Chapter 235: Hello Chang’an
Chapter 235: Will There Be Reinforcements?
Chang Kuo looked at his daughter for a moment before speaking solemnly. “Ning Ning, Hezhou is not a place you can go.”
Chang Suining just as seriously asked in return, “Then why can Father go?”
“Because I am a general,” said Chang Kuo. “Even if not for the court, a general bears the duty to protect the common people. That is the sacred duty of all who serve in the army.”
“Those who serve in the army have their duty, but ordinary people have theirs as well. To resist the enemy in times of peril—that too is a person’s natural duty, their innate instinct.”
The girl’s voice was not loud, but it was clear and strong. “Whether as a general or as my father, neither can stop me from following my instinct to drive back the enemy.”
The girl was not the least bit obedient. She had no notion of “treating her father as heaven.” She did not plead or negotiate—she was speaking with her father about what it meant to be human.
She wore an ordinary soldier’s uniform, her journey dusty and long, lips slightly chapped—but her eyes remained bright as stars. Overhead, starlight shimmered, as if the moonlight had draped itself across her shoulders, washing away all traces of her weariness and turning her into a blade about to gleam forth in brilliance.
Steadfast. Sharp. Dazzling.
That radiance, that fiery edge beneath the steel, made Chang Kuo think of the Sunshine Sword now housed in Xuanzhe’s residence—His Highness’s sword.
In that instant, it was as if a falling star streaked across his soul, awakening some deep, familiar resonance.
Chang Kuo stood there, momentarily stunned.
“The wife and son of the Prefect who now defend Hezhou to the death are not soldiers either,” Suining said steadily. “If the Prefect’s wife and child can fight the enemy, then so too can the General’s daughter.”
Under the starlight, the girl stood straight as a drawn sword awaiting inspection, her gaze firm and her voice sonorous.
“Suining has more than one skill. I can draw the war bow as an archer, ride into battle as a cavalrywoman, and am adept with both blade and spear. I have courage and fear no pain. I am willing to serve as a personal guard under the General’s command, and to fight the enemy alongside him!”
Their eyes met. Chang Kuo felt his chest tighten; his eyes suddenly burned. Regaining his voice, he said hoarsely, “Good… Since this soldier is so capable, then today I shall take her in!”
The girl’s eyes shone even brighter. She raised both hands before her and saluted him.
Chang Ren, overcome with emotion, said aloud, “Willing to fight alongside the General to repel the enemy!”
Standing beside them, Chang Mao also stepped forward, suppressing his excitement. “...Willing to fight alongside the General to repel the enemy!”
Chang Kuo glanced over. “...”
What nonsense are these two getting into?
Chang Suining turned to them. “You two can’t go.”
She had other plans for them—plans she needed to discuss privately with her father.
After ordering Chang Ren and Chang Mao to stand guard, she leaned in and spoke her plan in a low voice.
When she finished, Chang Kuo’s face turned from red to green, from green to white, from white to black.
Suining looked at him and thought, With that face alone, one could open a dye shop… No, perhaps a hundred of them across the realm.
“Father must consider the greater good,” she urged gently. “The more strategies we have, the greater our chances of victory.”
“...” Chang Kuo’s face shifted through a few more colors before he muttered, “But that man’s temperament is strange and unpredictable… he may not agree.”
“Leave that to me. You only need to grant permission.”
After a long silence, Chang Kuo finally gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
Chang Suining borrowed pen and paper, wrote a letter, and handed it to Chang Ren and Chang Mao. “This task is vital. Be cautious along the way.”
“Yes!”
The two responded firmly, bowed deeply, and left.
“…So this is one of the two plans my daughter spoke of earlier?” Chang Kuo asked, his emotions mixed.
Chang Suining thought a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“And the other plan?”
“Let’s save something to discuss on the road,” Chang Suining said with an impassive face. “Otherwise, if Father ties me up and sends me home, where would I go to reason with him?”
Chang Kuo sighed helplessly. “Child, would your father ever go back on his word? Must you treat your father with such guarded suspicion?”
Chang Suining said mildly, “Father also often says—‘a heart of vigilance is never misplaced.’”
Of course, that wasn’t the point.
The point was—those so-called “two plans” she had mentioned earlier were nonsense… Just a carrot to make the donkey move forward.
But that was fine. Strategies could be made up along the way. As long as one had a working mind, something would always come.
“Fine, be on guard if you must!” Chang Kuo chuckled twice, no longer pressing the matter. He waved his hand. “Come, let’s warm ourselves by the fire and eat some flatbread.”
Chang Suining smiled and followed.
It had been a long time since she last shared a fire and flatbread with her father.
The flames burned hot, warming her limbs and stirring her blood.
If, when she reunited with her father on the road back to the capital with Wei Shuyi, she had felt as though she were escorting a soul home, then at this moment by the fire, she was alive again.
However perilous tomorrow might be, where my heart finds peace, there is my home.
Here by her homeland’s fire, with old comrades beside her, a blade at her side, and a horse behind her—she was truly reborn.
Glory or shame, the past could now be thrown into the flames to burn into ash and dust.
Let the past lie forgotten. From this moment on, she would make the world remember anew the name—Chang Suining.
The flames blazed high, lighting up the night sky.
When the first light of dawn appeared in the east, Chang Kuo led less than twenty thousand troops on the march.
Compared to yesterday, there was now one new face among his personal guards.
Horse hooves shattered the faint morning light, breaking through the frozen breath of winter, heading toward rougher ground.
Inside Hezhou City, the gates were sealed. The streets were empty—no commoners dared step outside.
The noonday sun hung high, but could not dispel the dread and stillness blanketing the city.
Inside the Prefect’s residence, a young man had just finished changing his bandages. As he tied his belt, a man in armor hurried in and saluted gravely. “Second Young Master!”
“Uncle Peng,” the youth stood upright at once, expression firm. “What news?”
They had earlier dispatched two groups of soldiers to break through the siege—one to request reinforcements, and another to gather intelligence.
The adjutant surnamed Peng did not answer the question. Instead, he said solemnly, “I have arranged an elite detachment. Please, Second Young Master, Third Young Master, and Madam—leave the city at once under their escort!”
“Leave the city?” The youth’s face changed, his tone decisive. “I will not! If I leave, who will defend Hezhou?”
“Please hear me, Young Master!” Peng’s voice was urgent, his grief barely restrained. “Of the soldiers who went to gather intelligence, only one returned… He reports that although a large army has left Shouzhou Camp, its route is not toward Hezhou—they’re marching for Yangzhou instead!”
“Yangzhou?” The youth froze. “Why…”
“What else could it be? They’re seizing the chance—while Xu Zhengye throws all his might against Hezhou—to reclaim Yangzhou from the rear!”
The youth was at a loss, uncertain. “Uncle Peng… is there truly such a tactic? Is this… the right thing to do?”
“Right? Damn that so-called strategy!” Peng exploded, his anger breaking through restraint. “It must be Li Yi’s idea! That man only schemes in the shadows, never daring to face Xu Zhengye head-on!”
If there were ever foolishness, it was the kind of foolishness born of malice!
The youth’s face turned pale. “Uncle Peng… you mean… they’ve abandoned Hezhou?”
So—no reinforcements would come.
Peng seized his arm. “Quickly, Young Master! If you delay any longer, it will be too late!”
Dragged forward a few steps, the youth tore free. “No—I will not leave!”
“Court no longer cares for Hezhou’s life or death—who are you still fighting for?”
“For the people of Hezhou!”
The voice that rang out behind him was steady, resonant—and unmistakably female.
“Madam!” Peng turned, immediately bowing deeply.
A woman in her forties entered, pale and visibly weakened, streaks of white showing in her hair—but her gaze was sharp and commanding. A boy of twelve or thirteen followed at her side.
“Xu Zhengye speaks of ‘saving the world,’ yet his deeds are no better than bandits. Wherever he goes, he forcibly drafts men, seizes property, leaving refugees and ruin behind.”
“Born of a noble clan, he wines and dines with the gentry under the pretense of righteousness, but he sees the common people as insects! His talk of supporting the Crown Prince is but a pretext. He harbors the heart of a wolf—the true traitor who will ruin the realm!”
“If Xu Zhengye had shown kindness to the people, I would have gladly borne the name of rebel’s accomplice and opened Hezhou’s gates to welcome his troops this very day!”
“But my husband and eldest son died defending Hezhou—not out of blind loyalty to the court.”
Tears glistened in her eyes, though her voice did not waver. “They fought because they knew—if Hezhou falls, its people will be trampled as refugees, and soon all of Huainan will share the same fate!”
The youth clenched his fists. “Mother is right. Father ordered me before he died to guard our home. I will hold the gate until my last breath!”
Peng opened his mouth to speak again—but the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside.
“Report!”
“Twenty li from the city—Xu’s army has appeared again! Led by Ge Zong—they’re advancing on Hezhou!”
Peng cursed fiercely. “...As expected!”
In recent days they had fought five or six bloody battles. This Ge Zong was one of Xu Zhengye’s most capable commanders.
If he was attacking now, Xu Zhengye clearly meant to take Hezhou at all costs.
“How many men do we have left, Ah Hui?” the woman asked her son.
The youth’s eyes trembled slightly. “Excluding the severely wounded… only eight thousand remain.”
Those two words—only eight thousand—were both chilling and heartbreaking.
“And how many do they have?”
The soldier reporting hesitated. “Nearly a hundred thousand…!”
“They mean to take Hezhou no matter the cost,” the woman said quietly. Then her gaze steadied. “Ah Hui, will you face the enemy with your mother?”
The youth Yun Hui was stunned. “Mother!”
He would go, yes—but how could his mother?
“I’m going too!” cried the twelve-year-old boy.
The woman looked at her youngest son and nodded. “Good. Then we go together.”
“Madam!” Peng fell to his knees, weeping. “The Prefect has already lost his eldest son. Madam must preserve at least one bloodline! Allow me and Second Young Master to defend the city—take Third Young Master and flee!”
But little Yun Gui said resolutely, “I’m not leaving! I’ll fight beside Mother and Brother!”
Though only twelve, he already understood what “defending the city” meant—and the price it would demand.
“Bloodline…” The woman gazed at her two sons softly. “If we can hold Hezhou today, that will be best. But if we cannot, then our blood will fall here, and in this soil Hezhou’s legacy will endure. That is how your father’s bloodline will live on.”
Peng trembled, tears streaming down his face as he bowed his head to the ground, unable to speak.
Yun Hui met his mother’s eyes, and all hesitation vanished.
The youth tied a strip of white cloth across his brow. Mother and sons, clad in armor, rode out together.
Hearing the commotion, the citizens pushed open their doors, following them to the gates—sending the Yun family and eight thousand soldiers to the front.
The gates opened—then slowly closed again. The soldiers outside, the people within.
As the soldiers’ backs disappeared from view, someone among the crowd broke down and wept.
“Brother, will reinforcements really come?” Yun Gui asked softly, gripping a spear as tall as himself.
“They will,” Yun Hui said firmly to his brother—and louder, to the soldiers. “The imperial army will arrive soon! We must hold until reinforcements come!”
“Yes!”
The soldiers roared in unison, their morale soaring.
Peng glanced at Yun Hui.
The youth smiled back.
The battle had not yet begun—he could not let morale collapse first.
Deep down, he still clung to a thread of hope. He had sent out two groups of scouts—one had not returned. What if… what if they were on their way back even now, with news of help?
He knew it was naïve. But for one about to die, was he not allowed a moment of naïve hope?
Yun Hui spurred his horse and led the charge.
The two armies met five li outside the city—one driven by greed, the other by desperation.
Hooves churned dust into the air, the stench of blood filled the wind, and earth and sky became a single vast canvas of carnage.
But no matter how fierce their spirit, Hezhou’s defenders soon showed the crushing disparity in numbers.
General Ge Zong, seeing victory in hand, did not even need to fight. Watching the blood-soaked youth from horseback, he asked, “That one—is the Prefect’s son?”
“Yes, General!”
“Hmm. A spirited one,” Ge Zong said. “The Grand General needs such men. Tell them—those who surrender will be spared.”
Soon the Xu army’s shouts rose: “Surrender and live!”
“There are only heroes who die in battle today,” Yun Hui roared, “and cowards who surrender to traitors!”
He cut down another enemy soldier, his blade crimson.
Ge Zong sneered. “Foolish boy. Such obstinacy—misplaced valor.”
Then his gaze shifted—to the armored woman fighting fiercely among the ranks. “A woman?”
“That should be the Prefect’s widow,” a soldier replied.
“A widow, eh?” Ge Zong raised his brow. “The Grand General loathes women who meddle in affairs beyond their place. The court is not their stage—nor is the battlefield. Women are born yin and ill-starred; they corrupt the nation’s fortune.”
The soldier at his side knew whom his general was hinting at and merely bowed his head.
“A widow shrieking on the battlefield—such ill omen,” Ge Zong muttered, lifting his bow.
The arrow hissed through the air—but before it struck the Prefect’s widow, a small figure on horseback galloped forward, taking the arrow instead.
The child fell from his horse.
“Ah Gui!” the woman cried, her pupils contracting in horror.
She tried to rush forward, but an enemy’s spear barred her path.
Yun Hui spurred ahead, leapt from his horse, and caught his brother in his arms. “Ah Gui!”
The boy who had taken the arrow for his mother coughed blood, breath ragged. “Brother… are the reinforcements… almost here?”
Yun Hui trembled all over. He wanted to say it was a lie—there were no reinforcements!
But then his brother whispered faintly, “Brother, I think… I hear them coming…”
At that moment, Yun Hui’s eyes burned red; his heart split apart. His grief and rage ignited like wildfire.
There were no reinforcements.
There had never been.
A soldier swung a blade toward him—
But before it fell—
Whoosh—
A cold wind sliced through the air.
The attacker froze mid-swing.
An arrow, from nowhere, had pierced cleanly through his brow
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