Three Kingdoms: The Guan Family's Rebellious Son, Long Blessing Jing Xiang

Chang'an City.

“Boom boom boom—”

The bloody setting sun filled the sky, dyeing the battlefield red, which was filled with the smell of blood.

Outside the city, drums were beating like thunder. Five thousand of the most elite Guan family troops were rushing towards the city wall. Shouts and screams were intertwined, and the battle was particularly fierce.

"Fight in-"

"Conquer Chang'an——"

"Long live the Han Dynasty, the Guan family army will surely win—"

Some of the Guan family soldiers who climbed up first had bloodthirsty gleams in their eyes. They set up ladders, raised shields, and climbed hard, frantically attacking the Guanzhong hub and core city of the Wei Dynasty.

"Hold on, hold on..."

"Fight, fight, fight!"

Xiahou Zizang's voice continued to be heard.

What he was protecting was his father and the entire Wei Dynasty. Once the gates of Chang'an were opened and Guanzhong was lost, the Wei Dynasty would inevitably be like the Yuan family, with all its glory wiped out overnight.

He...is responsible for the rise and fall and survival of the Wei Dynasty, and there is no way out.

"Zi Zang——"

Just when the fighting was most intense, a voice came from behind Xiahou Zizang. He turned his head suddenly and saw Li Miao rushing up to the city wall.

Seeing Li Miao so anxious, Xiahou Zizang couldn't help but have a bad premonition in his heart.

He didn't even bother to command the defending soldiers. He hurried over to support Li Miao.

"Brother Hannan? What happened?"

"Your father... General Xiahou... oh... oh..." Li Miao sighed twice in a row, then turned around, "Come with me quickly, he is right under the city wall. He was worried about you, so he came all the way here, but he never thought... never thought that he was injured by a spy assassin in the city, and he is... almost dying, he... he just wants to see you one last time!"

Li Miao spoke these words at the top of his lungs, with tears streaming down his face.

And Xiahou Zizang's pupils couldn't help but widen to their maximum size at this moment.

Is my father safe?

How could he care about the war going on on the city wall? Filial piety is the most important virtue, and he must see his father's dying wish no matter what!

Immediately, "Brother, Brother Hannan, please lead the way and take me to see my father..."

Xiahou Zizang almost used a pleading tone.

Li Miao pretended to stare at the battlefield, his brows furrowed, and said worriedly: "If you go down, who will be the backbone of this tower? Ah! Ah?"

Li Miao's voice became louder and louder, especially the last two consecutive "ahs". He almost opened his eyes as wide as possible, his eyeballs were about to burst out, and he had a full sense of worry about the situation.

"Then...what should we do?"

Xiahou Zizang suddenly realized, "Brother Hannan, isn't my father right under this tower? I'll be back soon, Brother Hannan, hold on for me. If my father is fine, I'll be back soon--"

Having said that, Xiahou Zizang no longer hesitated and directly stuffed the military token and command flag into Li Miao's hands.

He quickly went down the city wall.

On the other hand, Li Miao was weighing the weight of the "military token" and the "command flag" in his hands, while squinting his eyes and looking at the back of Xiahou Zizang who was leaving.

Ha ha…

Ha ha…

He smiled, and his smile was extremely happy.

And when Xiahou Zizang walked away, he couldn't help but muttered in a low voice: "Zizang, you are still so stupid and naive? Haha, even if your father was really assassinated? How could he recall you at this time? Haha, hahahaha..."

Having said that, Li Miao's eyes narrowed into slits. He turned around and stared at the anxious battlefield.

He shouted, "Come here? The East Gate is about to be breached? Major General Xiahou will go to support first, and you should immediately send more than half of your troops to go together—"

what…

As soon as Li Miao finished speaking, the Xiahou family generals who were still fighting desperately were startled.

But the departure of their Major General Xiahou Zizang was an indisputable fact, and it seemed that they should indeed follow their Major General.

only…

"Mr. Li, if we leave here, then... this city gate won't be able to hold out!"

"Choose the lesser of two evils. At least the city gate here has not been lost..." Li Miao had already raised the military token high. He bit his lip and said fiercely: "The most urgent task is to rescue the city gate that has been lost. Quick, quick... The military token is here. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed--"

As Li Miao said this, he took out his military order.

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment, but in the end, out of fear of the military order and trust in Li Miao, they quickly mobilized and withdrew more than half of their defenses.

Suddenly, the number of Wei troops at the West Gate dropped sharply. At the same time, the pressure on the Guan family troops attacking the city outside the West Gate also dropped sharply.

...

Chang'an, downstairs of the west city building.

In stark contrast to the fierce battle on the tower, here, there are only a few scattered soldiers...

To be precise, it was because of the lack of manpower. All the people were stationed on the city wall, and there was no room for more people.

Suddenly, "thump thump thump", the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly rang out. It was Xiahou Zizang's extremely heavy footsteps.

"Where's my dad? Where's my dad?"

Seeing the soldiers stationed here, Xiahou Zizang couldn't help but grab his collar and asked anxiously.

"Over there, General Xiahou was attacked at the alley entrance..."

This soldier was originally arranged by Li Miao to guide Xiahou Zizang according to the prepared words...

At this time, Xiahou Zizang's mind was filled with his father's safety. How could he think calmly? He let go of the soldier's hand and ran towards the alley entrance.

only…

Little did he know that the moment he turned around, the soldier he had just picked up had slowly raised his hand, and a small "crossbow" was hidden in his sleeve, and its edge had already been revealed.

“Swoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

The defenseless Xiahou Zizang only heard a "sound of breaking wind" in his ears. He instinctively wanted to turn his head to look for the sound, but then... ten crossbow arrows hit his head accurately. He swayed, and his last consciousness was that he was hit by some invisible force and could no longer exert any strength.

Time seemed to stand still, and only the tracks of the crossbow arrows passing through the air were clearly visible.

One crossbow fired ten arrows. The tip of the crossbow arrow had a cold light and almost got stuck in the bones of Xiahou Zizang's head.

The crossbow arrow was still shaking violently, blood and brain matter sprayed at the same time, and finally... Xiahou Zizang's body shook violently, and astonishment and confusion flashed in his eyes. He wanted to think more deeply, but he had completely lost all perception and consciousness.

He has sacrificed his life for Wei.

"Go tell Mr. Li that we succeeded here—"

When the soldier holding the crossbow saw that his attack hit the target, he quickly gave orders to his subordinates beside him.

The subordinate just nodded and then hurried to the top of the city wall.

But at this moment...

"what--"

"what--"

Almost at the same time, exclamations were heard behind them and the soldier turned around immediately.

The moment he turned around, his pupils widened to the extreme, because... right behind him, right in front of his eyes, more than a dozen soldiers were supporting Xiahou Dun to get here.

In other words, it is very likely that...the scene of him shooting Xiahou Zizang, or the fact that he shot Xiahou Zizang, has been exposed.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Because Xiahou Dun was blind, he could only hear the guards beside him shouting "Ah", but he didn't understand why... Seeing no one responded, he couldn't help but raise his voice, "You, you guys, why don't you say something? What happened? What happened?"

Still no one spoke, and Xiahou Zizang fell here, dying a tragic death.

On the other hand, the assassin and his bodyguard exchanged glances, but no one uttered a word.

Right under this tower, the entire air seemed to freeze for a moment.

It seems like a long, long time has passed...

One of Xiahou Dun's personal guards suddenly understood something. He quickly said, "General, it's nothing... A soldier died in the battle and fell off the tower... He scared us!"

Hearing this, Xiahou Dun's heart was relieved. He raised his voice and said to the guards beside him: "What? You have fought wars all your life? Are you scared by such a small scene? You are really getting worse..."

"Yes... yes, the general blames..."

The guard quickly lowered his voice, looking willing to be blamed.

But at this moment, he stared deeply at the man who assassinated "Xiahou Zizang". Their eyes met, and he remembered... this soldier was Li Miao's personal guard. It was because of this that he suddenly understood something and made his own choice in this brief moment.

"Why don't you lead me to the tower? My son Zang is still fighting desperately..."

At this time, Xiahou Dun's voice was heard again.

"Yes, yes..." The guards nodded quickly and helped Xiahou Dun climb up to the city wall.

However, the assassin, watching them walk away, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although there were some changes in Mr. Li's plan, but generally... the situation was stabilized for him!

On the contrary, the body of "Xiahou Zizang" who was shot to death by a crossbow fell under the city wall. His death was as tragic as ever, and no one cared about it.

...

...

"Dad... the whole Hanzhong is full of... the Jingzhou army is everywhere descending from the sky! The armory has been occupied, and two of the four city gates have been lost..."

"I think it must be...it must be that Shangyong and Fangling made a mistake, otherwise the Jingzhou army would be able to fly, and...how could they fly over here?"

"Dad, Dad... Hanzhong City can no longer be defended. The most urgent thing is... to send a pigeon to the King of Wei in Bashan, asking him... to make preparations early and let him know about the changes in Fangling and Shangyong!"

The one who let out this hoarse roar was Zhong Yao’s son—Zhong Yu!
Unlike his father Zhong Yao, a great calligrapher who was calm and imaginative, Zhong Yu was extremely strict in observing etiquette and rules.

When he was a child, he and his younger brother Zhong Hui would steal wine to drink while their father was taking a nap. Zhong Hui only drank the wine without performing etiquette, while Zhong Yu had to perform etiquette first and then drink. In Zhong Hui's words, stealing is not an act of etiquette, so there is no need to perform etiquette. But Zhong Yu insisted that wine is used to complete etiquette and he dared not not perform etiquette!
It was precisely because of this that, facing the surrender of the Jingzhou soldiers and the precarious situation of Hanzhong City, Zhong Yu did not think of escaping or the safety of him and his father, but to report the news to the King of Wei quickly so that the King of Wei would know about the changes in Fangling and Shangyong and make early preparations.

Even if one dies or the city is lost, the message must be passed on.

As he was talking, Zhong Yu went to look for a scrap of paper, a pen and ink... and was about to pick up a pigeon, but he never expected...

"Stop!"

Following Zhong Yao's firm voice, Zhong Yu was stunned, "Dad? Sending the message to the King of Wei is for one thing so that he can be prepared, and secondly... secondly, it is also for his support!"

Zhong Yu's voice was extremely urgent.

However, in stark contrast to him, Zhong Yao was shaking his head, "Rush to help, haha, rush to help..."

He smiled bitterly and pondered.

"We've already lost. What's the point of telling King Wei the truth—"

He raised his head and looked up at the flying balls in the sky and the soldiers of Jingzhou sliding down the ropes. His laughter became more bitter. "The soldiers of Jingzhou are here. Guan Yu must be here too. He...he will never give me so much time. He will never let us hold out until the King of Wei comes to help. If we lose...we lose. This battle will not only mean the loss of Hanzhong, but also the foundation of the Great Wei will collapse from now on. Why should we release pigeons? Why should we hold on and wait for help?"

"What does dad mean?"

Zhong Yu seemed to sense something from Zhong Yao's words. He widened his eyes and looked at this important official of the Wei Dynasty in disbelief, this man with loyalty in his eyes, the father whom he always regarded as a role model.

But Zhong Yao kept shaking his head, and his tone became more and more frustrated.

"Others are at the mercy of others... Others are at the mercy of others! What's the point of telling the King of Wei this now? You and I have already lost, and the King of Wei has also lost. Even the foundation of the Great Wei will be... destroyed in an instant!"

"You, me... Hehe, you and I were both the spoils of war in the Hanzhong battle. Ah... Ah... spoils of war, we are never qualified to choose our side!"

When he chanted this last sentence, Zhong Yao's pupils widened to their maximum.

His expression shows the look and sense of utter surrender of a great calligrapher: I am the fish on the chopping board and others are the butchers; even a good bird can choose its own tree to roost in!
Just as Zhong Yao uttered this.

Suddenly, a series of footsteps sounded.

Immediately afterwards, a group of Guan family soldiers led by Guan Ping broke into this side, with spears, swords and halberds everywhere.

When all the Wei army soldiers saw this scene, they no longer had the will to fight and had already made way to allow the Guan family soldiers to pass unimpeded to Zhong Yao.

"You must be Zhong Siqing, right?"

Just as Zhong Yu was surprised at the speed of the Jingzhou army, Guan Ping slowly spoke, "My father has long admired Zhong Siqing..."

Just as Guan Ping finished speaking, "Master——"

A voice came, it was Wei Feng... He had been recruited by Zhong Yao, the then Prime Minister, as a clerk in the Western Cao. The two of them had different statuses, but in reality... they were master and disciple.

When Wei Feng rebelled against Wei and defected to Han, Zhong Yao was deeply saddened.

But who would have thought that this master and disciple would meet again now, under the current circumstances.

"Master... surrender to Han? Master is originally a Han official, so we should follow in the footsteps of Xun Lingjun... surrender... surrender to Han——"

Wei Feng's words were tinged with tears.

Zhong Yao did not move. He just closed his eyes and frowned, as if he was deliberately pondering for a long time before he opened his mouth.

To everyone's surprise, it turned out that:
--"well!"

——"I am a Han official. Should I surrender to Han? That would be the best!"

It was these two consecutive "good" words and the sentence "surrendering to the Han is the best" that made all the Wei soldiers lay down their weapons and all the Guan family soldiers raise their arms and shout.

This is of vital importance. Hanzhong, which is Cao Cao's throat... has been captured.

In fact, in Guan Ping's opinion, this surprise attack... was more successful than expected!
It even made him concerned about the situation on his father's side.

You know, there are no flying balls over there, no troops exceeding tens of thousands, and even... the five thousand elite troops are all marching a long distance, so the enemy is well-rested and waiting for us to tire ourselves out!

In this case, can Chang'an City be captured as desired?
Thinking of this, Guan Ping shook his head violently!
His mind became determined because it was his father and Chang'an City must have been captured.

Guan Ping has always had extraordinary confidence in his father Guan Yu, not to mention that the strategic deployment this time was planned by his fourth brother Guan Lin!

The combination of ultimate planning and deployment with ultimate strategy and martial arts, there is no difficulty or obstacle in this world that can block the dawn of victory!

Chang'an City, haha, Cao Aman has no way to retreat——

...

...

When Xiahou Dun climbed up the city wall with the help of a group of guards.

The first thing he heard was: "Mr. Li, please evacuate immediately. The west gate can no longer be defended—"

Then, the sound of "clang, clang, clang" of the friction and collision of military equipment echoed on the city wall.

Even though he couldn't open his eyes, Xiahou Dun could realize that some enemies had already climbed onto the city walls. This was the most critical and desperate moment.

Success or failure depends on this moment...

"Where are my sons? Where are my son Jiang and my son Zang?"

Xiahou Dun had no idea of ​​his two sons’ current situation, and he was still screaming desperately, trying to find his sons.

That's what he thought.

With a father like him around, even if the two sons were not doing well, they would be encouraged and stand up.

He asked his son...

The guards around him were extremely nervous and didn't dare to breathe for fear of leaking something.

Li Miao heard Xiahou Dun's voice.

He was originally planning to retreat, but he immediately changed the subject and screamed hysterically: "Hold on, hold on, Li Miao... As long as I am in the city, I will be there, unless... unless Guan Yu steps over me, otherwise... As long as I am in the city, I will be there!"

Li Miao's voice inexplicably ignited Xiahou Dun's excitement.

He was pleased with the loyalty of his adopted son Li Miao.

"Report, Mr. Li..."

A soldier came hurriedly, and because he did not notice that Xiahou Dun was there, he walked straight to Li Miao and knelt on one knee.

"how?"

"Mr. Li, something bad has happened. Blood was found on the parade ground... on the parade ground in the city. Soldiers went to investigate and found the body of Major General Zijiang!"

Corpse?

Undoubtedly, these two words entered Xiahou Dun's ears, causing his legs to tremble violently subconsciously, and he was about to fall to the ground unconsciously.

Zijiang? Zijiang was assassinated?

Xiahou Dun only felt a heavy blow pressing on his forehead.

Li Miao glanced at Xiahou Dun and noticed his gaze. Then, he raised his voice deliberately, "Zi Jiang? How could my disciple Jiang... How could it be?"

With a "bang", Li Miao deliberately dropped the sword in his hand to the ground. With the sound of "clang", he shouted at the top of his lungs, "My brother, I never thought that my brother would die at the hands of a spy. How sad, how sad, how painful——"

As Li Miao knelt on the ground, his appearance of unbearable pain in the war made him particularly eye-catching.

"Report..."

Another voice came, "Mr. Li, it's bad, it's bad... Under the city tower, at the alley below the city tower, the body of Major General Zizang was found. His skull was shot through by a crossbow arrow, and his death was extremely tragic--"

"What? Those damned bandits and spies, those damned spies, my brother... my poor sworn brother! I have no mortal enemies with these bandits, no one like the sun or the moon. I will eat their flesh alive and drink their blood—"

Li Miao subconsciously covered his head with his hands. At this moment, he cried like a tearful man, performing the performance with all his might to the extreme...

Especially considering that Xiahou Dun was blind, these waves of sound were undoubtedly more shocking.

"what--"

Xiahou Dun could no longer bear the pain of losing his son in old age, and he roared in grief... It was also at this time that more people noticed him.

"Old General——"

"Old General Xiahou——"

"My condolences, old general..."

Along with these sounds came other things.

"Kill--"

"dash forward--"

"Take this tower——"

It seemed that the Guan family army outside the city had already rushed into the city, and the two sides started fighting on the city wall.

The battle was unusually fierce...

"Old General..." Li Miao also rushed to Xiahou Dun's side at this time, "Old General, don't worry, my two brothers are dead, but I am still here. Am I not your son? With me guarding Chang'an City, no one can step into it!"

Having said that, Li Miao picked up the long sword that had fallen to the ground and prepared to attack again.

"Report..."

At this time, unfavorable information kept popping up like mushrooms after rain.

"Old General, Mr. Li... the East City Gate... the East City Gate has been lost."

"Didn't I send reinforcements?" Li Miao didn't expect that the East Gate would be breached earlier than the West Gate. However, he was very good at using the information in front of him. He quickly roared loudly, just to create the appearance of a collapsing building and to further destroy the morale and fighting spirit of the Wei army soldiers!

"The reinforcements haven't even reached the East Gate yet... The East Gate was breached."

Following the soldier's words...

Li Miao pretended to be surprised, horrified and panicked on the surface, but he was extremely excited in his heart.

It became…

Become!

He had finally accomplished this.

He even found that he had underestimated the fighting power of the Guan family army led by Guan Yu. His attempt to assassinate Xiahou Zizang and Xiahou Zijiang could only be regarded as icing on the cake, and was far from being a timely help.

Perhaps the truth is... In today's empty Chang'an City, the outcome of its fall will not change whether Li Miao is there or not... It just depends on how many people die!

"Old General, Mr. Li..." Another deputy general reported, "The west gate is about to be lost. The gate gate has been seized by the enemy. The gate is already wide open. The enemy general Guan Yu is personally leading his army to attack. The enemy's morale is greatly enhanced. We...we..."

The deputy general was about to shout out, "What should we do? Should we leave?"
But don't wait for him to speak.

Li Miao stopped him with a single word, "As long as the people are in the city, as long as the people are in the city, our Great Wei only has soldiers who died in the battle, no... no cowards who are afraid of the enemy and flee! Cowards!"

His voice was as high-pitched as ever... To Xiahou Dun, it was his only comfort amidst the unfavorable news of the fall of the city and the death of his son...

But... at this time, as a military commander, you can't be as reckless as Li Miao.

The city could no longer be defended, this was an indisputable fact. His two sons were already dead, so could this adopted son who was left be…could it be…

Xiahou Dun swallowed his saliva with a gulp. Just as Li Miao was about to draw his sword to fight, he grabbed Li Miao's hand and said, "Hannan..."

"Godfather..."

"Go! Go! Give the order...let all three armies retreat, retreat--" Xiahou Dun shouted to Li Miao in an unquestionable tone.

"But...but..."

"I know you have an irreconcilable feud with those rebels outside the city, but at a time like this, you can't be reckless... you can't die in vain again!"

A magical scene happened, Xiahou Dun was still trying to persuade Li Miao earnestly. "If you keep fighting, you will lose people, you and me, and the city will be gone too, gone——"

"So we just...don't want this city anymore? Did my two brothers die in vain?!"

Li Miao roared hysterically as usual, until his voice was hoarse.

“At least I still have you… I still have a relative like you!” Xiahou Dun held Li Miao’s hand even more tightly. He used up almost his last bit of strength and chanted loudly in great pain: “God should have left me a son… Ah… Ah… Let’s go, let’s go together, listen to me, listen to me!”

In Xiahou Dun’s extremely moving words.

Li Miao was thankful in his heart, but his face showed helplessness and compromise. "Alas... Alas..." He sighed deeply and raised the military order again. "Everyone... everyone evacuate Chang'an, evacuate Chang'an... retreat to Tongguan, retreat to Tongguan——"

That was Li Miao's voice.

The last bit of fighting spirit of the Wei army soldiers vanished in an instant... They retreated one after another, escaping from the north and south gates and retreating towards Tongguan.

The defeat was overwhelming...

As the saying goes - a defeat is like a mountain collapsing!
The words are divided into two parts.

While the Wei army was fleeing in panic, the 5,000 most elite Guan family soldiers led by Guan Yu quickly occupied the city of Chang'an and took control of various mansions, armories, and city gates.

Guan Yu was the last wave to enter the city...

As soon as they passed the gate, the deputy general Zhao Lei bowed and reported, "Second General, Chang'an City has been completely captured... The remnants of the Wei rebels broke through the gate and fled to Tongguan. Please let me know whether we should pursue them."

"No need!" Guan Yu seemed to have expected this situation. He said in a rather heroic manner, "Why bother chasing after the enemy? Chang'an and Luoyang have been lost. What about Tongguan, Wuguan, Hongnong and other places in between? They will surrender soon..."

This is what Guan Yu said, but it is not what Guan Yu thought...

Because, as early as when he followed his son Guan Lin's instructions to send a surprise attack to capture Fangling and Shangyong, his son Guan Lin had explained the significance of Chang'an and Luoyang.

This is no longer just the capital of the Han Dynasty, but also the place that controls the local area and cuts off Cao Cao's retreat.

What is more important is the people's hearts, the military's hearts, the people's hearts, and the will to fight!
Once Chang'an and Luoyang were lost, whether it was Guanzhong or the Central Plains, the foundation of Cao Wei had collapsed.

"Post notices to reassure the people, hunt down the remaining criminals, and open warehouses to release grain—"

Following Guan Yu's instructions.

"Yes," Zhao Lei agreed with a bow and left immediately.

At this time, Guan Yu looked around at Chang'an, the eastern capital, and infinite emotion surged in his heart. He subconsciously reached out to stroke his beard, but when he made the movement, he found that there was no beard to stroke...

"Ha ha…"

Guan Yu was immediately amused by his own strange movements. He had forgotten that it was he, the beardless man, who had defeated the blind Hou Dun...

He conquered the city, but he no longer had a beard...

But undoubtedly, he is more powerful and invincible without a beard——

Of course, it doesn't matter.

He could still stroke his beard in the air, and then sigh: "As expected of Guan Mousheng's son, my son is so calculating, and this battle is really enjoyable--"

Yeah...how can it not be fun?
Now the question is for Cao Wei. How can Cao Cao, who is still in Bashan, come back to help?
No... come back for help, what a caterpillar! Now the most pressing problem for Cao Cao is how to break through these heavy defenses and escape!

...

…(End of chapter)