Chapter 877 The Marquis of Xuanping has arrived! (First update)

At Shen Shi (3-5 PM), a fierce wind blew.

Marquis Xuanping and 50,000 imperial troops launched a powerful attack on the north gate.

Six Liang Kingdom chariots, under the cover of shields, charged through the rain of arrows and catapults from the city walls, ramming the tightly closed city gates in turn.

This city gate was hit hard a month ago, and it was only repaired a few days ago before it was hit again.

The Jin soldiers behind the city gate stood ready, spears raised.

"Why did it crash into us so quickly? Is there some mistake?" a Jin soldier asked.

When they attacked Pucheng, it took at least 25 minutes from the sounding of the attack horn to the actual ramming of the city gate. They deployed a total of six chariots, four of which were destroyed by the huge rocks on the city wall.

The others were unable to answer him.

The general organizing the defense and attack below said, "Don't panic. The Yan army is outnumbered by us, and they just fought a battle with the Liang army. After marching all night to get here, they are exhausted. They are only showing off with the weapons they seized from the Liang army. They are at their last gasp! Even if they break through, they are no match for us!"

These words successfully inspired the soldiers.

The Jin army on the city wall regained its high morale!

Outside the city walls, ladders broke through the barrage of arrows and reached the foot of the walls.

The siege ladders of the Liang Kingdom were incredibly useful. They had shields at the top, and people stood on a liftable wooden plank. With a whoosh, the ladder was pulled up, and the shields on the ladder automatically opened a skylight.

Just as a Jin soldier picked up a stone, a figure darted out from the skylight and pierced his throat with a spear!

Once the first person climbed the city wall, a second person would naturally follow.

The Jin soldiers figured out the pattern of the siege ladders. As soon as a gap was opened, they would raise their longswords or spears and thrust them downwards fiercely!

People kept climbing up the city wall, and people kept falling down.

War is never a game where either side has absolute dominance; it is fought on the backs of countless corpses, and regardless of victory or defeat, there will be casualties.

Another ladder's skylight opened, and the Jin army shouted and thrust at the ladder's window. At that moment, a Yan soldier rushed in from the side, deflected his weapon with a sword, and cut him off the city wall!

A steady stream of Yan troops scaled the city walls, and the situation on the walls began to spiral out of control.

They are a weary army, but they are not at their last gasp.

This is the territory of Great Yan, and no one can invade it!

Seeing the situation was dire, the general on the city wall ordered, "Strong crossbows!"

The crossbow is a ballista with a longer range and greater destructive power than a bow and arrow; its power is enough to destroy any war chariot!

Tang Yueshan drew his longbow and shot one arrow at a time, taking down the crossbowmen one by one!

At such a great distance and from such a tricky angle, the Jin army had no idea how the man had managed to hit the target!

"That's the guy! Shoot him!"

Unfortunately, the chance is gone.

With a deafening roar, the last city gate was breached.

Tang Yueshan decisively sheathed the Tang family bow, drew his sword, and shouted three times in the few words of Yan language he knew: "You bastards! Your grandpa's here! Brothers! Charge!"

The crowd raised their weapons and shouted as they charged into the city with him.

He charged ahead, but soon, he was overtaken by someone.

To be precise, there are two.

One was riding a horse, and the other was flying through the sky using his light-footed skills.

"Huh? Old Xiao? You're personally taking the field?"

This isn't like you.

Aren't you always sitting in the back watching the show?

Marquis Xuanping suffered from a back injury and rarely went into battle; he mostly directed the battlefield from his chariot.

Marquis Xuanping glanced at him: "It's up to you, Old Tang."

"Huh?" Tang Yueshan was taken aback, not understanding what he meant by those words.

The next instant, he saw Chang Jing charge towards the Jin army, carving a bloody path for Marquis Xuanping.

Marquis Xuanping spurred his horse forward, leaving Tang Yueshan with only a dashing and unrestrained silhouette.

Tang Yueshan was completely dumbfounded.

Lao Xiao, I suspect you're planning to desert, but I have no proof.

...

Marquis Xuanping exuded an aura of fierce power that could kill anyone who stood in his way, and not a single soldier in the Jin army dared to stop him.

Even so, it's still too far to get to Ghost Mountain from here.

...

In the passage of Ghost Mountain, Shangguan Yan could not open the stone door blocked by Shangguan Qing, so she had no choice but to keep walking forward until she finally arrived at the back mountain, where she ran into Mu Qingchen and the others.

"Your Highness!" Mu Qingchen stepped forward to support her, glanced behind her, and her eyes dimmed. "The Crown Prince..."

Shangguan Yan was so worried that she could no longer maintain the composure of the Crown Princess, and her voice was choked with emotion: "Gongsun Yu wanted to burn the mountain, and Qing'er went to stop him."

Mu Qingchen opened his mouth, completely unprepared for this situation.

Speaking of which, wasn't the eldest grandson of the emperor supposed to go to Cangxue Pass? How come he's in Pucheng?

Furthermore, he vaguely sensed that this eldest grandson of the emperor was quite different from the eldest grandson of the emperor he had met in Shengdu before.

Also, what was that noise just now?

There were too many things that had happened regarding that noise, and Shangguan Yan forgot to ask about it for the moment.

All she remembered was that after they landed, Qing'er pulled a long iron tube from under the haystack. It looked like a firecracker or a black fireball, and its power was so great that it even sent Xie Xingzhou flying.

"We have to find Qing'er quickly." Shangguan Yan took out the porcelain bottle in her hand, tears welling up uncontrollably in her eyes. "His medicine is lost. What if the poison in his body takes effect... he'll die..."

Mu Qingchen said, "Let's go back the way we came and see if we can find the small cave again."

Gongsun Yu lost track of Shangguan Qing and Shangguan Yan in the small cave. If Shangguan Qing wanted to find him, he would probably return there.

...

Drip, drip, drip.

Water droplets dripped from the passage and landed on Shangguan Qing's cheeks.

Shangguan Qing had a dream.

He dreamed of himself as a child.

He would always sneak off to play in the back mountain, and occasionally go to the village to find his friends.

No one knew he was the eldest grandson of the emperor. His mother never made him feel that his identity or his body was different from ordinary people.

Others climb trees, so he climbs trees too.

He gets into fights when others do.

While others were lying by the stream drinking cool water, he did the same.

The price he pays is higher than others, and once he's scared, he won't do it again. His mother won't be too strict with him.

He had thought that each child would have several bouts of poisoning every month, and that each child would die before they were twenty.

He only realized he was the only exception when he accidentally learned about his situation from his servants.

He asked his mother, "Why?"

His mother told him that everyone is born different; some are rich all their lives, some are poor all their lives, some are ugly, some are beautiful, some are intelligent, some are stupid, some are strong, and some are weak.

Some people are born as commoners, while others are born as the eldest grandson of royalty.

Life takes different forms, and lifespans vary in length.

But all of this is normal.

His mother did not treat him differently from normal people, so he never felt distressed about his body, nor did he feel sorry for himself.

He calmly accepted his own life of birth, aging, sickness, and death. If he had any sadness, it would be his reluctance to part with those he cared about.

Snap!

A large drop of water hit his cheek.

He was somewhat jolted awake, his eyelids twitching slightly.

"I...I can't die yet..."

"My lord! There's movement ahead!"

The voices of the Jin army could be heard from the end of the passage.

Then came a series of hurried footsteps.

A hand grabbed Shangguan Qing by the collar, lifted him off the ground, and exclaimed incredulously, "My lord! It's the eldest grandson of the Great Yan Emperor!"

Thud.

Something fell to the ground.

He picked it up and looked at it: "My lord, what is this?"

"Bring them all over," Gongsun Yu said calmly.

He was at a fork in the road. Ahead was the passage where Shangguan Qing was, and behind was the passage leading to the ground. On either side were two more passages, one of which connected to the small cave they had just come from.

The last passage leads to an unknown destination.

The guard, carrying Shangguan Qing in one hand and a musket in the other, strode towards Gongsun Yu.

He didn't care at all whether Shangguan Qing's body could withstand his violent dragging.

Shangguan Qing's knees were scraped raw on the ground, drawing blood.

"Is he still breathing?" Gongsun Yu asked.

"He's breathing!" the guard said, roughly throwing Shangguan Qing to the ground. He bent down and grabbed Shangguan Qing's hair, intending to lift him up so his lord could see him.

But just as his hand reached out, he heard a whooshing sound beside him, so faint and subtle that it seemed like his imagination.

Then he saw his own hand fly away!

—The arm is still there, the posture of reaching for the hair is still there, but the hand… is gone!

"ah--"

Finally regaining his senses, he let out a shrill scream!

Blood gushed out like a fountain!

Just as the spray was about to hit Shangguan Qing's back, a young man in black flashed over and carried Shangguan Qing away from the ground!

The young man in black stepped onto the opposite stone wall, used the momentum to bounce back, and landed steadily on one knee on the passage he had come from.

Another expert drew his sword and stepped forward, slashing at the young man in black!

The young man in black robes held Shangguan Qing tightly in both arms, unable to free his hands.

Behind him, Marquis Xuanping walked out with icy eyes and kicked the man in the chest!

Marquis Xuanping: "You dare touch my own son!"

*

I'm having a bit of writer's block. I'll update again this afternoon.

(End of this chapter)