Chapter 36: It’s over—all over!

"Bang!"

Master Zhang kicked open the carved wooden door of the west wing. A heavy, pungent medicinal scent rushed out to meet him.

On the bed, his sixteen-year-old second son, Zhang Shijie, lay deathly pale. Two maidservants were helping him drink his medicine.

"Father..." the boy called out weakly, medicinal broth still lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"Master!" the old steward hurriedly tried to stop him. "The young master has just taken his sedative; the doctor said he must not be agitated again—"

Master Zhang shoved the steward aside and rushed to the bedside in two strides. He gripped his son’s wrist tightly; the pulse beneath his fingertips was unimaginably faint.

"Shijie, hold on a little longer," Master Zhang said, his voice trembling. "That girl from Willow Tree Village—I will have her brought through our gates by tomorrow!"

The boy on the bed began to cough violently. "Father... didn't you say... we still had half a month to wait..."

"We can't wait any longer!" Master Zhang stood up abruptly. "Steward!"

"Yes, Master..." the steward bowed.

"Tell the eldest master to prepare the sedan chair. Take plenty of men, and bring that girl back for me tomorrow!"

"Yes, Master..."

"Master!" someone called softly from outside the door. "The men we sent out have returned!"

Master Zhang glanced at his son, gritted his teeth, and turned away.

...

In the study, three scouts knelt on the floor, shivering.

"Useless! A pack of useless fools!"

Master Zhang grabbed the Duan inkstone from the sandalwood desk and hurled it at the lead scout. With a dull thud, the inkstone shattered against the man's head, and ink mixed with blood streamed down his face. Yet, the scout dared not even wipe it away, maintaining his prostrate position.

"Thirty grain carts, all gone? What does this mean? What does this mean?!!"

"Master..." the lead scout said, his voice trembling, "The villagers said they heard the thunder of hooves that night, and the commotion lasted until the third watch..."

"Hooves?" Master Zhang asked, his anger flaring. "What about the silver? What about the people? What of Yuan Laosan and his men?"

"Subordinate does not know." The scout lowered his head. "Green Sheep Mountain Stronghold has been reduced to scorched earth. Their bones... there is nothing left of them..."

"Nothing left?!"

Master Zhang staggered back, knocking over a huanghuali chair. "Does 'nothing left' mean they are dead, or that they fled? Huh?!!"

The three scouts remained silent, terrified.

"Forty men! Forty full men!!" Master Zhang suddenly exploded, sweeping the curios off the table. "I fed them for a whole year! How could they just vanish? And what about Iron Forest Fort?!"

"The magistrate's office just reported..." the steward interjected, trembling. "The secretary returned from Iron Forest Fort and said... said..."

"Said what?!"

"They all returned..."

"They all returned? What about casualties?"

"No... no casualties..."

"What?" Master Zhang froze. "Say that again?"

"Iron Forest Fort... suffered no casualties..."

"No casualties?!" Master Zhang felt as if he had been struck by lightning. "Forty against twenty! How is that possible..." He stiffened, a flash of horror in his eyes. "Unless... there was no fight at all..."

The steward gathered his courage and leaned in. "Master, could it be that Yuan Laosan and his men made off with the silver..."

"Bullshit!" Master Zhang kicked over a mahogany tea table. "Yuan Laosan’s family is still in my hands! Would he dare?!"

Hasty hoofbeats echoed from outside. Master Zhang lunged to the door. A blood-stained scout tumbled off his horse and crawled into the inner courtyard.

"Master! The Northern Border... a major event has occurred in the Northern Border!" The scout collapsed on the ground, his voice choked with sobs. "The Blood Wolf Division... the Blood Wolf Division has been decimated!"

Master Zhang paused. "Explain clearly!"

"They say... they say over a dozen noble lords were killed... along with hundreds of elite warriors..."

"What?" Master Zhang’s face turned paper-white.

The Tatar had three great war divisions: Black Wolf, Gray Wolf, and Blood Wolf. This Blood Wolf Division was the very one he had spent nearly a year cultivating relations with, intending to defect to them. Why did things go wrong just now?

"What exactly happened?" he asked urgently. "Did they have an internal feud?"

"No, they say it was poison..."

"Poison? Why poison?"

"Our... our grain... it was delivered..."

"What? What does that have to do with our grain?"

"Master!" the scout wailed in despair. "They... they ate our grain, and hundreds of them died. The grain was poisoned—"

"Impossible!!!!" Master Zhang shrieked hysterically. "How could it be poisoned?! That was official grain! That was official grain!!"

He choked mid-sentence, his face turning as pale as death. "Who poisoned the official grain? Who was it?! Yuan Laosan?? Or was it Iron Forest Fort???"

"Master!" the steward knelt. "For now, we must find a way out..."

Master Zhang stood frozen. It was over. All of it. Not only were the goods gone and the money lost, but now his life was on the line as well...

"No!" he suddenly roared. "Tomorrow, I am going to see Magistrate Qin!"

The steward threw himself to the ground. "Master, think twice..."

"Shut up!" Master Zhang kicked the steward aside. "If Magistrate Qin refuses to help, then we can all just wait to die together!"

...

Border Camp, Main Military Tent.

The night wind swept dust across the gate. Torches flickered in the wind, stretching the shadows of the patrolling soldiers.

"Hahahaha!" inside the main tent, Chen Yuanshan slapped the table and laughed. "Truly, heaven is helping me! Tell me, isn't this divine retribution for those Tatars?"

The centurions under his command looked at each other, only Thousand-man Commander Zhao Tieying appearing thoughtful.

"General!" Zhao Tieying cupped his hands. "This subordinate believes the Blood Wolf Division likely fell victim to sabotage from their own kind. News of the Great Khan’s illness has long since spread, and the chieftains of each division are competing in the shadows. The Blood Wolf Division has been too prominent in recent years; it is inevitable that they would attract jealousy."

"Thousand-man Commander Zhao speaks sense!" Centurion Zhou Zhen added. "This subordinate heard from scouts just the day before yesterday that the Black Wolf Division’s archers have been frequently entering and leaving the Blood Wolf camp. Thinking back, they were likely scouting the terrain!"

Another centurion frowned. "Still, this method of poisoning is too sinister! To strike within one's own camp while two armies are poised for battle..."

"If you ask me, it’s just their comeuppance!" Pang Dabiao, the centurion of the personal guard, sneered. "Last month, they slaughtered Clear Water Village; they didn't even spare the nursing infants. Now that this scandal has broken out in their own camp, they deserve it!"

Chen Yuanshan’s smile gradually faded as his fingers traced the military report on the table.

On the sheepskin parchment, it was scrawled: "Night panic in the Blood Wolf camp. Chiliarch Wuliangha and two centurions died suddenly, bleeding from the seven orifices... several centurions vomited blood from poisoning, another three hundred elites lost, hundreds poisoned. Suspected to be an internal purge..."

Hasty hoofbeats suddenly sounded from outside. A soldier pulled back the tent flap. "Report! Scouts have discovered the Blood Wolf vanguard breaking camp thirty miles away!"

A sharp light flashed in Zhao Tieying’s eyes. "General, if this is indeed internal strife, now is the perfect opportunity to strike!"

"Good!" Chen Yuanshan stood up abruptly, his armor clanking. "Zhao Tieying, take orders!"

"Subordinate is here!"

"Take one thousand light cavalry and pursue them for fifty miles. Remember, you must withdraw before the Gray Wolf and Black Wolf divisions can provide support!"

Chen Yuanshan’s gaze was like lightning as he pointed heavily at the sheepskin map. "Eagle’s Beak Gorge has narrow terrain; you can set an ambush there to cover your retreat."

Pang Dabiao stepped forward. "General, I am familiar with the terrain. I am willing to lead the personal guard to support Commander Zhao!"

"Granted!"

Chen Yuanshan grabbed the wine cup from the table. "Remember, this battle must be as fast as lightning and as fierce as thunder. I will save this victory wine for your triumphant return!!"

At the third watch, the border cavalry surged out of the camp gates like a black torrent. Zhao Tieying led the charge, his iron spear gleaming in the moonlight.

Before dawn, news of victory arrived—

The retreating Blood Wolf forces were intercepted at the Three-Fork River estuary, losing over three hundred cavalry. The border army seized over a hundred horses and thousands of arrows, with fewer than fifty casualties of their own.

By the time the wolf-head banner of the Gray Wolf Division appeared on the horizon, Zhao Tieying had already led his troops back behind the pass.

"General! This subordinate has not failed the mission!" Zhao Tieying knelt on one knee, his armor still stained with wet blood. "However, while interrogating the prisoners, I heard a strange piece of news..."

"Oh?" Chen Yuanshan raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."

Zhao Tieying said, "The poisoning of the Blood Wolf Division seems to be related to the official grain that was hijacked from the prefectural army some time ago..."