Jixiang, who had come with Yunyi, saw that the soldiers only craned their necks to look down without any other reaction, and said displeasedly, “Are all your ears deaf? Hurry and report to Prince Dai. If you delay the princess meeting with Prince Dai, watch your heads.”
Under Jixiang’s scolding, for the first time a voice came from the city walls, “Wait there, I’ll go report immediately.”
Though it was only one soldier’s voice, it filled Li Shimin and the others with joy. As long as they were willing to speak, there was hope of avoiding bloodshed.
After waiting a while, a general climbed onto the city wall. After seeing Yunyi clearly below, his expression obviously changed. He had once seen Princess Jinyang at a palace banquet, and she was indeed identical to the person standing below the city. But… shouldn’t Princess Jinyang be with His Majesty in Jiangdu? How could she appear here, and together with Li Yuan, this rebel? The news of Yuwen Huaji and others’ rebellion and assassination of Yang Guang had not yet reached Chang’an city, so they still thought Yang Guang was alive.
At this time, Yunyi also recognized the person on the city wall and said, “Guyi, don’t you recognize this princess anymore?”
Seeing her call out his name directly, Guyi became even more certain of his guess, but still said, “Are you truly Princess Jinyang?”
“At the end of the tenth year of the Daye era, His Majesty held a banquet in the palace. You entered the palace to attend with Wang Wei and Gao Junya, and you saw this princess. Have you forgotten so quickly?”
Seeing her speak without the slightest error, Guyi no longer doubted and said, “If you are Princess Jinyang, why are you not in Jiangdu, but instead with Li Yuan, this traitorous rebel?”
Yunyi’s eyes turned cold, “You have no right to ask this princess such things. Immediately go and bring Prince Dai here!”
Guyi, having asked for trouble, rolled his eyes and said strangely, “Prince Dai’s status is noble—how could he put himself in danger?”
Li Shimin called out loudly, “My father and son came here to support Prince Dai—how could we do anything to harm Prince Dai?”
Guyi snorted coldly, “That’s what you say now, but when Prince Dai comes, your words will probably change immediately. This general won’t fall for you rebels’ tricks!”
Yunyi stopped Li Shimin from speaking and looked up, “Guyi, if you don’t trust them, don’t you trust me either?”
Being spoken to this way, Guyi found it difficult to answer. After all, Yunyi was a princess of the Sui dynasty, and he couldn’t be too excessive with her. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “If this group of rebels outside the city would retreat twenty li, I will go report this matter to Prince Dai.”
Hearing this, Chai Baochang became furious, “Retreating twenty li would take nearly a full night. Why don’t you say retreat fifty li?”
Guyi smiled without warmth, “If you’re willing to retreat fifty li, that would naturally be even better.”
“You…” Li Shimin interrupted Chai Baochang and said, “Twenty li would require nearly a day’s march, which is really too demanding. At most we’ll retreat five li.”
Guyi shook his head, “Only a mere five li—you’re hardly showing sincerity. Fifteen li, not a bit less.”
“Eight li.”
“Twelve li.” The two held to their positions, neither yielding. Seeing the dispute continuing, Yunyi said, “Since both sides have sincerity, why not each give way once more? How about ten li?”
Guyi’s eyes moved slightly. Though ten li was still somewhat less, it should be enough for them to prepare defenses. “Good, let’s follow the princess’s words—ten li!”
Yunyi turned her gaze to Li Shimin, who pondered and said, “I must ask my father about this matter. Please wait here, princess.”
Yunyi glanced at Guyi on the city wall and said quietly, “Go quickly and return quickly. No one knows when he might change his mind.”
“I know.” Li Shimin responded and hurried toward Li Yuan’s main command tent. After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he rode back and said, “Good, our army also agrees with the princess’s words and will retreat ten li. To show sincerity, the army has already begun retreating.”
Guyi looked up and indeed saw the dense black mass of troops besieging the city beginning to retreat in order, soon withdrawing several dozen zhang. He nodded with satisfaction, “Good, wait here. I’ll go report to Prince Dai immediately. But let me say this first—I’m only responsible for reporting. Whether Prince Dai is willing to come meet you is unknown.”
Before leaving, he said to the deputy general beside him, “Watch carefully. If they make any suspicious moves, immediately send someone to inform me.”
“Yes.” After the deputy general responded, he went down from the city tower, had soldiers bring his mount, and galloped toward the palace.
Outside Chunming Gate, Chai Baochang looked back at the retreating army and said, “Will this Guyi truly keep his promise?”
Yunyi sighed, “I don’t know. I only hope he still shows some regard for me as a princess and won’t pretend compliance while actually disobeying.”
“No matter what, thank you for your help, princess.” Facing Li Shimin’s thanks, Yunyi smiled, “Wait until I’ve actually persuaded them to open the city gates before you thank me.”
The time of waiting always seemed especially long, particularly on this cold winter day, with bone-chilling winds occasionally howling past, cutting across faces like knives.
Chai Baochang rubbed his red hands together while watching the motionless city walls, muttering to himself, “Still not coming after so long—could this Guyi really be deceiving us?”
Li Shimin’s heart was also sinking, but he still said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. Perhaps they’ll arrive soon!”
Chai Baochang tightened his coat and said through gritted teeth, “If he dares deceive me, after we take Chang’an, I’ll make him pay!”
After patiently waiting for another while, there was finally movement on the city walls. Guyi appeared at the city gate again, along with a youth of about twelve or thirteen years old wearing a golden crown.
Seeing that youth, Yunyi’s heart leaped with joy, “It’s Prince Dai.”
At the same time, a somewhat childish voice came from the city walls, “Seventh Aunt, is that you?”
Yunyi quickly replied, “It’s Seventh Aunt. Are you well, You’er?”
After confirming it was Yunyi’s voice, Yang You leaned out a bit more, “Seventh Aunt, why are you here? Did Li Yuan and his people capture you?”
“Quite the opposite—they saved me.” Yunyi’s voice made that face, still bearing traces of childhood, wrinkle up, “Saved? What do you mean by this, Seventh Aunt?”
“The Yuwen clan, the Cui family, Pei Qiantong, and Sima Dekan, upon learning that His Majesty intended to move the capital to Danyang and being unwilling to go, incited the imperial guards to rebel together, killed His Majesty, and imprisoned us in the palace.”
Yunyi’s voice clearly reached the ears of everyone on the city walls, stirring up tremendous waves in their hearts. Yang Guang was dead? That emperor of extravagant militarism was actually dead?
While everyone was still shocked by this news, Yang You had already said excitedly, “Impossible! Imperial Grandfather is the ruler of a nation, with hundreds of thousands of troops by his side. How could he possibly die?” Though Yang Guang was cruel and tyrannical, he was quite kind to this grandson, so Yang You found it difficult to accept that Yang Guang was dead.