“Petty tricks!” Duan Li spat these words through gritted teeth. Just as he prepared to charge forward again, he heard another piercing sound through the air. Before he could react, a sharp arrow mercilessly shot into his shoulder, hitting nearly the same spot as Duan Da’s earlier wound.
This arrow was naturally shot by Du Ruhui. He had observed that Duan Li’s skills were exceptional and ordinary archery would not work on him. The reason he had taken two arrows was originally to shoot them simultaneously, but just before releasing, he changed his mind and decided to shoot them separately—first using one arrow to draw Duan Li’s attention, then when Duan Li thought he was safe and relaxed his guard, the second arrow would follow, leaving no time to dodge.
With Duan Li’s shoulder pierced and blood flowing like a column, he could no longer attack the city gate. Seizing this opportunity, the soldiers inside the city pressed against each other, exerting all their strength, and finally managed to close the gate. Once the gate was closed, both the five thousand soldiers below and Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, Li Jiancheng also arrived. After learning of the situation, he too broke out in a cold sweat. After calming his emotions, he said: “Father, your son will immediately send a message by carrier pigeon, ordering the large army stationed outside to come to our rescue.”
Li Yuan had the same thought and immediately said: “Go quickly!”
When Duan Li realized that breaking through Chunming Gate was hopeless, he began reorganizing his troops to prepare for a siege. It seemed he was determined to capture Chang’an.
At this moment, Duan Da kept staring at Du Ruhui with cold, sinister eyes. They had laid this plan for so long to finally get this opportunity, yet both he and Duan Li had been wounded by this unremarkable little soldier, and their plan was ruined. They were forced to resort to a direct assault on the city. How detestable!
If they failed to break into Chang’an City, so be it, but once they did break in, the first person he would kill would be this damned brat!
Although the city’s garrison was far fewer than Duan Li’s main force, fortunately the defending side had the natural advantage of city walls. When Yanmen Pass had been able to withstand one hundred thousand Turkic troops, it was the same principle.
When Li Jiancheng returned after releasing the carrier pigeon and learned the entire cause and effect of the situation, his eyes flickered slightly. After pondering for a moment, he said: “Shimin had just returned to Chang’an City when this Duan Li arrived. It seems Wang Shichong has long wanted to eliminate us. Your son is thinking, could it be that…”
Seeing him hesitate to continue, Li Yuan urged: “Could it be what? Continue.”
Li Jiancheng responded and said: “Could it be that Shimin’s incident is also related to them?”
Li Yuan looked at him in surprise. “You mean His Majesty’s assassination?”
“Exactly. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that at the time of His Majesty’s murder and Shimin’s imprisonment, Wang Shichong’s great army would besiege the city?”
“If what you say is true, then Princess Xin’an would be…” Before he could finish, Li Yuan was already shaking his head repeatedly. “Impossible. Princess Xin’an lives in seclusion in the deep palace. It’s impossible for her to have dealings with Wang Shichong. Moreover, if Chang’an fell, it would be of no benefit to her.”
“Father, do you remember what Princess Jinyang said in Mingse Palace? She said she had once sent Princess Xin’an away from Chang’an to be settled in Taiyuan, but for some unknown reason, she suddenly returned to Chang’an. Perhaps… at that time, she had already colluded with Wang Shichong. As for contact… although we guard strictly, not every person entering and leaving Chang’an City is questioned about their identity. Taking a step back, even if they were truly questioned, those spies could, like Duan Li, assume others’ identities and infiltrate Chang’an City, or even the Great Xing Palace, without anyone knowing!”
Li Yuan thought carefully for a moment and nodded: “When you put it that way, it really is possible.”
“Everyone knows that Shimin is father’s right arm. Killing Shimin would be equivalent to severing father’s arm, and killing His Majesty would cause panic throughout Chang’an City. For Wang Shichong, this kills two birds with one stone—why wouldn’t he do it? As for Princess Xin’an, to return to Chang’an and take revenge on Princess Jinyang, what wouldn’t she do?”
Li Yuan didn’t speak, only stared at the Luoyang army below with exceptionally cold eyes. A father knows his son best, and similarly, a son knows his father best. Li Jiancheng knew that Li Yuan had already believed his words and thought that the person colluding with Xin’an was Wang Shichong. As long as he went back and coordinated their testimony with Xin’an first, he could completely cover up the truth. Even Jinyang would no longer suspect him. This time, Wang Shichong had truly done him a great favor.
At this moment, Pei Qiancheng, wounded in multiple places, also climbed up to the city wall. He happened to hear Li Jiancheng’s words and immediately flew into a rage: “That dog Wang Shichong, to use such despicable means to harm the Second Young Master—I will never let him off!”
“These matters can be discussed later. Right now, the most urgent thing is to defend Chang’an City.” While they were talking, soldiers in the city began continuously gathering at Chunming Gate. Soon all thirty thousand troops had arrived, using sharp arrows, boiling oil, and stones to resist wave after wave of Duan Da’s attacks. Besides setting up scaling ladders to try to rush up the city walls, Duan Da also began setting up catapults. Both sides used every means at their disposal, fighting for control of the city gate.
War is always the most cruel. Soldiers continuously fell, and more soldiers continuously filled in from behind, stepping over corpses to continue fighting the enemy.
On the battlefield, there is no life and death, no right and wrong—only victory and defeat!
This great battle continued for the entire night. Until dawn, Duan Da had still not been able to break into Chang’an City. Duan Da, with his shoulder wrapped in thick bandages, looked at Chang’an City so close at hand and sighed heavily. He had come full of confidence—was he to return without success like Li Shimin’s previous attack on Luoyang?
He was unwilling to accept this. Before departing, he had promised His Majesty that he would definitely capture Luoyang, but now…
The “His Majesty” Duan Da referred to was not Yang Tong, but Wang Shichong.
At this time, a soldier hurried over and knelt on one knee before Duan Da: “General, enemy troops have been spotted to the northwest, approximately ten thousand men. They will arrive here in about half an hour.”
“It must be Li Yuan’s reinforcements!” a deputy general said. “General, from the start of the siege until now, we have lost several thousand soldiers, and after a night of fierce fighting, everyone is exhausted. If we face reinforcements on top of this, it will be very disadvantageous for us.”
Another deputy general also said worriedly: “According to this subordinate’s knowledge, Li Yuan has over two hundred thousand troops. Once they return to provide support one after another, it will be truly difficult to handle. Even if we manage to break out then, we will lose even more men. Rather than that, it would be better to withdraw to Luoyang now while our losses are still manageable.”
Duan Li was nearby and, hearing his words, said in a deep voice: “We finally found an opportunity to attack Luoyang. If we withdraw now, wouldn’t all our previous efforts be wasted?”
The deputy general replied irritably: “Better to waste our previous efforts than to be completely annihilated. Who told you to choose the wrong timing, being discovered by patrolling soldiers and thus blocked outside?”