"..."

Dai Junliang didn’t say anything either, and he followed her gaze, looking down below the city tower.

Just now, a volley of arrows had created a ring of spikes in front of the city gate, blocking those Longxi Soldiers just outside the range of a shot.

Seeing the city gate close, these people also stopped,

And leading at the forefront was still Xue Xian. He turned his horse and took a couple of steps back, then looked back at the city tower. Those piercing tiger eyes scanned the people atop the tower but did not find the familiar figure; instead, they saw another slender and somewhat conspicuous silhouette.

The General’s wife, who once beat the drum in battle to aid Yu Wenye and fought alongside him, was now standing up there again. However, this time, she held not a drumstick but a bow and arrow!

Even the General’s wife had climbed the city tower, yet as a General, Yu Wenye did not appear.

Turning back to glance at the twenty large water carts they had abandoned, a sinister smile slowly appeared on Xue Xian’s lips.

As expected...

"General!"

At this time, several Deputy Generals behind him also galloped up and asked, "What’s the plan now?"

Xue Xian sneered and said, "Their Great General is indeed ill, and just as we previously thought, that Capital has passed the epidemic to those inside the city." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Really?"

"Otherwise, they wouldn’t insist on going upstream to fetch water, and today, sending out so many people clearly shows that the water shortage in the city has reached its limit."

As he spoke, Xue Xian slowly turned back, looking at those stopped and chaotic water carts around. Originally the city’s hope, they now helplessly lay abandoned here. He let out a cold laugh, saying, "Now, without water, they have lost their soul."

"..."

"Just in time to take this opportunity—"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers around all showed a fierce gleam in their eyes and began to cheer, and Xue Xian slowly raised his hand, gently waving it to the people beside him.

Instantly, a thunderous roar sounded in the distance.

The sound also caught the attention of those on the city tower. Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue stepped forward, supporting the battlements as they looked down, only to see some large shadows slowly emerging from the dense forest. On both sides of the shadows were countless black dots, which upon closer inspection were foot soldiers holding up large shields. They had gathered and were pushing those large shadows towards the base of the city tower.

Those were siege ladders!

Seeing these, the soldiers on the city tower panicked, and everyone started shouting, "Be careful!"

"They’re going to attack the city!"

"What do we do? What do we do?"

Already dry-mouthed and thirsty from the water shortage, having waited most of the day, now they watched helplessly as those water carts lay abandoned outside the city gate due to a commander’s mistake. The formidable enemy was now beginning their assault. Though discouraged, the soldiers had to muster their strength. Yet the arrows they shot seemed to carry their failing morale as they became weak and powerless.

Meanwhile, those below used this opportunity to quickly set up the siege ladders at the base of the city tower.

Seeing this, Yu Wenqian’s brows furrowed slightly.

Before coming here, he hadn’t imagined that the battle at Fufeng would reach such a point.

What he hadn’t expected even more was that Shang Ruyi, who had been standing on the city tower fighting bravely alongside the archers against the Longxi Army, noticing the low morale around her, did not attempt to boost their spirits. Instead, she stopped using her bow and arrow, ceasing to fight back.

And she quietly watched below.

As if—

She was waiting for Xue Xian’s siege ladders to be delivered.

Despite Yu Wenqian finding this thought rather puzzling, the situation indeed appeared this way. In fact, when the first siege ladder approached the city tower, Shang Ruyi even glanced down below.

The ladder just stopped below the city wall but suddenly tilted, causing a commotion among those below. Upon closer inspection, it was found that one corner of the ladder’s support had sunk into a trench.

Immediately, someone shouted loudly, "Be careful, there’s a trench here!"

Everyone looked down to see that there was indeed a half-person-wide trench, covered with some straw and dried branches and topped with a thin layer of soil, making it unnoticeable.

At this moment, Shang Ruyi’s originally calm eyes, which had somewhat flared with murderous intent just moments ago, suddenly flashed with a cold glint.