Southern Ming Rebel Army

In Jiangning City, Yuhuchun Teahouse.

In the secret room, Liu Guquan and Lu Ping sat opposite each other. Liu Guquan frowned. How could it be possible? How could it be leaked out of nowhere?

After a long silence, Liu Guquan finally spoke: "Is there anything unusual about your tea shop? Are there any strange people?"

Lu Ping thought about it carefully, and finally shook his head and said, "No, everything is normal. Mao Xiang doesn't come here very often, and he always takes something away. Some old customers come here more often than he does."

"We still need to be prepared. If things don't go well, we must retreat quickly. Send someone to rent a house opposite Mao's house to monitor it day and night," Liu Guquan said in a deep voice.

Lu Ping hesitated when he heard this and said, "Sir, what about Mao Xiang? He said he was supervising the execution of Huang Daozhou and wanted us to rescue him."

"Why save him? He is already under suspicion, how can we save him? Besides, this is Jiangning City, and there are so many Qing troops guarding it tightly. Do you want me to jailbreak him? Do you have three heads and six arms, or do I have the courage to defeat ten thousand men?" Liu Guquan rolled his eyes and said to him.

Seeing that Lu Ping was silent, Liu Guquan said, "Okay, go back."

"Sir, what about me?" Lu Ping asked nervously.

"You continue to open the store, why, do you still want to run away?"

"No, no, sir, I'm just asking casually." Lu Ping said embarrassedly.

After Lu Ping left, Liu Guquan wrote a secret letter on the table, then called a subordinate and whispered a few words to him, who nodded in response from time to time.

Soon, a beggar appeared on the street. This beggar didn't look very old, about 16 or 17 years old, wearing tattered clothes. He walked to the doors of houses from time to time, knocked gently, and said in a low and hoarse voice: "Please be kind... Can you give me some money..."

But most of the time, he was met with cold doors and ruthless rejections. Some people gave him a few coins out of pity, but the little beggar did not give up. He continued to knock on doors from house to house until he knocked on the door of Mao's house.

Dong Xiaowan opened the door and saw a little beggar asking for alms pitifully. She couldn't bear it, so she said, "Wait a moment," then closed the door, went back to the house to get ten cents, walked quickly to the door, opened it, and handed the money to the beggar.

Seeing this, the beggar knelt down and said, "Madam, you are kind-hearted. You will surely have monkeys for generations to come."

Dong Xiaowan hurriedly helped the beggar up and said, "No need to kneel, no need to kneel."

At the moment Dong Xiaowan helped the beggar up, the beggar quickly handed something into her hand. Dong Xiaowan saw that the beggar's eyes were bright, and her heart moved, but her face remained expressionless. The beggar then bowed to Dong Xiaowan to thank her, and then left the Mao family's door.

When Dong Xiaowan closed the door, he saw a figure not far away. He touched his chin and said softly, "She is quite kind-hearted."

Dong Xiaowan returned to the house, and Mao Xiangyou asked casually: "Who is it?"

Dong Xiaowan did not reply, but quickly checked what the beggar handed her and found it was a small bamboo tube, which she hurriedly handed to Mao Xiang.

Mao Xiang was stunned when he saw this and asked, "What is this and where did it come from?"

"It was given to me by a beggar."

Mao Xiang took it, twisted it and opened it, only to see a secret letter inside: "Mr. Mao, we are powerless to rescue Mr. Shi Zhai. Besides, since you said that Hong is suspicious, we must not act rashly. We must not violate the order of supervising the execution. There is no need to contact us during these days. If there is an emergency, you can put a red flower in the lantern on the eaves, and someone will contact us! Mr. Mao, be careful, do not take secrets lightly, and burn them after reading!"

Mao Xiang read it again, then threw the note into the fire. Seeing that it had turned into ashes, he slumped down in his chair and said with a wry smile, "Tomorrow I will kill Mr. Shi Zhai. I will be embezzling the name of the Fourth Young Master of Pijiang, which is infamous."

…………

Several Meng army scouts galloped past like the wind, their horses' hooves raising clouds of dust, their whips waving from time to time, their war horses neighing, as if they also felt their master's urgency, quickening their pace, and the woods quickly retreated behind them.

The scout hurried to Lin Shiqi and said in a hurry: "Reporting to the commander, the Qing army has withdrawn from Changzhou."

"Do you know when the Qing army will withdraw and in which direction?" Lin Shiqi asked in a deep voice.

"Let's go back to Tongzhen. Judging from the freshness of the horse manure on the road and the traces of wheel tracks, they must have just evacuated this morning. Judging from the route they took, they should be heading towards Zhenjiang."

Lin Shiqi frowned upon hearing this and was calculating quickly in his mind. At this time, the army was still one day's journey away from Changzhou according to the normal journey. If they wanted to catch up with Ma Deyang's troops, they would have to march quickly relying only on the infantry. By the time they caught up, the Qing army might have already arrived in Zhenjiang. Unfortunately, the cavalry brigade was still following the main force, and only the scout battalion was with the army.

Thinking of this, Lin Shiqi shook his head and said, "Army, let's reach Changzhou City first."

Just as Lin Shiqi was marching towards Changzhou City, the army led by Meng Jun had already arrived at the city of Wuxi. The army did not stop but just went around the city. After Lin Shiqi occupied Wuxi City, he only left a team of 300 soldiers and a captain to garrison. Lin Shiqi ignored the ugly look of the former county magistrate Feng Xidong and insisted on taking him with him and moving with the army.

Meng Jun was galloping up a small slope, he stopped his horse and looked at the army. He saw that the Meng army was surging forward like a torrent, with flags flying and majestic momentum. The densely packed soldiers were holding all kinds of weapons, shining with cold light.

Seeing this, Meng Jun said proudly: "The world's ups and downs are created by our generation, and we can achieve our imperial ambitions and hegemony with ease!"

Xia Wanchun beside him praised: "The governor has great literary talent." Meng Jun smiled awkwardly when he heard this, but did not reply.

Behind the infantry, the auxiliary soldiers were struggling to transport the cannons. Each cannon was placed on a sturdy wooden cart and pulled by several horses. Some of the auxiliary soldiers were pushing the cart from behind, while others were pulling the cart from the front. The wheels made a creaking sound, which was intertwined with the auxiliary soldiers' panting.

Tens of thousands of troops marched forward in a mighty manner, their steps were in unison, and wherever they went, the people would look sideways, either with curiosity or with some panic, at the passing army.

An old man shook his head and sighed: "There is no day without war, when will the world be at peace?"

As more and more Meng army scouts arrived at the city of Changzhou, there were no soldiers stationed in Changzhou County. However, there were a few yamen runners maintaining order. If the Qing army had not withdrawn too quickly, given the nature of these Green Camp soldiers, they would have certainly looted. It was also a blessing for the people of Changzhou Prefecture that they were safe and sound without any casualties.

By the time Lin Shiqi led the Ningwu Town infantry to Changzhou, the city gate had already been opened. Meng's army captured Changzhou without firing a single arrow or losing a single person.