In the pale light of dawn, the outskirts of Bianliang City were engulfed in slaughter. Searching: \(\¨Finished¨Book¨God¨Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free.

Xue Changgong spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his head buzzing. He pushed aside the doctor bandaging his forehead and stood up with his saber, still swaying slightly.

"Get out of the way! I'm fine! Fine! What's happening on the city walls? What's happening?"

He burst out of the doorway, the light shining down, and the sounds of battle immediately intensified. Ahead were the towering city walls near Xin Suanzao Gate, where shouts of killing spread. Then a personal guard rushed over, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, are you alright! Are you okay!"

"How dare you come down!" Xue Changgong grabbed his brother-in-law's collar. "Get back up there! Up there!"

"Brother-in-law, you fell from the city wall! You fell from the city wall! Brother-in-law, are you alright!"

Xue Changgong paused, slightly stunned. "I'm fine!"

Starting on the morning of the third day of the ninth month, the Jurchens launched a massive attack on Bianliang City, focusing on Chenqiao Gate, Xin Suanzao Gate, and Xin Fengqiu Gate. Xin Suanzao Gate faced the most intense assault. Xue Changgong was a deputy general in the Pengri Army, commanding over four hundred men. Not long before, Celai, a general under Zongwang, had led his siege troops across the moat and erected siege ladders against the city walls. Xue Changgong led his men to defend and engaged a group of Jurchens who had climbed the walls in a fierce battle, pushing a Jurchen general off the ramparts.

Falling from the seven or eight zhang high city wall, the two landed on the roof of a large cart. The Jurchen general cushioned his fall. When he regained consciousness, he was unharmed. Looking back, he considered himself lucky.

However, this was not the time for feeling fortunate. He practically dragged his brother-in-law towards the city walls. The Pengri Army was one of the most elite forces in the Wu Dynasty, receiving the best salaries and training. But his brother-in-law, the younger brother of his deceased wife, had only joined recently. He had personally taught him swordsmanship, but he hadn't seen much blood. Therefore, he couldn't allow his brother-in-law to retreat.

On the city walls, men were pouring boiling oil over the edge, and arrows flew amidst the flames. Xue Changgong walked into his men, shouting, "Your grandpa is back! Your grandpa fell from the wall and is perfectly fine, see! That Jurchen bastard is already mincemeat! I even ate a couple of bites! Rocks, oil, throw them down, burn them, cook them!"

Arrows flew from above the crenellations, landing in the city. He walked almost without flinching on the ramparts. Seeing their commander's ferocity, the soldiers also grabbed the city's defenses and hurled them down with greater intensity. In the distance, a siege ladder had survived the fierce defense, and Jurchen elites were rushing up. Xue Changgong raised his saber and shouted for his brother-in-law and others to charge forward.

Melee combat erupted on the city walls. Xue Changgong, skilled in ancestral swordsmanship, exchanged two blows with a tall Jurchen warrior and slashed him down. His personal guards also engaged the Jurchens in fierce combat. His brother-in-law feinted with his saber, dodging a Jurchen's descending blade. Then, with a shout of "Ah—!", he thrust his steel blade directly into the Jurchen's stomach, pushing the Jurchen back with red eyes.

Xue Changgong charged forward, blocking another Jurchen soldier's saber. The Jurchen with the pierced stomach was still retreating, his long saber swinging towards his brother-in-law's head. With a crash, Xue Changgong's steel saber smashed it aside, and he simultaneously kicked the Jurchen flying away. Then, he grabbed his brother-in-law's collar and pulled him aside, dodging the attacks of two other Jurchens.

Rolling on the city wall, he slapped his brother-in-law's face. Surrounded by shouts of battle, he roared at his brother-in-law's frenzied face, "Stir! I told you, stir—are you trying to die—" After shouting that, he charged out with a shout of "Ah!", plunging his saber into a Jurchen's stomach. Then, "Ah—" he frantically stirred it several times before suddenly pulling the saber back.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and burning. He didn't have time to check on his brother-in-law because more Jurchens were charging up. Blood splashed on his face from the severed neck of one of his personal guards as the body fell. He roared and charged forward. Sabers clashed fiercely, sparks flew, screams echoed, and blood splattered everywhere. As an iron spear crashed onto his head, he saw his brother-in-law pounce from the side.

Afterward, he faintly heard someone shouting, "Hold on! Hold on! Prime Minister Li is here! Prime Minister Li is here with reinforcements..."

****************

After the Jurchen army arrived in Bianliang, they first seized Moutuo Hill to the northwest of Bianliang City. It was originally the location of the Tiansi Supervisor, where the Wu Dynasty raised military horses. Surrounded by water on three sides, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The precise location of this garrison point was due to Guo Yaoshi's knowledge of the area around Bianliang, having visited the capital before. Then, on August 28th, the Jurchens launched an attack on the West Water Gate of Bianliang City along the waterway. This probing attack was repelled that night by Li Gang, who had been prepared.

The main attack on the three city gates on September 3rd was the official advance. The battles at Chenqiao Gate and Xin Fengqiu Gate were relatively simple. A large number of Jurchens were stopped at the moat. Only the battle at Xin Suanzao Gate was particularly fierce, with the Jurchens briefly scaling the city walls. Finally, Li Gang summoned thousands of archers from the palace guards and rushed over twenty miles from the city to reinforce the defense, finally driving back the Jurchens. The defending imperial troops on the city walls also suffered over a thousand casualties.

Xue Changgong woke up in the evening, surrounded by the sounds of agonizing cries, a strong smell of medicine mixed with blood.

This was the army's field hospital, where a large number of wounded soldiers who had participated in the battle on the city walls were concentrated. Injuries on the battlefield were unlike others. Severed arms and legs, lost eyes, were common occurrences. Some were emitting death rattles or screams during treatment. Beside Xue Changgong was a wounded soldier with a broken leg, staring upwards, making meaningless sounds. Xue Changgong was in a daze for a while before he could sit up. Then a personal guard came over: "Boss..."

Xue Changgong grabbed him. "What happened? Did we win?"

"We won, we won. Prime Minister Li brought reinforcements and drove back all the Jurchen dogs."

"Oh." Xue Changgong lowered his hand, then suddenly raised his head. "Where's Hou Jing? Where did he go! Why isn't he here?"

Hou Jing was his brother-in-law's name.

Although his memories of his first wife, who had died of a serious illness shortly after their marriage, were vague, Xue Changgong felt a responsibility for this brother-in-law whom he had brought into the army.

The personal guard hesitated. "Hou Jing... he's injured..."

"Injured! How is he? Where is he? Take me to see him!" Xue Changgong paused, then suddenly jumped out of bed. His body swayed, and he grabbed the personal guard's shoulder to steady himself. He patted his head and felt okay again, so he quickly walked forward. Around him were countless hellish scenes of wounded men, strong odors, blood crusted over, cries, groans, the despair of those with severed limbs, some crying and shouting, "I can't see, I can't see..." The doctors all had pale faces. He walked out of this camp, and a doctor was vomiting on the ground.

Fortunately, his brother-in-law was not seriously injured and was staying in the nearby light injury camp. Xue Changgong walked over and saw him, feeling relieved. Hou Jing had already gotten out of bed and was preparing to leave. Seeing Xue Changgong coming, he said, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, I killed three, I killed three!"

Xue Changgong looked at him, then patted his shoulder, his gaze turning cold. "You're lucky. I told you to stir. When the knife goes in, you have to stir it immediately, or you'll be the one who dies."

"I know, I know, brother-in-law. Are you alright? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Xue Changgong nodded.

That night, the city was jubilant. Xue Changgong returned to the army, and the officers above were discussing rewards. Over a hundred of Xue Changgong's soldiers had died, qualifying his unit for great merit. Left Prime Minister Li Gang distributed a large amount of silver.

The next day, the money arrived. After deducting the death benefits and the tributes to the superiors, the soldiers under Xue Changgong received five or ten taels of silver each. He had eighty-odd taels left in his hands. The imperial court was extremely generous this time, and this was already a large sum of money. Those who had suffered minor injuries in the battle received two days of leave, allowing them to take the silver home. At the same time, the lightly wounded were also responsible for delivering the death benefits to the families of the deceased—of course, if the battle started again, they would have to return immediately.

It was unclear who had issued this order, but it made a lot of sense. Delivering death benefits to the families of fallen soldiers was always a thankless task, but if the wounded delivered them, they would be less likely to be blamed. And these people bringing silver home would also encourage others in the city to defend it. So the next day, Xue Changgong and his brother-in-law Hou Jing ran to the homes of some brothers. It was an extremely difficult task, but after running around, his brother-in-law's mind became more active. "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, where should we go to have some fun? Take me to Fan Lou." As Xue Changgong's personal guard, he had received thirteen taels and two qian of silver, which was also a large sum for a soldier at this time.

Although Wu Dynasty soldiers were not highly valued, as a deputy general in the Pengri Army, Xue Changgong had occasionally visited places like Fan Lou. After his first wife died, he naturally remarried, but his second wife also fell ill and died shortly after their marriage. Since his parents had also died early, people said that he was cursed and brought bad luck to his family. Although he had considered marrying a third time, it never happened. He was a martial artist, with strong blood and energy, and most of the money he earned was spent in brothels.

In fact, in his heart, he even felt that the women in brothels were far more interesting than the wives he married. Without family constraints, he felt that it didn't matter if things continued that way.

But his brother-in-law bringing this up was a bit reckless.

Xue Changgong looked at his brother-in-law. "Ten or so taels of silver is a lot at home, but what's it worth in a place like Fan Lou? You should keep it at home. When the fighting is over, it'll be enough to marry a girl."

His brother-in-law avoided his gaze and pouted. "Brother-in-law, you also said that ten or so taels of silver is a lot in the countryside, but what kind of good family can you marry in the capital? And, brother-in-law, look at the situation these days, fighting like that, I took the money... I don't even know if I'll live to spend it..."

His words made Xue Changgong's gaze stern. Hou Jing paused, then said, "Actually, a few days ago, when I went to Zhu Ji to eat, I saw Miss Shishi's performance. Brother-in-law, if... if I could see it again, I would have no regrets..."

Xue Changgong slapped him on the head. After a moment, his gaze softened slightly. "You want to see Li Shishi with just a dozen taels of silver? And what's so great about that old maid!" He took a breath, then said, "Forget it, to celebrate repelling the Jurchens, Fan Lou is not charging soldiers these days, but Li Shishi is not so easy to see. With my military pass, maybe we can get a glimpse. You can come with me tonight and try our luck. Take this silver back quickly! Let your parents keep it and marry you a wife!"

He agreed, and Hou Jing nodded repeatedly, becoming excited. That night, the two headed towards Fan Lou. Xue Changgong and Hou Jing still had bandages on their bodies, but such injuries were indeed the most popular pass in Bianliang City at this time. On the way, Hou Jing talked about how Li Gang had led his troops to repel the Jurchens that day, preparing to brag about it to others in Fan Lou. Then he talked about Li Gang, thinking that he was really good.

"...The Jurchen dogs launched a surprise attack on the West Water Gate a few days ago, but they didn't expect that Prime Minister Li had already prepared, driving wooden stakes into the water and blocking the waterway with huge stones. The Jurchen dogs couldn't climb the city at all..."

"That's not hard to foresee. When the Jurchens came, every waterway leading out of the city was blocked like that. It's not like they only blocked the west side."

"Well, that's true." Hou Jing nodded, then lowered his voice. "But, I heard everyone say that in order to block the waterway, Prime Minister Li directly sent people to Grand Tutor Cai's residence before the war and demolished the gardens in Grand Tutor Cai's residence, filling the Taihu stones into the water. Brother-in-law, I'm thinking, any stone can be used to block the waterway, but Prime Minister Li insisted on demolishing Grand Tutor Cai's gardens. Do you think this is..."

"Shut up." Xue Changgong interrupted him sharply, glaring at him. "Don't mention things like this in the future... How can you and I guess about the affairs of those above..."

After a moment, he added, "Whether you can guess it or not, you can't say it!"

"Oh." Hou Jing nodded.

Before long, the two arrived at Fan Lou. It was already early evening, and the aroma of food was overflowing. After Xue Changgong revealed his identity, he learned that Fan Lou was offering free banquets to soldiers these days, and famous courtesans like Li Shishi were not difficult to see, but naturally not one-on-one. There were several high-ranking military officers in Shishi's courtyard at this time, but when they saw the injuries and unit designation on Xue Changjiu, Li Yun personally came to welcome him in.

In Li Shishi's room, guests were being served at a round table. There were already six or seven military officials, most of whom were higher in rank than Xue Changgong. However, after hearing Xue Changgong's designation, they all gave him a thumbs up and called him a hero. In the room, Shishi and her two beautiful maids took turns toasting everyone, asking about the battle and thanking them. Then there was naturally a performance, needless to say. Hou Jing was Xue Changgong's follower, but because he was injured, he was also able to sit down, watch the performance, and even receive inquiries from Li Shishi and the others. The young man hadn't even had a drink yet, but his face was already extremely red.

Even though she was no longer the most popular courtesan in Bianliang City at this time, Li Shishi still had an excellent reputation, not to mention that her singing and dancing skills had reached the peak of perfection. When the lights in the room dimmed and Miss Shishi left her seat and came over again, a simple dance performance could really make people feel excited. However, as someone who had just come from the battlefield and from that place of severed arms and legs, Xue Changjiu always felt that something was wrong. After a while, he excused himself and left, leaving his brother-in-law there.

As he left the room, Li Shishi was asking everyone about the scorched earth policy outside the city. A general said, "Now outside the city, troops from all over the country, hundreds of thousands of troops are heading towards Bianliang. The survival of the country depends on this battle. Once the war starts, hundreds of thousands of people around will naturally run away, so no one is mentioning the scorched earth policy."

Another general said, "I don't know why Miss Shishi is asking about this. This scorched earth policy was originally a bad idea. Everything with the Jurchens still needs to be decided on the battlefield..."

Xue Changgong was not clear about these things either. After leaving this courtyard, he asked about the whereabouts of a woman named He Leier in the lively Fan Lou. At this time, there were hundreds of women in Fan Lou, some selling their bodies and some not. He Leier was originally a courtesan's maid, and now she was just a red singer with no fame. When Xue Changgong found her, there were several men and women in the room, eating, drinking, and chatting. The men were all soldiers. Xue Changgong pretended to be drunk, showed his identity, and then naturally sat down next to He Leier and talked with everyone.

Those few were all junior officers in the army. Seeing that Xue Changgong was a deputy general of the Pengri Army and was injured, they did not dare to neglect him. Before long, everyone was talking enthusiastically. After a while, he fell into He Leier's arms, snoring, with a silver ingot in his hand, slapping it on the table.

When he woke up the next day, the woman was lying naked in his arms. Xue Changgong usually came to Fan Lou and naturally didn't have the money to find those famous girls. He had a period of messing around with this He Leier. After serving him with dressing, getting up, and washing, the woman asked hesitantly, "General, will you come again?"

Xue Changgong said, "If I don't die, I should come, right?"

After a while, the other party asked again, "Then... General, do you think this city can be defended?"

"This is the capital. Hundreds of thousands of troops are coming from outside the city. Of course it can be defended."

"Oh." He Leier nodded.

After a while, He Leier said hesitantly, "General, it's no longer possible to leave the city at this time, but I heard that if it's really dangerous, there is some kind of warrant that allows people to leave the city from the south. General, if you have this warrant, I mean... if... if... can you take Leier away?"

"I haven't heard of that thing." A sense of disgust rose in Xue Changgong's heart, and his tone became a little rougher. The woman should have noticed his emotions, and after a moment, her voice choked up.

"General... Leier, Leier doesn't mean that. Leier is... Leier has heard that women who fall into the hands of those Jurchens live worse than death. I don't want to die, and I don't want to fall into their hands..."

After she finished speaking in an almost crying tone, Xue Changgong's heart softened a little, and he sighed, "If there is such a thing, I will tell you. You... Sigh, don't worry..."

Actually, no one was confident about what would happen to this city next.

After he said that, the woman didn't mention it again. Then there was naturally another round of flattery, but Xue Changgong's interest was exhausted, and before long, he left Fan Lou.

When Xue Changgong left Fan Lou, Li Shishi was on the building outside, looking at the pedestrians on the street in the morning. In a city that was already under curfew at night, there was always an atmosphere of anxiety during the day. As the courtesan of Fan Lou, although she couldn't know the atmosphere on the battlefield, she was clearer about the overall situation than the average person.

The arrival of the Jurchens caused millions of people outside Bianliang City to flee in all directions, and hundreds of thousands of reinforcements were gathering. Wanyan Zonghan's Jurchen Western Route Army was blocked near Taiyuan. Zhe Keqiu and Liu Guangshi led 40,000 Western troops and were rushing to rescue. Small-scale battles or looting were constantly erupting everywhere. The number of casualties among the people who didn't have time to evacuate or were harboring illusions was also being constantly pushed higher in this atmosphere of confrontation. By the time the battle in October began, the blood of the civilians who had died in this confrontation could already stain every river near Bianliang red...

What she was thinking of was what Ning Yi had said to her when he left a month ago: "If possible, leave Bianliang and go south." Shishi was shocked by the meaning of his words, but bit her lip and did not choose to leave. However, at this time, she was afraid.

What separated the Jurchens from the millions of people in the city now was a thick city wall, but it was also like a thin layer of window paper. When the Jurchens really killed their way to Bianliang City, no one knew when they would rush into the city, and when that nightmare fell, no one could imagine what the men and women in the city would become.

No matter what her mood was when she decided to stay, at this moment, she knew that she was still afraid.

On the other hand, she didn't know what Ning Yi had become. A few days ago, the city was in an uproar because of the scorched earth policy, and there was endless debate in the imperial court. Later, Wanyan Zongwang marched straight across the Yellow River, and all the disputes came to an abrupt end. Shishi vaguely knew that he was going to find Qin Shaoxian, the second son of Prime Minister Qin, but Qin Shaoxian's W