Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

At three quarters past noon, a carrier pigeon flew into the city.

Three quarters of an hour later, inside the Jicheng Palace.

Sima Yi, the Emperor of Wei, was pacing anxiously in the imperial study. The emperor, who was nearly fifty years old, had a pale face and sunken eyes, and it was obvious that he had not slept for many days.

Suddenly, the study door was flung open, and Prime Minister Cheng Yu walked in quickly with a serious expression.

"His Majesty!"

Cheng Yu's voice trembled. "This is terrible! I just received news from the scouts outside the city that the waterway inside the city has been cut off by the Chu army!"

Sima Yi was struck by lightning when he heard this. He staggered back two steps and held on to the table to steady himself.

His fingers dug into the wooden tabletop, his knuckles turning white. "What? The Chu army cut off our waterway?"

His voice was hoarse and not like his own.

Cheng Yu stepped forward to support him. "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself! Reports indicate that the Chu army raided the canal dam west of the city last night, completely diverting our water source."

"The water conservancy official estimates that the city will be without water in three days at most."

Sima Yi pushed Cheng Yu away suddenly and punched the table, causing the teacup to fall to the ground and shatter into pieces.

"Chu Ning! You actually resorted to such despicable means!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and his chest was heaving violently. "Once we run out of water, the army will be in chaos. How can we resist the Chu army's attack?"

Seeing this, Cheng Yu quickly tried to comfort him: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although the situation is critical, we still have a backup plan."

He lowered his voice and said, "According to the agreed time, the reinforcements will arrive in two days. By then, we only need to cooperate with them to defeat the Chu army!"

Sima Yi heard this, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes, but was immediately replaced by anxiety: "Two days? But after three days, there will be a shortage of water!"

He grabbed Cheng Yu's arm with such force that the old prime minister frowned.

"Hurry! Hurry them up immediately! This battle must begin within three days!"

Cheng Yu endured the pain and nodded in response, "I will do it right away. Your Majesty, rest assured. I will send a pigeon to contact them and it will definitely speed up the arrival of reinforcements."

Sima Yi then let go of his hand and sat back on the dragon throne dejectedly.

He looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky and muttered to himself, "Three days... only three days..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he looked up sharply. "Pass the order down. Implement water control immediately! All wells must be heavily guarded, with priority given to the soldiers defending the city! The people... the people, please be patient for now."

Cheng Yu hesitated to speak, and finally bowed deeply: "I obey your command."

As he turned to leave, he heard Sima Yi's nervous whisper behind him: "No chaos... My kingdom cannot be in chaos..."

Walking out of the imperial study, Cheng Yu sighed.

He knew that the next three days would determine the life or death of the Wei Dynasty.

The people in the city will probably pay a heavy price for this.

Looking up towards the west of the city, a trace of pity flashed across the old prime minister's cloudy eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination - for the sake of the Great Wei, some sacrifices were inevitable.

An hour later, Cheng Yu issued an order to control the water source, and the people in the city suddenly panicked.

At first, the news was spread only in a small circle, but soon, panic spread like wildfire.

People flocked to wells and streams, only to find that the water levels had dropped, and some had even dried up completely.

Several large wells in the west of the city were already crowded with people. Wooden barrels collided and water splashed everywhere. Some people even lay directly on the edge of the well and scooped out the remaining mud with their hands.

"Get out of the way! I was here first!"

A burly man pushed the old woman in front of him away and slammed the wooden barrel into the well, but only half a barrel of muddy water was fished out.

"Why should you go first? This well belongs to everyone!"

A thin young man shouted angrily and reached out to grab his bucket, and the two men immediately started fighting.

The crowd around them became agitated, with pushing, shouting, and crying mixed together.

The chaos quickly escalated.

Some people began to smash down the gates of wealthy families and tried to seize their private wells.

The Li Mansion in the north of the city was the first to suffer. Dozens of thirsty people broke down the gate, and the servants were unable to stop them and were pushed to the ground.

People flocked to the well in the yard, frantically drawing water. Some even jumped directly into the well, soaked their clothes, and then wrung out the water to drink.

The owner of the Li Mansion, an elderly country gentleman, stood on the steps and pleaded in a trembling voice, "Fellow villagers, the well water is limited. Please use it in an orderly manner..."

But no one paid any attention to him.

A butcher with a face full of flesh pushed him away with a sly grin: "Get out of here, old man! Who's going to care about you now?"

The old man stumbled and fell, hitting his forehead on the stone steps, and blood flowed out.

His family members cried and tried to help him, but were separated by the crazy crowd.

The news quickly reached Cheng Yu's ears. His face darkened, and he suddenly slammed the table and stood up: "Are these scoundrels rebelling?"

He immediately dispatched troops and ordered the city defense forces to suppress the rebellion.

Hundreds of Wei army soldiers, armed with spears and steel knives on their waists, lined up and rushed towards the streets where the riots were most serious.

"By order of the Prime Minister, anyone who steals water will be killed without mercy!" the leading captain shouted sternly.

But the people have already become furious.

A ragged man roared, "We're going to die anyway, so we might as well fight!"

He grabbed a stone and threw it at a soldier.

"court death!"

The soldier roared angrily, thrust his spear forward, and pierced the man's chest.

Blood splattered, and the crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even crazier roars.

“How dare they kill people!”

"Fight them!"

Dozens of young and strong men picked up sticks and stones and rushed towards the army.

Everyone knows that lack of water means death, so everyone wants to grab water at this time to save their lives.

If they don't fight for it now and it is occupied by the soldiers, it will be difficult for them to take it back in the future.

The captain looked at the people rushing towards him, sneered, and waved his hand to order: "Shoot!"

Whoosh whoosh!

Arrows rained down, and the few people in the front fell to the ground instantly, with wailing sounds everywhere.

But the people behind were still rushing forward, and some even grabbed the soldiers' knives and slashed wildly.

Seeing this, the captain shouted angrily: "Form a battle line! Kill!"

Spears like a forest advanced forward.

The Wei army was well-trained and ruthless, piercing everyone who stood in their way.

The streets were soon filled with blood and corpses.

Some people knelt down and begged for mercy, but were chopped down by a knife. Some people turned around to run away, but were shot through the back by an arrow.

The courage I had at the beginning was completely shattered after seeing so many corpses.

In the face of absolute strength, they are like lambs to be slaughtered.

In less than half an hour, the riot was completely suppressed.

The surviving people huddled in the corner, trembling and no longer daring to resist.

Cheng Yu stood atop the city wall, coldly surveying the blood-stained streets. A captain arrived to report, "Prime Minister, the rioters have been purged. A total of 137 have been executed."

Cheng Yu nodded expressionlessly: "Very good, pass the order down, anyone who steals water again will have their entire family implicated!"

The news spread quickly throughout the city.

The people were silent and dared not act rashly again.

But fear and resentment spread like poisonous snakes in everyone's heart.