Chapter 598

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“Your Highness wants to go to the West?”

Lu Meng exclaimed.

Xiao Qi gently shook his head, “No. Some time ago, Prince Wei kept asking me to find Western merchants to buy muskets and cannons. But unexpectedly, at sea, our people encountered General Liang Daping, my Imperial Father’s old subordinate. Now General Liang has turned bandit, becoming a pirate near Luzon Island, and he said that there is a country founded by descendants of the Great Yu Empire on Luzon Island, named Huayan Kingdom.”

“Huayan Kingdom?” Lu Meng said, shocked.

“Yes, I didn’t believe it at first, but General Liang spoke with certainty. He said that this group of Great Yu Empire descendants had settled on Luzon Island for hundreds of years. They came to this island along the ocean before the Great Yu Empire existed. However, the Huayan Kingdom was occupied by the Portuguese thirty years ago. Now, the rulers of the Huayan Kingdom are the Portuguese. General Liang said that by going to the Huayan Kingdom, we can make contact with Westerners.”

“But Your Highness, since this Huayan Kingdom is occupied by the Portuguese, won’t we also be bullied by the Portuguese if we go there?” Lu Meng asked worriedly.

Xiao Qi smiled, “With General Liang, we won’t be in danger. Besides, there’s no longer a place for us in the Great Yu Empire. In my opinion, this world will inevitably belong to Xiao Ming in the future, and he now knows my identity. When he ascends the throne, how could he tolerate the son of an enemy remaining in this world?”

“Your Highness is absolutely right,” Lu Meng said solemnly, “No matter where Your Highness goes, we will follow Your Highness to the death.”

Xiao Qi revealed a bitter smile. In the Duke Ning’s Rebellion case back then, many of Duke Ning’s old subordinates escaped. Lu Meng was one of them. For years, Lu Meng had lived in Wei. If Xiao Qi hadn’t been disheartened, perhaps they would have lived their lives in Wei under this identity, but now, everything was over.

After killing the officials on the ship, the merchant ships changed course and entered the Yangtze River, heading towards the estuary. On the third day, they encountered the Qingzhou fleet coming towards them.

When he saw these warships, a smile appeared on Xiao Qi’s face.

“Your Highness, you should hide for now,” Lu Meng said, somewhat nervous.

“No need. No one can recognize me now.” Xiao Qi’s face was dark, like a merchant who had been traveling for years. His clothes had also been changed to ordinary merchant attire.

The soldiers on the ship had also taken off their military uniforms, dressed like ordinary crew members. Their merchant ship passed the fleet on the other side of the river.

Not far away on land was Jinling City, where they had lived for over a decade.

Lu Meng was still a little nervous, but the river was full of merchant ships, and the Qingzhou fleet seemed not to have noticed them. They only breathed a sigh of relief when the merchant ships gradually moved away.

Then they suddenly heard the “rumbling” sound of cannons.

“Your Highness, it has begun,” Lu Meng sighed. “Prince Wei has dispatched another 50,000 men to Chuzhou. Now there are only 120,000 men in Jinling City. Whether they can hold out is truly an unknown.”

Xiao Qi’s gaze was cold. “We’ve said what needed to be said. How could Xiao Ming give up the opportunity to attack Jinling City? I just never expected Xiao Ming to use warships and merchant ships to conceal troops and launch a surprise attack on Jinling City.”

Lu Meng looked at the Qingzhou merchant ships. Just moments ago, there were only a few boatmen on board, but now the ships were filled with soldiers dressed in dark green uniforms.

“Xiao Ming is truly bold,” Lu Meng said.

“It’s not that he’s bold; it’s his confidence in his own army,” Xiao Qi said. “It’s a pity for the rich land of Wei. Prince Wei is very clever, but only in small ways; he can’t achieve great things. If he had agreed to ally with Xiao Ming back then, at least he could have been a carefree prince in the future. Now, Xiao Ming probably won’t leave him anything.”

Lu Meng nodded. The merchant ships were getting further and further from Jinling City, and the sound of cannons gradually diminished. They would temporarily bid farewell to the Great Yu Empire.

After a round of shelling at the Jinling City dock, Yue Yun had the warships berth alongside the dock, while merchant ships also gradually docked. At this time, the Dengzhou army disembarked and quickly occupied the Jinling City dock.

At the same time, the field guns on the warships were also hoisted down.

The commotion at the dock naturally attracted the attention of Jinling City. For a moment, the entire Jinling City fell into chaos. Prince Wei hastily got out of bed and asked, “What’s going on? What’s going on?”

Officials and generals in Jinling City also heard the cannon fire. After inquiring, they rushed frantically into Prince Wei’s mansion.

“Your Highness, it’s bad! The Dengzhou army has attacked!” the officials shouted.

“What!” Prince Wei was greatly alarmed. “Didn’t you say the Yangzhou garrison had no unusual movements?”

“This subordinate doesn’t know what’s going on either. The Yangzhou garrison certainly didn’t move!” the official said urgently.

Prince Wei flew into a rage, kicking the official and cursing, “Scoundrel! Useless! Why aren’t you immediately gathering the army to defend the city!”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the officials scrambled out.

Seeing the officials leave, Prince Wei immediately ascended the city wall of Jinling City. When he saw the Dengzhou army disembarking at the dock, his face instantly turned ashen white.

“Your Highness, the Dengzhou army numbers over 30,000.” The defending general pointed to the Dengzhou army forming squares on the dock, noting that a portion of the Dengzhou army was already approaching Jinling City.

Cold sweat beaded on Prince Wei’s forehead. Now, only 5,000 cavalry remained in Jinling City; most of the soldiers had been transferred to Chuzhou City. It was impossible to send cavalry to attack now.

How could 5,000 men be a match for 30,000?

“Summon the musketeers! Get all the gunners onto the city walls! We must defend Jinling City to the death! Prince Yan’s army will come to save us! Prince Zhao will too, and Prince Liang will too!” Prince Wei was incoherent.

Below Jinling City, the Dengzhou army had basically all disembarked from the ships. For an hour, no army attacked them, which made their landing very safe.

When the soldiers had assembled, Ye Qingyun said, “Soldiers, before you is Jinling City! Prince Wei is in Jinling City! As long as we take Jinling City, Wei will be within our grasp! You must also know that the hardtack on the ships is only enough for two days. If we don’t take Jinling City within these two days, we will all starve to death here! We have no retreat now!”

The soldiers pressed their lips tightly. They naturally understood Ye Qingyun’s meaning. After they landed, the Qingzhou warships left the dock and began to return. Now, they were left below Jinling City.

Looking at the gradually departing warships, a resolute look appeared in the soldiers’ eyes.

“But everyone, do not worry! Jinling City has plenty to eat! As long as we take Jinling City, you can eat whatever you want, and you will also receive huge rewards, allowing your families to live prosperous lives from now on!”

Under Ye Qingyun’s encouragement, the soldiers’ expressions gradually became agitated.

Then Ye Qingyun shouted, “Take Jinling City! Charge!”

“Kill!” the soldiers shouted, advancing towards Jinling City.

Ye Qingyun wiped the sweat from his forehead, hoping that his and Yue Yun’s act would make the soldiers fight with their backs to the wall.