Chapter 785: Catching the Turtle in the Jar

The Old Ancestress of the Fan Clan looked at the bowl of poisoned wine in her hand, then at the grandson standing before her.

Fan Zhengwen looked at his grandmother, then at the bowl in her hand.

Grandmother and grandson fell into a silence that lasted only a moment, yet somehow felt very long.

Then the Old Ancestress reached out, seized Fan Zhengwen by the wrist, and said with deep emotion:

“Zhengwen.”

“Grandma.”

“Grandma thinks she can still be saved.”

After all, she had only taken one sip.

After all, she was not exactly the same as an ordinary person.

After all, she genuinely had not had enough of the good life yet.

And after all... it looked as though even better days might be just around the corner!

“Grandma, you’re already fairly old. Why don’t we just... not put ourselves through all that trouble?”

“Zhengwen... my darling grandson...”

The Old Ancestress stared at him through tear-filled eyes. The only reason she did not slap this wretched grandson’s skull apart before the poison took effect was that she knew Fan Residence had just gone through utter chaos. No, the entire Fan City had. Forget finding some famous physician. Right now, finding any proper doctor at all would not be easy.

And she knew her grandson. Fan Zhengwen could neither lift nor carry much, but he liked medical texts, had studied medicine, and had even written prescriptions for close relatives before.

In other words, the head of the Fan Clan was actually quite skilled as a physician.

It was simply impossible for outsiders to invite him to make a house call.

“Grandma.”

“Grandson.”

“Your grandson was joking just now. First, try to make yourself vomit. I’ll use needles to slow the circulation of your qi and blood, then add medicinal herbs to purge what remains. Rest and recuperate for a month and you’ll be fine. After all, Grandma only drank one mouthful.”

“Good, good, good.”

Without the slightest hesitation, the Old Ancestress hooked one hand around her own throat and slapped herself in the chest with the other.

“Ugh...”

Still dressed head to toe in red, the Old Ancestress sat on the table and vomited with absolutely no concern for appearances.

Judging from the amount coming out, she had clearly eaten very well before coming out today. She had filled her stomach before preparing to set off on the road to the underworld.

Fan Zhengwen looked around at the gathered members of the Fan household.

“Clean yourselves up. Get the Residence cleaned up too.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Yes, Master.”

Then Fan Zhengwen looked at Qu Peiluo.

“Brother Qu, what should we do now?”

“Organize every man we still have and fight our way out of the city.”

At this point, whether the Chu were playing some elaborate trick no longer mattered. If they were truly bored enough to take off their pants just to fart even at a moment like this, then there was nothing the Fan Clan could do except march neatly into whatever disaster they had prepared.

“Wouldn’t that be a little hasty?”

“You want to miss the action while it’s still hot?”

He was, after all, once the eldest legitimate son of the Qu Clan. Even after becoming an outlaw and a traitor to Chu, Qu Peiluo still tried to avoid vulgar language whenever possible.

“Brother Qu is absolutely right.” Fan Zhengwen nodded with deep approval and called to the people around him. “Go. Call everyone who isn’t dead yet. We’re fighting our way out.”

In truth, both Fan Zhengwen and Qu Peiluo understood perfectly well that if reinforcements had arrived outside, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance they were Yan troops.

The master had come home.

How could the dogs stay inside instead of rushing out to wag their tails?

Fan Zhengwen had only just turned to leave when the Old Ancestress seized his arm again.

“Grandson, don’t go! Give Grandma those needles first!”

She had already vomited until bile was coming up. How could she possibly let Fan Zhengwen simply walk away now?

Fan Zhengwen smiled.

“Your grandson was joking with Grandma earlier. What I brought you wasn’t poisoned wine at all. It was tonic soup with a little brown sugar added. Sweet, wasn’t it?”

The Old Ancestress froze.

Then embarrassment and fury rose together, yet somehow she could not bring herself to become truly angry.

At last, she drew a deep breath and cursed:

“You little bastard!”

...

Leaving aside the main battlefield to the south, where the Chu army’s defeat was already inevitable, Dugu Mu was fighting desperately to cover the retreat while Dugu Nian gathered the rear formations and tried to pull them quickly out of the battle before fleeing south.

Leaving aside Fan City itself, where the Chu soldiers who had already entered the city saw the upheaval outside and, thrown instantly into panic and confusion, began disintegrating.

Let us instead look at Marquis Pingxi of Great Yan.

Leading several thousand cavalry personally beneath his own command banner, he swept around one side of Fan City in magnificent formation and began riding north.

Going straight through the city would have been fastest. For all he knew, Fan Residence might at that very moment be trapped in dire peril, desperately awaiting Marquis Zheng’s heaven-sent troops.

But Marquis Zheng did not choose that route.

During the defense of the city, Qu Peiluo had ordered the gates blocked solidly. The Chu troops who broke inside had cleared part of the obstruction, but they had not had time to finish the job.

To pass directly through Fan City would mean Marquis Zheng and his men had to dismount, climb ladders, and scale the walls.

Far too tiring.

More importantly, it did not fit the sort of entrance Marquis Zheng wanted right now.

Most importantly of all...

Grand General Nian would not wait for him.

After galloping around the city, Marquis Zheng soon encountered the “troops” under Grand General Nian on the northern side.

Just as Marquis Zheng expected, they were not blind to the upheaval in the south. Then they saw black-armored cavalry charging toward them like murderous demons and the command banner that only Marquis Pingxi himself could fly.

The “loyal heroes” who only days earlier had thumped their chests and promised Grand General Nian absolute loyalty to him and to Great Chu immediately abandoned all that supposed hot blood and devotion.

Some scattered like birds and beasts.

Others threw away their weapons and dropped to their knees, begging to surrender.

A chain reaction followed.

Marquis Zheng had only several thousand cavalry with him in this first deep thrust. By numbers alone, the “rabble” around Grand General Nian still outnumbered him several times over.

Yet they collapsed at the mere sight of him.

That was perfectly normal.

If these people had truly been so steadfast, then why had none of them stood up while the Fan Clan dominated this region?

“Protecting oneself wisely” and “waiting for the right moment” were often simply more elegant descriptions of cowardice.

When disaster actually arrived... of course everyone flew his own way.

“Move aside! Move aside! Kneel off to the side! Get off the road!”

More and more people surrendered ahead.

Whole groups.

Whole clusters.

Most of them were clear-headed enough to understand that their chances of escaping beneath the hooves of Yan cavalry were very low.

What they did not know was that Marquis Zheng had only one thing in his head right now.

Nian Yao.

He was so focused on Nian Yao that he had even ignored the withdrawal of the Chu army to the south.

But there were simply too many men surrendering. They blocked the road.

The Yan riders had to drive the prisoners aside.

Get the hell out of the way.

No one had time to process prisoners right now.

As for Grand General Nian’s location... it was extremely easy to find.

Nian Yao had entered Mount Meng at the head of an isolated force and relied on that single Grand General banner to rally men and gather allegiance.

Where the banner stood...

Grand General Nian stood.

“Master, could Nian Yao have already slipped away?” Siniang asked.

“He isn’t that decisive!”

The situation had only just changed.

The board had only just overturned.

How could Nian Yao abandon the whole position, throw away his troops, and run immediately?

Both men were commanders.

On matters like this, they understood each other.

At that moment...

Marquis Zheng encountered the first organized resistance since beginning his advance.

A force centered on Shanyue soldiers, dragging a visibly panicked mass of servant troops with them, rushed toward him.

They had not formed ranks.

At a moment like this, trying to form proper ranks would accomplish nothing except give the surrounding servant troops even more time to fall apart.

Better to throw the whole mess directly into the enemy’s face.

“Kill!”

Marquis Zheng did not bother with complicated commands either.

When brave men meet on a narrow road, the braver wins.

And right now... momentum belonged entirely to him.

The two forces collided.

The Yan held the absolute advantage.

They still took losses in the charge.

But the Chu suffered far more.

After that first clash, the servant troops who had still been swept along in the fighting took one look at the ferocity of the Yan and immediately began breaking away from the battle to flee.

The Shanyue soldiers were loyal to Grand General Nian.

They were willing to fight.

They knew how to fight.

But they had been on campaign for too long. They had served as the main force in repeated siege assaults. Their losses were already heavy.

And now the allied troops who had been charging beside them saw the wind turn bad and bolted.

Gaps opened everywhere.

After Marquis Zheng led his riders through one more assault, the last organized force still willing to stand in his way was essentially shattered.

He did not delay.

He gathered his cavalry and continued toward the Grand General banner.

He had ridden this far without regard for danger, wagered nearly every elite soldier he possessed, and driven himself and his army to exhaustion... all so he could catch the bastard turtle who had dared poke his temper.

You dare provoke me?

You dare make me angry?

I’ve struggled and schemed for all these damned years for one reason.

So I can live however the hell I please!

...

Beneath the Grand General banner... disbelief filled Eighth Prince’s young face.

He could not stop murmuring:

“How did this happen... How could this happen...”

Years ago, when he was even younger, he had sat aboard a pleasure boat and laughed while watching the Yan army lose at Wangjiang. He had gestured at the battlefield and spoken grandly then too.

But no matter how intelligent a child was... no matter how much he had seen and heard... once he was thrown personally into a situation like this, his reaction was no different from those he had once mocked and looked down upon.

At this point, the problem was no longer whether the capture of Fan City could serve as a congratulatory gift for the Regent’s enthronement.

The beloved youngest brother of Great Chu’s Regent might not even make it home alive.

“It’s simple,” Grand General Nian said. “I borrowed a road through Jin territory to attack Fan City. Marquis Pingxi went directly out of Zhennan Pass, borrowed a road through Chu territory, and came to attack me.”

Nian Yao did not say Marquis Pingxi had come to save Fan City.

Deep inside... he had a feeling.

That Marquis had come specifically for him.

And Nian Yao understood why.

It felt like two neighboring households.

A child from one family climbed a ladder, poked his head over the wall, spat at the child playing in the next courtyard, then climbed back down.

He had barely dusted off his hands and begun feeling pleased with himself... when the other child walked out through his own front gate, kicked open the first family’s gate, entered the courtyard, and came looking to settle accounts.

The image was vivid.

So vivid that Grand General Nian himself could not help laughing.

“Your Highness, don’t be afraid. This slave will show you what it means to catch a turtle in a jar!”

Eighth Prince immediately seized Nian Yao’s wrist in delight.

“Grand General still has another hidden move? Catching a turtle in a jar... Is there another army hidden here somewhere?”

Grand General Nian shook his head.

“No hidden army.”

“Then how can this be called catching a turtle in a jar?”

“Because... this slave is the turtle.”

[End of Chapter 785]