We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Midnight, Yanxing Gate, Chang'an.

Duan Rui is in his early thirties and has an ordinary appearance. He is the type of person who would be hard to find in a crowd.

He was not very brave in combat, and his family had been digging the land for three generations, so he had no foundation in the military.

He felt that it was a blessing that his ancestors had risen from a small private to the position of the commander of Yanxing Gate. It was all thanks to two words:

luck!

At that time, the world was not yet settled and he was just a young boy. When Emperor Qing attacked his hometown, his family was so poor that they could not even get enough to eat, so he simply joined the army.

Later, the team Duan Rui was in fought against an enemy that was ten times their size in a great battle. They fought to the death and all the brothers in the team were killed.

He was the only one who was lucky enough to crawl out of the pile of corpses with half his life left.

The general above was grateful for the fierce battle their team had fought, and seeing that he was the only survivor, he raised his hand and promoted him to team leader.

After the unification of Daqing, he had no background and no ability, so there was no chance of promotion or title.

Relying on his status as a veteran, he managed to become a low-level officer in the Imperial City Guard. His biggest wish every day was to report for duty on time, get his salary, and go home to his wife and children.

He has one advantage, or perhaps it's his survival wisdom, which is that he never clings to others or takes sides.

He smiles at everyone, offends no one, and doesn't have much friendship with anyone, so naturally he doesn't join any faction.

He muddled through life until he was in his thirties, and was still just a low-level officer in charge of a hundred or eighty people.

And on the night when Li Che massacred the imperial capital, his bad luck struck again.

It just so happened that I had a stomachache and took leave at home, thus avoiding the disaster.

When he reported for duty the next day, he found that seven or eight out of ten of his colleagues of the same rank in the city guards had died, and not a single familiar old brother of his was left.

Duan Rui's legs went weak and he almost vomited out of fear. From then on, his calves would tremble whenever he heard the name Li Che.

Not long after, the imperial capital reorganized its troops. They felt that the city guards were in name only, so they simply disbanded them.

The officers of the city guard were dispersed and assigned to various places, which was also a means of controlling the local area.

Duan Rui was in a daze and was thrown into Chang'an City with a transfer order.

I thought I could live peacefully for a few years in Chang'an, but I didn't expect the waters here are even deeper than in the imperial capital.

Aristocratic families, royal family members, former members of the Qin Palace...all forces are intertwined and are trying hard to win over the army.

Duan Rui had just arrived and didn't know the situation well, so he didn't dare to immediately go back to his old ways of just slacking off.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and pretend to be loyal and conscientious.

Unexpectedly, it was his pragmatic appearance that attracted many forces to try to win him over, making him the balance point in the struggle.

Tonight, it is his turn to be on duty.

It was past midnight, the cold wind was blowing on the city walls, and there was silence outside the city.

Duan Rui figured that it was nothing serious, so he yawned loudly, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and prepared to slip down the city wall and go home to take a nap.

Just as he stepped down the stairs, a rapid sound of a trumpet suddenly came from the distance!

Dang Dang Dang Dang——

The sound came from the northwest and was particularly harsh in the dark night.

Duan Rui was so frightened that the remaining sleepiness disappeared in an instant and his heart was pounding.

"What happened?!" he turned and shouted towards the top of the city wall.

A soldier on duty poked his head out and shouted in a panic, "General, someone's sounding the alarm from the direction of Jinguang Gate and Jingyao Gate. I'm afraid... I'm afraid something big has happened!"

Duan Rui's heart skipped a beat and he cursed his bad luck inwardly.

He came to Chang'an just to find some peace and quiet, but he didn't expect the internal strife here to be even more fierce than that in the imperial capital. It seemed like a real fight was about to break out!

He didn't want to achieve anything at all, nor did he want to take sides and gamble his life. He just wanted to live a peaceful life.

In a flash, he made a decision: defend Yanxing Gate to the death!

No matter how much fighting goes on outside, I'll just close this door tightly and hide like a turtle.

Wait until dawn, and I will open the city gate and surrender to whoever wins!

He just cleared his throat and was about to order the city gates to be closed tightly and to wait for the situation to change...

Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking air behind me.

call out--

Bang! ! !

A blinding flash of fire shot up from the city, straight into the night sky, and then exploded at the highest point, turning into a ball of brilliant fireworks!

Duan Rui opened his mouth and looked up at the arc of light that slowly dissipated in the night. He stood there as if he had been cast under a spell, his mind blank.

This thing... He is so familiar with this thing!

That day in the imperial capital, he saw with his own eyes this kind of fireball that could fly into the sky at home.

Afterwards, the entire imperial capital was like a hornet's nest that had been poked, with gunshots, explosions, and shouts of killing ringing out all night long.

He was so scared that he took his wife and children into the basement, shivering there until dawn before daring to come out.

Later it was discovered that it was Prince Feng and Prince Yan who fought their way out of the palace and were unable to be stopped by an army of over one hundred thousand.

And that fireball was the Fengtian Army's unique signal.

And now... this life-threatening signal actually exploded over Chang'an City!

Duan Rui realized in an instant that this was Prince Feng, no... now it was His Majesty, the Majesty who had come!

Instinctive fear made Duan Rui breathe rapidly, and the bloody smell of the imperial capital that night seemed to fill his nostrils again.

"General! General!" the soldiers on the city wall were still urging anxiously, "Should we close the city gates and defend them to the death? Or should we gather our troops and go to support the Golden Light Gate?"

"No!" Duan Rui almost roared, interrupting his men. "Everyone, listen to my command. Put down your weapons! Put them down immediately!"

"what?"

All the soldiers on and off the city wall were stunned, looking at their serious and old-fashioned superior with puzzlement.

The general is going to surrender without even seeing a shadow of the enemy?

"Quick! Put it down!" Duan Rui was so anxious that veins popped out on his forehead. "I'm saving your lives!"

"You have no idea what a terrifying enemy you are about to face. Chang'an City is changing its banner. If you don't want to die, do as you are told!"

Although he had only been in Chang'an for a short time and had not yet established his prestige, he was still a general who gave orders.

At this moment, Duan Rui's crazy appearance really frightened these soldiers.

As the saying goes, military orders are as heavy as a mountain. Although full of doubts, the soldiers still threw their spears and swords to the ground.

"Open the city gate! Quick!" Duan Rui shouted as he rushed up the city wall and urged loudly, "Everyone, get to the foot of the wall over there and squat down with your heads in your hands! This is our only way to survive!"

Under his kicks and shouts, the defenders of Yanxing Gate did as they were told without knowing why.

The city gate was slowly pushed open, revealing the dark wilderness outside.

More than a hundred soldiers huddled in a daze against the wall next to the doorway, squatting in a row with their heads in their hands.

Duan Rui also took off his helmet and robe that symbolized his status as an officer, ran to the back of the team, and protected all the soldiers in front of him.

The shouts and roars of muskets outside the city became clearer and clearer, quickly spreading from the direction of Jinguan Gate and Jingyao Gate to the entire Chang'an City.

Only at Yanxing Gate was there an eerie silence, and only the heavy breathing of the soldiers could be heard.

After an unknown amount of time, a clear sound of horse hooves came from the darkness outside the city, getting closer and closer.

Duan Rui trembled and stuck half of his head out from the base of the wall. Looking out, he saw a group of cavalry galloping towards Yanxing Gate.

There were not many people, only a few hundred, but their movements were uniform and they were full of fierceness.

Both the man and the horse were covered in black armor, and their dark red cloaks fluttered in the night wind like dancing flames.

It’s the Fengtian Army!

In the entire Daqing, only the Fengtian Army uses black and red uniforms!

The cavalry rushed to a place about a hundred steps outside the city gate and reined in their horses.

They found that the city gate was open and there was no one behind the fortifications, so they hesitated and did not dare to enter rashly.

Among the cavalry, a young general who looked like the leader stood out.

The general had an ordinary appearance, but his eyes were extremely sharp.

He looked at the overly quiet city gate tower with a frown.

"General, what should we do?" a cavalryman next to him asked in a low voice.

The young general hesitated for a moment, then decisively ordered: "The situation is unclear, caution is the best approach."

"Crossbowmen, prepare! Fire a few rounds of rockets at the gate and the battlements to test the situation!"

Duan Rui, who was standing at the foot of the wall, was so frightened when he heard this that he almost fainted.

If a rocket were to fire in, they would be huddled together and immediately turned into skewers.

Duan Rui's heart was made up. He stood up from behind the wall, raised his hands and shouted towards the outside of the city: "General! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

"We are loyal to Your Majesty and are willing to serve the royal army. We surrender sincerely!"

The young general, having only heard the voice but not seen the person, immediately shouted, "Who is hiding? Come out and answer me!"

Duan Rui gritted his teeth, raised his hands high, and moved out step by step from the pile of squatting soldiers.

When he reached the area where the firelight from the city gate could reach, he said in a trembling voice, "I am Duan Rui, the commander of Yanxing Gate. Deeply inspired by your majesty's divine power, I am willing to abandon the dark and join the light, and lead my soldiers to surrender to the Fengtian Army!"

Fearing the other party might not believe him, he quickly turned sideways and pointed at the pile of discarded weapons at the base of the wall behind him: "General, please look, we have all surrendered our weapons. There is no ambush!"

The young general looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, he saw a lot of weapons scattered on the ground.

Looking at the group of soldiers squatting and shivering behind Duan Rui, it really didn't look like an ambush.

He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, pointing his whip at Duan Rui: "You... are quite a wonderful person! Quite interesting, you have a bit of luck."

Although he believed it to about 70%, the young general did not take it lightly.

He ordered Duan Rui to lead all the defenders, with their hands raised, to walk out of the city gate one by one and regroup in the open space outside the city.

Only after counting the number of people and confirming that there were no more hidden ambushes did he lead his cavalry cautiously through Yanxing Gate.

Duan Rui and his group of surrendered soldiers clasped their fists and bowed, keeping their heads down, not daring to even breathe.

Listening to the snorting of the warhorse beside him and feeling the vibration from the horse's hooves stepping on the ground, Duan Rui's heart was beating like a drum.

When the last Fengtian Army cavalry passed in front of him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had escaped danger.

Suddenly, the young general's voice came from the front: "Hey! That guard, what's your name?"

Duan Rui shuddered, and quickly bowed again, answering respectfully: "In reply to the general, I am General Duan Rui."

The young general, riding on his horse, turned around to look at him and smiled: "Duan Rui, right? I think you are quite smart."

"How about it? Would you like to give up this gatekeeping job and serve under me? I happen to be short of a deputy commander!"

Duan Rui knelt on one knee with almost no hesitation and said in a loud voice: "General Duan Rui, I am willing to die for your majesty! I am willing to serve the general!"

"Hahaha, not bad." The young general laughed, "Take your men and guard this gate. When everything is over, come find me at the barracks."

"May I ask the general's name?"

"I am the Divine Constable General personally appointed by His Majesty—Ma Zhong!"