Chapter 478 Opening the City Gates
The veins on the commander's forehead throbbed, and his grip on the hilt of his knife loosened and tightened repeatedly as he suppressed his anger and coldly stared at the magistrate.
Seeing the growing anger of the people below, the magistrate's forehead was beaded with sweat, and some of the angry people were even about to break through the guards' obstruction.
Seeing that the situation was getting increasingly out of control, the magistrate slowly retreated to the back of the county office, wiped the sweat from his brow, and prepared to leave through another door.
Lin Changning frowned as he watched the county magistrate prepare to flee and shouted, "This corrupt official is trying to escape!!! Everyone, charge! Stop him! Open the city gates and welcome the King of Chu into the city!! Once the King of Chu enters, Shunde will definitely distribute grain to everyone!!!"
Old Qian kicked a constable away first, then charged towards the magistrate yelling, "Charge! Kill the corrupt official and welcome the King of Chu into the city!!"
Qi Rong glanced at his personal guards mingling in the crowd beside him and gestured with his chin toward the constables who were stopping people.
Lin Changning and Qi Rong's guards instantly understood. They quickly pushed past several civilians and pinned down the constables who were blocking their way. As more and more constables came out of the county government office, some even drawing their knives, many civilians were frightened away. Lin Changning then squeezed through the crowd to the front.
With a swift push of both hands, he sent the officer who had drawn his sword sprawling backward. After snatching the sword from the other officer, he killed him with a single blow.
Perhaps it was the sight of blood that fueled the people's anger, and they charged forward. Seeing that he could no longer stop the enraged crowd, the magistrate immediately ordered his bailiffs to enter and close the gates of the county government office.
Lin Changning delivered a flying kick that sent one of the constables flying to the doorway, where he slammed heavily against the doorframe.
The immense impact forced the door, which was about to close, open a crack.
Lin Changning, along with Lao Qian, quickly stepped forward to prop up the gate. As they pushed the gate inward, they shouted, "Kill the corrupt official, open the city gate, and surrender the city to King Chu!"
"Kill the corrupt official, open the city gates, and surrender the city to King Chu!"
"Kill the corrupt official, open the city gates, and surrender the city to King Chu!"
Led by his personal guards, the people quickly followed Lin Changning's shouts and rushed into the county government office.
The gate quickly gave way and was forced open by the angry crowd. The magistrate, pale-faced, was pushed to the ground by the enraged mob and died shortly after being punched and kicked.
The other constables also suffered from the anger of the people, and were beaten and ran away with their heads in their hands. Lin Changning saw that it was about time, raised the sword he had just snatched, and shouted loudly.
"Fellow villagers, don't waste time here! If the soldiers come, none of us will be safe. Those with men, call for help; those with hoes, grab them! Let's rush out of the city gate now and surrender the city!!!"
Qi Rong shouted, "Now that we have killed the magistrate, everyone here will surely be punished by the court. Rather than be forced to death by these corrupt officials, we should fight alongside Lord Chu! Everyone, please go home and call your relatives. We will meet at the city gate in a few minutes, open the gate, and surrender the city!"
Old Qian gripped his wooden stick and raised his arm, shouting, "Let's go, folks, go home and call for help! Open the city gates! Welcome His Highness Prince Chu into the city!!!"
The people looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then a man took the lead and said, "I'll go back and bring all my brothers with me!! We have no other way to survive anyway, so we might as well take a gamble!!"
More and more angry people chattered and then quickly dispersed, running towards their homes. Many of them seemed to have family members there, standing behind a few people, looking somewhat confused.
Lin Changning looked at the somewhat dazed people and stepped forward again, saying, "The rest of you brothers, follow me. Let's first loot the weapons in the county government office, then we'll take the weapons and head to the city gate!"
As he spoke, Lin Changning grabbed a constable who had just been hiding in a corner, held a knife to the man's neck, and said coldly, "Where is your usual armory? Take us there!!"
The constables, still reeling from the riot, were completely disoriented. Seeing the magistrate trampled beyond recognition, they felt a chill run down their spines. Hearing Lin Changning's greeting, they sighed twice and raised their hands to lead the way.
"Oh, oh, I'll take you there right away. Come here, brave warrior."
Lin Changning and Lao Qian exchanged a glance and led the man toward the armory. When they arrived, they found the door locked. The constable said tremblingly, "I don't have the key to the armory."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lin Changning snorted coldly and kicked open the door.
He then abandoned his servants, shouting, "Brothers, grab your weapons and follow me to the city gate!!!"
The forty or fifty men behind him looked around and saw Lin Changning take the lead in going inside to get a knife. Then they saw Lao Qian and Qi Rong take out their weapons. Only then did they swarm into the armory.
Each person carried two weapons and followed Lin Changning, who had gone out first, straight towards the outside of the county government office.
Lin Changning saw that most of the people had arrived, and there were quite a few people on the road talking about what had just happened. Moreover, most of the people were carrying their weapons and heading towards the city gate.
After seeing him holding a weapon, they paused for a moment, then followed the group behind him.
As the crowds grew, the official road, which could only accommodate two carriages, was packed with people.
Lin Changning, with his men, looked at the heavily guarded soldiers at the gate, glanced at Lao Qian and Qi Rong, gave an imperceptible nod, and then charged forward with his sword raised.
"Kill! Open the city gates! Welcome the Prince!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Led by Lin Changning and a group of guards, hundreds of civilians grabbed knives and wooden sticks and rushed toward the city gate.
The soldiers defending the city turned pale. When they saw a group of civilians wielding knives and clubs rushing towards them, they were at a loss for how to resist.
Most of the soldiers defending the city were local soldiers from Shunde, and among the faces rushing forward, there were quite a few I recognized.
The owner of the dessert shop on East Street, the owner of the steamed bun shop on West Street, and even Uncle Liu, who grows vegetables at the east end of the village, were all in the group.
Before the soldiers defending the city could report to their superiors, Lin Changning led the angry crowd and broke up the group, and the two groups immediately started fighting.
Shouts of battle rang out simultaneously inside and outside the city. Li Mingxiu, who was slaughtering the imperial army outside the city, frowned as he heard the sounds coming from the city gate.
King Chu, sitting on his horse, clearly heard the sounds of fighting at the city gate. His heart tightened, and he thought something had happened to Lin Changning and the others.
He led two generals and a thousand cavalrymen at a brisk pace toward the city gate.
Li Mingxiu had already surrounded the imperial troops with his cavalry. Upon hearing the sound at the city gate, he gritted his teeth and handed over command to Li Mingde beside him.
"Myna! Keep an eye on this battlefield, I'm going to attack the city gate!!!"
Li Mingde cut down an enemy general beside him and looked at the city gate with some worry.
"Leave this to me, Mingxiu, you take some men and go quickly to meet up with the second brother and the others!"
Yesterday, the second and sixth princes took dozens of personal guards with them. I hope nothing unexpected happened to them!
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