The old man sneered disdainfully: “Do you think Yin Shishi will truly let us go? He can even think up such vicious schemes—what can we expect from him? I heard that the Prince Dai once agreed to open the city gates, but it was this Yin Shishi who, disregarding the lives of the people and soldiers in the city, insisted on defending and refusing to open them, which led to this situation!”
“You old fool, what nonsense are you spouting!” Yin Shishi grabbed him and said: “Don’t forget your identity—you are a subject of the Great Sui Dynasty and should serve the Great Sui loyally. How can you speak for a rebellious minister and traitor? Are you truly tired of living?”
“Loyalty?” The old man laughed mockingly: “I have lived for eighty years. I can say I watched the late Emperor conquer this Chang’an City and saw how it flourished and prospered. But now? Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has been tyrannical and extravagant, indulging in pleasure. He has ruined the entire Great Sui Dynasty, and even this Chang’an has become dilapidated. What right does he have to demand our loyalty?”
Yin Shishi stared at him, then suddenly smiled: “Since you don’t consider yourself a subject of the Great Sui Dynasty, then you have no need to live.” Before anyone could react, he had already pushed hard, shoving the old man off the city wall. The next moment, the old man fell heavily to the ground, blood flowing from his mouth and nose as he died on the spot.
Although Li Yuan had anticipated that such things would happen, when it actually occurred before his eyes, he still felt a wave of sadness. He stepped forward to close the old man’s eyes and said in a low voice: “Sir, rest assured. I will definitely make Yin Shishi pay for what he has done today!”
From the city tower came Yin Shishi’s somewhat anxious voice: “Li Yuan, think carefully—will you retreat or not?!”
After ordering people to carry the body away, Li Yuan said coldly: “The decision I have made will not change. As for you, Yin Shishi, you will definitely pay for your actions!”
“You!” Yin Shishi hadn’t expected Li Yuan to be such a tough nut to crack, neither yielding to soft nor hard approaches. He wished he could push all those people on the city tower down, but fortunately he still retained a shred of reason, knowing that if he really pushed them down, he would undoubtedly be forcing Li Yuan to attack immediately, which would do him no good!
After barely suppressing his anger, he snorted coldly: “Li Yuan, don’t regret this!”
Watching Yin Shishi’s departing figure, Li Yuanji angrily said: “Father, this Yin Shishi is being far too excessive. Let’s attack right now, and once we capture him, let’s see how arrogant he can still be!”
Li Yuan looked at those familiar and unfamiliar faces on the city wall—those people were still being forced to stand on the city wall. He knew that as soon as he ordered an attack on Chang’an, Yin Shishi would mercilessly push them all off the city tower, leaving none alive.
“Father!” When Li Yuanji saw no response after a long time, he urged. Li Yuan shook his head: “We’ll discuss everything after seven days.”
Li Yuanji wanted to say more, but seeing Li Jiancheng’s meaningful glance, he could only swallow the words on his lips and helplessly watch Li Yuan leave.
On the fifth day, something happened that no one could have anticipated. When Yunyi received the news and rushed to the city wall, she happened to see Yin Shishi holding a jar and throwing it down, letting out extremely arrogant laughter. The jar shattered, scattering white powder all over the ground—no one knew what it was.
After smashing one jar, Yin Shishi picked up another: “Li Yuan, this jar should contain your great-grandfather’s ashes. His tomb was buried so deep that it took tremendous effort to dig out his coffin and burn it into this jar of ashes. Here, I’m returning it to you!” With that, he released his grip, and the jar fell down again, similarly shattering into grayish-white powder all over the ground.
Ruyi said in horror: “Has this Yin Shishi gone mad? He actually dug up General Li’s ancestral graves and burned the remains to ash, deliberately shattering them. Does he… does he have no shame?”
Jixiang frowned: “If he had any shame, he wouldn’t have threatened General Li with his family members before.”
Yunyi said coldly: “He’s playing with fire and will burn himself. Just watch—this fool will regret it soon!”
Over there, the hot-tempered Li Yuanji cursed angrily: “Yin Shishi, you dare to dig up my Li family’s ancestral graves and disturb the rest of my Li clan’s ancestors! I will definitely cut you into a thousand pieces and dig up all your Yin family’s ancestral graves!”
This time, not only Li Yuanji, but even the usually mild-tempered Li Shimin’s face darkened. Yin Shishi had truly gone too far this time. Without killing Yin Shishi, they could not comfort the spirits of the Li family ancestors!
Li Yuan didn’t speak, but his face was terrifyingly grim. At this moment, Yin Shishi’s voice came from the city tower again: “You’re wrong—it’s not just ancestral graves. Your Li family’s ancestral temple was also burned down by me in one fire. Li Yuan, I want you to understand clearly that this is the fate of being a rebellious minister and traitor!”
Li Shimin cupped his hands: “Father, Yin Shishi is being far too excessive. Please immediately order the attack on the city!” After him, the generals also requested that Li Yuan immediately order the attack. Even they couldn’t stand Yin Shishi’s actions.
Li Yuan’s hands at his sides clenched tighter and tighter. He looked up, staring at Yin Shishi with cold eyes, saying word by word: “If I don’t kill you, Yin Shishi, I, Li Yuan, swear I will not be human!”
After this declaration, he drew his sword and raised it high: “All soldiers, listen to my command! Immediately reorganize formations and attack Chang’an! Whoever is first to climb the city tower will be promoted three ranks, rewarded with a hundred bushels of rice and a hundred strings of coins!”
This declaration made the over two hundred thousand soldiers’ blood boil with excitement, their roars shaking the sky. They had waited so long and finally received the order to attack! At this moment, only four words filled their minds: Capture Chang’an!
Yin Shishi never imagined that things would suddenly turn out this way. He had originally intended to give Li Yuan a warning since he temporarily couldn’t kill those people on the city tower, hoping to prevent the latter from acting rashly. Who knew it would backfire and cause Li Yuan to advance his military attack.
For a moment, Yin Shishi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, regretting his rashness. He could only hastily order soldiers to set up defenses on the city wall, absolutely having to defend Chang’an City and not let Li Yuan’s troops climb the city wall.
When Li Shimin passed by Yunyi, he stopped and said: “Quickly return to your own tent. Once fighting begins, this place will be very dangerous. Remember, absolutely do not come out. I’ll have people guard around your tent.”
Yunyi knew she couldn’t help at this moment and nodded: “The camp is so far away, presumably I won’t be injured by stray arrows. Go quickly, and be careful in everything.”
“But…” Li Shimin was about to say more when Zhangsun Shi walked over: “Let the Princess come to my place. Having the women gather together will also make it convenient for soldiers to guard us.”
“That’s good. Quickly take the Princess over.” After saying this, Li Shimin hurried away. The soldiers had already begun to assemble, and once the army was fully organized, they would immediately attack the city.
Yunyi took the tea handed to her by the maid and, listening to the sounds outside, sighed: “I wonder how many people will die in this battle.”
Zhangsun Shi nodded: “They say that one general’s success is built on ten thousand bones. Whether the world rises or falls, it’s always the common people who suffer. I only hope that after this battle, the people of Chang’an City can rest and recover, far from the turmoil of war.” They all knew that Li Yuan would definitely be able to capture Chang’an, so they weren’t worried about winning or losing.