Chapter 114 Hope
A hazy bright color permeated the roofs of each tent, casting a layer of tranquility over the solemn military camp.

There was still dew from the summer night hanging on the spears lined up on the rack. The sound of birds singing came from the treetops in the distance, and finally Xiao Yan slowly woke up. He seemed to be exhausted all over, and his forehead was extremely swollen and painful, with a faint feeling of discomfort.

When I was fully awake, I smelled that familiar fragrance again.

Looking up, I could see the girl's white and round jaw. Although it was still dark in the tent, I seemed to be able to clearly see the fuzz on her cheeks that was unique to a girl. Her long eyelashes were trembling slightly at the corners of her eyes, but I didn't know if she was having a nightmare.

At this moment, he realized that he was being held in Ji Ruxue's arms. His cheek felt a little tingling, and it was because he was pressing against her already large chest. The hard and icy armor rose and fell slightly with her breathing, which hurt his face.

Looking around again, I didn't realize that the two of them were already lying on the hard bed, hugging each other, so quietly and tightly together.

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment and tried to stand up, but he found that if he moved a little, the girl's arms around him would subconsciously hold tighter, making him unable to move at all.

"..."

It was only at this moment that Ji Ruxue suddenly woke up.

Their eyes met and collided.

The girl was frightened at first, but when she saw Xiao Yan's clear eyes, the worry on her face instantly turned into coldness, and she pushed him away.

Then, she instantly stood up, got off the couch, walked to the middle of the tent, and remained silent.

But at that moment, Xiao Yan could clearly see that there was an obvious bright red kiss mark on her jade-smooth neck, under her cross-collared white shirt, which was revealed the moment she stood up.

Xiao Yan's eyebrows raised instantly.

However, it was only at this moment that he realized that there was pain in his palm. He raised his hand and found that it was because his fingers were tightly clenched in his palm, which caused several wounds. Although the blood had stopped oozing, the whole palm looked like a bloody mess.

Obviously, these were the scars left by his efforts to restrain his murderous intent last night.

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yan spread out his palms, and wisps of black mist surged out, instantly spreading between the wounds. The palm, which originally looked bloody and mangled, began to return to its original state in the blink of an eye.

Then, half-jokingly, he said, "You should have left last night."

"Because I can really do something that can cause a beautiful woman to lose her beauty."

Ji Ruxue did not respond to him, but just used her collar to cover the red mark and did not turn around for a long time.

Xiao Yan frowned and could keenly notice that both of the girl's arms were trembling slightly.

He strode over and pushed her back onto the wooden bed.

The girl had a cold face and struggled to get up.

"Do not touch me."

But she was so weak in Xiao Yan's hands that she had almost no ability to fight back. The latter quickly took off his armor and rolled up his sleeves.

The originally fair forearms and even the elbows were already covered with bruises. From a distance, it looked as if they were all bloodstains.

Xiao Yan's eyes were filled with mixed emotions.

It was obvious that if he really went crazy, Ji Ruxue would definitely not be able to stop him, but this stupid man in front of her persisted all night long and never let go for a moment. Even if his arm was about to break, he seemed fearless.

Although the murderous intent in my heart has not diminished much, I have been able to suppress it again compared to last night.

At this moment, a feeling of tenderness slowly arose.

"Is it stupid?"

Xiao Yan turned around and took out a small bottle from the medicine box in the tent.

There were doctors accompanying him in the camp, but their medical skills might not be as good as his. Lin Dalang, who was killed by him in Caozhou half a year ago, was not good at fighting, but his medical skills could be considered experienced. In terms of medical skills alone, he was not an ordinary person.

Then, he squatted beside the bed, without even looking at the girl, and just started sprinkling the powder on himself.

Ji Ruxue pursed her lips and just watched coldly as Xiao Yan put his hand on her arm, and then used his internal force to dissolve the blood clot for her.

Both of them just remained silent.

After a while, Xiao Yan let out a long sigh and said, "Whether you hate me or dislike me, I have to thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have made a wrong decision in this war last night."

At that time, he was so murderous that he might have led his troops to charge directly to the city of Yuyang. He might have been able to kill to his heart's content, but subsequent developments would inevitably be beyond his control.

But Ji Ruxue just turned her head away and didn't look at him.

Xiao Yan stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then pinched her chin, turned her face around, and moved closer.

The girl's beautiful eyes widened instantly, full of disbelief.

After the two lips gently touched, they were about to separate.

But Xiao Yan's eyes suddenly widened because he felt a sharp pain at the corner of his mouth, and a smell of blood instantly spread between his lips.

Suddenly, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up.

"I'm sorry for what I said last night. But you can believe that I'm not the kind of person who will abandon you after having sex with you."

He looked calm, as if he didn't feel anything was wrong at all.

But Ji Ruxue folded her arms across her chest and just stared at him.

Xiao Yan frowned, then thought about it and was about to bend down again.

"Snapped."

The girl slapped his face away, but only gently. Then she turned her head away, finally not hiding the blush on her ears, and whispered, "It's dawn."

But she pretended to be calm, and immediately turned around and stared into Xiao Yan's eyes to show that she did not let him bully her just because of such a few words.

The latter smiled, strode out of the tent, and began to summon the night ranger commander and the scout commander.

Ji Ruxue looked at his back, clenched the corner of his clothes with her fingers, and breathed a sigh of relief.

------

------

The sound of fighting once again rolled up like a tide.

The wall of Yuyang city is more dilapidated than before.

The moat surrounding the city had already been filled up, with rocks, huge trees, earth bags, charred equipment, and even human corpses all stuffed in. Dozens of passages were filled with people charging forward with shields raised.

Under the city wall, there were all smashed and burned siege equipment, and near these siege equipment, there were all corpses. Most of them were civilians who were forced to come and piled up under the city like filling up their lives. The others were soldiers of Yichang Army (Liu Shouwen was the governor of Yichang Army at the time), their bodies rotting and the whole place was devastated.

But Liu Shouwen's move was not without effect. The bricks of Yuyang's city wall had already fallen off, and part of the rammed earth foundation had collapsed, revealing a huge gap. Although the defenders blocked it with fences and filled it with sandbags, the densely packed attackers just rushed in like they were risking their lives.

The soil inside and outside the gap had already turned dark red, and it seemed as if blood would seep out if you stepped on it.

On top of the city wall, piles of dead bodies had formed a mountain, and figures were constantly running around. They were all officers shouting and conveying various orders.

"Throw the rolling stone! If we fight off this wave, we can fill the gap again!"

"Gold juice! Is the gold juice ready? Hurry up and bring it over here!"

Amid the sounds of fighting, countless well-armored Yichang soldiers faced the rain of arrows and finally broke into the gap. However, those who rushed to the front were immediately drenched in the smelly, boiling manure water, and they screamed and rolled on the ground.

At the back, the soldiers who continued to attack had ferocious looks on their faces, but they still kept attacking the defenders at the gap.

The siege had finally made some progress, and Liu Shouwen had become ruthless, constantly charging his elite troops in, hoping to break the will of the defenders and end this cruel and bloody civil war in Hebei.

But the Lulong Army in the city also gritted their teeth and fought ruthlessly. Everyone knew that if the city was breached, they would not have a good ending after defending it for so long. Even though they were exhausted, they still blocked the Yichang Army's attack on the city wave by wave.

On the top of the city wall, Liu Shouguang was protected by someone holding a shield behind him, but his face was livid.

At the beginning of the defense, he did not need to climb the tower, but only commanded remotely from inside the city. But now that the city was about to fall, he lived on the top of the city day and night, not daring to leave even a step. He was afraid that he would be captured by Liu Shouwen's army while still on the couch one night.

In just over a month, he had lost dozens of pounds. His cheeks were dry and thin, his cheekbones were prominent, and his beard was long and messy. He had completely lost the heroic spirit he had in Youzhou. Looking at the camp outside the city, where the attacking army was rushing at him like crazy, his expression became even uglier.

"General, we don't have enough equipment to defend the city. All the houses in the city have been demolished! Liu Shouwen is ruthless. Today he has sent his main force to attack the city for the third time!"

"The boys are exhausted, there is no time to change!"

"The Mobei Army in the north of the city seems to be in turmoil. They have been holding back for a month, but now seeing the south of the city attacking the city, I'm afraid they won't wait any longer!"

The chaotic, noisy and overwhelming sounds kept pouring into Liu Shouguang's ears, making his face look even more gray and ugly.

Until finally, thousands of words came together into one sentence.

"General Jie, let's break out!"

Some generals cried out, "We can no longer defend Yuyang... The reinforcements from Youzhou have not arrived yet, I'm afraid..."

"Now that we are breaking out, where should we go?"

Liu Shouguang gritted his teeth and said angrily: "None of the scouts we sent out have returned. How can we break out at will? Our people are tired, but aren't Liu Shouwen's people tired too? After demolishing the civilian houses, we will demolish the Jiedushi Mansion. If we can't defend the outer city, we will retreat to the inner city!"

"Li Xiaoxi has received a great favor from me, how dare I not support him? Youzhou still has a large army, how can we be afraid of the scoundrels in Mobei?" He pressed the hilt of the knife heavily, his eyes full of bloodshot, as if to comfort the generals, but more like to comfort himself: "They must have been blocked, let's hold on for a while, hold on for a while, maybe the reinforcements will arrive..."

The generals, however, were not optimistic at all. They had heard this sentence countless times in recent days, and hearing it again now only made them feel sad.

Liu Shouguang continued to encourage everyone: "Yuan Xingqin is here to command the city from the north. The Mobei Army is good at field battles, but how can they be as strong as the Yichang Army in attacking a city? You just stay here and I will live and die with you!"

Now that things have come to this, what else can the generals do except die?

They all followed Liu Shouguang till the end. At that time, they rebelled against Liu Rengong and hunted down Liu Shouwen, even chasing the latter to the point where he had no way out and could only ask Mobei for help in a panic to save his life. He must have hated them to the core.

Now, even if he surrenders the city, he will still die under Liu Shouwen's command.

What's more, the Mobei Army has been watching closely...

……

But having said that, Yuyang is already riddled with holes and cannot be defended by just a few inspiring words.

The weapons used to defend the city had almost been used up, and the food supplies in the city had long been consumed, so they had to kill horses to satisfy their hunger.

Inside and outside the city, the sounds of fighting seemed to cause mountains to collapse and the earth to crack. The defenders had nearly 10,000 people, and more than half of them had been lost after days of brutal consumption. However, the Yichang Army below seemed to be endless. After repelling one wave of enemies, they immediately forced the old, weak, young and strong to give up their lives. When the Lulong Army had exhausted all its strength, they immediately launched a large-scale attack on the city.

The top of the city wall was even climbed up by the infantry of the Yichang Army many times. If Liu Shouguang had not risked his life to send the last backup of his personal troops up, the top of the city wall would have been lost.

Although they had always said they would fill the gap, it continued to expand due to the loss of lives and became the main attack point of the Yichang Army.

The fighting lasted until sunset that day, and the blood of the defenders was almost drained, before the troops were called back outside the city.

But everyone could guess, looking at the few exhausted defenders standing on the city walls, that Yuyang would end up like this in just one day.

There is only fall.

------

evening.

In the north of the city, at the Mobei camp, dozens of riders rumbled into the camp gate, and the Mobei soldiers on both sides hurriedly raised their shields and held their spears, forming a formation to block them.

"Go away!"

Liu Shouwen, who was over forty years old and had a refined appearance, rarely got angry. At this moment, he was fully clothed in armor, just riding on his horse, holding the hilt of his sword, and shouting with a stern face.

The dozens of riders protecting him were also not afraid. As Liu Shouwen's personal troops, they were serious soldiers who had experienced many battles. They were not as cowardly as the self-proclaimed "elite" troops on the Beishui side.

They were now in the Mobei camp and were not afraid of the Mobei people at all. They even looked down on them a little.

It was this group of people who often went out of the country to rob the valleys.

The noise at the camp gate was loud enough to attract Yelu Abaoji to come out of his tent in person.

"Hahaha, Brother Liu suddenly came to visit the camp, why didn't you say hello in advance? You guys didn't recognize your noble man and offended Brother Liu. If you are angry, you can take it out on me and vent your anger, how about that?"

Yelu Abaoji spoke Chinese fluently. Although he had an accent, he seemed friendly and generous. He ignored the murderous eyes of dozens of riders and personally walked up to Liu Shouwen to lead his horse.

Liu Shouwen's face was still livid, and he did not enter the tent. He said in a deep voice: "I sent envoys several times today to ask the king to cooperate in the siege. Why has the king not moved? Yuyang could have been taken in one day, but now it is delayed again and again. How long will it take?!"

He was furious and did not give Yelu Abaoji any face. He no longer called him "my dear brother", as he used to do affectionately. He just shouted, "I took the trouble to invite Your Majesty to come south, not for you to sit on the sidelines and watch the fight between tigers! If Your Majesty has other thoughts in mind, don't blame me for not speaking the truth in advance!"

"Now that your Mobei Army has entered the Great Wall, it won't be easy to get out!"

Yelu Abaoji was stunned, then smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "Brother, you really wronged me..."

After that, he smiled bitterly and said, "In the past, it is true that I have not built siege equipment. Now, although the equipment is built, we Mobei people are used to staying on horseback, so how can we be good at attacking the city in broad daylight?"

Liu Shouwen turned his eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yelu Abaoji pulled Liu Shouwen's sleeve, asking him to bend down slightly, and then whispered: "I have thought about it. The defenders in the city have been exhausted for a long time. Now at night, they are even more exhausted. It is the time for me to attack the city..."

"You guys? Night battle?" Liu Shouwen looked doubtful and refused to believe it at all.

You must know that the desert north is not like the Central Plains. In the Central Plains, the people are suffering to support the soldiers. Basically, the soldiers in each town are well fed and well fed, and are almost all resistant to night blindness. Even so, they generally do not launch night attacks, because it is pitch dark at night. Unless the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, even if you hold a torch, it is too far away to provide much lighting.

And does a place as miserable as Mobei have the ability to fight at night?

To be honest, Liu Shouwen's current subordinates, except for his original troops, basically have no ability to launch a night battle. If they are not careful, it will cause a commotion in their own camp, which will be more trouble than gain.

"Brother, please trust me for once. Then you and I will attack together from the north and the south. If we fail to take it tonight, I will not take a penny from the city of Yuyang." Yelu Abaoji patted his chest and guaranteed.

At this point, Liu Shouwen could only do as he said. Because he couldn't afford it. His subordinates were already complaining about the lack of supplies for the Mobei Army, and the transportation of supplies was difficult, and even looting the countryside became difficult.

Because within a radius of hundreds of miles, except for some large castles of wealthy families, everything that could be robbed had been robbed.

After receiving a positive answer, Liu Shouwen did not stay any longer. He agreed with Yelu Abaoji on the time to attack the city at night and hurried back to the camp.

……

After Liu Shouwen left, Yelu Abaoji stood in the camp and his expression gradually calmed down.

On the side, a general cursed: "This bastard has no ability at all. Why don't you kill him with a sword and take Yuyang yourself? Then, we can occupy this Yan land, so what?"

"You do not understand."

Yelu Abaoji smiled, broke off a piece of firewood, threw it into the fire, and said, "Now is not a good time to rule the Central Plains. Among the Liu family father and son, Liu Shouwen is the most incompetent. Keeping him in charge of Hebei is most beneficial to me.

"When he is firmly in control of Hebei, no matter which lord attacks him, he will certainly ask me for help. By then, the Great Wall in Mobei will be useless."

Several generals around him suddenly understood and began to talk in amazement.

"It still depends on the king's strategy. With the king and queen in Mobei, why should we worry about not being able to rule the Central Plains?"

Yelu Abaoji waved his hand, sat by the campfire with his sword and golden horse, and his expression became serious.

"Liu Shouguang's troops want to surrender the city to me, is that true?"

"It must be true." A general saluted and said, "The man secretly sent an envoy to ask the king to accept him, saying that Liu Shouguang still wanted to defend the city to the death, and the people in the city had lost confidence and could not bear to fight again.

"At midnight, he will open the north gate of the city and welcome the king into the city."

After saying this, the general grinned and said, "The two brothers of the Liu family, one forced them to death, and the other is their enemy. How dare these people serve the Liu family again? The only way out is to surrender to the king. The king just said a few words and deceived Liu Shouwen. It's really funny."

Yelu Abaoji pressed his hands together, not showing any pride, but just staring at the fire with a serious expression.

"In that case, let's prepare the troops and attack Yuyang at midnight. After entering the city, we must seize control of all the strategic locations. Although Liu Shouwen is incompetent, he is not weak after all. We should prevent him from harboring evil intentions."

All the generals did not care, but did not dare to refute, and all crossed their hands to obey the order.

Abaoji stood up, climbed up the watchtower with his hands behind his back, and looked at the tall but ruined city of Yuyang opposite.

It took nearly two months, from spring to summer, which was indeed a long time.

Liu Shouguang is now a dead body in a grave, a prodigal son, not worth mentioning.

Liu Shouwen is incompetent and has big ambitions, but in fact he is very easy to manipulate.

These were all taught to him by the queen whom he admired so much. As long as he went south, everything would develop as she expected.

Now, as long as he takes Yuyang and then goes west to support Liu Shouwen in establishing his capital in Youzhou, he can return to the royal court, stabilize the tribes, and prepare to establish his own system and become emperor.

The process may be long because of strong opposition from various ministries.

But he has the confidence to prepare for five or ten years, because his queen said that only a truly unified Mobei will not remain forever in the bitter and cold frontier.

Holding the wooden railing of the watchtower, Yelu Abaoji's eyes flickered slightly.

South of the Great Wall is indeed a beautiful place.

------

On the top of Yuyang City, Liu Shouguang leaned on the battlements of the city wall, motionless, looking at the continuous camps outside the city.

There were wailing sounds all around, and the smell of blood couldn't be blown away, as if it was living in his nasal cavity.

At his side, there were only a few hundred soldiers, the rest were either wounded or had turned into cold corpses. On the entire wall, all of them were like lonely ghosts, without any life at all. Everyone knew that at dawn, the offensive would inevitably start again, and the outer city would be breached, and the inner city would probably not be able to hold out for long.

Just at this moment, a slight noise came from behind.

Liu Shouguang looked back.

It was General Yuan Xingqin, who had been stationed in the north of the city for a long time, who led more than ten personal soldiers to the top of the city wall. His trusted and beloved general also had a thin face and a look of anxiety.

"Why are you here?!" Liu Shouguang shouted angrily with a sullen face.

Yuan Xingqin came over and looked him up and down, then said in shock, "Someone told me that the commander was seriously injured during the day and is on his deathbed. I'm afraid..."

Liu Shouguang was also stunned.

But immediately, both of them were shocked.

Almost at the same time, a horn sounded faintly from the north of the city. Amid the horn sound, there were also faint cries of "surrender the city" and the deafening sound of fighting.

The Yichang army camp across from them also responded immediately with the sound of rumbling drums. In an instant, the sound of the army mobilizing suddenly swept over. The drums were like thunder, almost knocking Liu Shouguang down instantly.

He didn't have much strength to begin with, and was so shocked that he was about to fall to the ground.

Yuan Xingqin was quick to support him, and then with tears in his tiger eyes, he cried loudly: "I am incompetent and fell into the trap of the traitor. There must be someone who is greedy for life and afraid of death, who did the act of offering the city..."

Liu Shouguang moved his lips, but no sound came out.

All fighting spirit and ambition have almost collapsed.

But Yuan Xingqin suddenly gritted his teeth and stood up, shouting: "General, don't be discouraged! Now there are still hundreds of personal soldiers protecting you, and the mount is just outside the city. It's late at night now, so take advantage of the chaos to break out! This life of mine was given by the general, and I will die for you!

"As long as we rush west and cross the Beishui River, you will be safe! Li Xiaoxi will surely lead troops to help us. When we meet up with him, there is no need to worry about whether you can make a comeback."

Liu Shouguang just shook his head and smiled bitterly, then sat down.

In an instant, he seemed to have aged by a dozen years, but he was still motionless despite the overwhelming sound of fighting.

"There are reinforcements, they have already arrived..."

He murmured, "I have been so powerful for half my life, and I rose to power by imprisoning my father, but now I have ended up being betrayed. It's all my own fault..."

Yuan Xingqin burst into tears again and couldn't stop crying.

The hundreds of personal soldiers around him were also silent, as if they were waiting to die.

"Shi Jingtang, you have misled me.

"Li Xiaoxi, I'm sorry..."

Liu Shouguang smiled bitterly, leaned against the city wall, and murmured, "There is no hope..."

……

The sound of fighting swept across the entire land, and almost all the troops from the two camps were mobilized.

In addition to destroying Liu Shouguang, they also had to be on guard against the other side, so they were already in a situation where they only cared about the head and not the butt. Whoever entered the city first would be able to take the initiative in the following situation.

Bonfires were burning all over the mountains and plains, and the entire area around Yuyang, including the mountains, rivers and plains, seemed to be reflected in dark outlines under the sky by the flames.

In the mountains and rivers covered in the night, a ray of red tassel suddenly appeared on the dark mountain tops.

Then an armored knight rode out slowly, holding a lance with a dead body of a Mobei scout on the lance. He appeared on the skyline of the not-so-high mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, dense flames reflected on his armor, emitting a cold light.

At this moment.

Mountains, rivers and land are all under his feet.

"Ah."

The knight smiled faintly, put on the bronze mask on his face, threw away the dead body on the spear, and pointed forward.

Thousands of knights appeared on their horses almost instantly in the skyline behind him, each holding a spear and carrying a flag, full of murderous intent.

Xiao Yan didn't turn around, but just asked with a smile.

"Are you happy with this scene?"

Amid the neighing of thousands of horses, countless voices shouted at the same time: "We men should do this!"

The lance continued to point forward.

"Then,
"Kill with pleasure."

(End of this chapter)