In his plan, there was still one problem: if that soldier came to collect the bowl, their intentions would be discovered. If that really happened, they would have to kill him and escape early. Fortunately, that soldier never came back in.
As for Jieli Khan, after leaving the tent where Li Jiancheng and the other were imprisoned, he immediately had people prepare powerful crossbows while having others find some larger hailstones. He had the eight characters “An immoral ruler, the Great Tang must perish” carved on them, then under cover of darkness, used the powerful crossbows to shoot them into the city from outside the walls. This continued until dawn when the hail stopped. Jieli Khan summoned Zhishisili and asked, “How many did we shoot in total?”
“Based on the number of crossbow shots and the number of people, the quantity should be between two to three thousand.” Hearing this, Jieli Khan frowned, “Only that many?”
“We don’t have many powerful crossbows, and with time being urgent, two to three thousand is already the maximum number.” Saying this, Zhishisili added, “This quantity should be enough for the soldiers in Chang’an City to discover and spread the word.”
“Let’s hope so.” Saying this, Jieli Khan added, “Pass down the order for soldiers to prepare to attack the city at any time!”
When the hail was shot in during the night, it was pitch black, and the soldiers of Chang’an City didn’t notice that some of the hail had been shot in from outside the walls. After the darkest moment passed, dawn gradually appeared on the horizon. The soldiers responsible for clearing the hail covering the ground discovered those carved hailstones. Just as Li Jiancheng had predicted, it quickly spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred. Before the hour of Yin had passed, it had already spread like wildfire. Everyone knew who the “immoral ruler” written on the hail referred to. Could it be that Li Shimin truly wasn’t the destined true dragon emperor, so Heaven used this hailstorm to send down a warning?
Hail falling in October was already strange enough, and with these words added, the soldiers’ hearts were filled with doubts. The morale that had originally been united began to show signs of collapse.
Du Ruhui, who was responsible for guarding Chunming Gate, also saw these carved hailstones at the first opportunity. He immediately realized something was wrong. After entrusting the guard duties to Yuchi Jingde, he immediately took the hailstones and rode quickly to the Eastern Palace.
In early October winter, though the weather was cold, it wasn’t yet bone-chilling. But all this only applied to yesterday. Since the hailstorm at night, the weather had taken a sharp turn for the worse. The wind cutting across faces was bone-chillingly cold, and those thin cotton clothes could no longer block this cold. Fortunately, this was within Chang’an City, and Li Shimin, upon noticing the temperature drop, immediately ordered people to collect cotton clothes to send to the soldiers.
When Du Ruhui arrived, the first batch of cotton clothes had just been sent out. Li Shimin was discussing military affairs with Liu Hongji. Seeing him enter, his expression tightened, “Have the Turkic troops begun attacking the city?”
“Not yet, but something more troublesome than that has happened.” With these words, he handed over the hailstone he had brought. When they saw the eight characters on the hail, both Li Shimin and Liu Hongji’s expressions changed. The latter said solemnly, “Where did this come from?”
“It was discovered by soldiers cleaning the streets. The quantity…” Du Ruhui paused for a moment before slowly uttering two words, “Very many.”
Liu Hongji said with a grave expression, “This hail must have been tampered with by someone. Have you investigated those soldiers?”
“Time was urgent, there was no time to investigate.” Saying this, Du Ruhui tentatively asked, “Does the sir suspect there are still Turkic spies in the city?”
“Exactly. They’re using last night’s sudden hailstorm to cause trouble, wanting to shake our military morale.” Saying this, Liu Hongji said coldly, “These Turkics’ minds are truly vicious.”
Li Shimin said in a deep voice, “But very effective. Right now, those soldiers are probably already beginning to have doubts.”
Liu Hongji lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, “The most urgent thing now is to stabilize military morale. I’m afraid Your Majesty will have to make a trip to Chunming Gate. As for the matter of spies, leave that to me to investigate.”
“Good, this matter is entrusted to Sir Liu.” After saying this, Li Shimin said to Chuyi who was waiting at the side, “Immediately go prepare the horse.”
Chuyi responded and left quickly. The current Chuyi was already the Eastern Palace steward, responsible for managing all the servants in the Eastern Palace. Because Wu Yu had been captured, he had been transferred back to Li Shimin’s side.
Not long after Chuyi left Xiande Palace, a soldier rushed in urgently. Without time for proper greetings, he hastily said, “Your Majesty, the Turkics are attacking the city!”
“They’re coming quite fast!” Gritting his teeth as he uttered these words, Li Shimin led Liu Hongji and others away quickly. After Chuyi brought the horse, they immediately headed for Chunming Gate.
When they were still a long way from Chunming Gate, they could already feel the extremely tense atmosphere. Getting closer, they could hear the mixed sounds of swords and roars.
As soon as Li Shimin dismounted, Yuchi Jingde, his armor stained with blood, rushed over, “Your Majesty!”
“How is the situation?” Faced with Li Shimin’s inquiry, Yuchi Jingde said with a grave expression, “Not very good. From the start of the attack until now, within half an hour, two waves of Turkic soldiers have already rushed onto the city walls. Fortunately, they were all annihilated.” He glanced at Du Ruhui and said solemnly, “Ever since seeing those hailstones, the soldiers’ morale has been low. Forgive me for speaking bluntly, but if this continues, the situation is not good.”
“I understand.” Saying this, Li Shimin headed toward the city tower. Just as he stepped up a few steps, he saw several Turkic soldiers rushing down from above, obviously wanting to open the city gates, with several Tang soldiers pursuing behind them.
Li Shimin reacted extremely quickly. Without waiting for Yuchi Jingde to act, he had already drawn his sword from his waist and stabbed at one of the Turkic soldiers. That person died on the spot, while the others took advantage of this opportunity to recover and became entangled in combat with the pursuing Tang soldiers. Yuchi Jingde said with a grave expression, “This is the third wave.”
Yesterday when the Turkics attacked the city for a whole day, not many people had rushed onto the city walls. Now in just this short time, three waves had already rushed up. The situation was truly dire.
Under the siege of many soldiers, those few isolated Turkic soldiers quickly couldn’t hold on. Just as they were about to die by the sword, suddenly they formed a very strange formation. Of the four soldiers, three lined up in a row, desperately blocking the incoming swords without regard for their lives, while the remaining one hid behind them and took out a fire starter from his chest.
As soon as he saw that fire starter, Liu Hongji sensed trouble. What happened next confirmed his intuition. The man pulled open his clothes, revealing a black ball tied inside with a string running from it, much like the fuse used when setting off fireworks during festivals.
“Don’t let him light it!” Although Liu Hongji spoke these words as quickly as possible, it was still too late. The fuse was lit and shortened at a speed visible to the naked eye.