nucmednet Chapter 84 Breaking Through the City
Chapter 84 Breaking Through the City
??
Although Bai Lian knew Liu Ye's words made sense, she couldn't quite grasp the concept. She hesitated and said, "Even if the rebels cannot be used by me, my White Lotus Sect will never act as an accomplice to evil or assist the government..."
Liu Ye sighed. In the end, the White Lotus Sect was still an underground organization that coerced the people into rebellion. It was indeed an impossible task to persuade a high-ranking member of the White Lotus Sect to inform the government in a short period of time.
"Regardless, let's get out of here first. Geng Zhongming wants to silence us, Miss Ling has a shoulder injury, and I can't help you. You're all alone; you can't fight against so many people..."
Bai Lian glanced at Ling Xi'er and readily agreed. It was indeed difficult for her to protect two people by herself, and there was no need to put herself in danger.
Under the cover of night, the three used the same method they had used to enter to scale the wall and leave the Geng residence. To avoid encountering the rebel soldiers who had led the way, they deliberately chose the other side of the wall.
Since Gengfu was a dangerous place and they couldn't return to the military camp, they needed to find a place to stay. The three searched for inns along the way, but after knocking on several doors, they were repeatedly turned away. Because Dengzhou was under lockdown, many people couldn't leave the city, and all the inns were full, even the woodsheds were occupied. Having no other choice, the three had to ask for lodging in civilian houses. Liu Ye spoke with a strong Liaodong accent, and many people immediately closed their doors upon hearing it. This clearly demonstrated the deep-seated conflict between the Liaodong people and the locals.
In the end, Ling Xi'er persuaded a family to let her stay for the night using her Jiangzhe accent. The male head of the household had gone to Qingzhou for a funeral, leaving only the female head of the household and her mother-in-law at home. If it weren't for the fact that two of the three were women, they wouldn't have dared to let them stay.
The family had only one empty room, and the three of them, not bothered by it and not feeling sleepy, sat down fully clothed. Liu Ye frowned, pondering ways to stop the rebels from entering the city.
Seeing Liu Ye's state, Ling Xi'er felt a pang of pity and said, "Master, why don't we help him? Although your plan to use the rebels may not succeed, it's already quite an achievement to have come this far. It's all thanks to him. We can't just abandon him after we've served our purpose, can we?"
Bai Lian was still somewhat hesitant. Liu Ye heard Ling Xi'er's words and said, "It's alright, I won't make things difficult for you, Fairy. How about this, you stay here, I'll go to the governor's office and try my luck. After all, I've dealt with General Sun before, maybe I can see him."
Hearing this, Bai Lian felt bad and stood up, saying, "Let's go. I won't help the government, but I can help you."
Liu Ye and Ling Xi'er were delighted upon hearing this. Liu Ye asked, "What does the fairy mean?"
"The entire city of Dengzhou is under martial law. It's not safe for you to travel alone. Even if you reach the governor's office, the guards at the gate might not let you in. If necessary, I can help you bypass the guards and go directly to the inner quarters. As for what happens after that, I won't get involved."
Liu Ye felt relieved. With her help, even if he couldn't enter the governor's office through the main gate, he could always climb over the wall. As long as he saw Sun Yuanhua, he was confident he could convince the other party to believe him.
Accompanied by Bai Lian, Liu Ye headed confidently towards the governor's office. Perhaps due to the powerful inertia of history, his expectations were dashed.
The governor's office was brightly lit. A guard on the gate vaguely remembered Liu Ye, who had once sought an audience with the governor. He told him that the rebels' movements had been unclear recently, and the governor was worried about them, so he went to inspect the city's defenses overnight and didn't know when he would return. Liu Ye was greatly disappointed upon hearing this.
Bai Lian asked, "What do we do now? Search at each city gate?"
Liu Ye shook his head: "No need. The elite troops in the city are all concentrated at the city gates and walls. We don't know where Sun Yuanhua is patrolling the defenses. If we wander around like headless flies, the guards might mistake us for spies spying on the city's defenses, and that would be a big problem. It looks like it'll be hard to find him tonight. Let's try our luck again tomorrow..."
The two returned to the house where they had stayed. It was almost dawn. Bai Lian and Ling Xi'er were asleep on the bed, fully clothed, while Liu Ye took a nap on a chair.
The next day, Liu Ye, still unwilling to give up, went to try his luck again, only to learn that Sun Yuanhua had not returned home the previous night.
After a series of setbacks, Liu Ye began to panic. Was the wheel of history truly unstoppable? Could the rebels' capture of Dengzhou City not be altered by his own actions?
That night, Liu Ye climbed onto the roof. He didn't know the exact date in history when the rebels and the Dongjiang soldiers in the city colluded to breach the city's defenses. He wanted to be able to see what was happening so he could know immediately if anything unexpected occurred.
Once on the rooftop, the view was incredibly expansive. Liu Ye gazed at the East Gate, where lanterns and torches on the distant city walls outlined the city's silhouette, while below, the lanterns of patrolling soldiers flickered in and out of view among the houses.
This was the first time Liu Ye had calmly observed the Dengzhou city walls. Using lanterns and torches as references, the walls appeared to be at least eleven or twelve meters high, with a moat six or seven meters deep outside. Add to that the numerous cannons on the walls, and without an inside agent to open the gates, the rebel army of over ten thousand men wouldn't be enough to fill the moat. Although Dengzhou would still fall to the rebels and Geng Zhongming's forces without his help, he had, after all, become involved in this chaos. In a sense, he had dug his own grave, and might even perish in the chaos tonight.
Thinking of this, Liu Ye smiled bitterly. If time could be reversed, he would never take such a risk. Hiding in Qiongzhou to cultivate technology and mass produce troops was the best way. At most, the pace of advancing into the mainland would be slower. Anyway, he was not in a hurry to seize the throne from Chongzhen.
Just then, there was a rustling sound behind him. Liu Ye turned around and saw that Bai Lian and Ling Xi'er had also climbed onto the roof.
Bai Lian stood with his hands behind his back on the roof beam, saying nothing. Ling Xi'er climbed over and sat beside him, asking softly, "What are you doing here?"
Looking at the city wall, Liu Ye replied, "I'm wondering when the rebels will enter the city."
"Don't you know everything? Just do the math, when will the rebels enter the city?"
Liu Ye gave a wry smile: "You really think highly of me. I'm not a fortune teller. However, the rebel camp on Mi Shen Mountain is very close to Dengzhou. As long as Geng Zhongming is willing, a day is enough to make contact back and forth. With the addition of manpower, he can take action by tomorrow night at the latest, or even tonight at the earliest..." As he said this, his heart tightened. Could it really be tonight?
Just then, as if to confirm his guess, a loud "boom" shook the entire city. The three of them were startled and looked in the direction from which the sound came, which was the direction of the East Gate.
Liu Ye's expression changed: "They've really started? This is a cannon signal." He was familiar with this sound; he had fought against the government troops in Lingao, and it was the sound of cannons firing.