Chapter 166: Chapter 95 Pack Up!_1
"Break down the door!"
At Zheng Fan’s command, Barbarian soldiers advanced to ram the door.
The main door of the government office wasn’t very sturdy, at least not compared to the city gate of Mianzhou. After all, officials were transient, like flowing water, while the government office was an iron-clad fixture. Unlike in later eras, ancient county officials rarely used public funds to refurbish their offices.
However, it was obvious that people were resisting from behind the door. For a moment, the Barbarian soldiers couldn’t break it down.
Liang Cheng raised his hand and said in a deep voice, "Bows!"
The Barbarian soldiers around him began to draw their bows and notch arrows. Mounted archery was an innate skill of the Barbarian tribe, a talent they were born with.
Under Liang Cheng’s command, these Barbarian soldiers immediately understood, backed their horses away a short distance, and then raised their bows.
"WHOOM!"
A volley of arrows arched over. Due to the angle, it was unlikely to hit the people barricading the door. However, screams of pain still echoed from the courtyard.
"Heh, quite a crowd in the courtyard," a faint smile played on Zheng Fan’s lips.
The news of the Yan Army entering the city had spread quickly. The government office had, for a time, become what many considered the safest place. Those seeking refuge and those needing to discuss matters had largely congregated within its walls.
After breaking down the door, Zheng Fan wasted no time and led his troops on horseback directly here, effectively trapping everyone inside the government office.
The arrow volleys weren’t meant to kill those blocking the door, but to shatter their morale through the screams of others.
After all, the people in the government office and throughout Mianzhou City didn’t know the true strength of his forces. They assumed a massive Yan Army had already entered the city.
More accurately, even though the garrison soldiers in this city were useless, if the household guards and retainers of the various prominent families, along with escorts from the merchant guilds, were gathered, a thousand able-bodied men could easily be assembled. Once the small number of attackers became clear, some who had previously lost their nerve might regroup and counter-attack.
This was why Liang Cheng had earlier stated that they couldn’t occupy this city. They wouldn’t even need to wait for the Qian State to dispatch troops from elsewhere; this city alone could make them bite off more than they could chew.
This was also why Zheng Fan had led his troops to the government office immediately upon entering the city. Since the city can’t be held, now that we’ve breached it, we have to take some souvenirs back. To prove I came, I saw, I conquered.
In short, with the self-inflicted terror of imagining the "Yan Army" had already overrun the city, compounded by the screams of those hit by arrows in the courtyard, the group blocking the door finally broke.
"BOOM!"
The main door of the government office was finally smashed open.
The Barbarian soldiers dismounted and stormed in. Inside, chaos erupted with wails and screams. Some who still had a spark of courage tried to resist with weapons, but they were soon cut down by the skilled Barbarian soldiers in fine armor who coordinated well. Most chose to kneel and surrender... or resign themselves to their fate.
The enemy had breached the city. It had fallen. To resist any further, to most people, seemed futile. The Qian State had also enjoyed peace for too long. So long, in fact, that this generation, even those living in border towns, had never experienced war. Many were likely still bewildered and confused.
The situation inside was soon under control.
Zheng Fan dismounted and walked into the government office, with Liang Cheng following him.
A dense crowd knelt submissively in the courtyard, while the wounded moaned in pain.
In front of the Barbarian soldiers, these people didn’t dare act recklessly. Only when Zheng Fan entered did some of the more savvy ones begin to boldly observe him.
However, Zheng Fan had no interest in these minions.
Previously, regarding that chicken coop, I actually considered taking it over. Since my own Green Willow Fortress is also on the border, opening a breach there, like a guerrilla team planting its own people in an enemy pillbox, would greatly facilitate my own movements and also allow me to accumulate military achievements. But it would be difficult to establish any mutually beneficial relationship with the people in this city, especially since I have to flee immediately after finishing my business.
From storming the gate, to entering the city, and then the government office, despite occasional minor disturbances, everything had generally proceeded smoothly.
The dilapidated state of the Qian State’s military preparedness was dumbfounding. Zheng Fan even thought that the first Earl of North Border had failed to conquer the Qian State capital a hundred years ago due to a lack of support from the court. If the Earl could be revived now, with the military power he once commanded, he could easily achieve that goal.
The true enemy of a dynasty is never a savage and powerful external enemy, but... time itself, Zheng Fan mused as he continued deeper inside.
But just as Zheng Fan was about to step into the rear courtyard, his previously calm expression finally faltered.
He heard it.
Singing.
It was singing, but what was mostly being chanted was poetry.
Some verses were filled with lofty aspirations and fierce, unvented indignation. Others expressed the irrepressible sorrow of unrecognized talents as the nation hurtled towards its doom. Still others satirized the treacherous officials in power, decrying a state that had lost its way. And some lamented the great edifice on the verge of collapse, a dynasty in daily decline.
I’m not very familiar with poetic melodies. After all, I started out in the northern Yan State; there was no market for learning poetry and songs there. But from what I can gather, the gist is similar to Man Jiang Hong or that poem about ’the songstress unaware of a kingdom’s fall.’ The themes are pretty much the same.
Zheng Fan stopped in his tracks and turned to Liang Cheng, and said, "I stand corrected. I didn’t expect the civil officials of the Qian State to actually possess some integrity."
At a time like this, to use song to express their convictions... instead of cringing and betraying their country to survive, they’ve likely prepared to die for their principles. They’ll either commit suicide, or they’re waiting for me to enter, at which point they’ll curse me and then beg me to kill them to preserve their unsullied reputations. For defeated men to display such integrity is truly praiseworthy.
Liang Cheng was somewhat moved as well. He couldn’t help but lower his head to look again at the spear tip still lodged in his abdomen; the image of that old man single-handedly going against the flow, spear in hand, to intercept the cavalry, resurfaced in his mind.
"Perhaps, if the Qian State cannot be wiped out in this one war, then maybe..." Liang Cheng trailed off.
"Alas," Zheng Fan also sighed.
To lighten the mood, Liang Cheng said, "At least there’s some sense of accomplishment. Whatever the case, it’s far better than clearing out another chicken coop."
"Don’t bring that up! It pisses me off just thinking about it. Before we head back, pass down the order: no one is to speak of this. Otherwise, who knows what kind of stories Blindman Xue Three and the others will concoct about us behind our backs."
"Yes, My lord."
"Let’s go in and take a look. Let’s witness the true character of these scholars."
Zheng Fan stepped inside.
Barbarian soldiers had already taken control of the situation inside, but when Zheng Fan entered, his eyelid involuntarily twitched.
Liang Cheng also stopped. Staring at the scene before him, he suddenly felt the wound in his abdomen throb with even greater pain.
Zheng Fan saw a group of civil officials who, even under the menacing gaze of Barbarian soldiers, continued to do as they pleased, singing with abandon and even, stark naked, engaging in indecent acts, apparently oblivious to the current situation.
They were still completely high, so high they couldn’t stop.
However, the dancing girls who had been forcibly gathered for their debauched party hadn’t taken the drug. At first, when the battle cries from outside reached them, they didn’t think much of it. But when waves of ferocious-looking Barbarian soldiers stormed in, the dancing girls screamed and cowered in the corners of the hall.
The civil officials, unable to find the dancing girls but still in the throes of their high, couldn’t be bothered and actually began... with each other.
Even the Prefect, still wearing his official hat, was actively trying to nestle into the arms of a Barbarian soldier.
That Barbarian soldier looked utterly repulsed and cast a pleading gaze at Zheng Fan; he hoped Zheng Fan would give the order, because he was itching to cut down the skinny old man before him with a single stroke!
Due to Zheng Fan’s command, they had been ordered to abstain from debauchery, but that didn’t mean their desires had become twisted due to this abstinence. Even if their tastes were twisted, they weren’t so twisted as to find this scrawny old man appealing.
Zheng Fan took a deep breath, then turned his head to look at Liang Cheng, who stood beside him.
Liang Cheng squeezed his eyes shut, a pained look on his face. The wound, it throbbed intensely—so intensely that Zheng Fan felt too embarrassed to further berate him for his accurately ’blessed’ jinxing.
"Alright then. It seems I’ll never live down this title of ’Paragon of Spiritual Civilization’."
"My lord... is brilliant."
"So, what exactly was the point of us not sleeping soundly at home late at night, but instead rushing over to the Qian State to attack a city? First, we’re helping the Qian people crack down on vice, then on drugs. Did we come all this way just to be their ’Four Pests’ extermination squad?"
Zheng Fan had, of course, noticed the Five-rock powder remaining on the table. He knew what it was. He recalled how he’d almost ingested it himself to sense his qi and blood, before Liang Cheng’s fingernail had served as a substitute.
Its effects were far more potent than the illicit drugs of my previous world, and its side effects were even more terrifying. It contained many heavy metals, and excessive consumption could easily lead to intellectual disability and paralysis. Moreover, its stimulating and hallucinogenic impact on the central nervous system was extremely potent. Just look at what these supposedly refined civil officials are doing right now...
"Ugh..."
Zheng Fan really couldn’t stand to watch any longer.
He averted his gaze and turned away, then gave an order in the Barbarian tongue, "Kill them all. Take their heads."
"Yes, Master!"
The Barbarian soldiers in the hall roared their assent. They had been itching for this for a long time and immediately raised their blades, beginning to cut people down.
The Barbarians were indeed savage, their level of civilization admittedly low. Yet, higher civilization wasn’t always a good thing. For example, this blatant display of ’Brokeback Mountain’ before them was something these Barbarians found utterly repulsive.
Barbarian gods above, what an eyesore!
Standing beside Zheng Fan, Liang Cheng asked, "My lord, what’s next?"
Zheng Fan looked at Liang Cheng, rolled his eyes, and snapped, "Fall back! Return to base!"