Mo Sang – CH 171

Chapter 171. Entering the City

As the sun rose high overhead, the remnants of the Southern Liang Army, exhausted from a night of bloody battle, gathered on the riverbank and boarded boats to retreat south.

The exhausted Northern Qi Army watched from afar as the retreating Liang forces fled.

Both sides were at their last gasp after a night of fighting.

In the southwest corner of Ezhou City, the raging fire had subsided slightly, black smoke mingling with blue smoke, carried by the wind, pressing down on the entire city.

That was where the Liang Army stored their provisions.

Li Sangrou, from horse to rider, was covered in layers of blood, the outermost layer still wet, dripping slowly.

Li Sangrou sheathed her long, narrow sword, placed it on the saddle, turned, saw Hei Ma, and beckoned to it.

Hei Ma reined in his horse. “Boss!”

“You, Mazha, and Xiao Lu, go into the city.

Next to the Ezhou army camp in the east of the city, there’s a house with the words ‘Liang Residence’ written on the gate in floral bricks.

General Wu lives there. See if Concubine Su has left. If she has not, tell her General Wu is retreating south across the river and ask her what to do. If she wants to leave, you guys escort her out of the city and let her go find General Wu. If she’s already left, come back quickly.”

“Alright,” Hei Ma agreed, beckoning Mazha and Xiao Lu to join him, and rode into the city.

Li Sangrou watched the three of them enter the city gate, then turned her horse around and headed back to the camp.

The southern half of the camp had been breached by the Liang Army. The soldiers guarding the camp were busy extinguishing the remaining fires, gathering up the tattered tents, and rebuilding the fence.

Li Sangrou’s small tent and the commander’s tent were very close to the breached half, but they were unharmed. Da Chang, Meng Yanqing, and the others followed Li Sangrou, dismounted, and set up a fire at the tent entrance, hanging a copper kettle to boil water.

Once the water boiled, Li Sangrou poured it into a bucket, carried it into the tent, took off her wet, sticky, and heavy clothes, and washed her hair and body.

After washing and changing into clean clothes, Li Sangrou, carrying her blood-stained clothes, left the tent, took a few burning pieces of firewood from the fire, added some more, and rebuilt the fire. Seeing the fire burning brightly, she threw the blood-stained clothes into the flames.

Watching the flames lick the blood-stained clothes, Li Sangrou took a small stool, moved a table over, went into the tent, took out tea leaves, a teapot, and cups, picked up the copper kettle that was boiling over the fire, poured water, and brewed tea.

Da Chang, having finished tidying up, came out, threw the blood-stained clothes he was carrying into the fire, and seeing that Li Sangrou had already brewed tea, he brought out a large pot from the tent, set it on the stove, and steamed rice.

Meng Yanqing washed and changed his clothes first, burned his blood-stained clothes, and then came to help wash and steam the rice.

Li Sangrou saw Da Chang carrying out a large piece of cured meat and quickly instructed, “Steam cured meat rice. Slice it and grill it first.”

Da Chang agreed and sliced ​​the cured meat into evenly thick pieces. Meng Yanqing brought out the grill, and Li Sangrou gestured for it to be placed in front of her. Using long chopsticks, she placed the large slices of cured meat on the grill, grilling them one by one until they sizzled and were almost translucent.

Once the large piece of cured meat was sliced ​​and grilled, steam was rising from the rice in the large pot. Da Chang lifted the lid and laid the slices of cured meat on top.

The others finished cleaning up and came out one after another, burning their blood-stained clothes and inhaling the aroma of the steamed rice with cured meat.

“Come and have some tea,” Li Sangrou said, raising the teapot to everyone.

“Taking Ezhou City will be a great victory. Tonight, we might break the drinking ban and let everyone get thoroughly drunk.” Meng Yanqing poured a cup of tea and handed the teapot to the others.

“Hmm.” Li Sangrou gave a vague “hmm.”

After a night of fierce fighting, a large bowl of wine was indeed needed to soothe them.

A large pot of rice had just been steamed when Hei Ma, Xiao Lu, and Mazha returned.

Xiao Lu and Mazha were directed by Da Chang to quickly go into the tent to wash and change. Hei Ma squatted down beside Li Sangrou first to report.

“They are gone. There’s no one left. The house is quite tidy, and there’s a lot of paper ash in the charcoal brazier.

We’ve checked both the big and small houses. There’s nothing useful. It does not seem like Wu Huaiguo ever lived there. It looks like he took everything he needed.” Hei Ma’s report was concise and to the point.

Li Sangrou let out a soft sigh, a slight smile appearing on her face. “Go wash up; it’s time to eat.”

Wu Huaiguo had not neglected her, or perhaps Su Qing was still alive; either way, it was good.

……………………

After eating, Li Sangrou climbed up to the main camp gate, sitting high on it, watching the supply and auxiliary soldiers push carts and drive horse-drawn and mule-drawn carts, identifying the corpses, loading them onto the carts, and transporting them to the north and south of the camp.

Others caught up with the empty horses that had wandered the battlefield, picked up the blood-stained weapons, and cleaned up the battlefield.

The Liang soldiers’ corpses were transported cart after cart to the foot of the mountain at the southernmost edge of the camp. Li Sangrou stood up from the gate and looked at the large pit at the foot of the mountain.

When inspecting the camp, Wen Cheng must have had his eye on that pit; it was big enough and deep enough to throw in thousands of corpses.

Li Sangrou sighed, sat down, and continued watching the auxiliary soldiers busily working on the battlefield. Not far away, several long-robed figures stumbled towards the gate.

Li Sangrou peeked out and jumped down from the gate.

The long-robed figures, already close to the gate, screamed in fright at Li Sangrou’s sudden jump.

“Hanlin Academician Qiao, Hanlin Academician Wei,” Li Sangrou recognized only Hanlin Academician Qiao and Hanlin Academician Wei.

Hanlin Academician Qiao was somewhat better; at least outwardly, he seemed normal. Hanlin Academician Wei, however, stared blankly at Li Sangrou, clearly not recognizing her, or perhaps not even seeing her at all!

Li Sangrou walked past the two men to the group of long-robed figures behind her, peeked out, and pulled off the silk handkerchief tightly wrapped around her face.

“Eldest Master Ma! You’ve come too, Hanlin Academician Fang, this one…”

“Zhou, Yanting.” The last one answered Li Sangrou’s question entirely on instinct.

“Oh, Fu Wannian’s husband.

These handkerchiefs covering your faces are only good for suffocating you.

The stench of blood everywhere is undeniable; do not bother covering them. You will get used to it eventually,” Li Sangrou said, turning around and pulling the handkerchiefs off Hanlin Academician Qiao’s and Hanlin Academician Wei’s faces as well.

Seeing Li Sangrou jump down from the gate, Da Chang and Hei Ma rushed towards it.

Hei Ma saw Eldest Master Ma and exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, Little Ma, you are in the army too? I did not know!”

“Just, just got here,” Eldest Master Ma was dazed. He did not see Hei Ma clearly, but he knew Hei Ma’s exclamation all too well. Following the sound, Eldest Master Ma stumbled towards Hei Ma, burying his face in his chest and bursting into tears.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Hei Ma was startled.

“Let him cry for a while; he’s terrified,” Da Chang said, stopping Hei Ma, who was raising his hands and backing away, from behind.

“Terrified about what? You went into battle with a knife at night, too? Almost got killed?” Hei Ma pushed Eldest Master Ma’s shoulders with both hands, looking puzzled.

“He was scared by a dead man. If he could go into battle with a knife, would he be this scared?” Meng Yanqing looked at Hei Ma speechlessly.

“Qiao Bo, Qiao Bo!” Li Sangrou shouted at Qiao Bo.

“Yes!” Hanlin Academician Qiao was startled by Li Sangrou’s shout and came back to his senses.

“Wei Jingrong!” Li Sangrou then stood in front of Hanlin Academician Wei.

“Me? Me.” Hanlin Academician Wei rolled his eyes, his mind returning.

“Zhou Yanting!”

“Yes.”

“Fang Shiwei, Fang Shiwei!”

Seeing Hanlin Academician Fang staring straight at her, Li Sangrou raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

“Ouch!” Hanlin Academician Fang covered his face, snapping back to reality.

“Where are your guards? Your attendants? Your servants? Where did you come from?” Li Sangrou breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that everyone had regained their senses.

“They’ve all been transferred away; they said they were short-handed.” Hanlin Academician Wei’s face was pale, and he was weak and listless.

“We just wanted to come out and see what a battlefield is like,” Zhou Yanting said, wiping his forehead repeatedly, even though there was nothing there.

Meng Yanqing’s expression was a mix of mockery and pity, glancing sideways at the Hanlin scholars, occasionally letting a smirk twitch down his spine.

“How could you look like that? Come on, I will show you more. Since you’ve started looking, you should look carefully; otherwise, you will really be scared.

There’s something I need your help with.” Li Sangrou pushed one of them with each hand, turning Hanlin Academician Qiao and Hanlin Academician Wei around, then walked between them towards the battlefield.

“Hurry up and keep up!” Hei Ma shoved Eldest Master Ma. “Our boss has a strong aura of malevolence; it wards off evil! That’s what the Seventh Master said!”

Eldest Master Ma was extremely obedient, squeezing past Zhou Yanting and following closely behind Li Sangrou, almost tugging at her clothes.

“This time was alright; it was mostly human killing, so the corpses were mostly intact.

Outside Hefei, there were so many horses. Many corpses were trampled beyond recognition by horse hooves, with intestines ripped out by several feet. Horse hooves would crush faces.

And many more people died with their feet stuck in the stirrups, dragged along by the horses. Not a single corpse was intact; some were just legs dragged around.” Li Sangrou spoke casually.

Hanlin Academician Qiao and the others, following closely behind her, bent over and vomited.

Li Sangrou stopped, glanced at them, and waited until they finished vomiting before continuing forward.

“In the battle of Hefei, Master Wang was in charge of collecting the corpses. Even if it was Wang Zhang, it’s nothing serious; you get used to it. Old Meng, keep an eye on them so they do not fall.”

Li Sangrou reached out to stop Eldest Master Ma, who had tripped over a leg and almost fallen, and turned back to give the order.

A group of scholars followed closely behind Li Sangrou, traversing the entire battlefield to the site where the fallen Qi soldiers were being cleared and buried.

Wang, the clerk who was overseeing the registration of the fallen soldiers, saw Li Sangrou and hurriedly approached. “Chief.”

“Have them help you out. Write down the names of the fallen soldiers, and have them make multiple copies of each name. Later, have them write a letter to each family to announce the death,” Li Sangrou said politely, bowing slightly.

“Yes, gentlemen…” Clerk Wang replied, but hesitated slightly.

“I will have someone inform Master Wen right away,” Li Sangrou said immediately with a smile.

Wen Cheng appeared humble and polite, but his discipline was strict.

“Yes! Do not worry, Boss.” Clerk Wang felt relieved and readily agreed with a smile.

……………………

On the third day, inside and outside the city, they were busy cleaning up the corpses scattered throughout the city and washing away the blood from the streets.

Li Sangrou sat at the gate for two days, observing the situation. On the third day, she led Da Chang, Hei Ma, and others, first circling the city before entering Ezhou City through the south gate.

Just inside the city gate, she bumped into Wen Shunzhi, who was on patrol.

“The Boss has entered the city,” Wen Shunzhi said, bowing slightly. “Shouzhen just sent someone to invite you.

Around noon, the Commander-in-Chief will be going out of the city to pay respects to the fallen soldiers. He asked if you would like to go.”

“I will not go,” Li Sangrou said with a smile, shaking her head. “I will just stroll around the city.”

She disliked such rituals, even though people did have spirits.

“I will send someone to tell Shouzhen,” Wen Shunzhi said, knowing Li Sangrou’s temperament, and without saying a word, bowed and smiled in agreement.

Li Sangrou bid farewell to Wen Shunzhi and continued strolling along the main north-south street.

There were no signs of a major battle on either side of the street; the siege had not affected this area.

The shops on both sides of the street remained closed and silent.

Li Sangrou headed straight towards the Ezhou military camp, crossed the camp, and stood at the gate of the small courtyard where Wu Huaiguo had lived.

The gate was sealed.

“I came to see it the other day, and I happened to run into Xiao He, who was with General Wen. I told him, and he actually sealed it up,” Hei Ma hurriedly said.

“Hmm.” Li Sangrou stepped forward, tore off the seal, and pushed open the gate to enter the courtyard.

Li Sangrou entered through the hanging flower gate, walked along the corridor, past the side room next to the main house, around a small vase-shaped door, and entered the tiny courtyard of Concubine Su.

The rose bush in the center of the courtyard had already finished blooming, and the remaining flowers had been carefully trimmed.

Li Sangrou stopped to look around, then entered the two small side rooms.

The room remained as it was. Li Sangrou stood before the dressing table; the comb, rouge, and other items that had been there were gone, as were the writing brush, inkstone, and books on the desk.

Li Sangrou slowly exhaled.

Her departure had not been hasty.

Li Sangrou left the room, exited the courtyard, and stepped out of the gate. She saw Gu Xi standing outside, hands behind his back.

“I was in the camp. I heard you finally made it to the city,” Gu Xi said, smiling at Li Sangrou.

“Datou said you’ve cleaned the city up,” Li Sangrou said, pointing to the clean streets.

“Hmm, this is Wu Huaiguo’s residence. Your friend, that Concubine Su?” Gu Xi asked, looking towards the gate.

“Yes, an old friend. Master Wen said you were going out of the city to offer sacrifices to the dead?” Li Sangrou changed the subject.

“It’s noon. First, we will offer sacrifices to our soldiers, then to the spirits of the fallen from Southern Liang. There will be a little while. Let’s go inside and talk. There are eyes everywhere along the street, behind every door and window,” Gu Xi said, pointing to the tightly closed doors and windows on both sides of the street.

“When will we let them open for business?” Li Sangrou asked with a smile as she followed Gu Xi into the camp.

“Tomorrow, Shouzhen has already sent invitations to the scholars, officials, and business leaders in this city, inviting them to come out of the city to pay respects to the dead.

After they return, Shouzhen plans to treat them to a few drinks, and the results will be announced, and the market will be opened early tomorrow morning,” Gu Xi said with a smile. He paused, then looked at Li Sangrou and asked with a smile, “Shouzhen said you sent those Hanlin scholars to write the memorial tablets for the fallen?

Before the siege, Shouzhen planned to send them back to Pingjing Pass, saying they were all learned scholars, and it would be a great pity if anything happened to them.

I did not agree. But I can protect a few Hanlin scholars regardless of victory or defeat.

Keeping them here allows them to see piles of dead bodies, to see what it takes to conquer and plunder, so that later they will not sit at their desks, pointing and criticizing, saying: ‘this person killed too many people, that person only knows brute force and does not use any clever strategies.'”

Gu Xi snorted as he spoke.

“They impeached you before?” Li Sangrou asked Gu Xi with a smile.

“Yes, they said my military training was too ruthless, completely inhumane, humph!” Gu Xi snorted again.

“Scholars, huh?” Li Sangrou smiled faintly.

“If Shouzhen had not stopped me, I really wanted to send them to the battlefield to let them see how my soldiers attack cities and fight, to show them what ruthlessness and humanity are,” Gu Xi said, spitting out a slur.

Li Sangrou chuckled.