Feng Miaojun quickly adjusted her clothes. When she turned around, she saw Yun Ya leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, his face full of regret. His collar was also open, revealing a firm chest with skin like jade.
Well, this was probably what she had unbuttoned with her own hands in her moment of passion. To give and not receive would be impolite.
Still, it had felt really good.
Yun Ya followed her gaze, looked down, and then gave her a knowing look: “Shall we continue?”
The way he licked his lips made her feel like a delicious pastry.
Recalling how he had devoured her earlier, Feng Miaojun’s face grew hot again. She silently practiced her mental technique, counting from one to ten in her heart before saying softly: “Be serious, there’s a war outside.”
“What does that have to do with us?” Yun Ya stretched lazily and sat down on the bluestone chair in the courtyard.
“It has nothing to do with you?” Her eyes were full of doubt. Xiao Yan had sent troops to invade Yao, and Yun Ya had risked a surprise attack on the Yao king and his son. Wouldn’t the outcome require this battle to be evaluated?
This was the most critical battle—how could he take it so lightly?
Yun Ya snorted softly: “I’m seriously injured. What I should be doing right now is recovering properly. Do you think I’m still looking to risk my life against Mo Tizhun and the others?”
She did indeed have such concerns. But judging by his expression, he probably already knew her intentions in keeping him here and was taking the opportunity to take advantage of her. Just as Feng Miaojun was feeling annoyed, Yun Ya continued: “Besides, at this stage of the war, they shouldn’t need me to step in anymore.”
As if to verify his words, the next second, deafening cannon fire came simultaneously from the east, west, and north directions!
Wei Kingdom’s forceful attack on the Yao capital had begun, starting with a barrage of indiscriminate bombardment. Feng Miaojun frowned: “How many shells have Xiao Yan prepared?”
“Many,” Yun Ya smiled. “Enough.”
Feng Miaojun looked at his smile and had an ominous feeling.
At that moment, there was an urgent knocking at the door—soldiers had come to recruit able-bodied men from each household for the battlefield. It wasn’t yet time for close combat between the armies, but the transport of war supplies was already very tight, requiring civilian participation.
Feng Miaojun glared at Yun Ya: “Go hide quickly!” As the most wanted criminal in all of Inzi City, didn’t he have any awareness of the need to hide?
By the time the soldiers entered, Yun Ya had disappeared. They only saw a woman in the courtyard.
It wasn’t yet time for women to go to the battlefield, so they quickly retreated. Next door, Chen Dachang’s household had hidden several people, leaving only two to open the door who were then conscripted.
As Feng Miaojun had anticipated, the Yao royal court had not chosen to compromise and surrender.
If they chose to surrender and offer up the country, it would save most people’s lives, but Great Yao would cease to exist, and future generations would curse them. Many Yao people would rather die on the battlefield, heroically sacrificing themselves, than bow down to their enemies and watch Yao territory become Wei property.
If they chose to fight to the death, there was indeed a high probability that the entire city’s soldiers and civilians would die, with two hundred years of prosperity destroyed in an instant. Worst of all, even the deaths of these hundreds of thousands of people couldn’t change the outcome—Yao would still likely perish.
The Yao royal court had already made this difficult decision.
Until that afternoon, all the gates of Inzi City remained tightly closed. Those inside ignored the Wei army’s demands, responding with silence.
No surrender meant resistance to death.
Time was up.
Xiao Yan’s patience had also run out. As the last ray of sunset disappeared on the western horizon, the Wei army sounded the attack bugle.
Neither more nor less, this time it was three blasts.
The siege, the war to destroy a nation, had begun!
Feng Miaojun lived in the central-western part of Inzi City, far from the city gates, but since the war began, the ground had been continuously shaking, each tremor like an earthquake above magnitude four.
That was the impact of the Wei army’s artillery fire hitting the barrier around the city gates.
The Wei army had been advancing like an unstoppable force, holding the advantage in morale, while Inzi City’s defenses were solid and its barriers powerful. This was a confrontation between a sharp spear and a hard shield. Xiao Yan wasn’t foolish enough to directly sacrifice soldiers’ lives; the initial assault came in the form of countless shells, determined to weaken Inzi City’s defenses layer by layer.
The Wei Kingdom had been planning the destruction of Yao for many years. The old Wei king had harbored such ambitions since his youth. Xiao Yan, in inheriting his will, had also inherited his legacy. No one knew how many massive cannons and shells he had brought along, including a specially modified Wind Spirit Cannon. Rumor had it that its power nearly matched the ancient Immortal Sect’s Giant Spirit Cannon. With such weapons for siege warfare, nothing could withstand them.
However, Yao Kingdom had been developing Inzi City for two hundred years, transforming it into an iron fortress. The nation itself was prosperous, with astonishing reserves of spirit stones, which were now being sent to the front lines like flowing water. Formation masters were busy drawing new formations and repairing damaged barriers.
In a siege, wasn’t it all about attrition?
The defending soldiers seized the opportunity, counterattacking with spirit stone cannons, supernatural powers, and other long-range weapons. Just taking hits without fighting back would be useless, even if mountains of gold and silver were poured into it.
This situation was also within Feng Miaojun’s expectations. Although Miao Fengxian’s son was the heir to the throne, he lacked governing ability. Princess Hanyue, as the emperor’s mother, only had the right to participate in politics, not decision-making power. So the decision of whether Yao would fight or surrender was ultimately made by the royal court.
Military generals like Zhao Rushan had killed too many Wei people. If Yao surrendered, they would lose their foundation for existence and might be executed on the spot. It would be better to fight to the death with the Wei army, perhaps waiting for support from local areas and Jin and Yan. Then Great Yao would still be Great Yao.
Moreover, there were many brave warriors among the Yao people who would rather perish with the enemy than live a life dependent on others.
So, what Princess Hanyue thought, lacking decision-making power was not important. It was the will of these court officials that was being carried out. Even if Yao survived this life-and-death crisis, the contradiction between a weak ruler and strong ministers would continue. If it lived long enough, perhaps it could wait until the new emperor ascended the throne and reclaimed power before the situation would improve.
After sending away those Yao soldiers, Feng Miaojun discovered a problem:
Yun Ya was gone.
Earlier, when she had let the Yao people in to search, she had to remove the barrier to avoid trouble. Yun Ya had probably taken that opportunity to slip away.
Was this guy part eel?
The cannon fire continued for a day and night. Inzi City was sleepless.
Without leaving her door, she could smell the tense and desperate atmosphere permeating the air. With enemy forces fighting to their doorstep and all of Yao’s leaders dead, the hearts of Inzi’s people weren’t made of iron. It was inevitable that they would feel pessimistic and disappointed. But Feng Miaojun knew that Inzi City’s defenses were very solid. If they withstood the Wei attack, the morale of Inzi’s people would return in a few days.
After all, this was their home ground.
This also meant that Xiao Yan had to accelerate his siege progress. Although Yao currently couldn’t utilize much of its power, for the defending side, the disadvantage wasn’t significant. Several of Yao’s major armies were rushing to aid the capital and would arrive in days, while Jin’s reinforcements weren’t far off either.