The gunfire gradually thinned, and the battle within Qingzhou City was nearing its end.
The drawbridge lowered, and the remaining artillerymen and musketeers surged into the city along the drawbridge. Seeing more and more Qi army soldiers appear, the morale of Prince Liang's army within Qingzhou City plummeted.
"Prince Liang, why do you not surrender quickly!"
Lu Fei and Qi Guangyi surrounded Prince Liang and his three hundred Imperial Guards. Among the guards, Prince Liang, dressed in royal robes, was particularly conspicuous.
Qi Guangyi recognized him at a glance. Upon spotting Prince Liang, he immediately led his cavalry to encircle Prince Liang and his followers.
Prince Liang glanced blandly at Lu Fei. He did not answer, but instead countered, "How is Prince Yan? How is the Second Prince?"
"Prince Yan is dead, and the Second Prince is also dead," Lu Fei's tone was like the cold frost of winter.
At this moment, Prince Liang seemed to have aged several years. He had no sons of his own and had always treated the Second Prince as his own son.
Now, the one who could inherit his great lineage was dead, and Prince Yan, who could fight Qi with him, was also dead. Now, he seemed to have nothing left.
"To the victor go the spoils. Is this the will of Heaven? This realm ultimately belongs to the Xiao family." Prince Liang said dejectedly.
After a pause, he said to Lu Fei, "My death alone is enough. I hope the general will not implicate the innocent."
Prince Liang knew he was doomed to die. With Xiao Ming having ascended the throne and claimed the title of emperor, they were now rebels who had committed treason.
With a soft snort, Lu Fei said, "Whether they are innocent or not, this general has his own judgment. Prince Liang need not trouble himself."
No matter how pitiful Prince Liang looked now, he would not sympathize. If not for Prince Liang and Prince Yan instigating the three princes to attack Qi, how could he have lost so many soldiers in the Battle of Yunzhou?
So, at the thought of this, he wished he could personally kill Prince Liang. This hypocritical man was nothing but a villain.
Colluding with barbarians first, then raising an army in rebellion—how could such a traitor deserve mercy?
A hint of anger flashed in Prince Liang's eyes at this moment. If it were in the past, how could this Lu Fei be worthy of shouting at him?
"Capture them all," Lu Fei ordered, without waiting for Prince Liang and the others to react.
The soldiers surrounding Prince Liang immediately tightened their circle with fixed bayonets. Some of Prince Liang's Imperial Guards immediately protected Prince Liang in the center, while other Imperial Guards charged towards Lu Fei, attempting to break through the encirclement with their bodies.
Lu Fei sneered. Prince Liang had not actually cared about his Imperial Guards just now. He had deliberately said that to make these Imperial Guards fight to the death to get him out of the city.
However, Prince Liang had clearly miscalculated. Now, the Liang soldiers inside the city were either dead or had surrendered. Even if he broke out of this encirclement, he would not receive help from other soldiers.
Furthermore, these three hundred men could not possibly protect him completely.
"Fire!" Lu Fei said blandly, looking at Prince Liang, who was hiding among the Imperial Guards.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Muskets emitted smoke and fire, and the charging Imperial Guards of Prince Liang fell one after another.
As the soldiers in front fell one by one, Prince Liang finally showed a look of fear. However, Lu Fei seemed to have no intention of stopping his soldiers.
When only Prince Liang remained in the encirclement, Lu Fei once again ordered to fire.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Muskets fired, and projectiles burst into plumes of blood on Prince Liang's body. Spitting blood, Prince Liang fell backward in disbelief.
Until his death, he couldn't believe that Xiao Ming would allow a general to simply kill him.
But he had forgotten that the Second Prince himself had died at the hands of this army, let alone him, a mere Prince Liang.
"General, now that Prince Liang is dead, will His Imperial Majesty be angry?" Luo Hong asked, somewhat worried. After all, Prince Liang was a vassal prince, and executing him so simply might lead to impeachment by officials in court.
"His Imperial Majesty wouldn't bother to deal with Prince Liang. This general killed him for His Imperial Majesty; His Imperial Majesty will only be pleased." Lu Fei understood Xiao Ming's temperament very well.
Xiao Ming had always harbored no good feelings towards these vassal princes of different surnames.
With Prince Liang killed, there were still many things to do, the most important of which was to occupy Juyong Pass.
Juyong Pass was the barbarians' gateway through Liang. If it wasn't taken in time, the barbarians could directly penetrate deep into the territory. Xiao Ming had specifically instructed him on this matter when he set off.
After a moment of thought, Lu Fei said to Qi Guangyi and Bai Mu, "Qingzhou City has fallen, and Liang will be without a leader. The general of Juyong Pass is likely to defect to the barbarians. You two will immediately lead the cavalry to Juyong Pass. Luo Xin and Luo Hong will lead a detachment to support you in taking Juyong Pass."
"Yes, General," Qi Guangyi and Bai Mu said in unison. In this western campaign, Lu Fei's rank was higher than theirs.
Having issued this order, Lu Fei said to Ye Qingyun, "Although Prince Liang is dead, there are still some powerful families in the two states who supported Prince Liang. This group of powerful families must be eliminated."
Ye Qingyun nodded. This was something they had to do every time they captured a city, because only by eliminating these powerful families loyal to Prince Liang and supporting those loyal to Xiao Ming could this place be stabilized.
After giving these instructions, Lu Fei sent someone to relay the news of Liang Capital's capture back to Qingzhou. Then he looked towards Chang'an, which was now occupied by Prince Zhao.
Now that Wei, Yan, and Liang had all been pacified, only Prince Zhao remained in the north.
If Prince Zhao was also taken, the north would be unified.
From then on, they could focus wholeheartedly on dealing with the barbarians in the north. In the hearts of Qingzhou's generals, the true enemy of the Great Yu Empire had always been the northern barbarians.
This powerful nation, whose common people were soldiers on horseback and civilians on foot, was cruel by nature. As long as the barbarians were not annihilated, the Great Yu Empire would suffer threats from this nation.
Once the Great Yu Empire fell into decline, the barbarians would seize the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, and this was something none of them wished to see.
In fact, they had been worried during this time that the barbarians would seize the opportunity to move south and harass the north. However, according to Xiao Ming, the barbarians seemed to have their own troubles now and were unable to move south.
But this was no reason for them to lower their guard. Seizing this opportunity, they should all the more control the passes in the north and resist the barbarians beyond the national gate.
After all, for more than a year, the north of the Great Yu Empire had been in constant warfare, with common people displaced and agriculture severely damaged.
They needed some time to recuperate. After all, years of continuous warfare had placed immense financial pressure on Qingzhou, and dealing with the barbarians was difficult to achieve with Qingzhou's financial resources alone.
As he was contemplating, a cavalryman in Liang army armor galloped rapidly out of Qingzhou City, heading north.
He was heading towards Juyong Pass.
Now that Qingzhou had fallen, he had to convey this news to Zheng Chengwen, the commander of Juyong Pass. Zheng Chengwen was Prince Liang's third younger brother.
It was precisely for this reason that Prince Liang had entrusted this important pass to his command.
Qingzhou City was only 200 li from Juyong Pass. Two days later, the cavalryman arrived at Juyong Pass and immediately informed Zheng Chengwen of the news.
"Qingzhou City has fallen!" Zheng Chengwen exclaimed, his eyes shifting. He said, "I must go see Wuzhu Gutaiji now. Now, only the Golden Horde can save our Liang."