The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"you?"

"You won't kill me."

Sima Shi remained calm.

Jiang Wei immediately became interested and got up to draw his sword.

He wanted to show Sima Shi who was in charge in the current situation.

Why do you think I didn't retreat with the army, but instead waited for you here?

"I'm going to die. Even if you don't kill me, I probably won't live past these next two days."

Sima Shi looked up at this moment, and his appearance startled Jiang Wei.

At this moment, blood was flowing from both his eyes, and one of his eyeballs was completely bloodshot. He looked less like a human and more like a demon.

"This young emperor is indeed highly skilled; he anticipated almost every step I would take."

"He even saw that I wanted to finish the battle quickly and therefore had to withdraw troops from Chang'an, and he made arrangements accordingly."

"What do you have to be so proud of? You don't actually think your Han army won, do you?"

"In the end, you're nothing more than a pawn in that little emperor's hands. He can predict my every move, so how could he not predict how to drive you out?"

The sight of blood streaming from his eyes, coupled with his ferocious expression, made Jiang Wei frown repeatedly.

Indeed, the news of the empty garrison in Chang'an came far too easily.

If it weren't for spies from several directions receiving news of internal strife within the Great Wei, he might not have been able to make up his mind.

But now that I think about it, it seems like the news was deliberately leaked.

"You mean, that young emperor deliberately spread news of the internal strife in your Great Wei to provoke my army to attack? And what was his purpose in doing so?"

"For what? Of course it's for me, why would it be for you?"

Sima Shi sneered repeatedly, while also feeling a deep sense of helplessness.

The Sima family was clearly only one step away from achieving their goal!

If he had known this would happen, he would never have compromised with Empress Dowager Guo and abandoned Cao Ju to install this young emperor!

"So what? Now that I've led my army here, as long as we can capture the capital in one fell swoop, we'll make him shoot himself in the foot!"

"Even a chess piece can leap off the board and turn against its player!"

Jiang Wei had previously felt like he was being led by the nose, and it was only after Sima Shi reminded him that he realized what was happening.

But he wasn't overly worried about it.

After all, the capital was right in front of him. As long as he could break into it, he would be able to break free of his position.

At that time, the troops of Wei will surely rush to the capital to defend the emperor, and the Han army in Qishan will launch an offensive at the same time. Although they may not be able to take down Cao Wei in one fell swoop, they will at least be able to conquer several provinces.

Only then could Shu, a seemingly hopeless situation, be truly turned around and become able to confront Cao Wei head-on!

"So that's what confuses me."

“If the Han army escapes from Shu, the game will be won. The young emperor, with his abilities, could not possibly be unaware of this. Once the Han army survives, the danger will be far greater than that of my Sima family.”

"Is he still holding back, or was he truly forced into this situation and had no other choice but to make this move?"

The more Sima Shi thought about it, the more confused he became.

He couldn't understand what methods the young emperor would use to eliminate the Sima family through the Han army and then crush the Han army.

"What's there to think about? Just watch how our army breaks through the capital, and you'll know the outcome!"

Seeing his almost frenzied appearance, Jiang Wei was unwilling to say anything more to him. He turned around and left the tent, and began to clean up the mess. At the same time, he gathered the small amount of supplies left behind by the Wei army when they retreated, preparing to attack the city.

He wanted to use the momentum gained from defeating the Wei army to capture Luoyang, a city that had been the dream of generations!

"They've attacked the city?"

Hearing the sounds outside the tent, Sima Shi remained seated in front of the sand table, without making any move.

The Han army ignored him; Jiang Wei left only two soldiers to guard him, while the rest headed straight for the capital.

"How are you going to defend it?"

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Sima Shi staggered out of the tent.

To his surprise, the capital, which was teetering on the brink of collapse when he attacked it, now appeared impregnable.

The Han army launched several fearless offensives, but they were all repelled.

Those who managed to breach the city walls were ultimately driven back.

Such resilience was truly beyond Jiang Wei's expectations, and also beyond Sima Shi's expectations.

Even when his entire army was pressing in, the situation wasn't like this!

The reinforcements from Xuchang were ambushed and suffered heavy losses of supplies, which must have been troops drawn from the capital.

If we really calculate it, there should only be less than 10,000 elderly, weak, sick and disabled people in the city.

Faced with such an elite Han army, how were they able to defend so resolutely?

The next moment, a possibility flashed through his mind.

"The gentry!"

"No wonder he dared to gamble!"

After realizing what had happened, Sima Shi couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

Just then, Jiang Wei stormed into the tent, filled with rage.

How many soldiers are there in the city?

Although he also noticed that when Sima Shi attacked the city, the capital's garrison showed signs of weakness to the enemy.

But the difference can't be that big, right?

Previously, Sima Shi had almost easily breached the city, but under his command, countless soldiers and generals were lost, and he hadn't even managed to climb the city walls a few times.

"The number of soldiers in the city who truly belong to the emperor will not exceed five thousand."

Sima Shi was able to accurately report this number based on the intelligence brought back by Sima Zhao.

"As for the guards and servants of the major clans, they will not exceed ten thousand."

"My attack on the city left more than 4,000 corpses, and the defenders suffered roughly the same number of casualties. If we estimate too high, the defenders on the surface should only have around 10,000 left."

"Around ten thousand?"

Jiang Wei was furious.

"It will be at least no less than 30,000!"

He thought that by launching a surprise attack during the enemy's massive siege, he could scatter Sima Shi's army and thus overcome the toughest obstacle.

But now it seems that even tougher challenges lie ahead.

"Don't the powerful clans in Sichuan secretly keep assassins?"

"Now all of this has truly come together. This young emperor is not only manipulating power, but also people's hearts."

"My defeat was not unjust, nor was your defeat."

"However, the young emperor did not win either. The world will change from a three-way division to a four-way balance of power."

He knew perfectly well that once the aristocratic families were united, their power would be terrifying.

In the past, as long as the situation allowed and his bottom line was not crossed, he would try his best to compromise with the gentry in order to appease them.

Even the so-called purges had their limits and wouldn't incite the gentry to share a common hatred.

Therefore, in order to force the gentry to go all out, the young emperor orchestrated the Han army's attack on the city.

This heavy blow left no room for choice for the various powerful factions.

Only by blocking the Han army can they preserve their status and interests.

After the big stick, give them two sweet dates, and they will forget the pain.

"How shameless!"