Chapter 283 Zeng Ying's Fate
This kick made Zhao Xiaofei unable to get out of bed for two days. Shen Yunying now ignored him completely. She didn't even see Li Sihong.
As soon as they entered Sichuan, Shen Yunying left the team with other sisters and returned to Mount Emei alone.
Looking at the team going away, Zhao Xiaofei felt a little disappointed, but he turned around and forgot about it because he contacted the White Rod Army.
Liu Fei walked over and said, "Master Zhao! We've made contact with the White Spear Army. I took the token to see Master Fang, and he has already sent cavalry to meet us!"
"Great! When will they arrive?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"Arrive early tomorrow morning!" Liu Fei said.
Ever since Fang Xinyu saw Zhao Xiaofei's gold medal, he knew he wasn't dead. Good thing he wasn't dead! Otherwise, he'd have joined forces with Lao Wan and Lao Zhou to purge the court and attack Nanjing. As for who would become emperor, that was a matter for later. He doubted the three brothers would fall out over this.
Fang Xinyu dispatched 5,000 cavalrymen to fetch him. Upon arrival, he saw that Zhao Xiaofei's troops were truly a beggar's army. Their clothing was in disarray; many wore not only civilian clothing but also tattered garments. Their weapons were even more varied. The original Kenan Army was relatively well-equipped, possessing both guns and swords. The others were in dire straits, with many using sharpened bamboo poles as spears.
The entire team was in disarray. Except for the Ke Nan Army, the rest of the team was sparsely populated and had no formation.
Seeing that they didn't even take any defensive action and just greeted me carelessly, what if I was the enemy, or the enemy in disguise?
Fang Xinyu rode forward and arrived in front of the two armies. He quickly dismounted, knelt down and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, your Majesty!"
"Long live the prince!" The cavalrymen behind also dismounted and saluted at the same time!
Liu Fei was stunned. What? The prince? Where is the prince? So he looked around, searching for the prince. His fellow soldiers did the same, turning their heads to look for the prince, thinking: Where is the prince? Let's see what the legendary prince looks like. So we can go home and brag about him to our family. Then Wang Fugui and his wife were also looking around, eager to see what the prince looked like.
Zhao Xiaofei dismounted, slowly walked over to Fang Xinyu, helped him up, and said, "General Fang, you've worked hard! Hurry up and get up! I almost couldn't see you."
"The prince is blessed with great fortune! Those villains can certainly not harm the prince!" Fang Xinyu and Zhao Xiaofei said politely.
The others immediately understood that the original Lord Zhao was actually the Prince. Liu Fei was so frightened that his legs went weak. He had almost beaten the Prince to death with Ma Siye. He felt his whole body begin to shake!
The one who was most afraid was Wang Fugui. He had abandoned the prince and ran away with his wife, leaving the prince in danger.
The wife of the Wang family was quite touched at first, thinking that he had given up his future wealth to save her. Later, when she saw that the prince was fine, although she felt a little guilty, she felt nothing. At most, she and her husband would continue to live a hard life. But now she found that she and her husband were doomed. Her husband only thought about saving her and not saving the prince. What a sin this was! She and her husband probably didn't need to go to their uncle anymore. She thought the prince would just drag them down and behead them!
All the soldiers and officers behind Zhao Xiaofei knelt down.
Liu Fei was shaking like a sieve, kneeling on the ground and trembling. Wang Fugui and his wife also knelt down trembling.
Zhao Xiaofei turned around, walked over to Liu Fei and said, "Get up! Ignorance is not a crime!" He then said to Wang Fugui, "You two should get up too! I'm not a petty person. Just go to Shizhu, find your relatives, and live a good life! I admire people like you who risk your life for your wife."
After hearing this, Wang Fugui smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for not blaming me. I will definitely live a good life with my wife when I go back!"
"Your Highness! I deserved to die! Back then..." Liu Fei wanted to say something, but Zhao Xiaofei patted him on the shoulder and said, "Alright! I don't blame you. You've performed well. I'll promote you to division commander. Do your best in the future!"
"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness!" Liu Fei kowtowed immediately, his voice very loud.
Zhao Xiaofei turned to Fang Xinyu and said, "Raise the banner of this king! Let's go back to Shizhu! Tell the whole world that I'm back alive! Hahahaha!"
Zhao Xiaofei fled, gathering his defeated troops, and eventually reunited with Fang Xinyu and headed to Shizhu. His only regret was that he wasn't with Miss Shen. He wondered what she would think if she knew Zhao Xiaofei's identity. Would she come back to find him?
In the Shizhu camp, Zhao Xiaofei changed into the prince's regular clothes and washed up. Sitting beside him were Fang Xinyu, Ma Wanchun, Qin Yiming, and Ma Xiangling.
Zhao Xiaofei took a sip of tea and asked, "What do people say in Chengdu?"
"Chengdu's Zeng Ying's attitude was initially unclear, and now he's simply placing our people under house arrest. I also sent a small team to Chengdu, but they unexpectedly detained us!" Ma Wanchun said. He spoke politely and never mentioned anything about the king.
"It seems that Zeng Ying is determined to fight Nanjing to the end. Pass on my order. The army will march towards Chengdu Prefecture after three days of rest! Try to enter Chengdu as soon as possible!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
After three days of rest, Zhao Xiaofei led the White Spear Army towards Chengdu. They encountered no resistance along the way, and only at the gates of Chengdu did the Ming army begin to resist. Zeng Ying, having previously received some weapons from the Kenan Army, showed considerable fighting ability.
The performance of defending the city was remarkable. The White Rod Army and Zhao Xiaofei's ragtag army could not take it down in a short time, and the two armies were in a stalemate.
At this time, news came that the eldest brother Zhao Xiaokun had returned to Jingzhou to take charge of the situation. He also secretly sent supplies, and Zeng Ying also received this news.
The Zhao brothers came back one after another. Although Zeng Ying's troops were still able to defend the city of Chengdu, they were not able to sense the impact of each attack and the soldiers did not put in their utmost effort.
Zhao Xiaofei called Fang Xinyu and Ma Wanchun to discuss what to do next.
"Now I have to take over Chengdu City in advance. If Nanjing issues an imperial decree asking Zeng Ying to surrender, we will not be able to eliminate Zeng Ying, and we will have no reason to openly devour his troops." Zhao Xiaofei said.
Zhao Xiaofei's plan was simple: temporarily refrain from falling out with Nanjing. Everyone should consider the greater good, but for now, the army and the court should be left alone. They could wait until after the Northern Expedition. But now was not the time to deal with Empress Dowager Zhou, let alone another civil war. Otherwise, history would likely change back to the way it was.
Therefore, we should take advantage of the fact that there is no order from Nanjing and incorporate Zeng Ying's troops first. This will give us more bargaining chips for future negotiations with the imperial court.
Zeng Ying was now regretting his own inability to think the Zhao family was finished. Now that they were back, he couldn't retreat. What if Nanjing ordered surrender? His only option then would be death.
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