"No, it's more chaotic outside. It's not as safe as here."

Facing Liu Xigua's surprised gaze, Ning Yi shook his head firmly.

If it were a few days ago, he would have found a way to send Su Tan'er and Xiaochan away, so that he could put aside his worries and do his best without any worries.

But now it is different after all. With Zuo Yu, Li Yun and Ye Zixun, three humanoid tanks, there is no safer place in the world.

Only a fool would send his wife and family away...

Ning Yi thought so in his heart.

Liu Xigua naturally didn't know Ning Yi's true thoughts. When she heard Ning Yi's decisive answer, she thought that the military advisor had finally made up his mind to help the Badao Camp achieve great things.

"Oh...then I'll tell them."

Liu Xigua blinked his eyes and slightly raised the corners of his mouth while flipping through the documents.

In her heart, the ideas such as democracy and freedom that Ning Yi revealed to her these days are the true beliefs deep in Ning Yi's heart.

But in fact, most of these ideas were weapons Ning Yi used to fool Liu Xigua. At most, after fooling Liu Xigua, he wanted to use the Ba Dao Camp and the rebels to do a thought experiment.

If the time really comes when he has to part ways with the Ba Dao Camp, Ning Yi will not show mercy.

At noon that day, Liu Xigua originally planned to join the generals of the Badao Camp in hosting a welcoming ceremony for Ning Yi's wife.

But before the group of people walked out of Xiliu Street, the messenger of Saint Fang La brought a bombshell news:

Tong Guan, the envoy of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huainan, led an army of 150,000, advancing both by land and sea, and defeated the rebel army at Jiaxing. He is now heading towards Hangzhou.

"...Why so fast?" Zuo Yu looked surprised.

Ning Yi thought Zuo Yu was talking about the original history, so he said nonchalantly: "Tong Guan is not a mediocre person. The 150,000 imperial troops who went south are the elite of the Wu Dynasty. Their combat effectiveness is far superior to Fang La's uprising army. It is not unexpected that they can achieve such a result."

"As for the historical issues, this is the Wu Dynasty, not the Song Dynasty. It's normal to have some deviations, right?"

It is normal that there are deviations from the history of the Song Dynasty, but it is abnormal that there are deviations from the plot of "The Son-in-law"!

Zuo Yu and the other two looked at each other, pondered for a moment, and began to inquire whether there were any strange people in the imperial court's army.

Unfortunately, Fang La’s army on the front line was defeated too quickly, resulting in limited intelligence within Hangzhou city.

If we stay in the city, it will probably be difficult to get useful intelligence from Tong Guan’s army…

With the arrival of an army of 150,000, the situation of Fang La's army took a sharp turn for the worse.

The city of Hangzhou, which had gradually begun to recover under Fang La's hands, once again entered a wartime state.

When Fang La occupied Hangzhou, it was the autumn harvest season, and he had accumulated a large amount of food and military resources. After Tong Guan led his army to besiege the city, the two sides launched a fierce five-day siege battle in Hangzhou.

Although Tong Guan's ability to command troops cannot be said to be top-notch, he is still much better than Fang La's army of peasants.

In five days, Tong Guan's army launched attacks from three directions in Hangzhou. The offensive was continuous like a raging wave, and each wave of offensive was intermittent, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, sometimes false, sometimes real.

If Fang La's army had not been fully staffed and its elite troops had not gathered together at this moment, coupled with the increasingly cold weather, Tong Guan would have probably found an opportunity to tear a hole in the city wall and capture Hangzhou.

But even though Fang La's army successfully resisted the wave after wave of attacks from Tong Guan's army, the atmosphere inside Hangzhou was gloomy.

Senior military officers such as Fang Qifo, Wang Yin, Si Xingfang, Deng Yuanjue and Shi Bao all retreated to Hangzhou with their remaining troops. The elite troops of the Badao Camp that Liu Xigua had originally left in the hands of her adoptive father Fang Qifo were also returned to her by Fang Qifo.

But compared with before, the losses of the elite troops of the Ba Dao Camp were really heavy.

As the most loyal supporter within Fang La’s army, the Badao Battalion has always been the core force of Fang La.

When they followed Fang Qifo to Jiaxing to block the imperial army, the main force of the Badao Camp had a total of more than 3,000 people. Later, Liu Xigua returned to Hangzhou, and there were still more than 2,000 people left with Fang Qifo.

But now, the elite soldiers of the Ba Dao Camp that Fang Qifo returned to Liu Xigua were only less than nine hundred in number.

The battle loss rate of up to 60% is extremely tragic.

This caused the atmosphere in the Badao Camp to become solemn.

As the army surrounded the city, sacrifices to the dead became an urgent matter. At Ning Yi's suggestion, Liu Xigua summoned everyone in the camp and held a one-hour mourning meeting, and then hurriedly began to repair the city's defenses.

“…Have you made a decision?”

Ye Zixun's voice came from the beams above his head.

Although this was the important place of Tyrant Blade Camp, the other party was a mysterious time traveler after all. Ning Yi was already accustomed to his elusiveness, and immediately replied without raising his head: "What do you think?"

“…”

Ye Zixun glanced at him, turned over, landed on the ground, walked to the opposite side of the table and sat cross-legged.

"I'm not saying anything bad about you, brother. On one hand, you tip off the imperial spies, and on the other hand, you concentrate on handling government affairs for the Tyrant Blade Camp. You're so two-faced. Aren't you afraid of schizophrenia?"

"... I should do my job well, so that it will benefit both sides."

"You're trying to play Infernal Affairs with me, right?" Ye Zixun pouted, then said seriously, "Even if it's Infernal Affairs, you still have to make a choice. Have you decided which side you're going to stand on in the end?"

Ning Yi laughed when he heard this, put down the documents in his hand and looked at Ye Zixun.

"Third brother, I know what you are worried about, but don't worry, I didn't have a choice from the beginning..."

"Mr. Qin and I are close friends regardless of age. He trusts me and has handed over all the members of the Secret Investigation Department in Hangzhou to me. In Jiangning, there are many relatives and friends of mine and Tan'er..."

"With so much trust and so much concern, what else do you think I can do?"

Ye Zixun nodded: "That's right... Then what about Liu Xigua and the Tyrant Blade Camp?"

Ning Yi paused slightly.

Ning Yi looked down upon Fang La and the rebel army under his command, but Xigua and Badaoying were exceptions.

Humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless? Ning Yi saw Liu Xigua's trust in him and the friendship of his brothers in the Badao Camp towards him, not to mention that he had also sown seeds in the Badao Camp.

He had to consider all of the above.

But in his current position, he had no choice but to fight against the Fang La army and help the imperial army capture Hangzhou...

Ning Yi sighed and said softly: "No matter what, I will do my best to protect them."

Ye Zixun understood what he meant, and immediately sighed, put his hands behind his head, and lay back.

"The army outside the city is the king's army, and the rebel army inside the city is just a temporary colleague. I look down on both sides, but it's hard to attack either side... Alas, this battle is too boring!"

Ning Yi smiled and said, "Things in the world are not black and white. Third brother, you are not young anymore, why are you as childish as Chen Fan?"

"You are as childish as that boy!"

Ye Zixun rolled his eyes, then blinked, straightened his upper body as if he remembered something, and looked at Ning Yi with sharp eyes.

"But fourth brother, I do have a good idea."

"…What's your idea?"

As soon as Ning Yi asked the question, he immediately regretted it.

As expected, Ye Zixun smiled and said, "If you come to be white, then the whole world will be dark!"

Ning Yi smiled bitterly and said, "You are asking me to rebel!"

Ye Zixun said nonchalantly, "So what if you rebel... I know you still have concerns in Jiangning, just take them out. The seeds you sowed in the Tyrant Blade Camp have gradually taken root these days. Add to that your prestige as Military Advisor Ning and Liu Xigua's trust in you, isn't this the best base for rebellion?"

“…”

Ning Yi looked helpless and was about to speak when he heard chaotic and hurried footsteps coming from outside the hall.

"Military advisor, military advisor!"

"Oh no! The north gate... is broken!"

...The city was broken?

Ning Yi stood up suddenly, looked at Ye Zixun who also stood up, and then turned to look at the members of the Ba Dao Camp who ran into the hall.

"What's going on? It's only been five days. How come it broke so quickly?"

"We didn't expect that either!" The man said with a panicked look and a hint of fear in his tone, "Tong Guan actually used magic. He built a high platform outside the north city gate and used horses to pull out many barrel-shaped magic weapons. According to the brothers who escaped from the city wall, they saw with their own eyes that the magic weapon spewed out a large amount of flames and roared like thunder, and then... then the city wall cracked..."

……artillery!

Ning Yi and Ye Zixun looked at each other and could see the surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

After all, the Wu Dynasty in this world is the Song Dynasty in a different time and space, so it is not surprising to have cannons.

But with such powerful artillery, there would be big problems!

What's more, this is the world of "The Son-in-Law". If Ye Zixun remembers correctly, the cannon in this world was invented by Ning Yi, and at the beginning, due to material problems, only elm cannons could be made.

"Ha, there really is an expert in the imperial army?"

Ye Zixun showed an interested expression on his face.

Ning Yi didn't have time to think too much, and immediately said: "Let's go, gather the troops, and evacuate from the south gate!"

The man shook his head and said firmly, "No, Military Advisor, you and my sister-in-law should retreat first. We have received an order to stay behind and hold back the imperial army for you..."

“…”

Ning Yi fell silent, but he knew that now was not the time to be pretentious.

He reached out and patted the man on the shoulder, then walked out of the lobby.

…

…

In March of the eighth year of Jinghan in the Wu Dynasty, King Zhou of Qin came to offer a new method of steel smelting.

In September, King Zhou Lai of Qin developed a cast iron cannon named "Thunderbolt" based on the fire gun. When it was first fired, the sound was as loud as thunder and could be heard a hundred miles away. All the livestock within half an acre of the target were killed and all the armor and iron were penetrated.

The emperor was greatly shocked when he heard about it, and regarded it as a sacred artifact, keeping it secret.

At the end of August in the ninth year of Jinghan, Tong Guan led his army to suppress the rebellion in the southeast, and equipped the army with eighty cast-iron cannons.

After five days of siege, seeing that the enemy was exhausted, Tong Guan thought the time had come, so he pushed out the cannons and ignited them. The sound was like thunder, shaking the city walls and causing the earth to collapse. Smoke rose to the sky, and many soldiers were frightened to death.

In a moment, Hangzhou was broken, the army entered, and the threat from the southeast was resolved in one battle...