Taiheiki

Chapter 216 Fall
“It seems that you have misunderstood, sister!” Lu Ping said, “I only said that I would follow Lord Wei, just as my ancestors served King Chu, but I did so as a sorceress or a subject, not that I would make a lifelong vow!”

“But you just said you liked my husband!” A-Yun interjected.

“Yes, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to get married!” Lu Ping said with a smile. “This would be much more convenient for both me and Mr. Wei!”

The women inside were filled with suspicion. Anyone who wasn't blind could see the close relationship between this woman and Wei Cong. So what did she mean by saying "we don't necessarily have to get married"? Was it a strategic retreat?
"Don't overthink it!" Wei Cong coughed. "That's exactly what Chief Lu meant. I've already discussed it with her. If she uses her position as the leader of the Celestial Masters Sect to appease the followers during this northward expedition against the Moth Bandits, and marries me, it will bring a lot of unnecessary trouble!"

"And what happens after this is over?" A-Yun asked. "I mean, after the Moth Rebels are pacified?"

"After that?" Wei Cong glanced at Lu Ping subconsciously. "We'll see when the time comes! The world is in turmoil; who can think that far ahead?"

The atmosphere at the ensuing family banquet was somewhat strange. Although each of Wei Cong's wives and concubines tried their best to appear nonchalant, Wei Cong could still sense the suspicious glances they cast at Lu Ping. Clearly, they didn't believe Lu Ping's earlier refusal and saw it as a tactic of feigned retreat. Ultimately, theoretically speaking, the position of Wei Cong's principal wife was still vacant; A Jing and the others were merely courtesans and dancers given to them by friends, at best concubines.

A-Jing and the others understood this perfectly. Ban Gu's *Baihu Tong* (Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall) states: "A wife is equal to her husband. She is of equal status. From the emperor down to the common people, this principle applies equally." In other words, a wife is inherently equal to her husband; even the emperor has only one wife. In other words, the wife Wei Cong wants to marry can only be a noblewoman of similar social standing to his, not a dancer like A-Jing and the others who are given as gifts. Lu Ping's status and abilities already qualify her to be Wei Cong's principal wife. Therefore, in their eyes, Lu Ping doesn't not want to marry Wei Cong, but rather wants to marry into the family as his principal wife, thus placing herself above them.

This explains A-Jing and the others' strange attitude—a mixture of wariness, suspicion, and a touch of awe. After all, if Lu Ping truly became Wei Cong's legal wife, she would become the mistress of the house, and their lives would be in her hands. They had no choice but to act accordingly. In this atmosphere, even the most delicious food tasted bland. Wei Cong finally managed to endure until the banquet ended, and only after seeing Lu Ping off with A-Jing and the others did he breathe a sigh of relief.

In the bedroom, Wei Cong lay on the couch, yawning. He was feeling sleepy, still drowsy from the meal. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back; A-Jing had pinched him.

"My lord, was Master Lu telling the truth just now?"

"How would I know?" Wei Cong said with a wry smile, "You can't see into someone's heart, how would I know what she's thinking!"

"How could you not know!" There was a hint of resentment in A-Jing's voice: "Don't tell me that you and she were completely innocent and nothing happened between you!"

"Hehe!" Wei Cong chuckled dryly. Lying on the same bed with A Jing, discussing his relationship with another woman, he felt a little guilty. "It's getting late, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

"I won't!" A-Jing pinched Wei Cong's armpit hard. "Who knows where you'll run off to tomorrow? Where am I supposed to find you? You'd better explain yourself tonight!"

"It hurts, it hurts! Be gentle!" Wei Cong cried out in pain. "Okay, okay, I admit it, I admit it!"

"Hmph, I knew it!" A-Jing let go of her hand and snorted coldly: "Fine, there's no cat in the world that doesn't steal fish, let alone this fish that's sidling up to you. I'm asking you, what do you plan to do with this female Taoist priest?"

"Arrangements? Didn't she already say tonight that she'd stay by my side as a priestess's subject?" Wei Cong said with a wry smile.

"If it's like this now, what about the future?" A-Jing pressed.

"Who knows what the future holds?" Wei Cong felt the hand around his waist tightening and quickly said, "After I quell the moth bandits, I'll appease the followers of the Celestial Masters Sect as their chief priest! By the way, I'll allocate a piece of land outside Panyu City for her to build a Taoist temple!"

"A Taoist temple?" A-Jing breathed a sigh of relief: "My lord, I am not a jealous person. If you like this Taoist Lu, it's fine to marry him. But whether it's a principal wife or someone else, she must be of impeccable character. Don't cause unrest in the inner quarters!"

"Yes, yes!" Wei Cong knew he had passed this test tonight. He turned over, hugged A Jing, and laughed, "What's with all this talk about wives and concubines? Why bother with such a hierarchy? But you were the first one here, so there's always a proper order to things!"

"You're talking nonsense again, trying to fool me like I'm an idiot!" Ah Jing scolded, but a hint of joy appeared on her face.

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Anlu County, Jiangxia Commandery, Jingzhou
He dreamt that he returned to his hometown, where he drew his sword and killed the scoundrel who had lent money to him, took the money pouch from his waist, and set the house on fire. Pedestrians on the roadside parted to make way, staring in horror at his blood-covered self.

"The murderer!"

"Thieves!"

"Grab him! Grab him now!"

He heard low growls coming from behind him, followed by hurried footsteps and the sound of horses' hooves. He quickened his pace and walked into the deeper darkness.

"Father?" he called out. "Mother? Ajiao? Yun'er?" There was no response. A cold wind swept across the back of his neck, and he suddenly remembered that they were all dead. When he went out to join the army, all his relatives had already passed away. He was all alone in this world. Now, although the world was vast, there was no place for him. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly; it was the only thing he could rely on. The surroundings grew even darker.

Light flickered in the corner. "Someone help me!" he whispered. "Please, give me a hand!" A figure appeared, reaching out a hand. The figure had a smiling face, fair skin, and wore a tall crown and magnificent robes, resembling a deity...

In the dark room, the bed beneath him felt unbearably hard. Zhao Yannian opened his eyes. He should have been getting a good night's sleep, but even though he had put on his fur coat, he still felt unbearably cold. Wei Cong, Wu Deng, Wang Shou, Wen Sheng, Liu Jiu… his friends were dwindling, and he was still stuck here, in a lonely city, surrounded by enemies.

As the drums sounded, Zhao Yannian struggled to pull himself out of his jumbled memories. He realized that the enemy outside the city was about to launch another attack. The enemy had ample troops and could take turns fighting, while the defenders inside the city... Zhao Yannian didn't want to think about it anymore. He pushed aside his fur coat and sat up, trying to get out of bed, but stepped on something soft—his personal guard, who was fast asleep, fully clothed.

"My lord!" The guard, startled awake, immediately reacted and stood up. "Is it dawn yet? Let me help you put on your armor!"

With the help of his personal guards, Zhao Yannian put on his robes, armor, and cloak, donned his helmet, hung his sword at his waist, and opened the door.

Outside, it was still pitch black, and a chill permeated the gloomy sky. Zhao Yannian's guards were lining up, adjusting their armor as they left the camp. Zhao Yannian stood at the front of the line, waited a moment, and then set off for the city wall.

The area around the city wall was now a pile of charred rubble, thanks to the rockets and catapults fired by the besieging bandits. Zhao Yannian stumbled along the slope and climbed the city wall. The cold wind that hit him was like a heavy punch, making his teeth chatter involuntarily.

On the city wall, the guards lit bonfires at intervals. By their light, Zhao Yannian could see distant, slowly moving specks of fire—the attacking Moth Bandits. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Counting from the first day, today was already the fourteenth. Every day, hundreds or even thousands of enemies fell, but the enemy's numbers showed no sign of decreasing; in fact, they seemed to be constantly increasing. And the reinforcements promised by Feng Kun showed no sign of stopping. A thought flashed through Zhao Yannian's mind: "Did Cavalry Feng not send reinforcements, or did he send reinforcements, only to have them wiped out by the Moth Bandits?"

"General, shall we fire the arrows?" the captain on duty asked in a low voice.

"Don't fire yet!" Zhao Yannian whispered, "There aren't many arrows left in the armory!"

As dawn broke, the sky gradually turned gray, and a certain shape faintly emerged on the dark horizon. Zhao Yannian squinted, staring at the cloud, and finally saw the light below. Dawn had broken!

As the sun broke through the horizon, illuminating everything, Zhao Yannian held his breath when he saw the battlefield beneath the city walls. After so many days of fierce fighting, it had become a vast wasteland filled with charred remains, scattered with rubble, arrows, and countless corpses. Flocks of crows circled among it, and on the other side…

Zhao Yannian could hear groans coming from beside him, and someone murmured, "God bless, God bless..."

On the other side of that wasteland stood a moth bandit wearing yellow turbans. There were mountain bandits, Han Chinese farmers, miners who were barely clothed, metal craftsmen whose skin was rough like scales from working in the furnace all year round, potters who rolled in the mud all day, and Mito people who lived on the water and smelled of fish... All these different kinds of people were gathered together under the same banner, with yellow turbans wrapped around their heads, besieging the castle at their feet.

"Go back! This is no place for you!" Zhao Yannian tried to yell at them. He seemed to hear someone mocking him: "Don't pretend! You're not some Marquis of Guannei, or a General of the Central Army. You're just like us, a nobody. No, you're even worse than us. You're a murderer, a murderer!"

He instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist, his fingers opening and closing rhythmically, though he had no use for it at the moment. He suddenly realized that the battle that had already taken place was completely insignificant. Zhao Yannian suddenly understood that this was merely a preliminary battle, a test, and the real battle had only just begun!

"Wow, so many! I never expected there to be so many!" someone whispered.

"They're starting, they're coming!" someone's voice was hoarse.

Leading the bandits were hundreds of massive shield towers, often equipped with wheels for easy maneuvering. Hidden behind these shields were hordes of archers, followed by hundreds of long ladders with iron hooks at the ends. Once secured, the hooks would lock onto the city walls, making it difficult for the defenders to push the ladders over. Behind these were thousands upon thousands of infantrymen armed with spears, slings, long-handled sickles, shields, and cleavers. Accompanied by the sound of drums, countless people chanted in unison, "The Han dynasty will perish, a new era will rise!" This terrifying cry even echoed on the city walls, like rumbling thunder.

"Get all teams ready for battle!" Zhao Yannian tried his best to keep his voice from trembling.

"Here!"

By this time, the vanguard of the bandits had approached the city walls. The areas that had once been moats had been filled in with bundles of firewood, mounds of earth, and corpses. The shield-bearers stopped beyond that point, and the archers began firing at the city walls. The sheer number of arrows was so great that many collided with each other. The well-prepared defenders had already taken cover behind shields and other obstacles. After two volleys, infantrymen carrying long ladders charged forward with shouts. They erected the ladders, attempting to hook the iron hooks at the very end of the ladders to the top of the city wall.

"Release the arrows!" Zhao Yannian roared.

Arrows pierced the air like winged venomous snakes, flying down in volleys. Then came the second and third volleys. Screams echoed from below the city wall. A few seconds later, volleys of arrows rained down on the city wall. The defenders, no longer caring about anything else, fired arrows down relentlessly.

The first ladder was hooked onto the city wall, and the defenders rushed forward frantically, hacking at the end with axes, trying to cut it off and push it down. But a second, a third, a fourth—more and more ladders were added to the wall. From a distance, the bandits wearing yellow turbans looked like ants, scaling the wall along thin lines. The defenders desperately hurled stones, boiling water, and boiling oil at the enemy, and shot arrows. Every now and then, bandits engulfed in flames would scream and fall from mid-air, but the rest would surge forward, as if those who had died before them were not their former comrades, but merely a group of lifeless clay and wooden puppets.

"Reinforcements! Ximen is in dire need of help! Please send reinforcements, General!"

"You, all of you go to the West Gate immediately!" Zhao Yannian shouted sternly.

"At the North Gate, the Moth Bandits are using a giant log to ram the city gate! The situation is critical!"

"Quick, quick, come with me!"

"General, the bandits have scaled the south gate, and the gatekeeper has been killed in action!"

Faced with repeated calls for help, Zhao Yannian was like a tightly wound top, spinning rapidly. He repeatedly repelled the bandits and saved the castle from the brink of collapse. However, the number of soldiers and resources within the city was also decreasing at an alarming rate. By evening, when he received news that a section of the city wall had collapsed in the south, he prepared to go to its rescue, only to find that he had only twenty or thirty exhausted soldiers left, their armor torn and their weapons broken.

(End of this chapter)