From Yongcheng to the Qi capital, they must go through three cities, because Tian Ye and Tian Ying held the King of Qi’s token and led the way, three thousand elite members of the Qinglang Battalion swaggered all the way to the lower gate of the Qi capital the next night.
There are two generals in charge of Qi, one named Zhang Yu and the other named Tian Jin, both of whom were famous and powerful generals of the Qi Kingdom. The person on duty today is Zhang Yu, who is shrewd and cautious and very skilled in strategy. Zhang Yu did not come from a noble background but gradually rose from the bottom through military achievements, and he belonged to a completely different camp from the two generals, Tian Ying and Tian Ye.
Upon hearing that Tian Ye and Tian Ying had returned with reinforcements from Muyun Pass, Zhang Yu personally wielded his sword and went to the gate tower to verify the situation.
“This person was personally promoted by Marquis Duan Xiyue and is a tough guy, very difficult to deal with. Your Highness… be careful.”
Tian Ying was held by Sui Heng all the way, the back of his clothes was already soaked in cold sweat, and his temples were constantly dripping with water due to nervousness.
Sui Heng, dressed in the armor of the deputy general of the Qi Kingdom, closely followed Tian Ying. His eyes remained motionless, and in the dark night, he exuded extraordinary calmness and sharpness.
He indifferently said, “You do what you have to do, and Gu will take care of the rest.”
As he spoke, Zhang Yu’s figure already appeared on the city gate tower. Zhang Yu had a brave and cold face unique to martial artists, his eyes shining like lightning and his face expressionless as he swept past the three thousand cavalry gathered in front of the city gate.
His gaze finally fell on Tian Ying, and he asked, “The Sui Empire has not yet withdrawn its troops. Why did General Tian suddenly come back? Is there a royal decree?”
Tian Ying and Zhang Yu have never dealt with each other.
Tian Ying was already nervous, and upon hearing the other person’s sharp questioning, his two legs couldn’t help but tremble. He had already been tied up and got on the Sui Heng’s pirate ship, he had helped the Sui soldiers steal three cities already. Now, he was facing Zhang Yu, his arch nemesis. Once he was detected by the enemy, he would die even more tragically.
Tian Ying straightened his body and spoke steadily, “The Sui and Jiang Empires have reached a ceasefire and peace negotiation. There’s not much point in keeping 3,000 troops there, except to waste food and supplies. Therefore, we withdrew our troops early and returned.”
“General Tian seems very nervous?”
Zhang Yu keenly said.
Tian Ying’s two legs trembled again, and he immediately felt the force of the scimitar pressing against his back, almost piercing through his armor and pressing against his skin.
He put on a bold face and said, “The journey was too urgent, and I was so tired that my mouth and tongue were dry and I sweated a bit.”
Zhang Yu didn’t speak anymore, nor did he order the city gate to be opened. Instead, his gaze shifted slightly and fell on Tian Ying’s side, Tian Ye.
Tian Ye was not much better than Tian Ying. He is tightly held by two other generals from the Qinglang Battalion dressed as personal guards, one on the left and another on the right. If he says one wrong word, his head and neck will immediately split up.
“Indeed, that’s true.”
Tian Ye spoke stiffly.
Zhang Yu ordered the soldiers to go down and verify the token.
Tian Ying and Tian Ye each presented their tokens, and after verification, Zhang Yu suddenly said, “Could I trouble you both to show me your roster?”
The roster is a list of all the soldiers on this expedition.
Zhang Yu said, “The situation has been unstable lately, so this marshal had to be a bit more cautious, I hope you two would excuse me.”
Sui Heng narrowed his eyes lightly and thought, “Zhang Yu is indeed a clever and difficult person to deal with.”
“Give him.”
Sui Heng whispered in a low voice.
Tian Ying took out a rooster from his arms and handed it to the soldier responsible for verifying the token. The soldier quickly rushed up to the city tower and handed the roster to Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu casually opened a page, clicked on a name, and looked down.
——
“General!”
At midnight, the commander of Yongcheng awakened from his sleep.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s not good, General. Suddenly, a large number of Sui soldiers gathered outside the pass, with at least tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the dark. They came to the pass to call for the capture of the traitor named Chen Qi and even said that if the General still did not open the city gate, they would forcibly attack the city!”
The general was greatly surprised and did not expect the situation to suddenly develop to such a serious extent in just one day.
“Chen Qi? Who’s that?”
“It was said that he was the Right Secretary of the Sui Empire. For some reason, he offended the Crown Prince of Sui and fled to our Qi.”
The general quickly put on his armor, listened as he walked, picked up his sword, and arrived at the city gate tower. Looking from afar, he saw the flames outside the pass shining brightly, and the dense black iron cavalry with endless black pressure displayed outside Yongcheng. The iron armor was cold and endless.
The heavy and overwhelming killing aura made the defending general’s expression stern.
The defending general saw the attire and scimitars of the iron cavalry and solemnly said, “It’s the Qinglang Battalion.”
This formation is not a plea for people, it is clearly a formation to attack Yongcheng.
The defending general’s heart sank as he did not expect to encounter such a difficult situation. Yongcheng was still some distance away from the royal capital, and there was not enough time to pass the message at this moment.
The deputy general was sweating profusely on his forehead and urgently asked, “General, what should we do now?”
The defending general quickly regained his composure and said, “It’s alright. Marquis Duan has set up more than 300 Lianyun Crossbows in Yongcheng. Even if the Sui army really wants to launch a fierce attack, they won’t get any advantage in the short term. You should immediately report the emergency military situation to the capital, and I will personally lead people to launch the Lianyun Crossbows to defend the city.”
The deputy general was about to rush down the city tower when a deafening cry of killing came from below. A soldier rushed up in a hurry and said, “General, it’s not good. Someone opened the city gate from inside and let those Sui soldiers in!”
“What!”
The general’s eyes darkened, and he almost fell directly.
He listened to the thunderous and earth-shattering sound of horse hooves ringing in his ears and looked at the fierce iron cavalry entering Yongcheng like a tide. Suddenly he understood something and was shocked. He stomped his foot and said, “No good, we were deceived!”
In front of the gate of the Qi capital.
Zhang Yu flipped through the roster and counted one hundred people, and the soldiers below immediately lined up to respond.
Zhang Yu did not detect anything unusual, but for some reason, the vigilance he had developed over the years still caused him an inexplicable sense of unease.
Even the deputy general beside him couldn’t help but ask, “What is the general suspecting?”
After all, Tian Ying is the nephew of Prime Minister Tian Que. The deputy general was worried that the general’s temper is too straightforward and may offend Tian Que as a result.
Zhang Yu remained silent and stood up, preparing to step down from the city tower and personally go out to verify. Just two steps away, a lazy voice first came over: “Why is Brother Zhang counting troops on the city tower in the middle of the night?”
A tall and powerful figure dressed in armor walked over with a fierce expression on his face. Followed by a line of soldiers, it turned out to be Tian Jin, another general guarding the gate of the Qi capital.
Tian Jin and Tian Que have a closer relationship, he is Tian Que’s cousin.
Tian Jin was not supposed to be on duty tonight, but he had nothing to do at night and was drinking with several military generals in the camp. As soon as he finished drinking, he heard some movement in front of the city gate and came to investigate.
Tian Jin saw his nephew Tian Ying at a glance.
His eyes lit up slightly, and he was surprised. “Ji Yuan, why did you come back?”
Ji Yuan is Tian Ying’s name.
When Tian Ying saw Tian Jin, his eyes trembled with excitement. As he was about to speak, his back skin cooled, and he realized his current situation. He can only endure and say, “Sui and Jiang have a ceasefire and peace negotiation. The nephew led the troops back to report to the king!”
“That’s also true, there’s no fight over there. You guys will just be eating the food for free while you stay. It’s time to come back.”
Tian Jin was on good terms with this nephew, Tian Ying. Because he had drunk today and was in high spirits as well. As he spoke, he personally led people out of the city gate to talk to Tian Ying.
He noticed that his nephew’s forehead and face were covered in sweat and exclaimed in surprise, “Xiao Liu Er, what’s wrong with you?”
Tian Ying looked anxiously at Tian Jin with his eyes.
Tian Jin immediately noticed Sui Heng, who was dressed as a deputy general next to Tian Ying, and said strangely, “Who is this? Why have I never seen him by your side?”
When Tian Ying did not see Tian Jin, he was almost disheartened and completely gave up the possibility of struggling. Now that he saw Tian Jin, his uncle, he suddenly felt a new glimmer of hope.
After all, he came from a noble background in the Qi Kingdom. If he had a choice, he would still be willing to return to the Qi Kingdom and live a life of prosperity and nobility. Tian Ying let out a loud cry and rushed forward with all his might. Although Tian Jin had drunk too much wine, he was still vigilant. He had doubts and immediately drew a sword from his waist when he saw the situation. However, Sui Heng’s sword was faster, and before Tian Ying could fully break free, the shout abruptly broke.
Tian Ying’s heart was pierced by a sword and fell heavily to the ground.
Sui Heng took advantage of the situation and jumped up, rushing towards Tian Jin. Because he had been drinking, Tian Jin still had some weakness in his legs and feet and was knocked down by Sui Heng before his throat was cut with a sword.
This change was too sudden, and the guards on the gate tower had not yet reacted. The three thousand “Qi soldiers” displayed below the city had already stepped on the bodies of Tian Jin and Tian Ying and rushed towards the city gate.
Zhang Yu quickly reacted, he urgently ordered the closure of the city gate, activating the defense equipment.
However, in just this short moment of effort, the well-trained elite of the Qinglang Battalion had quickly climbed up the city wall in the darkness.
The sound of shouting and killing shattered the nobles who were still immersed in their sleep in the Qi capital unexpectedly. And even greater cries of killing came from the direction of Yongcheng all the way to the east.
The suddenly lit beacon fire over Yongcheng also spread to Muyun Pass.
Jiang Yun stood on the gate tower, gazing at the beacon lights in the east, followed by Fan Zhou, Yun Huai, and important guards in the pass.
The peace negotiation between the north and south have not yet ended, and the Sui Empire suddenly went to war with the Qi Kingdom. The sudden occurrence of the situation surprised everyone.
The momentum of the Sui Kingdom’s fierce attack seems to have no room for peace negotiation, and when this great battle comes together, it is impossible to stop.
Jiang Yun has been standing on the city tower for a whole night.
Overnight, the beacon fire in Yongcheng remained burning.
As dawn approached, Jiang Yun suddenly asked, “How many cavalry can be immediately dispatched from Muyun Pass?”
Fan Zhou and Yun Huai both looked at their Highness unexpectedly.
Yun Huai pondered for a moment and said, “Thirty thousand.”
Jiang Yun looked at the towering flames in the distance, his fingers tightly pressed against the brick wall. After a while, he pursed his lips and said, “Thirty thousand cavalry, all displayed outside Yongcheng, fully assist the Sui Empire in attacking Qi.”
