Lu Cijian stared at the person in his arms, feeling somewhat lost.
It felt like I had suddenly gone back to more than ten years ago.
He watched his mother die in front of him in the same way back then.
At that time, he didn't know what death was; he only knew that his mother would never wake up again.
He felt a surge of blood rushing to his chest, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Yimian was shocked and quickly caught him.
However, Lu Cijian had already completely lost consciousness.
The young man's dark clothes were covered in wet bloodstains, with several large wounds that were still bleeding, as well as many small wounds, making for a shocking sight.
His face was deathly pale, and even his breathing was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.
Looking at Song Bingcheng beside him, he was completely lifeless, and his body temperature was slowly disappearing.
By this time, the sky was gradually turning a pale white, and the city's garrison had already captured the bandits and elite soldiers.
Zhao Zuoling and his group were getting impatient on the boat, staring intently into the depths of the forest, but no news came from inside. This made those outside as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
As dawn broke and there was still no movement inside, the group grew restless.
Zhao Zuoling simply said, "I'll go in and take a look. You all keep a close watch on the ship in case anything goes wrong."
As he spoke, he struggled to disembark despite his burns.
At that moment, a series of hurried footsteps echoed from the woods.
He immediately looked toward the source of the sound and saw a group of men in black carrying someone out.
Zhao Zuoling was startled and rushed forward, but when he saw who was on the stretcher, he froze on the spot. "What, what happened? How did Lord Lu get so badly injured?"
Their group had originally started a wildfire on the other side of the mountain using a windmill, but unexpectedly, city guards came to stop them, and they had to use a waterwheel to extinguish the fire.
Some of the uninjured people went inside with Jiang Yimian, while the others stayed outside.
They had thought that Jiang Yimian had brought so many city guards, and that they would surely win this battle. But seeing Lu Cijian's appearance now only made them tremble with fear.
The young man had too many wounds, big and small, and his face was excessively pale. He lay on the stretcher without any sign of life.
If it weren't for the faint breathing, he would have thought the other person was already in trouble.
Not to mention the city guards who were carried down one after another.
Jiang Yimian did not answer, but only said, "Let's go back first."
With that, he boarded the boat.
Because many people were injured, the group did not stay on the island for long. They left some of the city guards to clean up the battlefield, while the rest followed Jiang Yimian back to the city.
On the way back, everyone on the boat was unusually silent, showing no joy whatsoever at the prospect of victory.
The city's defenders suffered heavy casualties during the bandit suppression operation, not to mention the menacing Xiliang forces outside the city. They dared not relax their vigilance for even a moment.
After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Zuoling finally went up to the deck.
There is only one person on the deck at this time.
The girl's riding outfit was stained with blood and had many torn parts.
Her slender figure looked as if she might be blown over by the sea breeze at any moment.
But it was this very person who turned the tide of the battle today.
Although he didn't go inside, he heard about what happened inside from many of the city's guards.
If Jiang Yimian hadn't arrived in time with her troops, Lord Lu and the 20,000 city guards would have perished together with the river bandits.
Their fire burned not only the bandits, but also all the soldiers guarding the city.
They all came here with the determination to die, and even after learning of Lord Lu's plan, not one of them backed down.
But when he saw Jiang Yimian leading people to rescue them, he couldn't help but be moved.
He believed that the other soldiers guarding the city felt the same way he did.
The princess not only saved their lives, but also gave them the strength to continue fighting.
Those river bandits and elite soldiers were actually a real headache for the city's defenders.
Not to mention the shortage of manpower; if it weren't for the people from the Ink Pavilion who lent them a hand in the middle...
In reality, the defending soldiers probably couldn't hold out either.
But an even bigger problem awaits them now.
After hesitating for a long time, he stepped forward and said, "Princess, I know you must be feeling bad right now, but I want to know what will happen to those Xiliang people outside the city?"
They suffered heavy losses this time, and they have no chance of winning if they fight the Xiliang people head-on again.
But those people from Xiliang had no choice but to deal with it.
Although it is unknown what method the princess used to temporarily appease the people of Xiliang, they will eventually realize what is happening.
Once they learn that the city's garrison has gone to suppress bandits and suffered heavy losses, they will immediately launch a full-scale attack on the city. At that time, Weizhou City will still be in crisis.
Jiang Yimian glanced at the familiar white-tailed eagle circling and calling in the sky before saying, "Don't worry, those Xiliang people have already been defeated."
Zhao Zuoling stared in astonishment, "Defeated? How is that possible?"
All 40,000 of their city garrison troops have come to suppress the bandits, leaving Weizhou City with less than 10,000 garrison troops. Even if the Southern Guard Army arrives in time, it will be impossible to easily take down those Xiliang people.
He thought the other person was joking.
Jiang Yimian simply stared at the circling white-tailed eagle without saying anything more.
Seeing this, Zhao Zuoling sighed and ultimately didn't ask any more questions.
In any case, we still need to get back as soon as possible.
The group hurried along and finally returned to Weizhou City just as dawn was breaking.
As soon as the ship approached the dock, cheers rose louder and louder from the people of the city.
"Great! The Xiliang people have been defeated, and Weizhou City no longer needs to be sealed off."
"The Southern Guards arrived just in time. I heard they blocked the mountain road, leaving those Xiliang people with nowhere to escape, and they drowned directly."
"Yes, you didn't see the miserable state of those Xiliang people. I heard that the water in the mountains was drawn out from the tunnels inside the city."
They dug such a huge pit in just one night, just waiting to drown those Xiliang people.
"That was dug by several thousand city guards overnight. I was wondering why they suddenly set off fireworks last night. It turns out it was an empty city ploy."
Combined with the water attack this morning, they caught the Xiliang people completely off guard.
"That was so satisfying! Those Xiliang people really chose a good spot, right at the foot of the mountain. I guess they thought it would be easy to escape there, but they didn't expect that the Southern Guards were already guarding the mountain. They went up and killed them one by one."
"If those Xiliang people hadn't camped there, I don't think this water attack would have worked."
"Who says otherwise? I heard it was Princess Ning'an who came up with the idea. Princess Ning'an is truly extraordinary."
"No, why would they suddenly think of using such a method to attack? Also, where are the other city guards? Why didn't we see them last night?"
"You don't know this, do you? Last night, the city guards were all taken away by that Lord Lu from the capital to suppress bandits. Those river bandits are not easy to deal with. I wonder how the city guards are doing now."
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