Return of the Swallow

Li Qitian never imagined that one day he would find himself in this dilemma. He is not a stupid person, but now he can't remember how he let things develop to this point.

"Your Majesty, Pang Xiao and his entourage have already prepared troops for the city. If we don't make a decision, it may be too late." Officials headed by Yu Ziqiu, Song Quan and others knelt down one after another, "Your Majesty, please put the safety of the people first!"

Li Qitian looked at the courtiers kneeling on the ground, his eyes blank for a moment, and then he burst into laughter after getting extremely angry.

His smile grew deeper and deeper, and laughter escaped from his throat like a broken windbox.

"It's ridiculous, it's extremely ridiculous." Li Qitian's smile faded and he pointed at the officials who were kneeling to petition, "Why do you ask me to put the people first, but what you consider is not the safety of the whole family? I am asking for peace, and I will be the one who subjugates the country. Jun, when the time comes, you can just continue to take refuge with Pang Xiao just like you took refuge with Da Zhou?"

Everyone understands these meanings, but when put on the table, they are really hard to hear.

Because most of the ministers who knelt down to petition were surrendered ministers of the Northern Hebei Kingdom. Their minds were indeed agitated by the repeated messages.

After all, it had only been ten years since that incident, and the deep-rooted sense of belonging could not be completely changed overnight. What's more, in order to build the imperial mausoleum for himself, he doesn't even care about the life and death of the people, and even pays IOUs to the officials.

Serving such a king, they were able to strengthen their faith. If they did not immediately leave the Zhou Dynasty to avoid disaster, they were already strong-willed.

Seeing that all the ministers were silent and kneeling upright like wooden piles, Li Qitian became more and more angry, but he could no longer utter those insulting words.

What's the use of being angry now? What's the use of being anxious?

Even if he killed all these people in a rage, it would not change the situation, it would only make him as embarrassed as a defeated rooster.

The spy sent to find Ji Zeyu has not returned yet.

To seek peace? He also has no bigger bargaining chip than "unifying the country" to persuade Pang Xiao to give up the world that is within easy reach. All he could do now, besides begging for a miracle to happen, was to wait.

Waiting for a killing, waiting for a relief, when the blood is drained, let people say that at least he, the emperor, is not a coward who opens the door and surrenders?

How sad!

How ridiculous!

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"Your Majesty,

Following your orders, the flanks have formed an encircling force, completely surrounding the capital. As long as you give the order, we can take it before the sun rises. "

Pang Xiao nodded and ordered with a serious face: "Tell everyone, don't disturb the people, don't burn, kill or commit adultery! Anyone who disobeys will be dealt with according to military law!"

"yes!"

The lieutenant passed on this message.

Ji Zeyu asked: "When do you plan to attack?"

Pang Xiao raised his eyebrows and smiled. He was not in a hurry at this moment. Everyone had traveled a long distance and should be given some time to adjust. "

Ji Zeyu pursed his lips and smiled, folded his arms and said: "I don't know you yet? You are just looking at the pity of the people in the city. You give our people time to prepare, and at the same time give the people some time to sort out. In the future, if you can hide it at home, try not to Come out, and many lives will be saved.”

Pang Xiao laughed loudly and patted Ji Zeyu on the shoulder, "That's all, I guess it's what you said." His eyes were a little gloomier and helpless, "I didn't want it to be like this at first."

No one has the ability to predict the future. Two years ago, Pang Xiao would never have imagined that one day he would lead 300,000 troops to surround the capital. He didn't expect that there would be so many people willing to follow him and do this treasonous thing.

These people regard him as a leader, and he must be a leader who suits everyone's wishes, otherwise he will surely rise and fall in the future, just like Li Qitian.

Speaking of which, what happened was beyond his expectation, and he felt really tired. But when everything is no longer just his personal interests, but involves the interests of many people, he has no choice.

"Your Majesty." Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi approached and saluted Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu. "I wonder if Your Majesty intends to salute first and then attack, or to crush them with force? Do you intend to negotiate with Jinshang?"

Pang Xiao shook his head, "There is nothing to talk about anymore. But I don't want to attack immediately. Let's do this first."

"Yes." Xu Weizhi smiled, "Anyway, even if they don't do anything, it will be enough for them to panic for a while."

Pang Xiao nodded, put his hands behind his hands and looked in the direction of the capital.

The big banners were blown by the wind, and beyond the fluttering flags and across a wilderness, one could see the majestic capital standing alone, with the undulating shapes of mountains behind it, but everyone knew that the shape of that mountain The distance is still far away.

Pang Xiao's soldiers and horses surrounded the capital like this, without attacking or making any sign.

It is because of this silent attitude and the strong contrast in military strength that all the people are panicked.

Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan sat side by side in front of the tent, looking at the people talking not far away.

Qin Huaiyuan said: "It's so outrageous that the people in the city must have been frightened to a certain extent. This is not a good thing for Yu Xi."

"Everyone cares about their own life and death. No one wants to lose his life. Now we are isolated outside the city gate. Li Qitian's people still don't know what to say about us in the city." With a roll of his eyes, Qin Yining had an idea, " I have put in a lot of effort to maintain the reputation of the prince. I cannot allow others to destroy it at such a critical moment. How about... let's do the same thing again?"

Qin Huaiyuan raised his eyebrows, obviously understanding what Qin Yining was talking about, "Do you want to use the method in Xiyue?"

"Yes. But change it this time."

Qin Yining stood up, patted the hem of her skirt, and said with a smile, "Father, I'll go talk to the prince."

"Go." Qin Huaiyuan leisurely picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea.

Qin Yining had already quickly arrived in front of Pang Xiao and others.

Ji Zeyu saw Qin Yining coming first, stopped talking, and nodded to Qin Yining.

Qin Yining smiled and saluted, and then said: "I just thought of an idea."

Pang Xiao looked down at Qin Yining and saw the sparkle in her bright apricot eyes and her cunning look, like a cunning little fox. He couldn't help but smile and narrowed his eyes with fondness. He leaned close to her and said, "What's your idea? Let me tell you." listen?"

Qin Yining smiled, half-hiding her mouth, and whispered a few words into Pang Xiao's ear.

Pang Xiao's tall body bowed to her height, as if he wanted to protect her in his arms. Both of them were extremely beautiful. In the eyes of others, this scene was so beautiful that people couldn't bear to be disturbed.

Ji Zeyu looked in the direction of the city wall expressionlessly, then smiled after a moment.

Pang Xiao nodded repeatedly and scratched the tip of Qin Yining's nose: "You're a clever guy."

Qin Yining touched his nose and said with a smile: "I just want to make a suggestion. I don't understand the war. You can discuss it with Mr. Xie and the others. I will go back to have tea with my father."

"Okay, go quickly."

Pang Xiao watched Qin Yining's back walk away with gentle and focused eyes, then called Ji Zeyu, Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi to discuss it.

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The Gyeonggi Guard guarding the city stood on the north city gate tower, looking melancholy at the snow-white ocean where they were camping in the distance. When he raised his head, he suddenly saw a round object flying in the sky.

That thing was fluttering, flying higher and higher, heading towards the capital. The Gyeonggi Guard did not dare to neglect and shouted hurriedly: "Sir! Look what that is!"

When everyone heard the sound, they hurriedly came over and looked up at the sky.

"It looks like a paper kite? There are more than one!"

While he was talking, several more paper kites of different shapes flew over. They looked down along the thin thread of the paper kite and saw several fast horses galloping under the city gate. The knights on the horses were wearing black soft armor of the Tiger Army and holding the spool of the paper kite in their hands.

"What are they going to do? Come to provoke us?"

"We don't open the city to fight, so they come to despise us?"

"The Tiger and Ben troops have always been brave, and now they are led by Prince Zhongshun. Are they afraid that they want to fight, so they start to play with paper kites in idle panic?"

…

The Gyeonggi guards all speculated that the ambition of others would destroy their own prestige, but none of the Shangguan refuted it, because they felt the same way.

Even if they saw the Huben army riding horses and strolling back and forth under the city gate, and playing with paper kites leisurely, they did not dare to make mistakes and shoot an arrow first, for fear of triggering a war.

After two sticks of incense, the kite flew higher and higher, reaching the sky above the city.

Suddenly, a paper kite circled and fell down.

If you look closely, you can see that it's disconnected.

Before the Gyeonggi guards could be surprised, they suddenly discovered that the kites were disconnected one after another, falling gracefully, and fell directly into the city.

Everyone lowered their heads and looked again, and found that the line was cut off by Gyeonggi Guard himself.

They deliberately used the wind direction to let the kite fly into the city, then cut the thin string and let the kite fall down at will.

The guards in the capital felt that something was wrong, so one of them quickly reported it to the superior. The Shangguan hurriedly ordered people to inform the Holy One, while others went into the city to find ways to find the kite.

Just when the news was being reported to the public and people below were eager to find the kite, people in the city had already picked up the kite that had fallen on the street and could clearly read the words on it.

It is written in plain language, so that all the people can understand it.

The meaning is also very concise: Prince Zhongshun will not massacre the city or kill any innocent people. The people are innocent. If you don't want to participate in the court struggle, you only need to hide at home and close the door. The Huben Army and the Pingnan Army will never disturb the people.

The person who picked up the kite happened to be literate and had always admired Prince Zhongshun. When he saw what was written on it, he immediately read it under the curious eyes of the people around him.

The people around were very surprised.

"Is Prince Zhongshun deliberately trying to find a way to tell us this?"

"That's right! I wonder how the prince could have thought of using a paper kite to send us a message?"

"I just said that the prince will not kill innocent people indiscriminately."

"Innocent! Have you ever seen someone who doesn't kill people in a war?"

The person who spoke was immediately rolled over by everyone, "If you don't believe it, you can just walk up and down the street and see if you will be treated as a lackey of the imperial court. No, I have to go back and tell my family! Our lives can be saved. !”