“General!” Deputy General Zhao grabbed Ye Shouguan’s arm, stopping him, then glanced at Sima Ruodan who was crying like pear blossoms in the rain with terror in her eyes, saying, “General, we Xiliang warriors exist to protect the people. There is no reason to swing swords at an unarmed girl from our own Kingdom over a few words.”
Ye Shouguan forcibly suppressed his anger, closed his eyes, and said: “I, Ye Shouguan, once swore an oath to the heavenly gods that I would only support the Li imperial family in this lifetime and would never betray them! If not for the fact that you are young and ignorant, I would have you dragged away and beheaded, lest you disturb our Xiliang military morale!”
Sima Ruodan only trembled and cried, as if thoroughly frightened by Ye Shouguan.
Ye Shouguan sheathed his long sword and called out loudly: “Take these two traitors away and lock them up! Deal with them later!”
Sima Ruodan’s eyes widened as she quickly pleaded again: “Uncle, uncle please save my father and mother and younger brother!”
Suddenly, war drums from the north of the city began to sound. Everyone turned in shock toward the northern direction.
“Report…” A soldier from the north of the city came galloping, leaped down from his horse, and knelt on one knee with cupped fists, saying: “General! Great Zhou is attacking the city!”
Hearing this, the soldiers who were dragging away Sima Ruodan and the personal attendant also stopped, looking at Ye Shouguan in bewilderment.
“Uncle! Uncle, surrender! Opening the city gates proactively can save His Majesty and can also save my younger brother and parents, uncle!” Sima Ruodan shouted, “Otherwise… if Great Zhou really hangs His Majesty in front of the war chariots as a shield, surely you won’t have the soldiers shoot arrows at His Majesty?!”
“Drag them away!” Ye Shouguan shouted harshly, then leaped onto his horse and led the soldiers galloping madly toward the city gates.
When Ye Shouguan led the group of generals up to the city gate, he could see from afar an endless expanse… like a giant dragon winding its way forward, the Great Zhou army raising torches high.
Led by Bai Qingyan, along with Bai Qingyu, Bai Jinxiu, Bai Qingqi, Bai Qingjue, Bai Qingyun, Bai Jinzhao, Bai Jinhua, and Bai Jinse, who had come to rendezvous, these nine members of the Bai family lined up in a row, leading the cavalry at the very front.
Two siege ladders pushed by more than a dozen soldiers were at the forefront, with Prefect’s wife Ye Yingwan and a disheveled woman tied to them respectively.
As soon as Deputy General Zhao saw Ye Yingwan, his gaze fell on the disheveled woman, and he called out loudly: “General, it’s His Majesty and the young lady!”
Ye Shouguan gripped the sword at his waist tightly and shouted: “Prepare the crossbow beds! Archers ready!”
With such a grand procession from the Great Zhou army, yet no scouts had come to report, this meant the Great Zhou had killed the scouts in advance. This was a prepared assault, and Ye Shouguan had to be on guard.
“General! That’s His Majesty!” Deputy General Zhao looked at Ye Shouguan with disbelief.
“I know!” Ye Shouguan turned around and glared fiercely at Deputy General Zhao, “Prepare for battle! This is an order!”
Deputy General Zhao knelt on one knee with cupped fists: “General! This subordinate requests to go to battle and rescue His Majesty and the young lady!”
Seeing Deputy General Zhao had already knelt to request orders, more generals under Ye Shouguan’s command gritted their teeth and knelt one after another, requesting orders: “This subordinate requests to go to battle and rescue His Majesty and the young lady!”
Because of the scene Sima Ruodan had caused, the soldiers now almost all believed that the one hanging on the siege ladder was Li Tianfu. Each was gnashing their teeth with hatred, wanting to go to battle and rescue their emperor!
After all, hanging their Xiliang emperor on that ladder was no different from hanging the entire face of Xiliang on the ladder. As soldiers, how could they endure this?!
“Don’t panic! What’s there to panic about!” Ye Shouguan clenched his fists tightly, “Whether the one tied to that ladder is our Xiliang emperor is still questionable. This might just be Great Zhou’s treacherous scheme! Leading troops out to meet them in battle will only let Great Zhou devour the forces that go out, then come and attack the Yecheng Pass! Yecheng Pass is our Xiliang’s last line of defense! If Yecheng Pass falls, Xiliang will perish!”
The soldiers stared wide-eyed at Ye Shouguan, suddenly remembering what Sima Ruodan had said earlier about Ye Shouguan wanting to occupy the city and become king.
Some exchanged glances, harboring suspicions about Ye Shouguan in their hearts.
Deputy General Zhao raised his eyes to look at Ye Shouguan, who was staring intently into the distance. He knew that, given Ye Shouguan’s hatred for Ye Yingwan, he would never send troops to rescue her. He was now almost openly saying the Xiliang emperor on the ladder was fake, seemingly determined to disregard the lives of both the emperor and Ye Yingwan.
Deputy General Zhao slowly stood up. He was a soldier of Xiliang, he had sworn loyalty to the imperial family, and he had moreover sworn to old General Ye that he would protect Ye Yingwan’s safety. If it came to a desperate situation, even if he had to rebel, he would never let General Ye occupy the city and become king!
The other generals, seeing Deputy General Zhao had stood up, also followed suit…
“The Great Zhou army has already approached. What if they push the ladder with His Majesty tied to it toward the city gates? General, surely you won’t have all our crossbows and arrows aimed at the Great Zhou army? If we accidentally injure His Majesty, who can bear that responsibility?” Deputy General Zhao rarely spoke so forcefully to Ye Shouguan.
The other generals also nodded in agreement: “Yes, General! That’s our Xiliang emperor! We soldiers… exist precisely to protect our home and defend our Kingdom. If the emperor is gone, what’s left to call a nation?”
“General, are you… planning to occupy the city and become king, intending to establish your domain?” A bold general simply asked Ye Shouguan directly, “If so, forgive this subordinate for being unable to accompany the general!”
“Old Zhai!” Deputy General Zhao turned to rebuke him.
Ye Shouguan suddenly turned to look at the general called Old Zhai, his gaze sweeping over the other generals: “Rebellion?! The Ye family has defended Yecheng Pass for generations, and I, Ye Shouguan, have also sworn an oath to the heavenly gods… to be loyal unto death to the imperial family and Xiliang!”
“Then why won’t the general allow us to lead troops out to battle and rescue His Majesty!” Old Zhai asked with all his might.
“Look for yourself!” Ye Shouguan pointed into the distance, “Great Zhou’s main force is all here! How would you rescue him? Only by defending Yecheng Pass to the death can His Majesty be safe and sound! Don’t you understand this!”
“The general is wrong!” Deputy General Zhao took the lead, “Cousin has already said that Great Zhou wants to push His Majesty and the young lady forward all the way, forcing us not to dare use arrows against Great Zhou!”
“Yes! If Great Zhou does this, our soldiers will be tied hand and foot!” Another general spoke up, looking toward the distance where the Great Zhou army was getting closer and closer, about to enter the range of their arrows, “General, you must quickly make a decision!”
Ye Shouguan forced himself to calm down. He clenched his fists, knowing that because of the earlier commotion, if he didn’t send troops out to attempt rescuing Li Tianfu, military morale within Yecheng Pass would inevitably waver.
With a great enemy at the gates, if military morale wavered, this battle would be lost before it was even fought. So… he could only send troops out first to rescue Li Tianfu!