Wei Li, carrying the medicine, appeared silently beside Zhao Xiheng.
Zhao Xiheng was shocked that he dared to show up after doing something wrong. She grabbed the medicine and started throwing it at him, her voice hoarse like a broken gong, "Get out!"
Wei Li picked up the medicine and placed it beside her. Just as he was about to say something, Chen Ruojiang's voice came from outside, "My lord, Liu Huan is challenging us outside Dandong City, and the generals of Goguryeo have also gathered their troops in Fuyu and Pyongyang."
Fuyu is north of Pyongyang, while Pyongyang is south of Pyongyang and north of Cheongju.
Now, apart from the Xianbei in the west who haven't joined the fray, Wei Li is practically besieged on all sides, and the situation is dire.
It can only be blamed on the fact that he made too many enemies in his daily life. When he encountered danger, not only did no one lend a helping hand, but his situation was made even worse.
Zhao Xiheng couldn't help but bite her nails. It would be a miracle if Wei Li didn't die.
She looked up and met Wei Li's gaze.
His dark eyes were deep and his emotions were complex. Zhao Xiheng seemed to sense something was wrong in them. Wei Li raised his hand and rubbed against her neck, saying, "Wait for me to come back."
Are you waiting for your body to return?
As Zhao Xiheng was pondering this, she saw Wei Li already stepping out.
This is probably the last time the two of them will meet. Otherwise, he might die halfway through and then escape back to strangle her first.
What flashed in his eyes just now was probably murderous intent.
"Wei Li," Zhao Xiheng suddenly called out to him.
"What's wrong?" Wei Li turned around.
Zhao Xiheng wanted to say, "If you can't beat them and are about to die, please don't come back and strangle her first," but the words stuck in her throat, so she changed them to, "Take care of yourself."
She was a little afraid that if she said those words, Wei Li would strangle her to death before he died.
Wei Li's heart clenched, his grip on the pearl curtain tightened, he gave Zhao Xiheng a deep look, and then quickly left.
With Pingzhou in such a state, Chen Ruojiang has been under considerable pressure these days. The panicked people in the city need to be appeased, and the restless hearts of the soldiers need to be calmed. In particular, being surrounded on all sides has caused him to suffer from insomnia and hair loss night after night.
"My lord, what should we do now?" He handed Wei Li a pair of gleaming silver blades, being careful not to cut his own hands.
"What do you mean, what should we do?" Wei Li seemed completely unaware of how difficult his situation was.
Chen Ruojiang was stunned by Wei Li's nonchalant tone. He really didn't know what situation he was in now.
"My lord, we are now surrounded on three sides. Morale in the army is low, and the people in the city are also trying to flee."
We might die, and the kind of death where we're not even completely mortified.
It was him who, having followed Wei Li for so long, became complacent. Anyone else in that situation would have given up long ago.
Amidst a pile of bad news, one slightly better thing happened: Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao accused Wei Li of treason in their indictment. This move by Goguryeo caused some hesitation among the people.
If Wei Zei really colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, why would Goguryeo turn its spear against its own ally?
Wei Li glanced at his knife casually. "You're ignorant. You'll be fine after winning a few matches."
Win? Where are they going to win? Even if Pingzhou has 500,000 troops, it seems unlikely.
Chen Ruojiang was so anxious he was tearing his hair apart. "My lord, do you have any ideas?"
"What do you think of the alliance between Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao?" Wei Li asked.
"This is a bit unexpected." Chen Ruojiang racked his brains for a long time before coming up with this as the only thing he could think of.
No one could have predicted that Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao, these two old rivals, would form an alliance; they were practically fighting each other just a few months ago.
Wei Li gave a sinister smile, "Just two donkeys, what's so great about them?" He'd just dangle a little something in their mouth and run away.
"My lord, shall we request reinforcements?" Chen Ruojiang suggested.
"Ask for help? Ask whom? Who do you think is willing to help me?"
Chen Ruojiang thought to himself, "My lord's self-awareness has come at a very inopportune time." A thought struck him, "The Xianbei in the west are indeed militarily strong..."
Before he could finish speaking, Wei Li raised his hand and slapped him across the face, his eyes full of malice. "You dare say that again?"
Chen Ruojiang lowered his head slightly, not daring to utter a sound. His face was swollen and blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth.
He was really angry just now, so he said things without thinking.
Wei Li pointed to the map on the table, raising his chin slightly, "Let me tell you, I'm not only going to survive this time, but I'm also going to fight the Xianbei in the future! Anyone else can live, but the Xianbei must die."
Chen Ruojiang quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "Your subordinate knows his crime and begs for punishment, my lord."
The Xianbei and the Great Zhou had a long-standing feud. When Zhao Xinglie was alive, they fought to the death. But when Emperor Shunhe ascended the throne, he claimed to value peace and sent money and people to Zhao Xinglie. Zhao Xinglie was probably turning in his grave.
Emperor Shunhe was cursed by the people of the Great Zhou for many years because of this.
The two men took the map to the eastern camp. The atmosphere in the army was somewhat heavy. Everywhere Wei Li looked, there was a sense of oppression and negativity. Chen Ruojiang asked Wei Li with concern, "My lord, should we boost morale?"
Wei Li tilted his head. "An army driven by desperation is bound to lose. I just have some things to say."
Everyone was gathered at the drill ground in Dongying. Looking down from above, there was a huge sea of heads, which Wei Li could see clearly from his vantage point.
Everyone thought he was going to boost morale as usual, but Wei Li stepped on the drum and said...
"Have you heard about the five charges Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao listed against me?"
The men below dared not respond, and Wei Li frowned, "Speak."
They then answered in unison, "We've heard about it."
Do you believe it?
"I don't believe it!" the crowd shouted in unison. The very first condition alone was punishable by death, so even if they knew it, they dared not say they believed it.
"Except for the last one, I did everything. I'm not afraid to admit it. The last one is what I didn't do. What is Goguryeo anyway that I'm willing to cooperate with?"
Wei Li let out a breath, feeling a little better after these past few days of depression.
He'd rather be attacked than be attacked, but he couldn't let people pin the blame on him.
After Wei Li finished speaking, there was a long silence. Everyone thought he had more to say and waited.
"What are you looking at? Scatter, get back to your training." Wei Li glanced at them and, seeing that they didn't move, turned back and scolded them.
"No, that's all?" someone whispered below.
"What else do you want to hear? Do you expect me to drag you around telling you to fight well and that you'll definitely win? That you'll get meat if you win? Dream on! I have to give you a pep talk before we even fight Goguryeo. Who do you think you are? If we can suppress them once or twice, we can fight a third time. Disperse!" Wei Li finished cursing and walked away.
People then gradually dispersed.
"Can we win?" Some people were confused by Wei Li's words and couldn't figure it out.
"I think so, after all, Goguryeo is now divided in two, and the land is only so big."
However, Dandong needs to mobilize a large number of troops, so there will definitely be not many left to be dispersed to Fuyu and Pyongyang.
Wei Li ordered Yang Zeli to lead 80,000 men from the Eastern Camp to meet the enemy at Fuyu, Chen Ruojiang to lead 70,000 men from the Southern Camp to meet the enemy at Pyongyang, and he himself led 200,000 men to garrison near Dandong City.
Everyone was terrified. Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao had mobilized the resources of two provinces, almost emptying Qingzhou and Youzhou, and were determined to take Pingzhou. They had deployed 400,000 troops.
When Zhao Xinglie fought against the Xianbei, his army numbered only 800,000.
Yang Zeli, having suffered years of suppression, was eager to achieve merit and victory. In battle, he displayed a fearless spirit reminiscent of Wei Li, and with his men at his disposal, he wouldn't retreat until he reached the enemy's camp. Chen Ruojiang, needless to say, acted with prudence because he always covered for Wei Li. Both sides mostly emerged victorious in their battles against Goguryeo.
Goguryeo did not expect that Wei Li would not prioritize Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao, but instead spare so many people to deal with them, leaving them in a rather humiliating situation.
In Dandong, neither Liu Huan nor Wang Zhiyao was willing to make the first move, fearing heavy losses if they attacked first. They only engaged in minor skirmishes with Wei Li.
They frequently send people to challenge each other, but they never deploy large-scale troops. The two sides have been at odds for almost half a month.
Fortunately, Zhao Mingjin, the sucker, was willing to provide money and supplies for the two of them.
Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao split the grain in half and placed one half in their respective camps. Although they were cooperating, they did not trust each other.
The insults below were extremely vile. If it were Wei Li in his old temper, he probably would have opened the city gates and chopped the men up long ago. But perhaps reading makes one wiser. Wei Li now looked at the enemy generals riding their horses below and picked up a few pebbles from the city wall.
"Have you ever seen me shoot an arrow?" he asked General Song.
General Song shook his head.
Wei Li boasted without any modesty, "I can hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces." Then, gathering his strength, he threw a pebble downwards.
With a "bang," it hit the other person's head.
General Song was greatly surprised. The city wall was only three zhang away from the ground, yet Wei Li had such accuracy; his strength must have been considerable.
With a series of thuds, Wei Li smashed all the stones in his hand onto the heads of the challengers.
He burst into laughter, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Is the tunnel finished?" Wei Li asked General Song as he watched the men flee in disarray.
"It's dug up. Does the lord intend to burn their grain?" The soil was frozen solid in winter, and a single hoe stroke wouldn't yield much soil. They could only melt the soil with a fire while digging, and the tunnel took a full half month to dig.
"Take some of Liu Huan's grain and put it into Wang Zhiyao's granary."
He wasn't afraid of dragging things out. Even without food, Pingzhou was full of mountains and wild animals. The longer it dragged on, the more suspicious the two people who were forced to stay together would become.
If Chen Ruojiang were here, he would surely marvel at how useful studying is. Those who only knew how to charge ahead last year are now seizing opportunities to sow discord.
Although winters are cold in Pingzhou, shaved ice is very popular. Small vendors use various sugar waters and honey water to freeze sweet ice cubes and sell them at the market. Wealthy families also shaved ice and eat it with fruit juice, fruit, and honey.
Zhao Xiheng already disliked the cold winter, and making her eat ice would be like killing her. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. She saw the maids outside eating ice and stamping their feet happily, so she also got a craving.
The new chef was very skilled; the shaved ice was sweet and sour, and with the warm indoor environment, Zhao Xiheng didn't feel cold at all; on the contrary, she found it very exciting.
The colder it got, the more she slept. When she woke up groggily, it was almost mealtime. She beckoned to her maid and asked, "Is there any more ice?"
"Madam, your period is ten days late this month. Perhaps it's because you ate something cold. You might have a stomachache when it comes. You can't eat it now. I'll go and call a doctor to take a look at you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com