Jiang Qing

Except for the prohibition of night markets, Shanghai is no different from before.

The street market is as lively as before, small businesses and hawkers are shouting one after another, and the restaurants and restaurants are still full. Just pay attention to what you can see. There are one or two protective items hidden under each stall to deal with the calm that may be broken at any time.

Ling Che went back to his residence in Shencheng against the crowd, washed up hastily, and prepared to rest. He was tired from not sleeping all night, but when he really sat on the bed, he was no longer sleepy.

He slowly remembered the conversation between himself and Jiang Xiyue on the enemy building, and suddenly he felt an urge to see Zhao Jinghe very much.

He opened a secret compartment next to the bed, took out a wooden box, took out a stack of letters inside, and spread them out on the bed one by one.

From far to near, a piece of letter paper is spread out, the oldest one is even yellowed, the most recent one was written in the past two days, using the unique peach blossom paper in the south of the Yangtze River, and there will be a faint smell when you get close Ink fragrance.

These never-sent letters ran through the days after he knew Zhao Jinghe. He put all the unspeakable words in his pen and wrote them in a clumsy tone, but he didn't have a proper identity to send them out.

But now, even if he doesn't have that identity, he still wants to give it to her.

After a moment of silence, Ling Che put away the letter, put a restrained kiss on the box with special care, locked it in the dark compartment next to the bed, closed his clothes and fell into a deep sleep.

He didn't sleep soundly. He vaguely heard the neighing of war horses, the sound of clashing gold and daggers, and suddenly there was a loud noise like thunder from top to bottom, shaking the whole room violently. Ling Che woke up suddenly. look up.

A mass of red fire whizzed past the window, smashing out of Ling Che's sight, random chants, cries mixed with the sound of fire burning wood, passed through the porch, and broke into his ears.

Ling Che quickly got up and put on his battle armor, picked up the Taichu Knife leaning to one side, just in time for a person to push the door hastily and enter.

"General..."

Before Shi Ting could finish his sentence, Ling Che's pupils shrank slightly, and the horizontal knife blocked the incoming arrow.

"General!" Shi Ting's eyes were slightly red, and he said eagerly: "The rebel army has entered the city!"

"What's going on?" Ling Che picked up the knife and walked out, frowning tightly.

It was only a short sleep, and the original continuous stream of people turned into gray and black smoke, people were running around in the streets, the flames at the east gate dyed half of the sky red, the scorching breath mixed with sparks, firmly suppressing Live in half of Shanghai.

"There is nothing wrong with it during the day, but at the first drum beat at night, the east gate suddenly burst into flames. Madam was caught off guard at the west gate. When they rushed to the west, the rebels already dressed in commoner clothes sneaked into the city, set fire everywhere in the city, and the people ran away. , is more difficult to distinguish."

"Isn't the east side the fiefdom of Marquis Ping Dong?" Ling Che rode his horse and leaped across the decaying wall surrounded by flames. The sound of the wind tore his voice into hoarse and broken pieces.

In the bedroom, fireballs soaring into the sky could be seen, and sharp arrows pierced through the windows, so Ling Che knew that the situation in the city was not optimistic.

But how could it be that the backyard they were relying on was on fire, and how could the rebel army have cut off from the Pingdong three states and approached the east gate?

"General, madam told you to go to the east corner gate and evacuate the people out of the city."

"She's going to abandon the city?" Ling Che suddenly pulled his hips to a stop and got off the horse, only then did he realize that although the people were fleeing in a panic, the general trend was still towards the northeast corner.

"Madam has already asked Master Hou to take the people out of the city. Originally, there were quite a few people brought from Benzhou, plus the people from Shencheng, there are a lot of people. It will take a while to retreat now!"

Ling Che took a deep breath, looked at the raging smoke at the east gate, closed his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "The east gate has reached this point, she...has already started to arrange the funeral, right? ?”

Shi Ting's eyes flickered slightly, avoiding Ling Che's staring eyes, and did not reply.

Ling Che took a deep look at him with lingering eyes, and suddenly tightened his grip on the horse's back, and said loudly to Shi Ting, "Go and protect Marquis Pingdong and retreat!"

Since Jiang Xiyue clearly stated that there is an exit in the northeast corner, there must be a secret road, at least until the rebel army has completely occupied Shencheng, that road is safe.

And what they can do at this time is to try their best to hold back the rebel army, and if they can hold on for a while longer, they can buy more time to retreat.

There is a saying in the art of war that a lonely city cannot be defended.Ling Che never imagined that one day he would be forced into such a situation.

The further east you went, the more bustling crowds became. Ling Che squirmed among the crowds on his horse, unable to move forward even half a step.He gritted his teeth and got off the horse, and walked towards the east gate from the side road with a knife in hand.

On the contrary, the road to the east gate became sparsely populated. Ling Che trotted all the way, and soon his body was covered with a thin layer of sweat.

The tower of the east gate was already within easy reach, Ling Che leaped up the city wall in two or three steps, his heart sank for a moment.

The black army under the east gate is not comparable to the small fights at the west gate. The crowds are crowded, the uniform weapons emit a frightening white light, and the drums are faster than the beat. There is hardly any chance to breathe , Throwing stones and rockets headed towards the city wall together, and the heat wave made the air flow thickly.

"Lord Ling?" Jiang Xiyue held two knives, and was cutting down a ladder that had just hooked up to the city wall, and the other knife was slashing at the heel of a soldier who was about to jump up the ladder.

The astonishment in her eyes flashed past, and the two knives joined together, and she turned around and pulled Ling Che, pulling him to the edge of the city wall.

Thick smoke and the smell of blood surged up together, only then did Ling Che realize that a layer of corpses had already been laid beside the city wall, Jiang Xiyue's Yinluo armor was already stained mottled by blood, and the tip of her knife was dripping blood.

Without thinking about what to say, Ling Che glanced roughly at the soldiers on the city wall, and asked, "How many people do we have?"

"I have left enough manpower for Ximen, which is more than enough to deal with the rebel army there. As long as Ximen is not broken, at least we will not be in a situation where we are attacked from both sides."

Ling Che was silent for a moment, and said, "We can't get out, you should be clear about that."

The rebel army at the west gate had already held back half of the troops in their hands. Facing the enemy defending the city at the east gate, which was several times larger than their own, it was only a matter of time before the city gate was broken.

"I know." Jiang Xiyue flicked her ponytail, neatly kicked away a corpse that was in the way, and went up to the wall to readjust the overloaded crossbow.

"The bows and crossbows of these mechanisms can withstand a period of time. Although the east gate is not as tough as the west gate, there are also mechanisms at every step outside the city wall, which can always delay a little..."

"Whoosh—" The fireball flew across the sky and hit Jiang Xiyue straight.

"Be careful!" Ling Che rushed over, held her down and pressed her to a corner of the city wall. The two of them flung themselves on the ground before they stabilized. There was an explosion sound from a very close distance. It landed on their backs one after another.

The tinnitus was still ringing, Jiang Xiyue stood up steadily, and saw that the place where she was standing just now had collapsed, and the machine bow and crossbow had already been blown to pieces, and she didn't know where it rolled with the chaotic soil.

The gunpowder was thrown over with the fireball just now, and now the enemy army has clearly begun to siege the city. Using gunpowder to open the way, first blow up the gap in the city wall, destroy the bow and crossbow, and then use continuous soldiers to build the ladder , Filling up with human life, just to be able to capture a city gate.

Such actions are detailed, well-trained teams must have undergone unified training, and the weapons and siege tools they are equipped with are no longer included in an ordinary peasant uprising.

It was probably the same group of people they encountered in Benzhou before, and the mediocre rebel army in Ximen was just a cover for attracting their attention.

Ling Che also got up from the ground and looked around. There were not many soldiers on the city wall, and the ladders below the city seemed to regenerate. Just as one was knocked down, a new one was erected.

Watching the enemy soldiers climb up the ladder one by one with cold eyes, Jiang Xiyue untied the wine bag at her waist, raised her neck and took a sip, swallowed half of it, and sprayed the rest on the blood-stained double knives.

It seemed that half of the skin had been shed, and the dry bloody skin softened inch by inch with the infiltration of spirits. She bent her elbow and wiped the blade clean. There was even a hint of arrogance.

"Drink?" Jiang Xiyue handed over the wine bag, lowered her head and tore off a piece of cloth, bit one end, and tied up a not-so-shallow wound on her arm.

Ling Che took the wine bag and leaned back to take a long gulp. His messy hair brushed against his forehead. The climb down the city was still going on, the bow and crossbow had been destroyed, and in the end it all depended on fighting with flesh and blood. .

He took another sip of the wine, and threw the few remaining wine bags on the ground. The splashed wine was swallowed by the flames, and instantly rose up, burning wildly between them.

They looked at each other across the fire.

After a long time, Jiang Xiyue smiled slightly, "I have heard for a long time that Master Ling's sword skills are upright, but he has never had the opportunity to learn from each other. Today is a good time."

Ling Che pulled out a broken arrow, stood it on the wall between them, and said with a smile: "The Jiang family's mechanism skills are the best in the world, but people forget the freedom of two swords. Take this as a boundary, you guard the north, and we Shounan."

"The number of heads determines the outcome." Jiang Xiyue's eyes showed a sense of sympathy, she grabbed the hair of a soldier who climbed up, and cut it neatly with the Shaoxia short blade, and the warm blood came from the man's throat It splashed out in no time, and sprinkled a few drops on her eyebrows and eyes, she didn't care to reach out to wipe it, the Falling Autumn Sword had already touched the heart of the person behind.

Ling Che squinted at the past, picked up Shang Wen's corpse, blocked the spear of the approacher, and spun his knife around to take off his head.

"Xiao Sheng alone."

Jiang Xiyue followed his voice, she let go of Shaoxia's short knife, and fell into autumn's long knife and struck forward. The short knife circled with a trace of blood, and it was firmly returned to her hand.

"Fair."

It was getting late, and the burning clouds in the sky reflected the spread of blood on the ground. I could only hear the sound of swords clashing in my ears, and I could only see the blurred color of blood in my eyes. The greasy blood had already covered the handle of the knife, and it was so slippery. It is difficult for people to hold, but the instinct of the body is still swinging the knife down.

There were fewer and fewer people standing on the city wall. As dusk fell, the torches were lit, and the howling north wind blew through the military flag, and there was no sound of people around.

It was a precious moment of respite after yet another massacre.

The ladder climbed up the city wall again, and the black crowd swept over again, heading towards the empty city wall that had no vitality at all.

Slowly, someone stood up from the city wall, and soon, another person stood up beside him.

Two blood-clothed clothes, one from the south and the other from the north, stand on the tall city wall of the east gate of Shencheng.

The armor was broken, and the knife edge was bloody. They looked down at the densely packed soldiers attached to the city wall, as if they were looking at the smallest ants.

Behind them, the "Ling" flag and the "Pingdong" flag vibrate in the wind, making a rumbling sound.