When the 8,000-strong army came to set up camp outside Shangchuan City, a sentinel ran out of Shangchuan City. The sentry rode to the stronghold and asked to see Youyou. So a few soldiers escorted him to see Youyou.
You Youzi's tent was the first to be set up, and Tai Ye stood beside You Youzi, not leaving her side. You Youzi heard that the messenger of the other party had arrived and ordered the soldiers to hide the crossbows. They must not let the messenger see them. Then, You Youzi asked the other party's messenger to come up.
"This is a gift from Lord Shangchuan to the Great General," the messenger said with a smile.”
The soldiers opened it and saw that it was a piece of embroidery. Taiya was so angry that he drew his sword. The surrounding warriors grabbed the messenger tightly.
"You sent this thing over. This is Shangchuan Wen's humiliation to me.”You Youzi just smiled." It seems that you are ready to die?”
The messenger scolded,"You dogs of the nobles! They just rely on their privileged status and don't care about the lives of ordinary people! You only know how to impose taxes to fatten your big bellies and let the music girls dance, but the warriors and civilians of Shangchuan have starved to death! Now that Lord Shangchuan has led us to resist you, the only outcome for you is death! You little girl, you will all be destroyed by Lord Shangchuan in less than three days!”
There were already warriors who drew their swords to cut him. The messenger laughed loudly as if his life and death were insignificant.
Youyou stopped the angry warrior and took out the female worker.
"This seems to be able to knit a hat.”You Youzi looked at it carefully." Since Shangchuan Wen wants me to knit it, then I will knit it!”
You Youzi began to weave. There were two iron needles inside, which were not sharp at all. It seemed that this messenger was indeed not an assassin.
" Lord You You Zi, this isn't good…" Tai Ya was a little confused and tried to persuade her not to do this.
You Youzi ignored him and said to the messenger,""You You has something to say to you, and I hope you can pass it on to Shangchuan Wen.”
The messenger provoked,"I'm afraid you don't even dare to kill people!"”
The warrior was so angry that he wanted to chop his head with his sword, but Youyou stopped him again. The emissary looked at You Youzi disdainfully.
You Youzi knitted a hat and said to the messenger,""That knife was meant to kill you. A knife is just a knife. Whether it kills you or not depends on the person holding it. You Youzi was the knife in the hands of the Emperor. Whether he could kill Shangchuan or not depended on the Emperor. You are the sword sent by Uekawa Bunbun to anger me so that he can kill me. Therefore, this matter depends on Uekawa Bunbun. At this point, it was very obvious that we were only knives that could be replaced at will. The ones who really mattered were our respective knife holders, and we were nothing.”
The messenger didn't know what to say, but You Youzi's work was progressing very fast, and she was already halfway done.
"But I don't mind putting a hat on Uekawa Bunori.”You Youzi smiled." Shangchuan Wen's attempt to provoke me has failed. Your knife has been broken by me. Everything you've done has lost its meaning. And I understand you, because we're just weapons for people to use. In short, we're nothing. So don't be nervous. You can sit on the chair over there and relax.”
The messenger sat down. The warrior beside him was furious, but he did not say a word and let You Zi control him.
"However, I'll have to trouble the Great Messenger to tell Uekawa Wen that his wish has been fulfilled. I've knitted a hat for him! Now, please listen to You Youzi's wish. She hoped to surrender the city as soon as possible. Otherwise, the two armies would have to fight to the death.”
You Youzi handed the hat to the messenger. The messenger nodded to You Youzi and left.
Tai Ye felt strange." Since Lord You You is not angry, why don't you let Shangchuan Wen think that you are angry? Then, lure him to take the initiative to attack. Then, we can seize his weakness and break it in one fell swoop?"”
You Youzi was dejected." As expected of a boy. You like to kill enemies so much?" I wanted to let that envoy realize that I wasn't someone to be trifled with, and then let Uekawa know that he had encountered a powerful enemy. Although the possibility is very small, I still hope that he will surrender. After all, people would die in a war. It was best to reduce the losses of both sides. Look at the power wars that were instigated by the nobles. When had the nobles ever died? The ones who died were all pitiful commoners. No one cares about the life and death of commoners, but I do.”
Tai Ye was silent. He felt a surge of excitement in his heart, and the blood in his body surged. He said,"Lord You You Zi, I want to be like you, to cherish the lives of others."”
You Youzi could only smile at him and then gave him a thumbs up."Then let's work hard together!"
The stronghold's peace lasted for two whole days. During this period, people would come out from Shangchuan City to harass them from time to time. However, Youyou's setting up of the camp was divided. There were 3,000 people guarding the surroundings, 3,000 people building the camp, and 1,000 people as reserves. Of course, there were still 1,000 people who were transferred to protect the safety of the grain route.
Some scouts had already returned to Shangchuan City and reported to their general, Shangchuan Wen. Uekawa was in his forties, and his eldest son, Uekawa Xiuying, was nineteen. Now, Kamikawa Xiuying was a general and was by his father's side.
"Xiuying, how will this war be fought?”Kamikawa asked his son.
"I think the government troops must be very tired after coming from afar. If they could attack them before they set up camp, it would definitely be miraculous.”
Shangchuan Wen encouraged Xiuying to tell him his battle plan. Xiuying said that she would leave 1,000 people in the city and send 4,000 people to attack at night. It would be easy to succeed. Then, he began to study the battle map. Shangchuan City's terrain was not advantageous. The south was a huge open land, and the west was a large area of sand. Although it was open, it was impossible to attack the city with quicksand. The north and east were the roads into the mountain. It was very convenient for passers-by to walk, but it was difficult to mobilize troops. The government troops came from the south, so their main attack must be in the south as well.
The camp of the government army was about 15 miles away from the south gate. Now that the construction was halfway through, it was the most tiring time. Therefore, if they attacked…Uekawa Xiuying was stunned. He suddenly realized that the place where Youyou had set up camp was very strange.
In the middle of the open land, there was a 60-meter-tall hill. The trees on the top of the hill had been cut down. You Youzi had set up a camp at the foot of the mountain on the east and west sides of the mountain.
Moreover, the 60-meter-high hill could easily become a lookout point. Since he could see the high point from the city gate, he would definitely be able to see the mobilization of the army from the top of the hill. Therefore, no matter where the ambush was launched during the day, the deployment of the troops could not escape the observation of the watchtower. There was no good solution at night. During peaceful times, there was a kind of smoke used by cavalry. As long as a few scouts were sent to patrol the open area, they would set off smoke when they encountered enemy troops. At that time, the soldiers in the watchtower would naturally be alerted.
"Father, I can't think of any good ideas.”Xiuying was dejected.
"Yes, as long as they stand firm on that small hill in the open land, they will have eyes.”Shangchuan Wen said regretfully," We only have 5,000 people. We can't send 2,000 people to guard that place before the government forces arrive. My plan is to send out a small force to alert the enemy and tire them out. This time, the enemy came prepared, and the commander seemed to be very impressive. According to rumors, it was the 'ghost girl' of the Nishikoji family. The enemy has the advantage in numbers. If we go out of the city to fight, the enemy has cavalry and I heard that they have secret weapons. If we're not careful, we'll die without a burial place. Therefore, defending the city with all their strength would win.”
"But the enemy has been attacking the city with all their might. If reinforcements come, Shangchuan City will definitely not be able to hold on."”
"The Emperor won't always send troops to the Nishikoji family," Uekawa said. War is an extension of politics. Look at the Xixing Temple, they specialize in dealing with demons and rarely participate in politics. This time, the youngest daughter of the Xixing Temple family led the army to go out. It was unknown why the Emperor agreed, but one thing was certain: The great nobles of the capital did not wish for the Nishikoji clan to win, because it was not in line with their political interests. These 8,000 people might have been sent by the Emperor to defend Jingdou, so it was very difficult for the Xixing Temple clan to get another army in the court, so they were isolated.”
It was also at this time that Youyou analyzed the situation for Taiya in the government camp.
"If the Shangchuan family continues to defend the city walls and doesn't send out their legions, it will be very difficult for us to attack the city. We can only send 4,000 people to attack the city at most, and 4,000 people won't be able to take it. It's impossible for us to borrow reinforcements, because the Westbound Temple has never been involved in politics. Now that they're involved, they want to squeeze into the aristocratic circle. The aristocrats will give us as much as we can get. They are a whole, and none of them will abandon their original powerful relationship to form an alliance with us, so we only have ourselves.”
"Then if the other side doesn't engage in a field battle with us, won't we be unable to attack the city as we please?"”
"Yes, I am." You Youzi sighed." So we have to analyze the situation in Shangchuan City and create a situation. Facing the strongest fortress, if there is no flaw in the front, then we will make it reveal a flaw.”
In the few days that they had set up camp, there were always people harassing them. You Youzi specially sent a 100-man cavalry team to deal with the harassment of small troops. After that, the night gradually became quiet.
After the two camps were set up, the confrontation between the two sides was settled. No one dared to act rashly. You Youzi had no confidence in winning the siege. It would be difficult to explain to the Emperor if there were too many casualties. The Shangchuan family did not dare to attack, and they could only use the city walls to make up for the disadvantage in numbers.
If this stalemate continued, it would only be disadvantageous to You Youzi. The moment these 8,000 people moved, there would be countless amounts of money and food. The emperor could only provide her with two months of money and food. Any more would require the nobles to raise funds. However, the nobles were eager for You Youzi to fail. Once You Youzi failed, the Emperor's influence would be reduced.
What made people anxious was that a month had passed. However, the situation was still in a stalemate. No one was willing to move.
Tai had also suggested to Youyou that since she was so powerful in magic, why not destroy the rebel army in Shangchuan herself? You Youzi blamed him for being dumb. If he did that, the Yin Yang Masters would have something on him. Things would be exposed very easily. At that time, it would not be to bring glory to Westbound Temple at all, but to use magic to show off. It would simply be to subvert the existing power system and establish a regime controlled by the mages. This wasn't expanding his political influence. He was making an enemy of the entire country.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。