A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Why just take out the halberd?"

The story of how a single halberd breached the gate of Yanmen Pass is now mostly considered a legend.

I think it's an exaggerated description of King Chungmu's martial prowess.

What do you mean by breaking through a city gate with a single halberd? What do you mean by fighting ten thousand men single-handedly? What do you mean by ten thousand men defeating four hundred thousand?

These are all exaggerated descriptions; they may have included auxiliary soldiers and laborers.

How could anyone actually do that?

These days, every generation produces someone with the style of Zhou Yafu, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, or the style of Marquis Wu'an.

With repeated use, people have come to realize that those historical figures were nothing special.

The subtle and euphemistic style of writing—those who understand it will understand.

Fan Chong, however, did not believe it; he had been the leader of the village children since childhood.

As he grew up, he became invincible throughout the surrounding area.

With his daring and fighting spirit, he once set a record of single-handedly driving away dozens of thugs.

He considered himself a rare and fierce general in the world. He wielded a 30-pound broadsword with great force, and even the bravest soldiers in the army could not last more than 10 rounds against him.

There are probably no more than a handful of fierce generals like him in the entire world.

How could someone command a weapon weighing hundreds of pounds as if it were their own arm?

It's all just bragging.

People only reluctantly agreed because of the Wei family's immense power.

Although Fan Chong came from a humble background, he still had lofty aspirations and a strong sense of pride.

I would never blindly praise someone like these opportunists.

He doesn't believe it!

He estimated with his own strength that the halberd below could be easily lifted, weighing at most twenty pounds.

Absolutely no more!

Even if he carried more, he would get tired, let alone the pampered young master downstairs.

How could a direct descendant of a family that has been nobles for generations possibly work hard to improve his physical fitness?

Why suffer the pain of physical training?

They could easily inherit their ancestors' titles and rise to high positions simply by having good food and drink, obtaining things that ordinary people like them could never achieve no matter how hard they tried.

"To the rebels on the city gate, if you surrender now, I can report to the court for leniency."

"The imperial army has recaptured the surrounding counties, and the people of these counties have returned to their normal lives."

"Their land was all returned to them, and the court also distributed the grain of those powerful families to the people so that they could get through this period of time."

"I know that many of your families are in the city. You were forced to join the rebels because your families were threatened. If you are willing to surrender, you can even choose not to attack the rebel leaders."

"Just stay quiet and wait for the outcome of today's battle, wait for us to eliminate the real rebels and rescue your families."

"I assure you that all those who were forced to join the rebels will be pardoned."

"It is the court's fault for involving you in this rebellion."

"The imperial court only punishes the ringleaders; those who are coerced are not questioned!"

Wei Xian rode forward alone, stopping the guards who wanted to go with him, and faced the swarming rebel army on the city wall alone.

He seemed like a lone hero. Even Fan Chong, who looked down on those noble children, admired Wei Xian for his great courage.

Therefore, he did not choose to use underhanded tactics.

Of course, he absolutely denied that this was related to Wei Xian's background in the Wei family.

If a direct descendant of the Wei family is killed due to a sneak attack, the Wei family will retaliate with all their might, and even the emperor will not be able to protect him.

He's doomed!

"Don't listen to him, everyone! You've all pledged your loyalty, each of you has blood on your hands. The imperial court will never let us go!"

"And think about your families. Even if you don't lift a finger, your families will still be affected."

"They can't possibly be attacking the city faster than I gave the order!"

"We have no choice but to go down this path to the bitter end!"

"Moreover, the enemy only has 100,000 men, while we have hundreds of thousands of troops in our city. The enemy cannot possibly be our match."

"Once we defeat the imperial army, the surrounding counties will naturally return to our hands, and then we can continue to expand and take over the entire eastern part of Zhongzhou."

"When we conquer Chang'an and change the world, you will all be founding heroes, your wives and children will be granted titles and honors, and your family genealogies will be established separately from this day forward!"

The allure of having a separate family genealogy is something most people can't resist.

However, among these hundreds of thousands of people, probably only a few can actually do it.

"The promise of official titles and privileges for one's wife and children, and separate listings in the family genealogy, sounds very tempting."

"But will he really keep his promise?"

"Don't forget, he's the one who stands with those powerful figures to exploit you."

"Even if a new dynasty is established, those in high positions will only be them and the powerful; what business is it of ordinary people like you!"

"I know you have your doubts, so why not leave everything to fate?"

"The city gates of Mount Tai are incredibly heavy."

"I'll bet on whether I can smash it to pieces!"

"If I can smash it directly, it means that destiny is on my side. Then the army can enter the city as if it were empty, easily eliminate the bandit leader, and rescue your families."

"If we cannot break it, it means that fate is on the side of the thieves, and that the thief leader is not destined to die. I will then lead the army back to Chang'an."

Wei Xian's words shocked both sides.

That was the gate of a prefecture-level city; it took dozens of people to pull it open.

It is absolutely impossible for one person to break it.

But if it really was smashed, then there's only one explanation: fate.

Only a few people in the imperial army remembered the records in their families.

That was something their family's ancestors personally experienced and recorded.

Therefore, they knew that the incident at Yanmen Pass back then was true!

Could it be that they will also have the honor of witnessing this scene today?!

Fan Chong guessed that he currently had the elderly, women, and children as shields, and the generals downstairs, being members of the Wei family, would never dare to lay a hand on these people.

But if they went straight back, they would fear the emperor's punishment.

So he used the excuse of destiny, and when the city gates were not breached, he led his troops back and blamed everything on destiny in order to avoid the emperor's punishment.

As expected of a nobleman from Chang'an, he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

"good!"

"If you can break down this city gate, I'll surrender without hesitation!"

Fan Chong simply couldn't believe that such an outrageous thing could actually happen.

Even if we take a step back and assume that it actually happened...

That's absolutely fate. Why bother fighting? Let's just see if surrendering will result in a 50% loss.

A gentleman's word is his bond.

"What's done is done!"

All eyes were now on Wei Xian's face.

Wei Yu, who was controlling Wei Xian's body, was secretly pleased. He had also wanted to do something like this when he was leading troops back then, to break down the city gate with a single halberd in front of hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides.

He garnered incredulous glances from both sides, displaying his divine power before others.

I didn't have the chance while I was alive, pshaw!

I didn't have the chance while I was alive... oh wait, no.

I never had the chance while I was active in the world, but now that I've already left the world, I still have such a good thing to do!