When Wei Yu was pestering his Eighth Brother while he read in Ziyang County, elsewhere, the Second Prince—who had established contact with Tian Hu—was already preparing to attack the city.
Tian Hu truly lived up to Ding Facai’s assessment of him as a promising spy.
It had only been a little over a month since Wei Yu left him in Yuanyang, and he had already managed to befriend one of the local petty officials.
They say it’s hard to get close to the underlings, yet somehow Tian Hu had quickly integrated himself among them. When the Second Prince sent word asking if he could arrange to have the city gate opened at night, Tian Hu simply replied that he’d need three to five more days.
Just five days—naturally, the Second Prince could wait.
He believed that Wei Yu had more than just Tian Hu placed in Yuanyang, and that the few days Tian Hu asked for were to coordinate with his companions to figure out a way to open the gate.
With this in mind, the Second Prince waited a few days. When Tian Hu finally sent word back saying the operation could proceed that night, the Second Prince was immediately invigorated.
He gave the order for the Oxhead Army to prepare, planning a coordinated inside-outside attack on Yuanyang under the cover of night.
At midnight, five thousand Oxhead soldiers stationed outside the city heard movement from the long-sealed city gate.
There was movement not only atop the wall, but also near the gate itself.Rustling sounds, occasional cries of combat that were immediately silenced.
As the Second Prince and his men squinted at the city wall from outside, they were startled by the commotion within.
Gongsun Yi asked, “Are all of these people under the Wise King?”
Tian Hu was the spy Wei Yu had planted in Yuanyang. It stood to reason that those working with him inside the city were Wei Yu’s people too.
Gongsun Yi was astonished by Wei Yu’s influence and even more surprised that he would so openly reveal his men to the Second Prince.
Was the Wise King making a statement to the Second Prince?
Displaying strength to show his intention to vie for the throne, or declaring his loyalty?
The Second Prince remained silent.
The noises near the gate didn’t last long. After roughly half an hour, the gate opened.
In the darkness, someone stood at the gate holding a torch. Upon seeing this, the Second Prince immediately mounted his horse and led the Oxhead Army forward.
Standing at the gate was a dark, thin man with an unremarkable appearance.
The Second Prince looked him over and didn’t even need to ask before the man spoke up.
“Greetings, Second Young Master. I’m Tian Hu. Most of the soldiers guarding the gate have been taken down. However, we’re short on manpower—some of them escaped. They’ve likely already gone to report to the Prefectural Office and the Commandant’s Office.”
Having been trained by Ding Facai, Tian Hu naturally knew of Wei Yu’s identity.
He was no longer the defiant and unruly Tian Hu of the past. He was now an outstanding spy determined to help the oppressed people of Ji Prefecture get justice!
So what if a prince had come in person? As long as they could capture that scoundrel Guo Xiu and return justice to the people, he was all in!
Since there were two places where key figures needed to be captured, Du Rulin took men to the Commandant’s Office, while the Second Prince and Gongsun Yi went to the Prefect’s Office themselves.
Five thousand Oxhead soldiers marched into the city in grand formation.
The torchlight, the sound of hooves and footsteps—though not rowdy—made no attempt to conceal the fact that the city gate had been breached and rebel forces had entered.
Most of the city’s residents were jolted awake. Even those who had been sleeping soundly were slapped awake. Entire households huddled in fear inside their homes, terrified that the mountain bandits might break in and plunder them at any moment.
Guo Xiu was awakened by his servants.
The panicked voices of the servants reached all the way to the rear courtyard. The words “mountain bandits have stormed the city” exploded like thunder on a clear day, jolting the entire Prefect’s Office awake.
“What! Heavens, my lord, the mountain bandits have entered the city!”
The concubine beside him screamed so shrilly that Guo Xiu’s already-dazed mind began to throb.
Pale-faced and panicked, he fumbled to throw on his clothes and dashed out barefoot, shouting for help as he went.
The news of the mountain bandits entering the city spread like wildfire throughout the Prefect’s Office, plunging the entire household into chaos.
Disheveled, Guo Xiu ran toward the front study but encountered his equally frantic mother at the door.
Before she could speak, Guo Xiu barked at her to go back and start gathering valuables.
“Hurry, Mother, pack up everything! We need to get out while there’s still time!”
Otherwise, it would be too late!
Having raised a son who lorded over Ji Prefecture, the old madam was used to luxury and didn’t immediately grasp the situation. But after hearing Guo Xiu’s words, she rushed off to the storeroom to inventory their possessions.
Guo Xiu, meanwhile, ran to the study to retrieve his ledgers—the records of years of embezzlement and bribery.
It was just bandits entering the city, not an official investigation. He was a court-appointed official—so long as he hadn’t been caught red-handed, escaping now would be understandable. Once the court sent troops to suppress the rebels, he could return to being Prefect…
It was a well-laid plan, but every time he thought of the bandits entering the city, he couldn’t help cursing Liu Wu for being a useless fool!
He had been told to flee earlier and ignored it, thinking the bandits weren’t a real threat and that they could simply seal the city and wait them out. What absolute nonsense!
The city gate was critical, yet they hadn’t even stationed extra guards there. He didn’t even know how the gate had been breached!
Idiot!!!
While Guo Xiu cursed the Commandant in a fit of rage, Liu Wu was at that moment being dragged out through a dog hole, looking utterly humiliated.
Yes, a dog hole.
Since the Liu residence was near the city gate, Du Rulin broke through their gates even while the Second Prince was still en route to the Prefect’s Office.
Though it was Du Rulin’s first time raiding a household, he executed it flawlessly.
Anyone who needed to be tied up was tied, all escape routes were blocked, the women were confined to a single courtyard and forbidden to move, and all the Liu men were bound.
Liu Wu, the Commandant, was caught crawling through a dog hole—about as disgraceful as it gets.
And when he was dragged before Du Rulin, he still tried to assert authority, straining his neck and shouting,
“What do you think you’re doing?! Do you know I’m the Commandant?! You’re nothing but a bunch of lowly mountain bandits—if you dare lay a finger on me, the court will send troops to wipe you all out!”
As a fellow military man, Du Rulin felt personally insulted by this kind of stupidity and viciousness.
He looked at Liu Wu coldly and pulled out his official seal from his robes, placing it in front of him.
“Open your dog eyes and take a good look. With officers like you, the court should be ashamed!”
Upon seeing the seal clearly, Liu Wu’s eyes went wide with shock.
That was the seal of a Yulin Army captain?!