Chapter 113

Zheng Wenchang, who had been walking ahead, visibly staggered.

The next moment, he shoved aside the bewildered soldiers lining the stairway and rushed up to the city wall even faster.

Fan Changyu was one step behind him. When she finally reached the top and saw the soldiers kneeling on the ground weeping and the civilians wiping away tears with lowered heads, she suddenly felt as though the world were spinning around her.

Perhaps it was because the grief was too overwhelming, or perhaps it was exhaustion from just having come off the battlefield. For a moment, her head felt heavy and dizzy, and an indescribable sense of desolation and confusion rose within her.

Although she had imagined what would happen if Lu City fell while on the way here, seeing the old man standing dead before the battle lines, leaning on his sword, was entirely different.

The sorrow crashed over her like a mountain tsunami, squeezing her chest so tightly she could barely breathe.

“Lord He…?”

Zheng Wenchang’s throat tightened.

He called out to the already-rigid old man with difficulty.

The towering man’s eyes were bloodshot. After those two words left his lips, he could no longer continue and broke down completely.

He raised a hand and gently closed the old man’s eyes, eyes that had remained glaring in fury at Wei Yan until the very moment of death.

Then he dropped to his knees and kowtowed heavily.

Again.

And again.

Until blood flowed from his forehead.

Tears and mucus covered his face as he repeated over and over,

“This student came too late… I came back too late…”

The deputy general beside him could not bear to watch.

With reddened eyes, he supported Zheng Wenchang and said,

“Wenchang, don’t do this.”

“Lord He’s wounds had never healed. He had already worked himself to exhaustion. When he learned the rebels were attacking Lu City, he ignored his own condition and rode here at full speed.”

“With a body already at the end of its strength, he held the city until your reinforcements arrived. I’m sure he was comforted by that.”

“The enemy is still outside the city. Don’t destroy yourself. Driving back the rebels is what Lord He would want to see!”

Zheng Wenchang slowly lifted a pair of bloodshot eyes and looked toward the sea of rebel troops below the city walls.

“The rebels…”

His voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes… the rebels.”

“They deserve to die.”

The bones in his clenched fists crackled audibly.

After rising to his feet, he immediately shouted,

“Soldiers, hear my command!”

“Follow me out of the city!”

“We will take Sui Yuanhuai’s head and avenge Lord He!”

The deputy general hurriedly stopped him.

“Wenchang, don’t be reckless!”

“Twenty thousand rebel troops surround the city. Charging out now is no different from smashing an egg against a rock!”

The cavalry Fan Changyu and Zheng Wenchang had brought numbered only three thousand.

After fighting their way into the city, only two thousand remained.

Two thousand against twenty thousand.

Defending the city was possible.

Opening the gates and attacking was suicide.

Veins bulged on the backs of Zheng Wenchang’s hands.

His gaze fixed on the eight-horse war chariot protected at the center of the rebel army.

His teeth ground together.

“Then I’ll go alone.”

“I’ll take Sui Yuanhuai’s head myself!”

With that, he picked up his spear and strode toward the stairs.

He was like a maddened bull.

Even the deputy general could not hold him back.

As he passed Fan Changyu, who had remained silent the entire time, she suddenly moved.

Her strike was as fast as lightning.

The edge of her hand slammed into the back of Zheng Wenchang’s neck.

His vision went black, and he collapsed instantly.

“Wenchang!”

The deputy general quickly caught him.

At first he was alarmed, but once he realized Zheng Wenchang had merely been knocked unconscious, he immediately understood Fan Changyu’s intentions.

There was only one female general in the entire northwest army.

It was not difficult for him to guess her identity.

Gratefully, he said,

“Thank you, Commander Fan.”

Fan Changyu replied,

“Take General Zheng below and let him rest.”

The deputy general summoned several soldiers to carry Zheng Wenchang away.

At the same time, he ordered a stretcher brought over.

He Jingyuan’s body was carefully laid upon it.

With his eyes closed, the old man still looked imposing.

Yet there was now a peacefulness in his features.

As the soldiers carried him away, Fan Changyu quietly gazed at him for a long while.

Then she softly called out,

“Uncle He.”

The first words were spoken as the daughter of an old friend.

The next as one of his subordinates.

“I will hold Lu City.”

“I will not allow the rebels to take even a single inch of Jizhou soil.”

The deputy general felt a lump rise in his throat.

“Commander Fan… please take care of yourself as well.”

Fan Changyu nodded silently.

Just as she turned to examine the battlefield below, a scout who had been observing the enemy rushed over.

“General!”

“The rebels are preparing to attack again!”

The deputy general’s expression changed dramatically.

He hurried to the battlements and looked down.

Below, the rebels had already reorganized the formations scattered by Fan Changyu’s cavalry charge.

Shield walls and archers once again advanced at the front, covering the troops carrying siege ladders as they approached the city walls.

The deputy general immediately began issuing orders.

“Archers!”

“Quickly!”

“Fill every battlement!”

“Two men per position, rotate continuously!”

Then he turned toward Fan Changyu.

“Commander Fan, how many cavalrymen are skilled archers?”

“Get them up here and fill every opening on the walls!”

Fan Changyu immediately ordered Xie Wu,

“Bring every archer still capable of fighting onto the walls.”

Most cavalrymen were already the elite among ordinary soldiers.

Archers needed tremendous arm strength to draw longbows, making mounted archers even rarer.

Of the original five hundred archers among Fan Changyu’s three thousand cavalry, many had fallen during the charge into the city.

Only a little over three hundred remained battle-ready.

Xie Wu brought all of them onto the walls and positioned them at the battlements.

The civilians who had previously helped defend the city voluntarily moved below the inner wall to transport weapons, stones, and rolling logs.

Fan Changyu had fought many siege battles.

This was her first time defending a city.

Attacking a city relied on courage and momentum.

Defending one was different.

Looking down from the walls at an ocean of enemies surging forward was far more oppressive.

The enemy formations stretched endlessly into the distance.

The psychological pressure was immense.

Fear could easily take root.

The deputy general was clearly experienced.

When the enemy shield formations entered range, he shouted at the top of his lungs,

“The last time they attacked, we held this wall with fewer than a thousand men!”

“Now we have thousands of reinforcements!”

“We can beat these bastards back with our eyes closed!”

The moment the enemy entered range, he roared,

“Loose arrows!”

A storm of arrows flew from the walls.

Two archers occupied every battlement.

One fired while the other prepared the next arrow.

As soon as the first stepped back, the second immediately took his place.

This ensured an uninterrupted rain of arrows.

Fan Changyu observed alongside the deputy general.

Enemy soldiers fell constantly.

But there were simply too many of them.

When one man died, another climbed over his corpse and continued forward.

Through sheer numbers, the rebels eventually succeeded in placing siege ladders against the walls again.

The defenders reacted quickly.

While the archers fired, soldiers and civilians hurled stones and rolling logs.

Barrels of oil were poured down.

Then torches followed.

The ladders and the men climbing them were instantly engulfed in flames.

The rebels screamed and desperately tried to extinguish the fire.

But their clothing was soaked in oil.

Soon they became human torches and tumbled from the ladders.

When Fan Changyu first entered the battlefield, the sight of corpses alone had made her nauseous.

Now, witnessing scenes that resembled hell itself, she still felt sickened.

The difference was that she no longer felt the urge to vomit.

She could even calmly discuss the battle.

“General He, I think we’re running low on oil.”

“Shouldn’t we conserve it?”

“If stones and logs can destroy a ladder, we should use those instead.”

The military supplies in Lu City had been transported to Chongzhou after the first siege was lifted.

At the time, no one had imagined the trapped rebels would somehow escape and launch a counterattack against Lu City.

Deputy General He sighed.

“I thought the same thing.”

“But Lord He said we couldn’t let the rebels discover how little supply remained.”

“If they launch several assaults and we drive them back every time, even their human-wave tactics will eventually wear them down.”

“But if they realize our supplies are running out, they’ll become even more desperate to take the city.”

Fan Changyu fell silent.

He was right.

The defenders were already at a disadvantage.

If their lack of supplies became obvious, enemy morale would soar.

Taking Lu City would become effortless.

Fortunately, with the help of the two thousand cavalry and the city’s civilians, Lu City survived another assault.

As the rebels sounded the retreat and withdrew like beaten dogs, cheers erupted across the walls.

But after conducting an inventory, the quartermaster approached Deputy General He with a grim expression.

“General.”

“We’re almost out of arrows.”

“And only a few barrels of oil remain.”

Deputy General He glanced at the rebels reorganizing below and turned to Fan Changyu.

“Commander Fan, how long until General Tang arrives?”

Fan Changyu calculated briefly.

“Lu City is over a hundred li from Chongzhou.”

“Even if General Tang abandons everything and marches at full speed, we still need to hold for at least another two hours.”

Deputy General He looked out across the smoke-covered battlefield.

“Then we’ll hold for another two hours.”

Behind Fan Changyu, Xie Wu’s expression changed subtly.

But he said nothing.

Throughout the walls, only the ordinary soldiers celebrated this temporary victory.

The officers all knew the truth.

Arrows.

Oil.

Stones.

Logs.

Everything was nearly gone.

Lu City could not be held much longer.

Every face carried a heavy burden.

Yet no one said it aloud.

Everyone simply continued doing what needed to be done.

They were no longer preparing for another defense.

They were preparing for a glorious death.

At a time like this, even grief seemed unnecessary.

Fan Changyu looked at the faces around her.

Some solemn.

Some smiling brightly.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly said to Deputy General He,

“I have an idea.”

“It might allow Lu City to hold a little longer.”

Deputy General He immediately asked,

“What idea?”

Fan Changyu replied,

“I’ll take a dozen men outside the city and challenge their generals.”

“While they’re occupied, you seal the gates.”

Deputy General He’s expression changed.

He immediately realized she intended to trade her life for time.

“No!”

Fan Changyu said,

“It’s the only way I can think of.”

She looked at him steadily.

“The rebels fled here overnight. Their supplies must be running low as well.”

“If they enter the city, the civilians will suffer.”

“Lord He defended Lu City even after death itself claimed him.”

“How can we allow the city to fall simply because we fear death?”

“The city still needs someone to command it.”

“That person must be you.”

“So I request permission.”

Deputy General He hesitated.

Xie Wu stepped forward urgently.

“If Commander insists on going, let me take your place.”

For the first time, Fan Changyu spoke harshly to him.

“You’re not qualified.”

Xie Wu froze.

Deputy General He looked troubled.

“Commander Fan…”

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together and saluted.

“General He.”

“My true name is Meng Changyu.”

“I am the descendant of General Meng Shuyuan of Changshan.”

“Deceiving the Emperor is already a capital crime.”

“If I cannot uncover the truth behind Jinzhou and clear my ancestors’ names in this lifetime, then at least let me do one good deed for the people.”

“Let the Meng family’s honor continue through this.”

“I ask General He to grant my request.”

Deputy General He was shaken to the core.

After struggling for a long moment, he finally closed his eyes.

“Permission granted.”

Fan Changyu bowed.

“Thank you, General.”

Then she turned and headed downstairs.

Xie Wu hurried after her.

“I’ll accompany you.”

Fan Changyu stopped in a deserted corner.

To Xie Wu’s surprise, her tone was calm.

“Xiao Wu.”

“Thank you for everything these past months.”

“I know you and Xiao Qi stayed beside me because of him.”

“But he’s going to marry the Princess.”

“If I keep you with me after that, I won’t even be able to face myself.”

Xie Wu had remained by her side and knew nothing about the imperial marriage decree.

Hearing this, he was stunned.

At the same time, panic rose within him over what she intended to do.

“Commander!”

“There must be some misunderstanding!”

“Who told you the Master was marrying the Princess?”

Fan Changyu did not answer.

“I don’t blame him.”

“The Jinzhou massacre shocked the world.”

“No one could forgive that.”

“I’ve always believed my father and grandfather were innocent.”

“But that’s only what I believe.”

“If I die in Lu City today, then let it be considered atonement on their behalf.”

“There’s only one thing I wish to ask of you.”

“If I die and Lu City survives, avoid the Emperor’s agents and Wei Yan’s spies.”

“Find a good family to adopt Ningniang.”

She paused.

For a long while, she said nothing.

Then she whispered,

“She’s the only one I can’t let go of.”

There was someone else she could not let go of as well.

But the fate between them had already ended long ago.

Xie Wu’s eyes reddened.

“Commander…”

Fan Changyu cupped her fists.

“I’m counting on you.”

Before he could respond, she had already turned away.

Below, a small force was assembled inside the barbican.

The sixteen men were all natives of Jizhou.

Every face carried the solemn determination of men ready to die.

Fan Changyu looked at each of them in turn.

“We’re riding out.”

“If we can hold them even a little longer and survive until reinforcements arrive, our brothers-in-arms and the people inside this city won’t have to die.”

“History may remember our names.”

“Our families will receive compensation from the court and never want for food or clothing again.”

“But if we fail and the city falls…”

“We’ll simply become one more set of bones beneath the yellow sands.”

“Our wives, children, and parents may wander homeless through war.”

“Or die beneath rebel blades.”

After speaking, she mounted her horse.

Then she shouted toward the soldiers guarding the gates,

“Open the gates!”

The massive gates slowly swung open with a grinding creak like rolling wagon wheels.

As Fan Changyu rode out with her blade in hand, the black mass of rebel troops in the distance visibly froze.

Sixteen elite riders followed behind her.

Arranged in a goose-wing formation, they looked like a pair of wings extending from her back.

Only the last trace of crimson sunlight remained on the horizon.

The Jizhou banner atop the city walls snapped violently in the wind.

Across the deathly silent battlefield, Fan Changyu’s voice tore through the evening gale and echoed into every ear.

“I am Meng Changyu, descendant of Meng Shuyuan!”

“Which rebel general dares come out and face me?”