Chapter 150

A yellowing autumn leaf swirled and fell from the tree branch. A group of people hurriedly walked towards the end of the vermilion palace wall.

The eldest princess was dressed in a gorgeous crimson purple dress. Even with thick makeup on her face, she could not hide the tiredness of a sleepless night. As she walked, she instructed the civil servants who were trotting beside her:

"The Xinyang prince's army has been attacking the city all night and is now exhausted. The son of Luo Yue is just a name, but he is not as good as him in the use of troops. If there is no one available in the court, your majesty would not have activated him. This princess will go to the city gate to supervise the battle in person. Everything in the palace will be left to you, the Grand Tutor."

"I will definitely fulfill your orders!" The old minister with white hair and beard bowed.

The Grand Princess paused slightly, staring at the golden ginkgo trees outside the palace wall in a trance, and said, "If the capital can't be defended, the country will have to change hands."

Although the Prince of Xinyang has the title of a vassal prince, he has no family relationship with the Feng royal family.

Before last night, the Grand Princess always thought that it was Feng Shuo who would fight with Feng Shiyan in the end, but unexpectedly, the Prince of Xinyang was killed halfway.

If the country of Daxuan fell into the hands of the Prince of Xinyang, that would be how difficult it would be for the people.

When she arrived at the city gate, the Grand Princess personally climbed the tower and saw the soldiers guarding the city with a gloomy face. For the first time, she felt from the bottom of her heart how irreversible the force was that the tower would fall.

The morale of the imperial army was scattered. All the soldiers seemed to have fear and despair written on their faces. They were simply unable to meet the enemy.

The Xinyang prince's army built a fire on the spot to cook. After a full meal to replenish their physical strength, they once again launched an attack on the city with wheel tactics. The imperial guards on the city tower went from panic at the beginning to numbness, and in the end, they were only exhausted.

They had been comfortable in the capital for too long and had not fought a few real tough battles. The cooperation between the vanguard army and the logistics troops was also in a mess. At mealtime, they could not supply food, and rolling stones, bows and arrows, weapons to deal with the enemy's climbing ladders, could not be replenished in time.

Before the city gate was broken, the soldiers guarding the city kept abandoning their armor and fleeing.

The eldest princess's face was as gloomy as ice. She shouted at a soldier who was running towards her: "The enemy is in front of us, why are you running?"

The soldier looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, and it seemed that he had been in the army for less than two years. When he answered, his legs trembled and his face was covered with snot and tears: "I... I have an eighty-year-old mother, and I haven't married yet... I don't want to die..."

The eldest princess's eyes were cold, as if she was looking at a dead thing. She drew the sword of the guard beside her and chopped off the soldier's neck with one sword. The spurting blood splashed all over her, and the blood made her face even colder: "If anyone escapes from the battlefield again, this will be the end!"

The soldiers on the city wall who were still thinking of retreating couldn't help but shudder.

The Grand Princess pointed to the capital behind her and said with red eyes: "Behind the city gate are your defenseless parents, wives, daughters and sisters. Why don't you stay here to protect them? After the city is broken, will you watch them being bullied and insulted? If you have any courage, you must let the rebels step over your corpses before they can pass through this city gate!"

Many soldiers bowed their heads in shame after hearing these words.

The Grand Princess shouted: "You must defend the city gate for me even if you risk your life!"

The soldiers guarding the city were aroused by these words. They swept away their previous decadence and really risked their lives to block the hole in the city tower.

Arrows and shells kept flying from below the city tower, and explosions were heard everywhere.

The commander of the tower covered his head and ran up to the tower, with an obvious panic on his face: "Grand Princess, please hide under the tower first, it's dangerous up there."

The Grand Princess pointed the sword that had just chopped the soldier at the commander's neck: "If you can't defend the city gate, bring me your head!"

The commander was a fame-seeker. Relying on the merits of his father, he had gained a lot of reputation in the court. Now that there was no one else to use in the court, he was forced to resign. If the Grand Princess hadn't come, I'm afraid he would have hidden and dared not even come up to the tower.

With the Grand Princess pointing a sword at his neck, the guard still answered righteously: "Please rest assured, Grand Princess, the city is alive as long as the people are alive, and the city is dead as long as the people are dead."

However, after guarding the city gate for less than half a day, the guard was wounded in the arm by a stray arrow, so he pretended to be seriously injured and could no longer command from the tower. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, the Grand Princess went up to the tower again.

Even though she was far inferior to those generals in commanding the battle, as long as she stood on the tower, she was the second flag flying above the tower.

When the news reached the Yangxin Palace, Feng Shiyan, who was so sick that he couldn't even get out of bed, moved his dry and cracked lips and ordered his attendants: "Call the doctor here." Since

he was seriously ill, the doctors of the Imperial Hospital had been detained in the palace, and the hospital messenger soon came to his bedside to diagnose his pulse.

Feng Shiyan looked at the ceiling with a silent look in his eyes: "Give me the tiger and wolf medicine."

The hand of the court envoy who was taking the pulse trembled slightly: "Your Majesty... I'm afraid your body can't stand the effect of the medicine now."

The so-called tiger and wolf medicine is nothing more than a miraculous effect in a short time, but once the effect of the medicine wears off, it will cause great harm to people.

Feng Shiyan said: "A woman like my aunt has come to the tower in person. As the king of a country, how can I be so careless? Even if I die, I should die standing in front of the two armies."

After he said this, the court envoy had to prescribe the medicine.

After taking a dose of the medicine, Feng Shiyan felt that he was indeed much lighter. He ordered in a deep voice: "Bring my armor."

The chief eunuch said with some worry: "Your Majesty, the armor is too heavy, so don't change into military uniform."

Feng Shiyan closed his eyes and repeated: "Bring the armor!"

The chief eunuch had no choice but to let the palace maids get it.

The palace maids entered with the parts of the bright golden armor. Feng Shiyan opened his arms and let the palace maids change the armor for him.

The weight of the armor pressed on his body, as if he was carrying the whole country on his shoulders.

The armor can support the body better than ordinary clothes. After Feng Shiyan changed into the golden armor, he looked as heroic as before.

He walked forward with heavy steps, picked up the sword on the tray of the last palace maid, and walked out of the bedroom that had trapped him for a long time step by step in the dazzling white sky. The scarlet battle robe dragged long behind him, like a blood-stained flag.

All the palace maids looked at their king, and most of them knew that he would not come back. They knelt down silently and tacitly, folded their hands on the ground, and rested their foreheads on the backs of their hands, humble and pious.

Facing the palace maids who were kneeling on both sides of the palace wall to see him off, Feng Shiyan's throat moved, and in the end he said nothing, and walked through the alley without looking around. Only the scarlet battle robe behind him was blown by the autumn wind, raising a sharp arc.

Outside the palace walls, the fallen leaves rustled, and the flying ginkgo leaves also added a bit of sadness.

Feng Shiyan personally rushed to the city gate to supervise the battle, and the morale of the imperial army was greatly boosted, and they barely survived the first day.

But the Prince of Xinyang also calculated the time. He knew that Chu Changping withdrew his troops and dared not fight again because of the great loss of morale and the lack of military supplies. If he and the imperial army attacked him from the front and back, the imperial army would not suffer much loss due to the city gate. On the contrary, the physically exhausted Chu army would be caught by his army and would suffer more losses.

Now Chu Changping could only wait until Chu Chengmao led the Yuzhou garrison to the capital.

The Prince of Xinyang knew that if he wanted to win, he had to capture the capital before Chu Chengmao's Yuzhou army arrived in the capital, so the siege wheel tactics never stopped.

The imperial army had persisted for a day and a night and was already exhausted.

On the second morning, Prince Xinyang directly ordered that after breakfast, all the pots and bowls in the barracks be smashed and the remaining food and grass be burned. If they did not take the capital, they would have no food to eat.

With no way out, Prince Xinyang's army attacked more fiercely than any other day. They climbed up the ladders desperately. A dozen soldiers pushed the battering rams and rammed the city gates again and again. The city gates covered with heavy iron sheets were directly rammed into countless pits, and a lot of lime fell from the top of the city gates, showing how strong the force was. The

imperial guards on the city towers were all panicked. After attacking the city for two days and one night, they had used up all the stones they could throw at the enemy, and they didn't even have enough arrows.

Seeing the enemy within range and climbing up the ladder, there was nothing he could do but hold his spear and stab them when they were about to climb up, but this resulted in more enemy soldiers climbing up the city tower.

The bolt of the city gate below had been cracked by the impact, and dozens of soldiers were crowded at the city gate and pushing hard. The soldiers standing at the innermost part were unable to withstand the force of the battering ram hitting the door, and their faces were painful and blood was spitting out. It was obvious that they were bruised. Feng Shiyan propped his hands on the battlements of the city wall , and his gorgeous gilded wristbands reflected a dazzling luster in the sunlight. There was ambition and unwillingness in his eyes, but in the end, all of them returned to silence. "Pass on my oral order, line up below the city tower to meet the enemy!" he shouted in

a deep voice . The city gate will be breached, and as long as the commander of the city is alive, he should lead his troops to fight. The eldest princess has been guarding the city gate for a day and a night. Her hair, which was originally carefully combed, fell down, and there was a little smoke and dust on her face. She looked at Feng Shiyan's back as he walked down the tower, and a few traces of farewell pain flashed in her eyes. She shouted: "Your Majesty, I hope to return triumphantly!" The news that the capital was about to be captured spread to every corner of the palace. The palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly ran away with large and small bags of property looted from various palaces, and the imperial guards were also busy. Since Jiang Yanxi was imprisoned, all sources of information to the outside world have been cut off. When the former officers outside the palace took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the palace to rescue her from the prison, Jiang Yanxi was not surprised, but was confused: "Why are you here?" An old officer from the previous dynasty was busy helping Jiang Yanyi open the handcuffs on her hands and feet and said: "Prince Xinyang is attacking the city, and the dog emperor is personally supervising the battle. The city gate will be breached soon. The dog emperor deserves to die at the hands of Prince Xinyang! Princess, don't worry, we can take the princess out of the city safely..." Jiang Yanxi didn't hear what the old officer said. Only a few words of Feng Shiyan's death were left in her mind. That day when her identity was exposed, Feng Shiyan's trembling hands and scarlet eyes appeared uncontrollably in front of her when he pointed a sword at her. Although his expression was still wooden, tears had already fallen from his eyes. When she was half-supported out of the prison, Jiang Yanxi said to several former officials who were accompanying her: "After my identity was discovered, Minister Jiang must have been arrested as well. You go find Minister Jiang and rescue him as well." Several former officials hurried to the prison to look for people, leaving only Jiang Yanxi and the former officials who had been tortured waiting at the door. Jiang Yanxi glanced at them and said: "Feng Shiyan will die soon, and the revenge of the previous dynasty has been avenged. From now on, I am no longer your princess of the previous dynasty." After saying that, she lifted the hem of her skirt and turned around and ran away. The maid who had taken care of her wanted to chase her, but her hands and feet had been tortured and she could not move easily. She could only shout helplessly: "Princess, where are you going?" Jiang Yanxi turned around and said: "In my life, I have no choice of birth and destiny. The only thing I can decide is my own death." She did not look back and ran towards the south gate without looking back. The sun was scorching in the sky, and the battering ram under the tower was still hitting the gate again and again. The imperial guards standing on the tower had been killed by the enemy troops climbing up from the cloud ladder. There were few left. The two guards who were protecting the eldest princess were covered with wounds of various sizes, but there were still enemies climbing up from the cloud ladder. The eldest princess looked at the sun in the sky, and there was a look of resignation in her eyes. After half a day, they finally couldn't hold on any longer. "Woo--" A dull horn sounded in the distance, and in the dust, a man and a horse were seen galloping over, with a scarlet cloak fluttering in the wind and sand, followed by about a thousand elite cavalry. The eldest princess narrowed her eyes, and for a moment she really thought she was hallucinating. But as the light horse approached and the person on the horse gradually became clear, the eldest princess, who was always known for her strength, actually had tears in her eyes. She certainly knew why Chu Changping only brought a thousand elite cavalry. The Chu army had run out of food, and the soldiers had nothing to eat. Chu Changping didn't dare to take the risk of bringing in all the remaining troops. The elite cavalry led by Chu Changping was composed of soldiers who voluntarily followed him to support the court. Some of these people were purely loyal to him, and some had relatives in the capital. They tore a hole in the rear of the Xinyang King's army, but with a loud "bang", the city gate was completely destroyed, and everything was a foregone conclusion. The Xinyang King's army rushed into the city. Feng Shiyan sat on horseback, watching the Xinyang King's army rushing in like a flood from the city gate, raised his long sword, and shouted: "Kill!" "Kill--" The only team of heavy armored cavalry left in the city rushed forward, the sound of fighting was deafening, and the corpses piled up at the city gate at a speed visible to the naked eye. There were too many Xinyang King's army outside the city gate, and they were blocked outside and couldn't rush in for a while. They turned around and bit Chu Changping and his group who had entered the siege. Seeing that the capital city was within reach, but Feng Shiyan took advantage of the fact that a large number of troops could not rush in at once through the city gate, and commanded his subordinates to continuously slaughter the soldiers in the capital city. Prince Xinyang was so anxious that his eyes turned red, and he roared like a wild beast: "Shoot! Shoot!" Prince Xinyang's army finally stopped rushing in in a swarm, and the archers shot arrows in unison. A rain of arrows shot at the heavy cavalry in the city, and soldiers were shot and fell continuously. The arrows of the court had been used up on the city wall long ago, and they could not fight back from a distance now. An arrow pierced Feng Shiyan's shoulder blade, and he seemed to be unaware of the pain. He raised his long sword again and shouted: "Kill!"

"Kill!"

This time the voices responding to him were much weaker. The heavily armored cavalrymen rode their horses and rushed forward into the rain of arrows. Cavalrymen were shot by arrows and fell off their horses. Some cavalrymen rushed to the archers, trampled several people to death with their horses, and chopped down more with their swords.

This was ultimately a desperate resistance. When Feng Shiyan himself was shot by an arrow and fell off his horse, he spit out blood from his mouth, but still stood up with his sword.

Someone tried to capture him alive, but before he got close, he cut off his head with a sword.

There were corpses under his feet, and he couldn't tell whether they were his own people or those of Prince Xinyang's army. His originally handsome face was covered with blood, as if Shura was alive.

The soldiers under Prince Xinyang didn't dare to get close to him anymore, and pulled the bowstrings tight and aimed at him.

"Feng Shiyan!" A woman's scream came from afar.

This voice finally made Feng Shiyan's eyes ripple. He looked up and saw Jiang Yanxi running towards him without looking back from the other end of the long street. Before she reached him, she was shot through the body by several stray arrows and staggered to the ground.

"Yanxi——" Feng Shiyan's eyes were bloodshot. He threw away the sword in his hand and ran over to catch Jiang Yanxi, but he was still a step too slow.

Jiang Yanxi fell to the ground, with large streams of blood gushing out of her mouth. The arrow holes on her body also slowly seeped out blood, staining her clothes red. She looked at Feng Shiyan, her lips moving all the time, as if she wanted to say something.

Feng Shiyan knelt on the ground, almost crawled over and half-carried her. He used his hands to wipe the blood gushing from the corner of her mouth. His expression was more fragile than ever before. He only said one sentence: "I will take you to find a doctor... I will take you to find a doctor..."

Jiang Yanxi's throat was clogged with blood, and she could hardly speak. Two lines of tears slid down her temples. Feng

Shiyan saw that she was spitting blood foam from her mouth. He leaned down and put his ear to her lips. He only heard a few very faint words, intermittent and almost incoherent: "I... I love..."

The last word was finally not uttered. Jiang Yanxi's hands fell down powerlessly, and her eyes filled with tears slowly closed.

"Yanxi——"

Feng Shiyan hugged Jiang Yanxi's still warm body tightly and screamed in pain. Before today, no one had ever seen the tyrant Feng Shiyan vulnerable, but at this moment, he hugged Jiang Yanxi's body and tears fell down like a helpless child. The

eldest princess stood on the city wall and watched this scene, and she couldn't stop crying.

The Xinyang King's army, who were surrounding in the distance and pulling the bowstrings tightly, did not hesitate for too long. When the overwhelming rain of arrows came again, Feng Shiyan held Jiang Yanxi's body tightly in his arms and blocked all the arrows with his body.

Every arrow that fell on Jiang Yanxi pierced his flesh and blood.

Feng Shiyan spat out blood, and said word by word: "Yan Xi, in the next life... we... will be fine..."

That was what she had promised him, and now, he was the one to tell her the promise.

Outside the city, the one thousand elite cavalrymen brought by Chu Changping had been completely surrounded by the Xinyang King's army.

As more and more soldiers under the Xinyang King climbed up the city wall, the two guards protecting the Grand Princess died one after another.

The Grand Princess stood at the battlement of the city wall and put a knife to her neck.

The soldiers probably wanted to take her alive, so they didn't come forward for a while.

Chu Changping saw the Grand Princess's actions from below the city wall and shouted: "Feng Yu!"

The Grand Princess looked down at the city wall. Chu Changping had fought hard to kill his way through the crowd and was trying to get closer to the city gate.

She knew that even if he came to kill her, he couldn't take her away, but would only lose his own life.

The corners of the eldest princess' mouth were raised, as if she was smiling, but tears welled up in her eyes. She asked loudly: "Chu Changping, if I could do it again, I would ask my father to grant me a marriage, would you marry me?"

Chu Changping killed a soldier with a knife, and said: "No."

He said no, but he ran towards her in the midst of thousands of troops.

The eldest princess smiled and shed tears: "That's right, if you had agreed to my father's marriage, I would not like you."

Her love for him started from her unwillingness to be rejected. The more she knew about this man, the deeper she fell.

The eldest princess took a last look at Chu Changping, cut his throat with a sharp knife, and jumped down from the tower.

The purple robe she was wearing was blown up by the wind, and the gold embroidery on the lapels shone brightly in the sunlight, as if a phoenix had been reborn from the ashes