Mo Sang – CH 248

Chapter 248. No Retreat

Li Sangrou and her group of several boats traveled downstream, taking turns rowing as fast as they could. Two days later, they arrived outside Jiangdu City.

On the river below Yanzi Isle in Jiangdu City, countless warships of the Great Qi Dynasty completely blocked the waterway. The imperial flags fluttering on the warships stretched as far as the eye could see, turning that section of the river into a sea of ​​flags.

Approaching the water gate, the boats obeyed orders. Meng Yanqing jumped onto a small boat, pushed it aside, rowed a few strokes, and approached, handing over Li Sangrou and his own waist token.

Soldiers passed the waist token up the ranks. Soon, a lieutenant jumped from one boat to another, rushing towards them.

After passing two or three boats, the lieutenant raised his golden token high, shouting, “General Wen orders: Pass! Pass quickly!”

The chains and boats were moved aside, and Li Sangrou’s small boats rowed into the waterway between the warships.

The admiral jumped off the warship and landed on Li Sangrou’s boat. He greeted her with a hasty bow, saying, “I am in armor and cannot perform a full salute. Greetings to the Boss! It is my honor to meet you, Boss!”

“You flatter me. What is your honor, General?” Li Sangrou quickly returned the bow.

“My name is Li Gan. During the Battle of Xiangyang, I led the attack on the city and was saved several times by your kindness, Boss. You have shown me immense kindness.”

“General Wen was overjoyed to hear of your arrival and ordered us to come and receive you.” Li Gan bowed again, his smile radiant.

“Are you also from the Li family?” Li Sangrou asked with a smile.

“Yes.” Li Gan’s face beamed.

“Then we are from the same family.” Li Sangrou bowed slightly.

“I dare not… um, it is my honor.” Li Gan laughed out loud.

Because he shared the same surname, Li, as the Boss, he had been proud of it countless times. But now, hearing the Boss mention their shared surname, he suddenly felt somewhat unworthy of it.

“Please come this way, Boss!” A guard rushed over from the ship.

Several rope ladders were immediately lowered from the large ship where the guard stood. Li Sangrou, Da Chang, Hei Ma, Meng Yanqing, and others climbed the ladders onto the ship.

The guard led the way at a trot, while Li Gan walked sideways on the other side. The two men, one on each side, led Li Sangrou and the others to the warship close to Yanzi Isle.

“The Boss is here! That’s wonderful!” General Wen Yanchao, standing at the bow, rushed forward upon seeing Li Sangrou, his face beaming with joy.

The Boss’s arrival would make conquering Jiangdu City much easier!

“You flatter me.” Li Sangrou bowed in return and immediately asked, “Where is the Commander-in-Chief? Where is Master Wen?”

“Master Wen is in Yangzhou, Commander-in-Chief.” Wen Yanchao paused. “We only agreed that I must arrive in Xuancheng by the middle of next month, and General Huang must arrive in Pingjiang, with the three armies besieging Hangzhou.”

“Are you aware that General Wu of Southern Liang abandoned Changsha and his whereabouts are unknown?” Li Sangrou asked, looking at Wen Yanchao after a moment of silence.

Wen Yanchao was taken aback. “I have not received the military report yet. Changsha is not within the battleground between General Huang and me. The military report is taking the regular route to me and has not arrived yet.”

“Is the Commander-in-Chief alright?” Li Sangrou looked directly at Wen Yanchao, her voice extremely low.

“A little, hard to say.” Wen Yanchao’s voice was also low, his brows furrowed. After a moment’s thought, he said, “He should be fine. My troops are in Xuancheng, General Huang has arrived in Pingjiang, and the Commander-in-Chief should ideally be in the Shaoxing area.”

Wen Yanchao paused, frowned, and thought for a moment before looking at Li Sangrou. He said, “The Commander-in-Chief’s trip was crucial in its element of surprise. For the sake of secrecy, he must have taken rarely traveled mountain paths.

Wu Huaiguo’s hasty retreat must be because he realized Hangzhou was in danger and needed to return to its defenses. Since he needed to return, the faster the better, so traversing the difficult mountain terrain would not be advisable.

Furthermore, Wu Huaiguo’s return to defenses will most likely head straight for Hangzhou. Moreover, according to intelligence, Wu Huaiguo cannot directly mobilize the armies of Jiangnan. He must return to Hangzhou first to obtain the imperial decree before he can deploy his forces.

I think the Commander-in-Chief should be fine,” Wen Yanchao said, looking at Li Sangrou.

“Hmm.” Li Sangrou slowly breathed a sigh of relief, remained silent for a moment, then looked at Yanzi Isle and asked, “Did you attack the city? How did it go?”

“We tried twice. The defending general, Zhang Zheng, is a butcher, extremely fierce. We were having a headache dealing with him when the Boss arrived. That’s great! We were originally planning to launch a fierce attack this evening, but the Boss just arrived. How about tomorrow evening?” Wen Yanchao asked, looking at Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou lowered her eyelids slightly, thought for a moment, and looked at Wen Yanchao, saying, “Let’s hold off for now. I have an idea that might lure Zhang Zheng out.”

“Great! What idea? How?” Wen Yanchao’s eyes lit up.

If they could lure and kill Zhang Zheng, Jiangdu City would fall without a fight.

Li Sangrou waved to Wen Yanchao, signaling him not to rush, then turned to call Hei Ma. “Where’s Hei Ma?”

“Coming, coming!”

Hei Ma, along with Xiao Lu and a dozen or so old Yunmeng Guards, were squatting in a row at the bow of the boat, pointing and gesturing towards Yanzi Isle. Hearing his Boss call him, he immediately jumped up.

“You and the other three, go to Jiangbei now and retrieve Su Qing’s coffin. Tonight, rebury him on Mofu Mountain.

Remember, do it after dark. Make sure everything is restored to its original state. Do not move the tombstone yet. Do it quietly, and absolutely do not disturb anyone,” Li Sangrou instructed in a low voice.

“Alright! Do not worry, Boss,” Hei Ma responded readily, spun around, shouted something to Xiao Lu and the others, and waved his hand powerfully.

Wen Yanchao hurriedly grabbed a command arrow, which his personal guard took, waving it as he chased after Hei Ma.

“Change into plain clothes. Let’s go down from Yanzi Isle and first check out the place on Mofu Mountain,” Li Sangrou said to Da Chang.

Da Chang hummed in agreement, raised his arm to look at himself, then looked down at his indigo cloth robe and then at Li Sangrou’s off-white fine cloth robe, and pointed. “Boss, the plain clothes, are they this color too? Like this, right?”

Li Sangrou looked around. Yes, plain clothes were off-white.

“Who is the Boss mourning for? There are etiquette rules for mourning. Perhaps he could wear a hempen robe?” Wen Yanchao quickly suggested.

“Hmm.” Li Sangrou nodded, looking at Da Chang, who quickly shook his head; they had no coarse linen clothing for mourning.

“I will send someone to find some!” Wen Yanchao quickly stepped forward, beckoning to his personal guards and ordering them to quickly find a bolt of coarse linen suitable for mourning.

The guards rushed off and returned, carrying half a bolt of unbleached coarse linen.

Da Chang drew his dagger, cut off two pieces of linen, one large and one small, and he and Li Sangrou put them on, securing them with their belts.

Li Sangrou loaded her crossbow with small arrows and tied a quiver to her waist, and Da Chang hung Li Sangrou’s steel crossbow at his waist, picked up his spiked club, and Meng Yanqing and the others donned their armor, took their swords, and followed Li Sangrou from the warship onto small boats. The boats rowed to near the shore, where they used gangplanks to disembark and followed Li Sangrou towards Yanzi Isle.

On Yanzi Isle, Zhang Zheng spotted the tall, robust, and strikingly conspicuous Da Chang from afar. His eyes narrowed, and he immediately ducked behind the city wall. As he raised his voice to warn others, he also noticed Li Sangrou and the steel crossbow hanging from Da Chang’s waist.

“What’s wrong?” His advisor, Master Zhong, was about to peek out from the crenellations when Zhang Zheng grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him back.

“It’s General Sang, the Boss.

I heard her steel crossbow has an extremely long range, four or five hundred paces or five or six hundred paces, and it never misses. Remember, whatever you do, do not show your face.” Zhang Zheng blocked Master Zhong behind him and solemnly instructed him.

“Really, that amazing?” Master Zhong could hardly believe it. “A woman?”

“A woman? What’s wrong with a woman? Let me tell you, when a woman gets powerful, she’s truly formidable, unmatched by men,” Zhang Zheng remarked, then casually pushed Master Zhong behind the wall. “Remember, do not look out. That woman is truly amazing.”

Zhang Zheng added.

Master Zhong nodded repeatedly.

“Hmph!” Zhang Zheng, pressed against the crenellations, glanced sideways at Li Sangrou and Da Chang, who were swaggering towards Mofu Mountain from the riverbank. He snorted coldly, then snorted again, beckoning to his personal guards and ordering, “Bring that whole bunch from Shitiao Lane, regardless of age, here!”

The guards beckoned a group of men, who ran towards Shitiao Lane.

Zhang Zheng squinted at Li Sangrou, who was approaching slowly from the riverbank.

Master Zhong, bewildered, could not help but ask, “General, Shitiao Lane? Where in the city is Shitiao Lane? Who are they? Oh! Shit? Those people from Ye Xiang?”

“Sir, you are a smart man. It is them. We will use them to guard the city.”

“The whole city of Jiangdu is full of rumors about how amazing she is, how chivalrous she is, and how she stands up for her brothers. Let’s give her a chance; let her show what she’s made of!” Zhang Zheng chuckled coldly.

Master Zhong’s face turned pale. “General! You are talking about the Old Ye Xiang Guild. Those brothers from the Ye Xiang Guild were all slaughtered by Commander Xiao Wu. All that’s left are women and children!

The crime should not extend to wives and children! Besides, pushing women and children out is not heroic!”

“I am not a hero,” Zhang Zheng turned to Master Zhong and explained earnestly.

“You!” Master Zhong sighed repeatedly. “General, this is not about heroism. You have to think about the hearts of the people in the city. We need to defend the city; you have to…”

“Did you not say that the Southern Liang dynasty is doomed? We can only defend this city to the death.

What do we need the hearts of the people for? Just make them afraid. Anyway, they are all going to die in the end; not one will be left,” Zhang Zheng said, laughing.

Master Zhong looked at Zhang Zheng in despair.

“Call them back. Shout: ‘Boss, come look here!'” Seeing Li Sangrou and the others coming up from the riverbank, Zhang Zheng glanced towards Mofu Mountain after a few steps and gave an order.

A guard, shield in hand, stood on the crenellation, half his face visible, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Boss! Look over here! Boss, look over here!”

Li Sangrou stopped upon hearing the shouts and turned to look at Yanzi Isle.

Seeing no one on Yanzi Isle, Li Sangrou was about to turn away when the shouts resumed.

“Boss, look! Who is he? Boss, look, who is she?”

Li Sangrou turned around. On the city wall, two soldiers, one holding a shield as a guard, the other carrying a six- or seven-year-old boy, placed him on the crenellation.

“Whose child is this?” Da Chang blurted out.

Everything on the city wall answered Da Chang’s startled question.

The child standing on the crenellation glanced down at the towering city wall and immediately screamed and cried in terror. Behind the child, Tian Ji’s wife screamed and lunged towards the child, but just as she was about to reach the trembling boy, she was pulled back by a rope.

“Whose child is this?” Meng Yanqing glared at the trembling child crouching on the crenellation, then looked through the child at Li Sangrou, whose face was grim.

Li Sangrou ignored him.

“Tian Ji’s family!” Da Chang answered angrily, “Boss! What do we do?”

“Boss, Tian Ji died for you.”

The soldier who had shouted earlier continued, clearly relaying Zhang Zheng’s words.

“Even with a knife to his neck, Tian Ji did not say a word! He did right by you, Boss!

Boss, this is Tian Ji’s only son! His only offspring, his very last descendant!

Boss, please step back and get back onto the boat, or I will kill his only son!”

The child on the city wall crouched on the crenellation, trembling with fear. He moved slowly, turned around, and stretched out his arms to his mother, who was lunging at him, her cries of “Mother!” filled with terror.

Tian Ji’s wife cried, begged, screamed, and cursed, repeatedly lunging at the child, only to be pulled back each time. Her hair was disheveled, her face contorted in a grotesque grimace, like a vengeful ghost.

Meng Yanqing looked at the city wall, then at the expressionless Li Sangrou, then at Da Chang, whose veins bulged with rage. He wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat.

Even if they retreated all the way back to Jianle City, they could not save the child’s life.

Unless they abandoned the siege and abandoned their ambition to unify the world.

The Old Yunmeng guards scattered around Li Sangrou instinctively drew their swords, adjusting their stances, as if they could rush forward and snatch the child back at any moment.

“Boss, I will give you ten breaths. Back off, turn around, get out of here!” Otherwise, I would kick this child down and give him to you!

“One, two, three…”

“Please! Go! Just take a few steps back! Go! Please! Go! Go now! Go! Go! Go! Go!” Tian Ji’s wife screamed frantically at Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou’s feet were rooted to the spot. Upon hearing “five,” she reached for Da Chang. “Crossbow.”

Da Chang handed the crossbow to Li Sangrou, looking at her, wanting to say something, his mouth open but unable to speak. After a moment, he forcefully turned his head to look at Mo Fushan.

“Get out! Get out now! You filthy bitch! Get out! Get out! Why are you not leaving? Get out!” Tian Ji’s wife screamed with anger and terror.

On the city wall, the count reached ten. A white wax spear shaft extended, stabbing the child in the chest, plunging the child, who was facing away from Li Sangrou and crying for help to his mother, down. The instant the child fell from the city wall, Li Sangrou raised her crossbow. The bolt, with a cold whistling sound, pierced the head of the child who had just fallen from the crenellation.

The child’s terrified screams abruptly ceased as he crashed like a sandbag onto the jagged rocks below, his flesh mangled.

On the city wall, Tian Ji’s wife lay on the crenellation, her cries and screams making it seem as if she were not in the human world but in a hell teeming with demons.

On the city wall, Zhang Zheng heard the whistling of the arrow and instinctively pressed himself against the wall. He then turned his head and glanced sideways at Li Sangrou, who stood upright on the sand. After a moment, he spat and glanced at Master Zhong, sneering, “See? Now that’s what you call ruthless.

No one in Jiangdu City’s lowest rungs is afraid of her. You really think it is because she’s chivalrous?

See that? What a joke! They are afraid of her because she’s ruthless! Ruthless! That’s what you call damn ruthless! I am impressed!”

Outside the city, Li Sangrou’s gaze shifted from the small pool of blood at the foot of the city wall to the wall itself. She called out, “Zhang Zheng, the Great Qi imperial flag is already on the walls of Changsha. I came from Changsha.”

With that, Li Sangrou turned and continued walking towards Mofu Mountain.

“Changsha has fallen? That General Wu?” Master Zhong’s eyes widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

Zhang Zheng froze for a moment, then lunged forward, his gaze fixed on the hemp clothing worn by Li Sangrou and Da Chang.

On the river, aboard the warship, Wen Yanchao’s heart had been in his throat ever since he saw the child.

Such a threat meant no retreat; one step back meant utter destruction.

Wen Yanchao stared at Li Sangrou, and when he saw her pull the trigger of her crossbow, a moment of silence ensued. Wen Yanchao paused, then bowed slightly to Li Sangrou. She truly deserved the title of “Grand Boss.”