Chapter 33 Ambush
After seeing Zhao Xiao off, Song Yuzhu returned to her bedroom in a happy mood.
In fact, he had already discovered Zhao Xiao's feelings for him. To be honest, besides being happy, he was also a little worried. After all, homosexuality was not very accepted in this dynasty. So the two of them kept it a secret and suppressed their feelings.
We drank today and probably lost control of ourselves. Fortunately, we were both sober...
He had never been in love in his previous life and didn't know what it felt like to be in love. Now that he met Zhao Xiao, he finally understood what it meant to fall in love for the first time.
But reason tells him that now is not the right time, at least... at least he cannot indulge in love until the serious business is done.
Song Yuzhu sighed and looked at her fingers that had just been held. It was true that love was the most heartbreaking thing since ancient times.
*
In the Shangjing Palace, a dozen lamas were exorcising evil spirits. The Changle Palace was filled with smoke, and the pungent smell of incense and candles made people breathless.
Queen Qi covered her nose and asked worriedly, "Will this work?"
The eunuch next to him whispered, "This is a lama from the Dazhao Temple. I heard that he performs rituals well, and many ordinary people invite him to come."
The queen nodded, still looking worried.
Ever since that winter thunder, Yang Yuanli became frightened and fell ill. He had a high fever for three or four days in a row. After the fever finally subsided, he started coughing non-stop again.
He often talked nonsense at night, saying that he could see Yang Yuanchao walking back and forth in the bedroom. The queen was so scared that she summoned a lama to exorcise evil spirits at night, wanting to perform a ritual for the eldest prince to send away the wronged soul.
If it were in modern times, Yang Yuanli would have gone to the hospital for an IV drip because of a severe cold, fever, and pneumonia. But in ancient times, when there were no specific drugs or antibiotics, this disease was almost incurable and the only option was to wait for death.
The ritual lasted for seven days, and Yang Yuanli sat on the throne with a pale face. That day, the eldest prince hanged himself in this hall. When they rushed in, Yang Yuanchao's body was hanging on the beam, swaying in the wind.
At that time, Yang Yuanli didn't care and directly asked his men to take down the body and bury it hastily. Thinking about it now, it is even more horrifying. I seem to always see the eldest prince hanging in the palace out of the corner of my eye.
He clenched his fists and started coughing again. His lungs felt like they were being torn apart, and a fishy-sweet taste came out of his mouth.
"Your Majesty..." The palace servant handed him some warm tea.
Yang Yuanli picked up the cup and did not drink the water. Instead, he spat a mouthful of bloody saliva into it. He had a vague feeling in his heart that his days were numbered.
After the ritual, Yang Yuanqi still did not get better. Instead, his cough became worse, and he could even cough up blood occasionally! The doctors in the Imperial Medical Garden were helpless. Seeing the new emperor's complexion getting worse and worse, rumors spread in the palace that it was because the emperor forced the eldest prince to death, so the eldest prince's wronged spirit had been following him to claim his life.
The court began to discuss the appointment of a new crown prince.
Someone suggested summoning other princes to the capital, but Yang Yuanli naturally would not agree. He had just ordered the execution of their mothers. If he allowed them to become emperors, how could his wife, children and mother survive?
Yang Yuanli has a son who is six years old this year. Although he is not the queen's son, he has been raised by Qi. He plans to make him the crown prince first, and then let him ascend the throne if he really cannot get better.
But letting a six-year-old child become emperor, isn’t this a joke! The censors tried to dissuade him, some even risking their lives, banging their heads against the pillars.
Perhaps the Yang family members were born cold-blooded and cold-hearted. Not only did Yang Yuanli not change his decision, he also ordered that any further censors would be put to death, which directly brought disaster to his family.
What it means is that your family members will die the same way you die. Don’t you want to hit your head against the pillar? Tie up your wives, children, and elders and make them hit their heads against the pillar.
As soon as this order was issued, the censors immediately became obedient, and no one dared to make any threats in the court anymore.
However, there are also those who are not afraid of death. The backbone of scholars is the most unbending and unbeatable. Zhu Xinze, the top scholar in the two examinations in the seventh year of Longwu, wrote seven poems in one night to denounce the new emperor for his stupidity and killing of innocent people.
His parents died early, and his only relative was a distant uncle, who also died of illness last year. Now that he is alone, he is naturally not afraid of implicating innocent people.
The next day, Zhu Zhuangyuan was imprisoned by the Dali Temple. Yang Yuanli could no longer get out of bed at this time, and still said angrily: "Since... he is not afraid of death, drag him to the city and burn him alive! I... I want them to shut up forever! Cough cough cough cough..."
On the day of execution, the common people spontaneously walked out of their homes and watched him go to the execution ground.
Zhu Xinze was not afraid, and laughed loudly in the prison car: "I laugh at the sky with my sword in hand, and I will leave my loyalty to Kunlun! Heaven, please open your eyes and take a good look! Your people are suffering! The emperor is indifferent, he is stupid and suspicious, stubborn and self-righteous, and the prosperity is in danger!"
The wooden platform had been set up on the execution ground and was covered with kerosene. Zhu Zhuangyuan was tied to the pillar. When the executioner shouted "Time has come!", he threw a torch at his feet and the fire instantly engulfed him.
The wind was freezing, but not as chilling as the people's hearts. Listening to the painful cries from above, the common people sobbed and wanted to rush forward to save people, but they were blocked by the officers and soldiers.
This inhumane burning completely destroyed the Yang family. Within half a month, scholars from all over the country denounced Yang Yuanli for being cruel and inhumane, and said he was unworthy of being the emperor!
In this chaos, the year's harvest festival arrived.
October 25th of every year in the Sheng Dynasty was the Day of Praying for a Good Harvest. As the name suggests, it is a festival to pray for a good harvest in the coming year and for the people to be rich and healthy. It is also one of the most important festivals in the Sheng Dynasty.
On this day, the emperor would bathe, change clothes, burn incense and pray at the altar. After praying, he would parade through the streets and distribute the offered pastries, fruits and steamed buns to the people.
For ordinary people who depend on the weather for their livelihood, the greatest wish is to have good weather and good harvests.
As a result, Yang Yuanli was seriously ill this year, and the weather outside was cold, so he simply ordered the cancellation of the Festival of Praying for a Good Harvest...
His actions once again angered the people, and he was on the verge of death.
*
In Xuzhou, Zhao Xiao had led more than 10,000 elite soldiers out of the city and quietly stationed in a valley thirty miles away, waiting for an opportunity to act.
"Boss, we've been squatting here for several days. What are you planning to do?" Ma Zhenwei handed a basin of warm water to Zhao Xiao.
"Waiting for someone." Zhao Xiao washed his face and splashed the water outside.
"Who are you waiting for?"
Zhao Xiao raised his head and glanced at him: "Guess."
Ma Zhenwei scratched his head: "If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. How can I guess it?"
Zhao Xiao kicked him and said, "Go out and practice!"
"Hey!" Ma Zhenwei ran out with a smile.
Ever since Zhao Xiao became the general of the Qing Army, he reintegrated the two armies, retaining the generals who obeyed his orders and kicking those who disobeyed his orders directly into the recruit camp to start as soldiers.
At the same time, he also promoted several capable talents, including Bai Yizhou from Xuanyi Tower and Ma Zhenwei, who was his former subordinate.
Bai Yizhou was recommended by Song Yuzhu. He has an open character and is skilled in martial arts. After two years of training in the army, he will surely become a capable general in the future.
Ma Zhenwei was a troublemaker. He would either bully someone or beat someone else in other barracks. He was very arrogant. Since he was assigned to Zhao Xiao's position, he was completely submissive to him. He especially admired Zhao Xiao and felt more friendly to him than to his own father!
Because he was brave and courageous in battle, Zhao Xiao directly promoted him to be his deputy general.
Most of the remaining people were still in their original positions and had not been transferred much. Of course, there were also some who were still ruthless, including Gong Xin, Yang Zhao's former deputy general.
Before the news of Yang Yuanqing's death was announced, he had repeatedly disobeyed Zhao Xiao's orders and even planned to lead people into the palace to rescue Yang Yuanqing.
It’s not that he is very loyal to Yang Yuanqing, but he wants to get the credit of saving his lord. Wouldn’t that mean the position of general will fall into his hands?
However, his plan was full of loopholes and was soon secretly told to Zhao Xiao by his subordinates.
Zhao Xiao was not a good-tempered person, otherwise he would not have been nicknamed the Iron-faced Yama. He directly ordered Gong Xin to be tied up and beheaded in front of all the soldiers.
He also re-enacted military law, and past crimes were forgiven. From now on, anyone who bullied the people would be punished with eighty strokes of the cane, which basically killed half of the person. If not dead, he would be disabled. Anyone who killed civilians indiscriminately would be executed immediately.
These veteran soldiers were very good at reading people's faces. They knew that Zhao Xiao was not joking with them and did not dare to have any other tricks.
Zhao Xiao also disbanded the military prostitute camp and sent all the local girls in Xuzhou back home. The remaining official prostitutes who wanted to stay could go to the kitchen to help out and receive one string of money every month.
Only a few of those poor women decided to go back to their hometowns, and most chose to stay and help in the kitchen. Most of their relatives were convicted and died, and they would have no chance of survival if they went back, so it was better for them to stay here and make a living.
Zhao Xiao came out of the military camp, looked in the direction of Xuzhou City, and took out a sachet from his arms. This was given to him by Song Yuzhu before he left. It contained several herbs for calming the nerves. He put it to his nose and smelled it. It was slightly bitter and sweet, just like the smell on his body.
After smelling it, he carefully put it into his arms. Zhao Xiao looked up at the sky. Gray dark clouds were gathering. It might snow tonight.
*
In the city, Song Yuzhu and Xu Bing were sitting in the council hall on the second floor. A map of Xuzhou was placed in the middle of the table.
This map was drawn by Song Yuzhu according to the map in his mind. It depicts the terrain around Xuzhou in its entirety, and its detail was so detailed that Xu Bing was amazed.
He drew two copies of this map in total, and let Zhao Xiao take the other one away.
While drawing this map, Song Yuzhu also discovered an amazing function.
He clicked on other cities in his mind, and all of them were mosaics and question marks. But when he clicked on Xuzhou, the mosaics disappeared. The question marks also turned into specific marks, the crops that Xuzhou was good at growing, the mineral veins, the population, and various resources...
Song Yuzhu was completely stunned, and quickly clicked on other cities to check, but they were still mosaics, with only the Xuzhou map open. Could this be related to his control of Xuzhou?
"Master Zhu, where did this map come from?!"
"A friend gave it to me."
"You have to be restrained. If Yang Yuanqing had this map, he could have easily captured Xuzhou City!"
Song Yuzhu said worriedly, "There are quite a lot of them. I'm afraid General Zhao can't handle them." According to spies, the enemy army has nearly 30,000 troops, which is more than the entire Chengtian Army.
The water in the moat has frozen. Once the ice is thick, the moat will no longer be useful.
He has been sending soldiers to break the ice these days, but after looking at the weather forecast on the map, he found that the temperature in Xuzhou will continue to drop in the next three days, and the river water will freeze solid in two days.
Xu Bing comforted him, "Master Zhu, don't worry. Yang Yuanzhen said there were 30,000 people, but that was just a bluff. If you include the baggage carts, 20,000 people would be good enough."
"At the beginning, Yang Yuanqing claimed that he had 20,000 soldiers and horses, but in fact, many of them were recruited later. The real main force was only about 13,000 people."
"Don't worry, as long as General Zhao returns to defend in time, they will definitely not be able to defeat us."
As night fell, the lights on the Xuzhou city wall were brightly lit, and the soldiers guarding the city stared with their eyes wide open, fearing that the enemy would sneak in.
Two months ago they were the people attacking the city from outside, but now their roles have been reversed and they have become the people defending the city.
The people in the city were terrified. The last siege had already caused them a huge disaster. If it happened again, it would be unimaginable...
A man in a gray cotton coat rode a horse and quietly left the city under the cover of night. He was thin and frail, and looked like a minor from behind. This man was Tian Xiaobo, a subordinate of Song Yuzhu.
At Chou time today, spies reported that Yang Yuanzhen had arrived at the border of Xuzhou with 30,000 troops. He came out of the city to deliver a letter to Zhao Xiao.
The horse couldn't run very fast in the ice and snow, and the hoof nails kept slipping.
When we climbed over a mountain, we heard a wolf howling suddenly from the mountain stream.
The horse he was sitting on was frightened and started running madly with its hooves kicked open!
"Whoa! Whoa!" Tian Xiaobo pulled the reins tightly, but the horse was so scared that it didn't listen to the command. There was a steep slope in front of it, and the horse slipped and fell down with him.
The fall was not a big deal, the horse's leg was broken and Tian Xiaobo also hit his head on a rock and lost consciousness.
(End of this chapter)
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