The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 943 - 211: Cannot Be Accommodated by the World

Chapter 943: Chapter 211: Cannot Be Accommodated by the World

Mo Heng rushed over as soon as he saw the smoke rising from her bottom, grabbed her, and knocked off the iron slag that had stuck to the hem of her clothes. "How can you be so careless! Have you been burned?" He lamented not watching her for a moment, during which she took no care for eating, sleeping, or her own body.

"It’s just a small burn, no big deal." The iron smelting furnace broke again, who knew that a drop of molten iron would splatter onto the back of her skirt, and when she raised her hand, it adhered to her flesh.

Mo Heng almost wanted to pinch her, feeling both distressed and grinding his teeth.

The people around them, like General An Dou He and others looked at the two with subtle expressions, especially at Mo Heng. This... It seemed like he had a different kind of care for Pei Hansan, one that looked almost tender. Pushing aside the strangeness in their hearts, they too expressed concern for Pei Qin, "Did the molten iron stick to your body!? That stuff can melt flesh, are you okay?"

"I’m fine, I’m fine!" Pei Qin laughed.

General An also showed care and explained to the Hu Qi, "The iron smelting furnace is useless, it has broken before, and when the molten iron sticks to something, it catches fire."

Pei Qin had already burned down two sheds and a wooden house.

The fire was extinguished, fortunately, without significant damage to anything else, but the entire batch of iron in the furnace had to be smelted again.

Having seen Pei Qin in person, they found her quite different from the savior who they had imagined could rescue the common people from disaster. Instead, they felt she was more approachable when she spoke.

Having witnessed the power of the cannon barrage and hand grenades, the Hu Qi and the hundred thousand soldiers who had come with them were all in high spirits.

"General An! Let’s get organized now and rush to Runing Prefecture to rescue the Emperor!" suggested the Hu Qi.

The military strategy that An Liefeng had previously discussed with Mo Heng and Pei Qin was to use mortars to cut off the Waci People’s retreat, creating a pincer movement to annihilate them completely. The Emperor was in Runing Prefecture, and as long as the Waci People didn’t cross the river, the Emperor would not be in danger. On the contrary, it was the northerners who had failed to escape and were still living under the tyranny of the Waci People.

The Hu Qi wanted to rescue the Emperor for nothing more than to earn some credit and show his face before the Emperor. An Liefeng was somewhat reluctant.

Pei Qin had never led troops, and her military knowledge was largely theoretical, which was often not very practical in reality, so she just listened quietly from the side.

The Hu Qi wasn’t just after credit. Nowadays, An Liefeng and Pei Hansan had already clinched the main honor, and he at most could only pick up the leftovers, "The Waci’s main force is along the banks of the Huanghe River right now. If we pressure them from behind, I fear the Waci People, driven to a desperate action, might slaughter the civilians of My Great Chu outside the city and take them captive!"

An Liefeng furrowed his brow.

Dou He said with a stern face, "The Waci People hold over sixty thousand of our civilians captive."

"If they forcibly cross the river and attack Runing Prefecture, that will bring them into the Inner Pass, and all of Great Chu will be completely thrown into chaos!" asserted the Hu Qi.

"Then let’s split our forces in two. We now have one hundred and forty thousand soldiers. We’ll send two detachments to both cut off the Waci’s retreat and to make our way to Runing Prefecture to rescue the Emperor," suggested Mo Heng.

Dou He supported the idea, insisting that both fronts needed rescue! And since other troops were already being dispatched this way, they would indeed split the forces!

An Liefeng nodded, "Alright! We’ll split our forces in two!"

Mo Heng volunteered to stay behind to lead the troops against the city, to seize the passes, and to cut off the Waci People’s retreat. He did not want Pei Qin to go to Runing Prefecture, as if her identity were exposed, not to mention not getting any merit, she would have to face punishment.

Neither An Liefeng nor the Hu Qi intended to leave Pei Qin behind. The recent fierce attacks of the Waci People had all been aimed at Pei Qin, and now, with the war situation so tense, they especially needed her. Should anything happen to her, the war efforts would be delayed.

Pei Qin was indifferent. Most of the people in Runing Prefecture had likely fled. Even if she went back, she shouldn’t need to cross the Huanghe River. And even if people recognized her, so what? A woman, so what? She didn’t believe that the old Emperor would really chop off her head. At worst, her merits would offset her offenses, and she would just not receive any reward or recognition. She was now short of manpower, materials, and equipment—short of everything!

Jiang Zhen, who carried the burden of redeeming his crimes through merit, took the initiative to lead troops to cut off the Waci’s retreat.

The Hu Qi also called his two Deputy Generals to lead troops with him. They divided fifty thousand soldiers among Jiang Zhen, with An Liefeng taking another fifty thousand, and the remaining troops stayed to guard the city.

Once the plan was set, Pei Qin buried herself in the newly erected wooden house and finished making all the current batch of grenades.

The fifty thousand soldiers marched through the night, and with continuous rain, Pei Qin, who had been pushing herself for days, honorably fell ill.

"Find a horse carriage!" Mo Heng held her close, his hand touching her forehead, which was burning hot.

In the cool weather of late autumn, the rain seemed like icy knives as it fell on them. Pei Qin was tough, but she had suffered quite a bit through these times.

Feng Wei immediately ordered someone to find a horse carriage, bedding, and medicinal supplies.

The marching army’s physicians were also hastily summoned to see to Pei Qin.