New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

They always thought this request was the emperor's bottom line. Tang Qian, who had married Princess Shunde, was considered a member of the imperial family, and it was his duty to guard Lin'an. Who would have thought that the prince consort would refuse without even a moment's consideration?

"The amount of gunpowder in the city is limited, and there will be a tough battle to be fought in Guangling soon. Please forgive me for being unable to share Your Majesty's burdens due to my busy schedule."

"Tang Qian, you completely disregard the Emperor. Are you truly plotting a rebellion?"

Li Su was finally enraged. He realized that Tang Qian had no intention of helping Lin'an City in any way; he planned to establish himself as king in Guangling.

"Don't think that just because you control Guangling City, you can do whatever you want. You should know that when the king is angry, blood will flow for thousands of miles. Guangling City is just a piece of land. My imperial guards can take it over with just one charge. At that time, your life will be in real danger."

Tang Qian stuck out his little finger and picked at his ear. Why did those words sound so familiar? Where had he heard them before?

"Oh, right." Suddenly struck by a thought, Tang Qian laughed, "Just a few days ago, Wanyan Xie said the same thing right where you are standing. No wonder it sounded familiar."

As the best straight man, Ye Zhao nodded solemnly: "That's right, I remember it very well too."

"You guys!" Li Su felt a spasm in her chest. She took a deep breath and used her hands to help herself catch her breath, which prevented her from being so angry at these two brats that she fell off her horse.

He wanted to say a few more harsh words, but after racking his brains, he realized that he had already said everything he should and shouldn't have said. Tang Qian still insisted that he would only hold Guangling and would not send a single soldier to aid Lin'an.

Just as Li Su finished speaking and was preparing to return to Lin'an to report, another cloud of dust rose from the end of the official road in the distance, and a man and a horse sped towards the city gate through the swirling dust.

Li Su turned his head, squinting as he looked behind him. When the person came galloping up to where he could see, he recognized him by his attire as Chen Xu, who was also an imperial attendant.

Upon seeing a group of people standing in the middle of the official road, Chen Xu, who had rushed over to deliver the imperial edict, was also taken aback.

Isn't this Li Su, who set off before him?

"Why is Eunuch Li still standing outside the city?" He glanced again at the tightly closed city gate not far away and his face darkened. "Why hasn't Tang Qian come out of the city to receive the imperial edict?"

"Eunuch Chen wants to know?" Li Su gave a wry smile upon hearing this, then stepped aside and pointed to Tang Qian on the city wall. "Wouldn't it be better to just ask him?"

These two men, being eunuchs serving the emperor, had seen Tang Qian before in Yingtian Prefecture. Upon discovering him on the city wall, Chen Xu didn't hesitate and immediately took out a second imperial edict from his robes: "Tang Qian, Lord of Guangling City, why don't you quickly receive this edict?"

Chen Xu's slightly shrill shout seemed to have no effect other than making Li Su and his entourage kneel down on one knee. Tang Qian, standing on the city wall, stood with his hands behind his back, showing no intention of going out of the city to kneel and receive the imperial edict.

"This eunuch need not waste any more words. Your Majesty's meaning is very clear to me. Isn't it that Ezhou has already fallen, and the Jin army's western route has crossed the river and is advancing eastward, heading straight for Lin'an?"

"Since Lord Tang already knew the situation was urgent, he should immediately lead his troops to the capital to defend the emperor."

"Go back and tell the Emperor that Wanyan Zongbi's western army will need at least ten days to march to Lin'an, while Wanyan Zonghan, who received the request for reinforcements, is leading 70,000 central troops from Luzhou to Guangling. In two or three days at most, Yangzhou will face the siege of 80,000 Jin troops. If we rush to Lin'an at this time, it will be tantamount to abandoning Guangling, and all our previous efforts will be in vain."

Chen Xu glanced at Li Su beside him unconsciously, his eyes full of doubt, clearly not understanding the meaning behind her words. Li Su shook her head and sighed softly, looking helpless.

"What does he mean by that? Is he completely disregarding the Emperor's life or death in order to defend Guangling?"

Seeing Li Su nod silently, Chen Xu became angry: "Tang Qian, since you call yourself a subject, you are still a subject of my Great Song Dynasty. As a subject, you should eat the emperor's food and bear the emperor's worries. Now that the capital is in trouble, do you not go to the emperor's aid? Are you going to just watch the disaster of Tokyo a year ago repeat itself?"

Li Su continued to shake his head. He seemed to have said the same thing just now, but Tang Qian was completely unmoved. Chen Xu was just wasting his breath.

As expected, Tang Qian smiled faintly, his refusal firm and resolute: "Your Majesty, please do not panic. As I just said, the battle of Guangling must precede the battle of Lin'an. If the Jin army of 80,000 is completely annihilated under the walls of Guangling, Wanyan Zongbi will not dare to continue attacking Lin'an. To avoid being attacked from both sides, he will have no choice but to return the way he came, retreating north from Ezhou back into Jin territory. At that time, the crisis in Lin'an will be easily resolved. Conversely, if I lead the Guangling army to retreat to Lin'an and hand Guangling over to Wanyan Xieye, Your Majesty will then face a siege by a full 150,000 Jin troops. Do you two eunuchs think that Lin'an can withstand an attack by 150,000 men?"

Tang Qian's words made Chen Xu and Li Su simultaneously wipe the cold sweat from their temples. In the past, even the formidable city of Tokyo, with its towering walls, could not withstand the full-scale attack of the Jin army. Now, Lin'an City was probably even more vulnerable.

"But how can you guarantee that you will annihilate the Jin army's 80,000 troops at the gates of Guangling?"

"The north gate of Guangling is long and narrow, with a winding moat that makes it difficult for troops to deploy. It is the perfect place for the new type of explosives to be used. As long as the enemy cannot fly or disappear, I am confident that I can defeat them. However, if we were to garrison Lin'an, the terrain there is open, and the Jin army could attack the city walls from all sides. How long do you two think we can hold out with just the gunpowder in the city?"

Tang Qian's analysis sounded quite reasonable, and the two of them were speechless. But the emperor was in Lin'an. Could he really dare to disregard the safety of the emperor?

"As I just said, if we hold Guangling City and the eastern and central armies are completely wiped out, Wanyan Zongbi will definitely not dare to venture too far into the territory alone. At that time, the crisis in Lin'an City will naturally be resolved. But Your Majesty, please do not panic. Just wait for the battle report that I will send you."

Seeing that the two imperial eunuchs were still standing still, Tang Qian did not want to explain further to them: "It has been more than half a month since Wanyan Xieye withdrew to Gaoyou City. If the other side sent the message by express courier, Wanyan Zonghan should have already arrived in Gaoyou. After the two armies meet, they will immediately head south. You two eunuchs do not want to be blocked by the Jin army on the way back to Lin'an, do you?"