"A true man can bend and stretch, and only by enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens can he hope to rise to prominence..." Peng Yuancheng rode on his horse, gazing into the distance. For a moment, the wind seemed to rise.
After Peng Yuancheng's army left Yuyang City, the soldiers on the city walls looked north and could no longer see Peng Yuancheng's military flag. The dust raised by the army's march also disappeared into the distant horizon.
A sudden commotion erupted within the city. Ever since hearing that the Peace Army was approaching Yuyang, the sentries at the gates had been extra vigilant to prevent spies from infiltrating. Peng Yuancheng had replaced all the guards at the four gates with trusted men he had brought from Dagu City. Although the local Yuyang soldiers complained, Peng Yuancheng insisted on this. The sentries turned around and saw several homeless children who had somehow found a huge kite. They were laughing as they launched the bright red kite into the sky, attracting a crowd of bolder children to watch.
The wind wasn't strong, so the kite rose slowly but steadily. A boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old was running around in the open space between the city wall and the buildings, pulling the kite. Several other homeless children, dressed in tattered clothes, chased after him, begging for the kite. It seemed they were about to fight. Some of the onlookers cheered them on, urging them to fight it out.
"Make them move aside!" the officer ordered.
A soldier jogged up to the homeless child and shouted, "Get out of here! Get out of here! No flying kites here!"
The homeless child seemed startled by him, looked back at him, and then began to reel in the kite string, muttering something under his breath. Seeing that he was moving slowly, the soldier kicked him and cursed, "You brat, hurry up!"
The homeless child fell to the ground with a thud, the kite string slipped from his hand, and the kite flew into the sky. A child next to him jumped up and grabbed the kite string, but the soldier snatched it away and tore the string. The kite slowly rose and gradually flew away.
The homeless children looked at each other, seemingly not expecting things to turn out this way. The soldier slapped another stunned child across the face, yelling, "Get out of here! Don't let me see you again!"
The homeless child who had been kicked down glared at the hate in his eyes, struggled to his feet, and silently pulled the other homeless children away. They ran until they reached a small alley before stopping.
"What should we do? What should we do?" a homeless child cried. "The kite has been flown away, and I don't know if my older brother and the others have seen it."
“You should have seen him.” The older, fifteen or sixteen-year-old street urchin was the leader. He said with a grim face, “I want revenge. That stinking soldier dared to treat us like that. I must get my revenge.”
"Once my brother gets into the city, we'll settle the score with him. I want to kill him with my own hands." Another homeless child who had been slapped was also full of anger, with five clear finger marks on his malnourished and thin face.
“I have an idea, we can help our older brother,” said the older of the homeless children. Then the group of little heads huddled together and whispered among themselves.
“Really? That’s risky.” One of the homeless children objected, his voice a little louder. The older homeless child reached out and tapped him on the head, not hard, but enough to make him realize he shouldn’t have objected.
"Don't worry, my brother will be in town soon, and no one will dare to bully us anymore!" Hope shone in the homeless child's eyes. "We can eat our fill, sleep warmly, and live a good life."
After chasing away the homeless children flying kites, the sentries at the gate felt particularly bored. The city gates were tightly shut, and according to Peng Yuancheng's instructions, no one was allowed to leave to prevent news from spreading from the city. Therefore, apart from the soldiers looking out from the city tower, the soldiers idly leaned against the shadows of the gate opening to escape the sweltering heat, gossiping about the differences between the girls of Dagu City and Yuyang City.
Suddenly, another commotion arose. The group of homeless children, who had been fighting and arguing earlier, rushed back. The older children were chasing after the younger ones, hitting them. From their argument, it seemed the older children were upset that the younger ones had taken the kite from them, causing the soldier to fly it. The children continued to argue and curse. Accustomed to the roughness of the marketplace, their curses were naturally very offensive, and most of them were directed at the soldier and officer from before.
Most of the soldiers laughed upon hearing this, but the officer and the soldier from before were enraged. The soldier from before strode over again, and the homeless children, seeing him approaching, ran back in a flash, cursing as they ran. The soldier was furious and turned to the officer for instructions. The officer coldly made a downward chopping gesture, meaning that he should do as he pleased, and it didn't matter if he killed these homeless children.
The soldier chased the group of homeless children and disappeared into the buildings. Although he was an adult, he was wearing armor and found it quite difficult to catch these children who were used to running. The two sides ran and shouted at each other, and soon even the shouts could not be heard anymore.
"This isn't a good idea," a soldier said timidly. "Let Old Wang go easy on them, don't actually kill these little monkeys. They're pitiful, too."
"Shut up!" the officer interrupted him. "These little bastards are nothing but trash. What pitiful people? They don't deserve to be called human. They can only blame their bad luck for being born in this chaotic world."
The officer's arrogant and cruel reply silenced the soldiers, but after a full incense stick's time, the soldier named Old Wang still hadn't returned. Instead, the group of homeless children walked over, grinning and shouting insults at the soldiers.
The officer assumed the soldier must have gotten lost in some alley and didn't think much of it, but the group of children shouting and cursing attracted passersby to stop and watch, which made him furious.
"Useless things!" he cursed Old Wang, and ordered three soldiers to chase after the children. This time he gave the order to capture them alive, but judging from his cold, dead-like eyes, if the homeless children fell into his hands alive, they would probably suffer a fate worse than death.
But to his surprise, the three soldiers also never returned, while the homeless child continued to come back cursing. Even the soldiers on the city wall found it amusing. They could see far from their vantage point, but they could only see the soldiers chasing the homeless child into the dense, spiderweb-like alleyways before disappearing again.
The officer still didn't realize something was wrong. In chaotic times, the head of an ordinary person is less important than the head of a chicken. It's common for soldiers to behead a few civilians, and no civilian dares to mess with these soldiers. Therefore, although ordinary soldiers often prey on civilians, they become accustomed to this and act without restraint. He didn't believe that these homeless children would be so bold as to attack soldiers.
"You all get over here!" he roared as he stepped forward. The homeless children panicked when they saw him leading dozens of soldiers approaching, and scattered and fled in all directions. The officer led his men to circle around and chase after them. Just then, they heard the terrified voice of a soldier who happened to turn around and look north.
"Then... what happened?"
In the north of the city, hundreds of men dragging banners were rapidly approaching Yuyang City. Judging from their flags and armor, they seemed to be Zhu family troops led by Peng Yuancheng. The city's guards shouted, "What's going on? In just half a day, there are only a few left?"
"Open the gate! Open the gate!" they shouted before they even reached the city gate.
"What's wrong? Who are you?" The soldiers on the city wall dared not be careless and shouted loudly.
"Lord Peng's army has been defeated and surrendered to the enemy! Quickly notify Supervisor Pang and open the gates to let us in!" the retreating soldiers shouted. "They'll be here soon, open the gates and let us in!"
The soldiers on the city wall looked at each other. They were all Peng Yuancheng's direct subordinates, so they did not trust these soldiers of the Zhu family. But if Peng Yuancheng really surrendered to the enemy, what would happen to those of them who remained in the city?
"Open the gate! Open the gate! You bunch of rabble from Dagu City, do you also want to follow your master Peng Yuancheng's example and surrender to Li Jun?" Seeing that they were reluctant to lower the drawbridge and open the city gate, the defeated soldiers shouted even louder, and their words were extremely harsh.
The defenders on the city wall were at a loss. In their hearts, they wanted to side with Peng Yuancheng. If Peng Yuancheng had really surrendered to Li Jun, then they should also surrender. But at this moment, they were in Yuyang City, and most of the soldiers left behind were from the Yuyang Army. This made them have some concerns.
A general shouted from the city wall: "You may enter the city, but you must first give us the password. When we leave the city, Lord Peng has agreed on the password with us!"
"Are you an idiot? Do you think we lowly soldiers would know the password? You must be colluding with Peng Yuancheng to surrender Li Jun! Brothers of Yuyang, kill him and open the city gates!"
As they argued, over a thousand more defeated soldiers poured down to the city walls. For a time, the area outside the north gate was filled with shouts. Although Pang Wu couldn't hear them from inside the city, he was worried about Peng Yuancheng and had left his trusted men near the city gate. Upon receiving the urgent report, he rushed over immediately. Looking down, he saw that it was indeed the flags of his own people, and even the people speaking had the Yu Yang accent.
"Open the city gates! Open the city gates now!" a defeated soldier suddenly shouted, pointing to the dust billowing behind them. "Li Jun is coming! Peng Yuancheng and Li Jun are coming! Open the city gates now and let us in!"
"Open the city gates!" Pang Wu ordered. The officer tried to dissuade him, but Pang Wu stabbed him to the ground with his sword, saying, "Arrest all of Peng Yuancheng's men. You think you can hand over Yuyang City to Li Jun? Don't dream. Even without Peng Yuancheng, I will defend Yuyang City!"
Chapter Twelve: Dawn
The iron gate creaked open, and the drawbridge slowly lowered. The defeated soldiers rushed in, and in the chaos, several soldiers standing at the city gate were pushed to the ground. Just as the other soldiers were about to shout, something unexpected happened.
"Kill!" Suddenly, these friendly forces turned on each other, and blood blossomed on the bodies of the unsuspecting defenders. Pang Wu, who was standing on the city wall, realized that he had made a terrible mistake, but it was too late.
He roared, "Lower the drawbridge, close the gates, and fire!" But in the chaos, no one obeyed his orders. Peng Yuancheng's men drew their swords to defend themselves, while the Yu Yang army, who had begun to receive orders, were busy fighting them. For a time, the city walls and the city below were locked in a fierce battle, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. A warrior wielding a large axe stepped onto the drawbridge and slashed it with all his might, severing the iron chain holding the bridge amidst sparks. Immediately afterward, the chain on the other side was also cut. The defenders below tried to close the city gates and drive out the soldiers who were pouring in, but in the initial attack, they had already suffered nearly half casualties and were unable to effectively resist or counterattack. Pang Wu looked around and realized that he was in an irrecoverable situation. He silently prepared to flee, but just then, an arrow shot from below the city walls, striking him squarely in the back. He didn't even have time to utter a sound before he collapsed and died.
"They're here! They're here!" The homeless children saw the bloody slaughter, but they seemed used to it, laughing loudly. The fighting and the clash of blades, the screams and the blood, seemed to them like fireworks and firecrackers at a ceremony. They even picked up stones and other things they could throw to attack the retreating defenders.
The defending forces were originally quite numerous, with nearly a thousand men stationed near the north gate. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred, and at that moment, all they could think about was escaping. A small squad of Peace Army soldiers, disguised as defeated troops, handed over control of the area near the city gate to their comrades and began to attack the city walls along the stone steps. The defending forces, having lost their commander and now in turmoil, were unable to stop the Peace Army's offensive. In a short time, the Peace Army had stormed the city walls.
Following closely behind the Peace Army troops as they stormed the city wall was a group of flag bearers. Once atop the wall, they tore down all the flags belonging to the Zhu family and Peng Yuancheng, replacing them with the Peace Army flags they had hidden on their bodies. In an instant, the entire north gate tower was ablaze with purple dragon flags. Just then, a gust of wind arose, and the purple dragon flags danced wildly in the wind, fluttering like patches of purple clouds.
The reinforcements from other gates arrived hastily at this time. In terms of numbers, they still outnumbered the Peace Army that had entered the city, but when they saw the large number of purple Peace Army battle flags in the distance, their morale collapsed. At this time, there was no leader of sufficient stature to clean up the mess, and almost no one was willing to rush into this battlefield where life and death were uncertain.
Just as they hesitated, the sound of rolling hooves approached from outside the city. A troop of cavalry entered the city, their path stained with blood. The leader wore a purple dragon-head helmet and dark red armor, his bright red cloak blazing like a raging fire in the scorching sun and howling wind. Without him even announcing himself, just seeing his imposing presence and his piercing eyes, everyone knew that Li Jun had arrived.