Chapter 21: Raiding the Enemy's Camp

  "Mr. Yin, fortunately did not disappoint the order, everything is ready." Under the south slope of the banyan tree ridge, the agreed location, Fan Qing arrived on time to meet him.

  "Ah, good job!" Yin Xu was very satisfied. As for how Fan Qing did it, he didn't ask and didn't need to ask. The result was all that mattered.

  Accordingly, Yin Xu and others did not stay long, quickly passing through Fan County and arriving at the banks of Pengli Lake.

  When spring warms up, the gentle and warm lake breeze blows across my face, making me feel especially comfortable. Taking advantage of waiting for Fan Qing to find a good boat, Yin Xu stands by the lake, gazing out at the majestic Pengli Lake, savoring the rare leisure time recently.

  For a moment, his thoughts returned to the war, gazing northward, he could already guess that the Qin army must have received news of his arrival in Fan County and would surely gather troops to march south. What about their rear? Heh! More unfortunately for them, this time the Qin army would be disappointed again, thinking that they owed it to Fan Qing this time.

  Yin Xu deliberately walked out of Rongshu Ridge, only to open up the two Qin armies on one side of Fan Township, and then turned back to avoid the wind in the territory of Fan Township. After all, defending Rongshu Ridge is not a long-term plan, the Qin army has suffered twice and will be careful, it's not easy to take advantage of it again. And with limited food for himself and his party, it was difficult to cope with the Qin army's siege for a long time.

  It all started with the idea of going south to Fan Township, which began with a conversation with Gao Yi. From Gao Yi's mouth, Yin Xu learned about the special identity of Wu Rui, the county magistrate of Fan Township.

  Wu Rui was originally a descendant of the royal family of Wu, and after King Fuchai of Wu defeated the State of Yue, he indulged in music and beauty, and was misled by treacherous officials. At that time, Crown Prince You felt that his father's regime was unstable, and there might be a disaster of national subjugation, but with his own strength, he could not change the situation. So Crown Prince You and his cousin Ji brought their mother, wife and children to the area around Fuliang Yao. Later, King Goujian of Yue succeeded in his revenge, and after destroying Wu, he slaughtered the members of the royal family, and Crown Prince You, who had left, was lucky enough to escape. His descendants continued to live in the Yao area for hundreds of years, until they reached the area around Wu Rui.

  Wu Rui was young, Peng Li Ze had no government management, and it was very chaotic. Wu Rui led his tribesmen to develop in the four villages, controlling a large area of land in Gannan, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Qin Ting, in order to stabilize the south and prevent the Baiyue rebellion, adopted the suggestion of Prime Minister Li Si, and granted Wu Rui as Fan Jun, managing the Fan Yi area. At that time, the promise of the Qin court was that Fan Yi did not need to pay taxes and labor services to Xianyang, and the government was completely self-governing.

  However, at some point in the past, Fan Township had an additional county lieutenant from Xianyang, and the people of Fan Township also had to pay taxes. The civilians of Fan Township were also ordered to go and repair the mausoleum and build the Great Wall. It was only one step away from sending troops to garrison.

  This time, the An Tong sect has blocked the road on the south slope of Rongshu Ridge, which is somewhat excessive. It can be guessed that Wu Rui must be very unwelcome and even resentful. If he himself leads his men to hide in the Dao Fan border area, An Tong wants to directly lead a large army to surround and annihilate them, but there are many more concerns and inconveniences.

  Moreover, there is another point about Wu Rui's attitude towards the bandits. At first, he also led troops to suppress the bandits, but later he found that many of the bandits were ordinary people who had no way to make a living. Therefore, he switched to recruiting and pacifying them, and countless people came to surrender. From this point of view, within the borders of Fan Prefecture, Wu Rui should not be too harsh on himself. This was his original intention, but the arrival of Fan Qing changed Yin Xu's mind, and he decided to send another big gift to the Qin army.

  "Master Yin, the boat is ready!" A moment later, Fan Qing came to report that a somewhat dilapidated large sailboat had stopped not far away. It was exactly what Fan Qing had rented at a high price before, but it could carry passengers and hold two or three hundred people.

  "Everyone get on board!" Yin Xu nodded.

  In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thieves boarded the big ship, set sail, and sailed north with the gentle south wind. Standing on the bow, looking at a place where rivers and lakes meet, he was melancholy and sighed: Yuniang, are you okay? I'll think of a way to go back and see you in a few days.

  In front of us, the stream flowing into Penglai Ze is Xiangxi, which flows from the Shennü Temple.

  At the stern, Gao Yi sighed leisurely: "It's rare to see such a big ship in Peng Ze's belt, Fan Zhuang is really capable."

  The boatman on the side heard and smiled: "Guest, you don't know that this boat was once used by the nobles of Chu State to tour the lake. After Chu State perished, the boat was used less and less, and at one time it was even converted into a fishing boat."

  Gao Yi said with a hint of surprise: "So that's how it is. Although the boat looks old and worn out, it's surprisingly clean everywhere, without any signs of fishing."

  The boatman smiled and said, "It was last autumn when a wealthy old master wanted to take our boat north because he had many people with him and there were no other large boats nearby. Because the old master loved cleanliness, he had someone thoroughly clean the cabin before boarding, which made us work very hard but earn less reward money. After returning, this boat has been left unused until today when you all boarded."

  "Is it?" Gao Yi smiled and said: "This rich old master's move is quite big, but it just happens to let us catch up."

  "Hey! You don't say!" said the boatman, "That old gentleman is wealthy and generous. Judging from his appearance, he's not an ordinary person either, with dozens of people in his entourage all carrying weapons."

  "Arms?" Gao Yi's interest was piqued.

  "Yes! Those people all carried swords and were almost always by the old man's side. Oh, right! Later on, they even brought a young girl, at first I thought she was the master's daughter, but later I heard that she was just an ordinary woman who had been rescued from drowning in the Xiangxi River by the old man. However, that girl really did look lovely and elegant..."

  "Hehe, what happened next?"

  "What happened later? That old man got off at Lake Mouth, and we returned, never seeing him again."

  ……

  Everything went smoothly, and before half a day had passed, they returned to the north of Fan County, behind the Qin army. At a deserted lake shore, the big boat dropped anchor and stopped, and Yin Xu and the others disembarked together.

  At this time, it was already near dusk, the sunset shone on the lake surface, sparkling and magnificent. However, Yin Xu had no heart to appreciate the view, as soon as he landed, he immediately gathered everyone together and arranged: "Pu Jun, you take a few brothers to scout out the location of the Qin army's camp, try to figure out the number of soldiers left behind."

  "Good!" Pu Jun led a few agile thieves and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

  Yin Xudao said, "I'm sure everyone understands that we've been circling around for so long, not for anything else, but to stab a sword in the back of the officials. Now most of the officials have been led to the southern barbarian village, but they still have barracks and grain here, and there won't be many people left to guard them. Do you think this is a good opportunity?"

  "Yes!"

  "That's right!"

  "What a great opportunity! Burn their grain depot!"

  "Fight your way past them, kill them all."

  With the victories of the past few times, the thieves were fearless and enthusiastic. Seeing the crowd's emotions running high, Yin Xu raised his hand to stop them and said: "Alright, let's rest well here for now, and when Pu Jun comes back, we'll discuss it further."

  "Good!"

  However, when they heard that they were going to raid the Qin army's camp, the bandits were shocked and had no intention of sleeping.

  It was not long after nightfall that Pu Jun returned stealthily, bringing exhilarating news. The Qin army's camp was just ahead by a dozen or so li, with only three hundred men left to guard it.

  Upon hearing this news, Yin Xu couldn't help but smile, looking up at the sky. The bright moon had unknowingly hidden behind the clouds, and tonight's stars were exceptionally dim. He couldn't help but think: A dark moon and strong winds on a night, just right for stealing into camp and raiding the barracks.

  P.S. Some historical events in the article, such as Li Si's death and Wu Rui being appointed as King of Fan, have been adjusted for narrative purposes. Please forgive any inaccuracies!