Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 863 - 860: Surprise Troops

"Wait a moment, Fifth Sister!" Bai Jinhua called out to stop her. She gazed at the soldiers attacking like a massive black wave in the distance and said, "Eldest Young Lady is far away in Daliang. Judging by the time, it’s impossible for her to return so quickly! We don’t know friend from foe. This might be Li Mingrui’s trick to lure us into opening the city gates! So, Fifth Sister... it’s safer to defend Shuoyang City to the death!"

Gasping for breath, Bai Jinzhao felt that Bai Jinhua was right. Her passionate spirit calmed down, and she nodded.

Bai Qingping, upon seeing the black sail and white python flag, almost lost his head in excitement. After listening to Bai Jinhua’s words, he hurriedly called out, "Beat the drums! Be on guard!"

Quickly, the first row of archers got back in position on the city wall, aiming at a distance, while the second and third rows of archers squatted below the wall, ready to replace them at any moment.

The soldiers and civilians of Shuoyang took advantage of this breath of relief to transport more supplies to the city wall in preparation for the next fierce battle.

Li Mingrui led his troops northward to flee. The soldiers attacking Shuoyang, under the leadership of the one-armed Ji Tingyu, turned direction like a vast river, surging northward to intercept and kill Li Mingrui’s imperial guard.

Tightly gripping her bow and arrow, Bai Jinzhao watched the unknown army outside Shuoyang City surround and hunt down Li Mingrui’s imperial guard with swift and fierce momentum, annihilating them. The scene was profoundly stirring. This was the battlefield!

The battle outside the city continued. The archers squatting on the city wall had sweat the size of beans dripping down their foreheads, but not a single person dared to slack off.

The suddenly emerged army’s combat power was so fierce that if they attacked the city after destroying the enemy troops, they couldn’t be unprepared.

Until sunset, Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua saw someone leading a small team of cavalry riding towards Shuoyang City. Bai Qingping raised his hand and shouted, "Archers, prepare!"

Only to see a one-armed general leading the charge. He rode to the city wall, looked at the ground covered with arrows and imperial guard corpses, reined in his horse, took off his helmet, and shouted, "Ji Tingyu, leading troops to aid Shuoyang, has annihilated the enemy. Captured the enemy commander Li Mingrui alive. Please open the city gate!"

Bai Jinzhao widened her eyes. Watching the one-armed, dark and thin Ji Tingyu below the city wall, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears, "Ji Tingyu! It’s Ji Tingyu! Open the city gate!"

Bai Qingping didn’t know who Ji Tingyu was, but seeing Bai Jinzhao so excited, he looked to Bai Jinhua for confirmation. Bai Jinhua’s eyes were also red, and she said to Bai Qingping, "Quick, open the city gate! It’s the Bai family army! Truly the Bai family army!"

Ji Tingyu trained soldiers under Bai Qingyan’s orders. Upon hearing of King Liang’s rebellion in Dadu City, he originally planned to lead troops quietly near Dadu City. If Eldest Young Lady and Fourth Young Lady couldn’t return in time... he would take the initiative to attack the city and control Dadu City once chaos ensued.

Unexpectedly, King Liang sent Li Mingrui to attack Shuoyang. Second Young Lady had Yuanping’s army available and had already started attacking Dadu City.

Ji Tingyu made a decisive move and led troops to aid Shuoyang.

Once entering Shuoyang City, Ji Tingyu did not dare to delay and headed straight for the Bai Mansion.

Mrs. Dong, upon hearing that Ji Tingyu led troops to relieve Shuoyang’s distress, her eyes suddenly became moist. It turned out... her daughter had already made arrangements for Shuoyang before leaving.

She never expected the one who relieved Shuoyang’s distress would be Ji Tingyu... the one who once sacrificed his life for the Bai family’s honor, who nearly got silently killed by his mother-in-law, the Eldest Princess.

Mrs. Dong calmed the sourness in her heart, stood up, and, along with the Bai family’s three ladies—Mrs. Li, Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Qi—stood at the Bai Mansion gate to welcome Ji Tingyu.

Ji Tingyu, accompanied by Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua, galloped down the street under the gaze of the citizens.

Seeing the four Bai family ladies standing at the Bai Mansion gate, Ji Tingyu reined in his horse, leapt off before the horse stopped, knelt on one knee, and supported himself with his remaining hand, shouting, "Ji Tingyu, greets the four ladies!"

"Quickly rise!" Mrs. Dong hurried down the steps to help Ji Tingyu up, her eyes red, "You haven’t been home for two years. I thought the Bai family hurt your feelings, and you didn’t want to return anymore!"

Ji Tingyu pressed his lips and said, "Ji Tingyu, as a Bai family soldier and servant, will always be a Bai family soldier and servant for life and afterlife!"

Mrs. Qi, hearing this, wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

Mrs. Li also quickly said, "Let’s have Ji Tingyu come inside to rest!"

"No, four ladies!" Ji Tingyu said with a calm expression, "Second Young Lady is now encircling Dadu City with Yuanping’s army. I must hurry to assist her! This time... apart from the 8,000 Shuoyang soldiers Eldest Young Lady left at Niujiao Mountain, 2,000 Niujiao Mountain soldiers will all stay in Shuoyang. Four ladies, please rest assured!"

Mrs. Dong nodded, "Thank you! Go ahead!"

"Aunt!" Bai Jinzhao stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and clasped her fists, "Bai Jinzhao requests permission to accompany Ji Tingyu to Shuoyang and assist Second Sister."

"Fifth Young Lady should stay in Shuoyang just in case!" Ji Tingyu said to Bai Jinzhao, "Shuoyang is of utmost importance. The Bai family’s ladies and clan are here. Should anything go wrong, it could be used to threaten Eldest Young Lady! Guarding Shuoyang for Fifth Young Lady is the greatest help to Eldest Young Lady and Second Young Lady!"

Bai Jinzhao furrowed her brows, stood up after a while, and nodded towards Ji Tingyu, "Please pass a message to Second Sister: We will definitely guard Shuoyang. She need not worry!"

·

On May 7th of the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, Bai Jinxiu led Yuanping’s army with Ji Tingyu leading the Bai family army to breach the gates of Dadu City. King Liang sent people to release the Crown Prince, Crown Princess Consort, and the Little Crown Prince from the Heavenly Prison, holding the Crown Prince hostage and retreating to defend the Imperial Palace with the imperial guard.

A month later, the tide between King Liang and Bai Jinxiu had turned. Now King Liang was defending the Imperial City, while Bai Jinxiu’s troops were at the gates.

On April 23rd, after being invited into the Imperial Palace by Xie Yuchang and Fu Ruoxi, King Liang followed Li Mingrui’s suggestion to guard against the loyal Princess of Zhen returning to Dadu City with her troops... discovering that King Liang’s ascension was a foregone conclusion, but still insisting on supporting the Crown Prince’s ascension and causing chaos.

Therefore, after King Liang controlled the Imperial Palace, he ordered the stockpiling of grain inside the palace to guard against unexpected occurrences. He accepted Li Mao’s suggestion to send someone with the Emperor’s gold medallion and command arrow to Pingyang City, ordering Pingyang’s army to quickly return to defend Dadu City.

Bai Jinxiu imitated King Liang, using the safety of the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Little Crown Prince as an excuse to encircle the city without attacking, ordering the evacuation of Dadu City’s civilians to prevent innocent casualties.

Bai Jinxiu planned for Eldest Young Lady to take over the Lin family’s imperial power in the future, needing to exhaust... the time until King Liang acted against the Crown Prince and the Emperor, dragging until Eldest Young Lady returned.

King Liang also delayed his actions. His goal was to stall until Pingyang’s army arrived in Dadu City, becoming his surprise reinforcements.

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