In an instant, the world became quiet.
Even the wind was still.
The air froze and everyone held their breath.
All eyes were fixed on that flash of cold light, waiting for the fifth drum beat.
Song Huai's knuckles were clenched white from holding the knife, and his mind was already imagining the scene of blood gushing out of Zhao Jingyu's neck.
His heart was so nervous that it almost jumped out of his throat.
He is about to succeed.
The Yunyang Army was also silent, with expressions of grief and anger.
Xie Nanfeng held Zhao Jingyu's bow and arrow in his hand, with veins bulging on his forehead.
In this suffocating silence, the fifth drum beat resounded through the sky.
"Kill, kill, kill..." At the same time, deafening shouts of killing suddenly rang out from the east, west and south of Nanzhao City, drowning out the lingering sound of the drums and making people's hearts tremble.
There was a sudden commotion on the city wall.
"What's going on?" everyone shouted.
"Could it be that the Yunyang Army has other troops going to besiege the East, West and South Cities?"
"Have we been fooled by Zhao Jingyu again?"
"Quickly send people to investigate at each city gate!"
Zhao Jingyu retracted his sword and looked at Xie Nanfeng in confusion.
Xie Nanfeng also looked at him blankly.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the east, and a tall horse with a black body and snow-white hooves came galloping towards them, carrying a woman in red. From a distance, it looked like a ball of fire burning in the dark night.
"..." Xie Nanfeng grabbed Zhao Jingyu's hand, too excited to speak.
Zhao Jingyu opened her mouth slightly, her body stiff, only her eyes fixed on the fire, her eyeballs moved with her, the blood in her body seemed to be ignited, the burning feeling almost burned through her skin.
This is his woman!
In the blink of an eye, the horse arrived at the foot of the city. Xie Nanjia loosened the reins, took off the bow on his back, reached out and drew a feather arrow from the quiver, leaned back slightly, put the arrow on the bow, aimed at the city wall, and with a "whoosh", the arrow flashed with a cold light and whizzed towards the city wall, hitting Song Huai's right shoulder.
Song Huai groaned, the sword in his hand fell to the ground, and he fell backwards.
This series of actions was so fast that people had no time to react, and when Song Huai fell to the ground, the people around him didn't have time to lend a hand to help him.
There was chaos on the city wall.
The King of Nanzhao finally reacted and loudly ordered the archers to shoot. However, before he could finish his words, the spy had already climbed up to the tower: "Your Majesty, the eldest prince and the second prince are leading their troops to besiege the South City and the West City respectively. The East City has been lost. I don't know who is leading the army."
King Nanzhao screamed, spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes turned black, and he fell to the ground.
“Your Highness, Your Highness…” The situation on the city wall was in complete chaos.
"Zhao Jingyu, you idiot, why are you waiting so long to attack!" Xie Nanjia reined in her horse, turned around, and shouted at the foolish man.
Zhao Jingyu grinned so hard that tears came out of his eyes.
"Soldiers, follow me to attack the city!" He drew out his sword and pointed it forward.
The Yunyang Army roared in anger: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Xie Nanfeng rode his horse to the front, and with the help of the earth-shaking roar behind him, he called out with all his might: "Sister!"
His voice was drowned out by the roar of the soldiers, but Xie Nanjia heard it clearly, smiled, raised his hand, and made a gesture of rubbing his head in mid-air.
Xie Nanfeng burst into tears instantly.
Zhao Jingyu came over and flirted with Xie Nanjia: "Lady, shall we go together to kill the enemy?"
"…" Xie Nanjia rolled her eyes at him, "I don't want to be associated with idiots."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
"He's not stupid." Xie Nanfeng spoke for Zhao Jingyu.
"If you're not an idiot, then what are you? Even I can't recognize you." Xie Nanjia said.
"How is that possible? We knew it wasn't you. Zhao Jingyu wanted to attract their attention and asked me to shoot Song Huai. I didn't expect you to come suddenly." Xie Nanfeng explained, "If you hadn't come, the credit for this arrow would be mine."
"Is this true? Do you mean that I stole your credit?" Xie Nanjia smiled with satisfaction.
Zhao Jingyu said aggrievedly: "Look, you are wronging me again."
Even if he mistook everyone in the world, he would never mistook her.
Because she is the one who is imprinted in his heart.
"Okay, I wronged you." Xie Nanjia said helplessly.
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Jingyu immediately smiled again, "Wife, you look so good in red, is it to match me?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
The main general was injured, and the Nanzhao army was leaderless. The north gate was quickly captured by the Yunyang army. The defending generals of South City and West City were all Song Zhan's men. After hearing that the North City had fallen, they had no intention of fighting and opened the city to surrender.
In East City, Xie Nanjia and Xie Nanfeng's guard team captured the generals guarding the city through a surprise attack and captured the city wall without much fighting. Afterwards, she left the guard team there to clean up the mess and went to North City alone.
Before sunset, the battle at the four city gates was basically over. King Nanzhao and Song Huai were captured by the Yunyang Army. Song Zhan and Song Ze led their troops to meet Xie Nanjia and solemnly welcomed Xie Nanjia and his party into the King Nanzhao's Palace.
Since the city gates were lost, many servants of the Nanzhao Palace have fled with their valuables. Even the guards who were guarding the palace have all run away. Only some housewives and people who have nowhere to go are still guarding the palace in fear.
When they heard that the enemy general was going to stay in the palace, everyone was worried and afraid of being beheaded. Later they found out that it was the eldest prince and the second prince who came, and everyone was stunned.
The chief steward led everyone to kneel down to greet them, their eyes filled with tears of excitement. No matter what kind of grudge there was between the father and son of King Nanzhao, with the two princes around, at least their lives could be saved.
Apart from looking a little thin, Song Zhan's words and actions were as calm and gentle as usual, which calmed everyone's emotions and told them not to panic and to do what they were supposed to do as before, as if he had never left.
After receiving the guarantee, everyone felt relieved. Under the arrangement of the chief steward, they cleaned up the rooms for the generals staying in the palace and prepared a banquet.
Song Zhan not only comforted the servants in the mansion, but also used the same gentle attitude to comfort the officials of Nanzhao after conquering the city gate, assuring all officials that everyone's official position and interests would not be affected, and their families would not be implicated.
Seeing that the King of Nanzhao could no longer be relied upon, officials defected to him in order to save their own lives. As a result, the situation in the city quickly stabilized and the people did not suffer too much loss.
Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanfeng both found it very magical. They wondered when Xie Nanjia had teamed up with Song Zhan to cut off the source of the problem for King Nanzhao.
Xie Nanjia kept them on suspense until the banquet at the palace was over and she returned to her room, then she told them the whole story.
It turned out that Xie Nanjia coaxed Zhu'er to trick Song Meiying into the Qilin Palace last night and told Song Meiying that Song Huai already knew the hiding place of Song Zhan, Song Ze and others, and was preparing to catch them all in one fell swoop. If Song Meiying didn't want her brothers and mother to die, she could cooperate with her and find a way to notify Song Zhan and Song Ze, and persuade them to assist the court in subduing King Nanzhao and Song Huai.
After the matter is accomplished, she and Zhao Jingyu can petition the emperor to make Song Zhan the new King of Nanzhao and continue to guard the border for the court. In addition, they can grant Song Ze a fiefdom and make him a king, allowing him to start a new life with his mother and sister, and no longer be inferior to others.
In order to convince Song Meiying, Xie Nanjia even promised her the status of a princess.
Song Meiying was quickly moved by Xie Nanjia's threats and inducements. She went to find King Nanzhao and cried and coaxed him to send her to reunite with her mother and brothers.
The Prince of Nanzhao was not on guard against her, so he immediately sent her and Song Meiwei to the hiding place of the Princess of Nanzhao and others.
In order to dispel Song Zhan's concerns, Xie Nanjia gave the golden token given to her by the emperor to Song Meiying, and asked her to take it to Song Zhan, saying that the emperor had specially asked her to bring this token to Song Zhan before coming. The emperor hoped that Song Zhan would not go along with his father, guard the southern gate of the Great Zhou well, and become a beloved King of Nanzhao who would go down in history.
Song Huai was originally the common enemy of these family members. With the emperor's golden token as a reassurance, Song Meiying didn't have to spend too much time convincing everyone after she went there. Except for Madam Ning, all the family members unanimously agreed that Song Zhan and Song Ze should go back to assist the court in capturing Song Huai.
Madam Ning overheard their conversation and wanted to secretly inform Song Huai, but she was discovered by Princess Nanzhao and locked up.
Song Zhan had been the crown prince for many years and enjoyed great prestige in the Nanzhao Army, especially among the generals in the West Camp, many of whom were promoted by him. Therefore, it took him almost no effort to instigate these people to rebel.
Then he sent people to sneak into the palace and took Xie Nanjia out through the secret passage without anyone noticing.
Xie Nanfeng's guard team happened to be detained in the West Camp, so Song Zhan handed them all back to Xie Nanjia, who led them to capture the East City.
Xie Nanjia talked about these things very easily, but Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanfeng broke out in cold sweats after listening to them. You know, among so many links, if any one link went wrong, she might not be here today.
"Suppose Song Meiying didn't believe you and went to inform King Nanzhao. Suppose Song Zhan and Song Ze were not persuaded by Song Meiying and chose to firmly support King Nanzhao. Suppose Song Zhan didn't rescue you from the secret passage and you were taken to the city wall by Song Huai. Have you thought about the consequences?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"Of course I have thought about it." Xie Nanjia smiled calmly, "I decided to do this after thinking about it seriously. Song Meiying is the most inconspicuous person in the palace. For her mother and brother, and the position of the princess, she will definitely be tempted. Song Zhan was robbed of the position of the crown prince by Song Huai, and he has long hated Song Huai in his heart, not to mention the throne promised by the emperor himself. As for Song Ze, as long as he takes down a city gate, he can get the status of a king and a fiefdom. Why not? Even if the two of them don't do it, their mothers will force them to agree."
"…" Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanfeng looked at each other, stood up at the same time, bowed to Xie Nanjia, and said in unison, "Miss Xiu'er is so powerful!"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
What the hell, two psychopaths!
After settling down, Zhao Jingyu wrote an official document and a private letter, and ordered the messenger to deliver them to the capital overnight.
The next morning, he and Song Zhan summoned civil and military officials to the palace to discuss matters. They did not hold anyone accountable or ask for punishment. They only asked officials at all levels to appease the people and stabilize people's hearts as much as possible within the scope of their duties, and strive to restore normal order in Nanzhao in the shortest time possible.
All the officials and soldiers who participated in the war were not punished, except for Prince Nanzhao and Song Huai who were imprisoned in the government prison.
Princess Nanzhao, Madam Wu and the two princesses were also taken back to the palace.
Everything returned to its original state, except for the devastated four city gates, as if nothing had happened.
"What we have to do is to minimize the losses and let the people return to normal life. The emperor will send people to handle the rest. By that time, we will have returned to the capital. It will have nothing to do with us whether someone's head is chopped off or someone is promoted." Zhao Jingyu said this privately to Xie Nanjia and Xie Nanfeng.
"Then what about the benefits I promised to Song Zhan and the others? They don't count, do they?" Xie Nanjia said, "Although it was a temporary solution at the time, I don't want to be a person who goes back on his word."
"Well, let's talk to the emperor in detail when we return to the capital!" said Zhao Jingyu.
Xie Nanjia thought about it and felt that the emperor would not let the people of Nanzhao Wang's family get away with it so easily.
No matter what, she was still very happy because she could finally return to the capital.
"We have made such a great contribution and almost lost our lives here. How does your father plan to welcome us back to Beijing?" she asked Zhao Jingyu excitedly.
"Guess!" Zhao Jingyu said, waving the emperor's handwritten letter that was sent urgently over eight hundred miles.
(End of this chapter)