Chapter 591: Murder in a Snowy Night (Part 1)

Tumen Pass is located within Luquan County, about eighty li away from Zhending County. It serves as the eastern entrance to the Jingxing route, one of the most strategically important passes among the Eight Passes of the Taihang Mountains. Passing through Jingxing leads directly into the territory of Taiyuan Prefecture, making it a contested area for military strategists since ancient times.

The eastern entrance to Jingxing, Tumen Pass, is situated on a massive fault line. To the west of Tumen Pass lies the towering Taihang Mountains, including Guayun Mountain, Baodu Ridge, Jiuli Mountain, and Longchi Mountain—rugged peaks covered in lush greenery. From here, a long passage runs across the Taihang Mountains, suitable for vehicles and horses, forming a strategic route between Jin and Yan regions.

To the east of Tumen Pass lies a region of gentle hills and plains, with numerous rivers and fertile land. It has been a densely populated area since ancient times. To the south lies Shiyi County; later, as the name “Shiyi” was deemed too obscure, it was renamed Shijiazhuang.

Because Tumen Pass controls the vital route between Jin and Yan, it has always been a strategic battleground. After the massacre that occurred there previously, the garrison was increased to 1,500 soldiers. The leader remained the young general Yu Fang from before, but due to his contributions in rescuing refugees, he was promoted to colonel and continued to command Tumen Pass.

Tumen Pass is built on Baodu Ridge, which resembles a huge rock jutting out of the Taihang Mountains. The surrounding area is smooth and roadless, with a valley in the middle. Once one crosses the valley and climbs to the other ridge, the view suddenly opens up. Descending slowly along the ridge, one finds gentle hills and plains ahead. The Taibai Canal flows like a jade belt from north to south, its surface shimmering in the sunlight.

After news of An Lushan’s rebellion spread, the atmosphere at Tumen Pass became tense immediately. Large amounts of military supplies were sent continuously from Taiyuan. The army strengthened patrols on the city walls, and hundreds of scouts were sent to surrounding counties to monitor the movements of An Lushan’s forces.

Since Guo Ziyi’s army entered Hedong, Lei Wanchun’s 20,000 troops from the Anxi Army moved north to four provinces: Shuo, Dai, Yun, and Wei. Lei Wanchun was appointed governor of these four provinces. As a result, Jingxing also fell under Guo Ziyi’s defensive jurisdiction. However, since Tumen Pass is located in Hebei Circuit, its 1,500 defenders still belonged to the Anxi faction and were under Lei Wanchun’s command, not Guo Ziyi’s.

That morning, a cavalry unit of about a dozen men rushed in at full speed. It was a scouting team returning to camp, but among them were Ji Sheng and two others. The cavalry rode up to Shiling and arrived at the gates of Tumen Pass. The scouting team shouted upward, “Is General Yu here?”

Yu Fang asked, “What happened?”
“We encountered General Ji on the road.”
“Which General Ji?”
Ji Sheng rode forward and laughed at Yu Fang on the city wall, “General Yu, do you still remember me?”
After the last raid on the gunpowder factory in Youzhou, it was the 500 scouts who retreated through Tumen Pass. How could Yu Fang forget?
“It’s General Ji! Open the city gates quickly!”
The city gates slowly opened, and Yu Fang stepped out of the city, kneeling on one knee to pay his respects to Ji Sheng, “Your humble servant, Yu Fang, greets General Ji.”
The Anxi army had a strict hierarchy; subordinates had to kneel on one knee when meeting their superiors. Yu Fang was only a third-rank general, while Ji Sheng, after successfully attacking the gunpowder factory in Youzhou, had been promoted to a first-rank lieutenant general. His honorary rank as Yunhui General even equaled that of a full general. The gap in their status within the army was enormous.
“General Yu, please stand up. I have important matters to discuss with you!”
“Please come to the city tower to talk.”
The two walked swiftly to the city tower and sat down at a stone table piled with arrow racks. Soldiers brought them two bowls of hot tea. Ji Sheng, who had rushed all the way, was quite thirsty. He drank the tea in one gulp before smiling and saying, “General Yu, I’ve come here to ask for your troops’ assistance.”
With that, he took out a gold plaque and placed it on the stone table. It was the troop-mobilization plaque given to him by Li Qing’an, allowing him to command troops up to 5,000 strong. Yu Fang was terrified and quickly stood up, saying, “Your humble servant dares not. Please give your orders!”
“Very good! You have 1,500 men. I’ll borrow 1,000 of them for Zhending County.”
“But…”
Yu Fang hesitated. “Your humble servant is worried that 500 men won’t be enough to defend the pass against An Lushan’s tens of thousands of troops.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
In truth, Ji Sheng was only 10% confident. He had just received news that Guo Ziyi’s vanguard had reached Guguan (today’s Niangziguan), but the road to Jingxing was difficult, and it would take at least two days to reach Tumen Pass. Meanwhile, An Lushan’s advance troops had already entered Hengzhou. Li Qing’an’s task for Ji Sheng was to defend Hengzhou, a strategic stronghold. He could only rely on Guo Ziyi’s army to come to his rescue. Given the distance, Guo Ziyi’s troops would definitely not be able to catch up with An Lushan’s vanguard in time—they were at least a day apart. So, Zhending County needed to be held for one day.
Normally, An Lushan’s army would attack Tumen Pass after capturing Zhending County. But if the enemy ignored Zhending County and attacked Tumen Pass directly, and if Guo Ziyi’s reinforcements hadn’t arrived by then, the situation at Tumen Pass would be dangerous.
Nevertheless, Ji Sheng decided to take the gamble.

From early in the morning, the sky over Zhending County had been overcast. By dusk, fine snowflakes began to fall. As night fell, the snowflakes gradually turned into larger snowflakes and snowballs, falling more and more densely until the land was covered in white.

At this time, the vanguard of An Lushan’s army had reached Dingdong Town, 20 li east of Zhending County. All the hundreds of households in the town had fled to Zhending County proper, leaving behind an empty, deserted town. When the army arrived at Dingdong Town, due to the heavy snowfall, Li Qinchou ordered them to camp there temporarily. The 20,000-strong army rushed into the town and seized civilian houses. They demanded women, food, cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks, but were greatly disappointed—everyone had fled, leaving only two elderly people. There was no food at all, and not a trace of cattle, sheep, chickens, or ducks. Even most of the wells had been filled in.

Torches flared before Li Qinchou’s tent. He sat in the center of the tent, surrounded by dozens of bodyguards, exuding a fierce aura. Li Qinchou was one of An Lushan’s adopted sons. The twelve adopted sons were known as the Twelve Grand Guardians and were all brave generals in An Lushan’s army. Li Qinchou held the highest position and was one of An Lushan’s most trusted and favored generals. This time, Shi Siming led 100,000 troops to attack Hedong. Eighty,000 of those were Shi Siming’s own troops, while the other 20,000 were led by Li Qinchou. It was clear that An Lushan did not fully trust Shi Siming and sent Li Qinchou to supervise him.

Several fierce soldiers dragged the two remaining elderly people in. Poorly, both men had broken arms and ribs and were barely alive. The soldiers threw the old men in front of Li Qinchou, who demanded angrily, “Speak quickly! Where have all the people in the town gone?”

Li Qinchou was of mixed Hu and Han descent, extremely tall and strong, wielding a large sword. He was known as invincible against tens of thousands of enemies. An Lushan appointed him as the vanguard, hoping to use his momentum to advance straight to Taiyuan. Perhaps due to his excessive energy, Li Qinchou had one major flaw: he was extremely lustful. He needed several concubines every night to fall asleep, all of whom had to be beautiful young women no older than 16. Although Shi Siming had strictly ordered that no looting be allowed before capturing Hengzhou, Li Qinchou still allowed his troops to plunder the villages around the county, killing everyone and taking the women back to his tent. This satisfied the soldiers’ desires while also helping him gather young women for himself.

Today he had rushed around all day, his lust already burning fiercely. He had planned to stay and enjoy himself after that, but unexpectedly, everyone from the surrounding villages had fled. The soldiers were full of complaints, and he himself was seething with anger. At that moment, he stared at the two old men like a beast, his grip on the knife handle so tight it almost broke.

One of the old men was barely alive and unable to speak. The other, with weak breath, said, “General, everyone has fled to the city—Jingding County.”

“Are there any left nearby who haven’t gone?”

“No… no one else.”

“Damn it! Drag these two old bastards outside and chop them to pieces.”

A few soldiers grabbed the two old men and took them away. Li Qinkou paced back and forth in the tent, frustrated. He could hardly hold back any longer. Shi Siming’s order to him was to capture Jingxing first and then let his troops loot the city, but until Tu Men Pass was taken, he was strictly forbidden from sending troops into the city. Li Qinkou understood Shi Siming’s intention clearly—speed was key to seizing strategic locations quickly. But thinking of the beautiful women from the wealthy families in Jingding County, his lust grew uncontrollable. Damn it! He must enter the city tonight and abduct people, no matter Shi Siming’s orders.

Suddenly, a report came from outside the tent: “General, Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Hengzhou, and Yuan Fuqian, the chief secretary, request an audience.”

Li Qinkou was stunned. He thought he heard wrong and asked again, “Who?”

“Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Hengzhou, and Yuan Fuqian, the chief secretary, request an audience!”

Li Qinkou was puzzled. The governor of Yizhou had been killed, the governor of Dingzhou had fled, and the chief secretary was missing. Yet Yan Gaoqing, the governor of Hengzhou, came to surrender. Although it was just a request for an audience, in Li Qinkou’s eyes, it was no different from surrendering.

“Bring them in!”

A moment later, soldiers led Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Fuqian into the tent in a hurry. As soon as they entered, they knelt down and said, “Your humble servant, Yan Gaoqing, represents hundreds of thousands of people in Hengzhou to welcome the great general of the Heavenly Army.”

“Hmph! Welcome?”

Li Qinkou suddenly remembered that all the people in the town had fled. With a cold snort, he said, “Not a single person left in Dingdong Town—is this your welcome?”

“General Li, you don’t know the truth. The people of Dingdong Town fled not because of the arrival of the Heavenly Army led by the Prince of Yan, but for other reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“Sigh!” Yan Gaoqing sighed. “It’s all the fault of the local militia.”

Only then did Li Qinkou recall that there were still a thousand militia soldiers in Jingding County. He quickly asked, “Where are those militia soldiers? Where have they gone?”

“General, please allow me to explain in detail.”

“Very well! Get up and sit down.”

Li Qinchou’s expression softened a bit. After all, they were a provincial governor and his deputy, and their attitude was quite good. It wouldn’t be right to keep forcing others to kneel.
Yan Gaoqing and Yuan Fuxian stood up and sat down again. Only then did Yan Gaoqing slowly say, “The commander of the militia soldiers was determined to resist to the end, wanting to share the fate of the city. I wanted to protect the people of the city, so I advised him not to try to stop an unstoppable force, but he wouldn’t listen. With no other choice, I had to kill him. The thousand militia soldiers scattered in all directions, robbing along the way. The people around Zhending County suffered greatly from their harassment and fled into the city. That’s why General Li found Dingdong Town empty.”
“Damn these bastards!”
Li Qinchou cursed angrily. Their actions had alerted the enemy, preventing them from gaining any benefits. He then asked, “You say Zhang Jiliang is dead. Where’s his head?”
Yan Gaoqing gave Yuan Fuxian a glance. Yuan Fuxian took the small bag from his back, placed it on the small table, and untied it—it was indeed Zhang Jiliang’s head.
Li Qinchou knew Zhang Jiliang. Seeing it, he laughed heartily, “Good! Very good! Well done. I must reward you generously.”
Yan Gaoqing knelt down again and said, “I dare not accept any rewards from the general. Wherever the heavenly army goes, the people revere it. We long for the general’s arrival like infants long for their parents. All we ask is that the general maintain military discipline. I will surely build a shrine for the Prince of Yan and the generals, so that the locals can offer incense and pay respects throughout the year.”
Yan Gaoqing’s flattery pleased Li Qinchou greatly. In fact, he knew these civil officials might not have surrendered sincerely, but they were all acting to protect the people. He understood this, but before leaving, his adoptive father An Lushan had advised him to try his best to get Yan Gaoqing to surrender. Yan Gaoqing was a famous governor in Hebei with an excellent reputation. His surrender would undoubtedly serve as a good example, leading to the surrender of all counties in Hebei.
Li Qinchou quickly helped Yan Gaoqing up and said with a smile, “Governor Yan, rest assured. Have I ever slaughtered a city or allowed my troops to harass the people along the way? Even rabbits don’t eat grass from their own burrow!”
Yan Gaoqing let out a long sigh of relief. He stood up and said with a smile, “Thank you for your kindness, General. Also, we heard that General Li is popular with all women. So we prepared over a hundred women from wealthy families—all respectable, young, and beautiful, and they all admire the general. Please enjoy them.”
Li Qinchou was overjoyed. “Where are they? Have you brought them?”
Yan Gaoqing shook his head and smiled, “I originally wanted to bring them, but the snow was too heavy. These women are delicate, and traveling in the snow at night would be too much for them. I had to temporarily place them in a guest house outside the city. I’ll bring them to you once the snow stops tomorrow.”

How could Li Qinchou endure the night? He wanted to send his personal guards to bring those women over, but he was worried they might not survive the snowy night and ruin his plans. At that moment, a guard rushed in and whispered in his ear, “The investigation is clear—the local militia has indeed fled westward, and Zhending County has no troops stationed there.”

Driven by intense desire, Li Qinchou no longer cared about potential dangers. After all, he was a fearsome warrior and didn’t really take those militia soldiers seriously. His only concern was his deputy, He Qiannian, going to An Lushan to slander him. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Call Deputy He here.”

He Qiannian was tall and thin. As An Lushan’s tenth grand protector, his status was far lower than Li Qinchou’s. Moments later, he strode into the tent, bowed, and said, “Please give your orders, General!”

“General He, come with me to one place.”

Li Qinchou smiled and whispered a few words in his ear. He Qiannian was shocked. Leaving the camp without permission was a serious offense, so he quickly shook his head and said, “Go ahead, General. I won’t go.”

Li Qinchou’s expression darkened. “Do you want me to go alone?”

Realizing Li Qinchou wanted to drag him down with him, He Qiannian knew he had no choice but to go. Reluctantly, he replied, “Then this humble servant will accompany the General! We’ll try to return by dawn.”

“No need to wait until dawn. We’ll be back by the third watch—it’s only twenty li away, right?”

Li Qinchou took three hundred bodyguards and Deputy He Qiannian, with Yan Gaoqing and the other man leading the way, toward a guest house twenty li away. Unworried, Li Qinchou thought that with Yan Gaoqing and the others as hostages, no one would dare attack them at night.