History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 438 The Five-Colored Crane and the Cheap Horse
The three spies heard the sound of horses' hooves and all looked in the direction of the noise.

"We've been discovered! That vicious bird must have been tamed by the Solu people!"

"Damn it! Quick, let's make a decision, what should we do?"

"I'll cover the rear. You two, don't be careless. Make sure you get the news of Magistrate Jiang's murder... Be careful!" He shouted a warning before he could finish his instructions, while simultaneously lowering his body below the horse's back.

The sound of the arrow reached their ears too late.

His companion, who was riding ahead of him, fell off his horse.

"Delivering the message is important!" The spy at the front not only didn't stop, but also ordered his mount to go faster.

Even the outdated spy couldn't save her. He kicked his horse's belly to urge it to keep going, while simultaneously twisting his body to draw his bow. When Zhao Zhi was within range, he fired an arrow back.

But as soon as he released the bowstring, his heart trembled with fear! For another arrow cleaved through the night, through the cold wind, and through his own arrow, carrying the deadly metallic stench and fragments of his own shaft rushing toward him!

It was Zhao Zhi's second arrow.

This time, the spy didn't have time to lower his upper body. His right arm was pierced, and the tip of the arrow even went through his armpit. He endured the intense pain and used his bow to strike the horse, hoping to create distance and find another opportunity to escape.

But if Zhao Zhi tells him to die now, he will never live to see dawn!

Zhao Zhi rode onto the official road, pulled out the iron hook that was placed horizontally behind the saddle, bent down and struck it, knocking a stone off the roadside without slowing down.

At breakneck speed, the stone struck the spy's left shoulder with a "thud".

The other horse, with both arms broken, finally tumbled off its saddle, but the horse, true to its master, continued to run.

With the five-colored crane eyeing the third spy, Zhao Zhi wasn't in a hurry to chase after him; she dismounted.

The spy lying on the ground was covered in blood. Only then did he realize that the enemy soldier who attacked him was a woman. He couldn't help but think of someone and weakly asked, "You, are you Zhao..."

Zhao Zhicai didn't waste words with someone who was destined to die. She swung the hook down and, after confirming that the body was mangled, began to search it.

No letters!

She immediately rode back and searched the first spy's body, but found no letters or other suspicious items.

There are only two possibilities: either the letter is on a third spy, or these people pass the message verbally, or they leave a message with a special mark.

The Five-Colored Crane has returned to find Zhao Zhi.

The spy's mount stopped just a few feet away. Zhao Zhi wanted to urge the horse to go with her, but the horse was loyal and kept raising its head to resist. Zhao Zhi had no choice but to kill it with a hook.

Horse hooves tread on floating dust.

Guided by the strange bird, she continued to pursue the third spy.

Before they could catch up with the person, they caught up with the fleeing horse first. This horse was quite stubborn; it had been resting and grazing by the roadside, but when it saw Zhao Zhi chasing after it again, it quickly took off running.

Zhao Zhi wanted to test whether the horse knew the way, so she ran behind it. The five-colored pheasant did not neigh to remind her that she had gone the wrong way, so it seemed that she had tested it correctly. In that case, she would spare the life of this wretched horse.

Believe it or not, the horse, with its four hooves running independently and an ugly gait, was incredibly fast and extremely intelligent. Zhao Zhi only had to throw two stones at it to scare it, and it understood her meaning. When she approached, it led the way for her by only two horse lengths ahead.

Caught up!
"Whoosh!"

Zhao Zhi shot an arrow that severed the leg of the last spy's horse. The spy reacted quickly, leaping off the horse and running towards the ditch below the official road. Because of this, if Zhao Zhi wanted to capture him alive, she would also have to abandon the horse.

He ran while looking back, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat! He saw Zhao Zhi standing on a high point on the official road, already drawing her bow towards him.

This woman had no intention of capturing him alive! No, we have to gamble! He stopped and shouted, "I know news of the Prefect of Yingzhou!"

As he shouted, he took a step back. As long as Zhao Zhi wanted information, he would continue to run. There was a low slope in the distance, and there might be dense forest on the slope. If there was dense forest, his chances of survival would be three times greater.

"Whoosh!" Zhao Zhi released the arrow without hesitation.

The spy fell to the ground in the distance.

She leaped across the ditch in one stride, flying like the wind, startling the poor horse so much that it defecated on the ground and waited obediently on the main road.

Zhao Zhi found gold artifacts and half a steamed bun on the spy. By the moonlight, she could see that there were needle holes along the edge of the bun, arranged in a dense pattern to form several characters. Zhao Zhi didn't recognize any of the characters, but it didn't matter. She dared to kill this person, so she was certain that the clues wouldn't be lost just because all the spies were dead.

The purpose of Cao Jingzong sending the magistrate of Qibo County to persuade her was to make Emperor Yuan Ke doubt her loyalty to the emperor. If this conspiracy failed and Qibo County was lost, Emperor Liang Xiao Yan would question Cao Jingzong's abilities. Given Cao Jingzong's cunning and greedy nature, he would definitely send several spies to keep an eye on this scheme to sow discord.

Furthermore, if Diao Zheng could think of attacking Qibo County on New Year's Day, how could Cao Jingzong not have thought of it?
Therefore, Zhao Zhi and Diao Zheng both concluded that the spies in Qibo County, like the county magistrate Jiang You, were all expendable pawns, and that Cao Jingzong had other confidants watching Qibo County.

In the latter half of the night, a colorful pheasant that had been circling the night sky landed on the earthen ditch. Its round eyes stared directly at Zhao Zhi, who was sitting in meditation with her eyes closed. Birds of prey are afraid of fierce women, so it only dared to sniff the neck of the pheasant and use a long series of "gurgling" sounds to remind its owner that a brave rider was coming this way.

Zhao Zhi opened her eyes, beckoned the five-colored crane to come closer, gently stroked its little head, and praised it, "You've worked hard."

The five-colored gull pretended to squint and enjoy the view, but in reality it was thinking: Just don't slap this bird.

Not long after, a group of people appeared on the official road at a distance. This was Liang territory, and they had no scruples, all dressed in military uniforms in the Liang army regulations.

"Whoa—watch out, there's a dead horse!"

One of them got off to examine the horse carcass and told his companion, "It's a warhorse from Qibo County."

The Liang soldiers numbered ten in total. Eight dismounted to search the surrounding grass for the horse's owner, while the other two remained on horseback, poised with their bows and arrows, gazing into the distance in the direction their arrows were aimed.

Zhao Zhi stood up from the ditch, drew her bow, and exchanged arrows with the two Liang soldiers on horseback who hadn't had time to call out.

Whoosh!
Whizzing!

An arrow flew swiftly!
Two arrows fly in!

Zhao Zhi crouched low and ran through the ditch, dodging enemy arrows. However, one arrow wasn't aimed at her; it was aimed at her mount.

The horse that Zhao Zhi rode out of the military camp was originally captured from the den of barbarian bandits. It was not a pity that it died. The poor horse had escaped death again. This beast was even more clever. Wherever Zhao Zhi ran, it ran too.

The Liang soldiers opposite were terrified and hid in the bushes to discuss their next move.

The comrade who was shot was the most skilled in archery and horsemanship among the ten of them; unexpectedly, he was shot through the neck with a single arrow.

"What should we do? It seems they're deliberately waiting here to ambush us!"

"We don't know if it's one person or several. If it's one person, we'll spend half of our time dealing with her and the other half going to Qibo County."

"That's settled then. There's no other good plan right now, and we only have nine horses left. I know Magistrate Jiang, and I must go to Qibo County. Who will stay and who will come with me? The longer we delay, the more things will go wrong. Let's decide quickly!"

Another soldier said, "No, what if there are traps ahead? My horse is the fastest; who will come back with me?"

"Go back? What do you mean?"

"It means I suspect that the man just now was a soldier of the enemy! Otherwise, how dare he intercept us on the official road! Have you considered that if Qibo County has already been captured by the Wei army, and if we continue north, we will be walking into the Wei army's encirclement? I am not afraid of death, but I am worried that the governor does not know that we are dying, and does not know that Qibo County is already in danger."

Zhao Zhi and the others grew impatient and mocked the Liang soldiers: "No wonder the rumors say that Xiao Yan has a turtle shell, protecting a bunch of cowards! How long are you nine going to hide in your straw huts before you dare to come out when facing me alone?"