Chapter 373 Trapped City
Xiliang, inside the city of Leshan County.
Before lunch, Mei Dai finished inspecting the placement of the wounded and rode with the Leshan County Magistrate through the gravel-strewn streets. She asked the Leshan County Magistrate, "Is there still a chance to repair the cracks in the south city wall?"
The Leshan County Magistrate looked troubled. "Your Majesty, the crack in the south wall is too long. We need to chisel out the bricks and fill them. Last summer, it was soaked by heavy rain for several days. I was just about to arrange for craftsmen to repair it when the Western Rong army arrived..."
It wasn't really his fault. He'd been eager to repair the city wall the previous summer, but then the Western Liang King, Mei Cheng, was defeated by the Western Rong and fled to Leshan County. A 100,000-strong Western Rong army laid siege to Leshan, and in an effort to defend the city, all the bricks used to repair the wall were used to crush the Rong soldiers. Then, Xiao Beiheng embarked on a western expedition, and the constant fighting kept the project on hold.
Now, Xiao Beiheng's army has surrounded Leshan, and the crack in the south city wall cannot be repaired.
Mei Dai also knew the whole story and said, "It doesn't matter. You were able to evacuate the people before Xiao Beiheng's army besieged the city. Just for this alone, you have done a great job."
The team arrived at the gate of the county government office. The Leshan County Magistrate went to arrange the city defense matters himself. Mei Dai got off the horse, walked up the steps, walked around the fallen columns and stones on the ground, and entered the lobby of the county government office.
In the messy hall, Xiao Zhuo, clad in silver armor, stood with his back to her, perched on a table, studying a map. His helmet rested on a corner. Several generals stood nearby, whispering to one another.
"Prince An," Mei Dai pushed up her mask and walked behind Xiao Zhuo, "I'm back from my inspection."
Xiao Zhuo turned around and first glanced at Mei Dai's expression, then said with a hint of disappointment, "Sure enough, the scouts still can't break out?"
Mei Dai took off her mask and held it in her hand. "Don't worry, Prince An. I believe Sister Yuexi will be fine. Our top priority now is to defend the city."
Xiao Zhuo shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying, "When the King of Xiliang was trapped in this city, and I led my troops to rescue him, I never imagined that one day I would be trapped here myself. But I just... I don't know if Yuexi is okay, and I can't calm down."
Mei Dai comforted her, "Sister Yuexi is a remarkable woman I've never met. She'll be fine. Besides, she has a thousand-mile horse, so even if she's defeated, she can escape in time."
In fact, she also knew that Xiao Zhuo knew all this. As the only person who spent every day with Shen Yuexi, how could he not know Shen Yuexi's abilities? But concern made him confused. Now that he couldn't get in touch with Shen Yuexi, Xiao Zhuo became a little impatient, not realizing that he was the one in danger.
Xiao Zhuo pounded his fist on the table, picked up his helmet and said, "Eat something first. I'll go inspect the city wall."
Mei Dai said, "I'm not hungry. Let's go with Prince An."
She called Xia Lan over and asked her to pack the food in a lunch box and take it with her. Chen Lan, Qiang Lin and other generals were still arranging defenses on the city wall, so they brought it over and ate together on the tower.
Several people left the county government office and walked all the way to the city wall.
The flag of Prince An's army, towering on the city wall, had several holes in it and fluttered in the cold wind. The ground was littered with piles of rocks and logs. The soldiers in charge of defense, covered in smoke and dust, were huddled around bonfires to keep warm. When everyone saw Xiao Zhuo and Mei Dai approach, they all stood up to greet them. Xiao Zhuo said to the soldiers, "Everyone, don't get up. Sit down and rest."
Qiu Liming spotted them from a distance and strode over, saying, "My Lord, Queen, the enemy hasn't attacked since this morning. That's a little strange. They attacked so vigorously the past two days, four or five times a day. Could it be that they've run out of energy?"
Xiao Zhuo smiled slightly, put his hands on the battlements of the city wall, and looked down at the enemy camp with fluttering flags. From afar, he could see figures swaying and busy in the enemy camp.
After a series of battles, Xiao Beiheng now has an army of 110,000, which has surrounded the small Leshan County.
The city still had enough food and grass to last for half a year, but the army was only less than 30,000 strong. The most significant loss occurred when Xiao Zhuo learned that the border army camp had been occupied by the Iron Pagoda and that the enemy's 50,000-strong northern army was coming to cut off his retreat.
Waiting there would be like waiting for death. Xiao Zhuo acted decisively and forcibly broke camp and retreated in front of Xiao Beiheng. Xiao Beiheng was no fool either. Seeing this, he immediately sent 30,000 cavalry to attack Xiao Zhuo's coalition forces. Without the protection of the camp fence, the coalition forces were forced to fight a bloody battle with the enemy.
In order to cover the main force of the coalition forces' retreat to Leshan, Geng Hong led the Xiliang cavalry in a desperate battle. Almost all of them were killed, and Geng Hong was almost surrounded by the enemy. Fortunately, at the critical moment, Mei Dai and Qiu Liming's 5,000 crossbowmen rushed back in time and used crossbows to force back the pursuing cavalry.
Mei Dai saw Xiao Zhuo looking at the enemy camp and was about to persuade him to eat something when a low horn sounded in the enemy camp.
"Is the enemy going to attack again?" Chen Lan leaned out of the window of the tower and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "I haven't slept for two days. I can't even take a nap."
"No," Xiao Zhuo stared at the flags emerging from the enemy camp. Those were flags and banners only worn by the emperor. He shook his head and said, "My younger brother has arrived."
The enemy army deployed 20,000 troops, and 500 royal guards escorted Xiao Beiheng to a place under the city where arrows could not reach.
Xiao Beiheng, wearing a silver dragon robe, a Yanque belt, and a black horse, looked up at Xiao Zhuo on the city wall with a look of satisfaction on his face. After a long pause, he said, "Brother, you never thought this day would come, did you?"
Xiao Zhuo said calmly: "Brother, are you referring to you or me?"
Xiao Beiheng's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his previous smile. "Brother, you are now surrounded by my army. There is no escape. You may not know this, but Shengjing once sent a small army of 5,000 to rescue you."
Xiao Zhuo asked, "Is it Feng Zhang?"
"It seems to be a man named Feng, but my generals defeated him and sent him fleeing. You have no hope, why don't you open the city and surrender?"
Mei Dai said, "Xiao Beiheng, don't be so quick to talk. If you have the ability, just come and fight."
Xiao Beiheng turned his gaze towards Mei Dai and laughed heartily, saying, "Queen Xiliang, you are a true heroine, but unfortunately you followed the wrong person. You've done enough for my brother, and almost all of your Xiliang cavalry were killed in battle. Are you still so stubborn that you'll perish along with the city?"
Mei Dai said, "Even if this king is stubborn and refuses to change his ways, he will not go along with a man like you who has killed his father and has no loyalty to his king."
Xiao Beiheng's expression changed drastically when he was touched, but he suppressed his anger and said, "At this point, I have already secured victory. If you open the city and surrender now, I will spare your lives for the sake of our past friendship."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qiang Lin had already drawn his bow and shot an arrow. Unfortunately, the distance was too far. The arrow lost its power when it was still dozens of feet away from Xiao Beiheng and stuck in the ground.
Xiao Beiheng remained motionless, glanced at Qiang Lin mockingly, and then said to Mei Dai, "Do you want to see someone?"
Mei Dai had been calm and composed, but upon hearing Xiao Beiheng's words, she quickly leaned forward and asked, "Is that Yunyan?"
A cruel smile curled up the corner of Xiao Beiheng's mouth, and he pulled Wu Zhui away a little. Two soldiers holding ghost-head knives walked out of the queue, carrying a woman who was tied up, and came to Xiao Beiheng's side.
"Yunyan!" Mei Dai cried out.
Not only Mei Dai, Xiao Zhuo also nervously grasped the city wall with both hands, saying, "No wonder we can't find it."
The tied-up woman was none other than Ji Yunyan. Hearing Mei Dai's call, she weakly raised her head and looked at her with a pained expression.
Xiao Beiheng smiled and said, "I know you have been trying to find a way to save her, so I brought her with me when I sent the troops. But you can rest assured, I didn't make things difficult for her. I treated her to delicious food and drinks."
After saying that, he turned to Ji Yunyan and said, "Miss Ji, persuade your queen to tell her..."
Before he could finish his words, Ji Yunyan spat on him and angrily said, "Xiao Beiheng, if I can't avenge grandpa in my lifetime, I will become a demon and haunt you in death."
Xiao Beiheng calmly brushed off his battle robe, stopped talking to Ji Yunyan, and looked up at Xiao Zhuo and Mei Dai on the city wall and said:
"Brother, Ji Yunyan is your teacher's granddaughter. Do you want to save her? I know you value friendship. You couldn't even bear to kill Xiao Kai back then. Now Ji Yunyan is right in front of you. Her life and death are in your hands."
Xiao Zhuo's eyes gradually turned bloodshot, but he just stared at Ji Yunyan without answering. Mei Dai saw the pain on Xiao Zhuo's face, gritted her teeth, and shouted to Ji Yunyan, "Yunyan, I will take good care of your family. If you break this oath, Mei Dai will die without a burial place."
Ji Yunyan smiled sadly and said, "Thank you, Queen."
As soon as she uttered the word "dead", she suddenly turned and kicked. The executioner behind her thought she was weak and defenseless, and was knocked down on the spot. Then she raised her knee and knocked another soldier to his knees, holding his stomach, and even the ghost-head knife in his hand fell to the ground.
Ji Yunyan struggled with her arms, breaking the ropes on her body. Just as she was about to reach out to grab the ghost-head knife on the ground, Xiao Beiheng stabbed at her from behind with a sword, piercing her heart on the spot.
"Miss Ji!"
"Yunyan!"
Xiao Zhuo and Mei Dai cried out in surprise. Many soldiers on both sides were also stunned by this sudden change.
Xiao Beiheng drew back the Yanque Sword, no longer looking at Ji Yunyan lying on the ground, turned his horse's head and said coldly: "Return to the camp."
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