“What are your thoughts?” Lu Yunxi asked Xie Zhiyuan.
“That man said his surname is Huo. The imperial family of Li Kingdom bears the surname Huo. Judging by his speech and actions, he is undoubtedly a member of Li Kingdom’s royal family. Li Kingdom lies to the north of our dynasty. Now that the Jin Dynasty has fallen, the northern regions remain unconquered. If Li Kingdom intends to mobilize troops, this is the best opportunity.”
“Also, that man captured Deng Hu. Li Kingdom’s ironware has always been inferior to ours,” Xie Zhiyuan added.
“Oh?” Lu Yunxi hadn’t expected Xie Zhiyuan to almost deduce Huo Jinye’s identity based on such minor details. “What should we do then?”
“We have eighty-three guards, all battle-hardened, but the opposing guards are also elite and formidable. We have no guarantee of victory. Moreover, my mission is to escort you safely to Jingdu,” Xie Zhiyuan replied.
He was not wrong, but he was unaware of Huo Jinye’s identity and significance. Letting him go would be like releasing a tiger back to the mountains, inviting imminent bloodshed. If Lu Yunxi didn’t know, it would be one thing, but knowing, she couldn’t simply stand by.
Whether successful or not, she had to try. “What if I insist on capturing that man?” Yes, capturing Huo Jinye, not killing him.
She desperately wanted to kill Huo Jinye immediately, but she couldn’t. Huo Jinye was the Fourth Prince of Li Kingdom, with substantial support in court. If he were truly killed, Li Kingdom would grow suspicious when he failed to return, assuming he had met with disaster. Then, their army would march south, leading to the same outcome.
Hmm, perhaps they would become even more frenzied than in the book, driven by rage.
Only by capturing Huo Jinye and sending word to Li Kingdom, using his life as leverage, could they buy some time. And time was precisely what they needed most—waiting for their own army to pacify the north, after which everything would be manageable.
Xie Zhiyuan was almost amused by her audacity. “Capture that man?” Did she think this was child’s play? Something to be done on a whim? The other side had over a hundred elite guards. If they aimed to kill him, their side might stand a chance through desperate combat. But capturing someone was far more difficult than killing.
He had initially thought Lu Yunxi was somewhat different, but now it seemed she was merely a dreamer! If someone like her were to join the military, who knew how many innocent soldiers would perish because of her?
“The city gates of Lincheng are heavily guarded, yet that man managed to enter with over a hundred guards, strutting openly through the streets. Do you know what that signifies?” Xie Zhiyuan’s tone sharpened, his eyes as piercing as blades—this was the General Xie who commanded awe across three armies.
Lu Yunxi hadn’t noticed this detail, but hearing him say it, she understood. “It means the prefect of Lincheng has likely defected to Li Kingdom. We cannot act within the city,” she said.
This time, Xie Zhiyuan truly laughed. She still wanted to take action.
“That man appearing here at this time surely has a scheme, and a major one at that,” Lu Yunxi said.
Xie Zhiyuan was well aware of this, but capturing him wasn’t the only solution. “I have already sent word to the Northern Expedition Army. This matter is not for us to handle,” he said coldly.
His response was correct, but he didn’t know Huo Jinye’s identity and importance. This touched upon Lu Yunxi’s greatest secret, something she couldn’t explain. So, she simply didn’t. Instead, she declared, “I insist on capturing that man.”
Xie Zhiyuan’s deep, pool-like eyes fixed on Lu Yunxi. He would not indulge her recklessness.
“If I have a way to reduce their combat strength by half?” Lu Yunxi met his gaze, speaking firmly.
“Poisoning is not feasible. If we want to set an ambush, the Red Maple Valley to the north is the best choice. But Red Maple Valley is less than eighty li from Lincheng, and the road is heavily traveled—it’s impossible to ambush there. If we force an ambush and the fighting drags on, Lincheng will surely send reinforcements.” By then, they would be the ones to die.
Xie Zhiyuan had considered everything; it truly seemed there was no viable plan.
But as an engineering-minded woman, Lu Yunxi always believed that science and technology were the primary productive forces!
Through this matter, however, she realized that Xie Zhiyuan indeed had real ability. With his help, her plan should work.
“I need to go to the market again,” she said.
Xie Zhiyuan didn’t understand why she would go to the market at this time. Was she giving up?
In the late afternoon, Lu Yunxi and the others, delayed for a long time, had just exited the city gate when a large crowd of refugees came running from the distance, shouting as they ran, “Bandit army, bandit army, hurry!”
Cries of “Save us!” “Wait for me!” “Run quickly!” echoed incessantly.
Seeing this, the city guards hurriedly closed the gates.
Soon, the gates were shut, and figures moved atop the city walls, with many soldiers holding bows and arrows, standing ready.
“That was close!” Lu Yunxiao exclaimed. A moment later, and they wouldn’t have been able to leave the city. In these tense times, once the gates closed, no one knew when they would reopen, and who knew how many complications would arise.
“Bandit army—is it our troops?” Lu Yunchuan gazed into the distance, excited.
“Impossible. By the timeline, our troops have only just reached Wucheng. It must be deserters from the front lines or bandits trying to take advantage of the chaos to loot,” Lu Yunting said, his face full of concern. These people were beyond the law and the most dangerous, often committing arson, murder, and plunder without restraint.
Ordinary civilians feared encountering them the most. This was also why his father had sent Xie Zhiyuan and the others urgently to fetch them.
Hearing this, Lu Yunchuan felt somewhat disappointed.
“Let’s go quickly. Avoid the main road and take the side paths,” Lu Yunting said.
Everyone set off immediately and soon met Lu Popo and the others waiting in a forest about ten li away.
After explaining the situation in Lincheng, they too grew worried.
“This place isn’t safe. I think we shouldn’t rest tonight but travel through the night. What do you say?” Lu Yunxi suggested.
Lu Popo and the others naturally had no objections, especially since they now had three carriages. Sitting in the carriages, they could sleep a little when tired, so it wouldn’t be too hard.
Once decided, everyone set off without delay.
Night spread, and the carriages swayed. The Lu family in the carriages grew drowsy, unaware that Xie Zhiyuan had quietly led a team of guards away from the group, heading toward Lincheng.
Red Maple Valley, as the name suggested, was a valley covered with maple trees. In autumn, when the cool breeze blew, the ground would be carpeted with red maple leaves, a breathtaking sight.
Now, in late spring, there was no such beautiful scenery. The maple trees on the mountains stood layered, dark as ink in the night.
At this moment, Xie Zhiyuan and his men lay in ambush here.
“Uncle, who are we ambushing? I heard Lincheng’s gates are closed. It’s so late—will anyone leave the city?” Xie Heng, unaware of the details, whispered to Xie Zhiyuan.
“Someone will come out,” Xie Zhiyuan said. Huo Jinye and his group had originally planned to leave Lincheng tomorrow. With the city gates closed, they would surely hurry back to the Li Kingdom for safety. Indeed, the refugees this afternoon had been arranged by him.
Still, he didn’t say who they were ambushing. His uncle was just like that, never telling him anything. Xie Heng pursed his lips and asked, “What are we doing with those jars? They look strange.”
“Shh!” Xie Zhiyuan signaled for him to be quiet—someone was coming.
Xie Heng fell silent. Sure enough, hoofbeats sounded in the distance, coming from the direction of Lincheng toward them.
Not far away, Huo Jinye rode on horseback, his expression dark. Why? After maneuvering in court for so long, he had finally convinced his father to agree to his marriage alliance with the Jin Kingdom. Who would have thought rebel forces would capture Jingdu overnight, causing the Jin Kingdom to fall in a single night?
Of course, he didn’t care whether the Jin Kingdom perished, but that person… Thinking of that person’s plight made him want to kill.
That so-called Xiao Wang—sooner or later, he would kill him!
Behind him followed over a hundred guards, each armed with weapons. These were all elite soldiers of the Li Dynasty, every one of them capable of taking on ten in battle. As long as they didn’t encounter a large army, he was safe.
Behind the guards were three large prison carts, holding over a dozen men, all sturdy and robust. But now, they looked dazed and utterly hopeless. Upon closer inspection, one of them was Deng Hu.
He sat in a corner, fists clenched tightly. His parents, his wife and children… Those Li Kingdom dogs—he was sworn to eternal enmity with them.
By now, the group had entered Red Maple Valley. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like movement from the mountains.
They looked carefully toward the hills and saw flickering lights falling from above.
“Enemy attack!” “It’s an ambush!” someone shouted.
These guards were battle-hardened veterans; they didn’t panic when ambushed, knowing that panic only hastened death.
They quickly gathered toward the center, forming a defensive formation.
Just then, the lights descended. By the moonlight and the flickering flames, they finally saw what they were—seemingly wine jars, with flames flickering at their mouths.
The wine jars fell like raindrops. Some tried to slash at them with their swords, others tried to dodge.
At that moment, with a series of loud “booms,” the jars exploded one after another.
Indeed, these were the Molotov cocktails made by Lu Yunxi, modeled after the Dutch “Molotov cocktails.” During World War II, the Dutch used these incendiary devices to destroy over eighty Soviet tanks, a testament to their power.
These incendiary devices were also easy to make: simply fill bottles with flammable and explosive liquids like gasoline, alcohol, or various mixed flammable fluids, stuff a cloth strip into the bottle’s mouth, soak the cloth in the liquid, light it, and throw the bottle at the enemy.
That morning, Lu Yunxi had gone to the market intending to buy materials for gunpowder, but upon further thought, she realized it wouldn’t work. She knew the formula for gunpowder, but producing it wasn’t something that could be accomplished quickly. Moreover, a major reason gunpowder hadn’t developed in ancient China historically was the difficulty in obtaining saltpeter.
China lacked abundant saltpeter deposits. It relied on scraping saltpeter soil and purifying it with plant ash water.
What was saltpeter soil? Natural saltpeter soil mainly consisted of white crystalline soil produced by the decay of organic matter like human and animal waste—places like old latrines, pigsties, and bird droppings. Scraping saltpeter meant scraping these substances.
This shows that saltpeter truly isn’t something you can obtain in any quantity you desire.
Although this book is set in a fictional world, most common knowledge and historical circumstances align with ancient China, so Lu Yunxi had no choice but to give up.
However, after wandering around the market for a while, she discovered something else. Perhaps due to the chaos of war, many items that were previously unavailable in the market were now being quietly sold, and she was fortunate enough to purchase some kerosene and strong liquor, which she used to make these Molotov cocktails.
As the bottles exploded, many people were instantly blown away—some lost an arm, others half their face… a truly gruesome sight. But that wasn’t all. After the bottles exploded, the kerosene and strong liquor splashed onto people, immediately igniting into flames.
Amidst the vast blaze, explosions and agonized screams echoed incessantly.
Xie Heng, watching from the mountain, was utterly stunned. Pointing downhill, he stammered, “Uncle…” unable to believe that such a bottle could possess such destructive power.
Xie Zhiyuan also narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the scene below. Having spent years in the military, he had encountered kerosene during sieges, but it was far less powerful and convenient than these bottles.
Lu Yunxi truly hadn’t lied to him!
Author’s Note: