New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Seeing that the dozen or so catapults were already in place, and a team of Jin soldiers were operating the locomotives to prepare for launching the projectiles, Tang Qian suddenly felt a tightness in his heart for no apparent reason.

Although he didn't know exactly what the Jin army was going to project onto the city walls of Tokyo, Tang Qian knew that it was definitely not just a simple stone to hit people.

"Could it be..." A sudden realization made Tang Qian's face turn deathly pale. If he was not mistaken, the Jin army was planning to destroy Tokyo.

Wanyan Xieye, that old bastard, has gone mad. In order to conquer the Song Dynasty, he has become so ruthless and insane. Doesn't he worry that he will be infamous for eternity? You must know that there are still hundreds of thousands of people in the capital city of Bianjing who have not yet left the city.

But what good would it do to know all this? Could he sprout wings and fly back to the city to inform the Song army? Even if he could, it would probably be too late to come up with any countermeasures by now.

Knowing that the bustling city of Tokyo was about to be reduced to ashes, yet there was nothing he could do, Tang Qian felt a sense of powerlessness even though he had always thought it was none of his business.

Could it be that his appearance altered the original course of history? He had no idea that before the signing of the treaty of surrender between the Song and Jin dynasties, the city of Bianjing (Kaifeng) would have to endure a catastrophe that could have destroyed the city.

Just as Tang Qian felt helpless and his mind was racing, Wanyan Xieye, who had already raised his right hand high, did not lower it. The guard beside him also noticed that his commander was unwell. He knew that Wanyan Xieye was already suffering from a serious illness and was worried that his commander would have an attack, so he immediately stepped forward to support him.

Feeling a slight push from behind, Wanyan Xie, who was still struggling to hold on, could no longer hold on. He stumbled and almost fell to the ground. He held his chest where a sharp pain was coming from, and his originally pale face turned an unhealthy red. A mouthful of black blood spurted out like an arrow, coating the yellow sand beneath his feet with a dark red layer.

"Commander!"

With a cry of alarm from his guards, Wanyan Xie was carried back to the Jin army camp. Without the commander-in-chief's command, the deputy general immediately ordered a retreat. The Jin army's offensive was surging, and some passes outside the city of Tokyo were under attack. The soldiers of both sides engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat on the city walls. Although it was certain that the city walls could not be taken down in a short time, the Song army did not gain any advantage either.

Even Li Gang hadn't expected that the Jin army would withdraw so inexplicably. He had already planned to send the last batch of imperial guards defending the outer city to the city walls for a final desperate fight.

Zhao Huan, who had been coerced into coming to supervise the army, completely forgot his identity as the new emperor of the Song Dynasty when he saw the Jin army retreat. He sat down heavily on the city wall of Anyuan Gate in the inner city, panting heavily, and felt fortunate to have survived another disaster.

He wasn't worried about any conspiracies or tricks the Jin army might have up their sleeves. As long as there was a truce today, he would be emperor for another day. As for whether the enemy would continue their attack tomorrow, he would deal with that later.

The Song soldiers atop the city walls roared with victory, their morale at its peak. Gazing at the bustling city of Bianjing, the Wanyan brothers simultaneously let out a helpless sigh. It seemed that after this battle, the Jin dynasty's plan to swiftly annihilate the Song dynasty had utterly failed.

“Wasn’t it all agreed upon yesterday?” Wanyan Zonghan sneered. “Our uncle really does care about his reputation.”

"If we give up halfway today, it seems we won't be able to take Tokyo. But we've suffered considerable losses on this campaign, and we don't know if the Song people will negotiate peace. Why don't we take advantage of the retreat to plunder along the way? We can't just leave empty-handed."

The two men discussed in hushed tones as they gathered their troops and returned to camp. They had barely entered their tent when they received news that their commander-in-chief had fallen ill and was in a deep coma. The two brothers exchanged a glance. The news from Zhongjing City was indeed true; Wanyan Xie was already on his deathbed.

He quickly prepared his armor and arrived at the central command tent, where all the participating generals had gathered, anxiously awaiting news from their commander-in-chief, their expressions extremely solemn.

But how much of this was genuine emotion, and how much was gloating, only each person knows for sure.

If the Jin army commander-in-chief were to die of illness at the gates of Tokyo, that would be quite a spectacle.

Amidst a murmur of discussion, the curtain of the commander's tent was slightly lifted, and the accompanying military doctor emerged. He saw the generals but said nothing, only shook his head, and hurried toward the rear camp. Wanyan Xie was now barely clinging to life, and even though medicine was ineffective, he dared not simply give up. He had to at least ensure that the commander-in-chief could return to the capital alive.

With the commander-in-chief falling ill and unable to recover, how can this battle be fought? Without the emperor's decree, who would dare to overstep their bounds? Even the two princes would not dare to give orders on their own.

It's unrealistic to go back and ask for an imperial decree. The capital of the Song Dynasty is thousands of miles away from the Jin Dynasty, and the mountains along the way are blocked by heavy snow. It would take at least half a month to go there and back. By the time the imperial decree is obtained, the various armies of the Song Dynasty that came to the aid of the emperor will probably have already gathered outside the capital. What will become of our tens of thousands of troops?

If they continued fighting, the Song army had won several battles in succession, and their morale was now unstoppable. If they continued to attack the city, the losses would likely be even greater. If they retreated, their large army had gathered, but now they were to return empty-handed? What if the emperor blamed them? Who could bear the responsibility?

While they hesitated, everyone turned their attention to Wanyan Zongwang: "Before we set out, the military orders we received clearly stated that the Commander-in-Chief was the deputy commander. Now our army is in a dilemma, and we ask the deputy commander to make the decision."

Wanyan Zongwang cursed under his breath, thinking how shameless they were trying to make him take the blame. However, the order did indeed have his name on it, and now that he was in such a predicament, he really couldn't refuse.

"Please calm down, everyone." After a brief moment of contemplation, Wanyan Zongwang seemed to have a plan. "Dongjing City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we continue fighting, our army will likely suffer heavy losses. Why don't we threaten the Song emperor for some benefits, and then have the army withdraw to Yunzhou first, and then make further plans?"

If the siege drags on and the morale of the troops is low, retreating is the best option. But who should they ask for the pay of these tens of thousands of soldiers?

"I suppose you all didn't hear what I said clearly," Wanyan Zongwang said with a sinister smile. "What I meant was to advance westward along the Hedong Road of the Great Song Dynasty, then head north from Taiyuan Prefecture, and retreat back to Yunzhou."

After a moment of silence, all the generals beamed with joy. As the leading generals of the Jin Dynasty, none of them were fools. With the northern part of the capital city of Tokyo surrounded and the Song Dynasty's armies coming to the aid of the emperor, the rear was naturally vulnerable. If they didn't plunder now, when would they?

"Taking advantage of the enemy's reinforcements to the capital, we should seize the heart of the Song Dynasty. Commander, this plan is brilliant."

With tens of thousands of troops combined, and the enemy's garrison in various cities consisting of old, weak, and disabled soldiers who only know how to flee at the first sign of trouble, this campaign is bound to be very fruitful.

Seeing that everyone had reached a conclusion, Wanyan Xun, who was in a corner, unconsciously glanced at his advisor Tang Qian beside him.

Although the outcome was somewhat different from what the other side had predicted, the result of this southern expedition was indeed as he had said: the Jin dynasty had failed to capture Tokyo.

Could it be that this kid really possesses some mysterious abilities? It seems I've truly struck gold. If I can subdue Tang Qian and make him my own, I might actually be able to defy fate.

Wanyan Xun stroked his chin, pondering how to restrain Tang Qian.

Just as the generals were planning their march, a personal guard of Wanyan Xieye walked out of the command tent.

"The commander-in-chief has ordered that the siege continue tomorrow. All generals are requested to make preparations in advance and must not disobey military orders."

His words immediately caused an uproar among the generals.

Wanyan Xieye is determined to conquer Tokyo at all costs. However, in order to fulfill his long-cherished wish and die in peace, he can't drag tens of thousands of people down with him.

Unfortunately, military orders cannot be disobeyed, and despite much resistance, the generals had no choice but to return to their camps to relay the orders.

"Generals, please wait a moment. May I have a few words to say?"

A voice suddenly rang out from the corner, drawing everyone's attention. Tang Qian, suddenly being targeted by these Jin generals, instinctively took a step back, his slightly immature face filled with tension and panic.

Upon seeing that the speaker was merely a young man dressed in Song Dynasty attire, a hint of doubt flashed in Wanyan Zongwang's eyes: "Who are you?"