Chapter 714

Ma Chonghao knew that although he had established a leading position, both openly and covertly, that was only by tempting them with future spoils to obey. He could not fully command the other groups; when problems arose, he could only negotiate and coordinate.

But for this matter to succeed, even coordination had to be perfectly arranged. If the commander did not personally scout the terrain, chaos could easily erupt on the spot. Not a single misstep could be tolerated in this affair; it had to be absolutely foolproof. So everything that needed doing had to be done. Regardless of whether the He Family Village side was flat ground or however simple it might be, he absolutely had to go see it and return to discuss specifics. Judging by the current situation, Zhao Jin did not have the guts to strike first, which made it all the more necessary to make these preparations for his own proactive move.

Although a commander-in-chief could have trusted aides and scouts handle reconnaissance, if the commanding officer did not personally go before battle, he was simply unqualified. This operation had been planned for so long, with such heavy investment, and the visible returns were so enormous—there truly was no room for the slightest error! On this point, at least, Ma Chonghao considered himself a competent officer.

"As expected of the Brocade Guard, these disguising and scouting tricks are truly impressive!" Squad Leader Hu said with a laugh.

Ma Chonghao ignored the sarcasm in his words. In any case, he would be taking that huge windfall for himself later—why bother getting angry with such a petty man?

"We'll be hauling several carts of goods in one trip. We'll just pose as cart drivers and cargo handlers and follow along. The He Family Village side only does cursory checks; they watch people closely, but weapons are easier. Everyone must remember to keep your heads down, and treat the bandits inspecting the carts with the same attitude you'd show a superior. Don't carry weapons on your person—there are hidden compartments in the cart boards where you can stash them. The draft horses pulling the carts can be ridden. If things really get critical, ride them and get out!" Ma Chonghao gave his instructions in meticulous detail.

The other workers loading and unloading goods had received their orders from the shopkeeper and owner, and paid this group no mind, simply busying themselves with their own tasks.

Hearing Ma Chonghao explain things so clearly put everyone much more at ease. Such an arrangement was not only hard to detect, but also provided a clear escape route.

"At this critical juncture, does that little bandit still dare keep the market businesses open?" Xu Tiebiao asked, puzzled.

"Just putting on a show of calm. From the moment word arrived, his family's shops in that market haven't closed for a single day. For the others that kept operating, they even gave them some discounts and patronized their business. There really are some who value money over their lives, still open there." Ma Chonghao said with a laugh.

The group burst into laughter. Squad Leader Hu spoke up: "Young and hot-headed, obsessed with saving face. After strutting around for so long, he can't bear to let others see his decline. Stubbornly holding on makes sense!"

Once the carts were loaded and unloaded, Ma Chonghao's group, now in disguise, each boarded a cart. For safety's sake, they left four men behind in the village, then locked the cargo handlers inside the courtyard. Though this was somewhat rough treatment, with double the wages and the workers anxious to get some sleep late at night, no one bothered to quibble over the arrangement.

By now it was the deep of night, the hour of the Ox. The road was completely swallowed by darkness; only by the light of carriage lamps could the carts slowly advance. What made it even more unbearable for the group was that the inexplicably cool breeze from earlier had stopped, and the air had grown stiflingly hot again. Under the twin torments of exhaustion and oppressive heat, the entire party felt intensely irritable and utterly miserable.

"What damn cursed weather! The middle of the night and not a breath of cool wind—hot enough to kill a man! Stifling like this all the time, when's it going to rain!"

"Don't be impatient. Look at the sky—not a single star, completely overcast! It probably really is about to rain!"

They chatted back and forth to pass the time, but the carts never paused for a moment, heading steadily toward He Family Village. The driver and workers walked ahead carrying lanterns, while Ma Chonghao's group followed on foot or sat riding on the carts.

Traveling through the dark night was quiet and tedious, and since they were, after all, going to scout the lair of that little bandit Zhao Jin, some were too tense to sleep. Others couldn't sleep because of the unbearable stench of salted fish on the carts. Still others could not fight off drowsiness and dozed hazily on the carts the whole way. Traveling like this, they tossed and turned until nearly daybreak.

Sure enough, it was overcast. Dawn came much later than usual. The sky was full of dark clouds, looking indeed like rain was coming. The owner of the salted goods shop shouted out, jolting everyone awake, and they all knew they were about to arrive.

The moment they stepped down from the carts, as if they had trained for this, everyone's breathing unconsciously quickened. They looked around in all directions, fearful that something unusual might appear nearby. No matter how bold they had been beforehand, now that they were actually here, some nervousness was inevitable. Even Ma Chonghao deliberately took deep breaths to steady his own nerves.

Much as they had learned beforehand, Zhao Jin's faction was now doing everything possible to stabilize morale, so the household guards on duty at He Family Village were exceptionally lenient toward shops still operating in the market, and did not obstruct the cargo carts much. Moreover, the disguised group was exceedingly deferential and respectful. So after a cursory inspection, finding no contraband, the guards and militia directly let the convoy through.

They had traveled the official road through the night, and after several hours, by daybreak the carts had certainly covered a great distance. Yet everyone noticed one thing: there were very few patrol cavalry and sentries on the road, and even the household guards posted around He Family Village were far too few—exactly matching the earlier reports from those night scouts out of Ji Garrison.

What puzzled the group even more was that even here, at Zhao Jin's very base of power, the defenses, to their eyes, were still not very tight, and there was none of that tense atmosphere of facing a formidable enemy. They were all men who led troops and naturally knew the standards. To their eyes, the household troops were far too few.

The covert agent Ma Chonghao had placed here was a shrewd man with sharp instincts. He naturally knew what everyone was wondering about, so he called the large convoy over and asked, as if casually: "Why are there so few men on duty today? Usually there are far more than this."

"Hey, you don't know! Lord Jin put out a notice a while back—he's reviewing the household troops on the big field to the east, so everyone's gathered over there. Who'd dare delay even a moment? But, judging by the time, they're probably still drilling now. From villages for miles around, plenty of folks went over early to watch the excitement. Once you're done with your business, go take in the spectacle yourselves!" The household guard on duty said dismissively. "And I'm not just boasting—the show of force over there is truly something fierce. Anyone seeing it for the first time would be terrified!"

Hearing the worker's words, understanding dawned on everyone—they now grasped why the defenses here were so weak. They exchanged glances, then sneered in unison.

The convoy continued onward. Xu Tiebiao walked beside the large cart, spat angrily on the ground, and said with a cold laugh: "These people really are reckless fools. With the situation as it is now, they're actually not afraid! And they talk up Zhao Jin's rabble like they're something special, as if they were heavenly soldiers and generals. Heh... I'd really like to see if these bandits can even compare to the imperial heavenly troops!"

"Officer Xu, don't let them get to you. These people are all country bumpkins and foolish village women who've never traveled more than thirty li from home in their lives. In their eyes, this Zhao Jin is the sky itself, and Zhao Jin's henchmen are naturally heavenly soldiers and generals! They certainly don't know that once the imperial heavenly troops arrive, their sky is going to come crashing down..." Ma Chonghao said with a laugh, and everyone joined in.

No wonder they sneered. With a powerful enemy bearing down, Zhao Jin's faction was still this negligent—not tightening external defenses, not closely monitoring their own movements, but instead gathering most of the able-bodied men for some kind of review. Who ever fought a war like that? It seemed this great undertaking would succeed all too easily.

Even Ma Chonghao, usually so steady and composed, could not suppress the wild excitement in his heart at this moment. The great undertaking was about to succeed!

"Don't be impatient. Once we're done with our business, we'll go watch the excitement too. I want to see just what kind of drilling they can put on." Ma Chonghao spoke, and everyone's expressions relaxed as they nodded in agreement.

"It's already July twenty-second..." someone murmured.

In the early morning of July twenty-second, the forty-eighth year of the Wanli reign, Zhao Jin, clad in iron armor and fully arrayed, first returned home once. He looked at his infant son in swaddling clothes and his daughter in the cradle, gave Xu Zhenzhen a few words of instruction, then left without looking back, riding without pause to the barracks.

From the moment the large force led by Nanjing Brocade Guard Assistant Commander Ma Chonghao had arrived in Pi Prefecture, Zhao Jin had no longer spent his nights at home, even though his residence was connected to the encampment itself.

From the instant they received this intelligence, Zhao Jin's organization had already begun devoting its full attention to discussing countermeasures. They monitored this force's every movement at all times, not daring to slacken for a single moment.

At the initial meeting, Shi Manqiang, Dong Bingfeng, and Ji Xiang had wanted to strike preemptively, even considering a plan to set an ambush in the Fangcunji area. But this plan was vetoed by Zhao Jin.

"We cannot move first. We must wait for them to move. Right now, don't just assume the household troops are utterly loyal to us. If we lead them to attack imperial government troops—troops openly and explicitly coming to arrest us, coming for our lives and our families' lives—many will certainly be terrified, too timid to face the soldiers head-on, and might even scatter outright." Zhao Jin spoke, laying out his considerations.

Hearing Zhao Jin's concerns, Shi Manqiang's expression grew very anxious: "Big Brother, is there really need to worry so much? It's not like we haven't fought government troops before—we beat them just the same back then, didn't we? We've raised these household troops for so long, and we've faced life and death together so many times. They're practically family by now. How could they scatter so easily!"

Thanks to "Oda Shiro, Murmured Words, Solo User Qi, Qi Sanwen, 123*, Swarming Clouds, Sweet Sugarcane," several new and old friends, for the tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.