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

A day later, the wells in Jicheng dried up completely.

The people's lips were chapped and their throats felt like there was a handful of sand stuck in them, making it difficult to even swallow.

They brought their families and gathered outside the palace. The black crowd knelt in front of the palace gate and begged in sorrow.

"Your Majesty! Please, have mercy and give us some water!"

A white-haired old woman knelt in the front, crying in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty! Without water, we can't even survive a day!"

A young woman was holding a crying baby. Her tears mixed with the dust on her face, leaving several muddy marks on her dry skin.

"We don't want much, just a sip of water, just one sip!"

Several skinny teenagers also begged, their eyes sunken and their lips cracked and bleeding.

"If we continue like this, we won't be able to hold on for long."

"Your Majesty, we haven't had any water for a day and a half. We are so thirsty. Please be kind and help us."

The people outside the palace walls kept kowtowing and shouting.

Inside the palace, Sima Yi, who received the news, brought Cheng Yu to the palace wall in person.

On the tall walls of the imperial palace, Sima Yi looked down at the people below with a cold face.

His dragon robe swayed slightly in the wind, but there was no trace of pity in his eyes.

"His Majesty……"

Cheng Yu stood beside him and whispered, "The people are unstable. Do we need to give them some water?"

"If this continues, I'm worried something might happen. With so many people, if they..."

Sima Yi raised his hand to interrupt him, then took a step forward and said condescendingly: "Listen up!"

The people instantly quieted down and looked up at their emperor, their eyes full of hope.

"Now, 150,000 Chu troops are outside the city, and Jicheng is in imminent danger!"

Sima Yi's voice was cold and dignified: "Water resources are limited, so priority must be given to the soldiers defending the city! Otherwise, if the city is breached and the Chu cavalry crushes Jicheng, do you think you can survive?"

When the people heard this, they looked at each other in confusion.

"But Your Majesty..."

A middle-aged man bravely shouted, "Without water, we can't hold out for three days. Even if we defend the city, we'll all die of thirst. What's the point?"

"Yes! We just need a little water to survive!" someone in the crowd echoed.

"We would die if the Chu army invaded the city, but now we have no water, and we will die soon."

"That's right, Your Majesty, if you don't give us water, we will die before the Chu army attacks the city."

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

Looking at the important person who kept kowtowing in front of him, Sima Yi's face suddenly became gloomy, and a hint of violence flashed in his eyes.

He swung his sleeves and shouted, "How dare you! At this critical moment when the nation is at risk, you are not thinking of serving the country, but are instead trying to disrupt the morale of the army. You are nothing but a bunch of unruly people!"

The people were frightened by his angry rebuke and remained silent for a while.

But soon, despair spread again.

"Your Majesty! We are not troublemakers, we just want to survive!" The old woman cried and banged her forehead heavily on the ground.

Sima Yi's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he said coldly, "I'll give you one last chance. Disperse immediately! Otherwise, I will kill you without mercy!"

He raised his hand and waved, and the imperial guards on both sides of the palace gate stepped forward in unison, their spears flashing coldly.

He didn't want to get entangled with these people and just wanted to deal with the matter as soon as possible.

The best way is to suppress it with soldiers!

Seeing this, Cheng Yu was afraid that something might happen, so he quickly urged loudly:

"Fellow villagers, leave immediately! His Majesty has issued an order that reinforcements will arrive soon, and the water problem will be solved by then!"

But the people were already in extreme despair. They knelt on the ground, motionless.

"Kill!" Sima Yi shouted angrily.

Upon receiving the order, the imperial guards immediately rushed into the crowd, stabbing mercilessly with spears, swords flashing, and screams instantly resounded through the palace gates.

"what!"

"Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

The people fled in all directions, but the imperial guards had already blocked their retreat.

The elderly, the weak, women and children were pushed to the ground, some were pierced through the chest by spears, and some were knocked to the ground by steel knives.

The blood dyed the stone pavement in front of the palace gate red, and the wailing continued for a long time.

Sima Yi watched all this with cold eyes until the last civilian was driven away. Then he turned and left, leaving behind only these cold words:

"Cheng Yu, tighten control in the city. Anyone who gathers to cause trouble will be killed without mercy!"

Cheng Yu bowed his head and replied, "I obey your command."

After returning to the palace, Sima Yi's face was still gloomy.

He sat on the dragon throne, tapping his fingers on the armrests, obviously in a very bad mood.

Cheng Yu walked quickly into the hall and whispered, "Your Majesty, the reinforcements have arrived!"

Sima Yi raised his head suddenly, a hint of ecstasy flashing in his eyes: "Really?"

Cheng Yu nodded: "It's absolutely true! They are already hiding in the dense forest outside the city north, waiting for midnight to strike and then they will surprise attack the Chu army camp!"

Sima Yi sneered, "Very good, I'm really looking forward to seeing Chu Ning's panicked look!"

He paid a lot for this plan and didn't even care about the cities occupied by the Tang army in Wei.

As long as he wins this battle, he believes he can take these cities back!

Soon, time passed and it was midnight.

At midnight, the night was as dark as ink.

The Chu army camp was silent, with only patrolling soldiers holding torches moving between the tents.

suddenly!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

In the darkness, countless arrows flew through the air, and the patrolling Chu soldiers were shot like hedgehogs before they could react!

"Enemy attack!" someone shouted, but the next second, a sharp arrow pierced his throat.

Immediately afterwards, the earth shook and the sound of horse hooves was like thunder!

A cavalry group rushed out from the dense forest in the north like ghosts. They held scimitars, wore foreign clothes, and had hideous oil paint on their faces. In the light of the fire, they looked like evil spirits crawling out of hell!

"kill!"

The leading foreign general roared wildly and swept his scimitar across. The head of a Chu soldier who had just rushed out of the tent flew off and blood splattered!

The Chu army camp was instantly in chaos!

"It's the barbarians!" a Chu soldier shouted in horror.

But it's too late.

This cavalry swept in like a hurricane, and blood and flesh flew wherever their scimitars passed.

The Chu army responded hastily, but in the darkness, they were unable to organize an effective defense.

The tent was set on fire and flames shot up into the sky!

The Chu soldiers were awakened from their sleep and were knocked to the ground by scimitars before they could pick up their weapons.

The grass was stained red with blood, and screams could be heard one after another.

On the city wall, Sima Yi and Cheng Yu looked at the chaos in the Chu camp from afar, with ferocious smiles on their faces.

"Chu Ning, let's see how you escape this time!" Sima Yi sneered.

But at this moment.

Suddenly, a low and solemn horn sounded from the Chu army's central camp in the distance.

"Woo--Woo--"

The sound, like the roar of some ferocious beast, echoed in the dark night.

Sima Yi's smile suddenly froze.

"This is?"

Cheng Yu's expression also changed: "The Chu army's central army reacted so quickly, could it be that the Chu army had been prepared in advance?"