A faint smile appeared between Bai Qingyan’s brows. She discovered that Liu Pinggao was becoming increasingly greedy. Previously, his words showed concern about having only five thousand troops in the city, but now he wanted to take a bite out of Xiliang’s forces. This mentality was very good.

Liu Pinggao glanced at the Xiliang military camp and said to Bai Qingyan: “Your Majesty, these past days we’ve been conducting small-scale harassment, opening and closing the city gates, and keeping irregular meal times, which has thoroughly tormented General Cui, who fears Xiliang casualties! Plus… for such a long time, we Great Zhou forces, have only engaged in minor skirmishes, making the Xiliang army weary and irritated, with their vigilance decreasing each time. This general believes tonight is the best time for a night raid—while they’re conserving strength for tomorrow, we’ll strike first and create chaos!”

Bai Qingyan shook her head: “Tonight, let our soldiers and the civilians in the city also sleep peacefully!”

Liu Pinggao hadn’t expected Bai Qingyan to refuse permission for a surprise attack and wanted to argue further: “The Xiliang army’s vigilance has decreased—it’s the perfect time for a surprise attack! Moreover… this subordinate thinks we could use tonight’s surprise attack as an opportunity to let our soldiers break through the encirclement and head to Yecheng Pass to notify General Yang Wuce that he absolutely must not come to rescue the emperor! Otherwise, he’ll fall into the trap!”

“Although General Yang Wuce has followed Your Majesty for quite some time, he ultimately doesn’t have the same understanding with Your Majesty as the Bai Family Army. What if he becomes anxious and rushes to the rescue…” Liu Pinggao hesitated to continue.

Bai Qingyan shook her head: “There’s no need to sacrifice our Great Zhou soldiers’ lives for nothing. Tomorrow’s siege, with our city’s forces, will surely be a hard-fought battle!”

Now, Bai Qingyan only hoped Du Sanbao could complete his task quickly.

Although Liu Pinggao was uneasy, he still believed that His Majesty’s arrangements must have their reasons.

Today was already the sixth day of the second month. Bai Qingyan observed that the Xiliang military camp only had cooking smoke once daily—it seemed Xiliang’s grain supplies could no longer hold out.

Now the fear was that Xiliang, driven to desperation, would attack the city to seize grain. But in reality, there wasn’t much grain left in the city either. Liu Pinggao had calculated… at most they could hold out for a few more days.

Just as Bai Qingyan was lowering her head in deep thought, Du Sanbao’s rough and powerful voice came up from below the city wall first…

“Your Majesty!”

Bai Qingyan raised her head and saw Du Sanbao, his face covered in dirt, sturdy and filthy, running up from below the city wall.

Wei Zhong saw it was Du Sanbao and walked forward from behind Bai Qingyan with a smile, signaling the guards not to stop Du Sanbao.

Seeing Du Sanbao’s joyful expression, Bai Qingyan knew Du Sanbao’s task must have been completed.

Bai Qingyan truly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Your Majesty!” Du Sanbao ran up to Bai Qingyan, his entire body carrying the scent of damp earth. “Your Majesty, we’ve broken through!”

“Broken through?” Liu Pinggao was completely puzzled.

Du Sanbao couldn’t spare time to explain Liu Pinggao’s confusion: “Both Bai Family guards have already left. One, following Your Majesty’s instructions, took the secret letter to find the scouts sent by General Yang Wuce, so General Yang Wuce will dispatch troops according to what Your Majesty wrote in the secret letter! The other has already headed to our Great Zhou cities to have grain delivered ahead of schedule! Also, following Your Majesty’s instructions, after sending the Bai Family guards out, we sealed the entrance again!”

Bai Qingyan let out a long breath. It seemed Heaven was on Great Zhou’s side—otherwise, why would Du Sanbao have broken through the passage at precisely this moment, neither earlier nor later?

“You’ve worked hard!” Bai Qingyan raised her hand and patted Du Sanbao’s shoulder. These past few days, Du Sanbao had led people working day and night without being able to make noise lest the Xiliang army discover them. It was truly exhausting work.

“Your Majesty, what are you saying? In the army, military orders are like mountains. If Du Sanbao hadn’t completed this task, that would truly be letting Your Majesty down!” Du Sanbao straightened his chest and said, “Besides, it wasn’t just me, Du Sanbao, who dug through alone. The brothers all worked hard together with me—that’s how we managed to break through in time!”

“Good, when this battle is won, you’ll all be credited and rewarded together!” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.

Only then did Liu Pinggao understand—so Du Sanbao had been sent by Bai Qingyan to dig tunnels. This way, by sending messengers out, Bailong City, Jiangzi City, and Yecheng Pass could coordinate their actions in this battle.

Although Liu Pinggao still didn’t know how Du Sanbao had managed to dig tunnels through these high walls and fortifications, as long as he had broken through, that was good.

Tomorrow, Xiliang would still attack the city, so… they needed to find a way to make Xiliang lose some of their forces. This way… Bailong City and Yecheng Pass would find it easier to eliminate the Xiliang army.

After Liu Pinggao and Du Sanbao saw Bai Qingyan off, Liu Pinggao couldn’t help but ask Du Sanbao: “How did you manage to dig through?”

“His Majesty had us use Jiangzi City’s existing secret passages to dig, saying it would be easier. And indeed… we didn’t even dare breathe heavily, afraid the Xiliang soldiers stationed at the other end would hear us!” Du Sanbao said proudly, “How about that… impressive, right? We broke through so quickly!”

“Yes, yes, yes! You’re amazing… should I set off some firecrackers for you and have you parade through the city in red silk?” Liu Pinggao laughed and patted Du Sanbao’s forehead. “However, your ability to break through the passage before Xiliang attacks the city tomorrow is indeed a great achievement.”

“The firecrackers and parading aren’t necessary!” Du Sanbao wiped the sweat from his face with his dirty hands and said, “But General Liu should at least treat me to a drink!”

Liu Pinggao agreed with a laugh: “I’ll treat you to drinks when we win the battle!”

“Don’t wait until we win—how about I go raid the Xiliang military camp tonight, and when I return, you treat me to drinks?”

“His Majesty just said that raiding the camp is not permitted today.” Liu Pinggao sighed.

“Why not? We’ve been toying with Xiliang for so long—it’s time to get serious!” Du Sanbao looked completely confused. “Besides, since we already know Xiliang will attack the city tomorrow, shouldn’t we harass them now to make them exhausted? Are we going to wait for them to sleep well and then come fight us?”

“This is His Majesty’s order. You and I should simply obey! Go back quickly, wash up, change your clothes… and get some good rest!” Liu Pinggao said to Du Sanbao and left first.

Du Sanbao watched Liu Pinggao’s retreating figure, frowned, and thought for a moment, feeling that if they didn’t launch a surprise attack tonight, it would be too much of a bargain for Xiliang. He needed to think of a way.

Du Sanbao suddenly remembered Liu Pinggao’s earlier mention of setting off firecrackers, as if something had suddenly clicked. He muttered in a low voice: “Firecrackers…”

“General, you should go back and wash up!” a city guard said to Du Sanbao.

“Mm, good!” Du Sanbao gave a perfunctory response, then thoughtfully stroked his chin and turned to the soldier: “You… send someone to check if there are any leftover firecrackers in Jiangzi City from New Year’s that haven’t been set off! If there are any, bring them all to me!”

The city guard scratched his head: “General, what do you need firecrackers for?”

“Just go check when I tell you to check! I’m doing this for His Majesty—don’t ask about things you shouldn’t!” Du Sanbao said.