xymnovel Chapter 1012 Wei Qing's Discovery and Cooperation
Chapter 1012 Wei Qing's Discovery and Cooperation
At the third quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), as the first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, Wei Qing led over 20,000 elite Imperial Guards to the south gate of Qiandu, following closely behind the retreating Yellow Turban Army.
Wei Qing reined in his horse, and the white dragon steed beneath him left tiny sparks on the bluestone slabs. From afar, he saw flames soaring into the sky within the city, and this usually composed general almost fell off his horse.
"Ran Min! Qu Bing! Take the vanguard and rush to put out the fire!"
"The rest of you will follow me into the city. If you see any Yellow Turban rebels setting fires..."
His roar shook the snow on the city tower, causing it to fall in a flurry, and he pointed his riding whip toward the city of Qiandu.
"Wait! Uncle... Commander Wei, look at those places on fire..."
Wei Qing, his face ashen, was about to enter the city when Huo Qubing grabbed the reins.
"Pass down the order: the Blackscale Cavalry will split into two teams. One team will accompany me to fight the fire, and the other team will escort the people out of the city!"
The young general's hawk-like gaze swept across the fire, then he suddenly reined in his horse and turned towards the West Market.
When Wei Qing rode his horse across the main street of the city gate, he understood why Huo Qubing had changed color. He saw that where the flames were spitting out to the east were the mansions of officials with carved beams and painted rafters, while the residential area of the people in the west market was completely intact, even the thatched huts were undamaged.
To his even greater astonishment, the Imperial Guards, clad in black armor, were fighting the fire alongside the local people. The two groups were throwing water bags at each other across the fire, like old partners who had worked together for many years.
The distant horizon was dyed an eerie ochre red, like a god spilling a vermilion inkstone, or like underworld fire leaping up to earth.
"General, the fire... is under excellent control!"
Ran Min spurred his crimson dragon horse closer, the blood droplets on his double-edged spear gleaming eerily in the firelight.
Just now, when he led the Imperial Guards cavalry in a charge, he witnessed the gilded plaque of the Grand Commandant's mansion smash into the sea of fire, and the sparks that flew up burned the warhorses of three Imperial Guards soldiers.
Wei Qing raised his hand to stop the army behind him. The scales of his armor made a soft rustling sound in the night wind. His usually calm brows were now furrowed. His gaze swept over the flickering lanterns on the city wall. Those lanterns should have been wrapped in bright yellow silk, but now they were leaning to one side or the other. Some of them had even been licked halfway off by the flames, revealing the bamboo frame inside.
"Get rid of the disease!"
"Take your eight hundred Xuanlin cavalry and circle the city three times to see just how far the fire has spread."
He suddenly gave a low shout, startling several crows under the eaves.
"Yes, sir!"
The young general's voice boomed from behind the formation, and eight hundred Xuanlin cavalry surged out like a black tide.
Huo Qubing, leading the charge, spearheaded the white banner that fluttered in the night wind, the air currents he created lifting a few unburnt pages of memorials into the air.
"You will lead your troops to guard the city gate, but any living creatures entering or leaving..."
Wei Qing watched the elite force disappear into the night, then turned to Ran Min and said.
"Whether it's humans or rats, control them all first!"
He paused, his fingertips tracing the hilt of the meteorite iron sword at his waist.
Amidst the rising smell of burning in the city, Wei Qing spurred his horse past the Qian Tian Gate. All he could see were broken walls and ruins. The stone lions in front of the Grand Tutor's mansion were broken in half, with wisps of smoke still rising from the cracks.
He dismounted, his boots striking a hard object—half a bronze token from the Censorate, its xiezhi pattern licked beyond recognition by the flames.
"Marshal Wei, look!"
A soldier from the Imperial Guard suddenly exclaimed. Wei Qing looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the West Market was brightly lit. The bamboo sheds in the market were completely intact, and not even a corner of the colorful silk of the lantern riddle had been burned off.
Even more strangely, unharvested cabbages were still drying on the stone steps in front of the people's houses, with water droplets shimmering in the moonlight, as if the owners had only gone out to buy wine and would return shortly.
This eerie sight sent a chill down Wei Qing's spine. He quickly walked through two streets and alleys, when suddenly he heard a child crying from the end of the alley.
Three Imperial Guards immediately drew their swords and surrounded the baby, only to find a bamboo cradle leaning against the blue brick wall. The baby inside was waving its little fists, and the thumb of the baby was sucking on the cradle with traces of honey.
"General, this..."
Ran Min's hand holding the double-edged spear trembled slightly. He had just heard the people say that the Yellow Turban Army had tied the eighteen members of the Imperial Academy Chancellor's family to the back of the horse like a string of candied hawthorns. Now, this sleeping baby felt like a resounding slap in the face.
Wei Qing bent down and picked up the cradle. Suddenly, the golden lock hanging around the baby's neck came into view. The lock was engraved with the seal script "Long Life and a Hundred Years" on the lock plate, while the back was engraved with the small characters "Heaven Blesses the Great Qian".
"Well done, Meng Zhang... my lord..."
He ran his fingertips over the dent and suddenly chuckled softly.
With Wei Qing's battlefield experience, how could he not see that the Yellow Turban Army had been behaving strangely during their confrontations with Meng Zhang?
The Azure Dragon Heavenly Legion under Meng Zhang's command was completely different from the Qian Army under Gu Changqing's command and the Hengzhou Army under Su Ye's command!
Therefore, even if Wei Qing couldn't yet guess the specific relationship between Meng Zhang and Su Ye, he roughly understood that the two were definitely in cahoots!
"Commander Wei! All the residences burned down belonged to officials of the third rank or above. Even the river works map kept by the Vice Minister of Works was reduced to ashes, but the weights on the scales of the rice shop in the East Market are still safely tied to the beams!"
Before he finished speaking, Huo Qubing had already returned on horseback. The young general's white cloak was covered in cigarette ash, and the tip of his spear held half a charred account book.
Wei Qing took the charred ledger. The writing, twisted like earthworms after being roasted by fire, was still faintly discernible, with words like "Taicang Rice and Wheat" still visible.
He suddenly remembered the intelligence he had received from the Luo Wang battlefield half a month ago—that Meng Zhang's spies had infiltrated the canal wharf and replaced thirty ships of military rations with coarse rice.
At the time, it was simply assumed that the Yellow Turban Army was short of food, but now it seems...
"Report!"
"A small group of Yellow Turban soldiers has been spotted in the southern part of the city! They are escorting hundreds of prison carts to the docks, and the carts are filled with elderly and infirm people dressed in fine silks and satins!"
Another Xuanlin cavalryman galloped in, bringing news that Wei Qingsheng found utterly uninteresting.
Wei Qing's pupils contracted sharply. He suddenly remembered the "Nine Treatises on Governing the State" proposed by the old master Guan Zhong in the Jixia Academy in Hengzhou. The eighth treatise was "The powerful families are like termites; they should be dealt with slowly and gradually."
The scorched earth that now covers the Qiandu Huafu site looks as if someone has used the most violent means to uproot the deep-rooted cancer for the new dynasty.
"Ran Min, take your light cavalry to the dock."
"Remember, you can only bluff, you must not actually make a move."
Wei Qing mounted his horse, and the meteorite sword was drawn with a dragon's roar.
Watching Ran Min accept his orders and leave, Wei Qing turned to Huo Qubing and said...
"Take eight hundred Xuanlin cavalry and search along the moat. If you find any oil canisters left behind by the Yellow Turban Army, report back immediately."
After the young general had left like the wind, he turned his horse around and sighed in the direction of the Qiandu Imperial Palace.
He roughly understood that the Great Qian Dynasty was destroyed not so much by the Yellow Turban Army, but rather by his own lord!
However, Wei Qing, Wei Zifu, Huo Qubing, and others are now closely tied to Su Ye, and Wei Zifu is even pregnant with Su Ye's first child!
The relationship between the Wei family and Su Ye is such that they share both prosperity and adversity!
Therefore, even knowing that Su Ye was the culprit behind the current fragmentation of the Great Qian Dynasty, Wei Qing still chose to remain silent and would do his best to help Su Ye keep this secret.
Ideally... we should take him with us into the coffin after he passes away!