Reborn to overthrow the throne, I became the new emperor's dark moonlight

After the battle started, Ji Chuan was escorted down the city wall by guards.

Su Heting personally led the elite troops of the two armies as the vanguard of the Xinjiang Northern Army, while Xu An was in charge of the rear.

Although defending the city had advantages, Yincheng suffered many casualties after fighting for one night, while the Xinjiang North Army remained intact.

In the end, Su Heting took the initiative to break the fight.

Before retreating, Su Heting said again, "This is a personal grudge between the king and Ji Chuan. General Qin, there is really no need for the soldiers to lose their lives for such a rat."

Looking at the Xinjiang Northern Army, whose morale remained high and they were retreating in an orderly manner, General Qin's confidant asked, "General, do we really have to hold on to the death?"

The confidant heard all the conversations between General Qin and Ji Chuan, and also learned about the food situation from General Qin.

General Qin looked at his confidant with a stern gaze, "No matter what the reason, if we don't defend, we will be deserters and surrenderers."

"But they haven't even used their full strength yet, and we've already lost many soldiers. If we run out of food..."

The attendant couldn't continue.

Then they would have died in vain.

If a confidant had said such words under normal circumstances, General Qin would have certainly charged him with the crime of shaking the morale of the army.

But today, he was silent for a while, then said, "I am not guarding you, sir. I am guarding Yincheng and southern Xinjiang."

He had no idea how long he could hold out.

It was also the first time that he witnessed the power of the Xinjiang Northern Army. No wonder they were able to drive away the barbarians.

It is a blessing for the people that Dayou has such an army.

If the King of Jiangbei is really the Second Prince, that would be great, General Qin thought.

The second battle started in the early morning two days later.

This time, the offensive of the two armies was more fierce than before. Both the Liangzhou Army and the Xinjiang North Army suffered casualties, but the Yincheng Army suffered more losses.

Moreover, this time, when the two armies ceased fighting, they did not withdraw far away, but set up camp five miles outside the city and rested for ten days.

Every day, Qiao Xi and Su Heting would use their internal energy to transmit messages, which roughly meant that they wanted Ji Chuan to leave the city and die, and that they did not want to vent their anger on innocent lives.

During these ten days, three times a day, smoke from cooking fires could be seen regularly from the city wall of Yincheng, and one could even smell the fragrance of food depending on the wind direction.

And the food in Yincheng was finally exhausted.

General Qin came to Ji Chuan again because of the food issue.

When Ji Chuan saw him, he knew he was here for food, so he went first and said, "I have ordered the people in the city to donate some food first."

"Your Excellency's intention is to seize the people's food?"

General Qin couldn't believe it.

Right now, the two armies are fighting, and the people are trapped in the city and cannot leave. How can anyone be willing to take out their own stored food? Therefore, the donation that Ji Chuan mentioned is actually robbery.

Ji Chuan couldn't stand his expression, as if he was an unforgivable criminal, and said impatiently, "Soldiers are protecting the people, and the people should share the food they have contributed."

"Although the drought in southern Xinjiang isn't as severe as in northern Xinjiang, the harvest has also been greatly reduced this year. How much food do the people have?"

"Take as much as you can. The common people can skip a couple of meals at home and not starve, but you can't go hungry. Just hold on for now. When the imperial reinforcements arrive, everything will be fine."

General Qin clenched his fingers, "Sir, will the court really send reinforcements?"

"Will do."

Ji Chuan spoke in a decisive tone, but he did not feel confident in his heart.

Logically, the carrier pigeon should have arrived in the capital long ago. When the emperor learned of Qiao Xi's betrayal, he would definitely have written a reply, but he had not received any news from the court.

This is also the reason why he has been anxious these days, but he cannot let General Qin know the truth.

He soothed her, “Others may not know, but you know that I am His Majesty’s man.

After the death of the former crown prince, Dayou was plagued by internal troubles. Local forces split into different areas and the imperial power was weakened. Your Majesty was worried that other forces would devour southern Xinjiang, so you asked me to follow their example and occupy southern Xinjiang.

But in reality, Jiangnan remains loyal to His Majesty, so Your Majesty will definitely send reinforcements."

General Qin was indeed aware of this relationship, and therefore he was determined to defend southern Xinjiang. He always believed that he was an official appointed by the court and was loyal to the court, so he should protect the peace of the people for the court.

But when he left Ji's house and walked on the street, he saw soldiers and officers snatching food from people's homes. The people held on to the food bags and refused to let go, and were beaten by the soldiers and officers.

He slammed his fist down on the officer's head. "A soldier's fist is to protect the people, not to oppress them."

The officer and soldier also felt very aggrieved, "There are orders from above."

If he fails to gather enough food, he will be punished.

A few days passed like this. Outside the city, the two armies ate and drank well, and practiced as usual with laughter, looking full of energy and spirit.

The people in the city complained bitterly, but no reinforcements arrived. When General Qin found Ji Chuan again, he heard him say, "I have decided to go to Yizhou myself to collect food. You must hold on until the last moment."

Yizhou is the next city after Yincheng.

General Qin saw that he had packed up a lot of boxes and even took his new beautiful concubine with him.

This is not about raising food, this is about running away.

General Qin felt even more sad.

When he passed by the door of his house, his daughter who was guarding the door pulled him into the house. Behind the door, his daughter stuffed half a steamed bun into his mouth and said, "Dad, I stay at home all day, I am not hungry.

This is my daughter's leftover lunch. Please help her eat it. Otherwise, if I know that I have left food again, I will scold you."

General Qin felt a pain in his chest.

It was obvious that his daughter was not hungry, and she had left the food for him on purpose.

The mansion was no longer what it used to be. When the army was short of food, he was the first to take out the food stored in the mansion, and the remaining food was only enough to barely feed his family.

Nowadays, it is a luxury to have a steamed bun in the house.

Looking at his daughter's increasingly thin face, he swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and asked, "If Dad surrenders, will you feel that Dad is ashamed?"

Qin Guqiu's eyes lit up, "Dad, has he decided?"

This is really looking forward to surrendering.

General Qin felt that the steamed buns he had just eaten were bitter, and then he heard Qin Guqiu say, "If Dad surrenders, your daughter will think that you are a true hero. Dad is saving the soldiers and the people."

Looking up and touching his daughter's head, General Qin asked, "Do you really think so?"

Qin Guqiu asked, "Dad, aren't you protecting the people of southern Xinjiang? But if you don't surrender, you'll only be trapping the people.

The daughter heard that both General Xu and the King of Jiangbei were kind to the people, and they would certainly treat her father well.

Even if Daddy doesn't hold an official position in the future, whether we farm or do some small business, your daughter will still be proud of you."

General Qin's eyes suddenly turned red. He looked at his daughter lovingly for a long time before saying, "Dear, Daddy is leaving. You must take good care of your mother. No matter what the future holds, as long as you and your mother live well, everything Daddy does will be worth it."

"Daddy..."

Qin Guqiu felt that his father was a little strange, but he couldn't put his finger on it for a moment, and then he saw his father riding away.

When General Qin arrived at the city gate, he had just dismounted when a group of people knelt before him. An old man took the lead and said, "General, please open the city gate and give us a way out."

"We don't want to starve to death. Please, General, give us a way to live." The rest of the people echoed.

The confidant hurried over and shouted, "How dare you! The general defended the city gate to protect southern Xinjiang from being invaded. Your nonsense will only chill the hearts of the general and his soldiers."

"But we have no food. We will starve to death sooner or later. Besides, the King of Xinjiang North said that they are only seeking revenge on the Jiedushi and will not embarrass us civilians."

"Yes, during the years when the Jiedushi was in charge of southern Xinjiang, we didn't have a good life at all.

Upon hearing that the taxes in northern Xinjiang were much lower than those in the imperial court, the King of northern Xinjiang even had people grow new varieties of grain.

If this is true, then it might not be a bad thing for Southern Xinjiang to fall into the hands of the King of Northern Xinjiang. I beg the General to show mercy and let us live."

"you……"

The confidant was furious. Although he knew that what the people said might be reasonable, he didn't know how the general would deal with it.

Just as he was about to curse, he heard General Qin say, "Take off your armor and open the city gate."

"General."

The confidant was shocked.

General Qin just waved his hand and went up to the city wall.

"King of Northern Xinjiang."

He shouted outside the city.

On a big tree in the distance, Qiao Xi and Su Heting smiled at each other, then jumped down the tree one after another and went to the bottom of the Yincheng city tower.

The rest of the soldiers hurried to follow.

General Qin saw the men approaching and shouted, "King of Jiangbei, I, Qin, surrender today. I hope you will keep your word and not embarrass the soldiers and people of Yincheng."

Su Heting replied, "I promise you."

"Okay, Qin believes you."

After saying that, he pulled out a dagger from his waist and stabbed it into his heart.

The Qin family has been a military family for generations, and they all served as small soldiers. It was only when he came to the family that he climbed up from centurion to his current position. Every time he was promoted, his father would remind him earnestly that the Qin family could die in battle and would never surrender.

Today, he had no choice but to surrender, but he had no face to live anymore.

Before the dagger could penetrate the flesh, it was entangled by a white silk thread.

Qiao Xi and Su Heting flew up, each grabbed one of his arms, and flew him down the city wall.

Qiao Xi sneered, "General Qin, we'll take you to see what kind of people you're serving."

Ji Chuan had just arrived at the west gate of Yincheng and hadn't even left the city when he heard that General Qin had surrendered. He was so angry that he jumped up and down and hurriedly urged the guards, "Hurry, hurry, open the city gate."

As soon as the city gate opens, Qiao Xi and the others will definitely catch up, so he has to leave quickly.

But as soon as he walked out of the city gate, he saw Xu An with his arms folded and his men guarding outside the west city gate.

"Why are you here?"

Weren't they camped at the East City Gate? How could they sneak in here without anyone noticing?

Xu An smiled, "Grandpa is waiting for you, my grandson."

Seeing that they were so numerous, Ji Chuan turned and ran, and then he saw Qiao Xi and Su Heting approaching with Qinggong...