Refusing to accept surrender!
Yelu Qianqian’s words rang out across the entire battlefield, shaking every soldier atop the city walls to their core!
Though they stood high atop the walls, looking down on Yelu Qianqian, her commanding presence and unshakable resolve left them feeling inexplicably beneath her.
No one could have imagined that this pampered princess of Xijing would one day personally take to the battlefield, would possess such fierce, commanding spirit.
What exactly had sparked this war, and why was the Princess of Xijing so furious?
Aside from the commanding generals, the rank and file below knew nothing of the reasons.
But the sight of Xiliang’s forces collapsing on all fronts was genuinely alarming — when had Xiliang’s army ever been this weak?
“General, why don’t we sortie out and meet them in battle? Letting a woman taunt us right at our gates like this — what becomes of Great Xiliang’s honor?” “That’s right, General, open the gates! Xijing is far too unreasonable — the peace summit only just concluded, and already they’re waging war? Even with Da Zhou backing them, this is outrageous!”
…
Facing these pleas, the general broke into a cold sweat. He knew exactly why, but without the Crown Prince’s orders, he couldn’t say a word!
Yelu Qianqian’s momentum had indeed come as a complete surprise.
From his experience, forget about sortieing out to meet them — even holding the city might prove impossible! With her morale running this high right now, the situation was extremely unfavorable for them.
Retreating within the city was simply a way to wait out Xijing’s momentum!
Morale, after all, was absolutely critical in war!
“General!”
Someone else was about to try persuading him again when, just then, Yelu Qianqian, standing before the gates, called out coldly, “Someone, break down this city gate for this princess. This princess will kill every coward in this entire city!”
At these words, those within the city were both furious and terrified!
Break down the gate?
Wasn’t Yelu Qianqian being far too arrogant?
The general was outraged, shouting harshly, “Yelu Qianqian, out of respect for the fact that you’re a mere woman, this general has shown you some restraint — don’t push your luck!”
Yelu Qianqian sat astride her tall warhorse, dressed in full battle armor, her bearing every bit as commanding as any man’s.
She raised her head and looked coldly down at the Xiliang general, sneering, “A turtle cowering in its shell, and still it dares to boast so shamelessly — what a joke.”
“You!” The general choked with fury.
But Yelu Qianqian had no patience left to argue with him. She immediately stepped aside, signaling for the infantry behind her, already prepared with battering rams, to move forward, and said coldly, “Ram it as hard as you can. Whoever breaks through first, this princess will promote to general on the spot!”
At these words, morale surged even higher. Every soldier threw themselves in with full force, shouting in unison, “One, two, three, ram! One, two, three, ram!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
With each earth-shaking impact, not just the two gate doors but the entire city gate itself shook violently! The soldiers atop the walls went pale with fright, each hesitating over whether to flee, held back only by the fact that the general hadn’t yet given the order.
Seeing this, Yelu Qianqian’s lips curved into a cold, demonic smile. She snapped her whip and shouted loudly, “Bring the entire gate down for this princess!”
“Yes!”
The response rang out in unison, deafening, and the sight only fueled the surging morale of the army behind Yelu Qianqian, every soldier eager, ready to storm the city!
Atop the wall, several generals who had earlier been so eager to sortie out and fight now retreated sullenly to the side, finally recognizing the reality of the situation. One of them, unable to hold back any longer, said in a low voice, “General, shouldn’t we… shouldn’t we withdraw?”
Withdraw?
To be precise, shouldn’t that be called fleeing?
Retreating within a city’s walls was called a withdrawal.
But retreating out of the city entirely — that would be abandoning it and fleeing outright!
This city, Baiji, was one of Xiliang’s major strongholds — beyond it lay a direct path straight to the capital, with essentially no significant obstacles remaining!
“We cannot flee!” the general roared suddenly, turning to shout harshly at all the generals behind him, “Whoever says the word ‘flee’ again, this general will kill them personally!”
But no sooner had he said this than the city gate suddenly shuddered violently, and the general, caught off balance, nearly toppled over!
Instantly, dead silence fell, in stark contrast to the surging morale of the troops below the gate!
“Advisor! Where’s the advisor!” the general shouted furiously, and the accompanying strategist finally hurried forward. “This humble servant is here!”
“Tell me, how do we fight this?” the general demanded furiously.
Unable to hold the city, they had no choice but to fight — and if he fled, once he reported back to Crown Prince Wanyan Lie, he would surely be flayed alive!
“General, this old servant has one technique…” the strategist hesitated, clearly cautious.
“Stop dawdling, spit it out!” At a time like this, the general had no patience left to spare.
“A one-on-one duel. The enemy’s forces aren’t stronger than ours — their advantage lies purely in overall morale. If it comes down to a single duel, they’d surely lose! And that defeat would certainly crush their morale!” the strategist quickly answered.
At these words, not only the general but the other generals behind him nodded approvingly. Indeed, a brilliant plan!
Unable to wait any longer, the general rushed to the gate himself and shouted down, “Yelu Qianqian, this general will select one great warrior to duel you — does Xijing dare accept?”
At this, Qianqian’s brow furrowed sharply. She wasn’t a fool — a one-on-one duel would surely mean her defeat!
Xiliang’s army had no shortage of great warriors, while her own side, though it had some, didn’t have many!
“A defeated army’s remnants — you’ve lost the right to challenge this princess, let alone dictate terms to this princess’s generals!” Yelu Qianqian replied coldly, her tone deliberately arrogant and loud, meant not only for the enemy to hear, but for her own soldiers as well!
“Ha ha, so you don’t dare accept after all! A woman is just a woman — better hurry back and take up your embroidery!” The Xiliang general roared with laughter, and the surrounding soldiers eagerly joined in, laughter erupting all along the wall!
Just then, a general stepped forward and shouted, “Yelu Qianqian doesn’t dare accept the challenge — could it be that there isn’t a single real man in your entire Xijing army? No one dares to fight?”
At these words, Yelu Qianqian’s eyes narrowed sharply — this scoundrel was clearly trying to provoke a rift, to shatter their morale from within!
What should she do? If this continued, morale would surely collapse, and even the hearts of her own men might waver.
And if someone actually did step forward to accept the duel, the consequences would be even worse!
Yelu Qianqian couldn’t help wishing that if only she had one warrior in her ranks capable of standing against a hundred, how wonderful that would be!
“Ha ha, so there really is no one in Xijing’s army who dares fight!”
“Unbelievable — this weak, and they still dare to attack our city, how laughable!”
“Xijing’s troops have always been feeble. Challenging them is an honor for them, and yet they still don’t know their place, heh!”
…
The taunts from atop the wall grew more numerous, louder and louder. Yelu Qianqian’s tongue alone couldn’t hope to out-argue them all, and worse still, no one in her own ranks spoke up on her behalf.
The reason was simple — everyone actually wanted to accept the duel themselves, ready to fight one-on-one without hesitation, held back only by her refusal to allow it.
Yelu Qianqian clenched her fists in fury, watching as the force behind the battering ram grew weaker and weaker, torn between anger and desperation, at a complete loss for what to do.