A yellow autumn leaf swirled down from the branch, and a group of people hurriedly walked towards the end of the vermilion palace wall.
The eldest princess was wearing a gorgeous crimson dress. Even with her thick makeup on, it couldn't hide the tiredness from a sleepless night. As she walked, she instructed the civil servant who was trotting beside her:
"The Xinyang King's army has been attacking the city for a whole night and is now exhausted. Luo Yue's son 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 used him. This princess will go to the city gate to supervise the battle, and everything in the palace will be troubled by the master."
"I will definitely fulfill your mission!" The old minister with white hair and beard bowed.
The eldest princess paused for a moment, staring absentmindedly at the golden ginkgo tree outside the palace wall, and said, "If we can't defend the capital, the country will have to change hands."
Although the Prince of Xinyang had the title of a vassal prince, he had no blood relationship with the Feng royal family.
Before last night, the Grand Princess had always thought that it would be Feng Shuo who would fight Feng Shiyan in the end, but she didn't expect that the Prince of Xinyang would appear halfway.
If the kingdom of Daxuan fell into the hands of Prince Xinyang, people's lives would be truly difficult.
***
When they reached the city gate, the eldest princess climbed up the tower herself. Seeing the dejected looks on the faces of the soldiers defending the city, she felt for the first time from the bottom of her heart the irreversible force that was causing the city to collapse.
The morale of the imperial army was low, and all the soldiers seemed to have fear and despair written all over their faces, making it impossible for them to fight the enemy.
The army of Prince Xinyang built a fire on the spot to cook, and after a hearty meal to replenish their energy, they once again launched an attack on the city using the wheel tactics. The imperial defenders on the city wall went from panic in the beginning to numbness, and in the end, they were left with only fatigue.
They had been living in comfort in the capital for too long and had not fought many real tough battles. The coordination between the vanguard and the logistics troops was also full of problems. There was no food supply at mealtime, and weapons such as rolling stones and bows and arrows to deal with the enemy's ladders could not be supplied in time.
Before the city gate was broken, 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: "Why are you running when you are facing a powerful enemy?"
The soldier looked no more than 18 or 19 years old, and it looked like he had only been in the army for two years. His legs were shaking as he answered, and his face was covered with snot and tears: "I... I have an 80-year-old mother, and I haven't married yet... I don't want to die..."
The eldest princess' eyes were cold, as if she was looking at a dead object. She drew the sword of a guard beside her and cut off the soldier's neck with one sword. The blood spurted out and splashed all over her. The blood made her face even colder and more stern: "If anyone deserts the battlefield again, this will be the end!"
The soldiers on the city wall who were thinking of retreating couldn't help but shudder.
The Grand Princess pointed at the capital city behind her and said with red eyes: "Behind the city gate are your defenseless parents, wives, daughters and sisters. If you don't protect them here, will you watch them being bullied and insulted after the city is broken? If you have any blood in your veins, you will make the rebels step over your corpses before they can pass through this city gate!"
These words made many soldiers lower their heads in shame.
The Grand Princess shouted, "You must guard the city gate for me even at the cost of your life!"
The soldiers defending the city were aroused by these words. They threw away their previous decadence and risked their lives to block the hole in the city wall.
Arrows and shells kept flying from below the city wall, and there were explosions everywhere.
The tower guard covered his head and ran up to the tower, his face clearly in panic: "Grand Princess, please go hide under the tower first, it's dangerous up there."
The eldest princess pointed the sword she had used to chop off the soldier at the guard's neck and said, "If you can't defend the city gate, bring your head to me!"
This guarding general is a man who seeks fame and reputation. Relying on the merits of his father, he has gained a lot of reputation in the court. Now there is no one else in the court to use his power, so he is forced to take charge. If the eldest princess does not come, I am afraid he will hide and dare not even come up to the city wall.
Even when the Grand Princess pointed a sword at his neck, the general still responded righteously: "Please rest assured, Grand Princess, the city is as good as ours. If the city is destroyed, ours will be destroyed."
However, after guarding the city gate for less than half a day, the defender was scratched on the arm by a stray arrow. He pretended to be seriously injured and could no longer go up to the city wall to command. In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, the eldest princess went up to the city wall again.
Even though she was far inferior to those generals in commanding the battle, as long as she stood on the city wall, she would be the second flag flying above the city wall.
*****
When the news reached the Yangxin Palace, Feng Shiyan, who was so seriously ill that he couldn't even get out of bed, moved his dry and cracked lips and ordered his attendants, "Call the imperial physician."
Since he became seriously ill, the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau had been detained in the palace, and the hospital's eunuchs soon came to his bedside to take his pulse.
Feng Shiyan stared at the top of the tent with a silent look in his eyes: "Give me the tiger and wolf medicine."
The hand of the hospital attendant who was feeling the pulse trembled slightly: "Your Majesty... I'm afraid your body cannot withstand the effects of the medicine now."
The so-called tiger and wolf medicine only has miraculous effects in a short period of time, but once the effect of the medicine wears off, the harm to people is huge.
Feng Shiyan said: "Auntie, a woman, has personally climbed up the city wall. As the ruler of a country, how can I be so shameless? Even if I die, I should die standing in front of the two armies."
Having said this, the hospital official had no choice but to prescribe medicine.
After drinking a dose of medicine, Feng Shiyan felt that his body was indeed much lighter. He ordered in a deep voice: "Bring me my armor."
The chief eunuch said with some worry: "Your Majesty, the armor is too heavy, so why not change into military uniform?"
Feng Shiyan closed his eyes and repeated, "Bring me the armor!"
The eunuch in charge had no choice but to ask the palace maid to get it.
The palace maids came in one after another holding the various parts of the bright golden armor. Feng Shiyan opened her arms and allowed the palace maids to change her armor.
The weight of the armor pressed down on his body, as if he was carrying the entire country on his shoulders.
Armor can support the body shape better than ordinary clothes. After Feng Shiyan changed into the golden armor, his figure alone looked as heroic as before.
He walked forward with heavy steps, picked up the sword from 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 light. His scarlet battle robe dragged behind him like a blood-stained flag.
All the palace servants looked at their king, and most of them knew that he would not come back, so 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 kneeling on both sides of the palace wall to see him off, Feng Shiyan's throat moved, but in the end he said nothing and walked through the aisle without looking around. Only the scarlet battle robe behind him was blown by the autumn wind, raising a sharp arc.
Outside the palace wall, the fallen leaves rustle, and the flying ginkgo leaves add a sense of desolation.
****
Feng Shiyan personally rushed to the city gate to supervise the battle. The morale of the imperial army was greatly boosted and they barely managed to survive the first day.
But King Xinyang also calculated the time. He knew that the Chu army withdrew its troops in Changping and dared not fight again because its morale was badly damaged and the Chu army had no food to fill its stomach. If the Chu army attacked him from the front and back with the imperial army, the imperial army would not suffer many casualties because of the city gate. Instead, the Chu army, which was exhausted, would be caught by his army and suffer heavy casualties again.
Now Chu Changping can only wait, wait for Chu Changping to bring the Yuzhou garrison to the capital.
King Xinyang knew that if he wanted to win, he had to capture the capital before Chu Chengmao's Yuzhou army arrived at the capital, so the wheel tactics of siege never stopped.
The imperial army had held out for a day and a night and was already exhausted.
Early the next morning, Prince Xinyang gave a direct order to smash all the pots and pans in the military camp after breakfast and burn the remaining food and grass. If they did not capture the capital, they would have no food to eat.
With no way to retreat, Prince Xinyang's army attacked more fiercely that day than on any previous day. Each soldier climbed up the ladders risking his life. A dozen soldiers pushed the battering rams and rammed the city gate again and again. Countless dents were directly knocked out of the gate covered with heavy iron sheets, and a lot of lime also fell off the top of the gate, which shows how great the force was.
The imperial guards on the city wall were all in panic. After attacking the city for two days and one night, they had run out of stones to throw down on the enemy, and even arrows were not enough.
Seeing the enemy within range and climbing up the ladders, there was nothing else to do but to hold the spear and stab them when they were about to climb up, but this resulted in more enemy soldiers climbing up the city wall.
The bolt of the city gate below had been cracked by the impact. Dozens of soldiers were crowded at the gate, pushing it hard. The one standing closest to the gate couldn't withstand the force of the battering ram hitting the door, and he was spitting blood with a painful look on his face, obviously his internal organs were injured.
Feng Shiyan supported himself with both hands on the battlements of the city wall, his gorgeous gilded wristbands reflecting a dazzling luster in the sunlight. There was ambition and unwillingness in his eyes, but in the end, all of it turned to silence.
"Pass on my oral order, and form a battle line below the city wall to meet the enemy!" he shouted in a deep voice.
The city gate is about to be breached, and as long as the commander defending the city is still alive, he should lead his troops to fight.
The eldest princess had been guarding the city gate for a day and a night. A strand of her carefully combed hair fell down, and there was a little dust on her face. She looked at Feng Shiyan's back as he walked down the tower, a few traces of farewell pain flashed in her eyes, and she shouted: "Your Majesty, I hope you will return triumphantly!"
***
The news that the capital was about to be captured spread to every corner of the imperial palace. The palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly fled with large and small bags of property looted from various palaces, and the imperial guards were also unable to take care of themselves.
Since Jiang Yanxi was thrown into prison, he has been cut off from all sources of information to the outside world.
When the former dynasty's old subordinates outside the palace took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the palace to rescue her in the prison, Jiang Yanxi was not surprised, but she was confused in her heart: "Why are you here?"
An old subordinate of the former dynasty was busy helping Jiang Yanyi open the shackles on his hands and feet while saying: "Prince Xinyang is attacking the city, and the dog emperor is personally supervising the battle. The city gate is about to be breached. The dog emperor deserves to die at the hands of Prince Xinyang! Princess, don't worry, we can take you out of the city safely..."
Jiang Yanxi didn't hear clearly what the old subordinate said. The only words left in her mind were "Feng Shiyan is dead."
That day her identity was revealed, and when Feng Shiyan pointed the sword at her, his trembling hands and scarlet eyes appeared uncontrollably in front of her. His expression was still wooden, but tears were already falling from his eyes.
When Jiang Yanxi was half-supported out of the prison, he said to several former subordinates who were accompanying him: "After my identity was discovered, Minister Jiang must have been arrested as well. You should go find Minister Jiang and rescue him as well."
Several former subordinates of the previous dynasty went to the prison to look for people, leaving only Jiang Yanxi and those former subordinates of the previous dynasty who had been punished 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 her skirt and turned 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 this life, I have no choice in my birth or my destiny. The only thing I can decide is my own death."
After saying this, she didn't look back and ran towards the south city gate without hesitation.
***
The sun was blazing brightly in the sky, and the battering ram below the city wall was still hitting the city gate again and again. The imperial defenders standing on the city wall had been killed by the enemy troops who climbed up the ladders, and there were only a few left.
The two guards who were protecting the Grand Princess closely were covered with wounds of varying sizes, but enemy troops continued to climb up the ladders.
The eldest princess looked at the sun in the sky, and there was a look of resignation in her eyes.
After all, we couldn't hold on for half a day.
“Woo—”
A dull horn sounded in the distance. In the dusty sky, a man on horseback was seen galloping over. His scarlet cloak fluttered in the wind and sand. Behind him were about a thousand elite cavalrymen.
The eldest princess narrowed her eyes, and for a moment she really thought she was hallucinating.
But as the cavalry approached and the people on the horses became gradually visible, the eldest princess, who was always known for her strong character, actually had tears in her eyes.
Of course she knew why Chu Changping only brought a thousand elite cavalry. The Chu army was out of food and the soldiers had nothing to eat. Chu Changping did not dare to take the risk of losing the rest of his 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 open a gap in the rear of King Xinyang's army, but with a loud "bang", the city gate was completely destroyed and everything was set in stone.
The army of King Xinyang rushed into the city with a roar.
Feng Shiyan sat on his horse, watching the Xinyang King's army rushing in from the city gate like a flood. He raised his sword high and shouted, "Kill!"
"kill-"
The only group of heavily armored cavalry left in the city rushed forward, the sound of fighting was deafening, and corpses were piling up at the city gate at a speed visible to the naked eye.
There were too many troops of King Xinyang outside the city gate, and they were blocked outside and couldn't rush in for a while. They turned around and bit on Chu Changping and his group who had fought their way into the encirclement.
Seeing that the capital was within reach, Feng Shiyan took advantage of the fact that a large number of troops could not rush in at once through the city gate and ordered his subordinates to continuously slaughter the soldiers in the capital. The Prince of Xinyang was so anxious that his eyes turned red, and he roared like a wild beast: "Shoot! Shoot!"
The army of King Xinyang finally stopped rushing in as a swarm, and instead the archers shot arrows in unison.
A rain of arrows shot towards the heavy cavalry in the city, and soldiers were shot and fell down one after another.
The imperial court's arrows had been used up on the city wall long ago, and they were now unable to fight back from a distance.
An arrow pierced Feng Shiyan's shoulder blade. He seemed to feel no pain. He raised his sword again and shouted, "Kill!"
"kill!"
This time the voices responding to him were much weaker, and the heavily armored cavalry rode their horses and charged straight forward into the rain of arrows. Cavalrymen were constantly shot and fell off their horses. Some cavalrymen also rushed to the archers, trampled several people to death with their horses, and drew their swords to chop down more people.
This was ultimately a desperate resistance. Feng Shiyan himself was shot by an arrow and fell off his horse. He spit out blood from his mouth, but he still held on to his sword and gritted his teeth to stand up.
Someone tried to capture him alive, but before he could get close, he chopped off his head with a sword.
There were corpses everywhere under his feet. He couldn't tell whether they were his own people or those from Prince Xinyang's army. His once handsome face was now covered in blood, as if Shura were alive.
The soldiers under King Xinyang did not dare to get close to him and pulled their bowstrings tight, aiming at him.
"Feng Shiyan!" A woman's exclamation came from the distance.
This voice finally stirred a ripple in Feng Shiyan's eyes. He looked up and saw Jiang Yanxi running towards him without hesitation from the other end of the long street. Before she reached him, she was pierced through the body by several stray arrows and staggered to the ground.
"Yan Xi—" Feng Shiyan's eyes were bloodshot. He dropped 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 blood gushing out of her mouth. Blood also slowly seeped out of the arrow holes in her body, staining her clothes red. She looked at Feng Shiyan, her lips moving all the time, as if she had something to say.
Feng Shiyan knelt on the ground, almost crawling over to half-carry her. He used his hands to wipe the blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. His expression was more fragile than ever before. He only said one sentence: "I will take you to see the imperial physician... I will take you to see the imperial physician..."
There was blood stuck in Jiang Yanxi's throat and she could hardly speak, with two lines of tears sliding 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 could only hear a few very faint words, intermittent and almost incoherent: "I... I love..."
In the end, the last word could not be uttered. Jiang Yanxi's hands dropped weakly, and her tearful eyes slowly closed.
"Yan Xi—"
Feng Shiyan hugged Jiang Yanxi's still warm body tightly and roared in pain. Before today, no one had ever seen the tyrant Feng Shiyan vulnerable, but at this moment, he hugged Jiang Yanxi's body, tears falling down his face, as if he was just a helpless child.
The eldest princess stood on the city wall and watched this scene, she closed her eyes and cried.
The Xinyang King's army, which was surrounding in the distance and drawing their bows, 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 used his body to block all the arrows.
Every arrow that hit 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 it was his turn to tell her about it.
Outside the city, the one thousand elite cavalry brought by Chu Changping were completely surrounded by the army of King Xinyang.
As more and more soldiers under Prince Xinyang climbed up the city wall, the two guards protecting the Grand Princess died one after another.
The eldest princess stood on the battlement of the city wall and put a knife to her neck.
The soldiers probably wanted to take the enemy alive, so they didn't move forward for a while.
Chu Changping saw the Grand Princess's actions from below the tower and shouted, "Feng Yu!"
The eldest princess glanced down at the city wall and saw Chu Changping struggling to fight his way through the sea of people, trying to get closer to the city gate.
She knew that even if he came to kill her, he would not be able to take her away, but would only lose his own life.
The eldest princess raised her lips, as if she was smiling, but tears welled up in her eyes. She asked loudly, "Chu Changping, if I could do it again, and I asked my father to grant me marriage, would you marry me?"
Chu Changping killed a soldier with a single blow and advanced through the thousands of troops with difficulty: "No."
He said no, but he rushed towards her regardless of his own safety among thousands of people.
The eldest princess smiled and cried: "That's right, if you had agreed to the marriage granted by our father, I would not like you."
Her love for him started from her unwillingness to be rejected in marriage. The more she got to know this man, the deeper she fell in love with him.
The Grand Princess took one last look at Chu Changping, slit her throat with a sharp knife, and jumped off the city wall.
The crimson 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 was reborn from the ashes.
The author has something to say: I appreciate the fact that the author is writing late at night. If you are not satisfied with the plot, please don’t scold the author. qaq
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-03-08 02:11:37~2021-03-09 03:48:47~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: pp 1;
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: myvanillaworld 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 26 bottles of "Sunk in Your Eyes"; 10 bottles of "No. 1 Worker" and "Double Fish Spring Moonlight"; 5 bottles of "Windbells Swaying" and "M."; 3 bottles of "Jiangyin"; 2 bottles of "Luoluo", "Waiting for a Never Returning Person" and "Xiao Yunxi"; 1 bottle of "Shi00la", "A Little Liangjin" and "A Beautiful Groundhog";
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!