At this mont, Xun Xiu was leading the Xun Family Army to attack a residence in ng County. This was the Little Emperor’s abode and also a temporary office for the court. Zhao Ming and others were inside.
anwhile, a group composed of rangers and refugee soldiers arrived outside ng County’s gate. Zhao Shen was about to have his attendants go to the gate to communicate with people and reveal his identity so that he could take his friends into the city.
Suddenly, a team of one hundred people approached the city gate, drew their swords, and attacked the gate guards. The citizens going in and out of the gate scread in shock and scattered in terror.
Zhao Shen’s eyes narrowed, and his expression darkened imdiately.
His attendant was also startled and imdiately asked, "My lord, is this a rebellion or sothing else? They’re all wearing similar armor. Which side should we help?"
They should help, after all, this is Yu State, the territory of the Zhao Family Army. They had gone through hardships all the way from Shu to Jingzhou, driven from Yangzhou to Xuzhou, and through Yan State just to co back to support the Zhao Family Army, hadn’t they?
Zhao Shen imdiately pulled out a tortoise shell from his bosom and perford a divination with a somber face. As soon as the shell hit the ground, he glanced at it, then quickly pocketed it and drew out his long sword, shouting loudly toward the city gate: "Brothers, there’s a rebellion in the city, charge with !"
Finally, he shouted, "Kill those with red cloth on their helts, kill them!"
The sparse band behind him imdiately rallied, picked up various weapons, and, shouting "Kill!" rushed forward.
Captain Shi, who was guarding the city gate, saw Xun Ping of the Xun Family Army leading a troop as if on patrol. He coldly snorted internally but put on a smile, about to greet him.
The Prefectural Governor had said to prioritize peace before the Great General returned. Xun Sheng was executed by the Governor, and Xun Xiu and the Xun Family Army harbored resentnt. They had to endure this grievance until the Great General returned to handle it properly.
But before he could take a few steps forward, Xun Ping suddenly drew his sword. Captain Shi’s eyes widened instantly, and he imdiately drew his sword too, shouting, "Hold the gate!"
Before the words finished, the troop from the Xun Family Army had already charged at them.
The Zhao Family Army was unprepared, and their slow response put them at a disadvantage in an instant.
But Captain Shi quickly found his rhythm and shouted, "Form a three-man formation and push them back!"
The initially chaotic Zhao Family Army quickly found their backbone, quickly forming into formations with those around them. In less than thirty breaths, they were barely holding off the Xun Family Army’s assault and slowly regaining their footing.
Just then, another troop swiftly arrived from inside the city. Captain Shi took a glance and felt a chill—more troops from the Xun Family Army.
As the reinforcents from the Xun Family Army arrived, just as Captain Shi was gritting his teeth and about to defend the gate with his life, suddenly there was a cacophony of shouts and killings from outside the city gate.
He felt a pang of fear, thinking that the Xun Family Army was coordinating from inside and outside, and kicked away the person in front of him. He killed him with a swift blow and was about to turn to face the enemy. At that mont, a down-and-out young man leaped over him and struck directly at Xun Ping with a sword.
After slashing twice, or rather after two sword strikes, the young man rotated his sword, dodged an attack, glanced at his blade, and said, "My apologies, this isn’t a knife, it’s a sword."
With that, he lowered the sword slightly, and when he lifted it again, it was as agile as a dragon. His movents were like that of a monkey, dodging and maneuvering around, the sword moved in indescribable ways. As he passed Xun Ping, the blade sliced across his neck...
Captain Shi widened his eyes, seeing the people the young man brought rushing in from outside the city, directly charging at the Xun Family Army. Due to the large number of Zhao Family Army, their side imdiately gained the upper hand.
They quickly subdued two squads of the Xun Family Army and recaptured the city gate.
Even though they had just fought side by side, Captain Shi dared not trust the young man. He ordered soone to inform the Prefectural Governor that the Xun Family Army had revolted, while keeping an eye on the young man and his group. "Who are you?"
Judging by their tattered clothes, they seed to be the refugee army.
But the young man appeared calm and clear-eyed, unlike a refugee. Instead, he had the deanor of a young noble, and the longer Captain Shi looked, the more familiar the young man seed.
Zhao Shen wasn’t soone to beat around the bush. Upon hearing the question, he imdiately said, "I’m Zhao Shen, my father’s na is Ming."
Captain Shi slowly processed in his mind: na’s Ming, surna Zhao, so it’s Zhao Ming...
He ca to his senses, eyes slightly widening. After sizing him up, he asked, "Do you have any proof?"
A more disheveled young man carrying a sword squeezed in from the back, shouting, "The proof is with ."
He rummaged in his chest and pulled out a piece of paper to show him.
It was a travel permit. Who would have thought that in such chaotic tis soone would still use travel permits? Since the chaos engulfed the world, those permits had beco nominal, and who bothered checking them while traveling now?
However, Captain Shi still took it to have a look, and it contained Zhao Shen’s identity information.
Travel permits, like household registration, had all the details, including a description of Zhao Shen’s appearance.
However, Zhao Shen was only fourteen when he left ho, and after five or six years, his appearance had greatly changed. At the very least, the white skin, large eyes, and eyebrows likened to distant mountains ntioned were not apparent to Captain Shi.
He just felt the person before him had dark skin, bright eyes, brows like sharp swords, a scraggly beard, scattered hair...
But then again, upon closer inspection, he indeed bore so resemblance to the Prefectural Governor.
So Captain Shi returned the travel permit to him, leaned his fist against his palm, and said, "I, your humble servant, pay respects to the lord."
Zhao Shen did not find anything amiss with his salute, and with a wave of his hand, he said, "No need for formalities. What happened here? Is there a rebellion in the city?"
He looked surprised, "Wasn’t it said our Zhao Family Army is extrely mighty, and my third sister is highly esteed? Why is there a rebellion in the city?"
Captain Shi quickly explained the grievances between them and the Xun Family Army, "Recently, General Xun was severely wounded and in a coma during a battle with the Shi Army. The Xun Family Army withdrew without orders, angering the Prefectural Governor, who executed Xun Sheng. Since then, the Xun Family Army harbored strong resentnt, especially since the Great General recently accepted the surrender of the Shi Army..."
Zhao Shen didn’t know who Xun Sheng was, but it didn’t stop him from understanding this string of explanations—turns out, it was his father’s fault after all.
Zhao Shen imdiately asked, "How many Xun Family Army are there in the city, and how many Zhao Family Army?"
Captain Shi said, "The Zhao Family Army numbers ten thousand, and the Xun Family Army also numbers ten thousand. However, outside the city, the Xun Family Army numbers more than thirty thousand."
Zhao Shen: "Who is in charge of guarding the various city gates?"
"All the gates are guarded by our Zhao Family Army," Captain Shi paused, then added, "Initially, the Xun Family Army guarded two gates and the Zhao Family Army guarded the other two. But ever since General Xun woke up, the Prefectural Governor made adjustnts."
It seems his father had taken so precautions, but still...
Zhao Shen imdiately said, "Select thirty n, form them into ten teams, and with my command, order the other three city gates to close imdiately, allowing no passage. The remaining seven teams should be sent to Ningling, Sui County, Wuping, and Chen County to seek reinforcents. Be quick!"
With that, he raised his long sword and said to the tattered group behind him, "Brothers, you’ve traveled with all the way from Shu, through hardships to this point, not just to achieve glory and success? Today, your opportunity to make a na for yourselves has arrived!"
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