Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 848 - 845: Outsmarting Oneself

On April 21, in the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, the Ninth Prince of Yan, Murong Yan, conducted a nearly month-long purge in the Wei Kingdom, executing the powerful and benefiting the common people. He eradicated the Wei royal family, implemented new policies, and, with thunderous methods, stabilized the Wei situation, leaving Great General Xie Xun with heavy troops in Chang City. The Ninth Prince Murong Yan, accompanied by the Second Prince Murong Ping, returned to the Yan capital.

On April 23, in the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, King Liang and Fan Yuhuai had besieged the Imperial Palace for exactly one month. Fan Yuhuai claimed externally that attacking the palace might force the Crown Prince into a corner to harm the Emperor; hence, out of caution, they did not dare to attack.

In reality, the siege on the Imperial City was Li Mingrui’s idea...

There was not much grain stored in the palace, while the Emperor’s concubines and the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were numerous, and people need to eat and drink! The soldiers under Xie Yuchang needed to eat and drink even more. As long as they besieged the Imperial City... within a month, once the food was exhausted, the soldiers guarding the Imperial City would surely defect, and by then, they could take the Imperial City at minimal cost.

But a whole month had passed already, and the soldiers guarding the Imperial City showed no signs of running out of food. King Liang seemed a bit anxious, and Li Mingrui felt there was something fishy about it, suspecting that the issue might lie with the soldiers besieging the palace.

This time, Li Mingrui followed King Liang in the rebellion, knowing that failure meant the extermination of his entire clan, so he had to do his utmost. He secretly mobilized personnel from the Left Prime Minister’s residence and conducted a covert investigation.

On April 29, it was revealed that the commander guarding the west gate of the palace under Fan Yuhuai had been secretly delivering grain to the palace at night. When confronted, it was discovered that the commander was a plant inserted into the imperial guard by the Crown Prince.

Xie Yuchang watched as Fan Yuhuai beheaded that commander outside the Imperial City, and then heard Fan Yuhuai shout loudly to him: "Xie Yuchang, I respect you as a man! If you surrender obediently... His Highness King Liang will not only plead with the Emperor to spare your entire family but also give you heavy responsibilities! Otherwise... don’t blame me for not considering our camaraderie!" freewёbnoνel-com

The commander, who had been placed under Fan Yuhuai by the Princess of Zhen early on, was extremely careful in handling the grain delivery. He sent only a small amount of grain into the palace each night. Although Xie Yuchang repeatedly requested more grain, the commander was cautious and did not dare send more for fear of being detected by King Liang.

Despite such caution, he was still discovered...

If there was no food, Xie Yuchang deeply felt that he might fail Mrs. Qin in protecting the palace and the Emperor.

That day, Bai Jinxiu, donning armor, appeared simultaneously with Xie Yuchang atop Wude Gate, resisting the attacking imperial guards and indeed deterring Fan Yuhuai and his men.

After scaring off the imperial guards, Bai Jinxiu personally went to the south gate of the palace to find this commander, instructing him to deliver grain to the palace every night. Then, Bai Jinxiu quietly left the palace from the south gate, contacting the people Bai Qingyan had arranged into the imperial guards, planning to control the city gates of Dadu, and then escort the Emperor out of the palace...

After all, if Xie Yuchang truly couldn’t hold the palace, the Emperor must not fall into King Liang’s hands.

Unexpectedly, after Bai Jinxiu had painstakingly taken control of the southern gate of Dadu, the Emperor refused to leave the palace.

The Emperor said that the Heavenly Master had told him... there was no place more suitable for alchemy than the palace where the true dragon energy had gathered for generations. Hence, the Emperor was unwilling to leave, but he fortunately gave Xie Yuchang an Imperial Edict, instructing Xie Yuchang to find a way to get it to the Crown Prince to mobilize the army for reinforcement.

Having no other option, Xie Yuchang handed the Imperial Edict to Bai Jinxiu, vowing to protect the Emperor with his life, urging Bai Jinxiu to deliver the edict out of the city to seek reinforcements. When the time was right, they could coordinate from the inside and outside to eliminate King Liang’s faction.

Bai Jinxiu nearly burst into laughter with anger upon receiving the edict. Someone was attempting to kill the Crown Prince and usurp the throne, and the Emperor was unwilling to leave the palace just for alchemy. Was he mad?

However, it was also advantageous; the Emperor’s unwillingness to leave the palace could attract Fan Yuhuai’s forces around the palace.

Then, Xie Yuchang personally accompanied the Emperor up the city tower, where the Emperor angrily denounced King Liang as a treacherous rebel.

But King Liang played his role dramatically, kneeling under Wude Gate, loudly proclaiming that he was sorry to the Emperor... claiming that the Emperor was being coerced by the Crown Prince. Even though the Emperor had ordered King Liang to capture the Crown Prince at all costs, he couldn’t watch his father be humiliated. He would rather die than save the Emperor first.

The Emperor was so enraged that he fainted on the spot. Xie Yuchang had to order his people to carry the Emperor back for treatment, and Fan Yuhuai took the opportunity to shout to the soldiers that the Crown Prince’s rebellion was evident. Why else would he not allow the Emperor to continue speaking?

King Liang portrayed a filial son to perfection, completely overturning his previous cowardly and incompetent image, pointing at the city wall and scolding the Crown Prince, declaring that if the Crown Prince dared to harm the Emperor, he wouldn’t consider brotherly affection.

As a result, the soldiers inside the palace became increasingly convinced that King Liang was rebelling...

While the soldiers outside the palace believed that Fan Yuhuai was right, thinking the Crown Prince had coerced the Emperor onto the city tower. Why else would the Emperor fall silent and not defend the Crown Prince after seeing King Liang weep on his knees?

Even the Emperor fainting from rage was fabricated as being knocked out by Xie Yuchang to prevent him from speaking further.

Xie Yuchang initially intended to escort the Emperor out of the palace; however, the Emperor refused... Xie Yuchang then came up with a compromise, taking him up the city tower, but unexpectedly... it backfired.

Moreover, Fan Yuhuai was a hero in quelling the Wude Gate rebellion, and King Liang had always appeared cowardly and incompetent. Thus, the soldiers besieging the palace increasingly believed they were the troops loyal to the Emperor.

Bai Jinxiu, upon learning that the spies planted at the south gate of the palace had been discovered, understood... now, the palace would run out of food in a few days.

Now outside the palace, Bai Jinxiu had already sent out several people to locate her elder sister’s whereabouts. Since she could do this... King Liang must do the same. However, King Liang’s people had more convenient access to Dadu, so their information was naturally more up-to-date than hers.

Bai Jinxiu, operating in the shadows, could only observe King Liang and Fan Yuhuai’s actions to make judgments and then act accordingly.

Fortunately, she held the Emperor’s handwritten Imperial Edict, which could command governors and armies from various regions to come to the rescue. Bai Jinxiu had not yet handed the edict to the Crown Prince, nor used it.

Currently, the available mobilizable troops, besides the Dengzhou Army under Governor Dong Qingyue, guarding against the Rong and Xiliang, and the Pingyang Army, stationed in Pingyang City against Yan, there was also the 30,000 strong army in Yuanping available for deployment.

However, Yuanping was two days’ horseback ride from Dadu. With her elder sister’s location unknown, she could not prematurely involve the Yuanping army. If the imperial guards couldn’t match the Yuanping army, prematurely ending the internal conflict in Dadu might not be beneficial for the overall situation.

Therefore, unless King Liang was about to be enthroned and her elder sister had not yet returned, the Yuanping army couldn’t be moved.

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