Chapter 428: Outside Pi Province

Zhao Jin's group started a fire to cook. The women and children had only eaten cold dry rations along the way, and the men of Zhao Character Camp were also cold and hungry. Stopping here was a rare chance to replenish themselves.

While eating, Zhao Jin called Qi San over and said, "Once you've finished eating, set out overnight. Go to Yutou Town and have Sun Jia mobilize supplies and horses."

"Since someone's watching us from behind, won't this implicate Uncle Sun?" Dong Bingfeng spoke up.

"Have Sun Jia declare the name of Zhao Character Camp. As long as we're here, no one will dare touch him," Zhao Jin said coldly.

"Big Brother, aren't we afraid of exposing ourselves?" Liu Yong couldn't help asking.

"The most urgent thing now is to get back to Xuzhou. The Feng family's people should be pursuing us from behind right now, but they can mobilize too many forces in Huai'an Prefecture. If they send fast riders ahead to pass word and muster forces to intercept us, then we'll be in danger," Zhao Jin replied.

Last night's surprise attack on the Feng family horse convoy — those Feng family men who withdrew early or scattered in all directions would also be out there. They might have set out earlier than Zhao Jin's group, or perhaps a little later; the timing wouldn't differ by much.

They probably hadn't expected Zhao Jin's unit to push forward so relentlessly without regard for anything else, which threw their plans into disarray and left them no time to set up an interception or maintain pursuit. But both sides had set out at roughly the same time. Zhao Jin's mounts were exhausted, their speed affected, while Huai'an Prefecture was the Feng family's territory, where they could mobilize all kinds of resources at any time — for example, riding horses in good condition.

The scouts' reactions along the way made this clear too. At first they were just prying and snooping; later a few tried to follow, but they lacked skill and experience. Once they passed Suqian city, however, professional scouts began to lock onto them.

Riding without stopping, it would take over half a day from their current position to Pi Province, and over half a day from Pi Province to Xuzhou's borders. Over this nearly day-and-night-long stretch, the closer they got to the end, the greater the danger.

After Zhao Jin laid out his analysis, his companions all wore grave expressions. Even the women and children sensed the atmosphere — the women helped make fires and cook, while the children stayed quietly off to one side.

As before, the unit split into two halves, taking turns standing watch and resting. During this time, a dozen or so seasoned jianghu veterans also slipped out from the camp to scout in all directions, checking whether anyone was creeping up on them.

"The scouts aren't far from us. They might even be the same ones from yesterday. They're extremely alert — the moment we get close, they're ready to mount up and flee." Word came back quickly.

A cold sneer crossed Zhao Jin's face. "They want to tail us without fighting or running? It won't be that cheap. Take turns going out there. They won't be getting any sleep tonight."

In any case, each watch shift could either ride out or creep forward — there was always time to go harass them. If they wanted to keep following like this, they couldn't afford to be too far away. A few hundred paces could be covered very quickly.

Those four scouts were indeed alert, though. They didn't sleep that night either. The moment they heard any movement, they mounted up and rode off at once, only circling back after a while.

Zhao Jin assigned himself to the last watch of the night, near daybreak. Calculating the hour, when there was still about half a shichen until the first light of dawn, Zhao Jin called off the harassment. He simply assigned men to keep watch from a distance, then woke Dong Bingfeng and a few others with good riding skills.

The four scouts' eyes were completely bloodshot; every one of them was wound tight. Who knew where this unit had sprung from — they'd even dared to strike the Feng family's horse convoy, and they were this brazen even while fleeing. Yet the scouts dared not be the slightest bit careless. They had already witnessed this group's ruthlessness in pursuit. Someone had gone back to last night's camp — not a single living soul had been left behind.

The harassment went on all night without pause. They dared not engage, afraid of getting tangled up and being unable to get away. Still, the scouts were cursing inwardly: Go ahead and run wild. Once you're cut off, we'll see how you like it.

After a whole night of torment, things finally quieted down near daybreak. Though they knew there was danger and knew they had to stay alert, the sudden silence still made them unable to resist dozing off. Reminding each other did no good at all. Their mounts were utterly exhausted too, the horses all lathered in sweat — they really did need to ease up for a bit.

Right in that drowsy haze, the first light of dawn appeared in the east, and then the rapid pounding of hoofbeats rang out. They'd thought it wouldn't happen again, thought that once daylight came the group would just keep fleeing at a mad gallop. They'd never imagined they still wouldn't be let off.

They scrambled awake from their dozing, scrambled to mount up and flee — but by the time they came to their senses, they found the distance between the two sides was already very close.

At this range, shooting from horseback had accuracy. The scouts even knew there was a young man among them whose mounted archery was terrifyingly good. One arrow flew — a scout who had just mounted up tumbled off his horse again. Another arrow — a horse reared straight up, throwing its rider off. The other two whipped their horses into a frantic gallop, but after only a few dozen paces, they found someone blocking the way ahead, standing there taking aim with a drawn bow.

The four scouts were dealt with cleanly. Over on the other side, everything was nearly ready. The women and children were being helped onto horses. The sacks, already nearly flat, were refilled with dry rations and fodder — though far from full. Several dozen horses that could no longer run were left to this small hamlet. If they could be nursed back to health and used as draft animals, that would be the hamlet's good fortune.

With a shout, they set out again. They had ridden less than half a shichen when more people began tailing them from behind. A full night's rest had been enough for the other side to muster personnel and send word along the route. It was just that they hadn't yet assembled a force strong enough to swallow Zhao Jin's unit in one go, so they could only follow at a distance.

Everything was more or less as they had predicted. Zhao Jin's group simply advanced along the official road toward Pi Province. Suqian and Pi Province both lay along the Grand Canal, and the official road beside the canal was broad and level — running it was especially convenient.

By the time the sun came out, there were roughly a dozen riders following behind them. Zhao Jin's group had to maintain formation, so the unit couldn't move too fast, which allowed the pursuers to keep up.

Still, there were quite a few travelers on the road. This stretch was already considered prosperous and well-populated. Even with the new year approaching, pedestrians and merchant caravans could be seen everywhere. Though they hindered the unit's movement, they likewise kept the pursuing scouts from acting with reckless abandon.

Everyone cast strange looks at Zhao Jin's unit, hastily scrambling to the roadside and cursing a few times under their breath. After they'd traveled like this for about half a shichen, a single fast rider came galloping madly from behind, showing no regard whatsoever for the pedestrians, carts, and horses on the road. Whenever anyone blocked his way, he'd shout, "Three-hundred-li urgent dispatch!"

Judging by his attire and conduct, he was a postal runner delivering emergency official documents. Zhao Jin led his unit aside to make way. The postal runner was a rather capable-looking man. As he overtook Zhao Jin's group, he turned his head and shot them a glance, then spurred onward at a furious pace.

"The new year is almost here — what kind of document could possibly need a three-hundred-li urgent dispatch?" Dong Bingfeng, who knew a bit about such matters, said with puzzlement.

The Great Ming capital was in Northern Zhili, and wars and military affairs mostly occurred in the north. The south was relatively peaceful. Even urgent dispatches usually went from north to south. What's more, at this time of year, all the government offices had already sealed their gates to await the coming year; everyone was preparing for the Spring Festival. A three-hundred-li urgent dispatch seemed rather suspicious.

"Speed up. That man was very likely going ahead to deliver a message. Dressed like that, at the very least, we wouldn't stop him," Zhao Jin said grimly.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the road after that. The unit even halted once to let the horses rest briefly. The scouts behind them hadn't increased in number; those dozen or so riders also stopped far away and stayed put.

They had set out before dawn and ridden for four or five shichen. When the sun was slanting west, they arrived outside Pi Province. Still about ten li from the city, Qi San was waiting by the roadside and led the main group to the agreed-upon location.

Pi Province had flourished and grown prosperous because the Grand Canal had shifted its course. Reckoning the time, Qi San should have reached Yutou Town around dawn. Sun Jia and Qi San should have arrived at Pi Province after daybreak. In such a short time, they had still managed to prepare sufficient supplies. If they'd been in Xuzhou, even with silver, they might not have been able to pull it together.

Such a large setup spread out by the roadside drew sidelong glances from passersby. Dozens of strong horses with full tack, cookstoves billowing steam and sending out the aroma of food, some hard flatbreads stacked to one side, several large stoves heating water with boiled water cooling nearby, and scores of sturdy, robust men standing there. Sun Jia, wearing a fur robe, waited with a cautious expression.

"Eat! Change horses! Have these men take over moving the women and children!" Zhao Jin bellowed. His men answered in chorus and wolfed down the food. The preparations were thorough and proper — the food was neither too hot nor too cold, just right to eat. Mix the boiled and cool water, and it was convenient for both people to drink and horses to be watered. Those hard flatbreads were prepared for the horses; hard feed builds strength.

Along the way, another dozen or so horses had collapsed from exhaustion. By the time they reached Pi Province, many of the mounts were already at their limit. All of these had to be swapped out. Even those still in decent condition were hastily fed, and the loads they carried were unloaded and transferred to fresh horses.

While they were hurriedly eating and preparing, quite a crowd of onlookers had gathered nearby. Not long after, a man was seen rushing over urgently — but not toward Zhao Jin's side. Instead, he went up to Sun Jia and whispered a few words.

Sun Jia was taken aback. "Invite your master over!" he said.

The man was equally stunned. Sun Jia thumped his chest and declared, "Old Sun stakes his entire family fortune on this guarantee. Does your master still not trust that?"

The Sun family trading house's fortune was truly staggering. When Sun Jia said this, the man hesitated a moment, then hurriedly ran back.

"Pi Province Garrison Commander Huang Meng wants to see me, and he even told me to come over in secret. I told him to come here instead — everyone here is one of our own," Sun Jia explained.

Pi Province Garrison Commander? Zhao Jin shot a few meaningful glances to the side. Orders were immediately passed along in low voices. The men eating and drinking gathered together, weapons placed at hand. They were already prepared. In any case, Sun Jia's people were handling all the other tasks.

Before long, Garrison Commander Huang of Pi Province rode over on horseback, followed by over a hundred soldiers. He even had ten mounted household retainers, who looked reasonably orderly.

Garrison Commander Huang was around forty years old. He might once have been brawny, but now he was somewhat fat. Wearing armor and bearing a blade, fully armed, he halted at a distance to survey the scene. Perhaps because everyone here was eating and resting and didn't look too threatening, he cautiously urged his horse forward. Those ten household retainers stayed close by his side the entire time.

Once he reached them, Garrison Commander Huang did not dismount. "Old Sun," he said impatiently, "I've got urgent business with you. Get over here, quick — what are you dawdling for?"