The Prisoner of Beauty - Chapter 152
Chapter 152
The reason Wei Shao's grandfather had moved the provincial government from Fanyang to Yuyang—which was closer to the frontier military garrisons—was to better defend against the Xiongnu.
Shanggu was a mere two or three days' ride from Yuyang; once Shanggu fell, Yuyang would be in critical danger.
Therefore, after the messengers departed and the Yuyang Magistrate arrived to coordinate the evacuation of border civilians, Madam Xu summoned the Lady Zhu and Xiao Qiao. She instructed them to pack quickly and take Feifei to withdraw first to the safer city of Fanyang.
"I will not leave if Grandmother is staying."
Xiao Qiao refused immediately.
Lady Zhu, having already learned of the Xiongnu invasion, was already anxious. Hearing Madam Xu's arrangements, she realized that Yuyang might also be lost. Her face turned ashen, and after a moment of hesitation, she said, "This daughter-in-law will not leave either..."
Madam Xu struck the floor hard with her cane and roared, "I am staying to command Yuyang; what use is it for the two of you to remain here? You would only be an extra burden for me to worry about! My decision is made and will not change! Both of you, take Feifei and get on the road!"
Perhaps due to the intensity of her emotions, she began to cough again.
She managed to suppress the coughing after a few gasps, though her breathing remained ragged.
Lady Zhu glanced at her, shrank back, and said no more.
Xiao Qiao gazed at Madam Xu’s white-haired face, paused, and said, "In that case, this granddaughter-in-law will obey Grandmother and leave now."
Madam Xu’s expression softened. She studied Xiao Qiao for a moment before saying slowly, "Yuyang will be fine. I only asked you to leave as a precaution for the worst-case scenario; do not overthink it. You should go now."
Xiao Qiao felt a lump in her throat. Suppressing the myriad of emotions in her heart, she knelt before Madam Xu and bowed.
...
With the Xiongnu moving south, Madam Xu would hold the city, resisting the invaders alongside the soldiers and civilians. Reinforcements would arrive in a few days, and she called upon the citizens to join in the defense.
All who volunteered to fight could go to the Yuyang government office to collect armor and weapons.
This official notice was posted at the four gates of Yuyang.
However, the Yuyang Magistrate also followed Madam Xu's orders, opening the city gates within two days to allow civilians to evacuate Yuyang voluntarily and return only after the situation stabilized.
At first, the city's residents were unwilling to leave. Or rather, they were unwilling to believe it.
Conversations about the situation could be heard in every street and alley.
Gradually, one household after another began to leave the city from the South Gate, carrying their belongings with them.
An atmosphere of panic began to spread, and more and more civilians followed suit.
As Xiao Qiao sat in her speeding carriage, traveling along the imperial road toward Fanyang, the roadsides were already filled with people heading in the same direction as her, having been overtaken by her carriage. Some were dragging their whole families, others were pushing single-wheeled carts, or walking on foot. Mothers carried their children on their backs, and sons supported their elderly mothers. Looking into the distance, the two streams of people flowing from north to south looked like an endless dragon.
Xiao Qiao and Lady Zhu sat together in the same carriage, with Chunniang holding Feifei beside them. The remaining maids and servants traveled in another vehicle.
After leaving the city, Lady Zhu had not said a single word, her expression vacant. Even Feifei seemed to sense the heavy atmosphere of the adults around her; acting unlike her usual pampered self, she stayed quietly in Chunniang’s arms, neither crying nor causing a fuss.
They traveled on the road for two days. On the third day, the carriage finally reached Fanyang and was welcomed into the city by the Fanyang Magistrate. After they were settled, Xiao Qiao put Feifei to sleep on the bed. Just as she was deep in thought, a servant girl ran over in a panic, saying that Lady Zhu had suddenly lost control of her emotions and that they were unable to calm her, begging Xiao Qiao to go and take a look.
Xiao Qiao told Chunniang to keep an eye on Feifei and hurried over. She found Lady Zhu pacing back and forth in the room, muttering, "The spirit tablets! The spirit tablets! I actually forgot to bring the spirit tablets of my husband and Lun'er! My sin! My sin!"
Her mental state had been poor throughout the journey, and now her face was ghostly pale. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead incessantly, and her lips trembled. She looked wretched.
Seeing Xiao Qiao, she immediately lunged over and grabbed her arms tightly: "Your father-in-law’s and your elder brother-in-law’s spirit tablets haven't been brought out yet! What are we to do!"
Her grip was incredibly strong, causing Xiao Qiao's arms to ache.
Xiao Qiao pulled away: "Grandmother said that Yuyang will be fine! Mother-in-law should stay here in peace and wait; there will be good news before long!"
Lady Zhu stared at her and sneered, "You, naturally, aren't worried! You never had good intentions when you married into our Wei family! Yuyang falls, but you have already gotten out; what does it have to do with you anymore?"
Xiao Qiao looked at Lady Zhu and said, "Mother-in-law, I actually came to tell you something: I am going back."
Lady Zhu was stunned.
"Grandmother is elderly and currently in poor health; I cannot leave her alone in Yuyang. If I had insisted that day, Grandmother would surely not have agreed, so I brought Feifei here first. Once you are settled here, I will head back today."
Lady Zhu's mouth hung open slightly.
"Mother-in-law, you have had a difficult journey and have not slept soundly; now that you are here, please rest well and do not let your imagination run wild! Rest assured, the spirit tablets of Father-in-law and Brother-in-law will definitely be safe!"
Xiao Qiao ordered the servants to serve Lady Zhu well.
She herself was only seventeen years old, her features still retaining a touch of youthful innocence.
Yet at this moment, whether in the tone of her voice or the resolute look in her eyes, she carried a force that allowed no questioning.
Not only the few servants nearby but even Lady Zhu could not utter a single word of rebuttal.
She only stared blankly at Xiao Qiao's retreating figure, her expression desolate and utterly dejected.
...
The news Wei Yan brought was accurate.
Within two days, thirty thousand Xiongnu cavalry crossed the border river and charged straight toward the three locations of Yunzhong, Baideng, and Shanggu.
Although the garrison commanders had exhausted every effort, Wuwei was determined to succeed. He deployed all his elite forces, and the vast momentum of the cavalry brought shocking destruction. After holding out at multiple points for several days, most of the civilians in Yunzhong and Baideng had been evacuated, and Madam Xu made the decision to voluntarily abandon those cities.
She concentrated all her forces to defend Shanggu, the frontline that led directly to Yuyang.
Outside Shanggu, a defensive line was established every twenty miles, with deep trenches dug and sharpened spears planted to block the fierce onset of the Xiongnu cavalry, attempting to turn the mounted warfare into the close-quarters melee that was more favorable to the Wei army.
A total of three such defensive lines were established.
Every single defensive line was required to hold the Xiongnu for at least one day.
The Xiongnu must have also harbored the intention of capturing Yuyang, as they focused their primary objective on Shanggu from the start, launching a fierce assault upon it.
As soon as the battle began, Madam Xu left Yuyang and personally rushed to the border city to boost the morale of the soldiers fighting valiantly.
But she was old, and after the long, arduous journey from Yunzhong to Baideng and then toward Shanggu, she fell ill.
For three consecutive days, Madam Xu persisted despite her illness, going to the front lines to personally beat the drums and cheer for the soldiers defending the lines.
Inspired by Madam Xu, the defending troops repelled wave after wave of the Xiongnu's frenzied attacks.
The defensive line originally expected to hold for three days actually held for a full five.
It was not until the sixth day that they finally retreated and fell back into the city.
That same day, facing the Xiongnu's siege, Madam Xu still went up onto the city walls alongside the soldiers to beat the drums in encouragement.
But when she descended from the walls, Madam Xu finally collapsed.
She was already advanced in years and had been in poor health; following days of excessive worry, her physical strength was exhausted to its limit. Once she collapsed, her illness became grave.
Although Lei Yan, who was in charge of this defense, tried to keep it hidden, the news that Madam Xu had collapsed spread quickly among the garrison.
The Xiongnu's thirty thousand cavalry attacked day and night, wave after wave like a tide. The scale of their formation was immense—"thunderous" would not be an exaggeration.
With the Marquis's main army yet to return, the current goal of the battle was merely to hold back the Xiongnu offensive and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
But the pressure of thirty thousand Xiongnu besieging the city was immense.
The reason the Wei army had been able to hold out until now relied entirely on one belief.
Madam Xu was their backbone. Her sudden collapse and failure to appear that day had, to some extent, affected the morale of the troops.
Following this, more news arrived: the Xiongnu Crown Prince, Wuwei, had personally arrived at Shanggu to supervise the battle, offering a reward of ten thousand taels of gold to the thousand-man commander who captured Yuyang.
The Xiongnu were high-spirited and arrogant. Outside the North Gate of Shanggu, the Wolf Flags were everywhere, covering the sky and obscuring the sun. During the lulls in the fighting, the Wei soldiers, weary and solemn, could hear the synchronized singing of the Xiongnu soldiers’ iron armor faintly drifting into the city on the wind.
...
Madam Xu regained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and, as if hearing the deafening sounds of slaughter on the city walls, struggled to sit up.
She was stopped by Nanny Zhong.
"What is the situation on the battlefield? I must go there personally! Do not stop me!"
"The Lady is here!"
Even one as composed as Nanny Zhong could not suppress the excitement in her heart, her voice trembling slightly.
"Old Madam, rest assured: The Lady brought a war flag from the Old Marquis's era. She has already replaced you, going to boost the soldiers' spirits and inspire them to fight!"
...
The Xiongnu paused briefly to rest before launching a new wave of attacks.
Since last night, the siege had not ceased for a moment.
The Xiongnu's goal was to take Yuyang before Wei Shao could lead his troops back.
Lei Yan's eyes were bloodshot; he could no longer remember how many times he had led these soldiers in repelling the Xiongnu attacks.
Arrows fell like rain, stone catapults flew, and the pile of corpses beneath the city wall grew ever higher. The howling of the Xiongnu sounded as if it were right in one's ear, and as the sky grew brighter, the blood-stained, excited faces of the invaders could be seen clearly.
It was at this moment that the war drum, which had fallen silent since yesterday on the high platform behind the city wall, suddenly began to be beaten once more.
The sound of the drums was thunderous, rolling like galloping thunder or churning clouds, resounding in everyone's ears.
Amidst this sound of fiery thunder descending from the heavens, the Wei soldiers turned their tired faces—smeared with dust and blood—to see, with utter astonishment, that the place where Madam Xu had once stood now held someone else.
The Lady had actually appeared!
She wore Madam Xu's armor, taking her place to continue defending the city and protecting Yuyang alongside them!
Beside her, a brand-new, massive black flag whipped and snapped in the wind.
In the center of the flag was embroidered a golden tiger head, fangs bared in a ferocious snarl, as if declaring military might and chilling the soul.
"Soldiers of the Wei army, listen! Forty years ago, your Marquis's grandfather fought under this Tiger Flag to reclaim the occupied Hetao from the Chanyu, forcing the Xiongnu never to dare graze their horses south again! And now, the Xiongnu wish to stain its honor—do you allow it? Reinforcements will arrive very soon, and your Marquis is also on his way back with his army! He needs you to hold on! In the name of the Wei Clan’s Lady, I swear a blood oath with you: I will hold this ground and fight with you until the very last moment when the Xiongnu are driven back!"
The Lady’s voice, carried on the rhythm of the war drums, seemed to drown out the clamor beneath the city walls.
"We do not allow it!"
"We do not allow it!"
Shaken from their shock, the soldiers roared in anger, their voices shaking the heavens.