The siege of Maple Leaf City had continued for nearly a month by this day.
Over a month ago, when the Great He King learned that Qin Long was leading forces to attack the Eight Tribes, he knew that with only his forces and those of the two Lushan tribes under his complete command, there was no chance of resistance.
Qin Long was one of the Di Kingdom’s foremost fierce generals. Not only that, this man was utterly deranged and inhuman, known as a butcher of men who struck terror into all who heard his name. It was he who had seized Yan Commandery, the Youzhou prefectural seat, from the former Jin. After entering the city, soldiers burned, killed, and raped without restraint. It was said that after the massacre, the corpses of Jin civilians piled up like mountains and could only be burned. The great fire reached toward heaven, burning for seven days and seven nights before finally extinguishing.
The Southern Prince’s Manor sending him this time showed what intense, determined desire they held for this campaign.
The Great He King immediately dispatched messengers to Yanmen for aid, sending three groups in total, but unexpectedly, all were intercepted and killed by the White Water Tribe King along the way.
On the day he sent his final message, he was forced to lead his forces in retreat to Maple Leaf City, which he had fortified over many years.
His only hope was for Yanmen reinforcements to arrive soon.
By his calculations, if heaven smiled upon them this time and the message got through, it would take about ten days on the road. If Yanmen forces responded and immediately dispatched troops, at the earliest, it would still take about a month and a half.
In other words, assuming everything went smoothly, Maple Leaf City had to hold out for at least a month and a half before it could hope for reinforcements to arrive.
Qin Long led his forces in pursuit to Maple Leaf City, personally commanding from a camp outside the city, directing the siege.
For the soldiers and civilians within Maple Leaf City, this was an enormous threat and pressure. But holding hope for reinforcements’ arrival and relying on Maple Leaf City’s sturdy defenses, the citizens under the Great He King and his son’s leadership stubbornly resisted multiple attacks organized from outside the city.
Originally, if they could just persist like this and hold for a month and a half, though difficult and the cost would certainly be severe, it wasn’t entirely hopeless.
No one expected that eight days ago, when the siege entered its twentieth day, the attacks from outside the city would stop. Instead, they began firing arrows with oil-soaked heads into the city at midnight.
At least two to three hundred thousand fire arrows formed wave after wave of arrow forests and fire rain, flying over the city walls from all directions into the city.
It was now autumn, with dry winds and parched conditions. The fire attack continued all night, with fires starting on all sides within the city. The flames spread, not only injuring countless people but also burning many civilian homes.
The Great He King was also wounded in this fire attack, and his injuries were not light. Moreover, that night’s fire attack brought another potentially fatal consequence. The wind was strong that night, and the great fire spread, rolling toward the city’s granaries. The granaries were in the downwind direction. Xiao Lixian led men in desperate efforts to save the stored grain, but the fire spread so quickly that in the end, they saved only ten to twenty percent.
Stored grain was crucial for defending the city. The city’s food supplies had originally been sufficient for the soldiers and civilians, capable of lasting three to four months. Now they were consumed by flames. The city was full of homeless, panicked civilians. Taking advantage of the situation, the enemy launched fierce attacks from outside. Three days ago, the city gates nearly fell. It was Xiao Lixian and his wounded father who climbed the city walls together, leading a group of loyal warriors in bloody resistance. Combined with the enemy’s apparent shortage of arrows, preventing them from launching highly destructive coordinated arrow formations during the siege, they finally temporarily withdrew.
But clearly, enemy supplies would soon arrive, while Maple Leaf City’s provisions would soon be completely exhausted. The hoped-for Yanmen reinforcements, assuming the message had been delivered, would still need at least half a month to arrive at the earliest.
With provisions running low, the Great He King wounded, and morale wavering as panic spread, could they hold for another half month?
There was another possibility that Xiao Lixian didn’t even dare think about too much—even if they could continue holding, who knew when reinforcements would actually arrive? Or even whether they would come at all?
These days, to boost morale, he had repeatedly emphasized to his subordinates that Yanmen reinforcements would certainly arrive on schedule. In reality, he had no confidence whatsoever.
Buildings near the city gates had been burned to the ground in the fire attack eight days ago. At noon, Xiao Lixian was in a temporary command post set up nearby, inquiring of the physician about his father, the Great He King’s injuries, when suddenly he heard sharp whistling sounds from outside the city. His heart immediately tightened, thinking the enemy camp was preparing another attack. He quickly emerged and climbed the city wall, seeing from afar that the enemy camp hadn’t moved—wisps of cooking smoke rose in the distance, indicating they were preparing meals.
The ones making noise near the city gates were none other than the White Water Tribe King’s men, led by the White Water Tribe King’s son, named Ye Jin. This man led over a hundred riders, galloping back and forth on the space outside the city gates that had long been burned black by fire oil, making provocative whistling sounds. Seeing Xiao Lixian appear on the city wall, he shouted: “Xiao Lixian! Before Captain Changhai returns, I advise you and your old, undying father king to open the city gates early, kneel on the ground together, call me grandfather three times, and offer up your sister. For old times’ sake, this young king might just beg General Qin Long for mercy and spare your father and son’s worthless lives! Otherwise, when Captain Changhai returns and breaks Maple Leaf City, even if you kneel and lick my feet, it’ll be too late!”
The Great He King’s daughter, Xiao Linhua, was renowned for her beauty as the first beauty of the Eight Tribes. Ye Jin had previously been refused when seeking her hand in marriage and had harbored resentment ever since. Now he took the opportunity to insult her verbally. His followers laughed maniacally, their laughter mixed with vulgar obscenities that carried on the wind to the city walls, truly unbearable to hear.
The soldiers on the city walls were all enraged, shooting arrows down at them. Unfortunately, those men spurred their horses behind a defensive slope, continuing to shout into the city. Their words not only insulted the Xiao father and son but also spread intimidation.
“Listen, all you people in the city! Don’t think we don’t know just because you’re acting like cowards—all the grain and provisions in the city have been burned! Let me tell you something else: the Wei reinforcements can’t make it either! General Qin Long personally went to intercept them, and the Wei people were annihilated—they’re all dead on the road now! You’re still dreaming, thinking they’ll come to rescue you? Maple Leaf City can’t be defended! Open the city gates quickly and offer up Xiao Linhua—General Qin Long might still consider sparing you. Otherwise, when Captain Changhai returns, you’ll all be dead!”
Ye Jin’s words weren’t entirely intimidating.
Di Kingdom’s General Qin Long had always been arrogant. Before this campaign, he hadn’t taken the Eight Tribes seriously at all. His only consideration was reinforcements from the Wei direction, but he hadn’t been overly concerned about that either. He had originally planned to break the city quickly, then turn to deal with the Wei forces on the road, intercepting and killing them halfway to send Wei a warning shot, thus beginning the declaration of war against Wei.
Unexpectedly, Maple Leaf City proved difficult to crack, delaying him for nearly a month without being able to take it. Thinking of the boasts he’d made before the Southern Prince before setting out, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat impatient.
Before this campaign, he had sent spies into Maple Leaf City and knew the location of the city’s granaries. That night, taking advantage of favorable wind direction and strong winds, he changed from assault to fire attack. The city was ablaze with flames reaching toward heaven. Afterward, the vast wilderness outside the city was covered with a thick layer of unburned rice and millet husks carried by the wind. From the quantity, it appeared to come from the granaries. From this, Qin Long judged that the city’s stored grain had been destroyed, knowing the Xiao father and son couldn’t hold out much longer. Subsequently, he received news that the Yanmen reinforcement force was unstoppable, having broken through two of his defensive positions along the way and was now marching toward the final stronghold.
In Qin Long’s view, the Xiao father and son in Maple Leaf City were like using a cleaver to kill a chicken—overkill for his attack. His main objective in this campaign was to eliminate the Wei forces. Now the Xiao father and son were like trapped beasts with their claws removed. As long as he waited for Captain Changhai, whom he’d sent back, to bring the needed supplies, taking the city was inevitable. How could he wait here idly? Three days ago, he handed the siege to another captain under his command named Su Lu, who commanded the Eight Tribes’ rebel forces, including the White Water Tribe’s King father and son, while he rushed to intercept and annihilate the Wei forces on the road.
The reason the forces in Maple Leaf City could persist until now was largely due to their belief that Wei reinforcements would arrive soon. At this moment, Ye Jin the traitor’s words carried on the wind into the ears of the soldiers on the city walls. Though their leaders shouted that Ye Jin was scaremongering and ordered them not to believe it, everyone’s hearts inevitably felt some panic, and their arrow-shooting speed slowed accordingly. The group outside the city with Ye Jin noticed this, knowing their psychological warfare was effective, and became even more brazen.
Xiao Lixian stood on the city wall, drew his bow, aimed at that jumping figure outside the city, and was about to shoot him down when suddenly, at the far end of the plain opposite, a line of cavalry appeared on the horizon, shaped like a swimming dragon or a huge dark cloud cast upon the ground, a dark mass rapidly expanding toward Maple Leaf City.
The noon sun was overhead, its light blinding, and with some distance, he couldn’t see the appearance of this cavalry force. But they were coming from behind the Di camp, through territory that led to Youzhou.
Undoubtedly, this newly arrived force of an estimated two thousand men should be the Captain Changhai that Ye Jin had mentioned.
The reaction from the Di camp outside the city also supported his speculation. As this force drew nearer, approaching rapidly, he could faintly see the colors of the cavalry’s uniforms—Di forces. Commotion arose in the Di camp as people formed ranks to go out and greet them. Ye Jin’s group turned to look several times, extremely excited, roaring: “Captain Changhai is back! Captain Changhai has returned with supplies and reinforcements! Maple Leaf City will surely fall today! Xiao, father and son, prepare to die!”
Xiao Lixian knew another brutal defensive battle would soon descend upon them. It might even very likely be the final life-or-death battle determining the fate of the entire city.
He watched that increasingly approaching Di cavalry force, suppressing the nearly helpless, bleak feeling rising in his heart. No longer bothered by shameless traitors like Ye Jin, he lowered his bow, gathered his spirits, and ordered the soldiers on the city walls to immediately strengthen their defenses. He then turned and ran down from the city wall along the steps. Just as he was about to call for troops to prepare for battle, he unexpectedly saw the Great He King wearing battle armor, escorted by seven or eight clansmen and generals, striding quickly toward the city wall.
The Great He King’s injuries were serious. During these days of cease-fire, he had been bedridden, recovering. Xiao Lixian hadn’t expected him to emerge wearing battle armor again at this moment. Running to his side, he supported him and said: “Father King, leave this to me—you don’t need to go up!”
The Great He King said, “I’m here, along with your uncles. You don’t need to worry!”
His eyes looked at his son as he said quietly, “If we can hold out and wait for the Wei people to arrive, nothing would be better. But if we really can’t wait, I’ve prepared a troop for you. Once the city falls, don’t linger—immediately take your sister and break out through the west gate to seek refuge in Yanmen!”
Xiao Lixian was initially stunned. Coming to his senses, he instinctively shook his head and was about to refuse when he felt pain in his arm. The Great He King had tightly gripped his arm and said sternly: “This is my order! And the intention of your uncles! The Wei people have a saying: ‘Keep the green hills, and you won’t worry about having no firewood to burn!’ If you preserve your life and take your sister away, perhaps in the future there will still be a chance to return!”
Xiao Lixian looked toward the tribal elders and generals behind the Great He King. Seeing them all watching him with solemn expressions, he knew they had all prepared to stay with the Great He King and defend the city to the last moment. His eyes grew hot, and though his heart was extremely unwilling, he was helpless.
He reddened his eyes and quietly agreed.
The Great He King’s face showed a trace of a smile. He gripped his son’s arm firmly and said, “You don’t need to come back. Immediately take your sister and go prepare!”
Xiao Lixian gritted his teeth, knelt before the Great He King, and kowtowed deeply. He also kowtowed to everyone else, then rose. Seeing his sister with a bow on her shoulder running toward them, he quickly stepped forward to meet her and grabbed her hand.
Xiao Linhua looked at the soldiers in the distance near the city gates who were hurriedly moving and transporting weapons, and asked: “Brother, have more Di people come outside? Are they going to attack the city again?”
Xiao Lixian comforted her quietly: “Don’t be afraid. If the situation turns bad, your brother will take you out of the city to Yanmen.”
Xiao Linhua was startled and suddenly understood: “Brother, what do you mean? Are you saying that if the city falls, you’ll abandon Father King and take me to flee?”
Xiao Lixian said, “It’s Father King’s order. Come with me quickly!”
Xiao Linhua was pulled by her brother, stumbling forward several steps. Looking back and seeing her father’s figure below the city wall, arranging matters with his generals, her eyes reddened. She struggled free from Xiao Lixian’s hand and said: “I won’t go! I want to stay with Father King and the people here, defending the city and fighting to the last moment!”
“Linhua!” Xiao Lixian shouted. “Obey!”
“No, I won’t go!”
Xiao Linhua’s face was pale, but her expression was very resolute. She bent down and suddenly pulled a dagger from her boot.
“Brother, you go. The Eight Tribes will need you to lead them in the future. I won’t go, lest I become a burden on the road. I’ll stay—I can also shoot arrows! If it comes to the last moment and we can’t hold out, I’ll take my own life. I absolutely won’t fall into enemy hands and bring shame to our family!”
“Linhua!”
But Xiao Linhua dodged her brother’s hand reaching for her again, turned, and ran toward the city gate.
Xiao Lixian was extremely anxious and was about to chase after his sister when suddenly he heard unusual, chaotic sounds from outside the city. Horse neighing and human screams mixed, as if they had fallen into battle and slaughter.
He couldn’t help but be stunned. At first, he thought he had misheard. Listening more carefully, it was undoubtedly true. Xiao Linhua had already run several steps, but also heard the commotion. She hesitated and stopped, turning back to ask in confusion: “Brother, did I hear wrong? What’s happening?”
Xiao Lixian looked ahead. Near the city gate, many generals, including the Great He King, were quickly climbing to the top of the wall. A soldier from above rushed down, shouting: “They’re fighting! The newly arrived force is attacking the Di camp!”
Xiao Lixian rushed madly toward the city wall, surged up to the city tower with everyone else, rushed to the wall’s edge, and looked out. He was stunned by what he saw.
The cavalry force from Youzhou that he had seen earlier, like a tide, had rushed into the Di camp ahead and split into several detachments, rapidly carving up the camp into several pieces at extreme speed, quickly forming several encirclement circles.
Like a hunt in a hunting ground, this force of nearly two thousand had successfully separated and surrounded their prey, then immediately began charging and striking within their respective hunting circles, launching cold, iron-blade slaughter.
The Di camp was completely unprepared.
Initially, everyone thought Captain Changhai had returned early.
Su Lu, who had been given command authority by Qin Long, held the position of Left Captain, ranking higher than Right Captain Changhai. Upon hearing the news, he paid it no mind, merely sending subordinates to go out and greet them while he continued eating meat and drinking wine with several subordinates in the central large tent. After a moment, sensing something was wrong and hearing soldiers’ roars and screams everywhere outside, his expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to leave the tent to investigate, he collided head-on with a personal guard running frantically toward him, the impact knocking him to the ground.
“Left Captain! The cavalry from Youzhou—they’re not our people—” The personal guard’s expression was terrified as he roared with all his strength. Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly collapsed at the tent entrance.
An arrow had shot from behind him, piercing the back of his head.
Su Lu was greatly shocked. He and the others in the tent rushed out to see a cavalry unit in the center of the large camp ahead, like a sharp sword fallen from heaven, cleaving wave-like through the camp, carving out a path as they charged rapidly in his direction.
The leader wore Di army captain’s armor with a face covering, wielding a wolf-head spear, charging ahead on horseback, sweeping left and right. Wherever the spear point reached, blood mist flew and nothing could stand against it. When he killed his way close enough, one sweep of his spear knocked aside several Di soldiers who had raised their swords and run forward to block him.
Cavalry formations against hastily equipped, panic-stricken infantry was complete top-down brutal crushing—not even on the same level.
At this moment, that cavalry unit was only dozens of steps away from Left Captain Su Lu.
At their charging speed, reaching him would take only a few breaths.
Su Lu knew they were coming for him. Reacting quickly, he rushed back into the tent. With no time to put on armor, he grabbed a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Just as he emerged and was about to charge out and mount his war horse, he saw his opponent had already ridden up before him.
A long spear, like a striking venomous snake, thrust straight toward his face.
Su Lu’s pupils suddenly contracted. Unable to dodge in time, he desperately raised his arm, lifting the shield before him. The spear point pierced through the shield surface and emerged on the other side. Fortunately, the shield was sturdy—the long spear point penetrated halfway before finally getting stuck and stopping.
Su Lu breathed slightly easier, immediately becoming desperate and bold. While roaring angrily, asking who his opponent was, he took advantage of the mounted warrior’s momentary inability to extract the long spear and swung his sword to cut the horse’s legs.
Without a war horse, with his opponent holding the high ground and wielding a long spear with every advantage, he had to cut the rider down from horseback before he could counterattack. But just as he swung his arm to strike the horse, the person on horseback suddenly leaped up, diving down at him. With a thud, the entire person crashed heavily into the shield.
Even if Su Lu had tremendous arm strength, he couldn’t withstand the impact force of a person diving down rapidly from above. His elbow bent, the shield pressed down, and the spear point still embedded in the shield became like a dagger, piercing his chest as the shield knocked him to the ground.
By this time, his opponent had quickly rolled up from the ground, no longer trying to retrieve the spear tightly embedded in the shield, but instead grabbed the shield, held it upright, aimed its edge at Su Lu lying face-up on the ground, and drove it down heavily toward his throat.
Su Lu screamed once, his eyes rolling back. His neck was smashed to pulp by the shield’s edge, blood gushing from his mouth and nose as his body writhed in agony under the shield, as if nailed to the ground.
Soon, the Di army Left Captain’s head was skewered on a spear tip and thrown among the Di soldiers.
The Di soldiers didn’t know what kind of force this cavalry from Youzhou was. Caught off guard, they were killed and lost all formation. The people from Maple Leaf City seemed to have also confirmed that the newcomers were not enemies—they opened the city gates and charged out. Attacked from front and back, the Di forces were completely routed.
In less than a quarter hour, the Di soldiers had fled in disorder. The large camp that had originally housed tens of thousands was now littered everywhere with abandoned armor and weapons. Many cooking areas were still burning with remaining fires, pots giving off the aroma of food.
The Great He King didn’t know who these forces were and dared not pursue too far. Seeing the Di soldiers scattered, he immediately withdrew his troops. Shortly after, he saw that the cavalry unit had also finished their assault, formed ranks, and was again charging rapidly from a distance toward the city gate. Fearing deception, he warned his son beside him to be carefully prepared and ready to retreat into the city at any moment, while stepping slightly forward and calling out loudly: “Thank you for your assistance! Who are you?”
The cavalry unit stopped nearby. The leader wearing captain’s armor raised an arm, lifted the blood-stained face covering, then removed the helmet and threw it on the ground, saying: “Jiang Hanyuan! By order of Great Wei General Jiang Zuwang, I’ve come to aid you!”
After a brief moment of silence from the opposite side, the Great He King suddenly threw back his head and cried out to heaven: “Heaven!”
“General Changning! Princess Regent!”
His voice was filled with wild joy. After shouting, he immediately led his people forward to pay respects and ordered Xiao Lixian to open the city gates wide to welcome the party inside.
“General Sister!”
At this moment, a woman’s loud shout suddenly came from within the city gates.
Jiang Hanyuan was about to ride into the city when she heard this, stopped her horse, and looked over to see Xiao Linhua rush out from inside, run to her horse, and embrace her leg. Looking up at Jiang Hanyuan’s blood-stained face, she called out: “General Sister! It’s you! Really you! Just now, when I saw you charging and fighting from the city wall, I thought it looked like you, but I didn’t dare believe it! I never thought—”
Perhaps she was too excited to speak clearly. She choked up, her eyes reddened, and tears fell like beads.
Jiang Hanyuan smiled slightly, reaching out to wipe away her tears, but seeing her hands covered in blood, she paused. But Xiao Linhua grabbed her hand, quickly wiped her own eyes, and her face showed a smile again.
“General Sister, can I ride the horse with you?”
Jiang Hanyuan was startled. Meeting her bright, expectant eyes, she nodded, indicating for her to step into the stirrup. With one hand, she grasped Xiao Linhua’s arm and lifted, bringing her entire body onto the horse’s back to sit behind her.
Once Xiao Linhua was up, she immediately wrapped her arms tightly around Jiang Hanyuan’s waist.
Jiang Hanyuan spurred her horse and, amid the deafening cheers rising from the city, carried the Eight Tribes’ princess as she rode into Maple Leaf City.