Chapter 48: Successful Escape

  The arriving party was Fan Yu and his entourage.

  Yesterday, Fan Yi led the merchant group to rush towards Qingyang. From sunrise to sunset, they marched a hundred miles. This is also because of the flat roads in Qin State; otherwise, the entire team would have only advanced more than sixty miles.

  On the second day, when Fan Yi's convoy arrived at the junction of Qi County and Bin City. Fan Yi finally saw the envoy of Yiqiu. However, the news of the death of King Yiqiu had not been transmitted yet, and Fan Yi could not rashly alert Yiqiu Hong and his party. Therefore, he chose to continue advancing.

  After learning of the death of King Yiqu, the most likely thing is to send troops to pursue and kill Yiqu Hong. Then, taking advantage of Yiqu's complete lack of preparedness, he would eliminate this thorn in his side once and for all.

  It's too noisy during the day, and the people of Yiqu are all skilled in archery, so the Qin people may choose to launch a surprise attack at night. But with their own scouts reporting back, Fan Yu believed that Hong would be prepared for a sneak attack by the Qin people. Even if they chose to launch a full-scale assault, he could take advantage of the situation to provide support.

  Fortunately, the Qin people finally chose to launch a night raid. Under the cover of darkness, Fan Ju sent men to block the rear troops of the Qin state on the road, leading the main force of the Qin army onto a side path and covering the retreat of Yi Qu Hong.

  The poor vanguard of the Qin army, that team of over 200 people, still thought that the reinforcements were not far behind them, but they didn't know that the reinforcements had long since drifted away from them.

  The sky brightened, and the Qin army finally eliminated the last remnant of the Han army. It was only then that the Qin realized they had fallen into the "Tiger Leaving the Mountain" strategy, and the real Yique Hong was probably already on his way to Qingyang.

  "Pursue! Don't spare the horses, chase them in the direction of Bin City!" Wang Ling ordered urgently. The more than 4,000 Qin cavalry immediately stirred up a dust storm and galloped northwest.

  Yi Qu Hong finally slowly came to, not long ago he had fainted from exhaustion. In the moment he fainted, he vaguely remembered a group of people in black appearing before his eyes.

  "Right! Qin Jun! Weren't you being chased to death? Where did Qin Jun go?" As soon as he thought of this question, Yi Qu Hong's head started hurting again.

  "Old man, you're awake! Don't move, you're injured." A knight hastily said, looking at Yiqiu Hong who was still trying to get up.

  Yi Qu Hong only then discovered himself on a galloping horse, with a knight behind him embracing him to prevent him from falling off the horse.

  "Where am I? Who are you?" Yi Qu Hong covered his head and asked weakly.

  "The old man was just being pursued by the Qin army, it was our young master who ordered us to drive them away. We are merchants from Korea, this time we came to Yizhou to purchase fur and sell some brocade. At horse speed, we should still be thirty miles away from Bin City."

  "Thirty miles? Another thirty miles and we'll be in Yiqiu's territory." Yiqiu Hong let out a slight sigh of relief.

  "Where is the young master of your house? I am Yi Qu's Prime Minister, the benefactor who saved all of your lives. You will never be forgotten in my heart. From now on, you are all the most honored guests of Yi Qu, and we will purchase all of your goods."

  The guard was taken aback and hastily replied, "I didn't know your identity was so noble, I've been too presumptuous. My young master must have arrived in Bin City by now. You may not be aware, but my young master is a member of the Korean nobility. He has always hated Qin State the most. If it weren't for the fact that the ones chasing you are from Qin, my young master might not even bother to rescue you! However, I heard my young master say that Yiqu is on good terms with Qin State? How dare they send troops to chase you? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

  Yi Qu's face turned cold, but he didn't explain further. He just said, "From now on, the Qin state is my sworn enemy, and I will not rest until one of us dies."

  Just as he finished speaking, a guard suddenly shouted: "The Qin troops are coming!"

  When everyone turned around, they found that a rolling dust had emerged behind them. This was the sound of a large number of cavalry charging forward.

  "Quickly get me a horse, we two can't ride one horse fast, it won't take long before we are caught up." Yi Qu Hong said hastily.

  "Chancellor, you're injured, are you alright?" The guard asked with concern.

  "It's nothing, just thirty miles, I'm still not so useless."

  The guard nodded in response, immediately slowed down the horse's speed and jumped onto another warhorse. Without the drag, Yi Quhong and his party finally picked up their pace and did not let the Qin army approach again.

  Bin Cheng, a righteous and upright man, gazed at the gold in front of him, subconsciously swallowing his saliva, but still said sternly: "Young master, you're putting me in a difficult position! Our Yiqu is an ally of Qin State. When did Qin State ever produce a gang of over a thousand thieves? And they even kidnapped your personal guards! In my opinion, it's clear that you've offended the Qin army. For this hundred gold, I'm taking the risk of offending Qin State!"

  Fan Yi said respectfully: "General, those must be bandits from Qin State, wearing only the clothes of the Qin army. If they were not numerous and powerful, my guards would have struck them down long ago. Alas, my loyal guards were trapped in the den of thieves to protect me. If the commander is willing to send troops to rescue my guards, I will give him ten beautiful women and ten pieces of brocade, apart from this."

  "You people from the Central Plains are indeed generous, especially towards us Yiqu people." The Yiqu commander guaranteed with a solemn oath. Fool! Brocade is hard to come by! And there's also a beautiful woman from the Central Plains seeing him off! Although it's unclear why this young master values his personal guard so much, not taking advantage of a good opportunity would be foolish. The Yiqu commander immediately led 3,000 troops out of the city to provide reinforcements.

  Looking at the triumphant departing campus guard, Fan Yi revealed a barely perceptible cold smile and thought to himself: "You'll soon find out that my gift isn't so easily accepted!"

  Just as Yiqiu Hong and his company were being gradually caught up by the Qin army, becoming increasingly desperate, a cavalry unit suddenly burst out of Bin City. Judging from their flags and attire, they were undoubtedly the Yiqiu Wolf Riders. Yiqiu Hong was overjoyed.

  "Chancellor?! How are you here?! What's going on?!" General Yi Qu was shocked and lost his composure. Weren't they supposed to be escorting the merchant caravan out of the city to rescue the Han Kingdom? Why were they now rescuing the esteemed Chancellor instead?

  Yi Qu Hong finally put his mind at ease, pointing to the Qin army behind him and saying urgently: "They killed all the envoys, where are the others in your hands? Bring them all up, I want to avenge the dead Yi Qu heroes!"

  "Yes! Chancellor!" Yi Qu Xiao Wei hastily replied.

  Are the Qin people crazy?! How dare they harm our Yiqu envoy! The Yiqu commander was furious, pointing at a senior officer and ordering: "Protect the Prime Minister into the city immediately. Hurry to inform Deputy General Lu to lead the remaining 7,000 troops to support me right away."

  Three thousand Yiqiu wolf riders let out a loud, eerie howl and charged towards the Qin army. The Qin army, who had been marching for a long time, were suddenly torn open in an instant.

  The Qin army was not expecting that the small city of Bin, with only 2,000 soldiers, would suddenly produce 3,000 Xiongnu cavalry. The battle erupted fiercely and suddenly, but even at this point, Wang Ling still believed it was possible to kill the Xiongnu general Hong.

  As long as the three thousand Yiqiu wolf riders in front of him are killed, and the Bian city is broken through to capture Yiqiu Hong, he still has a chance to redeem himself. Therefore, he divided his troops without hesitation, with one thousand cavalrymen bypassing the main camp to continue pursuing Yiqiu Hong.

  The horn of the Wu army sounded, and the next scene thoroughly shattered the last vitality of Wang Ling's great army. The 7,000-strong army poured out of the small city of Bin like a giant wave crashing into the Qin army.

  The outcome of the battle was never in doubt. With a strong desire for revenge, the 10,000-strong wolf cavalry waited for the exhausted Qin army of 4,000 soldiers to attack. Although the Qin army was excellent, they were outnumbered and outmatched, and the battle quickly became one-sided. Moreover, the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, Wang Ling, knew that he had committed a grave crime and had a death wish, so two hours later, the entire Qin army was annihilated.

  (I just returned from a business trip, so I'll update once today and twice tomorrow!)