, so he imitated him in every way.

He had previously gone to the Great Cauldron and learned a move or two from Guan Yu; though their ages were not far apart, they counted as half master and disciple.

The title "Little Guan Yu" was well-deserved and could be shouted publicly — unlike the "Little Marquis Wen" Lu Fang, which could only be muttered behind his back.

However, when Song Jiang seized power, Guan Sheng fought fiercely against the Great Yin imperial Grandmaster, suffered severe injuries, and is still recuperating; his full strength retains barely one-tenth.

Only Qin Ming remains — how could he possibly block the enemy Grandmaster?

Moreover, the Jia Family Army doesn't only have Jia Rong as a high-end combatant; Jia Huan, who killed Gong Sunsheng, can play an even greater role in siege warfare than a Grandmaster.

"Can't we mobilize the commoners from all regions?" Song Jiang said, "Also, a hundred-thousand-strong army on the march — where does their grain come from?"

If we could mobilize the commoners to fight alongside us, we could wear down the Jia Family Army to the maximum extent.

In the current situation, the commoners in the capital would certainly defend the palace to the death, but that is only when the defending soldiers are nearly exhausted that the commoners would be forced to step up.

Before that, even coercion is useless; it would only backfire, making things worse.

"We can't." Wu Yong gave a bitter laugh and shook his head, "Although the Jia Family Army has advanced straight in all the way, they have basically not harmed a hair on the commoners' heads. They raised the slogan 'Strike the local tyrants and gentry, distribute the land,' wiped out many powerful local bullies, distributed money widely, took only grain, and actually won quite a bit of popular support."

"..." Song Jiang covered his forehead.

What do commoners understand? They are the easiest to fool; Song Jiang's position is illegitimate, as long as there is one great victory, he can sit firmly on the throne.

But they are also the hardest to fool; the Jia Family Army gave them tangible benefits, and now Song Jiang wants them to go die with just a few words — how is that possible?

"Delay, we must delay until Lin Chong and the others emerge!" Song Jiang lowered his hand and said with finality.

Lin Chong and Wu Song are currently in seclusion; when they emerge, they will be at the Grandmaster realm, and at that time they can turn the tide and save "New Song (the state title 'Song' has been set and not changed)" from the fire and water.

These ten days must be endured!

Wu Yong nodded; fighting with one's back to the wall, burning one's boats, it was not impossible to survive this period.

They lack time; in reality, the Jia Family Army also doesn't have much time. Fighting deep in enemy territory, even with the slogan "Strike the tyrants, distribute the fields," it's impossible to directly win the hearts of all the people.

It's just that the time left to them is a tiny bit more than the time left to Song Jiang and the others, and that is very awkward.

"Actually, I have a plan." After a while, Wu Yong sighed.

"Speak!" Song Jiang looked at Wu Yong with some displeasure; what time did he think it was, still hesitating here?

If you have a plan, use it quickly.

"The Self-Torture Stratagem." Wu Yong met Song Jiang's gaze, "The Jia Family Army's vanguard generals are all women; we send San Niang to fight them."

"And then?" Song Jiang asked.

The San Niang in Wu Yong's mouth was Hu San Niang, assigned by Song Jiang to marry Wang Ying, but before the two could even consummate the marriage, Wang Ying went to the front lines and was killed by the Jia Family women.

Hu San Niang thus became a "widow," overjoyed beyond measure.

Yes, who would want to marry that guy Wang Ying? It wasn't that she despised Wang Ying for being short; Wang Ying as a whole was just no good.

Aside from having a passable set of martial arts, he was just a ruffian; Hu San Niang nearly fell out with Song Jiang and the others over this matter.

"Then naturally we follow the rules (single combat before the arrays). San Niang must win, and win beautifully, win magnanimously, yet not truly kill or injure the opponent. Because she shows mercy, we must be furious, must reprimand her, even punish her by military law, beat her with army rods." Wu Yong said, "Because of the Wang Ying matter, San Niang already harbored some resentment; add these things on top..."

"So she will directly rebel." Song Jiang continued Wu Yong's words, "But even so, it would at most buy four or five days. Once San Niang enters the enemy camp, what can she do?"

The Self-Torture Stratagem's process can buy half the time; what about the other half?

"Poison." Wu Yong said.

"Poison?" Song Jiang frowned, "In such a short time, how can San Niang win Jia Rong's trust? Even offering her own pillow might not work, and it would only arouse the enemy's suspicion."

Jia Rong could lead a hundred thousand troops straight in without a single defeat.

Song Jiang would never imagine him to be a man blinded by lust. Although Hu San Niang is very beautiful, Song Jiang also knew that the Jia Family Army's "Weeping Death God" and "Smiling Yama" and the others were all peerless beauties.

Compared to them, Hu San-niang still falls short by a move.

Moreover, if Hu San-niang were the type to sell her charms, she would not have nearly fallen out with Song Jiang and the others over Wang Ying's matter, discarded all official posts, and lived in idle retirement at home.

"It's not about poisoning Jia Rong, but poisoning the Jia family army. Bai Sheng and An Daoquan improved the deadly poison—colorless, odorless, even a grand master could not detect it." Wu Yong said, "Now it's even more suitable for use against multiple people, only..."

The grand master who was schemed to death in the shadows fell to Bai Sheng and An Daoquan's poison, then was surrounded and killed.

"Only what?"

"It can only be administered in water..." Wu Yong sighed.

"How can that work!" Song Jiang said, finally understanding why Wu Yong had delayed revealing his "scheme of suffering flesh."

The scheme of suffering flesh was a pretense; poisoning was the true intent.

The problem lies in the fact that poisoning the nearby water source would also affect their imperial city.

"This poison won't last too long—about a month, and the contamination of the water source will disappear." Wu Yong said.

"How long can our independent water source last?"

"If we only count the city-defending troops, one month is just enough. But the civilians in the city, especially the physically weak, would likely die." Wu Yong said.

The improved poison is not lethal, but strong enough to rob a sturdy martial artist of combat ability; for the physically weak, it is a deadly poison.

Song Jiang slowly tapped his fingers on the table.

Those who achieve great things do not fuss over minor details; he did not truly care about civilian casualties, but truly worried about internal troubles and external threats causing panic among the imperial city's populace, leading to collapse without attack.

This balance is hard to grasp; a slight misstep would bring self-destruction.

"The poison is the doing of the Jia family army—understand?" After long contemplation, Song Jiang said.

Wu Yong and the others nodded.

Perhaps this could stir up a spirit of mutual hatred against a common enemy.

"Go, Hua Rong—you go persuade the third daughter." Song Jiang said.

Hua Rong nodded and departed with his orders.

※※※

The Jia family army arrived earlier than Song Jiang and his group had imagined—what should have taken two days of travel was completed in just one day.

Thereafter, they began setting up camp and fortifications, without rushing to attack the city.

Having just completed a forced march, the soldiers needed some time to rest.

The next morning, judging by the time of day, the sky should have long been bright, yet the Great Yin imperial city remained shrouded in gloom.

Many people looked up at the sky and saw a vast expanse of black clouds covering the entire imperial city.

Moreover, only the imperial city was covered.

Residents living on the outskirts could, upon looking up, see bright sunshine beyond the city walls.

Their hearts could not help but be shaken.

Is heaven intent on destroying our Great Yin?

The mood of Song Jiang and his companions was as gloomy as the sky—though Jia Huan had not summoned wind and rain, merely "invoking" a patch of dark clouds, he had already caused panic among the people.

"Sound the charge." Song Jiang's command rang out from the imperial palace.

He would not ascend the city walls until the critical moment.

"Roar! Roar!"

On the towering city walls of the imperial city, spears stood like a forest; rolling stones, hot oil, and crossbow bolts were all ready, and with the war drums, the soldiers' shouts rang like thunder.

To some extent, this dispelled the oppressive feeling brought by the dark clouds.

The side gate beside the main city gate slowly opened; Yizheng Qing Hu San-niang appeared in bright armor, riding her horse.

Her twin blades crossed in a slash, emitting a ringing sound: "Yizheng Qing Hu San-niang is here—who dares to fight!"

She faced the dark, pressing mass of the Jia family army beyond the city, her voice icy and fierce—her spirit as a woman yielding nothing to men.

But... Wu Yong on the city walls narrowed his eyes; before the Jia family army's formation, he saw none of those few faces bearing the weeping or smiling masks that struck terror into enemies.

It seems the vanguard of the assault is not the Jia family daughter—after all, the Jia family women excel at charging and killing enemies, but may not be skilled in siege warfare.

If it is not the Jia family's Thirteen Guardians making a move, Hu San-niang's chances of victory have increased by another ten percent.

"Hualala."

As Hu San-niang's challenge rang out, the Jia family army's formation suddenly split apart, like waves spreading to both sides, and upon seeing it, one might even experience auditory hallucinations or illusions.

In the gap opened by the splitting armored soldiers, a young man in white robes slowly stepped forward.

Wearing no military uniform, his appearance was refined, his hair casually tied, still somewhat disheveled, making him look more like a scholar—out of place in such an iron-blooded, murderous military array.

"This is!" Wu Yong's face changed drastically.

This person, Jia Rong?!

Tang Luo stepped forward from the crowd, bowed his head slightly toward Hu San-niang as a response, then raised his hand.

Hu San-niang and her warhorse were instantly bound by an invisible great handprint, suspended in midair, unable to move.

Clenching his fist loosely, Tang Luo gently pushed forward.

Hu San-niang and her warhorse flew backward into the city wall.

"Boom!"

A tremendous heavenly sound rang out—the city gate shattered and collapsed.

Centering on the city tower, the tall, thick city wall, under Tang Luo's punch, shattered with a roar, forming a huge breach over thirty meters wide, burying large numbers of soldiers directly.

One punch breaks the city!

Unable to escape in time, those buried in the city wall and tower ruins naturally included Wu Yong, who had been observing from within the city tower.

Before he completely lost consciousness, his mind held only one frantic thought looping over and over: "Where is the promised scheme of suffering flesh!"