Lu Jin led his men to Dong'anmen and found Yu Qizhe on the city wall with his face splattered with blood. While he was slashing the rebels with a knife, he told Yu Qizhe about what happened.
"I think this is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is that the Lu prince's tomb collapsed, so Ji Wudao couldn't use the secret passage to let the rebels sneak into the city. The bad thing is that I couldn't capture Ji Wudao." Lu Jin felt a little regretful. If he could capture Ji Wudao, the rebels outside the city could be captured without any effort.
"I don't blame you." Yu Qizhe stabbed out with a sword, and a rebel fell at his feet.
The news that Ji Wudao was leading his troops into the capital was not unknown, but before today, even if Ji Wudao was in the capital, no one could take action against him, because he was still Taiyan's general, a court official, not a rebel.
In addition, with Zhu Yu, the regent prince, as a guarantor, it is not easy to capture him. The crime of treason can only be closed after solid evidence.
Lu Jin wiped the blood that splashed on his eyelashes and said, "I know, I just feel bad. Whenever there is a war or a disaster, who suffers? It's still the common people who suffer. Those who die first are never those in power."
The unarmed civilians were the first to suffer, followed by the lower-class soldiers who fought bloody battles. The struggle for power was at the cost of the lives of the civilians.
Yu Qizhe tightened his grip on the sword and said nothing more.
The emperor's power is paved with the blood of the people. Whoever sits in that position will become the same. However, those so-called wise monarchs understand that water can carry a boat but can also capsize it, while foolish monarchs regard the people as pigs, dogs, and ants.
The siege lasted for more than three hours before it finally stopped. The city walls had been burned black by fire, and the ground was covered with corpses, including those of the rebels and soldiers from the three camps.
Yu Qizhe ordered the soldiers to rest and carry the wounded down for treatment. The people who had closed their doors in the city heard the shouting and killing stop, and they peeked through the cracks in the windows and doors. The brave ones came out to ask the soldiers for the news, then hurriedly brought food out from their homes and served tea and meals to the soldiers on the city wall.
The manager of Xinglou had several hundred jars of wine brought to the soldiers defending the city to refresh themselves and warm their bodies.
Lu Jin picked up a jar of wine and handed it to Yu Qizhe. Yu Qizhe took it and took a sip, staring at Ji Wudao who was standing on horseback under the city wall, his eyes filled with chilling coldness.
"Sir Yu, according to my rough statistics, the three camps suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and 400 of them were too seriously injured to fight anymore. If we continue fighting like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to withstand it even if we have the advantage of occupying the city wall." The leader of the Shenshu Camp came over and whispered with some concern.
Yu Qizhe patted his shoulder and said, "As long as we can hold on through tonight, reinforcements will arrive tomorrow, or at most the day after tomorrow."
The leader was cheered up and thought that as long as they gritted their teeth, they could still hold on for a day or two.
There was a sudden commotion under the city wall, and the soldiers shouted loudly: "Listen, people and soldiers in the city, our generals are here to protect the emperor. The emperor is unconscious in the Xianyang Palace, and the cabinet ministers are colluding with the civil and military officials to have evil intentions. The second prince summoned our generals to lead troops into the capital to protect the emperor. We are not rebels, and our generals are not traitors. The people who lead you to defend the city are the real rebels. They have imprisoned the second prince in the palace! Our generals are anxious to attack the city to rescue the second prince!"
When the people who were unaware of the inside story heard this, they couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Below the city wall, Ji Wudao's men shouted loudly over and over again.
"Zhan Xing, what should we do?" Lu Jin was afraid that this would shake the morale of the army.
At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed to the tower and shouted, "General Ji is right. He was summoned by this prince. The cabinet ministers and the junior officials of the Dali Temple are colluding with each other to rebel. My father is unconscious in Xianyang. They are the real traitors!"
Zhu Xun's appearance immediately caused an uproar among the soldiers guarding the city.
Lu Jin's face changed and he quickly stepped forward to carry Zhu Yu away.
Zhu Yu shouted at him, "Yu Qizhe is a traitor. Don't be fooled by him. Open the city gate for General Ji and let him in!"
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