Chapter 552: Gaozu's Great Grandson

"Don't spout nonsense!" Chen Zhong roared.

He never meant to provoke the Northern Border King, yet he had backed down, so arrows should have been trained on him from behind—on the east city wall there were more than just his East Division troops.

Chen Zhong gritted his teeth, "Fire arrows! Whoever captures the Northern Border King will be made a marquis!"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital sighed at the stubbornness, but the Great King didn't care—this was just a procedure; everything was to let history be replayed, and once it was over they'd get to work. Keeping Chen Zhong was only so he could let more people live when the time came.

What if they swapped in a loyal fool who'd drag hundreds of thousands to mutual destruction with the Northern Border? At times like this, the self-preserving Chen Zhong is far more useful.

"Pass my order—attack the city! Before sunset, I want to water my horses at the Establishing Regulations Palace!" The Great King raised his Great Excellence Sword on his horse, his arrogant aura soaring eight zhang high.

The civil performance ended, and now came his forte, the martial display~

Wei Shen whistled in agreement, thrilled. "The Great King has great ambition—let's just decide it like this!"

The old general Feng Xiang, who had only recently turned rebel: ────

Water horses at the Establishing Regulations Palace?

After watering the horses, quickly send someone to the Imperial Mausoleum to weigh down Gaozu's coffin lid—what a great grandson Gaozu has!

The attack horn blew, bleak and mighty, its sound echoing south of the Wei River as the Northern Border cavalry shifted formation to assault the city.

This time the Snow Cavalry of Changli took the front line to cut points, while the Great King brought the Owl Cavalry behind them.

At Chen Zhong's order, a dense arrow rain shot forth; what the Northern Border sent back were fire‑powder crossbows. The concentrated blasts boomed at Proclaim Peace Gate, and the defending troops felt dazed. The timid ones trembled in two lines—let alone losing their aim, they even wanted to drop to their knees; was this heavenly punishment?!

The Northern Border's archery unit was even more formidable, not only possessing sharp arrowheads but also crossbows with explosive packs—this already surpassed what Everlasting Peace knew. Archery units skirmished, and the Snow Cavalry charged straight at Proclaim Peace Gate; the huge iron chains were hacked by cavalry, sending sparks flying.

No wonder they spent money—the Great King's continual heavy spending finally showed a return, and this silver could buy his soldiers' lives.

What about the three iron bars on Proclaim Peace Gate? The roughly forged iron chains were as easy as slicing melons under his refined heavy blade bought with his spending.

The Great King wanted to swagger, hands on hips; his armory now had coal, and the blades he made already far surpassed Great Jin standards—soon he himself would be able to forge weapons this sharp.

The iron chains had been cut, the frontline cavalry held blade and shield for cover, while several squads of laborers came up behind, each dozen or so dragging a battering ram forward, chanting as they began to ram the gate. The ram, bearing a force of thousands of jin, struck the vermilion gate again and again; after a few rounds the door groaned under the strain.

Chen Zhong's face showed surprise as he stared blankly at the gate.

If he honestly asked, the Great King would surely have to grudgingly give him a primer: "Do you know what body‑refining technique is? What can the veteran troops of the Everlasting Peace Great Camp compare to?"

It wasn't the Great King's turn to ram the gate; he stood in the back just to provoke people.

"Surrender—I, this king, wager this gate won't last two cups of tea!"

The din was too loud; he grabbed the little bee and kept shouting: "A true man dying on the battlefield dies honorably, but you aren't dying defending home and country—you're dying on the front lines aiding rebels seize the realm! You're clueless, you're pitiless! If you don't surrender, this king won't give you even a tael of condolence money!"

The din was too loud, he took over Xiaomifeng and continued shouting: "A true man dying on the battlefield is also considered to have died a proper death, but you didn't die on the battlefield defending home and country; you died on the front lines aiding rebels in seizing the country! You are clueless, you deserve no pity! If you don't surrender, I won't give you even a single tael of condolence money!"

Chen Zhong gritted his teeth, sharp‑tongued! He surrendered too fast—likely the Northern Border King would look down on him first.

"Rolling logs and stones, ready!"

The Great King didn't even approach the wall base; he stood by the moat bank, chuckling: "Can't you see who'll win? Even if Proclaim Peace Gate were an impregnable metal fixture, I could blast it open—surrender!"

No sooner had his words fallen than he drew the Sun‑shooting Bow and shot at the top of the vermilion gate, guessing that spot was also a stress point of the gate's main pillar.

Then came a boom—the vermilion gate's top, made of elm wood with copper nails, was blasted open by him.

"Oh dear," the Great King wanted to say it was nothing special—just a bit thicker than other cities, maybe coated with a thin iron skin? He quickly notched another arrow and fired two more shots. Even if his aim wasn't great, the arrows still landed on the gate.

The soldiers striving at the gate cheered loudly, while the Great King swaggered, hands on hips.

The soldiers striving at the gate cheered loudly, while the Great King swaggered, hands on hips.