Chapter 70: Enemy Attack
Indeed, everyone was very curious about what the Prince was doing.
Some soldiers who had seen salt being boiled guessed, “If the Prince is trying to boil sea salt, we don’t have pots, and the firewood is insufficient.”
Jinsui did not answer, but ordered everyone to rest.
At this point, everyone was exhausted and no one asked further questions. Except for Jinsui and Wei Assistant Secretary, who stayed in tents, everyone else lay down on the ground fully clothed and fell asleep.
Jinsui slept very poorly that night; the sound of the waves was too loud, it was like it was roaring in your ear.
She kept replaying the process of the sun-drying salt method in her mind, wondering if she had made a mistake at any step. Was the salt yield high enough?
She also brought some filtered seawater into the space and used the laboratory equipment to check the salinity and predict salt production based on sunlight hours.
What she didn’t know was that at the border city, a hundred miles away, everyone was sleepless that night.
The newly built watchtower was lit with bonfires, and the alarm bells rang from time to time.
Cheng Yu, with Chen Yunniang, hid in Jinsui’s courtyard, which was the most central and safest house in the entire border city.
Han Xing led the Black Feather Army to guard outside the city gate. All the young and strong tuntian soldiers had come, and those with insufficient weapons carried hoes or sickles.
The elderly and women and children were arranged to hide in the cellar.
On the very day that Li King and his entourage left the border city, enemies arrived.
They were not bandits or Tartars from the northern borderlands, but from Yanzhou City, and they were the Zheng family.
The Zheng family was dissatisfied with Prefect Li’s inaction, stating that Chen Yunniang was Cheng Yu’s wife, not a concubine of the Zheng family.
They also demanded that the Zheng family negotiate with Li King and reach a peaceful resolution.
They were even more displeased with Li King’s arrogance and disregard for others.
The Zheng Family Head, Zheng Pengpeng, was burning with fever and unconscious. The Old Master’s grave had not yet been closed, and the Zheng family had already experienced several cases of convulsions and serious illness among many people.
This was due to the desecration of the burial, the human sacrifice not being interred, the Old Master’s soul being unwilling to rest, and the Zheng family ruining their feng shui, bringing misfortune to their descendants.
After deliberation, the Zheng family decided that no matter what, they had to snatch Chen Yunniang back to be buried with them!
So what if they offended Li King? He was a prince who had been exiled to the border with only three thousand miscellaneous troops. In Yandi, did the Zheng family fear him?
The Zheng family warned Prefect Li not to interfere, and Prefect Li indeed did not want to interfere. Li King’s actions since arriving in Yandi had been outrageous.
He even felt it would be good for Li King to suffer a great loss; at least he would be quiet for a while, and his tenure as prefect would be more peaceful.
However, he also did not want to completely offend Li King, as he was an Imperial Prince. Who knew when the Emperor might remember this son and recall him to Chang’an?
These Yandi gentry forces, in Yandi, were not afraid of Li King’s retaliation. He was an official appointed by the Imperial Court and still had to show respect to an Imperial Prince.
Therefore, Li Heng devised a plan that would satisfy both sides. He would not be involved on the surface, but would secretly inform Li King.
He didn’t even need to send his own people to deliver the message; he simply passed the news of the Zheng family’s intention to snatch Chen Yunniang to the Yan family.
Yan Shiyi received the news because Yan Jiu had coincidentally returned to the ancestral land for a sacrifice. Originally, Yan Shiyi would have gone back in previous years.
But this year, Yan Jiu said he wanted to pass down the Thirty-Six Stratagems to the Yan family school and teach there for a few days himself.
Upon receiving the news, Yan Shiyi’s first reaction was to report to his Elder Brother and ask for his decision on how many men to bring to help Li King and stop the Zheng family.
But Yan Twelve Niang couldn’t wait. By the time they went back and forth, Chen Yunniang could have been snatched and buried alive several times!
She personally led a group of house guards and bodyguards to the border city, telling Yan Shiyi to stop the Zheng family.
The Yan family misjudged the Zheng family’s determination to snatch the person. Upon discovering that Yan Twelve Niang was also at the border city, the Zheng family first asked her to leave.
They stated directly that this matter had nothing to do with the Yan family, and the Zheng family did not wish to make an enemy of the Yan family.
Yan Twelve Niang, dressed in red and holding a silver whip, pointed at the Zheng family members and cursed:
“This Young Lady is not representing the Yan family today, but myself. I cannot stand what your Zheng family is doing!”
“You are forcibly taking a wife, trampling on human lives, violating Xia Law, and harming Human Harmony. This Young Lady cannot stand by and do nothing!”
“I will handle this matter of Chen Yunniang! If you want to snatch Chen Yunniang, you’ll have to get past me first!”
Han Xing looked at Twelve Niang with some admiration. He used to think this woman was not like a woman, too fierce, too arrogant.
But at this moment, with her standing beside him, being fierce towards outsiders, it felt quite good.
With the Prince absent, the highest-ranking official in the entire border city was him, an Eighth Rank Captain. If Prefect Li had sided with the Zheng family.
Refusing to hand over Chen Yunniang would have become insubordination.
Even if Prefect Li did not interfere, if the Zheng family came to demand her by force, the border city soldiers would still be at a disadvantage if a fight broke out.
And now, with Yan Twelve Niang standing in front of the border city, the Zheng family would be more cautious even if they decided to act.
So both sides were in a standoff. The Zheng family asked Li King to come out and explain himself in person.
Han Xing stated directly that the Prince was not present and they should return another day.
Furthermore, Chen Yunniang is Cheng Assistant Secretary’s wife and cannot be handed over to the Zheng family.
The Zheng family blocked the road from the border city towards Yanzhou, absolutely not allowing anyone to leave. They gave the border city one day, and if they still refused to hand over the person after dark.
The Zheng family would have to resort to force!
Yan Twelve Niang said directly to Han Xing, “This Young Lady will guard here. You go arrange the defenses.”
Han Xing said with some worry, “No, I must ensure the Young Lady’s safety.”
Yan Twelve Niang said with some exasperation:
“This Young Lady does not need your protection! Don’t worry, as long as I have a breath left, I will never let the Zheng family enter the city.”
Han Xing’s heart skipped a beat. The more you say that, the more I don’t dare to leave you alone!
This Yan Twelve Niang’s recklessness was almost on par with the Prince’s.
Han Xing merely pretended to leave, hiding to the side while arranging defensive personnel and closely monitoring the situation around Yan Twelve Niang.
As expected, the Zheng family immediately dispatched a group of guards armed with wooden sticks, preparing to tie up Yan Twelve Niang and take her back to the Yan family.
They would have a good talk with Yan Jiu and tell him to control his sister! They were all Yandi gentry; how could they help that rogue Li King?
Yan Twelve Niang flicked her silver whip, “How dare you! Are you not afraid that my Elder Brother will flatten your Zheng family if you dare to touch this Young Lady?”
The Zheng family members sneered, “Well said, Yan Family’s Eldest Daughter. You are entangled with Li King in an unclear manner. You don’t need to ruin the Yan family’s reputation!”
Yan Twelve Niang was both ashamed and angry. These people were all like this; whenever it concerned a woman, they would smear her reputation.
In her anger, her whip technique became chaotic, and she was instantly surrounded by five Zheng family guards. One of them entangled her whip with his stick and yanked hard, causing the silver whip to fly out of her hand.
Another two were about to capture her. The Yan family guards were all engaged in a melee with the Zheng family members and could not get close to rescue her in time.
At the critical moment, Han Xing galloped over on his horse, his spear flicking, knocking over everyone surrounding Yan Twelve Niang.
With a gentle pull, he lifted Yan Twelve Niang onto his horse. The steed let out a long neigh, successfully carrying Yan Twelve Niang out of the encirclement.
“Are you alright?” Han Xing had just asked when he saw that Yan Twelve Niang’s snow white hand had a patch of purple and blue bruising.
Indeed, he himself had been seriously injured countless times, and bleeding was a common occurrence.
But for some reason, seeing the injury on Yan Twelve Niang’s hand, he felt a pang of heartache rise in his chest.
