Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn

Chapter 110

“That’s good. Using this as an educational toy is a pioneering move for them.” I said, moving the small wooden blocks back to their original positions. Then I turned around and went upstairs to write the instruction manual. I packed up the letter I wrote yesterday, the instruction manual, and the Rubik’s Cube together before taking the small gift and tea to find Shen Zexuan.

I handed the tea to Shen Zexuan, who smiled happily. I quickly said, "It was left for you by the Second Prince; it's a token of his affection." Please don't misunderstand.

Shen Zexuan accepted the package with a smile, and when he saw the small package I handed him, he asked curiously, "What's this again?"

"It's a gift for the eldest grandson of the emperor, a token of gratitude to the Second Prince. I heard that Lord Li will be departing for the capital the day after tomorrow, so please pass it on to him," I explained.

Shen Zexuan chuckled: "It seems that Huai En and my second brother have a very special relationship. He has been sending gifts one after another. I, as the younger brother, have only received a little bit today."

I looked at Shen Zexuan with a headache: "Your Highness, Huai En and the Second Prince only became acquainted through a fight, and since we share similar interests, it's just a matter of reciprocity." I don't believe his spies wouldn't know that I was caught red-handed breaking into the Second Prince's residence but returned home safely.

Shen Zexuan shook his head slightly and stopped talking. I was afraid that if I stayed any longer I would say something else, so I quickly said goodbye. Shen Zexuan glanced at me, twitched the corner of his mouth, and then looked away. I left in a hurry.

What's going on here? I feel guilty mentioning Shen Zexuan in front of Shen Haoyu, and I feel guilty mentioning Shen Tingxuan in front of Shen Zexuan. I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't know what I have to be guilty about. Shaking his head, he strode back to his residence.

With reinforcements arriving, everyone busied themselves again, replanning how to retake Dingzhou and Huizhou. Now, with ample troops and generals, the battle situation seemed to have become very favorable.

August 14th was the day Lord Li returned to the capital, and also the day the army set out for battle. Shen Zexuan and Cui Lang led 100,000 troops to attack Huizhou, which was virtually impossible for the city's less than 60,000 defenders to withstand, especially since previous sieges had already depleted their strength.

Du Zhai left the remaining troops to garrison Fengzhou, while dispatching another force to provide support from the center, so that they could provide timely assistance should the enemy forces in Dingzhou attack Fengzhou or reinforce Huizhou. However, this army ultimately proved ineffective; the 100,000 enemy troops in Dingzhou remained stationed there, allowing Huizhou to fall back into Youjing's hands.

This move surprised everyone even more, wondering what the other side was up to. After regrouping, leaving enough troops to defend the city, Du Zhai personally led the army to Dingzhou with Cui Lang, determined to trap and annihilate the enemy in Dingzhou. Shen Zexuan temporarily stayed in Fengzhou, while another general was stationed in Huizhou.

On August 17th, Du Zhai's army fought a major battle with the enemy at Dingzhou. Just when victory seemed within their grasp, another force suddenly appeared and joined the enemy ranks. These soldiers were all brave and skilled in battle, and they quickly turned the tide of the battle. Du Zhai's victory turned into defeat. Knowing that he could no longer win, he ordered a retreat, and the enemy pursued them relentlessly.

At this time, Huizhou City was also attacked by a large number of enemy troops from the rear. Seeing that they could not withstand the attack, the 40,000 defenders of Huizhou had to retreat to Fengzhou. Another 80,000 troops were at the gates of Fengzhou. At this time, the city had only 80,000 defenders, including those who had retreated from Huizhou. The rest of the troops were taken to Dingzhou by Du Zhai.

The enemy's attack on the city was fierce. Shen Zexuan stood atop the city wall, directing the defense, while Shen Haoyu watched from the sidelines. This was the first time I had stood on the city wall watching the surging crowds fighting below, a stark contrast to my past experiences outside Yunzhou City. The cold and serious Shen Zexuan now seemed unfamiliar to me; perhaps, this was how he was always meant to be.

Shen Haoyu's expression was also grave, sensing that something was amiss. He could only hope that Du Zhai and the others would return soon. One side attacked fiercely, the other defended firmly. The war drums only ceased when the sun set, and the enemy sounded the retreat. We would absolutely not leave the city to pursue them.

However, what we did not expect was that the enemy did not retreat back to Huizhou, but went towards Dingzhou. They attacked from both sides with the enemy forces that came from Dingzhou, annihilating the large force led by Du Zhai. Du Zhai's army, which we thought had victory in its grasp, fled back in disarray, bringing back only 30,000 men to Fengzhou.

After taking stock of the troops inside Fengzhou City, there were 100,000 left. This number meant that there were practically no new reinforcements, while the enemy forces outside the city numbered twice as many as us.

In this battle, the Youjing Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat, losing more than half of its army. The key issue was the origin of the reinforcements from Dingzhou. If it weren't for the appearance of those mysterious figures, Dingzhou would have already been recaptured, and Huizhou, which had fallen back into enemy hands, would likely have been regained as well. Later, we learned that a man in the Xuanying army, a veritable living map of the Northwest, had opened another passage from Caizhou to Dingzhou, freeing Dingzhou from its isolated state. The so-called iron ore mining was nothing more than a smokescreen. However, now that iron mine is safely in enemy hands and being actively mined. Our forces are weak, and we are powerless to recapture either Dingzhou or Huizhou; holding Fengzhou would be a feat in itself.

If we hadn't underestimated the enemy and rashly rushed to Dingzhou, the battle situation wouldn't have turned out this way. Even if that passage had been opened, allowing the enemy to support from two fronts, the two armies were evenly matched, and holding Huizhou wouldn't have been difficult. They hid too well, only revealing themselves when our army reached Dingzhou. The passage was only discovered after the new commander arrived in Fengzhou.

If we hadn't underestimated the enemy and rashly rushed to Dingzhou, the battle situation wouldn't have turned out this way. Even if that passage had been opened, allowing the enemy to support from two fronts, the two armies were evenly matched, and holding Huizhou wouldn't have been difficult. They hid too well, only revealing themselves when our army reached Dingzhou. We only learned about that passage after we recaptured Dingzhou.

Du Zhai had been leading troops in battle for decades, experiencing numerous victories and defeats. Although this major defeat was painful, he was still able to actively reorganize his forces to try and reverse the tide. Cui Lang, however, was different. Although he had won and lost in previous battles, they were all small-scale. He had never experienced a defeat that resulted in the loss of over 100,000 men. Upon returning to Fengzhou, he became despondent and refused to see any visitors for several days.

Du Zhai sought out Cui Lang several times, and finally Cui Lang met with Du Zhai. No one knows what they talked about, but after that, Cui Lang became active again on the command platform, helping Du Zhai train the army every day. However, he became as taciturn as when they first met.

Knowing he harbored resentment, I wisely stopped seeking him out. I started helping Shen Haoyu with chores every day, and practiced archery when I had free time. This crushing defeat had changed more than just Cui Lang; Shen Haoyu had changed, and so had I. Because now we were facing a life-or-death situation.

To strengthen the defense of Fengzhou, Du Zhai transferred another 20,000 troops from other cities, slightly increasing the force to help resist the nearly 200,000 troops of Xuan Ying. The city of Fengzhou was tense every day, and the defense of the city could not be relaxed for a moment. Xuan Ying attacked the city five or six times a day, leaving everyone exhausted.

Shen Haoyu paced back and forth in his room, occasionally picking up his map and examining it. I couldn't help but say, "Young Prince, if you're really that anxious, why don't you give the whole map to General Du? That way, everyone can have a better grasp of the overall situation." Every time he arrives at a place, he gives Du Zhai a map of the surrounding area. Wouldn't it be much easier to plan if there were a complete, panoramic map?

Shen Haoyu glared at me: "Those places are still in the hands of Xuan Ying. Tell me, what ability do we have to break through the blockade and find out about those places?" He paused and then said: "I only need to know the overall situation in my mind. There's no need for everyone to know it."

Knowing that Shen Haoyu had his reasons, the map was a secret of the Prince Qing's mansion. If the entire map were to be revealed at once, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, and the Prince Qing's mansion would be in an even more difficult situation. Moreover, for the sake of this war, Shen Haoyu had already given almost half of the map to Du Zhai, and the Prince Qing's mansion's bargaining chips were getting smaller and smaller. So I stopped talking and quietly stood aside watching him continue to spin around.

After holding out in Fengzhou for more than ten days, fortunately, although the 100,000-strong army was gone, most of the food, supplies, and weapons were still there. Just by defending the city, they should be able to hold out for some more time. Du Zhai had already written a memorial to the court on the day of his great defeat. By this time, Emperor Youjing should have already known about the battle situation. It is unknown how he will deal with Du Zhai, or when new reinforcements will arrive.

September is almost here, and the weather is getting cooler day by day. It feels like just yesterday it was a hot summer day, and now, after a good night's sleep, the season has changed.

Listening to the incessant beating of war drums every day, I gradually became numb, and apart from that one time, I never went up to the city wall again. The people in the city lived peacefully, as if who was the master of the city had nothing to do with them—and indeed, it had nothing to do with them. As long as they had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, they were content.

Whose empire it is, doesn't seem to concern me much. Whether it's Xuan Ying Kingdom, You Jing Dynasty, Shen Xiuhe as emperor, or Shen Xiuqian seizing power, as long as those I love are safe and sound, that's all that matters.

On the fifth day of the ninth month, the wind was already quite chilly on the face. A messenger from the capital brought news that Marshal Du Zhai had been relieved of his post, but would remain in the army temporarily to oversee important military affairs. He would relinquish his military power and assume the position of Lieutenant General upon the arrival of the new commander and reinforcements. Cui Lang was also demoted from Lieutenant General back to Colonel.

Du Zhai calmly accepted the imperial decree and continued to manage military affairs in an orderly manner, persisting in holding Fengzhou until reinforcements arrived.

Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 094

Chapter word count: 3802 Update time: 09-08-31 11:01

On September 12, the newly arrived Marshal Dai Chongyan led 50,000 new troops to Fengzhou.

Dai Chongyan was originally the garrison commander of Luzhou. He joined the army alongside Chen Dan in his youth, but his military achievements were not as illustrious as Chen Dan's. Later, Chen Dan became the Grand General of the Northwest, while Dai Chongyan remained stationed in Luzhou. Luzhou was the most important city in the north, connecting north to the fiefdom of the Marquis of Kunshan, west through Changzhou and Yanzhou to Ningzhou, and south to the capital, making its military position extremely important. Although his military rank was lower than Chen Dan's, Chen Dan's betrayal and Du Zhai's defeat meant that Dai Chongyan was currently the most qualified person in the court to quell the war in the Northwest.

As a new broom sweeps clean, Dai Chongyan convened a meeting of various officials as soon as he arrived in Fengzhou. The meeting lasted for two days and one night, and Shen Haoyu returned looking exhausted. I made tea for Shen Haoyu and prepared hot water for his bath before leaving his room.

Zi Nuo, Gan Lin, Song Zhixuan, and Lin Zhao chatted in the courtyard outside Shen Haoyu's room. The weather was already quite cold, especially at night; the hot days in the northern frontier were truly short. Several trees in the courtyard had already begun to shed their leaves, which swirled and drifted down with the wind, gently landing on the ground.

A gust of wind blew by, and I shivered slightly. Although I hate the heat, it's not good for it to be too cold either. Thinking back to when I was in Beijing, the temperature didn't start to drop this low until at least mid-October. This winter is going to be tough.

Footsteps sounded, and turning around, we saw Shen Zexuan gracefully approaching. He had originally headed towards Shen Haoyu's room, but upon seeing us in the garden, he changed course and walked towards us. Everyone had to stand up and bow. Gan Lin also stood up from her stool and waited for Shen Zexuan to sit before sitting back down. Fortunately, none of us were particularly formal; since Shen Zexuan insisted on coming over to sit, we didn't want to feel uncomfortable standing when there were no outsiders present.

However, Shen Zexuan's arrival somewhat spoiled the atmosphere; the conversation, which had started off lively, dwindled, with everyone occasionally chatting about the weather and reminiscing about the capital. A little while later, Shen Haoyu also came out after taking a bath and, seeing everyone in the garden, joined us.

As soon as Shen Haoyu sat down, he spoke up: "Third Brother, that capable man on the other side is a great danger. He alone is worth ten thousand soldiers."

Shen Zexuan nodded in agreement: "Yes."

I couldn't help but wonder, besides Chen Dan and Min Wang, what other formidable figures were on the enemy's side?

“If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be in such a terrible situation this time,” Shen Zexuan added.

"Who is he?" I finally couldn't resist my curiosity and asked.

Shen Haoyu glanced at me: "That person knows almost every mountain, ridge, ravine and valley in the Northwest like the back of his hand. This time, he took advantage of the local conditions to open up a passage from Caizhou to Dingzhou in the mountains and set us up badly."

Such a remarkable person exists! The map in Shen Haoyu's hand is just a dead map, while this person has the entire terrain of the Northwest etched into his mind and can use it at will. This is truly a big problem.