Mo Sang – CH 249

Chapter 249. Methods

Li Sangrou and the others never returned. Zhang Zheng waited until it was completely dark, then slept fully clothed in the hidden soldier’s cave. At the crack of dawn the next day, Zhang Zheng rose, and the commander on duty reported that Li Sangrou and the others had not returned.

Zhang Zheng descended the city wall and entered the garrison commander’s mansion perched high on the cliff. He climbed to the top of the round, tall pavilion where the map was stored, and gazed at Mofu Mountain.

On a hilltop of Mofu Mountain extending into the river, a corner of a white banner was faintly visible, fluttering in the wind, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Zhang Zheng, pale-faced, stared intently at the corner of the white banner that appeared and disappeared.

After standing there for an unknown amount of time, Zhang Zheng descended the pavilion and headed straight for Yanzi Isle.

From the city wall of Yanzi Isle, he could not see that small hilltop nor the corner of the white banner, but the location of that hilltop and that corner of the white banner was firmly imprinted in Zhang Zheng’s heart and mind.

Zhang Zheng stood behind the parapet, staring intently for an unknown amount of time, until the sun was almost directly on him, making his eyes sting and blurry.

Zhang Zheng moved into the shadows, turned his head, and scanned the soldiers resting in a row at the corner of the city wall. After a moment, he glanced at his personal guard and asked, “Where are the men from the Ye Xiang Guild?”

“They are locked up in the woodshed down below. There are too many to fit on the wall,” the guard hurriedly explained.

“How many?” Zhang Zheng squinted at the seemingly endless fleet of warships on the river.

“Thirty-seven.”

“Not enough. Go and seize their parents, sisters, and all their relatives and bring them up to me; quickly!” Zhang Zheng’s tone was light and quick.

“Yes, sir!” the guard responded, beckoning and leading his men down the river.

Before long, groups of men, women, and children were pushed up.

Zhang Zheng stood with his legs apart, hands behind his back, his back to the parapet, squinting and smiling, scrutinizing the terrified crowd before him. Zhang Zheng looked them over one by one, pointing to the heads in a row, then chuckled.

“Quite a few! Look at you all, scared? Scared to the point of tears, huh? It is alright; cry if you want to, the louder the better. Scream if you want to scream! It is fine; I like to hear it!”

Zhang Zheng laughed again, waving his hand as he spoke, “Have them block the crenellations for us. Tie one up at a time, and if there are too many, tie two up at a time!”

“Yes, sir,” the guard responded, beckoning for men to pull and tie up the men.

Master Zhong, having received the news, rushed up the city wall, running and walking, until he found Zhang Zheng. Exhausted and breathless, he could not utter a single word.

“Do not go near the crenellations!” Zhang Zheng reached out and pulled Master Zhong, whose head was half-exposed above the crenellations, back up.

“What are you doing up here again? You are too weak to even kill a chicken. Do not keep coming up here. A fight could break out at any moment, and once it starts, I will not be able to protect you. ” It is too dangerous for you here,” Zhang Zheng leaned down and whispered in Master Zhong’s ear.

On the city wall, screams and cries echoed from every crenellation.

“You! You cannot! You cannot do this!” Master Zhong pointed at the men, women, and children tied to the crenellations, trembling with rage.

“Let’s go downstairs and talk. It is too noisy here. Damn it, they are really howling! I cannot hear anything!” Zhang Zheng dragged Master Zhong down the city wall.

“You cannot do this! You cannot do this! This is the city! They are all citizens of Daliang! You still need them to defend the city! You cannot do this!”

Master Zhong was dragged down the city wall by Zhang Zheng. The screams and cries faded slightly, but the pain remained. Master Zhong, supporting himself on the wall with one hand, finished his outburst and then coughed violently, breathless and anxious. “Is this not just relying on them to defend the city? Is this not just defending the city?”

Zhang Zheng leaned back against the city wall, watched Master Zhong cough, pointed at the wall, and laughed.

“You!” Master Zhong glared at Zhang Zheng, speechless with anger.

“I remember you telling me history before. You said that to conquer the world, you must use any means necessary; war is about killing, destroying humanity, and extinguishing humanity.

You also said, ‘One general’s success is built on the bones of ten thousand,’ and that leading troops requires the ability to see the dead.

And, ‘Small compassion is the thief of great compassion.’ ‘Compassion cannot command an army.’ There are many more.

I’ve learned them all. Look, now, even sacrificing small compassion, using these hundred-odd worthless lives to block the way, it is quite effective, is it not? This is also ‘compassion cannot command an army,’ this is ‘one general’s success is built on the bones of ten thousand,’ this is ‘using any means necessary,’ right?” Zhang Zheng said, laughing as he spoke.

“No, no!” Master Zhong shook his head repeatedly. “You’ve misunderstood! Wrong! That’s not it, that’s not it! You’ve forgotten the word ‘benevolence.’ First, you must have a benevolent heart; first you must…”

“Benevolence? I have not forgotten,” Zhang Zheng interrupted Master Zhong, leaning forward and getting close to his face.

“Do you see the warships outside the city? Dense, endless, filling the entire river!

We’ve been besieged for five days. To the south, there’s not a trace. Changsha may truly have fallen.

If I were benevolent, compassionate, righteous, and principled, could this city be defended?” Zhang Zheng’s smile vanished, replaced by seriousness.

“But we cannot do that! We cannot indiscriminately kill innocent people, at least not the innocent people in our own city. That’s the bottom line…”

“My bottom line is to defend this city.” Zhang Zheng’s tone was cold and hard.

“If the general is still alive, I will defend the city to the death. If the general is dead, I will still defend the city to the death. If the general surrenders, come down to the city and say, ‘Zhang Zheng, stop fighting, open the gates, and I will open them immediately.'”

Master Zhong’s throat tightened. He opened his mouth but did not know what to say. After a moment, he let out a long sigh, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked away with faltering steps and a hunched back.

……………………

Standing on the warship, Li Sangrou looked at the crenellations on the city wall as far as she could see. Each crenellation held people bound, struggling helplessly, crying out in anguish, pleading…

Da Chang’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked slightly; he used all his strength to stay in place.

“Boss…” Wen Yanchao glanced at the pale-faced Li Sangrou every so often, but before he could finish his sentence, Li Sangrou raised her hand to stop him. “I am fine.”

Wen Yanchao swallowed the rest of his words, stared blankly for a moment, then lowered his head, sighed softly, and went into the cabin.

Li Sangrou stood watching until dusk, then turned and disembarked from the warship, going straight to the small boat moored beside it. Da Chang rowed the small boat, which navigated through the passageway between the warships.

As darkness fell, the small boat quietly left the fleet, rowing eastward against the current for a while, and anchored at the foot of Mofu Mountain in a reed bed. The reeds had been cut once but had grown back to only half a person’s height.

“Boss, there’s nothing to see here. Go back and rest; you’ve been standing all day,” Da Chang said softly after sitting in the cabin for a while.

“Alright,” Li Sangrou replied softly after a while.

Da Chang picked up the oar and rowed the boat back to the fleet. Li Sangrou returned to her own boat and fell asleep immediately.

Around midnight, Li Sangrou heard a noise, jumped up, and rushed out of the cabin.

Outside the cabin, Hei Ma had just jumped onto the boat, and Meng Yanqing was jumping onto it as well.

“How did it go?” Li Sangrou looked at Hei Ma’s gloomy face, her heart sinking, but she still asked, unwilling to give up.

“We did not see Commander Zhang. It was just a bunch of low-level soldiers. The one leading them was the one who followed Commander Zhang back in Jiangdu City—that dog’s foreleg.” Hei Ma patted his clothes.

“Twenty men went in total. They dug up both graves, opened the coffins, and then buried them back as before.

You instructed that unless Zhang Zheng arrived, we should only watch and not move. After they left, we left ten men to guard the graves before returning,” Meng Yanqing continued.

“Did you report to General Wen?” Li Sangrou asked after a moment of silence.

“Not yet,” Meng Yanqing replied.

“Hmm, go quickly and report to General Wen. He’s definitely waiting,” Li Sangrou instructed.

Meng Yanqing agreed and walked along the gangplank towards the warship.

Li Sangrou watched Meng Yanqing walk away, stood for a moment, and turned to look at Da Chang standing beside her. “We have to do something.”

“Yes.” Da Chang nodded. “I will go pack.”

“We cannot enter the city.” Li Sangrou stopped Da Chang, paused, and continued, “Zhang Zheng and I are both snakes and rats in this Jiangdu city; we know each other well.

Have breakfast first. After breakfast, you and Hei Ma and the others go to General Wen and ask for a few loud voices. Make a few megaphones and go down to Yanzi Isle to shout.

Just say that I, Boss Sang, want Zhang Zheng’s head. Whoever kills Zhang Zheng, I, Li Sangrou, will be at their beck and call three times, fearless of death.”

“Boss!” Da Chang glared at Li Sangrou.

This promise was too heavy!

“That’s it.” Li Sangrou turned and went into the cabin.

……………………

As dawn broke, at the foot of Yanzi Rock, a Hei Ma led the way, followed by seven or eight soldiers with loud, booming voices, each wielding a rolled-up tin megaphone. They shouted repeatedly towards the city wall:

“Boss Sang wants Zhang Zheng’s head! Whoever kills Zhang Zheng, Boss Sang will be at his beck and call three times over, fearless of death!”

Zhang Zheng stood inside the crenellated wall, listening to the continuous, piercing shouts, his face ashen.

The name “Boss Sang” was a truly prestigious name among the lowest ranks of Jiangdu City.

Among the lowest ranks were many desperados, like himself and Ah Qing.

Master Zhong, panting as he reached the city wall, stopped and listened intently to the shouts outside again. He sighed repeatedly, found Zhang Zheng, and, before speaking, sighed twice.

“I told you, you should not have…”

Master Zhong did not finish his sentence. Meeting Zhang Zheng’s gaze, he felt a chill and waved his hand with a bitter smile. “I will not say anymore, I will not say anymore. You had no choice.

But shouting like that, sigh, forget it, forget it. They will stop at nothing. Let them shout.

I will come, I will come. By the way, I came to ask you, did you send someone to check last night? Really?”

“No, one coffin was Ah Qing’s, moved from Jiangbei. The other coffin contained her clothes.” Zhang Zheng’s face grew even more grim.

“So it was indeed a trap. That’s good, that’s good.

The clothes? Really not Concubine Su’s? Sigh, look at the way I ask. How could you know? Needless to say, it is definitely fake. They just wanted to lure you out. Luckily, you saw through it.

I told you, how could Changsha City have fallen? General Wu…”

“It’s her clothes,” Zhang Zheng interrupted Master Zhong. “Changsha City has fallen.”

“Ah?” Master Zhong exclaimed in surprise. “How did you know? What kind of token did you have? Do not fall for it; this must be a trick! You…”

“It’s not a trick; Changsha City has fallen,” Zhang Zheng interrupted Master Zhong again.

“How do you know?” Master Zhong frowned and asked.

Zhang Zheng turned his head to look at Mofu Mountain not far away, his lips tightly pressed together, and he did not answer.

Master Zhong paused for a moment, sighed, and did not press further.

His close relationships with Zhang Zheng did not include Su Qing’s older sister, that Concubine Su. He rarely talked about Concubine Su, and even when she was mentioned once or twice, he would immediately become alert and stop talking.

But Concubine Su was more important than Su Qing in Zhang Zheng’s heart, and he saw that clearly.

If she were that important, then it must be true.

“Changsha City has fallen. I wonder if General Wu has retreated, or…”

Master Zhong could not bring himself to say the word “died in battle.” He paused for a moment, then sighed, “Jingzhou is gone, Tanzhou and Hongzhou are gone too. The Great Liang Empire has lost half its territory. This time, it is truly, truly hopeless.”

“To hell with the big or small situation! I will just defend this city! This is the general’s order! In my eyes, there’s only the general, only orders!” Zhang Zheng spat fiercely.

“Yes,” Master Zhong sighed again.

Outside the city wall, the bounty offered by Boss Sang grew louder and louder.

“Men, beat the drums and gongs! And beat them! Make them cry, make them scream! Cry and scream like crazy!” Zhang Zheng listened a few more times, then gave a fierce command.

On the city wall, gongs and drums resounded. Soldiers’ whips lashed at the men, women, and children bound to the battlements. But those bound for a full day and night, struggling and crying, were hoarse from crying, exhausted, unable to cry or shout anymore, numb even to their pain.

Outside the city wall, the shouts, initially one after another, grew into a unified roar of dozens, even hundreds of voices.

As the sun set and the moon rose, the gongs and drums on the city wall grew weaker and weaker, while the shouts outside grew more synchronized and louder. Under the clear moonlight, the synchronized shouts of hundreds of people seemed like a sharp arrow piercing through the city.

……………………

Zhang Zheng, fully clothed, slept in a hidden bunker on the city wall, half-asleep amidst the continuous, loud shouts outside.

The guard on duty sat on a cushion near the door, dozing off every so often.

Zhang Zheng tossed and turned dozens of times, utterly exhausted. Finally, he managed to shut out the shouts and drifted off to sleep.

The guard, who had just dozed off, suddenly opened his eyes. Looking at the dim light, he blinked a few times and turned to look at the small oil lamp on the small table on the floor.

The wick of the lamp was almost burnt out; the tiny flame was about to go out.

When the general slept, this tiny lamp had to be kept lit—it was an ironclad rule.

The guard hurriedly stood up, tiptoed over, and picked up the small scissors from under the lamp to trim the wick. Just as he had managed to trim the wick slightly, the sudden brightness of the light startled Zhang Zheng awake. Zhang Zheng sat bolt upright, grabbed the waist knife hanging by the bedside, and drew it with a clang.

“What are you doing? You are going to kill me!” Zhang Zheng gripped his knife, glaring fiercely at his guard.

The guard, terrified, flailed his arms, stammering, “No, no, no! I… I was cutting the wick, cutting… cutting the wick, the lamp!”

“Get out! Get out!” Zhang Zheng roared, brandishing his knife.

The guard dropped the scissors, covered his head, and rushed out of the house.

He ran so fast that the wind he created caused the oil lamp to flicker violently and go out.

Whether it was the wind or the extinguishing of the lamp that brought Zhang Zheng to his senses, he stood for a moment, then slowly sheathed his knife, stood up barefoot, took the teapot from the warm bed, poured himself a cup of tea, drank it, and listened to the continued shouts outside. After a moment of stunned silence, he called out, “Guards!”

After waiting a moment, no one came in.

Zhang Zheng frowned, found his shoes, put them on, went out, and looked at the guard standing two or three zhang away from the door. He said impatiently, “How can you be so cowardly? You are utterly spineless!

Go and invite Master Zhong over.”

“Yes!” the guard replied, hurrying to fetch Master Zhong.

He had wanted to invite Master Zhong for a long time; the general had been incredibly irritable all day.

When the general was in a bad mood, only Master Zhong dared to speak, and only when Master Zhong spoke would the general not resort to violence but would listen.

Master Zhong arrived quickly. The shouts outside the city had disturbed his peace of mind, making it impossible for him to sleep.

“It’s so damn noisy outside!” Zhang Zheng complained as soon as he saw Master Zhong enter.

“You did not sleep well last night either, did you?” Master Zhong looked at Zhang Zheng with concern.

Zhang Zheng was unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, and he glared at everything, looking extremely unwell.

“Hmm,” Zhang Zheng grunted irritably.

“This will not do.

The shouts outside the city are meant to disturb your peace of mind, make you unable to eat or sleep, make you anxious and restless, and make you irritable. In a fit of rage, you are bound to make a terrible mistake.

The general often says, ‘The most important thing for a general is to remain calm.’

You cannot stay here any longer. Come back with me. I will watch over you, and you can get a good night’s sleep.

Nothing will happen right now. Even if something does, we can come back when we hear the commotion.

You cannot endure this anymore. Otherwise, you will collapse before the Northern Qi even attacks the city.” Master Zhong carefully observed Zhang Zheng’s expression and sighed as he advised.

“Alright.” Zhang Zheng obediently stood up, picked up his coat, and walked outside with Master Zhong.

After descending the city wall, the shouts from outside were still loud, but not as deafening as they had been on the wall. Zhang Zheng took a deep breath, feeling a sense of relief.

He should have gone back to his lodgings and gotten a good night’s sleep.