Chapter 1270 - 1265: Ambush
Just now, when Li Tianjiao learned about the fate of their kingdom, he held back his tears and did not cry. But upon hearing the old general speak, he couldn’t hold back any longer, his throat ached with grief, choking up.
General Cui Shanzhong drew his sword from his waist and shouted loudly: "Soldiers of Xiliang, we were born and raised in Xiliang. Xiliang’s water and Xiliang’s food have nurtured us! Xiliang’s God has protected us! Our Emperor is determined to fight to the death for our country! Can we soldiers of Xiliang retreat?!"
The grand hall resounded with General Cui Shanzhong’s powerful voice like a ringing bell.
"We cannot retreat!"
"We cannot retreat!"
"We cannot retreat!"
The soldiers inside and outside the hall shouted aloud, their voices mighty and deafening.
"If the God favors us Xiliang today in this battle, we will be heroes sworn to defend Xiliang! And if the God’s will is for Xiliang to cease existing, we will have fought for our country, our home, and our Emperor! Though dead, we would be honored! Though dead, we would have no regrets!" General Cui Shanzhong looked around, seeing the morale of Xiliang soldiers had been greatly boosted, his gaze fell on Li Tianjiao, "Emperor, give the order!"
Li Tianjiao tightly gripped the sword in his hand, raised it high, and shouted with all his might: "Warriors of Xiliang! For Xiliang... Charge!"
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
Amidst the soldiers’ cries of "Charge" thrice, Li Tianjiao and General Cui Shanzhong, along with the soldiers, rushed toward the direction of the front hall.
Li Tianjiao’s eyes were steady, suddenly fearless!
Death holds no fear, so many Xiliang soldiers were with him!
But, even in death, he would want to kill more Zhou traitors, more Yan dogs, if he could take down the Emperor of Zhou’s brother and Yan’s Ninth Prince, that would be best!
In the front hall, when Li Tianjiao and General Cui Shanzhong led the soldiers there, the originally clean stone floor both inside and outside was piled with Xiliang army corpses, from the white jade steps of the front hall to inside the hall, all were covered. Rivers of blood flowed down the jade steps slowly.
To call it mountains of corpses, a sea of blood wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
"Crap!" General Cui Shanzhong exclaimed, not having time to explain, a rain of arrows came whistling toward them.
General Cui Shanzhong swiftly turned and protected Li Tianjiao behind him, shouting loudly: "Retreat! Retreat! Retreat into the hall!"
Li Tianjiao looked up and saw flames suddenly lit up on the eaves of halls around them, enemy troops wielding bows and crossbows, constantly shooting arrows at them!
Cui Shanzhong and the rest protected Li Tianjiao in the middle, even though they knew there were no archers ambushed in the hall area, Zhou and Yan were deliberately trying to force them into the hall, but now they could only retreat into the hall because the enemy occupied the higher ground... They had little choice!
Retreating into the hall still offered space, standing there without cover, they couldn’t escape the fate of dying under the enemy’s rain of arrows.
Cui Shanzhong couldn’t comprehend, meeting the enemy head-on was a decision taken temporarily by him and Li Tianjiao, how did Yan and Zhou know they would come and lay an ambush ahead of time?!
No time for General Cui Shanzhong to ponder more, they protected Li Tianjiao, continuously retreated...
The Xiliang soldiers who rushed into the hall first came out, yelling: "No ambush!"
Cui Shanzhong didn’t hesitate anymore, grabbing Li Tianjiao’s arm, and under the cover of the soldiers, finally charged back into the hall.
After circling around, Li Tianjiao didn’t expect to end up back again.
Inside the hall, all of Li Tianjiao’s Hidden Guards lay dead, Li Tianjiao’s eyes filled with tears.
She mustered all the courage she had in her life, wielded her sword, thinking she could kill more enemies, die on the battlefield, unexpectedly she was forced back in here again.
This inevitably made Li Tianjiao think of the Xiliang Eight Great Families, entrenched like a bone-deep twinge within Xiliang, she originally held great confidence to handle the Eight Great Families, which even troubled her father, elevating the people from poor backgrounds to oppose the aristocratic families, intending to gradually concentrate power in her hands. But she didn’t foresee the Eight Great Families had much more power than she imagined.
Outside the hall doors, flames flickered...
"Beware of setting the palace on fire!" Cui Shanzhong shouted loudly.
The soldiers pressed against the doors with their bodies, despite Zhou and Yan not having any intention to kill their way in.
Xiao Ruohai and Yue Shi followed behind Bai Qingyu and Xiao Rongyan, emerging from the army surrounding the great hall.
The flames reflected off Xiao Rongyan’s cold mask, he turned and signaled Yue Shi.
Yue Shi stepped forward, shouting loudly: "Emperor of Xiliang, General Cui Shanzhong, if you surrender, whether to Yan or Zhou, the soldiers inside can survive; Xiliang’s fall today is inevitable, don’t make meaningless sacrifices, surrender!"
The reason they were forced into the hall was because General Cui Shanzhong also came from a family of generals like Bai’s family in Dadu City, which faced suspicion and fear from the Emperor, ending with family destruction, reminding Xiao Rongyan of Bai Qingyan, and Bai Qingyan’s grandfather King of Zhen Bai Weiting!
Therefore, Xiao Rongyan was willing to give this eighty-year-old man a peaceful old age, a natural end.
Because, Bai Qingyu, as a child of generals, also showed some mercy towards old generals like Cui Shanzhong.
No response was heard from inside, Yue Shi turned to glance at his master, seeing Xiao Rongyan stepping towards the stairs, shouting at Cui Shanzhong inside: "General Cui, the fifth son of Zhou, thinking of General Cui also coming from an ancestral family of generals and scholars, facing the same suspicion from the Emperor as Bai’s family, leading to family destruction, therefore... offering a chance for survival."
Upon hearing these words, Bai Qingyu looked at Xiao Rongyan, suddenly understanding Xiao Rongyan’s intention...
Xiao Rongyan might intend to give Yunjing to Zhou.
His palm clenched tightly, why is that?
If Yan held Yunjing, during future discussions between the two nations to decide the world’s ownership through diplomacy, they’d have a better chance of victory.
Last time when his sister was trapped in Jiangzi City, Xiao Rongyan abandoned Yunjing to rush to Jiangzi City for her rescue, out of deep affection and concern for his sister, and the child’s safety.
Then what about this time? Why is he willing to give up Yunjing to Zhou?
To Bai Qingyu, Yan’s Ninth Prince, apart from facing his own sister, is absolutely not someone who would be swayed by sentiments of love, has another purpose?
Inside the hall, Li Tianjiao hearing these words, looked toward Cui Shanzhong.
Only Cui Shanzhong laughed and spoke: "Yan’s Ninth Prince compares me with Bai’s family in Dadu City; I’m honored! Bai’s family army once had a military song that said... Fight to death and do not remove armor, a country’s good sons! Though I am over eighty, my heart for protecting the nation remains young, I also vow not to remove armor unless I am fought to death! Yan’s Ninth Prince and Zhou’s Fifth Young Master need not say more, go ahead, the old man will face your challenge!"