I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 292 - 218: Yan People

The Wei Kingdom’s army had Wei Junzhuo overseeing, so their retreat was orderly and without any losses.

Soon, the Dingyuan Army that was pursuing them turned back.

After the retreat was completed, the Wei Kingdom’s officers realized something was amiss.

"I just noticed that there weren’t many Dingyuan troops pursuing us."

"The ambushed infantry in the forest also didn’t reveal themselves."

"Oh no, we’ve been deceived by Gu Lan!"

Wei Junzhuo reined in his horse and immediately commanded, "Return!"

Realizing this, the Wei Kingdom’s army hurried back, but could only watch helplessly as the gates of Yinzhou City closed with a thundering sound after the last civilian had entered.

"Release the arrows——!"

The next moment, the Wei Kingdom’s army launched countless sharp arrows at the city gates!

Many of those arrows embedded in the gates, but the city remained unshaken.

Yinzhou is the grandest city in the Southern Border, and once its gates are shut, manpower alone cannot breach them.

Wei Junzhuo clenched the heavy halberd in his hand, lifted his head, and looked toward the Black Dragon Flag standing atop the city.

His usually indifferent face turned even colder, while his golden eyes gleamed like a predator finding its prey, focused and calm. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

No wonder when Gu Lan appeared, she acted wildly and recklessly, grabbing his attention.

No wonder she took the opportunity when he was distracted to charge forward first, confusing everyone into believing they were surrounded by the Dingyuan cavalry.

Thinking back now, Jiang Di and his men had gone through great lengths and spent considerable time to reach the Southern Border to hide here, specifically to face Rong Shuo’s cavalry. The Dingyuan Army stationed at the Northern Territory couldn’t have suddenly appeared here.

She even had a small group of cavalry chase after him for a while to make it more convincing... truly, youth knows no fear.

"Gu Lan."

He remembered this name,

as well as the question she asked him before the formations.

Once inside the city gates, Gu Lan was immediately surrounded.

She laid down Rong Shuo: "Military doctor!"

Two military doctors, who had been waiting at the gate, saw Rong Shuo soaked in blood and unsure of life, and their eyes watered: "Prince, how did the Prince—"

"Stop the bleeding first," Gu Lan said sternly.

Tang Zhan, with reddened eyes, looked at the arrows embedded in Rong Shuo’s body and hoarsely asked:

"Young Master Gu, what exactly happened? These people... the Dingyuan Army didn’t come, what’s the matter with these civilians?"

Gu Lan wiped the blood off her face, climbed up the city wall, and looked down at the Wei Kingdom’s army below.

The returning Wei soldiers had faces filled with frustration and anger.

From a distance, she couldn’t clearly see Wei Junzhuo’s expression, but she could tell he was quite composed.

"The Dingyuan Army indeed didn’t come. These cavalrymen are less than five hundred. Half are informants set by the Marquis Mansion throughout the Southern Border, and the other half are government officials and city guards who can ride, gathered from Jun City. The infantry behind them are a few thousand refugees I had disguise themselves when they came to Yinzhou."

Jun City is a small city near Yinzhou.

Shortly after she and Rong Heng split their forces, she learned about the siege on Yinzhou.

Even if Rong Heng moved at the fastest speed, he wouldn’t be able to bring reinforcements from Su Yi and Li Yuanju on time. Gu Lan knew that with Yinzhou out of provisions, it couldn’t last for several days, and understanding Rong Shuo’s character, he would definitely choose to take the initiative to confront the enemy.

At this moment, Gu Lan fully understood how Rong Shuo died in the original story.

No food, no reinforcements, no army. He tried his best to defend by attacking, but encountered the sudden appearance of the Qiangrong people... He led by example and died swiftly to spare the people in the city from suffering.

So, Gu Lan gathered the Dark Hall members in the Southern Border from the Marquis Mansion and rushed to Jun City to borrow a few hundred government officials and city defense soldiers from the City Guard.

The Dark Hall members were mostly skilled in martial arts, some having even left the battlefield, so those who charged forward with her just now were these people.

Meanwhile, the few hundred government officials were responsible for riding back and forth, kicking up dust to cover the identities of the civilians behind them, creating the impression that a Yan Country army was ambushed in the dense forest.

Gu Lan herself took the lead, first humiliating Jiang Qu, then charging ahead, drawing all the Wei Kingdom’s army’s attention onto her.

If Jiang Qu could appear, why couldn’t Dingyuan Army?

For a moment, not to mention the Wei country’s army, even Tang Zhan and the others thought that the Dingyuan Army had really arrived at the Southern Border.

Wei Junzhuo was by nature a suspicious and meticulous person. Cavalry had a natural advantage over infantry, so a head-on confrontation would surely lead to heavy losses, making him decide to retreat and surround.

Gu Lan raised her head, looking at the surrounding folks who were gaunt and emaciated, yet with particularly determined expressions.

If she were not the Heir of Duke Dingyuan,

If the country she was in were not Yan Country,

This stratagem could not have been realized.

Those folks were all citizens of Yan Country. After Gu Lan explained her purpose, although they feared death, they nonetheless resolutely agreed to pretend to be foot soldiers.

Among the nations, only the people of Yan have such courage, willing to risk their lives to defeat Wei country, because they are extremely proud and never believe that Yan Country could lose to Wei Country.

"Settle these people," Gu Lan ordered, "since Wei Junzhuo knows that the Dingyuan Army has not come, he won’t let it rest. At the latest, Su Yi and the others should be able to return from Cang Wind Port in three days. We need to hold out for these three days."

Nearby, Nan Shiqi dismounted and removed his heavy helmet, revealing a delicate face: "I understand, Your Excellency."

The people from Dark Hall were all contacted by Nan Shiqi. The Gu Character Army Flag was also found through Dark Hall.

Gu Lan’s gaze swept subtly across Nan Shiqi’s face, always feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity with the young man.

Tang Zhan asked, "How can Young Master be so sure that Su Yi and Li Yuanju will definitely make it back within three days? We are already out of food, and slaughtering horses for sustenance can’t last long—"

"I trust Rong Heng." Gu Lan said with a faint tone as she wiped the blood off her hand.

"The five thousand men led by Su Yi were once the Pingnan Army. I don’t know about Li Yuanju, but Su Yi, Rong Heng can definitely bring them back."

Tang Zhan suddenly realized: "I didn’t expect His Highness Fifth Prince Rong to actually come. Su Yi is a member of the Xiao Family."

His dark face grew even more solemn.

The Prince initially took charge of the Pingnan Army of the Xiao Family after the fall of the Pingnan Marquis Mansion by imperial decree.

As eight years passed, only a tenth of those brave Pingnan Soldiers remain, just over five thousand people, handed over to Su Yi for same command by the Prince.

Of course, scattered among other Southern Border armies are also soldiers from the Pingnan Army.

Gu Lan’s mention made Tang Zhan realize that it’s because Su Yi is a member of the Xiao Family that he would listen to Rong Heng.

"Whose people they are isn’t important. The Xiao Family is gone, and now the Pingnan Army is just an ordinary troop defending the country." Gu Lan stated.

Tang Zhan opened his mouth but, looking at the calm and serene boy in front of him, said nothing more.

Indeed, it ultimately doesn’t matter whether Su Yi is a member of the Xiao Family.

He had been Su Yi’s comrade-in-arms for years; Su Yi never overstepped, always following the Prince’s orders. The Prince himself has treated the Pingnan Army kindly. If it were any other commander, they would have undoubtedly disbanded the Pingnan Army. How could they allow those five thousand men to stay together?

Perhaps the Prince had long known Su Yi’s identity, which is why he let him lead those five thousand Pingnan Army.

"Alright, I trust you, and I trust His Highness Fifth Prince. The most urgent task now is to get through these three days. Today, we’ll have to slaughter another batch of warhorses. We, the soldiers of Dayan, can never guard the city on empty stomachs." Tang Zhan said in a low voice.

Gu Lan rummaged through the backpack while asking:

"In the famine-stricken Southern Border, the common folk have no food. Do the wealthy households also have none? What about the rice stores?"

Tang Zhan solemnly replied:

"On the first day of Wei country’s siege, the Prince already sent people to buy food from the city’s commoners and rice stores. What could be bought has already been bought, and the silver is exhausted. The commoners can’t provide much grain either... Moreover, the Marquis had given strict orders before that it’s better to survive on horse meat than forcefully requisition even a grain of rice from the people."

The refugees who had entered with Gu Lan all kneeled when they heard Tang Zhan’s words, bowing toward the distance, saying:

"The Prince is merciful!"

In the cold wind, the restrained sobs of the refugees wafted over the city walls.

By the side, Nan Shiqi said: "In such a critical situation, why not send people to the wealthy households in the city to requisition some grain? After all, Yinzhou is the most prosperous city in the Southern Border; those wealthy families must have some stored grain."

Tang Zhan clenched his fists tightly, looked up at those kneeling commoners, and said in a low voice:

"The city is already suffering from famine, with countless refugees, many of whom died from starvation. If we order a forced requisition, how can I face the Prince?"

"But we can’t let the soldiers starve either—"

Gu Lan waved her hand and said: "Indeed, we can’t forcibly requisition. Previously, Yuezhou accepted a large number of refugees. Who knows how many spies have mixed in? If we forcibly gather grain from the commoners and wealthy now, it would disturb the people’s hearts even more."