"Feng Yu!"
Chu Changping watched the eldest princess fall from the city wall and urged his horse to get closer to the city gate.
But wherever he looked, he saw King Xinyang's army. When he killed one, a large group of them would rush up again, surrounding him like ants and preventing him from moving forward at all.
A soldier of King Xinyang stabbed the warhorse that Chu Changping was riding with a spear. The warhorse let out a whine. Chu Changping bent down and cut off the spear with a knife, then chopped the soldier to death with his backhand. The warhorse took two steps forward with difficulty in the sea of people, and its legs were chopped off. It fell to its knees with a whine.
Chu Changping fell off his horse, and countless spears stabbed at him. He quickly took advantage of the momentum and rolled several times before avoiding the spears. Finally, he picked up a spear that had fallen on the ground and used it to push himself up. He flew into the air and stomped on the chests of several soldiers who had surrounded him. The force was enough to break stones. Several soldiers covered their chests and screamed.
The thousand cavalrymen he brought with him were completely dispersed, and there was not a single one of his own to be seen. He had such a hard time dealing with the human wave tactics of Prince Xinyang's army, it is not difficult to imagine what the other soldiers who followed him were like now.
Chu Changping couldn't concentrate on thinking about these things, nor did he dare to think about them - maybe they were all dead.
The sounds of fighting were clearly close to his ears, yet he felt a little hazy and distant. There were only countless spears and blades constantly coming towards him. Chu Changping's hands had become numb from the pain from repeatedly swinging the sword.
Prince Xinyang stood on the city wall, looking at the trapped Chu Changping, grinning crazily and saying, "Catch him alive for me!"
A soldier took advantage of Chu Changping's fatigue and seized the opportunity to pierce his shoulder blade with a spear. Chu Changping groaned, broke the spear with one hand, and killed the soldier with a sword.
Warm blood splattered all over his face, and some even splashed into his eyes. The sun was scorching and his eyes were sore. Chu Changping felt that everything around him was covered with a hazy blood color.
Just when he thought that he might die today, the ground suddenly shook and there was a sound in the distance, slowly approaching like thunder.
King Xinyang stood on the city wall with a broad view. Looking up, he saw smoke and dust billowing in the distance and yellow sand filling the sky. At first glance, it seemed as if a flood was rushing towards this side.
But soon everyone realized that it was not a flood, but the Chu family’s reinforcements!
In the dust raised by the horses' hooves, the red flag with black characters on it fluttered in the wind.
Chu Chengmao took the lead, drew his sword and pointed directly at the southern city gate: "Kill!"
"kill!"
The shouts of thousands of troops were resounding like clouds. Leading the charge were several thousand cavalrymen, who had an overwhelming advantage over the infantry of King Xinyang.
They maintained their formation and charged forward, like a sharp awl, tearing open the formation of King Xinyang's army. The infantry that followed were like a torrent, constantly squeezing into the gap and making it bigger and bigger.
The Xinyang King's army had fought hard for many days to capture the city gate, and from this morning till now, they had risked their lives to fight, and were already exhausted. The Yuzhou Army's offensive was fierce, and with the cavalry leading the charge, the Xinyang King's army could not resist at all.
For a moment, the outcome on the battlefield was clear.
The Prince of Xinyang was extremely anxious. He slammed the bricks on the city wall and shouted, "Kill Chu Changping, call back the troops!"
The people below hurriedly struck the gongs. As soon as the gongs sounded, the Xinyang King's army, which had already been defeated, almost fled in panic and swarmed towards the city gate. Those who did not have time to enter the city were chopped down by the Yuzhou army that caught up with them.
Chu Changping was already exhausted, relying only on his spear to stand. The soldiers who were sent by King Xinyang to kill him seemed to see that he was at the end of his strength. They looked at each other, and while the encirclement was shrinking, they shouted and were about to attack Chu Changping with their weapons.
"Father!"
At the critical moment, Chu Chengmao finally arrived here with his men. He rode his horse and knocked several people away. The cavalry following him quickly took their lives.
When the reinforcements arrived, Chu Changping finally relaxed the tension that had been on his mind for a long time, and he half-knelt down, holding on to his spear with all his strength.
Chu Chengmao quickly turned over and dismounted to help him. The spear was still stuck in Chu Changping's shoulder blade. The blood gushing out of the wound had already dyed his robe under his armor red. Chu Chengmao supported Chu Changping's elbow and felt that the places he touched were all covered in blood. For a moment, his heart ached: "Father, where else are you injured?"
Chu Changping shook his head, and stood up again with the help of Chu Chengmao. He looked back at the direction where the Grand Princess fell from the building, and said in a dry voice: "Grand Princess Jingguo sacrificed her life for her country. Her courage and spirit are no less than that of a man. Let's bury her with the ceremony of a princess."
The battle soon came to an end. Seeing that there were still countless soldiers trying to enter the city and the gates could not be closed, and the Yuzhou troops led by Chu Chengmao were still biting at them, the King of Xinyang made an absurd decision in a hurry: "Ignore those who haven't entered the city, close the gates!"
There are still thousands of soldiers blocking outside the city. King Xinyang's move is nothing but abandoning them.
Seeing the city gate being pushed slowly closed from the inside, the soldiers who had not entered the city tried their best to squeeze in. The city gate could not be closed, and arrows began to be shot down from the city wall. Those squeezed in the front were all soldiers under the command of King Xinyang himself, and they were killed instantly.
The remaining soldiers did not dare to move forward in the face of the rain of arrows, but with the Yuzhou army eyeing them covetously from behind, they were filled with despair for a moment.
The soldier who had finally squeezed to the city gate felt very disappointed when he saw his comrades who had fought side by side with him die tragically at the hands of their own people.
Chu Chengmao shouted, "King Xinyang has abandoned your lives. If you surrender now, I will not hold you accountable!"
His loud-voiced deputy general quickly followed suit and shouted: "Listen, all the soldiers under the command of King Xinyang, rather than waiting to die under the city wall, you should surrender now, and the Chu army will not hold you accountable for your past!"
Once this voice came out, it undoubtedly caused an uproar.
Many soldiers died from the arrows shot by King Xinyang himself. They followed King Xinyang through life and death, but in the end they were just poor abandoned creatures. Rather than continue waiting to die under the city wall, they decided to surrender to the Chu army.
At one time, almost all the soldiers under the command of King Xinyang at the city gate rebelled.
The soldiers who squeezed to the city gate drew their swords against their former comrades. When the soldiers inside saw that things were going badly, some died, some surrendered, and some fled. The city gate became a complete mess.
The Chu army took advantage of the chaos and approached the city gate. Many soldiers who wanted to surrender saw that the situation was hopeless and were afraid that the Chu army would kill them by mistake, so they took off their uniforms with the emblem of King Xinyang's army and threw away their weapons.
Seeing that the Chu army had also entered the city and a large number of his soldiers had surrendered, the King of Xinyang was extremely anxious. The counselor beside him said quickly: "Your Majesty, as long as there is life, there is hope. For now, let's retreat first!"
The newly conquered capital was handed over to someone else like this. Prince Xinyang was furious, but he had no other choice but to whip the military advisor: "You idiot, how did you arrange the battle array?"
The military advisor covered his face, which was splattered with blood, and dared not say a word. Prince Xinyang hurried to the bottom of the city tower and reluctantly gave an order: "Leave two thousand men to block the city gate for me, and the rest of you follow me into the palace to rob the gold, silver and jewelry! After you have robbed them, withdraw from the north city gate!"
Prince Xinyang led his direct troops to the imperial palace, burning, killing and looting along the way.
Any ministers who encountered obstruction from the imperial guards or who led their own guards to resist along the way were shot to death with arrows.
After Shangshu Jiang was brought out of the prison by his former subordinates, he learned that Jiang Yanxi had gone to the South City Gate. He was extremely anxious and chased directly to the South City Gate, wanting to take Jiang Yanxi away.
But after Prince Xinyang's army arrived at the capital, they broke into houses and stole valuables. Many people fled upon hearing the news. Minister Jiang wanted to go to the South Gate, but it was difficult for him to move forward against the crowd.
An old woman was knocked down by a running boy, and the things in her bag were scattered all over the ground. The old woman cursed "Damn it" while hunching over to pick up the things.
Minister Jiang saw this and went forward to help the old woman pick up the things that fell on the ground, and then helped her stand up: "Old lady, be careful."
"Thank you, Master." Seeing that Minister Jiang was well-dressed, the old woman thanked him repeatedly, and could not help but advise him, "The city has been captured, and the emperor is dead. Master, don't take your belongings in the south of the city. What's the difference between the soldiers under the Prince of Xinyang and bandits? Master, don't lose your life for money!"
Even though he knew the court was doomed to fail in this battle, Shangshu Jiang still found it hard to believe when he heard from others that Feng Shiyan was dead. He asked, "The emperor... is gone?"
The old woman sighed and shook her head repeatedly: "It is said that she was shot like a sieve by arrows. I don't know which palace she was from. She ran to the city gate and was also shot to death by the rebels."
After hearing these few words, the blood in Minister Jiang's body almost ran cold.
At this critical moment, who else but Jiang Yanxi would have rashly run to the South City Gate to find Feng Shiyan
The old woman said something regretfully, but Minister Jiang had no intention of listening. He staggered towards the South City Gate, hoping that Jiang Yanxi might still be alive.
The further south you go, the more devastated you see. Soldiers break into every household to steal valuables. Civilians who resist are hacked to death. Young girls in their prime run out of their rooms screaming in dishevel, only to be dragged back into the house by soldiers who grin at them...
Looking at these, Minister Jiang felt heartbroken. At this moment, he couldn't even imagine what Jiang Yanxi would be like if she were still alive.
Perhaps out of empathy, he shouted, "Stop!"
The interrupted soldier looked at Minister Jiang with disdain, his eyes fell on his Hangzhou silk jacket: "Your clothes are nice, take them off and let me wear them!"
Minister Jiang took off his coat and handed it to the soldier: "Here are the clothes for you. Let this girl go."
The soldier kicked Minister Jiang so hard that he couldn't get up, and sneered, "Why are you meddling in other people's business, old man?"
Before the soldier could enter the house, a group of horsemen soon came up on horseback, and the young general in the lead cursed, "Retreat quickly! The Chu army is coming!"
Most of the soldiers who took the treasures hid themselves like rats crossing the street. When the greedy soldier was dragged away by his companions, he broke free from his companions' hands and said, "If you want to leave, leave. When the Chu army comes, I will surrender to them!"
The young girl whose hair was grabbed by the soldier had tears on her face. At the last moment, she seemed to have made up her mind. She bit the soldier's hand and directly bit off the soldier's little finger.
The soldier's face was twisted with pain. He threw all his desires behind him and punched and kicked the girl: "You stinky bitch, you dare to bite me?"
The girl was beaten so hard that she bent her body. He even tried to kick her, but before he could kick her out, a long whip grabbed her neck and ripped her away. She fell heavily on the street, two of her front teeth were broken and her face was covered with blood.
Yang Zheng went to the capital with Chu Chengmao to provide support. Chu Chengmao led the army to pursue King Xinyang, and she was responsible for cleaning up the remaining soldiers of King Xinyang in the capital.
From her horseback, she saw the shirtless soldier beating a woman in the street and immediately taught the bastard a lesson.
The soldier was in so much pain that his whole body was convulsing. He had just climbed up using his hands and feet when Yang Zheng lashed him with the whip for the second time. A blood mark instantly appeared on the soldier's back, which showed how fierce the whip was.
The soldier was beaten so hard that he begged for mercy: "I surrender! I surrender! You said that you will not hold me accountable after I surrender!"
Yang Zheng lashed the soldier with the whip for the third time without mercy, causing him to spit blood and fall to the ground. She looked at the soldier with deep disgust in her eyes: "If you have not oppressed or plundered the people's finances since entering the city, I will forgive you for what you did. Scum like you are not worthy of being a human being!"
After finishing the last sentence, Yang Zheng gave his personal guard a look, and the personal guard stepped forward and killed the soldier with a knife.
Yang Zheng himself dismounted, took off his white cape from behind his armor and put it around the woman, and said to the crowd, "Don't worry, my Yuzhou Army is from the same lineage as the Liaonan King. We came to the capital only to conquer the Xinyang King, and we will never bully men or women or rob them of their finances!"
Having just experienced the looting by Prince Xinyang's army, the people in the city were now like frightened birds. Even though Yang Zheng said such words, the people obviously did not believe it.
Yang Zheng had no choice but to try his best to restrain his soldiers and let the people in the capital see the difference between them and the army of Prince Xinyang.
There were other frightened people in the city who needed to be comforted, so Yang Zheng did not stay here for too long.
After she left, the rescued woman was extremely grateful to Minister Jiang. After all, if Minister Jiang had not stopped the soldier to delay time, she might not have lived to see Yang Zheng arrive.
Minister Jiang was worried about Jiang Yanxi's safety. He briefly spoke to the woman and then continued to look for Jiang Yanxi towards the South City Gate.
When he turned around, he found Chu Yangui at the opposite corner of the street. The father and son looked at each other from a distance, but were speechless.
Chu Yangui was sitting in a wheelchair with Chu Zhong standing behind him. Chu Yangui looked at Minister Jiang with undisguised sarcasm and coldness in his eyes.
Minister Jiang's feet seemed to be nailed down and he could no longer move. Instead, Chu Zhong pushed Chu Yangui forward slowly.
Chu Yangui's fingertips turned blue and white as he twisted the beads because of the force. He said sarcastically, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have known that Minister Jiang was such a kind man. You would stop a woman you didn't know from being bullied on the road. When your own daughter was punished by the dog emperor to go to the military camp, why didn't you speak up for her?"
There was a hint of vicissitudes in Jiang Shangshu's eyes: "I know you still blame your father..."
"Father? What kind of father are you?" Chu Yangui interrupted him, his eyes full of hatred, but his tone was full of sarcasm: "I forgot to tell you that my elder sister and I are surnamed Chu, and we have nothing to do with your Jiang family anymore."
Minister Jiang closed his eyes and said, "Your words and actions were absurd back then. Your mother spoiled you at such a young age and made you lose your sense of propriety. She came up with such a vicious plan to harm Xier. It was Your Majesty who wanted to punish her. How dare I risk the Jiang family to plead for her?"
Chu Yangui laughed mockingly when he heard this, but the hatred in his heart was spreading like a vine: "Jiang Jingan, when you adopted the remnant of the previous royal family as your own daughter and secretly raised her in the Jiang family, how could you dare to gamble with the Jiang family?"
Minister Jiang was so stunned that he was speechless.
Chu Yangui's eyes were bloodshot because of extreme hatred and anger: "For the sake of a fictitious 'concubine', you treated my mother badly for more than ten years! For the sake of your so-called daughter, you ignored my sister's life and death!"
He pointed at his legs and asked Minister Jiang with a sneer, "Aren't my legs broken because I made you, my 'baby daughter', kneel down and apologize to my elder sister?"
"Jiang Jingan, you can be so compassionate to outsiders, but have you ever felt the slightest bit of guilt towards my mother and elder sister?"
Faced with his son's questioning, Minister Jiang felt filled with bitterness.
From the moment Queen Li entered the palace, his heart was dead. It was not his intention to marry Madam Jiang. It was just a marriage arranged by his parents.
Madam Jiang was only pretty and could only apply makeup and had no knowledge of poetry. When he was with Madam Jiang, they often had nothing to say to each other.
After Madam Jiang gave birth to Jiang Yanyi and his sister, he felt that he had tarnished his feelings for Queen Li. The existence of these siblings reminded Minister Jiang all the time that he had betrayed his feelings for Queen Li.
Whenever he saw Jiang Yanyi's siblings, he would only feel ashamed and angry. As time went by, he began to treat the three of them coldly. On the contrary, he became doubly nice to Jiang Yanxi and also compensated her for his guilt towards Queen Li.
Unexpectedly, his attempt to find peace of mind in this way made Mrs. Jiang and the two children become more and more extreme, and they all regarded Jiang Yanxi as a thorn in their eyes.
Minister Jiang sighed and said in pain, "It's my father's fault."
He was too aloof. Madam Jiang was also extremely beautiful when she was young, so she was spoiled by her parents and brothers. He was unwilling to admit that he had been attracted to a beautiful woman who had no knowledge and only good looks. In order to defend his feelings for Queen Li, he kept using the excuse that Madam Jiang was vulgar and didn't know poetry to paralyze himself.
After Mrs. Jiang passed away, he thought of all the good things about her more than once in his dreams at night.
But in this life, he let go of his obsession too late. When he really wanted to look back, he found that everything had changed and there was no going back.
His throat moved, and he looked at Chu Yangui and said in a dry voice: "Whether you believe it or not, I just hope that you three children will be well in the future."
Chu Yangui sneered, his voice full of malice: "Don't worry, Minister Jiang, my sister and I will be fine. As for your 'darling daughter', my mother died from the arrows of the imperial guards when she was leaving the city, and now she has also been shot to death by the rebels. Tell me, is this retribution?"
Minister Jiang staggered visibly and his face turned pale. His previous guess was one thing, and hearing it with his own ears was another.
He carefully examined Chu Yangui's expression, trying to tell from his face that this was just a joke to provoke him.
But Chu Yangui's happy expression was not fake at all. He twisted the Buddhist beads in one hand, looked at him with a smile on his face and said, "I didn't hate Jiang Yanxi so much before. Ever since I knew that she was not even a concubine's daughter, and as a remnant of the previous dynasty, she only got a life in vain, and made my mother and elder sister suffer so many years of grievances, I wish she and the dog emperor would go to hell soon!"
"Do you want to collect the body of your precious daughter? Then you'd better go to the South Gate to look for her quickly. With so many troops entering the city, I'm afraid they have been trampled into meat paste by horses' hooves." Chu Yangui laughed softly.
Minister Jiang had already collapsed. He knelt on the ground, pulling his hair hard. He seemed to want to cry out, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.
After a long while, he banged his head against the ground and let out a series of sobs.
The child he raised for more than ten years ended up with such a tragic ending. The two children he tried to win back after repenting now regard him as an enemy.
A big reason why things have come to this point is because of the injustice he had done to several children in the past.
After recognizing this fact, Minister Jiang was horrified. For the past ten years, he had always blamed others for the discord among his children. Now he realized that the biggest fault was his own!
His forehead was broken and bleeding, and his hair, which had been tied up neatly, was all loosened up by his mad pulling at his hair. It fell down in a mess, looking very miserable.
He cried and laughed at times, his eyes were lifeless, and drool even began to flow from the corners of his mouth.
Chu Yangui just sat in the wheelchair three steps away from him and looked at him coldly from beginning to end.
Chu Zhong, on the other hand, looked at Minister Jiang's abnormal behavior and said hesitantly, "Is Minister Jiang... crazy?"
People who were originally in a hurry passing by couldn't help but look at Minister Jiang a few more times when they saw him like this.
Chu Yangui said coldly: "Jiang Jingan, why are you pretending to be crazy?"
Minister Jiang raised his head and drooled at Chu Yangui while grinning foolishly: "Child...child..."
He stood up and made as if to come over.
Chu Yangui directly pulled out the soft sword on the wheelchair: "Get out!"
Minister Jiang was obviously afraid of the sword, so he didn't dare to go over. He turned around and walked madly on the street. When he saw half-grown boys or girls, he would chase after them and shout, "Children... Children..."
Others just thought he was a madman and tried to avoid him. If they met someone more powerful, they might even beat him up.
Chu Yangui had been standing there watching Minister Jiang running around the streets like crazy, chasing after other people and calling their children. For a moment, the corners of his eyes turned red, and he twirled the Buddhist beads in his hand. Finally, he just told Chu Zhong, "Go back."
The author has something to say: I was hospitalized for a period of time due to heart problems. I have been busy recently and my work and rest schedule is irregular. I have been in pain for several days in a row. The author who cherishes his life rushed to the hospital for a check-up. He was on IV drip for two days. The baby with the neck brace should be able to see the picture of the author after the IV drip. qwq
I really can't stand it, so I stopped updating for two days.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-03-09 03:48:48~2021-03-11 23:59:46~
Thanks to the little angels who threw rockets: pp 2; beautiful fairy 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: irritable kungie, tsk zr, Lin'er mommy 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Xing 91 bottles; Azai 30 bottles; Lemon Taste 28 bottles; 45793805 25 bottles; No. 85 Wugan contestant 23 bottles; Yuexi Jiaojiao 12 bottles; Guajuan Crowd, Fanying Yexing, Sanqi, A Li A Li A Li Li, 31890269, Choubao's Fat Mom 10 bottles; Zhang Jiajia 9 bottles; Chi Wei 6 bottles; 34950970, Bai Ze 5 bottles; Yunyou, Jiangyin 3 bottles; Don't Want to Talk, rgmau, Xiao Yunxi 2 bottles; Yizhi Xiaoliangjin, Xiaoyu, Shi00la, Yuyu128 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!