Caught in the trap

Only a quarter of an hour had passed, but to Lu Xiangsheng, it felt like two hours. Only when he heard the hoofbeats receding below the mountain did he let out a long breath.

"Breathe, breathe!"

In the grass, Hu Dawei took his hand off the young soldier's mouth, only to find his eyes wide open and his lips blue from suffocation. Hu Dawei slapped him several times, and finger marks instantly appeared on his pale cheeks.

"Ah... it hurts..." The young soldier suddenly gasped out a breath. He reached up to touch his other cheek, then drew back his hand to find it covered in blood.

"You're a grown man. What's a little pain? You nearly got everyone in the army killed!" Hu Dawei cursed, called someone over to treat the young soldier's wounds, then rose and walked toward Lu Xiangsheng, still shaken by their narrow escape.

"Governor-General, we're safe!" Hu Dawei tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to smile. Little did he know that his smile looked uglier than a grimace.

"Send the Night Patrol out!" Lu Xiangsheng ordered, looking up toward the mountain.

Yang Lukai had taken the horses up the other side of the mountain. He should now be hiding somewhere above them. It was about time to have his men prepare.

Lu Xiangsheng did not sleep that night. The Night Patrol reported on the Jurchen's movements every hour, but even at dawn, there was still no word of them breaking camp and entering the city.

"Did something go wrong?" Hu Dawei asked, still rattled. He wondered whether they had made a mistake earlier, or whether the enemy scouts had spotted something.

Lu Xiangsheng was uncertain too, but he could hardly deal another blow to morale now. "Let's wait a little longer. Perhaps they're waiting for daylight."

Meanwhile, Dorgon and Yoto stood three bowshots from Jinan, gazing at the city opposite them. Dorgon said, "I previously studied this carefully-how we should attack if we wanted to take Jinan."

"Oh? What did you originally have in mind, Uncle?" Yoto asked curiously.

"Look. Jinan is high in the south and low in the north, with mountains and water around three sides and an open plain on the fourth. It seems easy to defend and hard to attack, but in fact..."

"Ah, it's like a winnowing basket," Yoto suddenly said. "Once we occupy the high ground on both sides, we'll be catching a turtle in a jar!"

"Exactly. If we came in warmer weather, we could breach the Greater Qing and Lesser Qing Rivers, then dam the flow south of the city. The river water would flood the city!" Dorgon added.

"That won't do. If we flood it, what will we have to loot and take home?" Yoto hastily shook his head.

"Hahaha!" Dorgon burst out laughing. "There's no need to rack our brains over that now. Jinan is ours without so much as the effort of blowing away dust. Pass down the order-we enter the city in an hour!"

"Yes!" Yoto's heart surged with excitement, only for a sudden pain to stab through his chest. He raised a hand to it, but the pain had vanished again.

It happened in an instant, and Dorgon noticed nothing. Yoto did not want to cause trouble now, deciding to summon an army physician to examine him once they entered the city.

The Jurchen entered Jinan. Dorgon, Yoto, and Hao Ge headed straight for Prince De's Residence. When they reached its entrance, the three dismounted and stopped to look up at it.

"What a princely residence!" Hao Ge grinned. "Look at those walls-they must be over twenty feet high. Much grander than my own residence."

Then Hao Ge looked at the ceremonial archway in front of the residence and said to Yoto, "You know plenty about Han things. Come take a look. What does that say?"

Yoto stepped forward and read, "Reverently receiving the sovereign's command, forever guarding the Qi State!"

"Hahaha!" Hao Ge laughed and spat on the archway. "A craven army, craven generals, and a craven emperor! Forever guarding the Qi State? Let us do it instead!"

The three laughed at the entrance for a while, then walked inside, exclaiming in admiration at every turn. Pavilions and towers, rockeries and flower ponds-it was a whole other world!

"Once we conquer the Ming State, Prince De's Residence will be mine!"

Dorgon gave him a sidelong glance and silently grumbled. He thinks Prince De's Residence is splendid enough now. Once he sees the Ming State's imperial palace, will he change his mind again?

"Pass down the order. Three days only. We leave the city in three days!"

Meanwhile, following Dorgon's orders, Oboi went to the government offices to open the granaries. Jinan was such a large city; the army would be relying on its grain and fodder for the next stage of their campaign.

A lock hung on the granary doors. Oboi drew his saber and chopped down, severing the chain with a snap. The soldiers beside him eagerly pushed the doors open, and the smell of grain drifted out, but...

Oboi looked around, his expression grave. "What's going on? Where's the grain? Why isn't there any grain?"

"General!" A soldier came running from outside. "That lake-the lake is full of..."

"What lake? What's in it?"

At the edge of Great Ming Lake, Oboi stared at the assorted "corpses" floating on the surface: chickens, ducks, and rotten vegetable leaves. The people of Jinan had thrown all the food they could not carry away into the lake, and the stench of decay reached him from far off.

The granaries are empty... and all this food... Oboi felt a creeping sense that something was wrong. He mounted his horse and galloped toward Prince De's Residence.

Inside the residence, Dorgon slapped the table after hearing Oboi's report. "This is bad. We've walked into a trap!"

"Report!" A soldier ran in from outside. "Your Highness, all the Red-Clad Cannons on the city walls have been found destroyed!"

"Report!" Another man ran in. "Your Highness, we haven't found any food in the city!"

"Report!"

"What now?" Dorgon demanded angrily.

"Outside the city... there are Ming troops!"

Dorgon's blood surged. Looking at all the lavish trappings of Prince De's Residence, he finally understood. The Ming State had used Jinan Prefecture to set a trap for him, and he had blundered straight into it.

"Close the gates! Stand guard!" Dorgon barked one order after another as he strode toward the city gate. Yoto, Hao Ge, and Oboi followed close behind, their faces grim.

The Jurchen shut the gates. Dorgon climbed onto the city wall, only then discovering that the several Red-Clad Cannons originally mounted there had all been wrecked with sharp weapons.

He shifted his gaze down beyond the walls. On the plain ahead, the Ming army stretched out in a vast sea of densely packed ranks. Looking up again, he saw that the high ground he had casually discussed with Yoto that morning was also occupied by Ming troops.

His heart plunged. Now he was the turtle trapped in the jar, waiting to be caught.

"Uncle Wang, look—" Standing behind Dorgon, Yoto suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.

Dorgon looked where Yoto pointed, and his pupils abruptly contracted. A man emerged from the Ming ranks below the walls, clad in patterned leather armor and a phoenix-wing helmet, carrying a Wrought-Iron Broadsword. A magnificent steed bore him forward to the front of the formation. Who could it be but Lu Xiangsheng?

"Lu Xiangsheng? It's him? How can it be him?" Dorgon gripped the battlements with both hands and leaned halfway out, trying to get a clearer look at Lu Xiangsheng.

At this point, what was there left to misunderstand? If Lu Xiangsheng was here, it could only be on the Ming State emperor's orders.

"So everything that happened before was arranged between them?"

Arrested and hauled back to the capital... peace negotiations...

It was all a lie!

"Uncle Wang, what do we do?" Yoto asked.

Dorgon stood on the city wall, watching the calm and composed Lu Xiangsheng, and remained silent for a long time.

What could he do now?