Chapter 273 Letter of Surrender
"Mom, don't pull me, I won't leave... I want to stay."
Li Wan pulled her wrist out of Madam Li's grip and said with displeasure, "My cousin is clearly here, why are we running?"
It was almost noon when the mother and daughter hid in an alley near the north city gate, both dressed as ordinary peasant women.
Seeing that no one was around, Madam Li turned around and said, "If we don't run now, we'll be stuck when the city falls."
"Cousin, can't you beat the King of Qi?" Li Wan retorted unconvincedly.
Madam Li waved her hand. "Whether we can win or not, I, as a mother, can tell at a glance. Your cousin's army has even abandoned the main camp outside the city. Now the entire army is defending this isolated city with no food. With so many people in the city, they will run out of food in a few days..."
She was about to explain in detail, but seeing Li Wan looking down in dismay, she changed the subject and asked, "Is there anything you're reluctant to part with? Did you have a pleasant time in Leshan before?"
"No..." Li Wan lowered her head even more.
"Nonsense," Madam Li pointed her finger at Li Wan's forehead. "I'm afraid your mother wouldn't be able to hide your inner fear from her... Forget it, let's run away now."
Li Wan asked, "Are we really going to abandon my cousin and his wife and run away?"
"We are all women, it's not shameful to run away first," Mrs. Li sneaked to the alley entrance and looked around, then turned back and waved, "Come quickly."
Li Wan came to the alley entrance helplessly.
Now that the King of Qi's army is besieging the city, the people in the city generally stay at home unless necessary, and there are not many pedestrians on the streets.
A carriage approached from a distance and stopped at the entrance of the alley. The driver looked around and, upon seeing Madam Li, nodded and held up three fingers.
"Didn't we agree on twenty taels? Why are you adding more at the last minute?" Madam Li complained, then sighed, "That's it. Get in the car."
The mother and daughter got in the car and arrived at the city gate. The guard stopped them and asked, "What are you going to do in the north of the city?"
Madam Li leaned out of the car window and said to the guard, "There are relatives in the north. Let's go visit them, haha."
"In-laws? The people in the north are all from the Western Rong. Are you in-laws with the Western Rong?" a guard asked in surprise.
Another guard pulled the one who was speaking aside and said, "That lady looks a bit like Prince Zhao's aunt..."
The two guards were whispering to each other, and Madam Li became nervous. She urged them, "Open the door quickly! We need to leave the city."
While they were shouting, Qiang Lin and his secret guards were patrolling past here and came over to check.
"What's going on?" Qiang Lin asked.
The two guards said, "Commander, this lady said that her in-laws are outside the city and she wants to go out to see them."
Qiang Lin was puzzled. Although the people of Dayan could now live in peace with the Western Rong people, as far as he knew, there had been no intermarriage between the two tribes.
He came to the front of the car, but before he could ask, Li Wan stuck her head out of the window and said, "General Qiang, what a coincidence! I'm Li Wan."
Mrs. Li was shocked. What was wrong with her daughter? Why did she reveal her identity right away?
She had just raised her hand to push Li Wan's head back down when Qiang Lin recognized her. He asked in surprise, "Isn't this the wife and daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang? Why are you leaving the city?"
"Well……"
Having been recognized, Madam Li could no longer lie. However, she did not want to admit that she wanted to escape, so she rolled her eyes and thought of an excuse.
Li Wan poked her head out again and said to Qiang Lin, "General, I heard your mother is in the north of the city, so your wife must be here too..."
Madam Li raised her hand and pushed her head back, scolding her, "You have no manners at all. How dare you talk to a man so casually?"
Qiang Lin rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm not married... But Madam and Miss, you'd better not leave the city. The enemy army is forming a battle array to attack the city. If you run into a rebellious army on the way, you'll be in trouble."
He is loyal to Shen Yuexi, but Madam Li is also Shen Yuexi's aunt, and Li Wan is Shen Yuexi's cousin. It is unreasonable for him to let anything happen to either of them.
Madam Li didn't respond to him. Instead, she scolded Li Wan in the car, "What are you laughing at... You don't act like a lady from a noble family. Have you forgotten everything your mother taught you?"
Qiang Lin turned to the secret guards and said, "Escort the lady and the young lady to the master's residence."
The secret guards escorted the carriage away. Qiang Lin was inspecting the north city gate when the sound of war drums and shouts came from outside the city to the south. A secret guard arrived and said, "Commander, Prince Xiao Beiheng of Qi is leading his troops to attack the city."
Qiang Lin asked, "Where are the master and King Zhao?"
"They are already on the city wall."
Qiang Lin led the secret guards to the southern city wall, where they saw rows of soldiers armed with powerful bows and crossbows, ready for battle. Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi stood side by side. Below the city, tens of thousands of Qi Wang's troops formed a dark cloud. In front of the battle, Xiao Beiheng rode his horse, whipping it in the air and shouting loudly.
"Xiao Zhuo, you set up a vicious plot to ambush this prince, but fate has not spared me. This prince is here safely, I'm afraid you're disappointed," Xiao Beiheng pointed his whip at Xiao Zhuo, "Now your entire army is trapped in the city, and your food and supplies are gone. The best thing to do is to beg for mercy quickly."
Last night, Xiao Zhuo's army attacked the camp of King Qi's army, not to defeat King Qi's army, but to break through King Qi's army's defense line and enter the city.
Xiao Zhuo looked at the complacent Xiao Beiheng with a complicated look. His lips moved a few times but no sound came out.
Shen Yuexi said to Xiao Zhuo, "Husband, why don't you tell him the truth?"
Xiao Zhuo shook his head slightly and said, "With the two armies now engaged in battle, he won't believe anything I say. After this is over, I'll write a letter to him and... the King of Qi."
When Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Kai were dueling in front of the two armies, Xiao Kai revealed that Xiao Zhuo was an illegitimate child, but Xiao Zhuo didn't believe it and thought that Xiao Kai was using words to confuse him.
Shen Yuexi said: "My husband is right, let's focus on defending the city first."
Her only concern was that a fire in Lower Yuan Valley had burned all the food supplies the previous night. The city now needed to supply sixty thousand people with food, which wouldn't last more than two days. The Xiliang grain transport team had just left, and even if the Xirong settlement north of the city could help, it wouldn't last more than a few days.
Seeing that Xiao Zhuo did not agree, Xiao Beiheng smiled and said, "Are you afraid?"
Song Zhen behind him said, "Your Highness, the enemy is now isolated and trapped, and is in a desperate situation. We just need to defend the city and prevent the grain transport team from passing through. In three days, the city will naturally fall into civil unrest without any effort."
"We are only surrounding the south of the city. What if there is a grain transport team in the north of the city?" Xiao Beiheng asked.
"North of the city is the territory of the Western Rong. It's impossible for the Xiliang grain transport team to go there," Song Zhen said. "We only need to defend this side. Now that the King of Qi is injured and bedridden, we don't need to rush to attack."
Xiao Beiheng nodded and said, "That's fine. Let's withdraw our troops and return to camp."
The soldiers on the city wall had already prepared for battle, but when they saw the Qi King's army withdrawing back to the camp, they were all very puzzled.
Xiao Zhuo said to his men, "Song Zhen understands both our strengths and weaknesses. He's adopting a strategy of surrounding us without attacking, allowing our army to become disorganized. This is a good move."
Everyone went down the city wall, and Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo returned to the mansion together. Xiao Zhuo wrote two letters, one to Xiao Beiheng and one to Xiao Ming, and asked the messenger to deliver them outside the city.
The messenger arrived at the Qi King's army camp, besieging the city, and said to the guards, "Here is a letter from King Zhao."
Xiao Beiheng was discussing with Song Zhen in the tent. When he heard the letter, he smiled and said, "It must be a letter of surrender. Let the envoy come in."
The messenger entered the tent, presented the letter and left.
Xiao Beiheng opened the letter and smiled at Song Zhen, "If we really want to submit a letter of surrender, Xiao Zhuo has to come in person. You only sent an envoy."
Song Zhen said: "In my opinion, it should not be a letter of surrender."
When he learned that the King of Qi and his son had been ambushed in Xiayuan Valley the previous night and nearly perished, he knew that Xiao Zhuo had seen through his scheme. With Xiao Zhuo's abilities, how could he surrender so easily?
"If it's not a letter of surrender, then what could it be?" Xiao Beiheng picked up the letter.
After reading just a few lines, the smile on his face disappeared, cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and even the hand holding the letter began to tremble.
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