Chapter 383: Crossing into Shanxi

Mrs. Liu walked out of the school feeling slightly dazed.The words the headmaster had just spoken still echoed in her ears, and she couldn’t help but reflect: Had she been too intense about sending her child to school? Well, she probably had been, which was why the headmaster had said those things to her.

She would have to be more careful when speaking with her son from now on.

Lost in her swirling thoughts, Mrs. Liu walked aimlessly, completely unaware of which direction she was heading. Only when she suddenly heard women’s laughter close by did she snap back to awareness.

That was when she realized she was standing inside another school-like building.

Its layout resembled the one she’d just seen at Gaojia Village School, but it was slightly smaller, with fewer classrooms and buildings.

Most strangely, this building had no men, boys, or any male creatures at all—even a mosquito that had just flown past her was female, confirmed when it bit Mrs. Liu and stole her blood.

Mrs. Liu was bewildered: What kind of place was this?

Two middle-aged women walked by, chatting animatedly about weaving cloth: “Have you heard? Mr. Song invented something called the Small Steam Engine. Connect it to the spinning machine, and the steam engine keeps cranking the machine! It’s frightening.”

“Huh? Then what’s the point of us learning weaving? Isn’t it all wasted effort?”

“Not at all. Though the machine turns the wheels, it only saves us from manually cranking the machine. Tasks like threading and taking up yarn still rely on us. Learning weaving remains valuable.”

“Oh, I see… That scared me for a moment.”

Mrs. Liu, utterly confused, quickly stopped the two women. “Sisters, what is this place for?”

The women immediately recognized her as a newcomer from her question and chuckled, “This is the Women’s Vocational School—built exclusively for teaching women practical skills.”

Mrs. Liu blinked. “Exclusively for women?”

The women laughed kindly. “Yes. It’s an excellent place! Here they teach us weaving cloth, tailoring garments, cooking, embroidery… With these skills, we too can earn big money.”

“Really?” Mrs. Liu gasped quietly. “Can… Can I join too? I’ve been desperate to learn how to take measurements and tailor garments properly. I want to make better clothes for my son.”

The women laughed again. “Broaden your horizons! Don’t just think of clothes for your son. If you master tailoring, you can earn dozens of copper coins per commission—making custom clothes for others!”

“Eh?”

The words “dozens of copper coins” instantly hooked Mrs. Liu.

With firm but friendly hands, the women pulled her toward the tailoring classroom. They arrived just as class began. Standing at the lectern, clearly experienced and authoritative, was the instructor—Gao San Niang, a tailoring master and one of Gaojia Village’s Forty-Two Elders.

She held up a garment for demonstration, gesturing to the students: “Watch carefully—right here, you must leave half an inch of space. Under no circumstances should you sew this section tight. If you do, as soon as someone puts it on… Rip!… the seams will burst.”

Her students—whose ages ranged widely, from girls barely entering their teens to women well over fifty—dutifully took notes with serious expressions.

Mrs. Liu watched with sparkling eyes, longing to join them yet feeling shy. The two women who had escorted her gently—yet undeniably—pushed Mrs. Liu forward, seated her firmly on a bench, gave each other a satisfied nod, and quietly left.

Mrs. Liu flustered briefly, but when she saw Gao San Niang send her a slight approving nod—radiating nothing but warm welcome with no hint of dismissal—her anxiety instantly dissolved.

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Liu leaned forward and began listening with rapt attention.

Fugu County…

Every inch of Fugu County’s former walls had been demolished. The county seat now resembled an unshelled egg trembling in the icy wind.

A massive bandit army roamed its abandoned streets and alleyways, dark figures swaying restlessly throughout the husks of buildings.

A group of bandit troops knocked on the door of a house.

An old man lived in this house, and he silently threw out all his family’s possessions out the door.

The bandit troops picked up the property, and a slight smile curled at the corner of their lips.

The old man thought he had escaped calamity.

But he did not expect that just as he turned around, the bandit troops cut him on the back with a knife.

Before he died, the old man heard a burst of arrogant laughter: “Old worthless one, can’t stand looking at him.”

“Ha ha ha, me too.”

Wang Jiayin was sitting in the government office at the center of Fugu County.

The corpse of the county magistrate lay at his feet.

But there was no smile on his face.

His naval force attacked Qiachuan Port but failed.

Wang Er was also nowhere to be found.

His plan to lead the troops south and occupy Huanglong Mountain collapsed.

All he could do was double back and storm into Fugu County again.

But the officials followed them there.

Song Tongyin, Provincial Governor of Shanxi, personally led troops and stationed at Baode County on the opposite side of the Yellow River.

This cut off his route to advance into Shanxi.

General Du Wenhuan under Yang He, Three Boundary Governor, was stationed outside Fugu County with his troops and ready to charge in at any moment to take his head.

Du Wenhuan had few troops.

He had only two thousand men.

But these two thousand defeated Wang Jiayin badly in the battle at Mountain God Hall.

He fled in panic and disorder.

It turned out that among these two thousand were several hundred monsters.

These were Hong Chengchou’s hired guards.

After Hong Chengchou became the Provincial Governor of Yansui, he gained the authority to mobilize officials and troops.

He encountered Du Wenhuan clamoring to avenge his clansmen and wipe out all bandits.

Hong Chengchou used his hired guards as the core and combined them with over a thousand garrison troops.

He handed them over to Du Wenhuan and ordered him to lead troops to deal with Wang Jiayin.

After Du Wenhuan’s clansmen all died, he had been in a very angry state.

He pursued bandit suppression everywhere doggedly, making life miserable for Wang Jiayin.

Now Du Wenhuan chased him to Fugu County.

Wang Jiayin felt great pressure.

“Let’s feign surrender!” Zijin Liang (Wang Ziyong) stepped forward and advised.

“Yang He, Three Boundary Governor, is actively promoting appeasement.”

“Our army of fifty thousand strong is sizable, and the court doesn’t want a direct clash with us.”

“As long as we submit to appeasement, Yang He will surely accept.”

“Then we can pretend to be appeased and fool the officials.”

“We cross the Yellow River in one swoop and attack Shanxi.”

Wang Jiayin thought it over carefully.

“Fine, that’s what we’ll do.”

Thus, a letter of surrender was sent to Song Tongyin, Provincial Governor of Shanxi.

It was then forwarded to Yang He.

Yang He was immediately overjoyed.

He sent out orders: “Wang Jiayin is willing to turn over a new leaf and reform.”

“We should give him a chance.”

Du Wenhuan was furious: “The bandits killed my clansmen, I won’t accept it.”

Yang He said: “Consider the big picture!”

They were still arguing through letters.

Suddenly came news.

Wang Jiayin seized the opportunity when Yang He delayed Du Wenhuan.

He suddenly forced a crossing of the Yellow River and attacked Hequ County in Shanxi.

Wang Kegui, an insider in the county, helped open the city gates.

Wang Da Liang, Shanxi’s General, set up Western cannons again to blast Wang Jiayin back.

But unexpectedly, the Western cannons suddenly exploded and blew his own artillery positions to rubble.

Hequ County fell.

Then armies of righteousness responded and crossed the river one after another.

In the Third Year of Chongzhen, the eastern route rebellion armies of Wang Jiayin, Zijin Liang (Wang Ziyong), King of Disruption, Luo Rucai (Cao Cao), Xi Ying Eighth Great King (Zhang Xianzhong), Old Nan Feng (Ma Shouying), Bu Zhan Ni, the Disrupting General (Li Zicheng), Scorpion Block, and others led their forces across the river and entered Shanxi.