Sima Ray led the army outside, and the man who guarded the Royal City was actually Yu Haitang, a character in historical books.
In the evening, Qin Yunuan prepared a bucket of hot water for Leng Changxi, and sprinkled some herbs in it that would help people calm the mind. Taking such a medicinal soup bath could best relieve Leng Changxi’s recent strained nerves.
Qin Yunuan washed her hands and soaked them in vinegar to make her fingers softer before massaging the acupoints for Leng Changxi.
“I don’t understand.” Qin Yunuan shook her head, thinking of what happened in the discussion tent in the evening, “Why could Sima Ray make it? Yu Haitang was the state teacher of North Di’s previous dynasty, North Liao, and a legendary character who could be listed in historical books. Why would he be willing to be Sima Ray’s subordinate, guard the Royal City for him, and keep the news without leaking?”
Speaking of this, Qin Yunuan suddenly thought of Shangguan Yuen’s telling her that Prince Ning had broken his arm himself. Her fingertips paused slightly, and Leng Changxi immediately noticed that.
“What’s wrong?” Leng Changxi looked back at Qin Yunuan’s little face through the hazy water vapor.
Qin Yunuan hesitated for a while before telling the truth about Prince Ning’s current situation. Leng Changxi’s body kept stiff for a while, and after a long time, he lowered his head and said softly, “Actually, I’ve known it a long time ago. Heiying told me the news when he came here.”
“Father…” Qin Yunuan hesitated.
“It’ll be all right.” Leng Changxi took a deep breath. The hot water vapor rushed towards his face, making him more upset. “It’ll be all right.” He tried to comfort Qin Yunuan, but comforted himself more.
Facing Sui River, the last barrier to the Royal City, the army of West Xia seemed to have new problems.
In the morning, the 15000 soldiers, who were sent out to bluff and pretended to chase, came back and brought some news about Sima Ray.
“At present, Sima Ray is stationed in Bai City on the opposite of Sui River. Bai City is rich in products and has always been the economic center of the surrounding counties. Now that Sima Ray has such a strong food reserve, I am afraid this battle will be dangerous.”
“Furthermore, our soldiers are still not capable of swimming. General, this is the real problem.” Tuoba Wuyu put down the map scroll in his hand, saying dejectedly, “There are many mountains but few rivers in West Xia. They can’t compare with us in climbing mountains, but we are not good at swimming at all.”
“Besides, we don’t have boats.” Heiying added, “However, even if we have boats, we don’t have people to steer the boats and paddle.”
After all, it was still the same problem.
“We may still make it without boats.” Qin Yunuan suddenly got an idea, “By the way, how far is our camp from the nearest town?”
“Roughly speaking, it’s about 9 miles.”
“We can arrive there in one day.” Qin Yunuan calculated in her heart, “Even if we don’t have boats or helmsmen, the people living around Sui River can do it. Besides, they live around Sui River all year round, so they are naturally clearer about the water potential and reefs of Sui River than Sima Ray and his people. If we can persuade the local people to help us, it will yield twice the result with half the effort.”
It was a good idea. But if they intended to take advantage of the local people, on the one hand, it would waste manpower and money, and on the other hand, maybe Sima Ray would take the opportunity to arrange his men among local people to cause trouble. If so, they would risk big things for the sake of small ones.
“But we are the army of West Xia.” Tuoba Wuyu also discovered this. “Will the people of Qi be willing to help us?”
Qin Yunuan raised her eyebrows, smiling, as if she was brewing some trick. Then she grinned suddenly, “Whether they will be willing or not depends on how we arrange it.”
By the Sui River, fishing boats and ferries carrying people came back one by one. The setting sun shed its golden light selflessly. The water of Sui River was the best gift to the people living here. It had raised so many children. The people living around Sui River relied on it for food, clothing, housing and transportation, so each of them had a special feeling for Sui River.
A group of fishermen who had just returned from fishing was chatting beside the shining surface of Sui River, talking about the strange things that happened this day.
“Oh, isn’t it strange? In the past, even if the weather was bad, we could catch half a net of fish one day. But it was really weird these days. I haven’t even caught half a net of fish in the last three days! Where are the fish going?”
“Oh, Zhang. Since you’ve been married recently, maybe you work so hard every night and get physical decline then. Don’t blame the god of river, in case he should be angry, flood your house and disturb you and your wife at night!” The people on the shore laughed happily, but an old man next to them was silent. Until everyone had finished laughing, he knocked on the pipe in his hand.
“You young guys just like to joke around. But you don’t know that something big has indeed happened upstream.”
As soon as the old man spoke, the other people immediately came over barefoot, “Sir, tell us about it.”
This old man was the head of this fishing village. Since he was the head of a village, he was naturally the most knowledgeable and capable one. He squinted his eyes and looked at the water that was flowing down from the upper reaches which was much more turbid than usual, and then said, “There are some evil things blocking the upper reaches of the river, so the fish can’t go downstream. Therefore, we catch fewer fish these days.”
Since he said so, things seemed odder.
“Sir, what kind of evil things? It can’t be ghosts, right?” The lame man Zhang shivered after he finished speaking.
The old village head was deliberately mystifying and did not speak. Then a young man who looked unfamiliar on the riverbank took off the bamboo hat on his head and said bluntly, “Half a month ago, when the army of Prince Ray of Qi, Sima Ray, crossed the Sui River, the troops set up camps on the opposite bank of the river. During the period, they built countless water camps and brought in hundreds of warships. They trained to swim in the river every day. So how could the fish not turn fewer with so many people and boats at the upper reaches? I think the evil things you said are just the big boats blocking the river mouth.”
The old village head nodded seriously, “Just as this young man said.”
“Who are you? I have never seen you before. How come you suddenly appear in our small fishing village?” The lame man Zhang hobbled to the young man’s side, ignoring that the ospreys he raised started attacking those several fish.
The young man looked elegant and noble, unlike the thin and short fishermen in the local area. As for the clothes this young man wore, although it was simple and natural, the cuffs were embroidered with a five-petal flower with golden silk thread, which was unique. It could be seen that he was definitely not from ordinary families.
“My surname is Leng, and my father is Prince Ning of Qi.” Leng Changxi was humble and polite. He saluted with joined hands. He looked like an elegant scholar after casting away his arrogance at usual. Qin Yunuan looked at Leng Changxi next to him, having the illusion that she had seen Su Chenghai. It turned out that Leng Changxi had inborn modesty, but he had always lived too proudly. The failure this time didn’t defeat him but sharpened his temperament and made him maturer.
But as soon as he showed his identity, people burst into discussion, and only Leng Changxi looked so indifferent. He held Qin Yunuan’s hand, walked forward, and looked at the village head, saying, “I’m sorry to come here hastily and disturb the peace of the fishing village.”
The lame man Zhang came forward domineeringly. Since it was said that the mighty dragon is no match for the native serpent, he mustered up the courage to shout at Leng Changxi, “I’ve heard that you, the general, collaborated with the enemy and betrayed your country. You are wanted everywhere. How dare you come to our Ge Village so blatantly? You want to die?”
Leng Changxi had expected this result long ago, and he walked forward calmly, “Man, if I really had colluded with the enemy and betrayed my country, why should I appear in Qi now? Isn’t it a slap on the face? It was just the false accusation made by Prince Ray to me. Prince Ray, Sima Ray, put not only the emperor under house arrest, but also Princess Fu. He drove the prime minister Shangguan Rang to death and made Prince Ning break his arm to prove his innocence. Everything is arranged by Sima Ray in order to satisfy his ambition, and everyone in the world is deceived by him.”
“Why should we believe what you said?” The lame man Zhang spat hard towards Leng Changxi, “Aren’t you powerful people all the same? All of you are superior and never care about how we ordinary people live. What is the difference between you and Sima Ray? Besides, I don’t care about Princess Fu or Prince Ning. I just care about whether my wife and children at home have enough food to eat and whether they have clothes to wear. In short, whoever is the emperor has nothing to do with me.”
“Really?” Since Qin Yunuan had got married, it was improper for her to show her face. She wore a thin veil, and only her delicate chin and beautiful facial outline could be seen vaguely. Qin Yunuan walked around the lame man Zhang, and then said, “I remember that half a year ago, the land tax, fishing tax and grain tax of Qi were only half of what they are now. But now? Sir, you need to go out for fishing to make a living with gammy legs. I’m afraid it’s even hard for you to make ends meet because of the increased tax burden. Doesn’t all it happen because of Sima Ray’s financing?”
The lame man Zhang insisted still, “Who knows? The tax may also increase even if the man in charge is not Sima Ray.”
Qin Yunuan smiled and shook her head. When she was going to say something else, she was gently pulled by Leng Changxi, which was a secret signal. Qin Yunuan immediately looked at the upper reaches. The rolling river seemed to hide some hidden secret.
Suddenly, someone in front pointed to the river water and exclaimed, “Oh, the river water turns red! The god of river is angry!”
