Part 3, Chapter 16

Ch 16 

The army left in three days, after waiting for the final caravan of supplies to arrive. Xun, Renping, a maid that had been pressed into service, and the still recovering Jiangou rode in a carriage while Jianyu and the two generals he had borrowed from the God of War led the troops. They were four days out from the Palace when the message arrived.

Jianyu turned to his generals. “Halt the troops. Tell them to set camp here.”

That afternoon Jianyu met with his confidantes. “The King of the Merpeople have the city hostage. If we lay siege to the city they will race to see how many of its citizens they can massacre before we take the gates.”

“B******s,” Xun muttered. Renping looked murderous and the generals looked sickened. Only Jiangou seemed more resigned than disgusted.

“We need to get into the city,” Jianyu said. “We need to know the situation before we attempt to move farther. We can attempt to hide in merchant wagons or swim in through the canal, although that could be tricky.”

“Or we could just walk in, Leng Zai,” Xun said, reaching into the purse at her waist she withdrew two tokens from her cousin’s mark on them. “My cousins send out messengers and scouts all the time, there’s no reason we can’t just be two more.”

“When we’re you going to tell me about this?”

“Never?” Xun replied cheekily. 

“We infiltrate the city tomorrow,” Jianyu said. “Renping, mind Jiangou. Make sure he doesn’t get any ideas after I’m gone. General Shen, you are in charge while I am gone. General Ling, keep up regular scouting patrols and watch for the Red Desert Tribe. It’s unlikely that they will attack this far from their homeland, but they have been acting oddly for some time now.” He looked pointedly at his brother.

Jiangou wouldn’t meet his eyes.