Pick up a princess to be your wife

Outside the city, a huge machine stands on the hilltop.

There were about ten people standing next to the equipment.

The leader was wearing a cloak, so even in broad daylight, his face was hidden inside the cloak.

"Are you really giving up on Sima Hong?" someone asked.

"After Sima Ying died, the Sima clan helped Wu Fengxian make a comeback, raising an army of nearly 300,000 to besiege Baima Army with the Yan and Wei states."

From that time onward, the Sima family's wealth was already depleted. The Sima family's prized ballistae had long lost all advantage against the White Horse Army's cannons.

Now that Sima Hong has revealed all his secrets, what's the point of keeping him around?

The cloaked figure spoke in a clear, feminine voice.

“But Sima Hong is still useful to us,” another person said.

"Sima Xiangyue is back. No matter how useful Sima Hong is, can he defeat Sima Xiangyue? They are not even on the same level. Besides, we have already taken action. By eliminating the Sima clan, we will have one less potential rival in the future," the cloaked man said.

“Indeed, since we’ve already made our move, Sima Hong will definitely turn against us. Now, even if we don’t want to kill him, we have to.” another person said.

"No, not just kill him, kill his whole family." The cloaked man sneered.

"I didn't expect that the Yun family's servants would actually hold off the White Horse Army at Lushui. This is perfect, it buys us time to eliminate the Sima clan," Gao Shenxing said with a smile.

Gao Shenxing is the head of the Gao family.

Both the Gao family and the Sima family were long-established aristocratic families in the Tokaido region.

The Gao family's lineage is even older than that of the Sima family.

The Gao family existed as early as the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, more than a hundred years before the Sima family.

However, by the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Sima clan gradually surpassed the Gao clan and became the leading aristocratic family in the East China Sea region.

For over two hundred years during the previous Great Yan dynasty, the Sima clan consistently outperformed the Gao clan, making the Gao clan the second most powerful clan in the East Coast for a century.

Therefore, the person who most wanted to destroy the Sima clan was the Gao clan.

Sima Ying initially placed his bets on Wu Fengxian, but the Gao family did not make a significant investment in him.

Gao Shenxing felt that Gao's choice was correct.

After Sima Ying's death, Gao had long wanted to take action against the Sima family, but Wu Fengxian was still alive at that time, so Gao did not have much of an opportunity.

Now that Wu Fengxian is dead, the Sima family has lost its protector.

Instead of taking this opportunity, we should eliminate the Sima family in one fell swoop and take over all their assets.

"Your Excellency, let me eliminate the Sima clan," Gao Shenxing said with a smile.

The cloaked figure shook his head slightly.

“Although the Sima family is already trapped, the people who just rescued Sima Xiangyue were the White Horse Army’s personal guard. They are all equipped with muskets, and ordinary troops would not be a match for them,” the cloaked man said.

"One hundred thousand troops are no match for them? I'd like to try and see if his hundred men can defeat my one hundred thousand troops," Gao Shenxing said disdainfully.

“I don’t know if these hundred men can break through your army of 100,000, but if it’s Zhao Cuo, a thousand elite soldiers can really break through your army of 100,000,” the cloaked man said.

"Are the Vanguard Army really that strong? I don't believe it. One hundred thousand men against one thousand, if each one spits at the enemy, they would all be wiped out," Gao Shenxing said.

The cloaked man stopped responding.

"You only need to be responsible for besieging the city and preventing anyone from entering or leaving Bohai County. The people inside the city will be dealt with by me personally."

After the cloaked man finished speaking, his figure flashed and disappeared without a trace.

Down the mountain, tens of thousands of people, like a swarm of locusts, headed towards Bohai County.

……

"Sima Hong, why are you still so stubborn?" Sima Gang questioned him righteously and sternly.

"Third Uncle, why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Even if he's here, what can he do? Even if he's gone, what can he do? He's attacking his own family; in my opinion, it would be better to just kill him." Xiong Mo said irritably.

Xiong Mo truly didn't consider Sima Hong his uncle. Just now, when Sima Hong was about to attack Sima Xiangyue, if Sima Xiangyue hadn't stopped him, Xiong Mo would have shot that son of a bitch dead long ago.

After much hesitation, Sima Hong finally spoke.

"The entire Gao family, and Tiandu. The Gao family commands an army of 100,000, and Tiandu has 30,000 elite soldiers. In addition, there are some weapons that I have never seen before."

One of these machines is called the "Heavenly Ladder," which is equipped with twenty stone cannons and ten fire cannons, and is covered with iron plates forged from fine iron without any blind spots.

I've only seen that colossal object once; it was practically a mobile fortress. The recent shower of stones must have been fired by that weapon.

I have no idea what other weapons are loaded on it.

Sima Hong said.

"Is the Mohist school supporting them from behind?" Sima Xiangyue immediately asked.

Back in the Battle of Luyang, a colossal creature appeared.

However, the siege weapon named 'Panyun' was blasted to pieces by artillery fire before it even got close to Luyang City.

Only the Mohists could create such unpredictable weapons.

It's possible that the Mo family never even helped Wu Fengxian make weapons, for which Wu Fengxian killed half of the Mo family's household register.

Now the Mohists are helping Tiandu forge weapons?

Have the Mohists gone mad?

"This place is more than seven miles from outside the city. The weapon in Tian Du's hand, conservatively speaking, has a firing range of far more than seven miles," Sima Hong added.

"Seven li? That far? I thought only the White Horse Army's cannons could shoot that far," Xiong Mo muttered.

“There are many things in this world that you haven’t seen before,” Sima Hong said.

"Are you calling me ignorant? I've fought alongside my Uncle Xingzhou in countless battles, what haven't I seen? Let me tell you, don't think I won't hit you just because you're my second uncle. If my mother hadn't stopped me, I would have beaten you to death long ago," Xiong Mo said through gritted teeth.

Xiong Mo was really not joking.

Sima Hong didn't argue with Xiong Mo.

This young man is so simple-minded. I really don't know how the incredibly intelligent Xiong Wenjing could have given birth to such a foolish son.

A fight suddenly broke out outside.

The group hiding in the basement could clearly hear the shouts and cries of battle coming from outside.

Judging from the activity, a large-scale battle had clearly taken place in the city.

"Mother, our reinforcements have probably arrived!" Xiong Mo's eyes lit up immediately.

Sima Hong said, "It's not your reinforcements, but our own people who are fighting with the enemy."

"What?" Sima Xiangyue immediately looked at Sima Hong, his face full of confusion.

"Do they think I didn't have a backup plan? Gao Shenxing has been eyeing our Sima clan covetously, and now he's suddenly cooperating with me with all his might. How could I not be wary of him? Gao Shenxing wants to take this opportunity to eliminate our Sima clan. We'll see if he has the teeth to bite off my 100,000 troops," Sima Hong said coldly.

Even within the Sima clan, there are those who harbor their own ulterior motives; now that Sima Hong is cooperating with outsiders, they will be even more wary.

Fortunately, he was cautious, otherwise he would have been trapped and at the mercy of others.