Chapter 1429
Siege, Assassination [3]
Chapter 1429 Siege, Assassination [3]
The entire place was deathly silent; no one spoke, yet a palpable murderous aura emanated from everyone present.
Ding!
Commander Da Gan's dagger sank heavily into the floor of the secret room, his eyes calm yet resolute: "Oralize your will, leave two military officers to write it down and hide it. A quarter of an hour later, carry out the assassination mission, targeting the enemy's fourth prince, in order to disrupt the enemy army and prevent them from spreading the plague!"
However, this cannot stop the enemy from poisoning the enemy in the long run; the enemy's source of poison must be destroyed.
"Yes!" The soldiers inside the secret chamber responded one after another and began to dictate their wills.
"My private savings are kept with Commander Gan: ten taels of silver notes, one tael of silver, three leather boots, two cotton quilts, four slices of ginseng, and five months' back pay... which I divided among my four siblings. My eldest brother bears the responsibility of ancestral worship, so he gets forty percent of the money. The remaining sixty percent is divided equally among my younger brother, eldest sister, and youngest sister. I also told my youngest brother that he can enjoy life, but he must take responsibility. Otherwise, if he runs out of good fortune and hasn't developed any skills, his branch of the family will be doomed!"
"Tsk, Tu Zi, this is way too long. Make the rest of it shorter, or it'll take forever!" Commander Da Gan, annoyed by their rambling, hurriedly gave instructions.
"Understood." The soldiers responded, briefly explaining where their property was hidden and how it would be divided, and leaving their families only one last message: "No regrets, it was worth it!"
Jiang Dalang wrote his own will, which was quite long, shocking even himself.
I thought he had no real feelings for the family and friends in this body, but I didn't expect him to write several pages of explanations.
He wrote a separate will for Qin Xiaomi/Susu, leaving half of his fortune to her, saying it was what she deserved, and...
Xiaomi, I have never done anything to betray you or our family.
Intrigue and schemes are like chains from the sky. I originally intended to break these chains before confessing to you, so that you could have an easier time in the early stages. In the end, it was my own mistake.
But in the end, Jiang Dalang used ink to black out the last sentence...
"Have you all confessed? Assemble!" Commander Gan shouted.
Those who heard this stood up like arrows, instantly appearing before Commander Gan, Commander Jiang, and Commander Zhong.
Jiang Ganzhong and his two companions unfolded a map of the city's outskirts and the assassination route. After explaining the missions of each team to the soldiers again, they performed a traditional Wei military salute and uttered an old saying that must be uttered when facing death: "Respect yourselves, then act!"
"Respect yourselves, take action!" The soldiers responded, and in batches they emerged from the secret chamber through the small door, rushing towards different tunnels like swift rabbits, following the route map.
On the ground...
Thump thump thump, thump thump thump!
The horribly unpleasant sound of enemy war drums rose and fell in waves.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Large catapults were pushed to the banks of the moat.
"Blow, blow, blow, fill the bladder with air, and with the divine wind, send the poison into the capital of Liangwei, so that Liangwei will die from the divine poison and become slaves to the gods!"
With a great victory in sight, Xiqin Erqin was very excited. He rode back and forth on horseback, giving orders to the western soldiers to prepare various poisoning methods.
With a whoosh, the western soldiers vigorously blew up the leather bags, making them as big as baskets. They then tied them with ropes, glued them with bone glue, sealed them, and sent them to the twelfth prince who was guarding the plague germs.
"The bladder is here! Slave soldiers, tie the divinely bestowed fire poison pack to the bottom of the bladder and prepare to send the poison into the city!" The twelfth prince stood on the chariot, shouting excitedly, enjoying the exhilarating feeling of standing on the chariot like a proper prince, commanding the troops with great confidence.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Hundreds of slave soldiers immediately crawled toward the skin pouch, took the newest and strongest Flame Poison from the divine physician, and tied the poison pouch to the bottom of the skin pouch.
After a lot of fiddling around, about half an hour later, everything was almost ready. Thump thump thump!
"Reporting to the Fourth Prince, the preparations for setting off the fire and poisoning are complete. Please give the order to poison!" Xi Qin Erqin rushed to ask the Fourth Prince before Xi Yan, Bei Qi De Mo, and Bei Qi De Kui could, and even suggested obsequiously, "Would the Fourth Prince like to move forward and witness the spectacular poisoning up close?"
Bei Qidemo thought he was crazy. He was like a plague virus, and he wanted to stay far away. Why would he suggest looking at him up close? You're probably a spy from Liangwei!
The fourth prince was silent for a moment, then said, "The entire army shall advance two miles to witness the magnificent feat of divinely bestowed fire and poison!"
This?
After calculating the distance and finding it safe, Bei Qidemo stopped obstructing them.
"I obey!" Xiqin Erqin glanced triumphantly at Beiqi Demo before spurring his horse forward to deliver the prince's decree.
"The vanguard will advance two miles to help the Fourth Prince witness the heroic act of poisoning!"
Upon receiving the order, the slave soldiers, the two thousand dead soldiers from the west and north, and the vanguard were divided into three groups—front, middle, and rear—and advanced toward the moat of the capital city.
The fourth prince was in the fourth batch, at least two miles away from the plague-carrying slave soldiers, so he was quite safe and didn't have to worry about contracting the plague.
On the city wall, General Chu and his men were horrified when they saw the enemy's actions. They immediately ordered, "Quickly send Commander Bai and the others back to the city. The enemy is really going to throw the plague virus into the city!"
"All Wei soldiers on the city walls, prepare to evacuate to avoid the poison; archers and ranged weapons, prepare to shoot down the poison thrown by the enemy!"
"Beat the drums to inform all Wei citizens to stay indoors, close doors and windows tightly, and not to go out and contract the disease. After the poison attack, the Wei army will use the sound of drums to inform everyone whether they can go out!"
"Yes!" The messengers immediately went down from the city walls to convey these orders.
The drummers on the four city walls also beat their drums, using a specific rhythm to notify the Wei people inside the city.
"King Ye, Imperial Envoy Qi, it's dangerous here. Please come down from the city wall immediately and hide in General Liang's house to avoid the poison attack!" General Chu asked them to take refuge temporarily.
They weren't being reckless; they were heeding the advice: "Alright, General Chu, we'll have to trouble you here. If the poison attack gets close to the city wall, General Chu, you must immediately go down to the city wall to take refuge. You are a very important person, so please take good care of yourself."
"I understand. Get off the city wall now." Enough with the nonsense.
However, the King of Ye and the Qi envoy had only taken a few steps when they heard the sentry tower soldiers on the city wall shout: "There is a problem with the enemy's vanguard formation!"
Several sentry tower soldiers were waving flags and shouting, which showed that it wasn't a momentary lapse of vision, but rather that a major situation had indeed occurred in the enemy's vanguard formation.
If it's a minor disturbance, the city tower is too far away to see clearly; it must be a major disturbance for us to get a general idea.
Upon hearing this, the King of Ye and the Qi envoy were unwilling to leave. They hurriedly turned around and ran back, leaning half their bodies out over the battlements to look towards the enemy's direction. They asked, "What is the enemy's formation? Please have the sentry tower soldiers take a closer look! Report back immediately after you have finished!"
Hundreds of sentry tower soldiers squinted, intently observing...
After a while, he shouted with delight, "Smoke from the explosions of thunderbolts is rising from the rear, middle, and front sections of the enemy vanguard formation, near the moat. Our Great Wei soldiers are killing the enemy!!"
Almost all the sentry tower soldiers saw it, so the words were heard loudly and repeatedly.
"Da Gan, it must be Da Gan and the others who have shown up to fight the enemy!" General Chu was heartbroken: "That troublemaker Da Gan, couldn't he just stay in the secret room and find a chance to escape back to the city? Why does he have to do this to make himself look so capable? He's not young anymore, his stamina can't support him doing this!"
"Dalang, Sanjun, and Zhong Baihu must have also shown up to fight the enemy." The Prince of Ye's heart clenched, and he ordered the imperial guards, "If Dalang and the others can fight their way to the moat, please ask Chief Wei to lead the imperial guards to help Dalang. I beg you!"