Commander Chen knew perfectly well that since the enemy had already laid an ambush here, they would never let them leave safely, so the two sides were bound to fight to the death!
That was his original plan, after all, as far as they knew, the King Wen's group had at most a thousand people.
But it was only the moment he dismounted that he finally became afraid.
Those arrows belonged to the navy!
What does this mean? It means that there were naval forces that betrayed King Wen's forces.
Outnumbered, Commander Chen naturally lost the courage to fight them to the death, and ordered his men to retreat continuously, even though he knew that the chances of successfully escaping were very small.
As Guard Zhang slightly lowered his left hand, the people who had been lying in ambush behind Commander Chen and the others finally appeared, quickly and ruthlessly eliminating the Jiangzhou garrison that had been retreating from the beginning.
The wailing echoed throughout the sky, startling even the birds in the jungle, who chirped and flapped their wings to take flight.
The road they came from was blocked. Commander Chen glanced at the deserted path and the jungle behind them, gritted his teeth, and said, "Retreat into the jungle!"
However, his words seemed to be a command to act, and two rows of archers suddenly stood up from the jungle behind him.
They drew their bows and shot arrows with expressionless faces.
After the first volley finished firing, they quickly crouched down and drew their bows, then the second volley continued. After only a few rounds, another batch of Chen's men fell.
Only then did Commander Chen realize that he was surrounded by enemies on all sides and had nowhere to escape.
They originally thought they might have the advantage in numbers, but unexpectedly, in just one encounter, they hadn't even managed to touch the enemy's head before losing more than half of their own.
If you resist again, you will only face death!
A complex mix of emotions—fear, panic, fear of death, resentment, and a lingering hope that the King of Chu might succeed—overwhelmed him, making his resistance efforts slow.
Just then, Gu Yuzhi tugged at Guard Zhang's wrist and gave him a wink. Guard Zhang understood and hoisted Gu Yuzhi onto his neck.
Gu Yuzhi was not new to the battlefield, but seeing the blood and corpses all over the ground, he couldn't help but frown.
He took a deep breath, focusing his energy in his diaphragm, and tried his best to make his voice sound reliable and steady: "I am King Wen Gu Yuzhi!"
"You are all warriors of our Sang Dynasty, all fine young men! The evidence against the criminal Gu Yufan is conclusive. Lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, and I will write to my brother the Emperor to plead for your lives."
Having had one or two experiences, Gu Yuzhi was already very skilled at using these persuasive words to convince others to surrender.
His slightly immature voice quickly carried out, drawing the attention of the somewhat bewildered city guards.
For a moment, neither side made a move, and the situation remained in a stalemate.
The ordinary city guards' eyes gradually became somewhat flustered. Only Commander Chen and a few trusted confidants gripped their steel swords tightly, but their eyes were no longer as resolute as before.
The prefect and his two advisors were right; Prince Wen already knew that the Prince of Chu had been demoted to commoner status and was to be punished.
As the garrison commander of the Chu king's fiefdom, he had no way of clearing his name.
Commander Chen gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "This Prince Wen has been out of favor since childhood. As soon as the emperor ascended the throne, he exiled him to the northern desert. Do you really want to believe what he says?"
"Do you think he'll pardon us if we plead with the Emperor? Don't forget who protected you during the floods and the plague!"
Commander Chen knew very well that no matter how many of the King of Chu's secrets he revealed, he could not escape being beheaded, and his family would not escape it either...
Upon thinking of this, Chen Shoubei's previously hesitant expression instantly hardened. Rather than being taken to the execution ground in the end, he might as well fight them and perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope for survival.
Therefore, he cannot allow any of the people around him to betray him, not a single one!
Commander Chen said in a deep voice, "You should think this through. Your families are still in Jiangzhou! The prefect and the prince's staff are all in the prefectural government. If they find out you have surrendered, will your families still be alive?"
"If we work together and break through the encirclement, as long as we return to Jiangzhou, hold the city gates, and wait for the prince to return, we will be safe!"
Several of Commander Chen's trusted confidants also chimed in, "Yes, Commander Chen is absolutely right. Things have come to this point. Treason is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Can you really spare your lives just because of a single word from this young prince?"
Another person chimed in, "If we fight, there's still a glimmer of hope; if we don't fight, we're all doomed!"
The group whispered words of persuasion, and the bewildered city guards gradually came to their senses.
He thought to himself, "Yes, things have come to this point. Will the Emperor really spare them?"
But should we really resist to the end?
What if what King Wen said is true?
Even if he were beheaded, would Prince Wen be willing to speak up for them and let his family live?
For a moment, everyone was even more confused, but no one showed any intention of putting down the knife.
Now that Gu Yuzhi was sitting on Zhang Shiwei's shoulders, he was much taller and had a wider field of vision, so he naturally noticed the unusual things in the crowd.
He patted Guard Zhang on the shoulder, bent down and whispered, "Guard Zhang, put me down first."
He didn't want to persuade him anymore; he just wanted Guard Zhang to let the blind arrows hit the Jiangzhou garrison.
After Gu Yuzhi stood up again, he stomped his foot and said softly, "This Jiangzhou garrison commander is wicked! I saw some soldiers were already tempted, but the Jiangzhou garrison commander said something that made them hesitate again."
There's not much difference between the city's defense forces and the navy.
Ordinary soldiers follow orders from their superiors, and the emperor is not a bad person who likes to kill indiscriminately, so he will naturally be lenient towards these ordinary soldiers.
He had asked Chief Secretary Xie, and Chief Secretary Xie's meaning was quite simple.
Once things calmed down, these ordinary soldiers would be sent to other places, such as Lingnan or Mobei, where conditions were harsher and guarded more strictly.
He snorted and used his chubby little hand to push aside the weeds in front of him: "Guard Zhang, hurry up, let this Jiangzhou garrison be killed by swords without eyes!"
Gu Yuzhi pouted and said, "Anyway, we still have the prefect of Jiangzhou and Gu Yufan's advisors. If the garrison commander of Jiangzhou is gone, so be it!"
Upon hearing the words "swords have no eyes," Guard Zhang was momentarily stunned.
After a moment of hesitation, he said in a deep voice, "Your Highness is right! Since the Jiangzhou garrison commander is going to die anyway, he might as well die now and make a contribution to Your Highness."
Gu Yuzhi scratched his head. Contribution?
What contribution could the death of the Jiangzhou garrison commander possibly make to me?
Guard Zhang drew his bow and arrow, instantly drawing it to its full draw, the arrowhead pointing straight at the Jiangzhou garrison commander's forehead: "Naturally, it's to make an example of him!"
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