Chapter 20: Siege
Every autumn rain brings a chill. After the rain, the temperature dropped visibly and the grass on the roadside began to turn yellow.
Song Yuzhu sat up from the bed wrapped in a quilt and sneezed three times. Her cold was not healed yet and it would probably get worse if it continued to be so cold.
I lifted up my pants and luckily the wound on my leg had already scabbed over. It would probably heal in a few days.
"Hurry, eat the meat buns I just snatched from you while they're hot!" Zhao Xiao lifted the door curtain and walked in, throwing two big buns to Song Yuzhu.
The steaming buns had just come out of the pot, and this kid didn't even mind the heat and just took it back.
"Have you got a meal yet?"
"I ate it. I finished it on the way." Zhao Xiao was sitting opposite and putting on armor. They were going to attack the city today, so he had to tie it tighter to make sure it didn't fall off during the battle.
Seeing that he was having a hard time tying it, Song Yuzhu helped from behind with a bun in her mouth. The armor Zhao Xiao wore was made of leather and copper sheets, weighing more than 20 kilograms. Although this kind of armor was heavy to wear, it was very effective in resisting damage. He relied on it to save his life on the battlefield!
Zhao Xiao raised his hands and said, "Hide well today. When we attack the city, people in the city will definitely shoot arrows. Don't get hurt by mistake. If you can't make it, get under the car."
"Hmm..." After Song Yuzhu tied it for him, he chewed the bun and said, "Don't worry, you won't get hurt if you follow Uncle Gao."
After dinner, Song Yuzhu went to check on the soldiers who were injured yesterday.
The wounded soldiers recovered well, except for one wound that had festered, which was cleaned and bandaged again. These wounded would follow the baggage cart at the end and would be settled and recuperated in a safe place.
The soldier whose abdomen was opened was actually able to sit up today. When he saw Song Yuzhu coming to change the bandages, he quickly stood up to thank her.
"Little Doctor Song!"
Song Yuzhu waved her hand and said, "No need to be polite. How do you feel today?"
"Okay, much better!" He originally thought he was going to die, but he didn't expect that he could still survive even with his intestines leaking out.
Song Yuzhu checked the wound and found it slightly red and swollen. It seemed that the antibiotics were working. "Did you pass gas today?"
"We have queued! We have queued since early morning."
"That's good. You can have some rice porridge at noon, but no spicy food."
"Doctor, am I really okay?!"
Song Yuzhu looked at his excited eyes and suddenly felt like she was inspecting a ward in her previous life. She patted his shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay. It's not a serious illness and you'll get better soon."
"Ah!" Lin Dayong looked at Song Yuzhu's thin back, and felt deeply moved. Doctor Song was his second parent. If it weren't for him, he would have been buried in a mass grave with his other brothers. If he encountered danger in the future, he would definitely protect him at all costs!
*
In the capital, the news of the emperor's death could no longer be concealed. For a whole month, the empress and the prime minister had been controlling the government on the pretext that the emperor was seriously ill.
Now that Yang Yuanqing openly led his troops to fight the Four Kings, the imperial court should have sent troops to stop him. However, without the emperor's first order, the empress could not mobilize the three armies. In the end, she had no choice but to release the news of the emperor's death.
The old emperor's body had been hidden in the inner hall of Zhengming Palace, with eunuchs keeping it cool with ice. Although it had not rotted, it was not in good condition.
The Ministry of Rites hurriedly prepared for the emperor's funeral. Because it was a national funeral, the process was tedious and complicated, and all the princes had to be notified to go to Beijing to attend the funeral.
The country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and all the civil and military officials in the court are urging the new emperor to ascend the throne, but who should be the new emperor among so many princes?
Some advocated enthroning the eldest son, after all, the queen had no legitimate son. But the eldest prince's biological mother was of low status and was a dancer from a foreign race, so many people opposed his enthronement.
The second prince Yang Yuanli and the fifth prince Yang Yuanhao were the most popular, and the last one was the twelfth prince Yang Yuanyi. (His biological mother was the queen's cousin)
For a time, the party disputes in the court reached a historical climax. Those officials no longer cared about their reputation. They couldn't win the argument in the court, so they cursed at the palace gate like shrews after the court. Some even fought with each other, pulling out a lot of their hair and beards, for the common people to watch.
"Is Yuan Yi not here yet?" Inside Fushou Palace, the Queen asked the eunuch beside her worriedly.
The death of the Saint was kept secret for so long just to bring Yang Yuanyi to the capital. Although the twelfth prince was not her own, she had raised him by her side since childhood. If she could allow him to ascend the throne, the status of her mother's family would not be damaged, and her own queen mother would be able to sit more securely.
"It's thousands of miles from Shuzhou to Shangjing. Even if you ride a horse at full speed, it will take a month to get there." Li Ming'an poured her a cup of soothing hot tea.
The queen held the teacup in her hand and said with a worried look on her face, "My eyelids have been twitching badly these past few days. I always feel like something has happened. I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for him to come back..."
"Don't let your imagination run wild, my lady. Just wait for two more days and it will be almost done."
As the two were talking, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside, and then the door was pushed open by the eunuch on duty.
"Empress, no...something bad has happened! The eldest prince has forced the emperor to abdicate!"
"Who forced the emperor to abdicate?!" The queen stood up in disbelief.
The young eunuch fell to the ground and said in a trembling voice, "Grand...Grand Prince."
"What can he use to force the emperor to abdicate?"
It's no wonder the queen was confused. The eldest prince was unlucky. Although he was the first son of the late emperor, he looked more like a foreigner than his mother. He had white skin and brown hair. If he were in the present, he would be a handsome mixed-race boy, but in this dynasty, it meant that his bloodline was not pure. His appearance doomed him to fail to succeed to the throne.
In addition, when he was born, the emperor was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and he was still a child, so how could he understand being a father? Therefore, he had been quiet all those years, and never showed any desire for the throne.
Unexpectedly, these were all pretended. Now that the old emperor is dead, he finally showed his claws.
Soon, noisy footsteps were heard outside the palace. The eldest prince Yang Yuanchao stood at the door and bowed respectfully: "Your Highness, your son greets you."
There was silence in the palace. After a while, the door opened from the inside. The queen looked at this "son" who was two years older than her with a complicated expression and said, "You are not allowed to enter the palace without being summoned. Yang Yuanchao, are you going to rebel?"
*
The news of the eldest prince's rebellion soon spread from Shangjing, and Yang Yuanqing also received the news, but he had no time to care about it at the moment. Conquering Xuzhou was the most important thing!
They started attacking the city yesterday morning, but they still haven't taken it till this afternoon. Nearly three thousand men were killed or injured in these two days, and they haven't even reached the city gate. This is driving him crazy!
Xu Bing said, "Your Highness, cavalry is not good at siege warfare. Besides, Xuzhou is a thousand-year-old city that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. You don't have to worry. Let's find another way."
"You should think about it! What's the point of just talking!" He was not afraid of death, he felt sorry for the war horses he had raised with money! He bought these horses from the Western Regions at a high price, and if one died, it would be one less!
Xu Bing was not angry at being scolded. He was used to it anyway, so he just took it as a turtle chanting: "The reason why we can't attack the city is because there is a moat outside the city. The river water is seven or eight zhang wide and blocks the troops outside. As long as someone sneaks into the city and lowers the drawbridge, the army can march straight in!"
"Do I need to tell you this? More than 30 people went there last night, and not one of them could swim across the river." There were archers on the city wall who were always staring at the river. Once they spotted someone coming, they would draw their bows and shoot arrows.
Xu Bing stroked his beard and said, "We need to find someone who is good at swimming and can swim to the other side in one breath under the cover of night. If we show our head to take a breath in the middle of the journey, we will definitely be discovered."
Yang Yuanqing said, "Pass the order down. If there is anyone in the army who is good at swimming and can swim across the moat and lower the drawbridge, he will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and be made a captain of a thousand households!"
After this order was issued, only a few people came forward to apply. The reason was that Xizhou was located in the northwest, where there was a lot of land and little water. There were only a few people in the entire army who could swim, let alone those who were good at swimming.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xiao suddenly stepped out and said, "I'll go!"
Zhao Xiao was brought to Yang Yuanqing's tent. Yang Yuanqing was surprised when he saw him and asked, "Can you swim?"
"Your Highness, I am from Jinzhou. I grew up by the water, so I naturally know how to swim."
"Okay, okay! Okay!" Yang Yuanqing quickly stood up, walked to Zhao Xiao and said, "If you can lower the suspension bridge, I will give you two more beauties!"
Zhao Xiao lowered his head and said, "No need for beauty, I have something to ask of you."
"What is it? Tell me."
"Can you send Doctor Song, who I brought with me from Jiangcheng County, back home? He is still young, and I am afraid he will get injured on the battlefield..."
Yang Yuanqing waved his hand and said, "I don't think it's a big deal! We'll let him go once we capture Xuzhou City!"
The arrow wound on his body had almost healed, and there was more than one military doctor around him, Song Yuzhu. If Zhao Xiao hadn't mentioned it, Yang Yuanqing would have forgotten that there was such a person.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhao Xiao left the tent and waited outside for dark.
The old fox Xu Bing had some impression of Zhao Xiao. Last time in Jiangcheng County, it was he who helped find someone to pull out the arrows, so King Qing did not massacre the city.
He walked up to Zhao Xiao and asked in a low voice: "Captain Zhao, are you sure we can sneak into the city tonight?"
"I'm not completely sure." Zhao Xiao told the truth, but he had a reason to come this time.
Today, the Right General Yang Zhao was in charge of the siege. After a whole day, he failed to take the city. Tomorrow, the Left General Wei Huai would probably take over. Wei Huai was not happy with him, so he would probably have to be the vanguard. Instead of attacking the city head-on and being shot to death, it would be better to find a way to survive. Maybe he could even rescue Song Yuzhu.
"Oh, be careful." Xu Bing sighed and turned to go into the barracks.
The sun gradually set and the sky darkened. Zhao Xiao took off his armor, changed into a light night suit, hung a few short blades around his waist, and prepared to go into the water.
On the other side of the river is the city of Xuzhou. The city walls are full of archers. They light torches and stare down at all times, fearing a sneak attack at night.
At night, the river water was freezing cold. Zhao Xiao quietly dived into the river like a fish...
Song Yuzhu was leaning against the carriage, wrapped in Zhao Xiao's cloak and dozing off. Suddenly, she woke up as if she felt something.
"Uncle Gao, what's going on up front?"
"I don't know. It looks like they have no intention of retreating. Maybe we will have to continue attacking the city at night."
Song Yuzhu lifted his clothes and got out of the car. His left eyelid kept twitching, and he felt a little uneasy. He walked a few steps forward and heard someone whispering.
"I don't know if Captain Zhao can do it. Can he swim across such a wide river in one breath?"
"I think it's very dangerous. Even if he swam across the river, how could he sneak into the city? I think he would probably die on the way."
(End of this chapter)
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