"What does Xiao Tian think?"

It was well past midnight, and Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant of Xiapi, who had been awakened in the middle of the night, stood on the city wall with Zhao Ding, the Prefect of Xiapi, for quite some time. He suddenly turned to his son-in-law and asked loudly.

"My Lord Father-in-Law," replied Tian Shizhong, fully clad in armor, immediately bowing. "Your son-in-law has been on the city wall, and I've seen it clearly. Although the Jin army's momentum is great and they arrived quickly, they clearly lack equipment. For half a day, they've only been launching arrows from the periphery. They only managed to scale the city in four or five places where the moat is narrow, and those were all Han soldiers pointlessly throwing their lives away… Therefore, your son-in-law believes this must be a feigned attack. So, I just ordered all the watchtowers to clearly observe the enemy's situation and not waste arrows."

"You did the right thing," Zhang Jun nodded repeatedly. "That's what I thought too. But in nighttime battles, we must be wary of Jurchen elites suddenly mixing in, or a sudden attack on the west side of the city, catching us off guard. We must also guard against Liu Guangshi's former troops, who are used to fleeing and might panic and ruin the situation… Be careful."

"Rest assured, my Lord Father-in-Law!" Tian Shizhong quickly replied. "Your son-in-law will be on the city wall and won't make any mistakes!"

"That's good!" Zhang Jun continued. "You keep an eye on things on the city wall. Zhao Prefect and I will return to the city magistrate's residence, open the doors, drink wine, and eat food to reassure the people. And let Liu Bao lead a thousand of our most capable veterans to stand by, ready to provide support at any time!"

"My Lord Father-in-Law's arrangements are extremely appropriate," Tian Shizhong replied calmly.

"Don't try to reassure me with empty words or panaceas, you two!" Zhao Ding, a man of great intelligence, had long realized that the two men were speaking to him with their perfectly matched answers. Ignoring this, he pointed at the firelight in the direction of Henan and urgently questioned, "I've been overseeing the matters in the city and naturally trust you. But what's happening in Henan? Can you two offer a plausible explanation?"

"To inform Prefect Zhao, internal resettlement is difficult, and no matter what's happening in Henan, we can't do anything about it for now!" Zhang Jun helplessly shook his head and simply turned to leave as he spoke. "But anyway, we have Han Shizhong's massive fleet of ships on the river. With his ability, even if one or two *mêng-an* manage to sneak across, how could he not provide support?"

Tian Shizhong bowed again, and Zhao Ding deflated upon hearing this, stamping his foot and turning to follow.

However, only a short while later, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, and Zhao Ding, the Prefect, had just returned to the magistrate's residence in Xiapi and hadn't even had time to set up a banquet to reassure the people when, almost visibly, changes occurred again in the direction of Mount Bagong in Huainan… Upon hearing the news, the two dared not delay and hurriedly ascended the city wall tower outside the southeast water gate together. They looked into the distance and carefully observed, only to see that at the water stronghold on the west side of the Mount Bagong passage across the river, the patches of fire were strangely spreading further west into the Xiashi Mountain valley. No one knew what was happening!

"Withdraw the troops!" At the same moment, on the Huai River bank, perhaps only two or three *li* in a straight line from Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding, the Jin army general, *mingghan* Aligai, sat on his horse and spoke after watching for a long time. "What do the Fourth Prince and General Elubu think?"

"I also think we should withdraw the troops," another *mingghan*, Elubu, also seemed to have realized something, but couldn't help but feel a headache.

"What do you mean?" Wuzhu was both confused and annoyed. "You two said to feign an attack, and you two are saying to withdraw the troops, but you're not explaining anything to me, the commander-in-chief?"

"It's nothing!" Aligai sighed. "I'm afraid the Song army also realized that there should be a *shulie* army on the south bank. So, the fire earlier wasn't Shulie going to attack, but the Song army and us had the same intention, deliberately setting fire to lure him to attack. And now Shulie must have been exposed again, and the Song army has desperately blocked him in the northern valley!"

"That makes sense," Elubu even shook his head. "Han Shizhong was recognized as a brave general during the conquest of the Liao, and he has always been bold and daring. If he encountered an entire *mêng-an* on the way here, he would naturally think that there was another *mêng-an* to the west, and then take the initiative to attack. And the Song Emperor seems to be someone who listens to advice."

Wuzhu opened his mouth, feeling a tightness in his chest.

"Fourth Prince, this matter is not your fault. It's my strategy that was a bit short-sighted, otherwise, I wouldn't have helped the Song army trick Shulie into falling for it!" Aligai seemed particularly frank upon seeing this.

"There's no need for you to admit your mistakes!" Wuzhu's face was flushed, but it was unclear whether it was from shame or the firelight. "In the end, Shulie had to be sent by me, and the fire started on its own before you even suggested it!"

Elubu and Aligai exchanged glances, but neither had any intention of adding fuel to the fire.

However, after the three stood on their horses watching for a long time, seeing that the firelight never turned back, Wuzhu was ultimately helpless and could only order the feigned attack force to return to camp and rest.

The nighttime retreat of tens of thousands of troops was extremely cumbersome. By the time the scattered fighting around Xiapi ended, it was already close to the fourth watch, and the sky in the east was already slightly white… For some reason, it wasn't until this moment that Han Shizhong, the military commissioner who firmly controlled the Huai River, thought to send a small boat to the Xiapi water gate to deliver a letter to the city.

The letter was extremely short. First, of course, it expressed concern and well-wishes, and the beauty of the writing clearly indicated that it wasn't written by Han Liangchen himself. Then, it mentioned that Han Shizhong had trapped a *mêng-an* (thousand-man team, thousand-man commander) of the Jin army on an islet in the heart of the Huai River next to Quejian Town. Finally, it mentioned that he was 'preparing' to use a method of luring the enemy to attract another Jin army *mêng-an* that might be in the west of Huainan… he asked Grand Commandant Zhang to prepare early, so as not to be 'frightened' when the time came!

"Damn Angry Banana!"

Zhang Jun hadn't slept all night and was already exhausted. After reading this letter with Zhao Ding next to the brazier, he finally became exasperated. "I endure the hardship and the labor! But this bastard gets to eat all the meat!"

Since Grand Commandant Zhang was furious, the officers who had arrived there, from Tian Shizhong and Liu Bao downward, naturally hurled abuse and cursed Han Shizhong.

Moreover, the style of the Song army had always been like this. Everyone had come from the Western Army and had seen countless disgusting things over the years. Plus, the Emperor was right across the river, so Angry Banana could only show off in this way after all, it wasn't truly harming neighbors for one's own benefit. So, after a round of abuse, no one took it to heart, and they prepared to disperse with Zhang Jun, cursing and grumbling.

However, at this moment, Zhao Ding, who had been holding that letter and reading it several times without saying a word, suddenly erupted in anger on the city wall, his voice stern and severe:

"Submit a memorial impeaching him! All officers above the rank of company commander in the city will join me in jointly impeaching Han Shizhong! What kind of time is this? Still clinging to the factionalism of the Western Army, I don't believe this is the Emperor deliberately making him delay until now to send the letter! If the Emperor doesn't make Han Shizhong give us an explanation in Xiapi, I, Zhao Ding, the Prefect, will be the first to jump off this water gate watchtower!"

Grand Commandant Zhang and the officers of the Xiapi army, who were about to disperse, all turned back in shock.

"My fellow soldiers!" Zhao Ding, who was already over forty years old and still wearing his green robe that hadn't been washed for who knows how long, stood proudly in front of the brazier on the city wall, without any demeanor of a civil official. Instead, he directly pounded his chest, pointed to the sky, and spoke with sincere words. "As long as I, Zhao Ding, am in Xiapi, I will never allow you to suffer even the slightest grievance… I may not be good at fighting, but for these small matters, I, the dignified Prefect of Shouzhou, will not shirk my responsibility!"

"Should have thought of it!"

Amidst a clamor of praise, Tian Shizhong shook his head repeatedly and whispered to his father-in-law. "Now, this Shouzhou territory, on both sides of the Huai River, is already full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers… How about letting Prefect Zhao manage the army rations in the future?"

"I endure the hardship and the labor…" Zhang Jun muttered half a sentence, but looking at Zhao Ding's dirty robe, he couldn't say the second half and instead instinctively changed the subject. "Now that things have come to this, let's share weal and woe together!"

ps: Thanks to book friend Old Daoist for the alliance leader, this is the thirty-first萌！I thank the big shot for Xiao Jiu!