Lu Ping raised his hand to gently caress the brocade box, his eyes deeply hiding hatred, as he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Your General Zhao used this method but never got a shred of news from our Fifth Master! Only our Bai family army brothers leaked information because they couldn’t hold on, and later they atoned for their mistakes by dying rather than live in shame. Only one was saved by our Crown Prince! Today, I want to see if the bones of your Zhao family army are stronger than those of the Bai family army!"
Bai Qingyan did not come down from the city wall. She noticed that the number of Zhao family elite soldiers who had just entered the city was not right and suspected that someone had stayed outside to keep watch. If those elite soldiers did not leave the city at the appointed time, the watchers would return to the Liang Camp to report.
Shen Qingzhu had come to Chunmu Mountain earlier and had already figured out most of the Liang Army generals’ behavior. Besides Zhao Tong, Zhao Sheng had also come with the Zhao family army this time.
Zhao Sheng was meticulous and wouldn’t foolishly let everyone into the city without leaving a single lookout.
General Wang Xiping quickly ran up to the city tower and respectfully clasped his hands towards Bai Qingyan, who was hiding in the dark. "General Bai, Lu Ping has already found out the location of the Liang Army grain depot. The depot is not in the camp but hidden in a valley between Puwen City and their army camp, less than two miles from their camp. The men I selected are ready and can leave the city at any time. I suspect there are lookouts outside the city, so I specifically chose men who can swim. But the canal from the city to outside is too long; our Jin soldiers are not good at swimming. It’s a bit risky, so I plan to let them take a detour from the East or West Gate."
General Xun Tianzhang was indeed cautious.
"Open the city gate. Let them leave from the North Gate! Have someone take hunting dogs to follow them out. Search around. If you see any lookout trying to return to the Liang Camp to report, kill them!" Bai Qingyan turned to Wang Xiping. "Tell the men going to burn the grain to capture a few more tongues on their way back and find out where the Lord of Gaoyi is trapped!"
It wasn’t that Bai Qingyan didn’t believe Lu Ping could extract information from the Zhao family army. After all, Zhao Tong’s grandfather, Zhao Yi, was known for his interrogation methods that could rival the King of Hell. She didn’t believe that all eleven captured Zhao family soldiers were that stubborn.
Having Wang Xiping’s men capture another tongue to question was just to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the information.
Wang Xiping clasped his hands and responded, "Yes!"
Bai Qingyan drew an arrow, nocked it on her bow. Although it was a dark and windy night, she had been staring into that patch of darkness for a long time, and her eyes had gradually adapted. As long as something moved in the darkness, she would notice it.
Soon, the city gate opened, and the drawbridge was slowly lowered. Twenty black-clad warriors, led by Du Sanbao, galloped out of the city, lightly armed with only materials for starting fires, quickly heading towards the Liang Camp.
A hidden Zhao family soldier, who saw this, lay prone on the ground, nervously gripping his sword at his waist, fully alert.
It wasn’t until the galloping horses passed by him that the Zhao family soldier slowly raised his head. He took a deep breath towards the direction of Longyang City. Seeing that the drawbridge of Longyang City was not retracted and the city gate was not closed, his heart began to pound.
Suddenly, the sound of dogs barking came from inside the city gate. He crouched, getting ready to retreat at any moment.
Seeing the Jin soldiers with nine howling hunting dogs exit the city with torches raised, he tightly gripped his sword, slowly moving back.
Bai Qingyan’s eyes scanned back and forth in the darkness. She vaguely saw a dark figure moving slowly backward. She abruptly drew her bow to the fullest, aiming the cold, sharp arrowhead directly at the slowly moving shadow.
All the archers standing with Bai Qingyan on the city wall drew their bows, pointing them in the same direction as Bai Qingyan’s arrow.
"Fire!"
At Bai Qingyan’s command, countless arrows whooshed through the darkness, heading straight for the Zhao family soldier like a swarm of leeches.
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