An Jingzhi made a series of arrangements without hesitation, temporarily dispelling Wei Wenhua's determination to die.
But the other party still found an opportunity to persuade An Jingzhi to suspend the construction of Linxiantai.
It's not that An Jingzhi is unwilling to pause, but even if he paused, those people would be useless, at least not at the moment. He has other uses for the construction of Linxiantai, and it will take a while to explain it clearly. Even if he explained it, the other party might not understand.
After receiving the imperial edict, Ding Shangbiao led a team and worked all night to finally reach Wujiang’s second line of defense - Lucheng.
After finally repelling another wave of enemy attacks, the soldiers were exhausted.
Several soldiers leaned against the city wall. "If only the Second Prince was still here, he would definitely be able to drive them away. Unlike us, we are so frustrated now, being chased back by the enemy."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't you want to live? If the prince hears..." The other person didn't finish the rest of the words, but everyone knew what he meant.
Ever since he suffered a defeat and lost his first line of defense, the prince has become increasingly difficult to serve.
It was clearly the other party's fault for poor command, but they blamed them for not defending the city with all their heart.
How could they not be dedicated? Their families, relatives and friends were right behind them, and who wouldn't be desperate to stop the enemy?
One soldier, recalling his days serving under the Second Prince, said with emotion, "The Second Prince is both brave and resourceful. When I served under him, I never suffered a defeat in battle."
"It's a pity that the Second Prince cannot have his own army. Otherwise, we could become his soldiers. In two years, we could save enough money to marry a wife."
"Haha, you guys are saying that the Second Prince is so powerful, why don't you let him become the Crown Prince?"
"Shut up!" The soldier was slapped hard on the head. "You don't want to live anymore, but we still want to live. How can you say such a thing?"
The other person touched the back of his head which was a little numb from being slapped and said with a smile: "Sorry, sorry, I was just too talkative."
"I'm Ding Shangbiao, and I'm taking over Lucheng by His Majesty's order. Open the city gates quickly!"
"Listen, is there someone talking at the city gate?"
"You'll know after you take a look."
Several soldiers cautiously peeked out from the city wall and saw the T-shaped character on the battle flag below. Squinting their eyes, they saw the familiar face and were overjoyed: "General Ding, it's General Ding, it really is General Ding!"
A bamboo basket was lowered on the city gate, and after checking the imperial edict and token, the person was hoisted up in a hanging basket.
After the prince received the news, he arrived at the city gate early.
"General Ding? Why are you here?"
Ding Shangbiao saluted calmly and said, "In compliance with His Majesty's wishes, I will take over Lucheng."
He handed the imperial edict to the person next to the prince. After reading the edict, the other person's face looked very ugly.
Could it be that Father is blaming me for losing the first line of defense? The Crown Prince's face was gloomy and uncertain, and he speculated in his heart.
"Come here," Ding Shangbiao waved his hand after the other party read the imperial edict, "take over the city defense."
This time when he came to take over Lucheng, he brought with him his trusted confidants.
The people behind the Crown Prince were somewhat indignant. Seeing Ding Shangbiao had directly sidelined all of their people, they angrily shouted, "Ding Shangbiao is so bold! He doesn't even take His Highness seriously!"
Although there is His Majesty's imperial edict, he should at least ask for the Crown Prince's permission first. How can he just throw the imperial edict to the Crown Prince and then turn around and place the person in place?
"Your Highness's dignity cannot be compromised!"
The prince also thought so, but he suffered a defeat and lost the most important first line of defense. Now his father has taken away his military power. He is not sure what his father is thinking, so he can only wait and send people out of the city to inquire about the situation in Wu Jiang.
I want to find out what An Jingzhi is thinking.
Ding Shangbiao received the imperial edict and had the sword given by An Jingzhi in his hand, so he did not give the prince any face.
He replaced all the people under the prince's command with his own people. When he encountered those who resisted and wanted to use the prince as a backer, he was ruthless and dealt with them directly by military law.
Some people in the army did not want to offend the prince, so they showed mercy when beating them with military sticks. When the prince found out, he let his own men take action, and several people were beaten to death. One of them was the concubine's brother who wanted to follow the prince to gain military merit.
The prince didn't care about her being just a concubine. What he cared about was that Ding Shangbiao didn't take him seriously at all.
The people around the concubine's brother who was beaten to death hurried to the prince to inform him. After hearing the news, the prince rushed to the scene without stopping.
As soon as I arrived at the door of the tent, the pungent smell of blood and the sound of beatings reached my ears.
"This Ding Shangbiao is so arrogant and lawless!" A scholar beside the prince covered his nose and said angrily.
"Your Highness, Ding Shangbiao actually issued orders on his own after taking military power, without ever consulting you. He completely disregards Your Highness!"
Even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had his military power taken away, he was still His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the successor to the throne of this country. In their eyes, Ding Shangbiao's behavior of ignoring the Crown Prince was a heinous crime that was unforgivable.
After Ding Shangbiao took over Lucheng, he was busy deploying troops and cleaning up the mess left by the prince and his men. He also had to be on guard against the enemy attacking the city at any time. He did not deliberately ignore the prince. Of course, even if he had the energy, he would not ask a fool for advice.
When the people who were being beaten saw the prince's figure squeezed among the people, they kept shouting for help.
"Your Highness, help me!"
"Your Highness, save me!"
"Stop!" the prince shouted with a dark face.
The military judge looked at the prince and then at Ding Shangbiao, feeling torn.
The disobedient military judges have been beaten by Ding Shangbiao, and the rest are just cunning men.
"General..."
Ding Shangbiao raised his hand and said in a gruff voice, "Keep fighting! This general will take full responsibility for anything that happens!"
The military judge looked at the two men, gritted his teeth, raised his stick again, and started beating them.
"Ding Shangbiao! Do you want to go against me?!" the prince said gritting his teeth.
He didn't expect that Ding Shangbiao didn't take him seriously at all. Even after he had spoken, he dared to disobey his orders, which was simply trampling on his dignity as the prince.
"Why do you say that, Prince?" Ding Shangbiao said sternly, "The army has its own rules. These people have violated military law and must be dealt with according to military law!"
"They are all my men!"
"So what? Military law is ruthless! Not gathering at the appointed time, even assaulting soldiers and disrespecting superiors. This is the rule set by His Majesty. Whoever violates it will be punished. Do you think you are above His Majesty's rules?"
Ding Shangbiao felt relaxed after he finished speaking. He had wanted to say these words for a long time. After taking over the military affairs, he realized how ridiculous the war commanded by the prince was. When his side had all the advantages, he actually gave up the advantage and went out of the city to meet the enemy. In the end, he was ambushed by the enemy, lost the city, and had to flee in embarrassment.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com