Chapter 180
Book 16 Chapter 09 - The Villain Is Taught A Lesson
After Xiang Shaolong and his party dragged away Lord Chunshen's gang of three, the remaining family warriors within Lord Chunshen's residence gushed out in full strength. Who would have known that the moment they stepped onto the street, they were ambushed by Li Yuan's family warriors hiding with bows on the rooftops on either side of the street. Men fell and horses collapsed. They were utterly defeated.
Next, under Lou Wuxin, Dong Luzi's and the rest's command, hundreds more of Li Yuan's family warriors rushed out from the buildings at the side. They carried lances, charging at Lord Chunshen's frightened family warriors in waves. Even though the enemy had twice the number of men as they had, they were without a head. Their morale was low, and all dispersed and fled in the face of the a.s.sault.
Lou Wuxin and the rest pressed home the advantage and attacked towards Lord Chunshen's residence.
They had been given strict orders not to ma.s.sacre women and children, and also those who surrendered.
This moment, the Yelang King's Mansion was ablaze with flames reaching to the sky. Billows of thick smoke rose up into the clear night sky.
Of the ten buildings, four were on fire. The ear-splitting cry of murder sounded unceasingly.
The battle at the Dian King's Mansion had ended a short while ago.
The attacker's were Li Ling's hundred plus followers. They had climbed the high walls on the left and right to get into the mansion. They had thought that they could gain an easy victory. How could they expect that arrows would fly in like rain from all four directions. Half of them were felled in the blink of an eye. The rest who had managed to enter the mansion ran straight into the elite soldiers led by Ji Yanran and Zhao Zhi.
They could not even escape with their lives, much less to kill and burn.
Under Li Yanyan's orders, Du Gui secured the palace. The newly promoted Inner City Official Lian Anting had also sealed off the Inner City and set up inspection checkpoints on the streets. At the same time, he also safeguarded the foreign emba.s.sies and diplomats. Everything was orderly and tidy. Even though they did not partic.i.p.ate directly in the struggle, they prevented other parties from interfering.
The Yelang King's Mansion was surrounded by Li Yuan and Xiang Shaolong's allied troops in a watertight encirclement. All who tried to come out were chased back in with powerful arrow shots.
The allied solders all had a red sash on their helmets to distinguish themselves.
Even though the Inner City had been plunged into a wild and noisy battle, the Outer City was completely undisturbed. Wu Zhan had also received orders from Li Yanyan not to get involved in the Inner City affairs.
Dou Jie and his large army outside the city were cut off from all news from within the city. He even thought that the fire was from the Dian King's Mansion that Li Ling's men had besieged.
Lord Chunshen's gang of three were kept prisoner on separate horse carriages under the close watch of the guardians.
Xiang Shaolong and Li Yuan, these two war comrades with a complicated relations.h.i.+p, stood shoulder to shoulder outside the Yelang King's Mansion, observing the situation.
The battle cry sounded.
Close to a thousand of Li Yuan's family warriors carrying s.h.i.+elds split into two groups, forcing entrance into the front and rear gates of the Yelang King's Mansion. An even more intense round of battle cries and killing sounds rose up.
This round of battle concluded quickly. Teng Yi's imposing body appeared at the mansion gate. At his back, Wu Guang and the rest led a bound man out. They came straight towards Xiang Shaolong and Li Yuan and pushed the bound man to the ground.
Wu Guang rushed forwards in big strides and grabbing his hair, raised his face while forcing him to kneel.
Under the light of the torches, they could see that even though the man's expression was now twisted, his facial features were actually well proportioned, sanctimonious and dignified. Who would have known that in reality, from the time he was young, he had never been a good person.
Li Yuan's two eyes gleamed and he chortled saying: "Li Ling old chap, how have you been!" "Peng!" Li Yuan kicked him in the lower abdomen, causing so much pain that he curled up.
Xiang Shaolong was worried that Li Yuan would beat him to death right there and hollered: "Tie him up and put him into a carriage. We shall return to the Dian King's Mansion."
Teng Yi came to his side and said: "These Yelang people and Li Ling's Dian soldiers are all good-for-nothing. There was hardly any special defensive arrangements in the mansion. They could not even resist our crossbow and fire arrow attacks for a short while. Only ten of our men sustained light injuries."
Xiang Shaolong mused that these elite soldiers of his were as good as twenty-first Century special forces. They had all been trained in his modern methods and were best able to demonstrate their efficiency and power in city warfare. The Yelang King and Li Ling's men underestimated the enemy and did not prepare for defense. Moreover they had come from afar and had yet to have a proper rest. How could they present any real opposition with their tired men and horses?
This demonstrates the critical factors 'heavenly timing, favorable location and ready people' needed for one to achieve victory in battle.
This moment, Li Yuan walked over and patted both men's shoulders, saying: "This business tonight, I, Li Yuan will engrave deep within my heart. No matter what happens between Qin and Chu in the future, I will still be a friend to the both of you."
Xiang Shaolong replied: "It is unlikely that I and Brother Li will meet in the field of battle. Moreover, I intend to retire in seclusion at the earliest opportunity. Brother Li does not have to worry."
Li Yuan was stupefied and wanted to question further when Lou Wuxin and a group of family warriors approached riding fast. They called out: "We can't find Tian Dan. It is said that he left Shouchun this morning. We need to interrogate Lord Chunshen on this."
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi exchanged a glance. Even though they had known that the outcome was likely to be thus, they nonetheless couldn't help but be disappointed.
Li Yuan opined: "Dan Chu and the rest have yet to arrive. He should not have returned to Qi. Ai, it is nonetheless hard to say." Lou Wuxin suggested: "The Inner City is under control. It is now time to round up the clique of traitors."
As Li yuan was about to agree, he was dragged aside by Xiang Shaolong who earnestly requested: "Can Brother Li limit his reprisal to Lord Chunshen and his few collaborators? From the beginning, taking revenge to settle a grudge has never been the best solution."
Li Yuan dithered for a while before nodding and said: "If I can't even do such a simple thing, how can I repay Brother Xiang's grace? We'll do it Brother Xiang's way!" He instructed Lou Wuxin: "Help me inform all the high-ranking military officers in the Inner City, this incident was the result of the three men Lord Chunshen, Li Quan and Cheng Suning's rebellion. Besides these three men's direct male relatives, all the woman may return to their mother's houses. Servants and maids may be placed under alternative employ."
Lou Wuxin was extremely startled and displayed a puzzled look. He only proceeded to execute the