Taoyuan County's Full Firepower

The people at the county office acted quickly. Xiao Tao, Ao Chen, and others had already climbed onto the city wall to observe.

At the same time, they sent messengers on swift horses to notify everyone in the streets to return home and not go out.

With no one at the toll stations, Jiang Hu's forces passed through unhindered, all the way to the city gate.

Over a thousand men lined up in perfect formation without a hint of disorder.

Concern flashed in Xiao Tao's eyes. In all her time in Taoyuan County, this was the first time she had seen such a display.

When two hundred people attacked previously, she had a bad premonition, and now so many had come.

And Fang Zheng wasn't here... she felt anxious.

"What's the situation with the people below? Are they related to those who came earlier?"

Ao Chen looked carefully through the telescope and said, "These are regular troops. The weapons they carry are different from those who came before. It's hard to say if they're related."

"Regardless, the city gates absolutely cannot be opened now!" Xiao Tao said.

Ao Chen nodded. "Mm, let's ask about their identity first."

With that, he called out loudly to those outside the city, "Who goes there?"

Jiang Hu wore a smile on his face.

Finally seeing the city gate, once it opened, Taoyuan County would be a lamb waiting for slaughter, at his mercy!

"I am Jiang Hu, Flying General of the Xiaoyong Camp! In recent days, bandits have been causing trouble near the capital. We have information that they've entered Taoyuan County. This general has been ordered to eliminate them. Open the gates immediately!!"

"Do you have credentials!?" Ao Chen shouted again.

"Yes! Token and documents here, send someone to collect them!"

A basket began to be lowered from the city wall...

Xiao Tao was extremely nervous and asked, "Have the prisoners from yesterday revealed anything?"

Ao Chen replied, "No, it's too soon. In a couple of days, it should be about right."

"Out of nearly two hundred people, not a single one has confessed?"

"Only a few are in prison. The vast majority were taken by the research institute. They said the penicillin animal experiments had no issues and now they needed human trials. Those people happened to be injured, so they were all taken away."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tao showed an angry expression and stamped her foot. "How undisciplined! Who allowed them to experiment on live humans! Are the Young Master's words falling on deaf ears? Starting next month, they won't get a single coin from the county!"

Wasn't the Master the first to experiment on living people...

Ao Chen looked embarrassed. "No one in the county dares to volunteer for experiments. They all say we're making poison... so... we had no choice. We've invested so much silver, we can't waste it..."

As they spoke, the basket lowered from the wall had been pulled back up.

It now contained a scroll of documents and a token.

Ao Chen took it and unrolled it, and everyone couldn't help but gather around.

Looking at the contents, Ao Chen murmured, "This seems to be in order. The Xiaoyong Camp is indeed one of the capital's camps... Go to the printing shop and call Old Chen!"

Xiao Tao said coldly, "Since they're here to look for those bandits, pick a few prisoners and throw them from the city wall. We'll see their reaction. We'll know immediately whether they're comrades or officials!"

Ao Chen broke out in a cold sweat. Xiao Tao usually seemed lively and cute, but having spent so much time with the Master, she showed a ruthless streak in critical moments...

"Let's wait for Old Chen to arrive. When it comes to forgeries, no one is better than him. He'll have a result with just one look."

The people on the wall were waiting, while those below were growing impatient.

Jiang Hu called out loudly, "Have you seen enough! Open the gates for this general immediately!"

"General, please wait a moment!" Only this light response floated down, followed by silence.

Despite Jiang Hu's extreme impatience, there was nothing he could do.

Using fake credentials naturally made him uneasy, and the longer they waited, the more anxious he became!

The fake seals and token were hastily made by an engraver found in the city, who was then quietly disposed of.

If things went wrong, they would either have to attack the city by force or retreat....

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Old Chen from the printing shop finally arrived, panting heavily as he reached the city wall.

At over sixty, he was already elderly, and clearly couldn't handle the hard ride.

Without waiting for him to catch his breath, Ao Chen immediately handed him the document. "Old Chen, quickly check if this seal is real or fake!"

"Fake," Old Chen said after just a glance, and continued panting.

Ao Chen grew anxious. "Look properly! Don't joke around. Look at the people below. They could be mountain bandits or officials. If we make a mistake, we'll be in trouble!"

Old Chen peered over the wall to look outside, showed some surprise, then turned back and said seriously, "Definitely fake!"

He grabbed the document and pointed at the red seal. "I've been making fakes for the county for so many years, and you don't trust me!"

"Though there are many styles of official seals in the world, there are only four craftsmen who carve them! I know their styles by heart. Do I need to look closely? This is as fake as it gets!"

"Royal craftsmen are extremely skilled. One stroke in, one stroke out, never dragging. The horizontal and vertical strokes all follow principles, and the overall result is perfectly natural!"

"Now look at this seal. Four-sided cutting, no direction, and the strokes are slightly chaotic, the knife technique not complete. The person who carved this seems to have had shaky hands, clearly a rush job of poor quality!"

Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions darkening.

Ao Chen handed over the token. "What about this token?"

"This is even more obviously fake! See how the pattern on the token is raised, but the characters are indented? Clearly modified from another token." Old Chen put the token in his mouth and bit it, then smiled. "Hey, it's pure gold!"

Xiao Tao quickly retrieved the gold token and tucked it into her sleeve. "This is important county property! Thank you for your help, Old Chen."

Old Chen smacked his lips, seemingly recalling the taste of pure gold...

Ao Chen looked again at the crowd below, his eyes now showing a hint of killing intent.

"Again and again, they try to rob our Taoyuan County. They truly have the guts of bears and leopards."

"Call the artillery! And bring some explosive packages!"

Xiao Tao asked in surprise, "Are we using artillery?"

Ao Chen said seriously, "Yes, our people are definitely better trained than theirs, but we're outnumbered. Fighting would inevitably lead to casualties. To avoid losses, let's use the artillery directly! We've stored them for so many years, and after using up our inventory this time, we won't have much left...."

When all the artillery weapons were in position, Ao Chen called out, "General! Please wait a bit longer. I'll send someone to open the gates soon. You can form ranks now."

At the mention of forming ranks, several people in Jiang Hu's formation wavered, suddenly feeling uneasy.

But Jiang Hu showed a smug smile.

Almost there, almost there. Once inside the city, they could act freely!

Before he could think further, Jiang Hu suddenly heard a cracking sound.

He jerked his head up to look at the city wall.

What he saw made him pale in shock. A row of stone slabs near the top of the wall had been broken! Obviously, someone behind them had smashed them with a hammer.

The city wall was hollow at the top?

But... what were those short, thick black tubes?