Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside Chapter 1597: Siege, a Concubine Is Still a Concubine

Company Commander Liu was deeply moved, feeling the heavy burden on his shoulders, and immediately swore: "Company Commander Qin, rest assured, I swear on the lives of the entire Liu Family, we will protect Ancang County and not let the Rong people cause harm!"

County Captain Liu was so angry that he nearly spat blood.

Why does he have such an infuriating nephew? If you want to die, why not swear by your own life? Swearing on the entire Liu Family’s lives, did you ask if we Liu Family people, who don’t want to die, agree?!

"Uncle, what’s wrong? Is your leg injury hurting again?" Squad Leader Liu saw County Captain Liu’s twisted face and thought it was due to pain, immediately asking with concern.

County Captain Liu couldn’t curse out the truth at such a time, and upon hearing this, his face twisted even more.

Fortunately, Qin San Lang had finished talking with County Magistrate Luo and shouted to the soldiers: "Move out!"

Over five hundred cavalry immediately galloped away, following Qin San Lang on a shortcut towards Tongyang County.

Xie Cheng took the rest of the soldiers behind. There was no choice, as there weren’t enough horses. More than half the soldiers had no horses to ride, so they had to split into two groups.

However, this didn’t delay them from ambushing the Rong people.

Qin San Lang led the cavalry to launch the first round of ambushes. After Xie Cheng and the others arrived, they launched a second round, then retreated. This way, they could delay the Rong people’s march.

You Ping and County Magistrate Luo’s people arrived at Tongyang County before Qin San Lang and his group.

County Magistrate Luo sent Steward Huang and Housekeeper Luo to convey the message. The County Magistrate of Tongyang County had met them before. After hearing their words and seeing the evidence they presented, along with County Magistrate Luo’s handwritten letter, he immediately called Company Commander Zhang and explained the situation to him, saying, "Company Commander Zhang, immediately gather troops and follow them to dig traps and set ambushes!"

You Ping breathed a sigh of relief. This County Magistrate of Tongyang County was straightforward and didn’t question their identity or the truth of the information. He quickly gathered people to help.

"Yes." Company Commander Zhang immediately led You Ping and the others away.

The County Magistrate of Tongyang County was smart and quietly sent people to patrol the county. If they discovered suspicious individuals, they kept an eye on them first.

So when Qin San Lang and his group arrived at Tongyang County, the County Magistrate immediately provided them with a list of over a dozen addresses. Qin San Lang led the troops to eliminate them one by one and really wiped out four Rong people’s dens.

Upon learning this, the County Magistrate of Tongyang County was filled with fear, grateful that he had believed Steward Huang; otherwise, Tongyang County would have suffered the same fate as Guanlu County at the hands of the Rong people.

After Qin San Lang had cleared the county of Rong people, he returned to the government office, explained the plan to defeat the Rong people to the County Magistrate of Tongyang County, took the food and water prepared by the government office, and led the soldiers out of the county, hiding in the trenches to rest while waiting for the Rong people to arrive.

The Rong people arrived half a day later. Qin San Lang and his group were well-rested and ready, catching the Rong people off guard, keeping them outside the county for three hours before they couldn’t hold on and fled.

Xie Cheng and his group arrived about the same time as the Rong people, but Company Commander Zhang and the government officials of Tongyang County had already dug traps for them. So when the Rong people reached the town below the county, they could immediately ambush them.

However, Xie Cheng was not as skilled as Qin San Lang in leading troops. He only lasted an hour before leading the soldiers to flee.

They too fled into the deep mountains, but the Rong people wised up and didn’t pursue into the mountains, only chasing for half an hour before giving up when they couldn’t catch up.

But the Rong people were vicious, poisoning the rivers they passed, intending to kill the people of Tongyang County.

Ye Dakou discovered this and immediately had the County Magistrate inform the villages along the river not to use the river water or eat anything from the river for the time being.

Because of this, Ye Dakou stayed behind to work on an antidote with the doctors of the county.

However, his medical skills were not as good as Doctor Dai’s and Gu Jinli’s, making it impossible to develop an antidote quickly.

Yet he documented the properties of the poison used by the Rong people and sent it to Doctor Dai in Guanlu County and Gu Jinli in Xing’an Prefecture, hoping they could create an antidote.

After all, when the Rong people poison, they don’t target just one county but poison everywhere along the way, making it imperative to create an antidote!

Because of the Rong people’s poisoning, Qin San Lang hurried even more towards Xing’an Prefecture, fearing something might happen to his family, Xiao Yu.

...

Hu Helu was one of the Four-directions Vanguard Generals, so this time, the Rong people’s attack on Xing’an Prefecture was a coordinated strike by four armies. The fastest of the Rong armies had already attacked Xing’an Prefecture and surrounded it.

Ms. Gao Lei was escorted back to the prefecture by Peng Wen before the Rong people surrounded Xing’an Prefecture.

As she left, she angrily scolded General Liang: "General, didn’t you say the Rong people wouldn’t bypass Long’an Prefecture to attack Xing’an Prefecture? Now the Rong people have come. It’s time for the general to figure out how to deal with them and defend Xing’an Prefecture!"

She sneered coldly: "If Xing’an Prefecture falls, the Emperor might just have your family executed in three generations, General Liang!"

Everyone knew how much Emperor Jingyuan hated the Rong people. He had killed many because of the Kangrong issue. Someone like General Liang, who received information in advance but failed to take it seriously and wasted time deploying defenses, could very well have his family executed in three generations.

General Liang was so humiliated by the scolding that he felt incredibly ashamed, but could only plead with Ms. Gao Lei: "Old Madam Gao, you are Master Lei Wu’s elder sister, and everyone in the Lei Family’s Trading Team respects you. Please ask them to help defend the city!"

He added cautiously: "If the city falls, everyone will die."

The Lei Family’s Trading Team had many shops in Xing’an Prefecture, and the brothers risking their lives in the team had families in the city. If the city fell, the Lei Family’s Trading Team people would perish too.

Ms. Gao Lei sneered: "I am not like you, General Liang—I know the gravity of the situation and will not bungle things like you have!"

General Liang was relieved to hear Ms. Gao Lei’s response. As long as the Lei Family’s Trading Team was willing to help, Ms. Gao Lei could even beat him up, and he wouldn’t mind.

"Old Madam, please hurry and leave, or it’ll be too late." Peng Wen helped Ms. Gao Lei into the carriage of the Lei Family’s Trading Team, and they sped towards Xing’an Prefecture.

General Liang, upon learning that the Rong people had come with over twenty thousand troops, didn’t dare stay outside the city for long. He immediately led over two thousand soldiers from the main camp, rushing towards Xing’an Prefecture, and ordered the Reconnoitre Soldier: "Send a message to General Zhou, have him immediately lead his troops back to defend the city. If they stay outside, they won’t last two hours before the Rong people devour them!"

General Xu was very attentive to Xing’an Prefecture. Therefore, not only did he provide General Liang with an additional thousand troops, but he also dispatched General Zhou to guard the county city behind Xing’an Prefecture. If Xing’an Prefecture had an incident, General Zhou could lead troops to provide aid.

But even with all these troops combined, they were barely over four thousand, incomparable to the Rong people’s twenty-thousand-strong army!

"Yes." The Reconnoitre Soldier responded and immediately went to deliver the message to General Zhou.

General Liang led his troops to a full gallop, and by the time they reached the prefecture city, the Rong people had arrived as well. The soldiers running at the rear were shot down by the Rong cavalry.

"Quick, get into the city!" General Liang shouted, charging into the city gate.

After all the soldiers were inside, he immediately ordered the gates to be closed, leading the soldiers to defend the tower, waiting for reinforcements.

Meanwhile, news of the Rong people’s siege and the surrounding of Xing’an Prefecture spread within the city.

Everyone was terrified, with many clamoring to escape the city. Even among the accompanying families, some were packing to leave Xing’an Prefecture.

Erqing hastily went to report this to Gu Jinli.

Gu Jinli, after listening, coldly sneered: "A concubine is just a concubine, only there to hold back at crucial times, and completely useless!"