Chapter 142: The Fourth of the Top Ten Virtuous Empresses — Ming Empress Renxiao Wen, Xu Miaoyun

【History's Top Ten Virtuous Empresses, Fourth — Ming Empress Renxiao Wen, Xu Miaoyun】

Above the heavens, the scene shifts, the clamor of steel and iron steeds fades, and a towering city rises amid the sea of clouds.

That is indeed Beiping City.

Upon the city wall, a woman clad in silver armor stands against the wind.

Her features are picture‑perfect, yet her gaze burns like a torch; her frame is slender, yet her spine is upright.

Behind her are trembling women and children, pallid civilians, and a thin, scattered garrison.

Below the city, banners blot out the sun, and a half‑million army presses the city like a black cloud.

【The first year of the Jingnan campaign, Li Jinglong attacks Beiping.】

The voice of the heavens rises deep and resonant, crossing time and space, echoing through ten thousand dynasties.

【Achievement One: Jingnan Merit, Defending the City and Securing the Throne】

【In the eighth month of the first year of the Jianwen era, Prince of Yan Zhu Di raised troops under the banner of "purging treacherous ministers," leading elite forces southward to strike Nanjing.】

Before departing, he entrusted the stronghold of Beiping to Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi, while the true backbone was his consort — Xu Miaoyun.

"Beiping is yours now."

Zhu Di, before leaving, grasped Xu Miaoyun's hand, his gaze solemn.

Xu Miaoyun bowed, "Your Highness, proceed south with confidence; Beiping remains, and I remain."

At that time she was barely over thirty, the eldest daughter of Xu Da, the Ming dynasty's first founding meritorious official, and had studied military texts with her father since childhood, mastering battle formations.

She was not a delicate flower kept in a secluded boudoir, but a tiger‑daughter of a military family who had lived through the chaos at the end of the Yuan and witnessed her father's campaigns across the lands.

Shortly after Zhu Di's southward march, the Jianwen Emperor ordered Duke of Cao Li Jinglong to serve as commander, rallying five hundred thousand troops to launch a northern campaign against Yan territory, heading straight for Beiping.

The news arrived, and Beiping trembled.

The garrison inside the city numbered fewer than ten thousand, many of them old and weak.

In the Prince of Yan's mansion, the staff were anxious; some even suggested abandoning the city to rendezvous with the Prince.

"Impossible."

Xu Miaoyun's voice was calm and resolute.

She wore ordinary attire, seated upright in the main hall of the Prince of Yan's residence, with Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi at her side, and the teenage younger sons Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui also present.

"If Beiping falls, Your Highness will become a tree without roots, water without source. With half a million troops besieging the city, where can we go?"

Xu Miaoyun swept her gaze over the assembled, "We have no choice but to hold fast and await Your Highness's relief."

She rose, walked to the front of the hall, and gazed at the bleak northern sky,

"My father, the King of Zhongshan (Xu Da), when he marched north to the Yuan capital, once said, 'A city's strength lies in the hearts of its people, not in its walls.' Today, I will let Li Jinglong see how steadfast the hearts of Beiping's people are."

She immediately issued orders:

Enforce martial law throughout the city, conscript able‑bodied youths, and enlist them into the ranks;

Women, children, the elderly and the weak must all contribute;

Withdraw all the treasury silver from the Prince's vaults to reward soldiers and civilians;

That night, gather every water jar and wooden barrel in the city for defensive use.】

【That night, Xu Miaoyun shed her robe, donned light armor, and ascended the De Sheng Gate watchtower.】

The bitter wind howled, fire lit the sky beyond the city, and the half‑million army's camps stretched for dozens of miles, endless to the eye.

The defending soldiers wore fearful expressions, and some newly conscripted civilians shivered.

Xu Miaoyun walked to the wall's edge, reached out to touch the cold bricks, then suddenly turned, her voice bright, echoing over the ramparts:

"Everyone! Prince of Yan, Your Highness, follows the late founder's edict, raising troops for Jingnan to purge treacherous ministers and restore the proper court order!"

"And Li Jinglong, below the city, leads his army to cut off the lifeline of our Yan lands, forcing the elders of Beiping to once again fall into the hands of the treacherous officials of the Jianwen court!"

She paused, her gaze blazing: "I, Xu Miaoyun, daughter of King Zhongshan Xu Da, consort of Prince of Yan Zhu Di. Today, I stand with you all in this city! As long as the city stands, we stand; if the city falls, we all perish."

"But I trust that the Prince of Yan will return with aid; the court's half‑million army is nothing but a paper tiger!"

"Tonight, we shall turn Beiping's walls into Li Jinglong's burial ground!"

As the words faded, she rolled up her sleeves and hauled rolling logs and stones alongside the soldiers.

Women and children in the city, heeded her call, rushed onto the walls to transport supplies or boil water and cook.

An elder even offered his household's stored grain, saying, "If a consort such as the Princess is unafraid of death, why should we old folk cherish our lives?"

Li Jinglong's great army began the siege.

Arrows rained like locusts, and cannon stones boomed.

Siege ladders repeatedly reached the wall, only to be knocked down each time.

Xu Miaoyun remained atop the highest tower, where arrows were densest; flanked by shield‑bearing guards, she waved them aside, "If I hide, the troops' morale will crumble."

She observed that it was mid‑winter, the weather bitterly cold.

An idea sparked, she ordered, "Gather all the city's water and douse the walls through the night!"】

【That night, the people of Beiping poured out, men, women, young and old, using every available vessel from wells and rivers to fetch water, dumping bucket after bucket onto the walls.】

Water met the cold wind and froze instantly. By dawn, the entire Beiping wall had become an icy, jade‑carved glass realm, smooth as a mirror, making siege ladders unable to cling and soldiers unable to climb.

Li Jinglong, looking up from below the city, was so enraged he leapt like a thunderbolt,

"Xu Miaoyun! How dare a mere woman act so!"

He massed artillery to batter the wall; he drove soldiers away and filled the moat with bodies.

Yet Xu Miaoyun's command held firm; rolling logs, stones, hot oil, and golden broth (boiled waste water) poured down, inflicting heavy casualties on the Ming troops while the wall remained unshaken.

In the direst moment, Li Jinglong sent elite diggers to tunnel underground, aiming to breach the city from below.

Xu Miaoyun had long prepared, ordering men inside the city to dig deep trenches along the wall, bury large vats, and station listeners.

Whenever underground movement was detected, she countered with smoke and water flooding, causing the Ming's tunnel tactics to repeatedly fail.

On the tenth day of defending the city, Prince Yan's commander Zhu Neng led light cavalry in a night raid on the Ming army's camp, setting the supplies ablaze.

Xu Miaoyun, on the city wall, saw the flames and at once ordered Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi to lead a suicide squad out of the city to reinforce; with a pincer attack from inside and outside, they dealt a great blow to the Ming army's vanguard.

This battle made Li Jinglong fully realize that a master was stationed within Beiping, and besieging the city was far from easy.

On the nineteenth day of defending the city, Prince Yan Zhu Di, upon learning that Beiping was besieged, personally led elite cavalry to reinforce, coordinating inside and outside with the defenders, and dealt a crushing defeat to Li Jinglong at Zheng Village Dam.

Half a million troops scattered in a single day.

When Zhu Di's iron cavalry broke through the Ming army's main camp and rushed to the foot of Desheng Gate, he beheld this scene:

The city gate opened slowly; Xu Miaoyun, clad in silver armor now stained with blood, her hair bun slightly disheveled, her face haggard, yet her eyes remained bright as stars.

She stood in the center of the gate, behind her a multitude of common folk, the city's women and children.

Zhu Di vaulted off his horse, strode forward, and seized her in his arms; this Prince Yan, decisive in battle, now sounded slightly hoarse: "Miaoyun… you've labored hard."

Xu Miaoyun only gave a faint smile and said softly, "Your Highness, now that you have returned, all is well."

…

At this moment, in the Wan Chao Space-time, countless emperors and ministers looked up at the heavens, their spirits stirred.

Founding Emperor Liu Bang sighed deeply: "I have Empress Lü to secure the rear; and Zhu Di has obtained such a virtuous consort—truly a heavenly blessing!"

Emperor Wu Liu Che's eyes were sharp: "In the face of danger she remains unflustered, her command steady, yet she caused hundreds of thousands of troops to return without a word. Women like her are no less than Wei and Huo!"

Emperor Taizong Li Shimin clapped his hands and praised: "In former years I waged wars across the lands, Empress Changsun guarded Chang'an, comforting the soldiers' families, and I had no worries behind me. This Empress Xu's abilities, also encompassing military affairs, truly make her a Han and Bai among women!"

Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's expression grew complex: "Had I had such a virtuous empress back then, it would not have come to… sigh."

Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, in another realm of space‑time, watched his daughter‑in‑law steadfastly defending the city beneath the heavens, tears streaming down his old face:

"Xu Da! You have a fine daughter! The fourth elder has a good daughter‑in‑law! Our Ming… is blessed!"