Before dawn, Feng Yun was awakened by the footsteps in the camp.
There was no light in the tent, and she vaguely saw a tall figure.
He was groping around, with armor in his arms, a sword in his hand, and a Phoenix Wing Helt tucked under his arm, tiptoeing out...
"Your Majesty." Feng Yun sat up briskly.
Pei Jue stopped and turned around, "It’s still early, you go back to sleep."
Feng Yun: "I won’t."
Glancing at him, she then started putting on her clothes.
"Wait for ."
She still rembered the fear brought by the Northern Yong Army when they approached Andu City, including her own, this ti the people in the city were Li Sangruo, she wanted to be the person riding outside the city, watching her kingdom get destroyed before her very eyes...
"Lady Yun." Pei Jue paused for a mont, then ca back, pulled the covers over, and wrapped her tightly, his eyes firmly fixed on hers.
"Swords have no eyes. Once on the battlefield, I can’t be everywhere, and I may not be able to protect you."
Feng Yun gave a slight smile, "I brought the soft armor you gave ."
In the darkness, she couldn’t see Pei Jue’s face clearly, but she imagined he was frowning, so she reached up and gently pressed on his brow.
"To say the least, if sothing really does happen, it’s my own choice, and you’re not to bla."
Pei Jue took her hand and held it in his.
"Just wait for . Okay?"
Feng Yun: "You said we’d share life and death, are you leaving behind?"
Pei Jue sighed helplessly, released the covers, pulled her up, and personally put the soft armor on her, then found her a long sword to wear at her waist.
Feng Yun turned around in front of Xiaoman.
"Do I look the part?"
Xiaoman was excited, admiringly gazing at her.
"Yes! Like a female general."
Feng Yun grinned, and walked out of the tent.
The sky was not yet bright, the night breeze was gentle, and the whole camp was silent in the dark shadows.
She knew.
It was soon going to be dawn.
-
On the drill ground, the soldiers were lined up and waiting.
The cold wind swept through the banners, making them flutter loudly; the flag, with a black background and golden edges, had a large "Pei" character that gradually beca clear in the dawn light...
In the sound of the trumpet, the war drums were beaten.
Although Li Zongxun had laid nurous trenches, traps, and defensive works around Yecheng, the Northern Yong Army faced little resistance and easily dismantled the fortifications, approaching Yecheng effortlessly.
Feng Yun reined her horse, standing beside Pei Jue, looking across the wide moat towards the distant city walls...
She had waited long enough for this day.
Two lifetis long.
Pei Jue didn’t just fall out with the Li family today, and it wasn’t the first ti both sides t in battle, but last ti they slipped away from the Central Capital, sothing was still lacking...
Not annihilated.
Not the end.
This ti, it really was going to co to a conclusion.
Pei Jue said: "Ao Qi, call them out!"
The horse neighed loudly.
Ao Qi, holding a trumpet, mounted his horse and rode forward, shouting in the direction of the towering gates of Yecheng:
"The defenders inside listen, Yecheng has been surrounded by the Northern Yong Army. Those who know better, open the gates and surrender quickly to spare your lives and avoid calamity to the citizens. If you are stubborn and choose to fight, breaching the city will happen in no ti."
The cold wind howled past.
The city gates remained tightly shut.
On the city wall, the flags were blown high by the wind.
But there was silence for a long ti.
Ao Qi raised his voice and shouted twice more, each ti harsher and more humiliating than the last.
However, the Yecheng Army inside the city remained like the dead, refusing to co out and respond.
Ao Qi glanced back at Pei Jue.
Pei Jue nodded.
Ao Qi said: "You have a quarter of an hour. If you refuse to surrender, we will storm the city, killing without rcy. Brothers of the Yecheng Army inside, heed my advice at this deathly hour, do not mislead yourselves!"
-
Inside the city, the wind swept through the long streets and alleys, bringing forth a wave of crying.
"The Northern Yong Army is here!"
"The Northern Yong Army is about to break in!"
"Where is the Yecheng Army? Why aren’t they coming out to fight?"
"With an army of five hundred thousand till this day, so defected, others scattered, and many died, what strength is left to resist..."
Five hundred thousand.
Five hundred thousand.
In just a few months, they have been devoured by the Northern Yong Army. Now, trapped within the city of Yecheng, the soldiers left are less than one hundred thousand. How can they compete against the Northern Yong Army?
The incense smoke curls in the city.
In the panic spreading like a plague, the powerless citizens of Yecheng lit incense, choosing to pray to gods and worship Buddha.
Within Fangyun Hall, Li Sangruo also kneels on a cushion, hands joined together, eyes tightly closed, muttering softly as she makes her pleas to the divine.
Footsteps sound from behind.
She doesn’t turn around.
A robe of bright yellow slowly approaches, stopping by her side.
"Pei Jue’s troops are at our gates, and yet you leisurely pray to Buddha."
Li Sangruo opens her eyes, glancing sideways to see Li Zongxun, who is now dressed in the Emperor’s robe, a mocking smile in his eyes.
"The one who should be afraid is you."
She slowly stands up, disdain filling her eyes.
"I am the wife of the Emperor of Xifeng, the mother of the Emperor of Xinghe... oh, and Uncle Shaogong told before he died that I am Pei Jue’s sister. With such an identity, what should I fear?"
Li Zongxun coldly smiles.
"Even now, you have not learned to be wise. Dead emperors cannot protect you. The living Pei Jue doesn’t want to either. Your life and death are in the palm of my hand."
Li Sangruo raises her chin, exposing her neck.
The look in her eyes sternly mocking as she glares at Li Zongxun.
"Kill then."
Li Zongxun coldly smiles, "It seems Tang Shaogong’s death didn’t teach you a lesson. Li Sangruo, I raised you for nothing."
"Stop ntioning Uncle Shaogong!" Li Sangruo’s voice suddenly sharpens, thick hatred brewing in her eyes, turning into a piercing dagger glaring straight at him, as if ready to rip him apart.
"And, the most unfortunate thing in my life was becoming your daughter. Li Zongxun, you fail as a father—"
Li Zongxun sneers, "You are not my daughter."
Li Sangruo’s head spins.
Stunned for a mont, she watches Li Zongxun laugh silently.
"Not your daughter, then whose daughter am I? Whose daughter am I? You still want to deceive by saying I am Pei Jue’s sister; would Pei Jue care for ?"
She points towards the gate.
"Go ask at the city gate, see if Pei Jue recognizes . Hahaha."
She laughs continuously, recklessly.
Madly, screaming.
"Besides, what difference does it make whether I am your daughter or not? Even if I were your own, when it’s ti to send soone to their death, you wouldn’t hesitate to push them in front, to shield you from the swords. You’re that kind of person, only caring about yourself, do you deserve to have a daughter? You do not. Quick, go back and sit on your Golden Throne, if you don’t sit on it soon, it’ll be too late. You haven’t been Emperor for long, soon you’ll die, and there’s no one to hold a vigil or mourn for you. House destroyed, people perished, and wonder who will be the most pitiable..."
Her eyes blazing red, she furiously curses like a madwoman.
"Misfortune!" Li Zongxun raises his hand, a heavy slap strikes Li Sangruo’s face.
Five bloody finger marks rise from her pale cheek.
Li Sangruo touches her face, looking at Li Zongxun, "You hit ?"
Smack! Another heavy sound as Li Zongxun expressionlessly slaps her again, Li Sangruo screams and dodges. Unexpectedly, Li Zongxun suddenly grabs her wrist and pushes her outward, and the slaps follow one after another...
"I’ve wanted to slap you a long ti ago."
"If it weren’t for your stupidity, spoiling my plans again and again, would I be in this position today...?"
"Tell . Was it Tang Shaogong who incited you?"
"Tell !"
"Was it him who incited you, ti after ti ruining my plans?"
Li Zongxun asks and slaps with each question.
Another slap, then another question.
Li Sangruo’s cheeks swell rapidly, her ears buzzing, her hair disheveled, looking as mad as a hatter. She raises her sleeve to wipe the corner of her mouth, and screams fiercely.
"I told you not to ntion Uncle Shaogong! It was you who killed him, the only person in this world... who was good to ! You killed him."
"Idiot!" Li Zongxun backhands her with another slap, "Even now, you refuse to see the truth—no one truly cared for you, Tang Shaogong was also just using you."
Li Zongxun sizes her up with a venomous look.
"Can’t you see? Tang Shaogong was Xie Xian’s man, repeatedly prompting you to target Feng Shi Er Niang, to target Pei Jue, all to accelerate Pei Jue’s severing ties with Dajin, to force him to acknowledge his lineage early, and mourn his late parents..."
Li Sangruo screams shrilly, grabbing Li Zongxun’s shoulders and forcefully pushing him away.
"What makes you any different?"
Her face bruised, her temper flaring, her eyes glaring furiously, every word dripping with irony.
"Tang Shaogong was your trusted strategist, your most capable subordinate. You obeyed his advice, thus you fell into the sche. Who are you to bla? I trusted him because of you! Old fool, despite your lifeti of renown, to be played in the palm of others..."
At this, she hisses a cold laugh again.
"You pride yourself on your superb strategies and deep foresight, yet how co you were manipulated by an aide...? Could it be you harbor a special preference for him, attracted by his good looks, thus you trusted him so blindly, and held him in such high regard!"
"Absurd! You ungrateful creature—" Li Zongxun’s old face turns red, pointing at her face, his arm trembling as if he were desperate to kill her.
Li Sangruo quickly retreats, her hands covering her face, a look of terror on her face.
"Don’t hit again. If you do, I’ll smash my head against the pillar and see what you’ll do. If I die, you won’t live either. Pei Jue won’t spare you!"
"I won’t kill you." Li Zongxun’s voice is sinister, his expression cold as he slowly advances, grabbing her collar and pulling it tight.
"I’ll take you to et your dear brother right now!"
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