It's better to be an empress than a county magistrate

Shufei didn't expect the emperor to get so angry with her.

She immediately showed an extremely aggrieved expression, her eyes turned red, and tears burst out after a while.

When the emperor saw Concubine Shu crying, his heart softened again.

"Anyone in the world could betray me, not even Zhao Yu. Yongzhou City will definitely be difficult to capture this time. This is my last ditch effort. Once we capture Yongzhou City, I will let Zhao Yu lead his troops to sweep across the entire Central Plains."

"If we can't take Yongzhou City..."

The emperor couldn't finish the words that were on his lips.

After all, he could raise an army to kill the emperor of Da Qi and take the throne himself. Why couldn't Lu Xingchen kill him and take the throne himself?

Lu Xingchen's ambition is obvious to everyone.

I just regret that I was so blind last year. How could I not realize that Lu Xingchen was such an ambitious woman?

Seeing that the emperor was speaking to her so seriously, Concubine Shu did not know what to say. She just said a few perfunctory words and left the imperial study.

After returning to her own palace, Concubine Shu saw Li Chaoyang and urged him to send some of the money to Southern Tang in advance.

"From what the emperor said, if Yongzhou City cannot be taken, Chang'an City will also be in danger."

"We have to act early. We can't deliver such a large amount of property if the rebels besiege the city."

Li Chaoyang also felt that the crisis was severe.

He and Concubine Shu have been working together for so many years, and they don't want to fail.

"Okay, I understand. I will find a reliable person to transport our money out of the city and send it to Southern Tang." Li Chaoyang made up his mind immediately.

Ten days passed quickly, Zhao Yu received 10,000 reinforcements from the emperor and started a new round of siege.

On the first day of Zhao Yu's siege, Lu Xingchen poured water on the entire city wall.

Early the next morning, when Zhao Yu's troops arrived at the city, they only saw a gleaming white wall.

The wall is very dazzling in the sunlight.

The generals from the imperial court who led the charge had never seen such a city wall.

It's all ice, how are they going to climb up?

The ladder cannot be put up at all, and it will slide down by itself after being put up.

Zhao Yu held a knife in the back and urged the soldiers to charge forward, but when the soldiers rushed to the bottom of the city wall, they could not climb up.

"General, this woman is too cunning. She actually poured water all over the city wall. The city wall is covered with ice more than a foot thick. How can we climb up..."

"Moreover, she has already blocked all four city gates with soil."

The military commander looked at Zhao Yu with an expression that looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears.

Zhao Yu had never seen such an enemy before. They left him no chance of survival.

The city wall cannot be climbed, and the city gate has become a mud wall and cannot be broken down.

What should I do?

"Okay, then we will surround the city. I don't believe that the food and fodder in Yongzhou City, apart from the soldiers, there are also civilians. How long can the food last?"

Lu Xingchen was worried that the emperor would launch a surprise attack on her, so after the autumn harvest she stored a large amount of grain and fodder in Yongzhou City.

The food and grass in the city can last at least two months.

But Wei Hu could only last a month and a half at most.

The Chinese New Year is approaching.

Although there is no truce during the Chinese New Year, every time the Chinese New Year comes, one's emotions will change and fluctuate.

Lu Xingchen knew that he couldn’t just keep waiting like this.

The problems on Zhao Yu's side are even more serious.

The wives and children of these soldiers of the imperial court were all in Chang'an. It was the New Year and they wanted to go home. The most important thing was that they were very close to home.

The feeling of being so close yet unable to go home is more unbearable than being in a foreign country.

So Lu Xingchen asked the soldiers to gather together and sing "Homesickness".

So the soldiers of Yongzhou City huddled on the city walls and sang "Homesickness" at the top of their lungs.

Many of Lu Xingchen's soldiers came from Yongzhou and Jizhou. It was the New Year, and they missed their hometown. The more they sang, the sadder they became.

In the end, the homesickness songs were almost all sung with crying and sobbing voices.

When the soldiers on Zhao Yu's side heard this "Homesickness Song", they felt extremely bad.

The most crucial thing is that the emperor’s food supply is running out.

In such cold weather, without sufficient food and fodder, they were not full and not warm enough. In addition, as New Year's Eve was getting closer, they missed home more and more, and the soldiers had lost their will to fight.

Zhao Yu looked at the city wall of Yongzhou City with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong with this woman again?"

The military commander wiped away his bitter tears. "I don't know, General. Maybe her soldiers are homesick too."

"Otherwise, let's fight. After this battle, we can go home."

Although the New Year is approaching and spring is just half a month away, the ice on the city wall has not completely melted and it is still impossible to climb up.

Lu Xingchen didn't feel much when listening to the soldiers singing "Homesickness".

After all, her hometown is too far away, so far that it is out of reach, so she simply doesn't think about it.

"I miss home." Lu Xingchen looked at Master Guo and asked.

Master Guo smiled, shook his head and took a sip of tea.

"My whole family died when I was three. I was sold to several places and ended up as a slave in a wealthy family."

"This young man from a wealthy family is the same age as me. I study just like him."

"Who would have known that I read better than he did? I almost never forget what I have read."

"Later, during the war, this wealthy family moved south with their entire family. On the way, they encountered bandits and the whole family died. I was the only one who survived by hiding under the carriage."

"Where there are no relatives, there is no home. Relatives have gone to heaven. Unless they are dead, there is no point in thinking about the rest."

Master Guo was telling the saddest story, but there was not a trace of sadness in him. One only felt the relief and clarity that comes from having gone through a great ordeal.

"I want to launch a New Year offensive..." Lu Xingchen raised a sly smile at the corner of his lips.

"I knew the prince had a plan in mind."

“The soldiers on the tower singing was certainly not spontaneous or random.”

Master Guo discovered that although Lu Xingchen was young, he had a strategy to win people's hearts with every step he took.

The best strategist in this world is the one who attacks people's hearts.

Once you defeat people's hearts, what else can't be defeated?

"Okay, I can't wait any longer. Although this is part of the plan, being stuck in this city for more than a month is really suffocating me to death." Master Guo said, clapping his hands while fanning himself with a bamboo fan.

Lu Xingchen smiled and said, "Then it's settled, New Year's Offensive..."

After Lu Xingchen and Master Guo finished their discussion, they passed the order to Wei Hu.

Wei Hu had a stubbled face and looked haggard.

At the beginning, he watched Yongzhou City being attacked frantically by Zhao Yu, but he couldn't show his head and kept shrinking there, almost holding his prostate out.

Later, as food supplies became less and less, and they had to save money, he had to appease the emotions of the soldiers, which almost caused him internal injuries.

He himself felt so frustrated that he was about to go crazy, but he had to put aside his own emotions to appease others. It was more painful than being roasted on the fire.

Fortunately, we finally received Lu Xingchen's order and can go out. We can have a good fight and it will be worth it even if we die.

People can't be suffocated to death. If they go to the underworld, they won't even be able to get past the King of Hell.

On New Year’s Eve, the night is as dark as ink and the sky is full of shining stars.

Suddenly, outside Zhao Yu's tent, flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the sky red as if it had been splashed with ink.