Chapter 345: They Flew In

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill them all for Mandarin, no, no, no, protect Mandarin!"

This unexpected aerial bombardment directly caused the Shuzhou Imperial Guard to lose nearly half of its military strength! With their greatest combat power destroyed, how could the remaining men have any heart left to fight?

It was chaos.

Total chaos!

Xie Yang was panicked, and he was regretting it—why did he have to court death, why did he have to run out of his deep palace to show off here? Was it too late to go back now?

Only a few hundred guards remained, still protecting him at his side.

At this moment, those twenty thousand airborne troops had already begun to slowly form into individual combat formations. Three men made a squad, five men made a group, and ten men could form a combat unit!

This was their Liangzhou Army!

"Kill!"

Soon, two thousand small combat groups had formed and began their slaughter. Those panicked Shuzhou Imperial Guards were caught off guard and found it difficult to form a defensive encirclement again.

The military camp had already begun to burn.

At this moment.

Those who had been guarding the Pei Family Residence and Pei Yanran at the entrance all this time saw this situation, and the fighting spirit in their hearts was thoroughly ignited.

"Charge!"

"Finish off these lackeys!"

"Kill them! Kill Xie Yang!"

The anger and murderous intent that had been suppressed under the white terror for these past days erupted all at once, which was absolutely terrifying. Tens of thousands of people rushed out simultaneously, carrying various weapons. And, led by them, more and more of the populace joined in.

The situation inside Shuzhou City immediately spiraled out of control.

Xie Yang was stunned.

"Protect me!"

"Stop fighting, all of you come and protect me!"

However...

At this moment, how could the remaining Imperial Guard withstand the overwhelming, sea-like tide of the populace? They roared, they shouted, and they looked at Xie Yang with hateful eyes.

Looking at this demon who brought in the Southern Barbarians to slaughter his own kin!

Looking at this foolish monarch who killed his father and murdered his brother to usurp the throne!

Kill!

At this moment, only by tearing him into ten thousand pieces could the hatred in people's hearts be appeased.

As the saying goes, when an army is defeated, it collapses like a mountain.

This saying was indeed correct.

With trouble in the city, how could the city walls be any better? At this moment, Xie Yang, a fellow who only knew how to scheme and plot, was in a state of extreme panic and had no idea what to do. Thus, he issued an order that was incredibly fatal for him: he ordered the defending soldiers on the city walls to all return to protect him.

When the city gate commander received this order, he was nearly infuriated to death.

However, the King's command could not be defied.

Thus, the city walls, already short-handed, were further drained of three thousand men.

What Xie Yang did not expect was that these three thousand men were merely a drop in the bucket for a Shuzhou that had already spiraled out of control. One must know, how large was the population of Shuzhou City?

Two million!

Once these people went mad, it was quite terrifying. The three thousand men couldn't even get close to Xie Yang and soon disappeared into this sea of people.

As a result.

The fall of the city gates was only a matter of time.

"Attack!"

After the massive battering ram struck the gates of this thousand-year-old city ten more times.

With a boom.

The gates of Shuzhou were thoroughly smashed open.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Tens of thousands of Liangzhou Army and Sword Pavilion Army surged in; how could the defenders on the walls be their match? Many of them surrendered on the spot.

"Kill!"

The Imperial Guard was dwindling bit by bit.

What surprised the Liangzhou Army was that, whether it was the Liangzhou troops who had parachuted in or the soldiers who had charged in later, they hadn't actually killed many of the Imperial Guard themselves. Instead, most of these Imperial Guards died at the hands of the furious Shuzhou populace—some hacked to death by blades and swords, some smashed by clubs, some killed by hoes, or trampled to death... they died in all sorts of ways.

Therefore.

In this Battle of Shuzhou, the arrival of the Liangzhou Army actually served primarily to ignite the anger and murderous intent of the populace.

The Liangzhou Army became a fuse.

At this time.

The entire city was clamoring and exclaiming in unison, entering a state of madness.

And Xie Yang.

At this moment, he was so frightened that he stood on the roof of his "tall and luxurious" Horse Carriage, cowering and sitting there, his face deathly pale, his whole body trembling.

Because, by his side, there was no longer a single person left to protect him.

The civil and military officials who had followed him in rebellion had also been rushed by the populace, their homes raided and the officials seized; they were either killed directly, or these officials were bound and brought before Xie Yang, kneeling there one by one.

This frantic emotion finally began to subside, finally slowly calming down.

The entire city was bustling with people, yet it slowly calmed down. Perhaps everyone knew that what they craved was not madness, nor was it venting.

In the land of Chuan Shu, the people living on this hot soil wanted only stability and peace.

The noise gradually grew much quieter.

"What are you doing..."

"What are you doing!"

"I am the Mandarin, the King of Shuzhou! I am your master! The entire Chuan Shu belongs to me, it all belongs to me!"

Xie Yang had been scared out of his mind by this point.

He stood up, laughing wildly, waving his long robes; he turned this way to shout a few times, then turned that way to roar a few times.

The people.

All watched him quietly.

The instigator of this Southern Barbarian invasion, who poisoned his own father to death and hunted down his own brother, committing every evil—how could such a person be fit to be a ruler?

They watched quietly.

The hatred had lessened significantly, because they knew that today, Xie Yang would surely die.

"Welcome the Liangzhou Army!"

Suddenly, someone shouted aloud.

"The Liangzhou Army!"

"The Liangzhou Army!"

"General Qin!"

"General Qin!"

At this moment.

Pei Yanran had already run out from her home; dressed in green, she watched the Shuzhou City gate quietly.

At this moment.

One man, one horse.

The general from her dreams seemed to have truly walked out of them. That majestic image, that silver-white armor, that chiseled face, those sharp eyes.

Pei Yanran.

At a single glance, she was entranced.

Clear tears flowed down.

With just this one look, she knew this was Qin Zhangfeng.

This was her man.

This was her general.

Qin Zhangfeng entered the city alone, and then, the majestic and orderly Liangzhou Army, dressed in green uniforms, slowly followed behind him.

"General Qin!"

"General Qin is mighty!"

The commoners of Shuzhou shouted without pause.

Qin Zhangfeng smiled slightly, nodding as he accepted the support of the people.

And then.

He also seemed to sense that not far away, there was a gaze, as if separated by a thousand years, that thousand-year-long stare.

That beautiful figure stood tall and graceful.

Those autumn-water-like eyes seemed to be telling of a past and present life. They seemed to be telling of a childhood sweetheart promise.

Was it her?

No need to think too much.

Just like Pei Yanran, Qin Zhangfeng was just as resolute at this moment; he intended to flip off his horse, but saw Pei Yanran from afar, shaking her head gently.

Yes.

He saw the infatuation in her eyes, the joy in her eyes, the plea in her eyes.

Hmm.

She wanted to see him riding into the city; she wanted to see her man in such a majestic state; she wanted to see the dominance of her man being cheered and supported by ten thousand people.

She also seemed to be saying.

A man should prioritize state affairs before family affairs.

Don't worry about me, go take care of Shuzhou first.

Qin Zhangfeng smiled slightly and nodded.

Then, amidst the thousands of cheers, he walked quietly toward the Horse Carriage that was tightly surrounded by people.

"Who are you? Hmm? And who are you? Hahahaha, I know, are you trying to beg me to grant you an official post!" Xie Yang saw the imposing Qin Zhangfeng, but he was already insane now, laughing loudly, head held high and chest puffed out, putting on airs: "Good, good, good, I see you are a man of talent, indeed possessing a bit of my style, reward!"

He waved his large hand.

Seeing Xie Yang like this, the whole crowd burst into uproarious laughter.

"Laughing, they're laughing, right?"

Xie Yang hopped about happily: "Look, I knew it, I can control your life and death, and I can also control your joy and sorrow!"

"This!"

"Is the King of Shuzhou!"

Bang!

Cheng Kai, who was beside Qin Zhangfeng, had no patience to tolerate this; he went over, let out a fierce shout, and delivered a kick, shattering the tall and luxurious Horse Carriage to pieces...

Xie Yang fell flat on his face, a dog eating dung, and even had several teeth knocked out.

"You, you all..."

Seeing Xie Yang in such a sorry state, the bystanders felt deeply satisfied.

Qin Zhangfeng watched him quietly: "Going mad at a time like this is indeed a good choice. Take him away, and wait for the return of the Prince of Shu to deal with him!"

"Yes!"

Cheng Kai led a group of men and quickly threw Xie Yang and these civil and military officials into the prison.

Next.

Qin Zhangfeng began to work on stabilizing the situation; clearly, no one had expected that this great battle of Shuzhou could be resolved in a mere two hours.

Too fast!

The grain and supplies in the city had not even begun to be consumed before everything was over.

Therefore, maintaining stability was not actually difficult; suppressing the emotions of the people in the city was enough. Fortunately, for these past few days, the people had been waiting for the Liangzhou Army to enter Shu, and they looked at them as if they were looking at saviors, so naturally, they would not cause any trouble.

Martial law.

Soon, Shuzhou announced it was entering a state of martial law.

"General, you're done with your work, right?"

"Hahaha, General, hurry up and stop working!"

"It's time to go attend to your real business!"

Qin Zhangfeng busied himself for a while, finally finishing the arrangements for the various matters of martial law.

Then, Cheng Kai began to stir up trouble, and the other soldiers also laughed loudly, following along and shouting.

This made Qin Zhangfeng's old face flush red: "What real business, nonsense..."

"Hey, hey, hey?"

Cheng Kai said loudly on purpose: "General, Miss Pei confessed to you in front of the whole world!"

"Exactly, are you even a man?"

"Hurry up and go!"

"Could it be you're waiting for Miss Pei to come herself?"

The entire scene was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Qin Zhangfeng could only offer a bitter smile, and finally, he took a deep breath: "Stop talking nonsense. The Southern Barbarians will be at the city gates in four days. The war is pressing; where would I find the time to attend to matters of romance?"

The crowd then perked up.

That's right.

Although Shuzhou had been captured, that 150,000-strong Southern Barbarian army was no joke, and they were currently on their way.

Hearing Qin Zhangfeng say this, the group immediately lost the mood to joke around and began to study how to set up defensive fortifications.

Within a day.

They had changed from an attacking force into a defending force.

As they discussed, the night grew deep.

Who would have thought.

At this time.

Over at the Pei Family Residence.

The sound of mournful zither music rang out once again.

Shuzhou was taken by Qin Zhangfeng within a single day!

Once this news spread, the entire Longyan Dynasty could not sit still.

"What? What are you saying?"

"Two hours?"

Far away in Qingzhou, the Prince of Wei was completely shocked.

For these past few days, he had been paying attention to the situation in Chuan Shu. It was not just him; all the Feudatory Kings in the world were actually paying attention, waiting to see.

Some guessed that Qin Zhangfeng would definitely not be able to break through Shuzhou, as it was, after all, a thousand-year-old city and an iron fortress.

But others guessed that Qin Zhangfeng would certainly be able to break the city, as the Liangzhou Army was invincible in the world and there was nothing they could not do. However, they feared that taking the city would still take a month or two.

Others said this was Qin Zhangfeng's strategy of luring the tiger out of the mountains.

He did not want to attack the city; he wanted to bypass it and wipe out the incoming Southern Barbarian reinforcements.

Anyway...

All sorts of guesses.

It was said that in Jinghua, some people even opened betting pools to place wagers.

At the time.

In all of Longyan, no one dared to guess that this Qin Zhangfeng could break through Shuzhou in two hours.

Terrifying!

Too terrifying!

"Yes, Prince of Wei, they... they flew in..."

"Pfft..."

The Prince of Wei was drinking tea, and upon hearing this, he sprayed a mouthful of tea directly onto the man's face.

Flew?

They flew in?