The Qi state recaptured Hangu Pass, and news of the victory immediately reached the capital.
The messenger sang loudly all the way.
"A great victory at Hangu Pass!"
The people of several nearby cities were overjoyed and burst into tears. Their army had finally driven away the barbarians from the grasslands, and no more people would die!
The people spread the word, and many people from nearby areas spontaneously came over, bringing their own shovels and pickaxes to help clear the battlefield and bury the remains of the martyrs.
Even older women and daughters-in-law came to offer sacrifices, carrying incense, candles, paper money, steamed buns, and loose wine.
Most of the army was stationed at Hangu Pass, while a small portion was used to restore the city from its devastation.
Han Zhongyu also organized people to repair important military facilities such as city walls and gates.
Meanwhile, those who had previously gone out to seek refuge with relatives began to return to Tianshui City one after another.
This gave Sukhbaatar's men the opportunity to disguise themselves and infiltrate.
The leader of this group was named Huge Yatu. He was very cautious. In order to avoid being discovered by the Qi people, he left 180 men outside, 30 men to provide backup, and another 150 men to pretend to attack the city and distract the city's defense forces.
The remaining 120 people were also divided into two groups.
Each group consists of sixty people. One group will take the initiative to kidnap Xuan Yuanche. If they succeed, the second group will not need to take action and will instead cover the first group's retreat.
If the first group fails, they will spare no effort to transfer people out of the city, and the second group will take the opportunity to kidnap them again.
When the time comes, all the people from Daqi will go to surround and capture the first group, which will greatly increase the chances of the second group winning.
Moreover, it took the two groups four days to enter Tianshui City, with about fifty people entering each day, all in groups of two or three as refugees.
Some even pretended to be helpful and asked a few aunties and grandmas to help carry their luggage. That way, even if someone questioned them, these aunties and grandmas would speak well of them, and they really didn't attract any attention.
It must be said that the plan was absolutely flawless, making it impossible to guard against.
After resting for five or six days, Xie Yushu and the others' wounds began to heal, and they can now walk slowly on the ground.
I had planned to wait three or four days until the stitches were removed, and then return to Tai'an Prefecture.
Han Zhongyu has been busy these days counting the number of casualties and repairing the city wall. He only comes to see Xie Yushu briefly during dinner time each day to say a few words.
The city was in ruins everywhere. Bloodstains were everywhere on the ground, on the doors and walls along the streets. The stench of blood had not completely dissipated for days. The people in the Tianshui City government office were also extremely busy.
It's fair to say that even if all able-bodied people were sent out, there would still be endless things to handle.
However, considering that the battle had just ended and there was a risk of spies infiltrating and harming Xie Yushu and Xuan Yuanche, Han Zhongyu still ordered Lan Ting and the others to stay by Xie Yushu's side. In addition, Liu Qiang and the others, along with Xuan Yuanche's Divine Eagle Guards, also guarded the area.
The two women had special identities. Although Xie Yushu hadn't expected it, Han Zhongyu had and took precautions early on.
However, despite all the planning, no one expected that the enemy would use the "luring the tiger away from the mountain" tactic twice in a row.
After dinner, Han Zhongyu sat with Xie Yushu for a while to discuss the progress of the matter before returning to the city defense department.
Before they even reached their destination, they heard the sound of war drums from the city walls.
Li Guang, who was following him, exclaimed in surprise.
"Is someone attacking the city?"
The Tatars are back?
Han Zhongyu didn't even have time to answer, and rushed towards the city wall first.
Li Guang followed closely behind.
Upon reaching the city wall, arrows were seen shooting towards it, and shouts of battle could be heard outside.
"What's going on?"
Han Zhongyu found the general guarding the city and asked him.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, a small group of Tatar troops suddenly attacked the city. It was too dark to see exactly how many there were."
However, judging from the density of the arrows and the shouts of battle outside, there should only be two or three hundred people. They are probably stragglers and scattered Tatar soldiers, nothing to fear!
After all, there will always be a group of stubborn people who will rather die here than return to their own territory if they don't achieve their goal.
Therefore, this was the first possibility that the city's defense commanders considered.
Han Zhongyu said
"Then we should be careful, since the city gates haven't been repaired yet."
Send some men down to guard the city gates.
"yes!"
While Han Zhongyu was preparing for battle, at the same time, the sounds of fighting suddenly broke out on Xie Yushu's side, where she had just turned off the lights to rest.
Immediately afterwards, a gentle breeze reminded them from outside.
"Assassins! Protect the Prince and the Princess!"
Instantly, all the lights came back on.
The head of the family of the pharmacy where Xie Yushu and the others were staying had not yet returned, so she, Xuan Yuanche's guards, as well as Zhao Hu, Liu Qiang, and Lan Ting, were all still staying in this courtyard.
However, Xie Yushu, Qu Xiaodie, and Nan Xing lived alone in a house in the inner courtyard, while Xuan Yuanche occupied a house in the front courtyard. The others were scattered in the surrounding houses, with the two of them as the center.
Qingfeng, along with a dozen or so Divine Eagle Guards, was on night duty outside tonight, so they spotted Huge's men as soon as they appeared.
However, since they were kidnappers, it was inevitable that they would be discovered. They didn't try to hide it and rushed at them, hacking and slashing.
These people were all brave, but fortunately Qingfeng and his group were not to be underestimated either, and they did not fall behind for a while in the battle.
Moreover, as more people came out of the house, they quickly stabilized the situation.
However, to their surprise, there were more than just that. The first group to arrive consisted of about forty people. It was clear that these people had already been dispersed and restrained by Qingfeng and his group, and all that was left was to kill them on the spot.
Then another twenty or so people rushed over.
At this moment, Qingfeng and his group were held back, while the twenty-odd people bypassed them and headed straight for Xuanyuan Che inside the house.
Xuanyuan Che's house was outside, and he was only guarded by Mingyue and more than a dozen Divine Eagle Guards. When they saw the people coming straight at them, they immediately drew their swords and engaged in a fierce battle.
Mingyue intuitively felt that this was a premeditated assassination or kidnapping, so she ordered someone to protect Xuanyuan Che and called two people to accompany her to personally escort Xuanyuan Che as they retreated.
Hearing the commotion inside, Xie Yushu and the others quickly sent Lanting and his men out to help.
Lan Ting hesitated for a moment, caught in a dilemma, then Xie Yushu said...
"Xuanyuan Che is a prince, the Empress Dowager's darling. If anything happens to him, none of us will escape. Go quickly!"
Having no other choice, Lan Ting could only take his men out to help.
Just as Lanting was leaving, she ran into Mingyue escorting Xuanyuan Che into the inner courtyard. Seeing that Lanting was about to leave, Mingyue reminded him...
"They've come with ill intentions; you must be careful!"
Lanting nodded and said
"I'm leaving the inside to you."
He then quickly led his men into the battle.
After the people from Lanting joined, the number of people on both sides was roughly equal. After fighting for a while, people on the other side gradually fell down. After a stalemate, the people on the other side suddenly joined forces and targeted Qingfeng. Someone desperately tried to block the people around Qingfeng. In no time, Qingfeng was grabbed by the neck and knocked unconscious with a palm strike.
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