The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 71: Everyone Was Very Happy

The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 71: Everyone Was Very Happy

The Gaojia Village at night felt somewhat eerie. Rows of oil lamps on the fortress wall flickered dimly, illuminating only a few meters around the wall itself.
Two sentinels were slowly, lazily patrolling the wall.
The fortress wall stretched over thirty zhang in both length and width. Patrols by merely two sentinels over such a vast area were clearly insufficient.
Zheng Yanfu chuckled softly. “Those two sentinels might as well not even be there.”
Zhuang Guangdao also chuckled softly. “I could scramble up that fortress wall right under their noses without breaking a sweat.”
Zheng Yanfu patted his shoulder. “Then it all depends on you.”
Zhuang Guangdao said, “Wait for my good news.”
With that, he stooped low, slipped out from the woods, and moved silently and cautiously towards the wall…
Reaching the very edge where the lantern light could reach, he dropped flat and stayed still, observing the movement pattern of the two sentinels with utmost care, searching for an opportunity to climb the wall.
What he didn’t know was that there were far more than just two sentinels inside the Fortress.
Hidden within the galleries connecting the four corner towers were eight more sentinels. They observed the outside through “loopholes” cut into the gallery walls, especially focusing their surveillance on the northern hillside.
Zhuang Guangdao’s attention was fixed solely on the sentinels on top of the wall. He had no idea that several pairs of eyes behind the loopholes had already locked onto him.
His stealthy approach had been spotted by the hidden sentinels long before he was halfway there.
The sentinels made no sound. Stooping low, one of them ran swiftly along the gallery, descended the fortress wall, and entered the ancestral hall. Bai Yuan and Thirty-Two, at that moment, were sleeping fully clothed inside.
The sentinel gently woke the two. “Lord Bai, Third Lady, the bandits have arrived.”
Bai Yuan sat bolt upright with a grin. “Quietly inform everyone in the village. Get up silently. Prepare for battle.”
The sentinel nodded and slipped out quietly.
Soon, several sentinels joined the effort. They stooped low, darted quickly through the Fortress, and woke the villagers family by family.
Within moments, everyone in Gaojia Village was awake.
But there was no commotion. That afternoon, Bai Yuan had practically shouted right into everyone’s ears for a long time, commanding them to make absolutely no noise during the operation.
With extensive experience organizing militias, he knew their military discipline was extremely poor. Many were “unreasonably dense”, and he’d had to bellow the simplest instructions into their ears multiple times before they’d remember.
Gao Chuwu, pulling on his cotton armor, emerged from his house. He ran straight into Zheng Daniu. The two strongest, and simplest, fellows grinned widely at each other. Raising their giant axes, they headed towards their predetermined defense positions.
The blacksmiths, Li Da and Gao Yiyi, also emerged. Donning their two-panel armor and hefting large hammers, they went directly behind the massive “Immortal’s large cannons” and sat down, staring intently at the mechanism.
The elderly and weak, along with the women, forbidden from direct combat, followed their assigned Captain. They climbed onto the rooftops beside the courtyard. Stones had already been piled there. No one had prepared boiling oil because this battle was taking place within the Fortress itself; splashing hot oil could lead to burning their own homes.
Everything was ready!
Bai Yuan also climbed onto a rooftop. Catching the eyes of the two sentinels patrolling the wall in the distance, he made a hand signal.
The two sentinels understood instantly and slowed their pace considerably. Originally patrolling far apart, they deliberately drew close to each other now and pretended to strike up a conversation.
“Eighth Brother, I’m feeling pretty sleepy.”
“Ah, me too.”
“Why do we have to patrol every single night anyway?”
“Haven’t bandits been stirring up trouble lately?”
“Our fortress wall was so tall, last time Supreme Bright King came and was beaten badly, won’t there be any thieves who dare to come?”
“Hmm, I also think no thieves would dare to come.”
“Then what are we patrolling for? I’m so sleepy, I want to find a place to sleep for a bit.”
“Yeah, sleep a bit, sleep a bit.”
The two sentinels walked while awkwardly chatting, entered the corner watchtower near the lookout tower, lay down on the ground, and began to snore loudly.
Zhuang Guangdao was thrilled in his heart: Hahaha, these fools of Gaojia Village. I was just troubled about not finding a chance to climb in, and now this, handed to me a huge opportunity for free.
He immediately crouched low and ran to the base of the fortress wall.
At that very moment, dozens of pairs of eyes were watching him through the arrow slits, and even Li Daoxuan’s big face was looking down at him from the sky, but he was completely unaware…
Bai Yuan whispered softly, “Shh! Everyone don’t make a sound, don’t scare him off.”
Under the watchful eyes of many, Zhuang Guangdao untied a bundle of grass rope from his waist, formed it into a loop, then glanced at the row of defensive positions on the fortress wall above, and flung it hard…
The rope loop soared high up in the air!
Bai Yuan and the others cheered inwardly for him: “Hit it!”
But it didn’t hit, and the rope loop fell back outside the city.
Bai Yuan and the others: “Ah?”
Zhuang Guangdao wasn’t discouraged; he retrieved the rope loop, aimed again at the top of the wall, and threw it with all his might…
Bai Yuan and the others urged him on again in their thoughts: “Hit it!”
It really hit!
The rope loop caught onto a jut-out and tightened.
Bai Yuan and the others celebrated jubilantly: “Oh yeah, he scored it!”
Farther behind in the woods, Zheng Yanfu and a gang of fierce bandits were delighted too: “Oh yeah, Zhuang Guangdao scored it!”
Even Li Daoxuan couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up: “Oh yeah, scored it! Well done, young hero—a nine-meter tall wall, only two tosses to get the rope loop hooked. Why don’t you join the Olympics?”
At that instant, everyone was elated, no one was upset!
Zhuang Guangdao wiped his hands on his clothes, then spat “ptui ptui” twice onto his palms, rubbed them together several times, seized the rope with both hands, braced his feet against the wall surface, and started climbing.
This guy really had some skill; a nine-meter wall. Swish swish in and out, he scrambled up it in no time.
Lightly flipping over the wall, he first peeked at the two sentinels loudly snoring in a far-off corner—of course he shouldn’t disturb them—so he crouched low, descended via the stairs behind the fortress wall, and circled around to the back of the Fortress gate.
The two heavy, massive iron doors made him gasp: Just how much iron went into making these doors? How much were they worth? Robbing this village once and he’d be set for life with food.
He pushed at one door and it wouldn’t budge, so he frantically found the winch behind the doors and turned it carefully, gingerly, terrified that some “creak squeak” noise might rouse the village people.
Luckily, this Hakka roundhouse was still quite new, custom-made not long ago; newer mechanisms are usually very slick, so opening the door was actually silent, with just an extremely faint scrape of metal.
After Zhuang Guangdao opened the city gates, he stood by the entrance, beaming with triumph, and waved vigorously toward the northern hillside.
Over on this side, Zheng Yanfu’s gang immediately rushed out from the woods, crouching low and darting toward the city gates.
“They’re coming! They’re coming.” Bai Yuan was ecstatic: “My foresight and calculations were truly miraculous, hahaha. As they say, ‘calculating’ is counting. In the Six Arts of Gentlemen, this ‘counting’ skill can surely be added now, right? Hahaha!”
Thirty-Two murmured under his breath: “Can this really be forced in?”
Bai Yuan: “Hmm?”
Thirty-Two: “Ahem! I said nothing at all.”

Chapter 71: Everyone Was Very Happy