Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 270: Burning Fire
At the hour of Chou, the night was falling and the corner in the north of the city was silent except for the crackling sound of the bonfire.

Suddenly there was a commotion everywhere, and the Han army came to harass Yuan's troops as usual, but tonight was different from the past. The scouts discovered traces of Wuhuan cavalry in the north, so the dispatch was delayed by nearly an hour.

I thought the enemy would be overwhelmed, but I didn't expect that there would be shouts and screams from inside the city. People started crying, there were sounds of weapons hitting each other, and wailing coming from outside the city, mixed with the neighing of horses.

The soldiers were in chaos, running and shouting in all directions, causing panic among the people.

After days of tension and oppression, the Yuan army guards thought they could finally sleep peacefully tonight after the late harassment of the Han army. They fell to the ground and fell into a deep sleep. However, they did not expect that not long after they fell asleep, their relaxed hearts suddenly tensed up again when they heard shouts of killing outside the city again.

"Kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The defenders who were soundly sleeping on the city wall suddenly had a mental breakdown, and the whole army screamed and stood up. At this moment, gusts of south wind blew again, and even the wind brought a creepy feeling.

The shouts of the Han army were getting closer and closer. Some soldiers mistakenly thought that the enemy had already climbed up. Seeing similar armor beside them, they drew their swords in fear and slashed left and right. Their comrades screamed and fell to the ground in an instant.

Everyone went out of control, fighting each other with weapons. Some people fled, some were chased, and the streets and the city were filled with the pungent smell of blood.

Not long after Xu You fell asleep, he was awakened by the shouting and killing. He got up, put on his robe, and quickly went up to the watchtower in the courtyard. He saw fire in the city and was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He mistakenly believed that the Qingzhou army had already broken through the county town.

He couldn't help but anxiously asked his followers, "Where is Gao Yuancai now?"

The attendants on both sides were also terrified and panicked. We looked at each other, but none of us could respond.

Xu You suppressed the shock in his heart and paced back and forth in the yard, still in shock. Finally, he made up his mind to ask his followers to bring wooden pillars and block the doors no matter what the situation was outside, so as to prevent the soldiers from rushing in and stealing money.

He led his trusted followers to move some gold and jade articles to the watchtower of the courtyard, taking advantage of the terrain to defend against the rebel army. It would not be too late to go out and ask for surrender after Lord Xuande broke through the city.

As for Gao Gan's fate, let him fend for himself. After all, he is Benchu's nephew and the main general. He should fight to the death on the frontier and be buried wrapped in a horse's hide.

Xu You was not good at fighting with a knife, so how could he risk going out to command the rebel army to fight the enemy? He could only guard the courtyard and wait for reinforcements to come to rescue him.

I heard that the Qingzhou army had strict military discipline. Wherever they went, they neither burned down civilians' houses nor bullied the weak, raped or abducted women, or stole other people's property.

Xu You was extremely thankful that the troops they were fighting were from Qingzhou, under Liu Xuande, and not from Hebei, who were drunken, quarrelsome, noisy, rude, and accustomed to looting.

"Hurry up and move the gold into the watchtower, to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation and causing trouble!"

Xu You's heart was in his throat. Seeing that his trusted followers were slow to move, anxiety appeared on his face and he shouted unconsciously.

His eyes were fixed on the gate, fearing that some rebel soldiers might come and break it open.

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, he heard dense footsteps coming from outside the wall, and shouting with an authentic Hebei dialect accent, getting closer and closer.

"Open the door, open the door quickly, open the door for Nai Gong, otherwise we will break in and kill everyone, leaving no one alive!"

The Hebei soldiers banged on the door frantically with their bloody blades and shouted.

He also ordered his men to aim bows and crossbows at the door. Once the door was tricked open, no matter who was inside, they would shoot them immediately.

The whole city is in chaos now, with killing and arson happening everywhere. It is only a matter of time before the city falls. Rather than giving the Qingzhou army outside the city an easy opportunity, it is better to steal some valuables first and bury them, and then dig them up when there is a chance.

"You are so bold, servant. Do you know who I am? I am the military supervisor Xu Ziyuan. General Gao is leading the central army here. If you dare to attack this gate today, I will bury your bones in the wilderness. If you retreat and defeat the enemy now, I will not hold you accountable for abandoning the army and escaping." Xu You heard the messy footsteps outside, and there were probably no less than a hundred people. Thinking of the chaos and disaster, he shuddered and spoke in a threatening voice.

Unexpectedly, the brown-bearded leader grinned and said, "So it's the military supervisor who's here. Unfortunately, the central army has already been in chaos. General Gao must be too busy to take care of himself at the moment. Even if he leads his troops here, I'm afraid the military supervisor won't be here by then."

After saying this, he immediately ordered his fellow villagers to find wood to break down the door. After entering the door, anyone they saw would be killed without leaving any alive.

After the brown-bearded soldier gave the order, he sneered and shouted, "Envoy Liu promised before that anyone who could kill a Jizhou officer would be rewarded with money and farmland. The head and limbs of the military supervisor are no less valuable than those of the commander-in-chief, and are worth countless money and silk. We will not forget the military supervisor's generous gift when we are rewarded for our meritorious service."

Then he raised his sword excitedly and shouted to the soldiers, "Tonight is the night to win wealth and honor for our descendants. There must be treasures and gold in this courtyard. Let's rush into the wall and kill the military supervisor!"

"To gain wealth and honor, kill the military supervisor!"

“Return home with merit! Return home with merit!!”

Everyone's eyes suddenly turned red, their morale was instantly raised, they all clenched their fists and shouted, and once they drew their bows, there was no looking back.

Although they did not know what a letter of surrender meant, holding up the head of the military supervisor was enough to protect them from being mistakenly killed by the Han army.

We are all Han soldiers. We have been mistakenly attacked by traitors for so long. Tonight, we will finally restore order and return to the Han Dynasty.

Xu You clearly heard the desperate shouting outside the wall. He felt dizzy and his limbs went cold. Goose bumps appeared all over his body. He didn't want to be hacked to pieces.

He no longer cared about the gold, silver and jade, lifted up his robe and ran to the watchtower in two steps at a time. He immediately locked the door from inside, went upstairs and pulled out the wooden ladder to prevent anyone from climbing up.

"Boom!" After a loud noise, Xu You vaguely heard the screams of his followers being killed, and he sat in the watchtower, holding his breath, not daring to move.

He heard the noises of snatching, laughing, and cursing from below, and was so frightened that he didn't even dare to breathe.

Fortunately, his close entourage did not reveal his whereabouts before they died, which made him feel relieved.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. The watchtower was too conspicuous and soon the rebel soldiers came and banged on the wooden door.

Since the brown-bearded soldier entered the courtyard, he ignored the gold and jade items on the ground. Instead, he led people to search through the drawers and cabinets, and checked every room one by one, but he still couldn't find Xu You.

Just as he was cursing, he suddenly saw that there was a building that no one had ever searched. He led people to push the door open, but found that the door was blocked by a heavy object and could not be opened no matter how hard he pushed.

Immediately guessing that the military supervisor Xu You must be hiding here, the brown-bearded soldier wanted to gather more people to break down the door, but he saw that his fellow villagers were stuffing money into their robes and then running away.

He had no choice but to order his brothers to gather some firewood and pile it in the watchtower to light it. He then raised his head to threaten Xu You, grinning grimly: "It's not too late for the military supervisor to jump down now, but it will be too late when the smoke gets too thick."

Xu You's face was as pale as paper. If he jumped down, he would be hacked to death. If he stayed upstairs, he would be burned to death. He was really in a dilemma!
Many images flashed through his mind. He felt extremely regretful for accepting Yuan Benchu's military order and coming to Du County. He also regretted not sneaking out of the city earlier to surrender to Liu Xuande, which led to him ending up in such a situation.

Thinking of the time when I was young and played in Luoyang with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and Zhang Miao, the past is still vivid in my mind, and everything is still fresh in my memory, as if it happened just yesterday.

Xu You sighed for a long time, and was heartbroken. He could not help but cry out in grief: "Xu You of Nanyang died here!"

"Benchu ​​and Mengde are dead!"

The brown-bearded soldier waited for a long time downstairs with a knife in his hand, but he did not see Xu You jump down. Until the whole building was engulfed in flames and the wood was burned to ashes.

(End of this chapter)