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A fresh breeze blew, and willow leaves rustled down.
The King of Shu looked at his elder brother in disbelief. It was then that he noticed the brother he once admired and respected was no longer the high-spirited, imposing prince he used to be.
Instead, he saw a sense of weariness and helplessness from having experienced much in the world.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say, and a brief silence fell between them.
Finally, the Third Prince broke the silence. He said, “Fifth Brother, this is our last chance to live. Pledging allegiance to the Emperor can still preserve your wealth and glory. If you continue to be stubborn, Yizhou City will change hands tomorrow.”
The King of Shu’s chest heaved violently. He said to the Third Prince, “Elder Brother, when Prince Zhao came to attack the State of Shu, I, your foolish younger brother, did not surrender. How could I choose to surrender now? If Xiao Ming wants to take the State of Shu, he will have to step over my corpse!”
“Fifth Brother!” Xiao Zhen became anxious. One of his reasons for agreeing to Xiao Ming’s request this time was to save the King of Shu’s life, but he had underestimated the King of Shu’s prejudice against Xiao Ming.
Moreover, during these five years as a feudal lord, he had enjoyed the superiority of being paramount. How could he now be willing to hand over the power in his hands?
“Elder Brother, there’s no need to say more. I, your foolish younger brother, used to listen to you about everything. This time, just listen to me for once,” the King of Shu had made up his mind the moment he received the decree. “The cannons on Yizhou City walls were all sent by Xiao Ming. These twenty thousand men still can’t break Yizhou City, and Qingzhou Province is thousands of li away from Yizhou. After this failure, he won’t easily send troops here again.”
The Third Prince became more anxious. He said, “Fool! You don’t understand Xiao Ming at all, and you don’t understand firearms at all. The firearms Xiao Ming gave you cannot defeat the firearms his army is currently using.”
The King of Shu simply couldn’t listen to what the Third Prince was saying. He only remembered the grievances between himself and Xiao Ming, and firmly believed that Xiao Ming would kill him.
It was precisely because of this that he stubbornly refused to surrender, and after Xiao Ming ascended the throne, he lived in constant fear.
“Elder Brother, no need to persuade me further. This table of food is getting cold. Your foolish younger brother should share a few drinks with Elder Brother.” The King of Shu said.
The Third Prince angrily said, “Now is not the time for drinking! General Di Ying outside the city only gave me an hour. If there’s no result within an hour, his warships will bombard Yizhou City. By then, everything will be too late!”
Facing his brother’s reprimand, the King of Shu still shook his head. He could pledge allegiance to anyone, but only not to Xiao Ming.
The two in Chang’an had always been at odds, having fought fiercely several times. In his view, surrendering now also meant death, while fighting might still offer a glimmer of hope.
At this moment, he stood up and said to the royal guards, “Protect my elder brother well.”
The guards immediately stood behind the Third Prince. The King of Shu continued, “Elder Brother, please sit. Your foolish younger brother will be right back.”
The Third Prince stood up, wanting to stop him, but the royal guards blocked his path.
At this moment, he let out a long sigh. Xiao Ming had foreseen everything today, which was why he had sent twenty thousand men into Shu.
And there was another contingent of troops in Chang’an, ready to support them at any time.
Things had developed to this point and were clearly out of control. He sat down dejectedly.
On the warships outside the city, Di Ying had been waiting. As time passed, his patience gradually wore thin.
Just as he was hesitating whether to order the warships to bombard Yizhou City, he suddenly saw many soldiers appear on the city walls of Yizhou City. Each of these soldiers walked to the cannons on the city wall, their torches ready to ignite at any moment.
This scene completely shattered Di Ying’s illusions. Clearly, the King of Shu was going to resist to the end.
After consulting with the captain of the warships, the warships in the South River immediately formed a battle array, preparing to bombard the city walls.
The State of Shu had always been known as the “Land of Abundance,” and Yizhou in particular was covered in a dense network of rivers. The South River was very wide, which was very conducive to the movement of warships.
And on the bank of the South River was Yizhou City.
At this time, the warships were anchored on the north bank of the South River. The distance from the north bank to Yizhou City was a full thousand meters. Because the naval guns had a relatively long range, they could bombard Yizhou City from here.
After forming their array, Di Ying gestured to the captain, preparing to conduct a warning shot at Yizhou City. If the King of Shu remained stubborn, the real war would begin.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
With the simultaneous roar of cannons, the warship’s shells directly struck the Yizhou city wall. Amidst the flying dust, several craters immediately appeared on the Yizhou city wall.
The thunderous roar of the cannons instantly echoed throughout Yizhou City. At this moment, the powerful families still feasting in the imperial residence became anxious.
“Oh no, the fighting must have started,” a powerful family member said.
“The King of Shu is going his own way and completely ignores us now. What should we do?”
“We can’t keep waiting like this. The army from Qingzhou Province is the imperial army, and the King of Shu is a rebel. If we follow him, we will also be considered rebels,” one of them said.
“That’s absolutely right! There’s no time to lose. Let’s each go back and gather our private armies to capture the King of Shu, otherwise, who knows what that army will do once it enters the city!”
While everyone was discussing animatedly, a servant from the imperial residence suddenly entered the main hall and whispered a few words to a powerful family member seated on the left.
“Brother Song, what’s wrong?” the elder on the right side across from him asked.
The person referred to as Brother Song said, “The Third Prince Xiao Zhen is in the royal residence, being watched by the King of Shu’s men. Now, the only one who can save Yizhou City is Xiao Zhen, after all, he came with the Emperor’s decree and can stop the army outside the city.” The servant just now was his informant in the King of Shu’s residence.
“There’s no time to lose. Let’s go see the Third Prince now and have him take charge of Yizhou’s affairs, lest the King of Shu acts recklessly.”
Everyone reached an agreement and immediately left the main hall, heading towards the back courtyard of the royal residence.
The powerful families, full of imposing momentum, dared not be stopped by the royal guards for a moment. They soon met the Third Prince.
At this moment, the powerful family member named Song said, “Third Prince, Yizhou is in danger. For the sake of the people of Yizhou City, we hope the Third Prince can stop the King of Shu.”
Xiao Zhen also heard the cannon fire. He knew in his heart that the King of Shu’s deployment of troops must have enraged Di Ying.
He sighed. No matter what, he couldn’t save the King of Shu. If that was the case, he could only save himself.
So he said, “If that’s the case, I hope all of you can assist me.”
With that, under the protection of the powerful families, he went directly to the North City, where the King of Shu was currently commanding soldiers to defend against the attack.
The Third Prince’s sudden arrival caught the King of Shu somewhat off guard. He then looked at the powerful families, already having a plan in mind.
He smiled bleakly, “You all betrayed me.”
“Fifth Brother, only those who know the times are heroes. Acting like this will only harm more innocent people. I advise you one more time: surrender,” the Third Prince bitterly persuaded.
The King of Shu shook his head, his eyes suddenly becoming indifferent. He suddenly said to the soldiers behind him, “Kill them!”
At this moment, the Third Prince was completely disappointed. He suddenly drew a short-barreled flintlock pistol from his sleeve and fired a shot at the King of Shu.
Because the distance between them was only two meters, the King of Shu had no way to dodge. The bullet instantly pierced the King of Shu’s chest.
Blood flowed down from the bullet hole, and the King of Shu slowly fell…