Free Web NovelChapter 1145: Chapter 1136: Opening the City (21)
The scheme to sow discord got stuck halfway and fizzled out.
The Heir of the Duke of Guardian gripped his spear and fought Dong Chenglang for a hundred and eighty exchanges.
This battle raged on for a full day and night.
Neither side won or lost; the troops, exhausted in men and horses, temporarily withdrew.
This city was the only route into the Capital City, remarkably easy to defend and hard to attack. The commanding General defending the city was brave and battle-hardened, holding the advantage, and even General Shi and the others were at their wits’ end.
They had been attacking the city on and off for over half a month and still hadn’t managed to take it; it was truly demoralizing.
In the military camp, General Shi, the other Generals, and Prime Minister Zhao were discussing strategies to storm the city.
General Shi brought up Xie Jingchen once again.
To be able to come up with such a brilliant idea as using an iron box to hold the Red Book Iron Certificate, forcing the Duke Huguo to split the iron box—his intelligence and resourcefulness were far from ordinary.
If he were here, he might very well have a good plan for breaching the city.
Prime Minister Zhao was bitter at heart.
How could he not know how clever Prince Zhenbei of Daqi was?
If he could invite him to help Xuxu, what great undertaking would they have to fear failing?
But this was something that simply could not be done.
The fact that he had already helped Xuxu this much was rare enough.
One could not be insatiable.
General Shi urged more and more often to see Xie Jingchen; Prime Minister Zhao could hardly fend him off. He could only lie, saying, "I sent him to be an undercover agent. It wasn’t easy for him to infiltrate; we can’t let all his efforts go to waste."
"With so many Generals here, we will surely be able to come up with a good plan to drive off the enemy."
Prime Minister Zhao wore an expression that said, I’d like that too, but there is another matter just as important. Seeing this, General Shi couldn’t very well keep digging, only occasionally probing a bit when it crossed his mind, which made Prime Minister Zhao uneasy.
They had tried every tactic they could think of, yet the prospect of taking the city was still nowhere in sight.
General Shi thought of Daqi’s Crossbow Cars; if they had those, there would be some hope.
But no matter how good Zhao Xu’s relationship with Daqi was, they would never lend him the Crossbow Cars.
One day, when they were at their wits’ end, an uninvited guest arrived in front of the camp.
Prince Jing came with his guards to the front of the camp.
The camp sentries didn’t recognize Prince Jing and blocked him outside the gate. Prince Jing was not angered. "Go report to Prime Minister Zhao and say an old acquaintance has come to visit."
The officers and soldiers hurried off to report to Prime Minister Zhao.
Prime Minister Zhao was right then discussing military affairs with General Shi and the others; at the news, you look at me, I look at you.
Prime Minister Zhao had no shortage of old acquaintances, but he truly couldn’t guess who would come to the camp.
Prime Minister Zhao walked out of the main command tent, and from afar he saw Prince Jing astride his horse.
The instant he saw Prince Jing, joy flashed in Prime Minister Zhao’s eyes.
He truly hadn’t expected Prince Jing to rush over from Daqi.
Prince Jing was here.
Now there was hope of breaking the city.
Prime Minister Zhao strode quickly to Prince Jing’s side and saluted. "I did not know Prince Jing was arriving and failed to greet you from afar."
Prince Jing hurriedly dismounted and helped Prime Minister Zhao up. "Prime Minister Zhao, you are being too formal. If not for the Zhao Family’s help, I would likely have lost my life long ago."
Prince Jing’s words were a bit exaggerated, but they were also true.
Back then, it was thanks to Zhao Xu escorting them along the way that Princess Jiuling and Princess Fuqing could escape from the Prince Jing Mansion and safely reach the borders of Daqi.
With Princess Jiuling not in Daqi, Prince Jing had no excuse to take Princess Jiuling back and leave the Capital City.
Over this past year, though he had few friends in Daqi and his days were somewhat dull, it was far safer than staying in Nanliang.
The Emperor suspected everyone; having married Princess Jiuling, the full-blooded younger sister of the Emperor of Daqi, he became all the more an object of fear and suspicion. The Emperor was afraid he would collude with Daqi from within...
Who knew how many of the people in the Prince Jing Mansion were the Emperor’s eyes and ears; otherwise, Princess Jiuling wouldn’t have had to stay in a secret passage for several months just to give birth to Princess Fuqing.
Prince Jing had had enough of such days. Sometimes when he thought about it, he felt that being part of the Imperial Family was not necessarily happier than being in an ordinary household. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Intrigue and power struggles within imperial authority brought far more pain than the happiness that power could grant.
The Crown Prince’s suspicious nature surpassed even that of the Emperor.
As a member of the Imperial Family, watching others overthrow the court, how could Prince Jing feel no stirrings at all?
But now that things had come to this, he had to make a choice.
Prime Minister Zhao was surprised by Prince Jing’s arrival and even more grateful.
Since he had come to them, he was clearly standing on their side. With the Zhao Family and the court fighting the way they were now, Prince Jing could not possibly be here to play mediator.
In Nanliang, Prince Jing had been a leisurely, idle Prince, but Prime Minister Zhao knew he was not as simple as he appeared.
The Weicheng commander who had them stymied was one of Prince Jing’s men.
Prime Minister Zhao had learned of this by chance: Prince Jing had once saved General Liu, the commander of Weicheng, and thus held his life in his hands. But General Liu commanded troops; if the Emperor of Nangang learned that he was Prince Jing’s man, losing his military command would be the least of it—he would likely lose his life.
The Weicheng commander dared not enter the Capital, only to garrison Weicheng.
If Prince Jing persuaded the Weicheng commander to surrender, and if it worked, there would be no need to fight this battle.
Once they passed Weicheng, they could march straight on the Capital.
Prime Minister Zhao begged Prince Jing for help; Prince Jing said, "This is precisely why I’ve come this time."
"Weicheng is easy to defend and hard to attack. If we insist on taking it by force, the losses will be tremendous. I fear I have come too late."
"Not late, not late," Prime Minister Zhao said with a smile.
Prince Jing stayed in the camp, and Prime Minister Zhao did not press him to immediately go and persuade the Weicheng commander to surrender.
The next day, Prince Jing was already discussing the siege with General Shi.
Prince Jing could not go inside to negotiate; the moment he entered the city, the Crown Prince of Nanliang would never let him come back out.
But Prince Jing had confidence in his man: as long as he appeared before the city gate, General Liu would know what to do.
On the third day, after the army had eaten and drunk their fill, they set out again to continue the assault.
Prince Jing stood at General Shi’s side. Using General Shi’s spyglass, Prince Jing could clearly see the figures on top of the wall.
But the people on the wall might not be able to see him as clearly.
Prince Jing rode his horse forward.
Arrows rained down like a storm; Prince Jing swung his sword, batting them aside.
That familiar face left General Liu stunned. He immediately ordered the horn blown and told the archers to stop.
All the soldiers were bewildered, not knowing why General Liu had stopped attacking.
General Liu waved his hand. "Open the gate!"
At that command, everyone was struck dumb.
General Liu had been in Weicheng for fifteen years, rising step by step from a low-ranking officer to the position of General; these men were all his trusted followers.
Even if General Liu’s order was wrong, they would choose to obey it, let alone when they mistakenly thought General Liu was luring the enemy in to shut the gate and slaughter them.
The Crown Prince of Nanliang and the Heir of the Duke of Guardian were guarding the other gate, and the main force had swung around to that side to attack.
When word came that General Liu had opened the gate to welcome Prince Jing, the Crown Prince of Nanliang’s face darkened so much it looked like he could kill someone.
He hadn’t expected Prince Jing to return, that he would betray the Imperial Family and side with the rebels.
Even less had he imagined that General Liu was Prince Jing’s man!
To think he had considered General Liu quite capable and had intended to promote and cultivate him!
They were standing on the city wall, with Zhao Xu leading an assault from the front and the Zhao Family’s army, having entered the city in pursuit, pressing from behind.
They were under attack from both front and rear.
The Crown Prince of Nanliang hastily descended from the wall; under the protection of the soldiers, he and the Heir of the Duke of Guardian fought their way out of the city and fled in disarray.
To seize Weicheng, they had fought no fewer than ten battles of various sizes. This one was the easiest, and the results were the most spectacular!
General Liu knelt before Prince Jing and said, "I thought I would have to live and die with this city and never see Your Highness again."
Prince Jing helped him up. "From this day on, you and I can openly call each other brothers."
General Liu was flustered.
He served Prince Jing as his lord; he did not dare address Prince Jing as brother.
Back then, General Liu had wanted to become a guard to Prince Jing, but Prince Jing did not agree.
Leaving such a talent at his side would have been a waste of his abilities and would only increase the Emperor’s suspicion of him.
At the time, the place where he had saved General Liu was not far from Weicheng, so he sent him to Weicheng to join the army; he had not expected him to rise step by step and become the commander of Weicheng.
