Chapter 889 - 84: Breaking Through Yingtian Prefecture, Hounded Dogs (Part 2)

The 12th year of Shaoxing, July.

The midsummer in Jiangnan is stifling and humid, with cicadas chirping incessantly.

On the surface, Yingtian Prefecture maintains the tranquility after the Emperor’s expedition, with bustling markets and regular canal transport.

But secretly, an unsettling undercurrent has already surged to the surface.

Wan Qixie’s purges are increasingly brutal, with prisons overcrowded, and innocent people accused of colluding with Northern traitors are frequently executed at the Caishi Port.

The blood soaks into the bluestone slabs, and even the air seems to be permeated with a faint, metallic tang.

The entire Yingtian Prefecture is in a state of apprehension, as silent as cicadas in winter.

Meanwhile, Zhao Gou, far away at the Northern Border, remains completely unaware, with nearly everyone losing contact with their Emperor.

...

Kaifeng Prefecture, the Jin Kingdom’s temporary palace.

Wanyan Digunai received the last secret letter from Wan Qixie, detailing that everything in Yingtian Prefecture was in place, with the city defenses fully controlled, waiting for the Royal Army.

He put down the letter, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, leaving no room for hesitation.

"Order the three armies to assemble immediately!"

Wanyan Digunai’s voice was steady, yet carried an indisputable decisiveness.

The long-repressed ambition, like a blade unsheathed, gleamed with cold light.

Indeed, ambition!

If in the past Wanyan Digunai had entertained thoughts of resisting oppression, now he had long changed class!

And his ambition naturally grew with the change in status.

The previous delay in the offensive was merely to deal with Gu Hui.

Moreover, considering the current situation, it was not a failing strategy.

At least, for him, it was a heaven-sent opportunity!

"Target, Yingtian Prefecture!"

Wanyan Digunai’s gaze swept over his subordinates, such as Wanyan Wushu and other fierce generals, "Zhao Gou has bound his own hands and feet, offering the fertile lands of Jiangnan to us, how can we disappoint his ’kindness’?"

"Brothers, follow me southward to seize the foundations of Zhao Song!"

With the order given, the war machine of the Jin Kingdom began to operate efficiently.

Elite cavalry were the first to launch, like a pack of wolves sniffing blood, their iron hooves thundered, shattering the oppressive calm of the Central Plains summer.

They avoided the areas where Zhao Gou’s heavy troops were stationed, choosing routes with relatively weak defenses, infiltrating southward with astonishing speed.

The states and counties along the way were caught off guard.

The Jin Army’s cavalry were not fixated on attacking individual cities or lands; rather, they swept through like a whirlwind, with a clear goal—wealth!

They stormed into government granaries, emptied the treasury of stored grain and silk;

They broke into the homes of rich and powerful families, looting gold, silver, jewelry, and valued artifacts;

They intercepted the busy canal transport ships, claiming the fully loaded cargo as theirs.

Crying, pleading, and the jubilant shouts of Jin soldiers discovering treasures interwove, as the affluent towns and villages were plundered in an instant, leaving behind only a trail of wreckage and despair.

Wanyan Digunai deliberately condoned and even encouraged this plundering.

This was both to sustain the war with wealth and to crush Jiangnan’s will to resist through fear and tangible benefits, demonstrating to all observers who was the true master now.

Of course, this was only one aspect.

The fundamental reason was that he could not fully control his massive army.

This had nothing to do with prestige.

It was simply the innate wildness of these people of foreign races.

If restricted forcibly, it would create more trouble.

This was Wanyan Digunai’s cleverness.

He was different from Zhao Gou.

He was not born at the highest point of power, but truly rose from the bottom.

He knew very well what his subordinates wanted.

The army rampaged along the way.

And at this time, in Yingtian Prefecture, under Wan Qixie’s "management," it was already a defenseless city.

When the Jin Army’s advancing scouts appeared in sight, the symbolic resistance atop the city walls was quickly dissolved by the garrison that had long been bribed.

The city gates slowly opened with the cooperation of "insiders," and Wanyan Digunai’s main force entered this Southern Song city almost without bloodshed.

Wan Qixie led a group of capitulated officials, kneeling inside the city gate, their voices filled with unrestrained excitement and sycophancy: "Guilty minister Wan Qixie greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin! Long live the Emperor!"

Their ugly countenances were showcased in their entirety at this moment.

A group of Kyushu officials, dressed in brocade robes, thus kneeled before the foreign Emperor.

Even if Wanyan Digunai himself also wore the Emperor’s robe,

it was still extremely disgraceful at this moment.

In the ethereal realm.

Even Gu Yi witnessed this scene.

Even though he was already mentally prepared, seeing it happen with his own eyes, he still felt something in Kyushu had shattered.

This was the great trend managed by the Gu Clan for a millennium.

It was the history of Kyushu, unaffected by foreign races.

But what could he do?

What could the Gu Clan do?

As history continued to move forward, this day would inevitably come, not something an individual or family could easily hinder.

No, not entirely!

At least... Gu Hui is still there!

Outside Yingtian Prefecture, Wanyan Digunai sat astride his steed, overlooking the prosperous city now under new rule and the bowing, scraping "meritorious officials," a conqueror’s smile gracing his face.

He pointed his whip directly into the city: "Take over the treasury, control strategic points! Convey my order, clear out remaining enemies, and if there is resistance, kill without mercy!"

"Kill!!"

The Jin Army swiftly surged in, taking control of the gates, government offices, armories, and granaries.

Yingtian Prefecture, the political heart of the Zhao Song regime after its southward relocation, fell almost without a major battle due to internal and external collusion.