Chapter 76: The City is High and the Moat is Deep - His Majesty and His Brothers Resolve Misunderstanding + Sweet Introduction...
The setting sun dyed the reed marshes a deep crimson.
A sudden evening breeze arose, and all the reeds swayed in the same direction.
Lian Qing strained to see deeper into the reeds, but in this vast and desolate environment, he could only hear the sounds of the reeds without seeing anyone. He didn't know where this person came from; had he been following them? Or...?
Lian Qing gripped the horse's reins tightly with both hands, his calloused palms sweating slightly, which stung his palms.
Was this the same person who delivered the blueprints during the rescue of the emperor at Luoshan Mountain stronghold?
Lian Qing was shrouded in doubt.
He was always impulsive, but now he dared not speak or ask, standing like a statue behind Xie Qianli, becoming increasingly unable to understand Xie Qianli.
He even vaguely felt a shift from awe to slight fear towards General Xie.
Xie Qianli cut to the chase: "Is His Majesty in Guangling?"
The mysterious man vanished without a trace, and after a moment replied, "The city is searching for two spies. One is armed with a short knife, and the other's situation is unknown."
Then it can be basically confirmed that it is Ying Dang.
Xie Qianli: "Is it possible to contact the king?"
"Guangling City is high and its moat is deep, making it difficult to find any trace of its inhabitants."
The conversation was extremely brief.
Both sides tried their best to shorten the meeting time, and Xie Qianli waved his hand: "Go ahead."
The activity in the reed marshes suddenly ceased.
Lian Qing peered around again, but still couldn't see anyone. Cold sweat slowly seeped into his skin.
A faint voice rose from the reeds, seemingly followed by something important: "Jia Ruzhen is seriously injured." Then the voice disappeared.
A layer of frost appeared on Xie Qianli's brows.
He pondered for a moment, then his dry, thin lips slowly curved into a smile.
"Pass on the order to the Dragon Martial Army soldiers."
Lian Qing replied, "What are your orders, General?"
"His Majesty has not been captured yet. That's good news," Xie Qianli said. "Prefect Jia must be trying to turn the tables by killing the emperor. Right now, his mind is all on His Majesty, which means His Majesty has bought time for the siege."
“If the city falls, and the man surnamed Jia hasn’t found the emperor yet, he’ll surely die. I’m determined to distract him.”
Lian Qing: "Then we..."
"Fully cooperate with the Southern Expeditionary Army in their attack on the city!"
***
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock, tick-tock...
As dusk approaches, dark clouds gather from all sides!
Just now, they were thrown out of Yongning Prince's Mansion. Ying Xi, relying on her familiarity with the terrain, slipped into the alley between the mansion and the adjacent houses.
Jiang Guang and his men, carrying swords and knives, ran in the opposite direction!
Ying Xi sneered at their completely misguided direction.
Blood still flowed from Ying Dang's wounds all over his body, but he held Ying Xi's hand tightly, his mind already hazy: "Brother... how could he... how..."
"I can't hear what you're saying!" Ying Xi frowned.
Even if she were to deal with her younger brother, she would wait until they were out of danger.
Ying Xi lifted Prince Yong's arm and could clearly feel his body growing heavier. Ying Xi tore off Prince Yong's silk robe and immediately tied it to the top of his upper arm, slowing the blood flow.
However, the sword wound on Ying Dang's back did not show any visible signs of injury.
Are there any doctors in Guangling City now?
The long street was deserted.
Because of the ravages of war, no one dared to go out easily. Ying Xi dragged Ying Dang along, trying to get as close to the clinic as possible.
A squad of soldiers, armed with weapons, ran past in formation.
Prince Yong sprang up, intending to draw his sword, but instead spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yingxi had no choice but to cover it with her hand, and thick, sticky blood from her younger brother seeped out from between her fingers.
He led Ying Dang to hide in a corner, blending into the shadows cast by the wall as night fell.
The rebel group's destination was the city gate.
The military situation was urgent, and the soldiers did not look to their left or right:
"Quickly! Speed things up, Xie Meng is attacking the city again!"
"There were hundreds of people pushing battering rams below the city walls, and the walls were set on fire twice. Those people raised their shields."
When a fire falls from the sky, it won't cause too much harm as long as no one is burned.
Ying Xi nodded secretly, it seemed that Xie Meng had been appointed appropriately.
The soldiers then said, "The Xie family has been besieging the city for a long time. Why doesn't the prefect take advantage of their low morale and attack Xie Meng's watchtower?"
"That guy surnamed Xie, he even brought someone else surnamed Xie with him!"
"The commander of the Longwu Army, Xie Qianli, claimed to be attacking the city on the orders of the Emperor of Jiangbei, and even put a price tag on the head of Prefect Jia..." The last part of the sentence was spoken in a lower voice as the troops moved further and further away.
Ying Xi stepped out of the shadows.
He had already left the camp, but the morale of the troops remained high, thanks in no small part to Koma.
Perhaps Xie Qianli was the vanguard leading the charge in this siege.
The emperor and the general reached a tacit tactical agreement: Xie Qianli would create an opportunity for himself to escape.
Does he know that I am in the city?
Ying Xi lowered her eyelashes.
In the midst of the intense tension, a wisp of his mind drifted away, as if he were once again enveloped in that silver-white cloak with the unicorn pattern, recalling the clean and warm aura that surrounded him.
Ying Xi's deep gray eyes flickered.
Sweet Tong sighed, "Big wolfhounds are so reliable, it's a pity they're straight."
Sweetie: "Shall we just break him up?"
Ying Xi paused.
Strangely, he could understand the meaning of the word "jue," and a sense of helplessness spread through him, causing him to gently curl the corners of his mouth.
But then the emperor sensitively recalled the words of the soldiers from earlier: both the navy and the Dragon Martial Army were surnamed Xie, and the ripples in his heart froze.
"No need."
"I knew it!" Sweetie grumbled.
Those brief reverie were interrupted by reality; Ying Xi heard someone shout:
"I was tricked by those two kids just now."
"They're there!"
He is Jia Ruzhen's apprentice!
Jiang Guang realized he had been tricked, and led a dozen martial arts masters back in another direction.
They moved incredibly fast, and their figures became increasingly clear in no time.
Ying Xi was dragging Prince Yong along; going out now would expose them. But there was little to conceal the two brothers in this corner.
I just hope the other person isn't too bright and won't peek through the cracks in the wall, so I won't be fooled again.
As expected, Jiang Guang is a stubborn person.
His figure appeared outside the crack in the wall, but he didn't stop and kept running forward. Ying Xi closed her eyes.
Someone in the group said, "Junior brother, there's blood on the ground!"
Jiang Guang stopped abruptly.
Ying Xi broke out in a cold sweat. Perhaps he hadn't seen it, but Dang'er had accidentally spilled it.
Jiang Guang hesitated for a moment, while Ying Xi stared intently out from the crack in the wall.
Two homeless people were sitting against the wall across the street. When they saw a man with a knife coming, they trembled with fear.
"Did you see two spies?" Jiang Guang asked.
Fearing he might anger the man, the vagrant rolled his eyes and said, "He went...he went to the end of the street."
Jiang Guang: "Chase!"
The pursuers were incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, they vanished without a trace. Ying Xi was filled with lingering fear.
But Jiang Guang, having been deceived twice, had finally learned his lesson and remained lingering in the same spot, his elongated shadow constantly appearing in Ying Xi's field of vision.
Ying Dang then vomited blood.
"What's that sound?" Jiang Guang finally noticed the crack in the wall.
Ying Xi felt an extreme chill in her heart!
A figure darted into the gap.
A large, unsheathed sword flashed like lightning, relentlessly slashing at the two men!
Prince Yong blocked Ying Xi, but his brother took the knife from his hand, and his brother's back suddenly appeared in front of him.
Prince Yong was greatly alarmed, while his opponents were overjoyed.
Jiang Guang slashed at Ying Xi several times, but despite his fierce attacks, not a drop of blood came out.
The elasticity of the silicone caused the knife to either glide past the dummy's skin or clumsily embed itself into the dummy's body. The dummy was tough, and Jiang Guang's forceful strikes were more effective than the previous ones...
They've fallen for their trap!
The real Ying Xi bypassed the dummy.
Holding the knife with both hands, the short blade pierces the enemy's back.
Ying Dang grabbed his opponent's arm, which was still swinging his sword, and the two brothers surrounded Jiang Guang. Blood seeped through the cracks in the wall and slowly spread to the outside. The enemy fell completely silent.
Ying Xi's fingers trembled as she gripped the knife, her jade-like face splattered with blood. Drops of blood clung to her eyelashes.
He killed someone.
This is the first time that, in a life-or-death struggle, I have personally ended someone else's life.
The blood made him excited, and Ying Xi gasped for breath.
He had to exert all his strength to calm the feeling of his heart pounding in his chest. He dragged Ying Dang out of the long street, leaving behind a trail of red shoe prints.
Sweetheart: "Your Majesty..."
"It was an emergency, I shouldn't have let you see it." Ying Xi wiped the blood off her hands.
Sweet Tong asked timidly, "Is there anything else I can do to help Your Majesty?"
"Can we return to the base?"
Sweetie regrets, it makes a sizzling sound.
"cannot."
Ying Xi had repeatedly overdrawn the system's energy without properly helping Tian Tong recover. Now, he himself was nearing his limit and could no longer rely on the system. Sending messages via wild geese might expose his location, so Ying Xi dared not attempt it.
"Go to sleep. I'll call you if I need you."
Sweetie replied obediently, "Oh."
"After this war is over, I will let you arrange things for me, and I will be willing to do any task."
"Nice, nice!" Sweetie scattered a few light pink petals.
The little girl is very cute.
***
Walk.
Let's go again...
Never before had the nights in Guangling City been so unbearable.
When I was a child in Guangling, the night meant that after finishing my homework, I could read some of my favorite books, listen to stories from my father and mother, and when I was tired of playing, I would blow out the lamp, hold my younger brother, and the two of us would go to bed together.
Now, while they are conquering cities and seizing territories outside, they are facing armed conflict from within.
Ying Xi led Ying Dang along the familiar path they used to follow.
This street used to house many medical clinics.
Yingxi was sickly as a child, and the royal physician lived in the mansion. He had two months of annual leave each year, and the prince would also go out to seek medical treatment.
Ying Xi stood in front of one of the clinics, which was tightly boarded up, and she didn't know if anyone was inside.
He didn't want Dang'er to die.
Even though Dang'er did many infuriating things.
He hesitated whether to knock on the door.
Will this expose his and his brother's identities and whereabouts?
Internal strife made Ying Xi feel exhausted.
It wasn't until he was alone and in distress that he realized he couldn't rely on anyone and couldn't trust anyone.
Does an emperor also need to cultivate a close and stable relationship? Should he also appropriately let down his guard and stop scheming?
Ying Xi suddenly had an idea.
But then, a sudden tightening of the nerves tightened, and through the wall behind him, he heard voices again:
"Search over there!"
"Jiang Guang has been killed by them. These two can't have gone far. Watch out for the bloodstains on the ground!"
"Captain Sun, the enemy's vanguard commander has personally stormed the city walls!"
"The enemy general is organizing his soldiers to forcibly scale the city walls. Should we send troops out of the city to meet them in battle?"
Do you know who he is?
"General Xie Mengjun..."
"Bullshit!" the captain roared. "Xie Qianli is the young emperor's most trusted general. He has slaughtered all the rebel armies in the north. We dare to say that we can compete with him in naval battles. The city is built on land. If you dare to open the city gates, you can just wait to die!"
"What should we do then?"
"Report to the prefect, send things down to the city walls first!"
"Stones, furniture... throw down anything heavy you can find, crush these bastards to death."
Ying Xi's delicate eyebrows furrowed.
The emperor glanced towards the south gate, his thoughts lingering a little longer on the word "trust."
The Prince Yong, who was weighed down on his shoulders, could no longer stand. Ying Dang's knees buckled.
Ying Xi steeled herself and banged on the door of the clinic!
Bang.
Bang bang.
"Is there a doctor inside? I have a patient who needs treatment!"
The knocking sound seemed to be swallowed by the darkness. Ying Xi curled her fingers.
His knuckles tapped on the door again, and through the door, an old voice could be heard: "The doctor has gone to the prefect's residence. My son has not returned to the clinic for several days. Patient, please find another place to go."
Ying Xi's throat bobbed.
Upon hearing that the other party mentioned the Prefectural Governor's Office, he assumed that this was Jia Ruzhen's confidant.
But he could no longer support Prince Yong's body.
Ying Dang pressed his entire body against the thick wooden planks blocking the clinic, making a dull thud.
"Dang'er!"
Ying Xi fell down as well, using her arms to scoop up Prince Yong. The blackened wooden planks of Anren Pharmacy were stained with mottled blood.
Doctors are compassionate; though they are accustomed to life and death, they still cannot bear to see patients suffer.
The door of Anren Pharmacy was pushed open from the inside by a pair of large, wrinkled hands.
The elderly doctor, his hair white, stood alone in the dimly lit shop filled with the smell of herbs. There were no candles lit in the pharmacy, and in the moonlight, the old man's cloudy eyes seemed to be filled with tears.
Ying Xi slowly raised her head.
The old man slowly sized up the visitor, his eyes glistening with tears.
The old man said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, please come in."
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