The God of War Who Protects the Nation: Starting with Saving a Mother and Daughter in Distress

Qin An unfolded the letter again and read it from beginning to end once more.

But at first glance, nothing can be discerned.

After confirming that he hadn't missed a single sentence, Qin An carefully folded the letter and put it back into the brocade box along with the light pink undergarment.

As he closed the box, his gaze lingered for a moment on the phoenix pattern on the clasp.

Then he pushed the brocade box to the corner of the table, stood up, stretched, and decided not to bother himself with trouble.

In the courtyard, Cheng Zhiyuan was squatting by the well washing his face. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, grinned, and said, "Oh! You're awake? I thought you wouldn't be able to sleep until tomorrow morning."

"How long did you sleep?" Qin An asked.

"One day and one night, just past noon!" Cheng Zhiyuan stood up and shook the water off his hands. "Luo Kai has taken his men to inventory the granaries, and Xue Ju has gone outside the city to collect the scattered weapons. By the way, are you hungry? There's still some porridge on the stove."

"One bowl, please."

Cheng Zhiyuan turned around and went into the kitchen, bringing out a large bowl of thick porridge with two pieces of pickled vegetables on the rim.

Qin An took the bowl, squatted on the steps, drank it down sip by sip, and handed the empty bowl to Cheng Zhiyuan.

As Cheng Zhiyuan took the bowl, he glanced at him again: "General, you've had a nap, why does your face look even more somber than before you went to sleep? Is something wrong?"

Qin An stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and turned to look at him: "Pass down the order, tell the brothers to rest and recuperate. Five days later, we'll break camp and set off for Luo City!"

Cheng Zhiyuan was taken aback and put the empty bowl on the well platform: "Go to Luoyang? General, isn't that a bit too hasty? Our brothers have fought many battles, and quite a few have been wounded..."

"Those who can't move should stay put!" Qin An interrupted him. "We must join General Yuwen and the others as soon as possible and see how the fighting has become in Luo City."

He didn't seem inclined to explain further.

The possibility of unrest at the Daxing court is just my speculation; such things shouldn't be said carelessly.

Cheng Zhiyuan opened his mouth.

He always felt that Qin An was hiding something, and that this arrangement was too hasty and illogical.

But trusting Qin An, he didn't say anything more and turned to pass on the order.

Qin An stood alone in the courtyard, his gaze fixed on the gray rooftops outside the courtyard wall.

The contents of Xiao Mei's letter were like a fine thorn stuck in her heart; not fatal, but making her restless.

He originally thought that nothing too strange had happened in the past six months, and that he could hold out on the front lines for a while longer, slowly dealing with the rebels at his own pace.

But now it seems that the changes on the court's side won't wait for him at all.

"Daxing, this is it, we're doomed!" Qin An suddenly muttered to himself.

He turned and went back into the house, carefully put the brocade box away, stuffed it into the bottom of his bag, and weighed it down with two changes of clothes.

The hot porridge in my stomach transformed into a warm sensation that spread outwards.

He moved his shoulders; the wound on his shoulder blade was a little tight, but it no longer affected his ability to exert force.

As evening fell, Luo Kai and Xue Ju returned one after the other to report back.

Although the remaining grain in the granary of Losi City was not abundant, it was enough to feed three thousand men for about ten days.

The weapons and armor scattered outside the city were gathered and piled up in half a warehouse, and more than 10,000 usable arrows were collected.

Cheng Zhiyuan inspected each of the warhorses and found that many were damaged. Although there were some gains, the rewards were not proportional to the losses.

Those injured warhorses also need to rest and recuperate.

The most important thing is still the personnel aspect.

Roughly estimated, even after five days of rest, only slightly more than two thousand men would still be capable of fighting.

There are still nearly a thousand people who will likely need to stay and recuperate for a while.

They reported all of this to Qin An, conveying the same message: their team desperately needed rest.

Qin An understood, but he didn't change his mind: "We'll set off once the troops from Shancheng and Qiaotoucheng arrive."

Luo Kai and Cheng Zhiyuan exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.

"General, has something happened in the capital?" Luo Kai asked directly, vaguely guessing what was going on.

As the benefactor who had promoted Qin An from humble beginnings, he knew this former junior colleague very well.

I know he's not the kind of person who's in short supply.

With the situation on the front lines looking very promising, he has no reason to be in a hurry.

The only possibility is that it came from behind.

Qin An did not deny it, but he did not elaborate either: "I can only tell you that the sooner we finish the battle here, the sooner we can get back. As for the rest, you will know when the time comes."

Seeing his solemn expression, the three of them asked no more questions and went to prepare.

Five days of rest is neither a long nor a short time.

Every morning, Qin An would get up and stretch his muscles and bones, and practice with Cheng Zhiyuan for half an hour.

His condition has recovered well; apart from the occasional opening and bleeding of the wound on his shoulder, his strength and speed have returned to about 80-90%.

"General, your body is made of iron." Cheng Zhiyuan put away his axe and rubbed his numb wrist. "The day before yesterday, you were lying on the bed like a dead man, but today you've forced me to retreat again and again."

Qin An placed his halberd on the ground, looked up at the sky, and said, "Pass down the order: rest early tonight, and depart at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow."

"yes!"

Before dawn on the fifth day, torches were already lit in the western camp of Losi City.

More than two thousand men lined up outside the camp gate, their swords and spears in perfect order, their armor gleaming coldly in the firelight.

Qin An mounted his horse and glanced at the front of the ranks.

The soldiers' fatigue had mostly subsided.

Although it couldn't compare to the magnificent sight of the five thousand elite cavalrymen when they set out on the expedition, the chilling intent in their eyes hadn't faded.

"Let's go!" Qin An didn't say much, spurred his horse, and took the lead towards the official road.

The caravan traveled southeast along the official road leading from Losi to Los Angeles, the sound of horses' hooves muffled and orderly in the morning mist.

……

Meanwhile, in Luocheng, an unexpected turn of events unfolded that Qin An had not anticipated.

As night falls in Los Angeles, the streetlights are far fewer than usual.

Occasionally, a few clappers would sound, and the night watchman would hunch his neck and hurry across the street, not daring to light even a single lantern.

In an inconspicuous two-courtyard house in the east of the city, several windows were covered with thick cloth, and only an oil lamp was lit in the hall.

The lamplight, as small as a bean, cast an flickering glow on the faces of the people sitting around it.

If anyone from Los Angeles were here and saw these faces, they would surely be astonished.

Because these are the heads of some of the major families in Los Angeles.

They, who were once so imposing, now gathered together secretly, as if they couldn't be seen in the light.

"Wang Chong has lost control of the situation." A thin-faced old man spoke first. "You have all heard that Wang Teng has returned. The Chang Le Army has been defeated, Cao Deren and Wang Cong have been captured alive, and the Li Gangzhai troops have also been driven away. Next, it will be our turn in Luocheng."

"More than that," the round-faced middle-aged man sitting opposite him chimed in. "Yesterday, more than thirty soldiers on duty on the city wall deserted. Twenty of them were captured by Wang Chong's personal guards and beheaded in the street, but another batch escaped this morning. The more they were killed, the more they ran away."

"How many capable soldiers does he still have?" asked the old man in the green robe in the corner.

The thin-faced old man held up one hand and then bent two fingers: "Less than 30,000, and nearly half of them are injured. Those who can climb the city wall, at most, are just over 20,000."

"Where are the government troops?" the old man in the green robe asked again.

"There are at least 50,000 troops still besieging the city," the round-faced middle-aged man said with a wry smile. "Yuwen Rong is personally overseeing the operation, and Qin An's cavalry could arrive at any time. Then Luoyang will be like a chicken trapped in an iron barrel; there won't be any chance to escape."

There was a moment of silence in the hall, the breathing of the group mingling together.

The light from the oil lamp flickered, and the shadow of the thin-faced old man swayed on the wall.

"So, the Wang family's ship is going to sink," the old man in the green robe said slowly. "Our families have been operating in Luocheng for three generations, and we cannot perish with the Wang family."

"That's what I think too," the round-faced middle-aged man hurriedly said. "We thought that Wang Chong dared to be the first to stand up and rebel because he was already well prepared. Now it seems that we overestimated him. If we continue to drag things out with him, when the city falls, everything will be destroyed. We won't be able to save our property or even our lives."

The room fell silent for a moment after he said that.

As mentioned before, the Wang family, as the first aristocratic family to stand up and rebel, was able to cause such a big commotion in a short period of time because there was a large family secretly supporting and fueling it.

If Wang Chong can keep winning, his supporters will naturally not say anything.

However, the current situation is developing in an unfavorable direction, which has undoubtedly caused them to have such thoughts.

And that's why they've gathered here.

"Explain yourself." The thin-faced old man's gaze swept over the crowd. "What do you want?"

The old man in the green robe gently set down his teacup: "Make contact with those outside the city."

As soon as those four words were uttered, the hall fell silent once more.

The group exchanged glances, some hesitant, others resolute.

"We can't act rashly," the round-faced middle-aged man said in a low voice. "Wang Chong is clearly wary of us. If the messenger is caught, our heads will be hanging on the city wall tonight."

"Therefore, we must use a foolproof method!" The old man in the green robe had clearly already considered this, and decisively said, "It's time to make use of the resources that our families have accumulated."

Upon hearing the word "foundation," the others instantly understood what he meant.

"Has it really come to that? Their foundation is..."

Before the question could be finished, the old man in the green robe interrupted him: "Our support for the Wang family, though done covertly, is something we can't hide from others. You don't naively think the government troops haven't noticed, do you?"

"This is treason, so we don't need any evidence. Those murderers won't listen to our explanations. If we want to atone for our sins, we must show the utmost sincerity."

The others were suddenly speechless.

"Fine, we voted for the wrong team. We'll accept our loss!"

"That's right. As long as we can preserve our family, cut our losses and survive, that's the way for us big families to survive."

"Let's do it!"

The group discussed in hushed tones, finalizing details such as how to contact each other and what code words to use.

The candle flame flickered and went out.

The sound of a chair being moved echoed in the darkness, and several blurry figures silently disappeared, leaving only the lingering anger in the room!