Liu Yanwei was filled with remorse after he'd seen Duan Lei leading the survivors back and knew that Ru Gang had died. He also managed to overhear that Tao Bixian had been captured, and at last he fully grasped how fierce those sorcerers could be. That night just as he was holding a candle and reflecting upon the recent past he suddenly heard a commotion rising among the men. He did not want to be disturbed and sent a man to check it out.
"The camoflaged barriers around camp have disappeared!" came the report. Liu was furious and immediately forbade the men from spreading wild rumours. Then taking a sword in hand he himself set out to inspect the camp perimetre, and sure enough the camoflaged stockade surrounding the encampment was all gone. Just as the full realization struck home he heard the sound of drums and horns to the East, and the sound of pitched battle reached his ears, only he couldn't pinpoint the location of the soldiers. He ordered Duan Lei to lead some men out to the East to engage them. In a little while all was still in the East, when suddenly the sky in the West began blazing brightly; it seemed to be one or two li away. Liu Yanwei took his sword and angrily mounted a horse, personally leading several hundred men to battle in the West. But after travelling three or four li they no longer heard drums and the flames had diminished. He could only return, and was almost back at camp when drumming again arose accompanied by the sound of pitched battle, this time to the South. He sent the harried Duan Lei with the rear unit out on patrol for a look, himself waiting on horseback with the lead company and watching for other activity. The men all began lighting torches, rendering the scene first red, then as bright as day. In a short while the sound from the South had also ended, with the deadly cacophony of battle now arising in the North.
Liu Yanwei went without sleep that night and was unable to make any sense of it all. Then around seven in the morning he heard yet more shouts arising among his men: "The night watch drummer has been mauled by a tiger!"
"What kind of tiger would ever turn up around here?" he scoffed. But sure enough when he surveyed the scene he saw just that. There right in front of his eyes was a beautiful woman wielding a sword and riding right towards them astride a flying tiger. Liu frantically dismounted as his horse suddenly collapsed and died of fright. And then just as quickly the beauty and her huge beast of prey both disappeared.
It had truly been a restless night for the troops, and by morning the men were all nervously affected by it all. Another report then came in that all the camoflaged fencing stolen the previous night had been found in a heap more than one li away.
"That's it!" hissed Liu Yanwei. "I've had it with those sorcerers!" They then broke camp and rushed back to Yizhou. Night after night that followed Liu wrote requests to the privy council telling what the sorcerers had been like and asking for reinforcements and qualified advisors so that he could go back and wipe out the rebels, preventing a larger future calamity. But by that time at every level of the Song Dynasty it was the practice for those recruiting talent to be held equally responsible for the failures and incompetence of their appointees. For that reason Privy Councillor Xia Song did not inform the Emperor of what had happened.
Now our story takes another turn. As for the beautiful swordswoman riding that tiger, it was none other than our own Hu Yong'r.
She had seen how the government army fought on without withdrawing; even after their most recent defeat they were still sending out reconaissance patrols. She knew that despite Zhang Ying's victory the job hadn't yet been finished, and so she followed Liu Yanwei right back to his camp at Fujiatuan and sent out ghosts to harrass his men all night. Liu's number was not up so he couldn't be killed; she simply had to hound him into fleeing.
On the evening of their victory Zhang Ying and the others assembled their men and entered Beizhou. The soldiers all mobbed Tao Bixian and begged him to come over to their cause. Tao kowtowed and agreed; Wang Ze approved and made him a commander, granting him the warhorses of the late Zhang and Dou. Wang then inspected the troops and was delighted to learn that not one man had been lost in the operation. For nights on end cows and horses were to be slaughtered as presents to the three generals, and that very night he placed the town guards on high alert while he threw a party for the three over at the district yamen. They all ate and drank their full before sleeping.
Suddenly as the fifth watch ended at about nine the next morning Hu Yong'r alighted with a great roar right in front of the yamen, dismounted and strode forth triumphantly. Everyone was startled, frantically falling over each other in welcoming her.
"Shame on all of you, eating and drinking happily while I was spending a miserable night!" she scolded. "Well, that creep Liu Yanwei has finally been forced back to Yizhou!" She then told them about all the troubles she'd caused Liu and his men that night. Wang Ze clasped his hands before him gratefully.
"Beizhou is finally at peace!" he pronouned.
"Guarding a lone city is no big thing," said Hu Yong'r. "Why, with the sort of martial spirit we see before us we can go right on and start taking the neighboring districts and counties!"
"That's right!" said the others.
And so they once again selected men and horses. Wang Ze and Zuo Chu led their forces along the roads to the South and East while Hu Yong'r and Pu Ji raided the North and West, leaving only Zhang Ying guarding the city. Within six months they had subdued, one after another, tens of nearby counties and walled cities with motes including Feixiang, Handan and Guangping. They obtained horses, men and vast wealth, greatly enhancing their power.
The Kaifeng butcher Zhang Qi, the cake merchant Ren Qian and the noodle shop owner Wu Sanlang all rushed from the capital to the side of Wang Ze when they heard that Hu Yong'r was his wife. When he saw how many people were coming over to him Wang Ze assumed the title of Dongpingjun Wang, the King of Eastern Peace County. He then invested Hu Yong'r as his Queen, Zuo Chu as as a Duke, Zhang Ying as Prime Minister and Pu Ji as Field Marshall. Although Bonze Dan had not contributed his efforts the people were still in awe of his powers and so he was dubbed Teacher of the Realm, and a monthly stipend of cash and rice was sent over to Sweetwater Spring Temple for his sustainance in the event that his talents should be needed in the future.
The aforementioned Zhang Qi and others were invested with seals as officials with extraordinary powers. Now the army marched out continuously in all directions to plunder the countryside. Every locality knew of the miraculous power of their sorcery, and local forces fled on sight. Before long most of Hebei's districts and counties were in Wang Ze's hands. He then had his personnel rebuild the old district yamen into his royal palace and instituted a system of government identical to that of the imperial court. He also expended immeasurable sums of money to build yamens for Zuo Chu, Zhang Ying and Pu Ji. He worshipped Holy Auntie and declared her Holy Queen Mother, building her a fine "Palace of Cultivation" to stay at when it pleased her. The common people worked on it round the clock and all of them moaned under the exaction.
Wang Ze began visiting private homes at will to take liberties with the daughters of the district as he pleased, taking them into his harem. He made the ones he fancied the most into his princesses and the others into palace servants. While he was at it Wang selected thirty beauties for Zuo Chu and his three associates. Now, Zhang Ying had always been a eunuch and declined, having no use for women. Pu Ji was Zhang's disciple and so could not do otherwise. Only Zuo Chu had always enjoyed abusing women and therefore frequented the facility.
Because of all these things there will be many consequences. That hayseed Son of Heaven will never come to rule over the face of the entire land, and his crippled chief sorcerer will prove to be not completely knowledgable about the supernatural world. Truly:
To see what happenings in Wang Ze's later days unfold, read on and in the coming chapters it will all be told.
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