Chapter 318: Sweeping the House Clean

On the nineteenth day of the ninth month, the day after Liu Bosheng's defeat in battle.

Lai Xi had been unable to follow the original plan — to thrust behind enemy lines, swing wide in a great arc, and strike at Yueyang.

At the Battle of Wuchuang Mountain, flying the banners of the Garrison Cavalry Camp, they had defeated the Elite Cavalry Camp — that alone was an extraordinary miracle, and their own casualties were not light. When they crossed the Jing River from Ganquan Mountain, they had abandoned their horses. They traveled over a hundred li eastward on foot, their dry rations exhausted, forced to solve the food problem by raiding village hamlets.

But Lai Xi's grain-seizure plan went very poorly. This region fell within the bounds of Liewei Commandery — the King of Wei's homeland. From the petty strongmen of the villages to the common folk, identification with Diwu Lun ran remarkably high. The powerful families defended themselves with fortified manors, while the commoners wrapped in white headscarves, scratching a living from the loess slopes, watched the passing Chongling soldiers with hostile eyes. Their scouts often went out and never returned, ambushed by the locals.

"Why do the northern mountains look like this?"

Having left the plains and entered the crisscrossed ravines of the loess plateau, the Chongling soldiers from the southern lands found it deeply unfamiliar. The air here was so cold and dry; everywhere they looked was yellow earth. Forests and grassland made up only a small fraction — even hunting to improve their meals was no easy task.

According to their unreliable map, this place should be Duiyu County (modern-day Yao County, Shaanxi) in the northern part of Liewei Commandery, still over a hundred li south of Yueyang.

Diwu Lun's rear-guard personnel had by now recovered from their initial panic. At the front, they faced off against Liu Bosheng; in the rear, Ren Guang and Diba Jiao were mainly in charge. Diwu Lun's grandfather, Diwu Ba, armored and stationed at Yueyang, took personal command. Ren Guang swiftly relayed the news to every county. Besides guarding the granary fortifications, they also established two defensive lines along the Zhengguo Canal and the Bai Canal.

"When the gale-force wind declines, it cannot lift a feather; at the end of a strong crossbow's flight, its force cannot pierce Lu silk."

Lai Xi looked at his utterly exhausted soldiers. Scout reports indicated that Diwu Lun had strengthened his defenses and stripped the countryside bare; every county was under strict guard. Without horses, advancing any further would be extremely difficult.

According to the plan, the two flanking forces, east and west, were to converge here and strike south together at Yueyang. But they had already waited two days, and there was not even a shadow of Deng Chen's and Wang Chang's armies.

"If we could join forces and combine our strength, it would be a fatal blow to Diwu Lun's rear. But if it is only my force..."

Then we are an isolated army deep in enemy territory, sooner or later to be surrounded and annihilated!

"We can wait no longer!"

Lai Xi keenly sensed danger closing in step by step, growing more and more uneasy. According to the agreement with Liu Bosheng, if the east had not yet brightened, this offensive must be called off, and they were to withdraw in time.

But although the Elite Cavalry Camp had lost its commanding officer, over a hundred of its scouts still trailed far behind, watching their every move. Retracing their original path would surely lead to an ambush.

"Everyone up — we're moving out!"

Lai Xi finally made his decision. He called the remaining thousand-odd Chongling soldiers to assemble in the ravines of the loess plateau, but instead of leading them south, he did the opposite — they headed northwest!

"General Lai, where are we going?"

Lai Xi's thinking was wildly unconventional: "The western Han magnate Wei Ao is sure to seize Beidi Commandery while Bosheng and Diwu Lun are locked in battle. We shall go lend him a hand, spend the winter there, and when spring comes next year, borrow a route back to Weinan!"

"Alas, the King of Wei is indeed going to lose after all."

Two days earlier, when the battle situation at Tongyuan had not yet reached Yueyang, and word had just come that Greenwood Han troops had struck the rear, Ban Biao, moving books in Yueyang Palace, had secretly sighed this to himself.

"The Xin dynasty lost its grip on governance; the Red Eyebrows and Greenwood rose first in revolt; bold men swarmed up like hornets, contending with one another — beyond counting. Yet Diwu Lun, as an official of Xin, seized the momentum and rose in the Wei lands, struck back at the imperial environs, and within ten days, Chang'an changed masters and Wang Mang fled. Though a subject attacking his sovereign, he did indeed achieve the merit of punishing a tyrant."

"However, Diwu Lun is arrogant in his achievements, greedy for the rank of a feudal lord, preferring to exert his private cunning rather than follow the greater trend. He has honored himself as king, seeking to govern all under heaven by force. Now, with his fragmented and divided territory, he faces the imposing edge of the Pillar-of-Heaven Grand General. His statecraft is exhausted; the Greenwood forces drive deep and unhindered. This State of Wei will crumble to dust at any moment."

The officials whispering privately in the palace were, in Ban Biao's eyes, each plotting their own escape. Diwu Lun's grandfather, Diwu Ba, personally inspecting the city walls was an omen of the enemy at the gates. Those craftsmen and government slaves conscripted to serve on the Zhengguo Canal and Bai Canal defense lines — in Ban Biao's view, it was just like King Zhou of Shang arming convicts and hoping they would resist King Wu of Zhou. How could they possibly win?

Every sign confirmed Ban Biao's conviction that his assessment was correct: "The Han mandate has returned; the heavenly numbers run contrary. The King of Wei's realm is hard to rely on."

And so he began to lament the books in this Yueyang Palace. Transported so far, some had already been lost. If they were to change masters yet again, who knew what calamity they might suffer?

"It seems I must still find an opportunity to go to the banks of the Wei River and persuade the King of Wei to follow the greater trend, lay down his arms and surrender, so as to preserve the common people... and preserve the books..."

Yet just as he was lost in these musings, outside the city, an army of over five thousand men truly did "arrive at the city walls"!

But it was not Liu Bosheng's Han army. It was Geng Yan, following an edict to lead troops north in pursuit of Lai Xi! He had set out from the Wei River the day before, force-marched through a full day and night, and reached Yueyang. Only when he saw that all was well here did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Geng Yan did not enter the city. He let his soldiers seize the time to rest, and merely sent someone into Yueyang to report the battle situation.

"Liu Bosheng is dead! The Greenwood bandits are routed! The King of Wei has won a total victory!"

The whole of Yueyang thundered with cheers. Even Wang Long, who had been restless and distracted in Yueyang Palace, anxious about the front lines, now had tears of hot joy streaming down his face and joined the celebration.

Only Ban Biao stood frozen in place, mouth slightly agape, unable to speak for a long while. This shouldn't be! How could it be so swift?

This event delivered a massive shock to his worldview. And as a man thoroughly steeped in the books of the sages, who had already formed his own system of thought and way of seeing the world, Ban Biao's first reaction was: Fake news!

"Before Wang Mang's defeat and death, he too ordered prisoners transported in cage carts from the east, proclaiming that 'Liu Bosheng and others have all been executed.' The scholars and commoners knew it was a lie."

Ban Biao recovered his wise air of being the only sober man while all around were drunk, and shook his head to himself: "This is Diwu Lun's trick to calm people's hearts. Of all things to imitate, he imitates Wang Mang? He may deceive for a moment, but can he deceive for a lifetime?"

"Truly deceiving oneself and others!"

Ban Biao refused to believe that Diwu Lun had defeated Liu Bosheng so quickly. But in that same city of Yueyang, another person breathed a very long sigh of relief.

Ever since that day over ten days ago, when Yin Lihua had fallen out with Yin Shi — going so far as to fiercely cut off her hair and sever the engagement to Liu Xiu — the King of Wei's control over her had loosened considerably. He had even sent people to arrange a courtyard residence for Yin Lihua and her younger brother Yin Xing in the Wannian mausoleum town.

Yin Lihua still frequently went to Wannian Palace, bringing fresh news from outside to the house-arrested Wang Yan. On her own initiative, she also petitioned Ren Guang, leveraging his connections, expressing that she had received great kindness from the King of Wei. Now that the Wei army was at war with Greenwood, she too wished to contribute, and was willing to join the weaving women who embroidered banners for the King of Wei.

The State of Wei had just been founded, and banners were in severe shortage. They could barely supply the front lines; the various counties could not even fill their quota. And every single banner had to be sewn by hand — naturally, the work could not be fast.

Though Yin Lihua was a gentlewoman at home, she had also studied needlework and could embroider with considerable refinement. Ren Guang could not refuse her repeated earnest requests, and since Diwu Lun had not said no, he agreed. He even gave her a wage — five shi of grain and two bolts of cloth each month.

But her fifteen-year-old younger brother, Yin Xing, was puzzled by his elder sister taking this step: "Sister, even if we cannot return to Nanyang, the King of Wei treats us with the respect due to guests. We lack neither food nor clothing. Why do such work?"

"Lack neither food nor clothing?"

Yin Lihua looked at her full brother: "Junling, the work I do now, compared to those days in the Lateral Courts, endlessly pounding filthy clothes day and night — which is easier?"

"Do you think it is more dignified to take up needle and thread and earn one's own living, or to stand motionless in the palace, holding a chamber pot for the Empress Dowager?"

Yin Xing was stunned. Yin Lihua told him to learn to recognize their proper place. They were captives, not even worth being called hostages. He must not regard himself as a gentlewoman or a gentleman, nor take the food and clothing bestowed by the King of Wei as a matter of course.

Though she did not particularly blame Liu Xiu, this affair had proven that men could not be relied upon. She still had to rely on herself.

When she was a gentlewoman, needlework had been a leisurely pastime. Now, it was her skill for self-sufficiency, and she took it ever more seriously. Yin Lihua had heard that the King of Wei detested idlers.

Today, as Yin Lihua was embroidering the banner in her hands, Yin Xing came rushing in with a report, visibly horrified, and told her the news of Liu Bosheng's death in battle and Diwu Lun's great victory.

"What are you crying for? You are not allowed to cry!"

Yin Lihua froze for a moment, then set down her needle and wiped the tear stains from her younger brother's face with her sleeve. This child, like Yin Shi, had also greatly admired Liu Bosheng. She recalled that when Liu Bosheng had gone to the Yin clan of Xinye to propose marriage on his younger brother's behalf, Yin Xing had tagged along behind, and Liu Bosheng had even given him a small sword.

Yin Xing was not only grieving for Liu Bosheng; he was also worried about his half-brother Yin Shi, who was with the Greenwood Army. Was he alive or dead now? And with Liu Bosheng dead in battle, did this mean they could never return to Nanyang?

"We cannot go back. This is our new home now. And you — you are the hope for the Yin clan's continuation."

Yin Lihua was only a few years older than him, yet after all these trials, she was now as mature as an old mother. And she secretly rejoiced.

"That day, I did the right thing."

Just like the hair Yin Lihua had cut off — half in earnest, half in a show of fierce resolve — from this day forward, all old ties with the Liu clan of Chongling must be utterly cast away, forgotten!

She was a clever woman, and knew exactly what she ought to do now.

Yin Lihua set down the work in her hands and, from that simple new home, found two new garments — one her own, the other Yin Xing's. Smiling, she held them up against her younger brother to measure:

"When you go out today, you must wear new clothes. When you meet people, your face must show joy. Celebrate ten thousand years of life for the King of Wei together with all of Yueyang — have you got that?"

…

At the same time, on the Wei River battlefield where the corpses had yet to be fully buried, Deng Ye, who had been ordered to sweep south of the Wei and take in the surrendered troops, once again came before Diwu Lun. He also had men carry over a basket of documents from Liu Bosheng's tent.

"Is this all?"

Diwu Lun had Zhu Di and the others search through them, but they found nothing of great use. He had heard that before marching to battle, Liu Bosheng had written a letter and given it to his clansman Liu Zhong, but that Liu Zhong had now fled south, passing Chang'an and leading several thousand men straight toward the Qinling range.

The latest news was that Jing Dan and Diba Biao were sweeping in from the east to Lantian, cutting off his route back to Nanyang. Liu Bosheng's remnant force was probably trying to flee to Hanzhong.

For now, Diwu Lun had no designs on Hanzhong. Compared to hastily expanding his territory, there was something far more important he had to do!

Hello everyone, our public account gives out cash and coin red packets every day — just follow and you can claim them. This is the last bonus of the year, so please seize the chance. Public account 【Book Friend Base Camp】

"If you won't sweep one room, how can you sweep the world? First sweep clean this north-of-the-Wei main hall, then open the gate and step out into the courtyard!"

So Diwu Lun had these documents brought into Xiliu Camp. He assigned Zhang Yu, who had come running from Jing Dan's side to deliver news, to handle it. Dirty work and dark deeds — besides Diba Biao and Huang Chang, young Zhang Yu could now manage them too.

Zhang Yu did not disappoint. Following Diwu Lun's instructions, by nightfall, into that originally thin little bundle of bamboo slips, out of thin air, a thick, large sheaf of silk letters had been stuffed in!

"Great King, a sheaf of letters has been discovered — all secret correspondence between the powerful Fan clan of the Five Tombs and others with Liu Bosheng!"

Autumn's end has come — time to settle accounts!

…

PS: Tomorrow's update will be at 13:00.

There will be an extra chapter.