Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 299 The Runaway Princess (2)

The bright moon has been engulfed by flames.

Animal hides and corpses were burning, emitting a nauseating stench, and thick black smoke billowed up like a huge dark cloud.

Ashes fell in rustling sounds, like a gray-black snowflake, drifting and swaying.

Like a gray goose feather, Song Yan watched quietly. After a while, he stretched out his right hand, and a speck of ash fell on the tip of his index finger. He gently pinched it with his thumb and index finger, and it became a clump of dirt.

Many people must have died.

I haven't calculated it in detail.

The reward money still needs to be paid. It would be about right to give each of the four thousand black-armored soldiers three to five taels of silver.

In reality, these people probably looted even more from the corpses and inside the tents, and Song Yan had no intention of turning over all the spoils to the authorities.

These days, if you don't offer some benefits, who will be willing to risk their life for you?

A cold wind blew.

boom!
But the tallest and largest royal tent finally collapsed, bursting forth with sparks that, along with rising air currents and smoke, shimmered in the air like fireworks.

The royal tent is gone.

The Jurchen royal court no longer exists.

I wonder how mentally capable Wanyan Guangzhi is. When he strangles Anchegu and returns to the royal court, his expression will surely be quite interesting when he sees this charred ruin.
I wonder if he'll be so angry he'll vomit blood?

I'm kind of looking forward to it.

A slight smile played on his lips. The days to come would be extremely difficult for Wanyan Guangzhi and the entire Wuji tribe; Song Yan could picture it. Over a thousand tents had been burned, and each tent required a large quantity of animal hides… Even if Wanyan Guangzhi wanted to rebuild the royal court, where would the tents come from? Where would the animal hides come from?
Without a tent, the rest of the winter will be extremely difficult to endure.

Countless people will freeze to death.

Perhaps he could demand it from other tribes, but those tribes might not be willing to hand over their precious tents and food. They might even take advantage of the destruction of the royal court and the subsequent decline in Wanyan Guangzhi's prestige to launch a war against him, attempting to annex the Wuji tribe.

Who knows? But one thing is certain: the Jurchens will face unprecedented chaos from this day forward. This war may last for a year, three years, or ten years. No matter who the final victor is, the Jurchens will be severely weakened.

Although the people might suffer and the land might be littered with bones, Song Yan felt no remorse whatsoever. He was a Han Chinese, and it was none of his business to feel sorry for the Jurchens. Moreover, if it weren't for these Jurchen barbarians looting Pingyang Prefecture, why would he have come to the Jurchen area for a stroll in the freezing cold?
During the Lunar New Year, isn't it better to stay at home and cuddle with your wife?
The fire was still burning, though it had shrunk slightly. Many of the black-armored soldiers looked regretful, probably because they hadn't looted everything yet. They couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the thought that many valuable items had perished in the flames.

Just then, a black-armored warrior walked over from the side, carrying a human-shaped object in his hand, and threw it in front of the crowd.

Okay, so it's just one person.

It just looks a bit tragic.

Although he wasn't burned, his leg was broken.

“General, this man was found near the stables. He was probably trying to escape on horseback, but all the horses got spooked and accidentally kicked him in the leg.” The black-armored soldier said with a grin. Another head, another tael of silver in hand. This trip was really going to be a windfall. “I figured the general might want to ask some questions, so I brought him here.”

She's quite clever.

The gaze shifted to the Jurchen barbarian. The Jurchen warrior, who usually considered himself valiant, was now trembling all over, his eyes filled with an intense, unyielding fear. Especially being surrounded by a large group of black-armored soldiers, he was utterly horrified, as if the people staring at him were not human, but a group of demons.

“You should be able to understand me.” After a moment’s thought, Song Yan slowly spoke. At this time, the Jurchens had not yet developed their own writing system, and their speech was very similar to that of the Central Plains, making it a very special dialect. According to the course of history, it was only after the Jurchens established their own country several hundred years later that they created their own writing system based on Chinese characters… although that so-called creation was nothing more than a slight modification of Chinese characters.

The trip went very smoothly, and all strategic objectives were achieved, so Song Yan didn't have anything in particular he wanted to ask. However, just in case he heard something interesting, he smiled and said, "Tell me about some of the bigger events concerning the Jurchen people. Anything is fine; just pick the interesting ones."

The Jurchen barbarian's throat bobbed, a sense of trepidation creeping in: "I told you, you...you and I will leave."

Song Yan nodded gently: "Yes, I swear by the Emperor of Ningguo that as long as you confess honestly, I, Song Yan, will not kill you."

"If I break this oath, may my brother Song Yan die suddenly."

The Jurchen barbarian's gaze softened slightly. Brothers… In fact, among the Jurchen people, apart from the royal family where relationships between brothers could be extremely strained due to the struggle for the throne of the Khan, other Jurchens highly valued brotherhood. After all, living in such harsh conditions, more brothers meant more labor, increasing the chances of survival. Having more men in the family also helped prevent them from being bullied by others.

Therefore, in the eyes of these Jurchen barbarians, this oath was still very important.

So he pursed his dry lips and racked his brains to recall the major events that had occurred in the Wuji tribe.

Song Yan waved his hand, instructing the others to prepare the warhorses and cavalry. The black-armored soldiers then got busy. Only Wang Chao, Luo Tianyang, and a few others remained by Song Yan's side, listening to the Jurchen barbarian's exotic voice as he rambled on about everything he knew. His words were so disorganized and rambling that it took Song Yan and the others considerable effort to glean any valuable information from them.

However, there were still some gains.

At least we now know that the fat man who was killed by Luo Tianyang's thunderbolt was Wanyan Guangzhi's younger brother, who was closely related to Wanyan Guangzhi and was also the number one warrior of the Jurchens and the Grand General of the Royal Court.

Such a head is still very valuable, so Song Yan hurriedly arranged for people to search for it and see if they could find it again.

It is also known that many tribes on the Haixi Grassland are now trying to submit to the royal court, especially the Jilie Khan of the Heishui tribe, who has sent his daughter, the Heishui princess, known as the most beautiful woman of the Jurchens, in preparation for a marriage alliance. Wanyan Guangzhi has even publicly declared in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers that as long as the battle of Anchegu is over, he will marry Nahetuya upon his return.

Upon hearing this, Song Yan's expression immediately became extremely strange.

This proverb means that one shouldn't make rash promises lightly.

Especially since he went home to get married right after the battle, look, it came true! Now, Wanyan Guangzhi's main force has barely formed an encirclement, and it will be impossible for them to win in less than a few days. As a result, their stronghold was raided.

This is what happens when you set a goal.

However, after laughing, Song Yan felt a chill run down her spine.

Wanyan Guangzhi's unification of the Jurchens was progressing much faster than he had anticipated. Song Yan knew that some smaller tribes were siding with Wanyan Guangzhi, but he hadn't expected that even a large tribe like the Heishui tribe would have the intention to submit. If he hadn't disrupted Wanyan Guangzhi's plans this time, Wanyan Guangzhi would probably have completed the unification of the Jurchens in three years, or even two years at most.

As for Nahetuya, Song Yan wasn't particularly interested; she was merely an item used for marriage alliances between the two tribes. As for her beauty, Song Yan scoffed at it. Looking at the women of the Wuji tribe, one could imagine how much of this so-called "most beautiful woman" was exaggerated; she probably couldn't even compare to the top courtesan in Ningping County's Red Sleeve Pavilion.

I wonder where that woman is now. Judging from the flames burning ahead, she has probably perished in the fire.

Besides that, there wasn't much else of value. It makes sense, since this person was just an ordinary member of the Wuji tribe and had no right to access the real secrets.

The Jurchen barbarian had racked his brains and really didn't know what else to say. He could only plead with a look on his face. Seeing the other party's appearance, Song Yan smiled and patted the Jurchen barbarian on the shoulder: "Don't worry, this general always keeps his word. If I say I won't kill you, I won't kill you. You can go now."

The barbarian was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly before turning to leave... He crawled away, after all, one of his legs had been broken by the warhorse, and he couldn't get up. However, he didn't notice that the expression on Luo Tianyang's face had become somewhat ferocious at some point.

The Mo Dao (陌刀) had already appeared in his palm, its gleaming blade emitting a chilling light in the firelight.

With a swift stroke, the Jurchen barbarian's neck was severed. His head rolled across the ground, disappearing quite a distance, his wide-open eyes filled with disbelief as he stared intently at Song Yan, as if rebuking him for breaking his promise—he had clearly said he would spare his life…

Song Yan protested that he was innocent of such accusations, saying that he really did not lay a hand on him and that he would spare his life if he said he would.

It was Luo Tianyang who made the move, what does that have to do with Song Yan?
If you're really resentful, just curse all my brothers to die suddenly; he won't care at all.

The stables were probably all cleared out by now, and Ma Han was walking towards them. Song Yan stretched his arms and asked, "How much did we get this time?"

"We can take 3,569 warhorses with us. They are all of the finest quality and have a violent temperament, but we don't have time to tame them right now, so we'll kill them all."

"There are over 18,000 weak horses that we can take with us. That's too many. Although we have 4,000 men, they are not professional horse herders. So we selected 4,000 of the strongest and strongest to take with us, and killed the rest."

Thus, it is still possible for one black-armored warrior to control two warhorses and one nag.

No wonder I just heard mournful cries coming from the stables.

The main point was to leave Wanyan Guangzhi nothing.

"In addition, the brothers looted countless amounts of silver, jewelry, and grain."

Song Yan nodded: "What were our losses?"

"Eighteen men have been killed." Ma Han's face darkened. This was the first time the Black Armored Warriors had suffered losses in the long history of their formation. They all died in the volley of arrows when the Wuji cavalry engaged them. Although their armor had protected them from the arrows, many horses had fallen, and these eighteen brothers were unlucky enough to be crushed by their horses and killed instantly.

"Several hundred others were injured, none of them seriously. Some were burned while setting the fire, and others were caught in the blast from throwing thunderbolts that were thrown too close."

Song Yan sighed and said, "There are carts over at the stables. Collect their bodies and send them back to Pingyang."

"Find out their names and home addresses. I will deliver the pensions. As for their relatives, they will be relocated to Pingyang and will be supported by the Pingyang Prefecture thereafter."

The atmosphere at the scene froze, the previous excitement and joy were gone, and many people's faces darkened. After all, they were comrades who ate, drank and trained together every day, and they all felt a little sad.

On the other hand, they couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Being able to follow such a general is perhaps the greatest fortune of their lives.

Some of them had served in the army for many years, but none of them had ever valued their soldiers so much.

Under normal circumstances, when a soldier dies, that's it. If he's lucky, his family can receive a pension. If he's unlucky, they might even embezzle the pension. If a soldier dies fighting for Ningguo, in the end, it only benefits those corrupt officials.

Meanwhile, the parents, wives, and children still live in hardship, lonely and helpless.

Compared to other officials, perhaps the general truly treated them as human beings.

With his parents and children cared for by the general and the Pingyang Prefecture, he could be considered to have no more worries. Since that was the case, what harm was there in leaving his life on the battlefield?

Ma Han remained silent, only nodding as he led some of his men to carry back the bodies of their fallen comrades and place them on two carts.

Looking back, he saw the carcasses of thousands of warhorses and nags piled together. He threw a torch and set the stables ablaze. The stables were mostly made of wooden planks covered with thatch, all highly flammable materials.

The flames then shot up.

Although horse meat is not very tasty, it is still a food that can fill one's stomach.

We cannot leave any for Wanyan Guangzhi.

"General, which route should we take this time?" Wang Chao asked in a low voice.

After a moment's thought, Song Yan said, "Let's take the same road we came from in the southwest. We'll be more familiar with it after walking it once."

With the creaking of the carts, four thousand black-armored soldiers, driving nearly twelve thousand horses, slowly disappeared into the moonlight.

They left behind a scene of utter chaos.

The flames were still leaping, and occasionally a crackling sound could be heard, perhaps because some bones couldn't withstand the intense heat and had burst open. It's a pity these heads couldn't be taken back; otherwise, there would have been several more mounds of skulls.

It has become a habit that if an operation cannot produce several mounds of skulls, then the operation is considered imperfect.

……

Just after the group of black-armored warriors completely disappeared into the night, one head after another emerged from behind a small earthen mound in the distance, gazing at the distant flames, looking as if they still had lingering fears. Those demons had finally left.

……

Haixi Grassland.

Southwest.

A group of several dozen people were resting in a snowy area.

A small bonfire was lit on the ground, and a wooden frame with a rabbit skewered on it was placed on top of the fire.

This group was somewhat special. They were mostly men, young and strong. Among these men was a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Although her appearance was not particularly outstanding compared to women from the Central Plains, she was considered a beauty among the Jurchens.

Especially her figure—tall, slender, and athletic—is full of wildness, which easily arouses a male's desire to conquer.

This woman was Nakhtoya.

The man beside her was arranged by Wanyan Guangzhi to protect her; there were thirty-two of them in total.

The leader of them was a young man in his thirties named Wanyan Zongmin!

In fact, according to the direction of the Han cavalry charge and their escape, they should have fled to the southeast. However, Wanyan Zongmin was a clever man. The Han cavalry pursued them all the way. Although there were countless Wuji tribesmen who delayed them, the speed of warhorses was ultimately incomparable to that of humans. If they continued to flee like this, they would be caught up sooner or later.

As the future princess, Nakhtoya is undoubtedly the most important target for the other party.

Since that's the case, why not do the opposite? After escaping some distance, circle around behind the Han cavalry and flee from the southwest.

In this way, they can certainly avoid being pursued by Han cavalry!

(End of this chapter)