Although Lishui City was not large, it was one of the few fortified cities in the vicinity. The two hidden soldier chambers flanking the north gate could accommodate up to two thousand soldiers at most.

Of course, at this time the Chishan Army only had a small number of cavalry scouts monitoring outside the north city, so Defending General Xu Bin would not deploy the scarce defensive forces too wastefully at the north city.

Currently the north city only had two hundred garrison troops under the command of County Lieutenant Wei Yanzhang, watching the movements outside the city.

The Wei clan in Lishui could not compare with the Shang and Liu families. Their clan had proliferated to over a thousand members, and the collateral descendants who comprised the majority lived rather impoverished and declining lives. However, the direct lineage owned several hundred qing of farmland in the county and over a thousand servants, making them one of the notable local gentry families in the county.

Wei Yanzhang was not the Wei family head, but in his youth he studied law under Ministry of Personnel Vice Minister Shang Wensheng. Later he became a clerk in the county office. After his daughter Xiaolan married into the Shang family as the wife of Shang Wensheng’s second son Shang Zhongjie, he relied on the Shang family’s support to serve as County Lieutenant in Lishui. From then on, he became one of the most prominent figures in the Wei family.

Since the Chishan Army swept across the lands on the western flank of Mount Mao, many Wei family descendants fled to Shang Family Fort for refuge. Wei Yanzhang, bound by his official duties, could only remain in Lishui City, never imagining he would escape this calamity.

However, after Shang Family Fort fell to the rebel army, Wei Yanzhang heard that Shang Zhongjie fled south to Xuanzhou with some people, but whether his daughter Xiaolan escaped safely or fell into the rebel army’s hands and was violated, there was no news at all.

The rebel army had not yet shown signs of attacking the city. At this moment the night was deep, with only a small number of rebel scouts wandering outside the north city. Most of the north city garrison were soundly sleeping in the hidden soldier chambers below the city, but Wei Yanzhang could not sleep.

He climbed up to the city gate and saw that among the garrison squad on the city wall, quite a few soldiers were sitting on the ground with their backs against the battlements, embracing spears and bows in sleep. He did not wake them—at this time, as long as someone was still watching the movements outside the city, that was sufficient.

Birds in the forests outside the city took startled flight, their wings making scattered rustling sounds. Occasionally came several muffled war horse neighs.

The rebel army seemed to have a portion of troops stealthily transferring to the north city area under cover of darkness, but troop movements inside the city were always several times faster than outside. As long as they were not urgently attacking the city walls immediately, Wei Yanzhang had nothing to worry about and no need to raise an alarm.

He merely instructed the several squad leaders on the city wall to keep their eyes wide open, then walked down to check whether the city gates were securely barred. He saw a troop of men holding torches approaching from the southern street.

Although Wei Yanzhang was County Lieutenant, since the Chuzhou Army crossed the river, the various military camps dispatched Vice General Xu Bin to lead a battalion of Southern Court Imperial Guards to garrison Lishui. Not only Wei Yanzhang, but the county magistrate, county vice-magistrate, and all other officials were under his command.

Seeing this troop of fewer than fifty men openly carrying torches toward the north gate, Wei Yanzhang assumed it was Defending General Xu Bin bringing his guards to inspect the night watch situation. He led his men toward the barricades.

To prevent the rebel army from infiltrating small numbers of spies into the city to sabotage defenses, barricades and sentry posts were also set up between the inner side of the city gate and the main street.

Several torches were at the rear of the formation. The torches on the city wall swayed restlessly in the night wind. The faces of the leading figures were hidden in shadow and could not be seen clearly, but their builds resembled Vice General Xu Bin. While ordering men to move aside the barricades, Wei Yanzhang called out: “Vice General Xu, why are you still up so late?”

Before Wei Yanzhang finished speaking, he saw a somewhat shorter black-clothed figure suddenly raise their hand, and a flash of sword light stabbed toward his face.

The two sides were separated by only three or four zhang, with three rows of barricades between them. In that split second, before Wei Yanzhang’s face could even dodge, a short sword shot through his left cheek, piercing through his brain. Without managing another sound, he died instantly.

“Senior Sister Yao, what excellent sword-throwing to take a life!”

Witnessing this scene, Li Qi couldn’t help but praise, thinking that at such close distance, unless one was fully on guard, few people could escape Yao Xishui’s sword-throwing assassination.

The people of Jinling all knew Yao Xishui’s sword dance was unmatched, but who knew that her sword dance was equally sharp at taking lives?

However, Li Qi’s hands were no slower.

From where they stood to the city gate tunnel and the nearest ramp ascending the city wall, there were still six barricades in two rows of three.

Alarmed shouts arose. Not only would the garrison squad keeping watch on the city wall react extremely quickly, but from the hidden soldier chambers on both sides, there were three more squads totaling over a hundred fifty garrison soldiers who, upon hearing the calls, would swarm out with weapons in hand in extremely short time.

If they could not control the city gate tunnel in the first moment and open the gates to let the ambush forces outside enter, garrison troops from any other location in the city could rapidly reinforce this position within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

The barricades were constructed of hardwood with spikes on the outer face to prevent impact. Each was over one zhang long and weighed approximately two hundred jin. Li Qi lifted his great halberd onto one, exhaled forcefully, and the barricade flew up “whoosh,” crashing down on the dozen or so guards who had just regained their senses before the city gate tunnel.

Seeing this scene, not only were the dozen guards before the gate tunnel frightened into panicked dodging, even Yao Xishui was greatly shocked.

Each time Li Xiu said that Li Qi’s martial prowess crowned all the Li family sons and was unmatched in Hongzhou, Yao Xishui thought Li Xiu was just talking. Li Qi was always very modest on such occasions. But who would have thought his seemingly slender arms truly possessed the strength of a thousand jin?

Two guards before the gate tunnel immediately failed to dodge in time and were crushed by the flying barricade until their bones broke and limbs were mangled, screaming continuously. Clearly they would not survive.

Even with Li Qi’s divine strength, he could not hurl all six barricades several zhang away, but knocking aside the other five was effortless. He then wielded his great halberd like a windmill, charging at the dozen guards before the gate tunnel whose faces had turned deathly pale with fear.

Wei Yanzhang was killed by Yao Xishui’s thrust at first contact. Those remaining before the gate tunnel were all ordinary guards—how could any be a match for Li Qi? With each halberd strike he made, a spray of blood erupted. When someone hastily raised a shield to block, Li Qi cleaved through both person and shield together with one blow, entering as if into an undefended realm.

Dozens rushed to open the city gates while Yao Xishui and the remaining thirty elite troops climbed up the city wall from the ramps on both sides, seizing control of the north gate tower at the first opportunity…

…

…

Faintly hearing sounds of combat arise from the north city, then seeing firelight emerging from the gate tunnel, Li Pu knew that Qi’er and his men had succeeded.

Li Pu and Chen Mingsheng immediately spurred their horses across the shallow moat, personally leading the guards—now reduced to just over a hundred men after Han Qian seized their military authority, having posed as scouts remaining in the fields north of the city before nightfall—galloping toward the north gate.

Li Xiu led more of the Prince’s Mansion cavalry guards and over five hundred newly recruited soldiers hiding in the woods further northeast. Now two hundred plus cavalry guards first launched their fierce assault, their hoofbeats trampling as if thunder rolled deep beneath the earth.

Li Pu galloped to the north city gate, but by the time they moved aside the barricades, caltrops, and other obstacles at the gate, Defending General Xu Bin had also led reinforcements, arriving from the inner streets at the first moment. He was just rallying the north city garrison who had been routed, wanting to retake the north gate.

The garrison’s reaction speed was so fast!

Seeing this scene, Li Pu was secretly alarmed. He worried that his youngest son Li Qi, leading only dozens of men holding the inner side of the gate tunnel, might be scattered by the garrison troops if slightly careless. Then not only would tonight’s efforts come to naught, but casualties would be extremely heavy.

Although Li Pu and his men also launched a night raid, after Shang Family Fort fell, the garrison had been like startled birds, extremely vigilant. They were completely different from the unprepared Danyang City garrison of the past. Most of Lishui City’s garrison had not released their weapons since nightfall, sleeping in their armor.

Defending General Xu Bin, together with the county magistrate and vice-magistrate, had even invited various family elders to the county office for discussions, urging the families to contribute troops and provisions to jointly resist the rebel army. When the north gate was attacked, everyone was still present.

Hearing the alarm bell ringing from the north city announcing the attack, the sounds of over a hundred men in fierce combat rang especially clear in the silent night. Xu Bin immediately gathered the guards at his side, county office runners, and household soldiers and retainers the family elders had brought, assembling two hundred men to rush madly toward the north gate.

All together it took less than the time to brew tea—truly a lightning-fast response.

However, Li Qi was exceptionally brave, and the fifty-plus ambush soldiers he led were all fierce elite troops the Prince’s Mansion of Eastern Zhejiang had cultivated for many years. When they suddenly launched their raid, the north city garrison had no time to react at all and were routed with heads in hands.

It was fortunate that Xu Bin led his troops to reinforce extremely quickly, otherwise the Lishui City surprise attack would not have devolved into the chaotic situation like when Han Qian led troops to raid Danyang with swift disruption.

The gate was narrow, and with fierce combat raging inside, there was no space for cavalry charges. After Li Pu and Chen Mingsheng cleared away the barricades and caltrops outside the gate, they dismounted with their guards to fight on foot inside the city.

Although both ascending ramps on either side of the gate tunnel were under their control, approximately a hundred garrison troops on each side were now attacking toward the north gate tower from the corner towers.

Seeing his youngest son Li Qi displaying divine bravery, together with dozens of fierce warriors holding the inner side of the gate tunnel with shields, halberds, blades, and bows without retreating a single step, making it impossible for reinforcements from the main street to advance even half a step, Li Pu and Chen Mingsheng first led their troops up the wall via the ascending ramps to ensure this key point of the north tower would not be recaptured by the garrison.

This also made it convenient for them to shoot arrows from the inner battlements, suppressing the garrison’s offensive against the gate tunnel from inside the tower.

Although there was no immediate danger, standing atop the north gate tower and seeing garrison troops surging from all directions throughout the city, Li Pu was secretly alarmed. He even regretted listening to Li Xiu and Yao Xishui’s encouragement to risk attacking the city. He could hardly imagine how he could hold his head up in Yueyang if this battle failed.

Even though a considerable portion of the garrison had been drawn to the east city before nightfall, Liyang City’s circumference was only eight or nine li. From the county office to the north gate was barely over one li, and reinforcements withdrawn from the east city and the other two gates via the county office to reach the north gate was less than two li.

By the time Li Xiu led over six hundred infantry and cavalry to the north city, the garrison attacking from inside and from both sides of the wall exceeded a thousand men.

Even though Li Pu and Chen Mingsheng rushed over to join the troops ambushed inside the city at the first opportunity, facing the first wave of reinforcements Xu Bin organized arriving beneath the north gate tower, they still had too few men. They could only barely control the narrow space above and below the north gate tower, so that when Li Xiu’s troops arrived, there was no larger space cleared for them to deploy their forces.

In situations where troop numbers were similar, Li Xiu naturally hoped the fierce elite combat power in his hands could be fully deployed.

That way, they could find the opponent’s weak points at the fastest speed and fiercely cut in, applying greater pressure at the weak points. They would first rout and scatter one portion of the garrison, then spread the most chaotic surface toward the garrison’s elite portions, ultimately collapsing the garrison’s offensive at the fastest speed to achieve final victory.

This was the tactical key point his father had constantly instilled in them over the years.

Although they were confident they could win the final victory in close combat in narrow spaces, the garrison could also concentrate their limited elite forces to engage in a war of attrition with them. Simultaneously, the garrison could also mobilize more crossbows to rain down on them, forcing them to defend even more desperately.

If the Prince’s Mansion elite cavalry guards were suppressed in such a small space inside the gate tunnel for a long time without breaking out, tonight’s casualties would be very difficult to control.

However, what Li Xiu worried about did not happen.

Li Qi had been fighting at the frontline for half the time it takes to burn a stick of incense without any sign of exhaustion, his chest and bosom surging with hot blood. Previously he had not charged deep into the defensive formation the garrison launched from inside the city, mainly because both above and below the city needed brave generals to stabilize their positions—it would not do to be too impatient. Now seeing Li Xiu lead twenty-plus armored soldiers first into the city, he shouted loudly: “Axiu, you take command!”

Before Li Qi finished speaking, he wielded his great halberd and led the fierce soldiers beside him in a fierce charge forward, directly targeting the position where garrison commander Xu Bin stood.

Standing at a battlement of the north gate tower, Yao Xishui had the clearest view of the battlefield inside the gate tower.

Garrison commander Xu Bin was separated from Li Qi by less than twenty zhang, also approximately twenty zhang from the inner battlements of the north gate tower. Under the torchlight, Yao Xishui could clearly see Xu Bin’s gaunt face staring silently at the inner side of the gate tunnel.

Unfortunately, Xu Bin had over a dozen elite guards around him watching the surroundings like alert cats—there was no way to shoot him with arrows.

At this moment, nearly three hundred well-armed Southern Court Imperial Guard armored soldiers had arrived from the barracks near the county office and were attacking toward the gate tunnel beneath her feet.

Previously when Li Qi led fierce soldiers defending before the gate tunnel, she could see that in the narrow space of a dozen zhang radius, troops became increasingly crowded. Yao Xishui even wondered if the tide of soldiers could forcibly scatter the defensive line formed by the thirty-plus men Li Qi led at the gate tunnel entrance.

Yao Xishui’s heart was pounding in terror, her heart thumping wildly as if about to fly out of her throat. She was very clear in her heart that whether they could withstand this wave of assault was critically important.

The situation did not leave her worried for long. The next moment she saw Li Qi, unleashed and unrestrained, like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, killing his way out from inside the gate tunnel. With each halberd strike, it was like a dim rainbow light blooming in the night.

Even though the fierce garrison soldiers pressing forward mostly held refined iron shields, and no matter how sharp the war halberd was, it was difficult to cleave through refined iron shields in one blow, three shield-bearing armored soldiers in succession could not withstand the force and were struck down to sit on the ground. Li Qi’s divine bravery was already enough to make people gape in astonishment.

The fierce soldiers beside Li Qi coordinated seamlessly, advancing and retreating like apes. Who knew how many times they had drilled together? Whenever the garrison’s offense and defense was split open by Li Qi creating an opening, blades and spears thrust in together, either stabbing or slashing, puncturing bloody holes and tearing open bloody gashes in their opponents’ bodies.

In just a few breaths, Li Qi wielding his great halberd in coordination with the fierce soldiers beside him had killed or maimed six or seven garrison troops, striking such fear into the hearts of the garrison soldiers pressing forward that none dared advance to resist.

Too strong!

Yao Xishui felt she was about to scream uncontrollably.

She saw that with each step Li Qi took forward, the armored soldiers before him were forced back one step or dodged to the flanks. But in the cramped space before the gate tunnel, with over four hundred combat soldiers packed in on both sides, this made the garrison even more crowded, while the Prince’s Mansion elite guards gained a broader offensive front. Using Li Qi as the spear point and blade tip, they savagely pressed forward to slaughter.

Defending General Xu Bin initially dared to stand nearby supervising the battle, but seeing Li Qi drawing closer and closer to him, he could not control the chill shooting straight up his spine from his tailbone. He ultimately lacked the courage to personally advance with blade to fight Li Qi. Thinking to retreat slightly to clear more space for delay, but as soon as he and his guards beside him moved, the fierce troops of the Prince’s Mansion standing atop the north gate tower struck their shields with blades and shouted together:

“The dog thief Xu Bin has fled! The dog thief Xu Bin has fled! Capture this dog thief for a reward of a million cash!”

The garrison before the gate tunnel became even more panicked. Some turned to flee, while others retreated step by step. At this time Xu Bin could no longer calmly stabilize the positions. Seeing the formations on both sides had become utterly chaotic, he finally abandoned his last stand and fled toward the county office with his guards.

A routed army collapses like a mountain. The garrison had surged forward like a tide, and now retreated like a tide as well.

Seeing this scene, Li Pu felt an irrepressible weakness seep from deep in his marrow. His hand gripped the battlement wall tightly, feeling directly that his entire back was soaked with sweat. He knew the victory or defeat of the Lishui City raid battle was decided at this moment.

“Congratulations to the Marquis on having such a tiger son!” Chen Mingsheng also joyfully congratulated Li Pu.

Since the Battle of Jingshan Nunnery where they were used as bait by Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan and suffered devastating losses, they were first driven out of Danyang City by the Chuzhou Army, then had their military authority seized by Han Qian who had infiltrated Jinling alone, then watched helplessly as Han Qian stirred up the winds and clouds manipulating the entire battle situation to break open the Chishan Army’s position—they had truly been suppressed for too long.

But all the suppression was fully released and vented at this moment.

Li Pu also felt some regret at this time. Had he known earlier that Qi’er was a dragon, he should have let Qi’er act freely when Han Qian first formed the Chishan Army, and would not have let Han Qian gain power to this extent today.

However, it was not too late to mend the fold after the sheep were lost.

With Qi’er so divinely brave, standing on the battlefield as if in an undefended realm, how could they fear lacking achievements to compete for afterward? How could they fear failing to break open an even greater situation?

At this moment Li Pu wished he could drag that Han Qian fellow over and make him watch how divinely brave Qi’er was, make him see how fierce the Li family sons were.

While excited, Yao Xishui saw Li Pu’s ecstatic appearance and her delicate brows furrowed slightly. She sensed inwardly that the Palace Envoy’s strategy might need to be slightly adjusted.

…

…

Gao Shao and Zhang Ping proceeded methodically to advance on the east city. By the time they led men to attack up the gate tower that had little defensive capability, Li Xiu, Li Qi, and Chen Mingsheng were each leading cavalry units charging wildly through the streets and alleys inside the city, cutting down routed soldiers.

At this time only about half a shichen had passed since the ambush at the north city.

Seeing the cavalry inside the city and the soldiers standing above and below the north city wall—the Prince’s Mansion elite cavalry guards who had killed their way into the city, including the new recruits who followed in to gain real combat experience, had casualties of perhaps only about a hundred men—one could see the fierce degree of the Prince’s Mansion cavalry guards, truly not something ordinary elite forces could match.

They had not personally witnessed the scene where Li Qi displayed divine bravery and invincibility, essentially driving the favorable progression of the battle situation through his own power alone. But to observe the Prince’s Mansion cavalry’s combat power up close, they had also arranged for several men to follow Li Pu and Li Xiu uncle and nephew in action from the north city last night.

At this time the men Gao Shao sent rushed to the east city and gave a detailed account of the fierce battle at the north gate.

Gao Shao was also secretly alarmed—the mediocre and incompetent Li Pu actually had such a tiger son!

Perhaps this was the true underlying foundation remaining under Great Chu’s foremost general Li Yu, who even after retiring for many years still retained?

As for Li Pu, Gao Shao believed he himself had not necessarily anticipated that his son would be so divinely brave. Otherwise, he would have long ago offered up this incomparably sharp battle-axe to charge and kill in all directions like presenting a treasure.

Gao Shao felt inwardly that matters had become somewhat troublesome. Li Pu remained in Jinling under the title of Pacification Liaison Envoy, nominally not subordinate to Han Qian. This also meant that Li Xiu and Li Qi leading troops under Li Pu’s command did not actually need to accept Han Qian’s command.

With the Li family sons so divinely brave, after they captured Lishui City, they would most likely expand their military power at the first opportunity. In the future, they would probably even less heed Han Qian’s summons, right?

Gao Shao, who only had basic literacy, immediately called for Chief Military Advisor Zhao Jicheng and had him record the Battle of Lishui North City in detail, dispatching men on fast horses to report to Donglu Mountain. He himself remained behind according to the established plan to cooperate with Li Pu in handling the aftermath of the battle situation.

Even without Li Qi’s divine display, according to the prior agreement, Lishui City was Li Pu and his men’s responsibility to attack. After capturing it, they would also be responsible for defending it, so naturally they would lead the city search.

However, Gao Shao’s troops occupied the east city. The war supplies the garrison had stockpiled at the east city beforehand, along with prisoners, horses, and carts—he would not be polite. He ordered them collected and prepared to be loaded onto carts for transport to Donglu Mountain. He could not possibly be courteous to Li Pu and hand them over with cupped hands.

After daybreak, as the faint morning light once again enveloped Lishui City, the fighting had essentially completely ended.

Aside from six or seven hundred remnant soldiers and a small number of aristocratic family descendants and minor officials who reacted in time and fought their way out through the south and west gates, Lishui City—which before the battle had nearly twenty thousand people gathered for refuge—had completely fallen into Li Pu’s hands.

“Vice General Gao, this battle has been hard on you for traveling continuously for days!”

After the overall situation was settled, in the morning light, Li Pu brought a dozen men from the county office to the east gate tower to meet Gao Shao and Zhang Ping. He was refreshed and energetic. Seeing General Gao Shao sent by Han Qian, he was extremely polite, bowing in greeting.

“Nothing to it, nothing to it. Never imagined the two Young Generals Li would have such divine powers. We did not contribute much strength and can only say we worked hard.” Gao Shao’s life had been full of trials and hardships, long ago cultivating an unperturbed temperament. Li Qi and the Prince’s Mansion sons being so divinely brave was always good for the current situation they faced—there was no need to speak sour or strange words.

“Amidst the chaos of routed soldiers last night, we captured County Vice-Magistrate Wei Zhen and several family heads of Lishui County. My Marquis of Xinchang’s mansion has some friendship with them. I could not bear to harm their lives, so I enlightened them with reason and persuaded them with righteousness, urging them to work for His Highness. They suddenly repented, deeply feeling that Anning Palace’s usurpation and murder of the late Emperor was great treason and could not be tolerated. They also deeply regretted previously helping tyrants commit evil, and are willing to pledge allegiance to Yueyang to atone for their crimes through merit. As Pacification Liaison Envoy, I feel we should give them this opportunity,” Li Pu said to Gao Shao and Zhang Ping, carefully choosing his words. “After Vice General Gao returns, please mention this to Minister Han and ask what Minister Han thinks?”

Seeing Li Pu so quickly wanting to burn bridges and drive them out of Lishui City, Gao Shao laughed it off, saying: “Fine, fine, I will naturally report to the Minister when I return.”

Zhang Ping, however, felt a headache coming on. Li Pu could so quickly persuade Wei Zhen and other aristocratic family members to submit—he must have brought up the old Prince’s name. His doing so clearly meant singing the opposite tune to Han Qian’s current policy of conscripting servants into military service. Going forward, how would the two of them—representing Yueyang remaining in Jinling, one as Pacification Commissioner, one as Pacification Liaison Envoy—get along?