Dream of the Red Chamber: Rising from Refugees to Sweep Across the Land

Chapter 67 Lin Daiyu Arrives in Beijing

In war, intelligence is paramount.

Wang Ziteng never dreamed that news of what happened in the main camp would reach the Tartar camp before nightfall. Immediately afterwards, new battle orders were delivered to Agui.

In the central command tent, A-Gui put down the order and got up to walk to the map.

The soldiers of the Plain White Banner who were relaying the order quickly picked up candles and followed.

By candlelight, Agui quickly located the artillery positions of the Shenji Battalion.

In previous encounters, it was these cannons that had inflicted heavy casualties on their cavalry. If they could take them out, victory would be assured.

Agui thought for a moment and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, at dawn I will lead my cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the Han artillery positions, and then advance straight into the central army to cooperate with the main force to divide and encircle and annihilate the main force of the Beijing garrison."

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers of the Plain White Banner put down their candles and strode out.

A-Gui's gaze swept across the map again, finally settling on "Datong".

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted, "Guards!"

The Tartars outside the tent responded and entered.

Agui: "Go and summon the Mongol chieftains and those Han Chinese."

......................

There were many Han Chinese in Agui's camp. It wasn't that he was merciful, but rather that several elderly Han Chinese men saved them by saying they needed help in casting cannons.

Liu Feng's fears came true; Zhang Laifu and his group indeed ran headlong into the arms of the Tartar army. Fortunately, they were mixed in with a group of fleeing civilians and were not discovered.

Later, because of his strength, he was chosen by those old men and has been helping the Tartars build cannons for the past three months. He has lost a lot of weight from exhaustion.

In Zhang Laifu's memory, it would take at least three or four months for the border army's weapons workshop to cast a cannon, and they would have to prepare the materials and molds six months in advance.

But the skills of these old traitors completely overturned his understanding. As long as the iron mold and iron core are prepared in advance, a bronze cannon can be cast in just over forty days. Five cannons are being cast at the same time. The one they are polishing is already the third batch.

The thought of those cannons, which he had personally cast and polished, being used to blast open the gates of Datong at dawn filled Zhang Laifu with mixed emotions. Just as he was pondering how to stall for time, the old traitor's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Da Niu."

Zhang Laifu hurriedly put down his work, walked over quickly, and said with a smile, "Sir, you called me?"

But deep down, he already hated that old bastard. You traitorous dog, when I get my chance, I'll melt you down and melt you into a cannon, making you fire cannons for the rest of your life!

"Come out here for a moment, these cannons don't need polishing anymore." The old man turned and left.

"Not polishing anymore?" Zhang Laifu was slightly taken aback, then quickly followed. "Not attacking the city?"

"Isn't it good?" The old man stopped and turned to look at him.

Zhang Laifu felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. "Why, why are you looking at me like that?"

The old man suddenly asked, "Are you one of Liu Feng's men?"

Zhang Laifu's mind went blank, his spine went cold, and he didn't dare to breathe, staring intently at the old man.

The old man snorted, "If I hadn't guessed who you were, do you think you'd all be alive now?"

Zhang Laifu still dared not speak.

The old man continued, "The main force of the Tartars has gone to besiege the Beijing garrison, leaving only 10,000 Mongols in this camp. Tell Liu Feng that this is his only chance to turn the tide."

Zhang Laifu opened his mouth, but only managed to utter three words: "Why?"

The old man was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Someone doesn't want him to die. Go out and turn right, cross the ditch, and you'll be safe." After saying that, he walked straight out.

Zhang Laifu watched his retreating figure, hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly rushed out.

......................

Liu Feng barely slept all night. Before dawn, he climbed the city wall, raised his binoculars, and looked at the unusually quiet Tartar camp across the way.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint sliver of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, and finally, there was movement from the Tartar camp.

But Liu Feng felt something was off; it didn't seem as noisy as before. Yes, it wasn't as noisy as before!

Just as he was wondering what was going on, someone suddenly shouted, "Enemy attack!"

"Clang—clang—"

The piercing alarm bell suddenly rang.

The soldiers who had been dozing on the city wall rushed to the crenellations, their weapons all aimed at the city below.

"The enemy is in the moat! Fire! Fire!"

"Crunch—"

A series of sounds followed by the bending of bows and a sharp "thud" as arrows rained down on the moat.

Liu Feng rushed to the edge of the battlements and raised his binoculars to look: a corpse with two arrows in its back was floating on the surface of the moat.

"These clothes... look familiar." Liu Feng said.

"He's still alive, shoot him!"

"Stop!" Liu Feng recognized him, and Zhang Laifu also looked up.

"Quickly, go down and save them!"

Several soldiers lowered themselves down the city wall in bamboo baskets, pulled Zhang Laifu, who had struggled to swim to the shore, up, and carried him back up the city wall in the baskets.

Upon seeing a familiar face, Liu Feng was very excited and quickly pulled Zhang Laifu out of the bamboo basket: "How did you get here? Are you alright?"

"No, it's nothing..."

Zhang Laifu coughed a few times, then pulled the feathered arrow off his back. "I'm wearing a cloth armor underneath, otherwise I'd be crazy to come here at this time."

"You little rascal!" Liu Feng laughed and punched him.

After a few jokes, Zhang Laifu recounted the whole story.

Just then, Li Mu returned from his patrol and, after listening to the conversation, looked at Liu Feng.

Liu Feng was silent for a moment: "You didn't see wrong?"

Zhang Laifu patted his chest and said, "I went to several horse farms, and only the Mongolians still had horses. The other places were empty."

Liu Feng gritted his teeth: "Without reinforcements, we're doomed sooner or later—let's give it our all!"

Li Mu nodded in agreement: "Let's give it a shot!"

Zhang Laifu laughed: "Don't worry, sir. I discussed it with the brothers before we came; we'll give the Mongols a surprise..."

Just then, someone shouted, "The Tartar camp is on fire!"

Zhang Laifu clapped his hands: "It's done!"

Liu Feng suddenly drew his sword: "Gather the men, follow me to kill the Tartars!"

This battle was utterly devastating.

Without their warhorses, the Mongols were no match for the fully armed Datong Guards and were quickly routed and scattered.

Ever since the day the Mongols brandished the banner of the Datong Guard Commander, the people had been holding their breath for over three months, and they were determined not to let them escape...

"That was a satisfying battle!" Li Mu walked over carrying the head of a Mongolian leader.

Liu Feng smiled and walked around the iron molds and cores.

The old men Zhang Laifu mentioned had obviously run away beforehand; they couldn't be found even after searching the entire camp.

Li Mu casually tossed the head to the ground and asked, "Sir, what do we do now?"

Liu Feng looked up toward the direction of the Beijing garrison. He had heard a deafening roar earlier, which sounded like a large amount of gunpowder and exploding shells detonating.

It seems the Tartars have already succeeded.

Liu Feng pondered for a moment: "Let's wait until Zhang Laifu comes back before we talk about it."

After saying this, he turned to look towards the capital, wondering what the emperor's expression would be when he received the military report.

......................

Back in the capital, the emperor was in a good mood.

Before dawn, military reports arrived from Xuanfu, stating that they had once again repelled the Tartar reinforcements from beyond the Great Wall, beheading over a thousand and capturing over three thousand warhorses.

With his mood improved, Emperor Yankang also had a better appetite, and he drank an extra bowl of porridge than usual.

After placing the approved memorial on his desk, Emperor Yankang rubbed his wrist and looked at Dai Quan: "Is everything prepared at the Prince of Bei Jing's residence?"

While organizing the official documents on his desk, Dai Quan replied with a smile, "Everything is ready. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department went there early this morning to check if anything was missed."

Emperor Yankang nodded. Tomorrow is the auspicious day for Shui Rong's wedding to the second daughter of the Zhen family.

At this moment, a red-robed eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial entered and announced, "Your Majesty, Lin Ruhai's daughter has arrived in the capital."

Emperor Yankang paused for a moment, clearly having forgotten about it.

The eunuch in red said, "The Thousand Households Office sent a team of Imperial Guards to the docks, led by Wang Daniu himself."

Emperor Yankang tapped his fingertips lightly on the imperial desk, and after a long while said, "Send the jade ruyi presented by the Rongguo Mansion to Lin Ruhai's daughter—it's a wish for peace and good fortune."

......................

On the moat, a two-story official boat occupied the middle of the waterway and slowly sailed toward the dock.

Ships along the way gave way, even those belonging to other government offices, simply because a large flag embroidered with "Northern Garrison Command" fluttered in the wind on the mast of that ship.

Inside the second-floor cabin, a slender figure leaned against the window, staring blankly out the window, lost in thought. Suddenly, a tear silently slid down her cheek.

If Liu Feng were here, he would be shocked. In just a few months, Lin Daiyu had become so thin that she looked like she had lost half her life, which was heartbreaking to see.

Lin Ruhai originally planned for her to observe six months of mourning before going to the capital at the end of the year. However, war broke out in the north, and the emperor ordered him to go to Yangzhou to raise military funds. Unwilling to leave Lin Daiyu alone in Jinling, he had no choice but to have her go to the capital with Jia Lian...