After Du Ming and Wei Jun set off, they marched for two days and set up their formations for three days. On the fifth day, Xu Yin received the news that Xingtong City had been captured.
"So fast?" she was surprised.
The letter soldier replied: "Yes, the leader of the thief has been captured. The two generals will come tomorrow to welcome the third lady into the city."
"What were the casualties in this battle? Are there any other losses?"
Xin Bing grinned and said: "Two were injured when we breached the city. The casualties after entering the city have not yet been fully counted. However, those defeated soldiers were in a hurry to escape and had little fighting power, so they should be fine."
"..."
Okay, maybe she underestimated her subordinates.
"What about those rebels? Were they killed or captured, or did they escape?"
"When they found that the city was broken, they fled in all directions, and many fish slipped through the net. The two generals specifically ordered to pay attention to the safety of the third lady."
Xu Yin was not surprised and passed on the order: "Don't let these rebels have the opportunity to enter the hinterland of Chu. Tell them to pursue them with all their strength. If they are found, kill them on the spot."
"yes."
When news of the recapture of Xingtong spread, the camp was filled with joy.
Miss Qi specially came to thank you: "Thank you very much, Miss Xu San, for taking revenge on my family. Please allow me to accompany you and return to the city to see the guilty party die. I am willing to repay your great kindness as a slave."
Nowadays, Miss Qi is from a noble family. Of course, Xu Yin will not really ask her to be a slave. She said: "Those rebels are cruel and violent. What I did was just in compliance with the law of heaven. Unless Miss Qi asked me to do so, there would be no such thing."
Great kindness. Of course you can go back to the city with us, but I wonder if Miss Qi still has any relatives alive? I will ask someone to send you back to reunite with her after that."
Miss Qi looked gloomy and said: "Thank you Miss Xu San for thinking about me. My Qi family has been in Xingtong for decades and has already taken root here. Our ancestral home is only a few branches away. I don't know how to deal with myself when I go back. Miss Xu San
If you don’t need my services, can you please let me stay and do what I can? I see that Miss Xu San is traveling and it is inconvenient to take care of the affairs. It is not easy to work with Zhu Cao Canjun, and the official documents have to be handed over to another person. I
If you can read, you can at least help classify and copy things, so you don't have to avoid suspicion between men and women."
Xu Yin was a little surprised. Because of her identity, Xiao Sang didn't give her any orders. He only offered tea and water. Unexpectedly, Miss Qi had very strong observation skills and discovered her difficulties in just a few days.
Then I thought about it, she was an orphan who returned to her hometown to stay with others, and her future destiny was at the mercy of others. It was reasonable that she did not want to return to her ancestral home.
"Since you think so, then please stay for now and help me sort out the official documents."
Miss Qi said gratefully: "Thank you, Miss Xu San, for allowing me to support myself."
As Xu Yin listened, he couldn't help but think of Feng Chuncao's words, "I want to earn a living." Regardless of whether he was a noble family or a mountain man, it was the same when he encountered this kind of disaster.
…
After half a day's rest, Wei Jun came to welcome Xu Yin into the city the next morning.
"Lao Du stayed in the city to take care of other things," Wei Jun said with a sad expression, "Miss Third, you don't know, when we entered the city, it was simply a hell on earth. There was blood everywhere on the streets, and it has not been washed away for several days.
, it was so fishy that it stunk... the corpses were piled up randomly. I heard they had to clean them up after we surrounded the city. Lao Du hurriedly buried them, otherwise he was afraid of the plague. The whole city had ten rooms and nine empty houses, but the whole family could survive.
The next one won’t be easy…”
Xu Yin sighed.
This is the brutal side of war. She had seen too much in her previous life. Fortunately, the situation in this life was not that bad, and she was able to do some things.
"Where are those rebels? How many did you let go?"
Wei Jun said sheepishly: "We divided the work before. Lao Du went into the city to take the lead, and I was responsible for finishing the rear. It's my fault that I have no experience, and I escaped a lot..."
Xu Yin nodded. It was Wei Jun's first time leading troops. It was not easy to do this.
"One mouthful at a time, Lao Du, it seems that you two get along well."
Wei Jun grinned and said, "Isn't this a little more friendly? We all have to count on him when it comes to war!"
Xu Yin said: "It's beyond my expectation that you can capture Xingtong so quickly."
Wei Jun chuckled twice: "That's all thanks to Miss Third's gunpowder, not our fault."
Xu Yin said fairly: "No matter how useful something is, it must be used by someone. General Du is more capable than I thought, and you performed very well."
Wei Jun was very happy after being praised.
Xu Yin sighed slightly in his heart. The gunpowder formula was actually presented to Emperor You by General Jiang Zuojian in his previous life. Gunpowder had already appeared in the world, but it was not powerful enough and was only used for fireworks and firecrackers. A great craftsman from Jiang Zuojian improved the gunpowder formula.
But Emperor You didn't take it to heart. It's probably because this gunpowder is not easy to explode. People won't let you get close to it in a battle, and you can't throw it and explode like a trebuchet.
But Xu Yin felt that it was completely usable. Tunnels were often dug during city sieges, and they could be used as long as they were willing to put in the effort. However, Emperor You's idea was also correct. If there was an instrument like a trebuchet, and gunpowder could be thrown over it to blow it up, it would definitely be powerful.
amazing.
The two of them were chatting while riding horses towards Xingtong City.
As he talked, things started getting chaotic.
Wei Jun stopped his mount, turned around and asked, "What's going on next?"
Soon a sergeant came over and reported: "Third Miss, General Wei, a small group of rebels attacked our refugee camp."
Xu Yin frowned, these rebels are so courageous!
They were escorted by the army throughout the journey. Due to the large number of people in the refugee camp and the lack of discipline among the people, accidents such as falling behind were inevitable, so these rebels found an opportunity.
"Are there any casualties?"
"A few were killed or injured, but Miss Feng happened to be there and stopped them in time."
Feng Chuncao? Xu Yin looked aside.
Xiao Sang said: "She went to see her mother and said that her mother's legs and feet were not good and she couldn't walk such a long distance."
Xu Yin looked at Wei Jun.
Wei Jun immediately turned his horse's head knowingly: "I'm going to arrest them, and I won't let anyone go!"
Xu Yin nodded. It happened to be that he had been walking for half a day, so he ordered to rest where he was.
After a while, Wei Jun came back in disgrace.
"Have they all been captured? Where are the people?" Xu Yin asked.
"Here it is!" A clear voice sounded from behind, but it was Feng Chuncao riding over.
She had just learned to ride a horse and was not very proficient, but everyone's attention was attracted by the things in her hands and on the horse's back.
Heads! Full of heads!
Even though the guards around him were elite soldiers who had experienced life and death, they were so shocked that they opened their mouths wide at this moment.
Qingxuan even blurted out: "Fuck me!"
Feng Chuncao was covered in blood. When he got close, he hurriedly stopped his mount, and then shouted: "Miss Third, you said there is a reward for killing the enemy, is that true? Can I also receive a reward?"
Seeing the longing look on her face, Xu Yin was surprised and couldn't help but smile: "Of course, military orders are for heads in exchange for rewards. Since the head is in your hand, the reward is yours."