The Child Emperor - Chapter 125: The Attackers

This was an army that was not actually an army; when chaos erupted, it truly became disorganized.

Jin Chunzhong and Qingting had already awakened some people. Still, when the shouts of killing outside the camp began, these militiamen were not well-prepared. Those who had been startled awake from their dreams were in a state of panic. Some ran in all directions, others lay motionless on straw mats, and even some sat down, wailing loudly.

Only a few thought of picking up their weapons.

Jin Chuiduo changed from walking with large strides to running with quick, small steps. She shouted at every person she encountered, “Follow me! Grab torches! Fool, take your blades!”

The effectiveness of her bow and arrows in her hands surpassed her spoken words. No one noticed that she only had one arrow left; they only remembered that the “Empress” had once killed eight bandits in a row, and her arrows never missed.

“Follow the Empress!”

Soon, a long string of volunteers caught up behind Jin Chuiduo. She turned angrily, causing those people to tilt backward in fear. Afterward, they called her “Empress” even more excitedly.

Jin Chuiduo had no choice but to ignore them and continue running forward. She collided with her elder brother Jin Chunbao, Zhang Yanghao, and others. Immediately, she drew her bow and shouted sternly, “Kneel down!”

Jin Chunbao was already dizzy, thinking that the attackers outside were reinforcements secretly sent by the Weary Marquis. Feeling extremely guilty, as soon as he heard Jin Chuiduo’s command and saw the bow and arrows in her hands, he didn’t hesitate. All five of them knelt down simultaneously. Yan Dong, who had killed Chao Yongsi before, knelt down even faster than the others.

“Tie them up,” Jin Chuiduo commanded, continuing to run forward. Soon, some volunteers came forward to use hemp ropes to bind the five individuals.

A number of cavalrymen rushed in from outside the camp’s main gate, tossing torches everywhere. Jin Chuiduo aimed at the nearest one and shot an arrow, hitting accurately. The horse ran off with its rider still in tow. Jin Chuiduo habitually reached for another arrow in her quiver, only to find it empty. It was then that she remembered she had only one arrow left.

“Miss!” Qingting, who had somehow caught up, handed over a bundle of arrows—four or five in total, all obtained from the volunteers.

Jin Chuiduo took them and placed one arrow on her bow, holding the others between her fingers. She aimed at a cavalryman and shot another arrow, immediately loading the third arrow.

The one hit by the arrow fell off his horse.

Jin Chuiduo’s strength was somewhat weaker, and she couldn’t shoot very far, especially at night. She could only target those within about ten paces.

Qingting cheered and ran over to pull out the arrow. The man was not dead, but pulling the arrow out hurt more than being shot. He screamed in pain, rolling on the ground. Militiamen who arrived later restrained him.

Jin Chuiduo only fired two arrows, but the impact was significant. Originally tailing at a distance of about ten paces, a large group of militiamen now closed in. They had dared to join the rebel army, showing courage, but they lacked training, and so were easily panicked when faced with a crisis. Once they had a rallying point, their courage quickly recovered. Wielding knives and spears, they charged towards the cavalry intruding into the camp.

This was a typical ambush. In reality, there weren’t many intruders. As soon as things went wrong and it seemed like the people in the camp were prepared, the intruders turned and fled.

As the sun rose, the battle ended, but the chaos continued for a long time. No one knew what to do.

Jin Chuiduo ran back in astonishment. She found her second brother Jin Chunzhong also tied up, kneeling next to her elder brother. She angrily exclaimed, “Who tied up my second brother?”

Several volunteers chuckled and said, “Empress, it was us…”

Jin Chuiduo drew her bowstring taut, “Who let you… release them quickly!”

The militiamen hastily untied them, blaming each other for misunderstanding the Empress’s intentions. It turned out that they were only supposed to tie up the eldest brother, not the second elder brother.

Jin Chuiduo turned around in place, “Where are the others?”

Of the five originally tied up, only Jin Chunbao remained. Zhang Yanghao and the others were nowhere to be seen. The volunteers looked at each other, clueless about what had happened.

Jin Chunbao, in a sorry state, spoke, “There were still a dozen subordinates of Prince Donghai in the camp. They rescued them…”

Jin Chunbao had received no help from them. During the chaos, those people were also members of the rebel army, so they faced no opposition.

Jin Chuiduo stomped her foot in frustration and told her second brother, “Gather everyone together; don’t run around.”

Jin Chunzhong nodded, about to leave, but then extended his hand, “Give me a command arrow.”

Jin Chuiduo handed him an arrow, watching her second brother and a group of militiamen walk away. She approached her elder brother and whispered, “Who killed Chief Clerk Chao?”

Jin Chunbao was startled, “It wasn’t me; it was Yan Dong. I told him not to kill, but he didn’t listen…”

“Why would he listen to you?” Jin Chuiduo couldn’t contain her anger. Still, since it wasn’t her eldest brother who had kill Chief Clerk Chao, she relaxed a bit. “Where did the attackers come from?”

“I don’t know. We originally planned to… kidnap the Weary Marquis. I didn’t expect someone to attack the camp. Could it be reinforcements secretly brought by the Weary Marquis?”

“Definitely not.” Jin Chuiduo felt that everything was inexplicable. Biting her lip, she thought.

Jin Chunbao was extremely fearful, pleading, “Sister, save me…”

“Untie him.” Jin Chuiduo ordered. With no one else around, Qingting obeyed immediately, untying the eldest Jin son.

“Go find Father; we can’t stay here. Let’s leave quickly.”

“Yes, yes, we should leave quickly. But where do we go?” Jin Chunbao was completely at a loss.

“Let’s take it step by step. With what you’ve done, how can the Jin family stay in the camp?”

Jin Chunbao left with a flushed face. Jin Chuiduo, feeling restless, told Qingting, “Fetch those horses and be ready to leave.”

“No matter what the Eldest Young Master has done, Miss, you saved the entire camp. Even if the Emperor doesn’t…”

“Enough talk.” Jin Chuiduo looked up. Her second brother Jin Chunzhong was commanding well, and the militiamen were generally getting organized. They were busy reinforcing defenses, extinguishing flames, and assessing casualties.

While Qingting fetched the horses, Jin Chuiduo sighed lightly, unable to shake off the guilt in her heart.

The eldest brother Jin Chunbao returned alone.

Jin Chuiduo frowned, “Does Father not want to leave?”

Jin Chunbao vigorously shook his head, gasping for breath before saying, “Father… Father is missing. His three wives and concubines were all… killed.”

“What?” Jin Chuiduo was greatly shocked.

Jin Chunbao, in a daze, said, “They were stabbed to death. This was definitely done by Zhang Yanghao and the others. But why?”

Jin Chuiduo reacted faster, “No, they didn’t kill you at that time. Why would they kill them and take Father away? It must be those attackers; they…”

Jin Chuiduo glanced around, running towards a group of militiamen, loudly asking, “Where are the captured prisoners?”

The militiamen shook their heads in confusion. Jin Chuiduo questioned several groups of people until she finally found the captive who had fallen off the horse from her arrow.

The captive, hands and feet bound, lay on the ground groaning, a large patch of blood soaking his shoulder.

Jin Chuiduo raised her bow, sternly asking, “Who sent you to attack the camp? Why did you capture Marquis Guiyi?”

The captive, opening his eyes and seeing the arrowhead close by, was terrified. He had almost lost his breath from panting, but now he spoke quickly, “Mercy, Your Ladyship, we were sent by the Chai family to capture Marquis Guiyi as revenge for Little Marquis Chai’s death.”

Jin Chuiduo was dumbfounded.

The eldest brother Jin Chunbao had been following behind his younger sister all along, unable to imagine that it was because of his family that Prince Donghai’s grand plan was disrupted. Poor Zhang Yanghao and the others thought that the Weary Marquis was prepared, so they fled in panic.

Jin Chunbao had long lost his wits, quietly asking, “What should we do?”

“Come with me to rescue Father.”

“Just the two of us? Shouldn’t we gather more people…”

Jin Chuiduo gave him a stern look, and Jin Chunbao dared not speak further. Currently, no one knew that he had betrayed the rebel army last night. Asking the militiamen for help would only bring a sense of guilt to his heart.

Qingting brought all five horses. Since the camp had not yet returned to normalcy, and being a person by the “Empress’s” side, she faced no opposition.

Jin Chunbao and Qingting arranged the saddles, and Jin Chuiduo instructed someone to call her second brother, Jin Chunzhong. “You stay behind to guard the camp. Eldest brother and I will go to rescue Father…”

“What happened to Father?” Jin Chunzhong still didn’t know what had occurred.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Just you and elder brother? I’ll come too, and we should bring more people…”

“No need.” Jin Chuiduo refused, raising her voice to the nearby militiamen, “Listen to me, all of you!”

Everyone naturally listened to the “Empress’s” words, and many militiamen turned their attention.

“Be careful guarding the camp. Don’t slack off again. Remember the lesson from last night. If you fall asleep, and he falls asleep, in the end, everyone’s lives will be lost!”

The militiamen felt ashamed; they were not yet true soldiers. Even in a perilous situation, it was challenging for them to understand the necessity of staying vigilant. The more people there were, the more lax they became.

Jin Chuiduo mounted her horse, pointing at the injured captive, “Help this person onto a horse.”

“I can’t ride a horse right now…”

No one cared about the captive’s feelings. The militiamen clumsily pushed him onto the horse.

“Anyone with command arrows, hand them over.” Jin Chuiduo ordered. Immediately, someone stepped forward, handing the command arrows he had received the previous night to Jin Chunzhong, who then passed them to the “Empress”.

Jin Chuiduo kept three arrows for her second brother and held onto ten. Without saying more, she spurred her horse towards the camp’s main gate. She didn’t need to sneak away; no one stopped her. Jin Chunbao and Qingting followed, leading the groaning captive, with one horse left behind.

Jin Chunzhong watched his sister’s figure, feeling a bit confused. However, there was too much happening in the camp for him to dwell on it. He continued to give orders and tidy up the aftermath.

The hundred or so government troops who were captured the day before had a chance to escape, but they were too terrified and hadn’t dared to move. Now, with the reinforced defenses by the militiamen, they became even more obedient.

The body of Chao Yongsi was discovered, and everyone thought he was killed by the attackers during the chaos. No one suspected him to have died before the attack on the camp, and that his death was connected with the eldest son of the Jin family.

After the camp stabilized, Jin Chunzhong’s unease reached its peak. His sister had a bad temper and sometimes acted without considering the consequences. Relying on those few people, how could they possibly rescue their kidnapped father? But besides sending people out to gather information, there was nothing he could do.

The camp had no boats, making it impossible to inform the Weary Marquis. The rebel army could only wait.

Shortly after noon that day, the fleet from the north returned, carrying a group of people with their own concerns.

The militiamen following the Weary Marquis were bewildered, and the newly joined pugilists were half in doubt. The fate seer Lin Kunshan felt more and more that something was wrong. Although he was an expert in deception, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of being deceived.

Han Ruzi was thinking about how to solve the problems that had arrived one after another. The army’s food was about to run out, so how could they reach the Northern Frontier?

Prince Donghai remained silent, eagerly anticipating that once he returned to the camp, he could use Zhang Yanghao, Marquis Guiyi, and others to reverse the situation.

The situation had indeed reversed, but they were all unaware of it.

If you are reading this on an aggregator site, do consider visiting https://tuzhitranslations.wordpress.com/ to support this translation project by leaving a comment.

← CH 124