Chapter 311: Chapter 311

Prince Dai’s death came at an inopportune time. Outside the city walls, countless Xiongnu warriors were making a show of force while waiting for an opportunity to attack the city. On the city walls, the Emperor personally braved arrows and stones, defending the city alongside his soldiers. Under such circumstances, anyone’s death could hardly attract attention.

Moreover, there was also Left Chief Censor Xiao Sheng who had drowned himself in the river, as well as numerous Northern Army officers and soldiers who had fallen to the enemy forces. Compared to them, Prince Dai’s death was even less noteworthy.

Only Prince Dai’s relatives were keeping vigil over the corpse in the hall, weeping and wailing, not knowing what to do. The prince’s mansion had long been lent to the Emperor, so they couldn’t even return home and were staying in a separate residence within the city. The place was quite spacious, with five courtyards arranged front to back, and in terms of luxury and comfort, it was hardly inferior to the prince’s mansion.

Deng Cui had been ordered to defend the other three sides of Jincheng City. He didn’t immediately ascend the city walls, but after making some arrangements, he selected dozens of soldiers to accompany him to Prince Dai’s residence.

His arrival immediately triggered an outburst of grief from Prince Dai’s relatives. What had been quiet sobbing now turned into loud wailing as more than thirty wives and concubines, along with over forty children and grandchildren, all rushed toward Deng Cui, hoping he could take charge of the chaos in the household.

The princess consort was Deng Cui’s elder sister. Seeing her younger brother’s figure, she was especially overcome with grief. “Brother, why have you come out? Could it be that…”

“His Majesty ordered me to remain and defend the city as punishment,” Deng Cui replied, his gaze sweeping back and forth among the crowd.

“Heaven has finally opened its eyes!” The princess consort cried even harder, though it didn’t prevent her from speaking. “You were wronged, the Deng family was wronged – His Majesty sees clearly. Brother, it’s good you came in time. With such a major incident happening at home, there wasn’t even anyone to rely on…”

Several of Prince Dai’s sons didn’t like hearing such words, especially the heir, who was several years older than Princess Consort Deng. He interrupted, “Aren’t all the men of the family here? We’ll handle things as they should be handled. When the fighting outside ends, His Majesty will make his own arrangements. That… Deng Cui, you have imperial orders to carry out, so hurry along with your duties.”

“What for?” The princess consort immediately became wary, unable to completely trust even her own younger brother.

“They’re not safe with you,” Deng Cui said.

Several of Prince Dai’s sons and more than ten of his older grandsons crowded forward, all talking at once: “You can’t give them! You can’t give them! The prince’s storehouse – outsiders must not interfere…”

Their words had the opposite effect. The princess consort hesitated no longer and immediately took a key from her bosom to hand to her brother. “The storehouse has three keys in total…”

“I know.” Deng Cui took it and turned to face Prince Dai’s descendants. Numerous soldiers formed a protective barrier on either side, separating the women. The princess consort, knowing she was no match for Prince Dai’s heir, entrusted the heavy responsibility to her brother and also stepped aside.

“Deng Cui, what… what do you mean by this? Taking advantage of the chaos to rob us? His Majesty is right here in the city, yet you dare to openly steal! We…” The heir glanced at the soldiers holding swords and spears, felt uncertain, and changed his words. “We’ll file a complaint with His Majesty.”

“Yes, file a complaint with His Majesty!” Though there were many disagreements among Prince Dai’s descendants, they all supported the heir at this moment.

“Hand over your key as well,” Deng Cui extended his hand.

“Never!” The heir covered his waist with both hands while numerous brothers and nephews surrounded him protectively. “If you want to divide the property, first let your sister bear Prince Dai a son – but unfortunately, it’s too late now.”

This remark struck the princess consort’s painful spot. Having already stepped aside, she began wailing loudly again, crying out “Prince Dai, why did you leave me,” though in her heart she wasn’t mourning her husband.

Deng Cui didn’t waste words either. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the soldiers to act, but none of them moved. The soldiers looked at each other, all feeling they shouldn’t get involved in Prince Dai’s family affairs.

“Follow my orders. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility. If you don’t obey orders, you’ll be dealt with according to military law,” Deng Cui said sternly.

The soldiers hesitated no longer. With swords and spears thrust forward, they advanced step by step. After a few steps, Prince Dai’s descendants scattered in all directions, leaving the heir alone.

“You bunch of… when it comes time to divide the property, there won’t be any share for you…” the heir raged.

Four soldiers sheathed their sabers and seized the heir, searching him without courtesy.

“This is rebellion, true rebellion! File a complaint with His Majesty, do it right now!” The heir struggled while shouting loudly. His son ran toward the exit, and Deng Cui saw this but didn’t stop him.

Having obtained the second key, Deng Cui’s gaze turned toward Prince Dai’s corpse.

Even his sister felt he was going too far. “Brother, you mustn’t act recklessly. Two keys are enough. There’s no rush to divide the property…”

“Prince Dai told me to do this,” Deng Cui said, striding toward the corpse and reaching into Prince Dai’s robes to search.

The hundred or so masters and servants inside and outside the hall were all stunned, but the princess consort was delighted. “Did Prince Dai say he would give you all three keys?”

The heir had been released and shouted furiously, “Impossible! Father would never do such a thing!”

Deng Cui found a string of keys and examined them, discovering the treasury key among them. He turned to address the crowd: “Prince Dai died unexpectedly, but he was still Prince Dai with the responsibility of defending the city. I am acting on his behalf to fulfill his duties. If Prince Dai were alive, he would agree with my actions.”

With that, Deng Cui led the soldiers away. The keys were here, but the treasury storehouses was at the prince’s mansion.

From the princess consort to the heir, everyone was bewildered.

“What does Deng Cui mean by this? What does defending the city have to do with the treasury keys?” the heir asked. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novelFɪre.net

The princess consort shook her head. She had never been able to figure out this brother of hers.

An experienced old servant spoke up: “Marshal Deng… wants to use the prince’s mansion’s treasures to reward the city defenders generously, doesn’t he?”

Everyone fell quiet for a moment, then the princess consort suddenly burst into wailing again. This time it was genuine crying, heart-wrenching.

Deng Cui ordered more soldiers to be summoned and headed straight for the prince’s mansion.

There were few guards left at the mansion, so Deng Cui and his men encountered no obstacles. The soldiers carried out box after box, their hearts growing happier with each heavy load.

After supervising for a while, Deng Cui went to the Champion Marquis’s wife’s residence.

The main gate was tightly shut with no one responding. This was where Deng Cui had been captured—that had been an impulsive plan, and he regretted it himself, regretting that his preparations had been too hasty at the time.

He stood at the gate for a moment, then called out loudly: “I will raise the Champion Marquis’s son. I will also send people to the Capital to investigate. If there are problems with the infant, or if he grows up bearing no resemblance to the Champion Marquis—Madam, please take care.”

Deng Cui turned and left. The people in the courtyard trembled with fear, and even Marquess Ping’en’s face turned deathly pale. She hurried into the bedroom and asked Cui Zhao on the bed: “Third sister, tell your elder sister the truth—is that really… the Champion Marquis’s son?”

Cui Zhao looked haggard and spoke weakly: “I… I don’t know either. After I married into the family… within just a few days, the infant was… was sent into the palace…”

When the infant returned, the Champion Marquis was already dead, and his birth mother Tan had never come to visit her son again.

Lady Ping’en was speechless. What had been a perfect scheme had come to this point, and she was at a loss.

Jincheng City faced the river to the north and had mountains to the west, while the eastern and southern sides had relatively flat terrain. The Emperor personally defended the southern wall with great fanfare, which indeed attracted most of the Xiongnu, but the pressure on the eastern wall was also considerable. There was a large breach in the wall that, despite overnight repairs, remained relatively weak. The Xiongnu had discovered this and launched repeated attacks.

The Xiongnu had two important methods for besieging cities.

First was intimidation: burning corpses, galloping on horseback, emitting shrill cries, and shooting arrows at the city walls in waves… This could continue for several hours or even days and nights. Those who were timid and cowardly would quickly surrender the city.

Second was enticement: they would often leave one corner seemingly unguarded while continuing intimidation tactics in other directions. Those with weak willpower couldn’t resist the temptation and would try to escape the city, but no matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t shake off the pursuers behind them.

Neither of these tactics worked well today. The Great Chu Emperor rode back and forth on the city walls with banners flying behind him, and the drums never stopped beating. This not only attracted a great number of arrows but also boosted the morale of the defenders.

The defenders on the eastern wall were all local soldiers from the Dai kingdom. They had already repelled one Xiongnu attack, using arrows, stones, and iron balls—everything available. What they lacked most was a commanding general.

Deng Cui quickly climbed the city wall and looked out. The Xiongnu had come in haste and were not skilled at using siege equipment. Unable to take the city by force, they had changed tactics, sending waves of troops charging forward. Whenever the city defenders shot arrows or threw stones, they would immediately retreat. Their purpose was to exhaust the Chu army’s equipment while using their numerical advantage to prevent the defenders from resting.

Deng Cui ordered his soldiers to cease firing, while simultaneously arranging the treasure chests that Prince Dai had accumulated over many years in a row along the city wall. He opened the lids, revealing the gold, silver, and jewels inside, and walked along shouting loudly: “Protecting His Majesty and defending Jincheng City is everyone’s responsibility within the city. Prince Dai’s family has d all their wealth—but not for you, for the Xiongnu outside the city. The Xiongnu are greedy and profit-seeking. When they see gold and silver, they will inevitably come to snatch it. Then you can shoot your arrows at them—aim properly and stop wasting arrows carelessly.”

The light flickered from within the chests, each item making one’s mouth water with desire. Not to mention the Xiongnu outside the city—even the defending soldiers were first moved by greed.

Deng Cui saw everyone’s thoughts and raised his voice: “I, Deng Cui, stake my head as guarantee that after defending the city, the rewards will be at least double of Prince Dai’s wealth, with a share for everyone!”

The soldiers cheered.

“Let the Xiongnu see what it means to throw gold around like dirt!” Deng Cui was indeed generous, personally picking up a piece of gold and hurling it forcefully toward the outside of the city.

Jincheng City was not very large, and the moat was not wide either. The Xiongnu on the opposite bank could even shoot arrows to the top of the city wall. From his elevated position, Deng Cui’s gold block landed on the opposite shore.

Since it was generosity at someone else’s expense, no one held back. The soldiers turned around one after another to grab treasures—whatever was handy they threw directly out, lighter items they attached to arrows and shot out, heavier ones they launched with crossbow ballistae. As for things like coral, they either smashed and broke them apart or pushed them down whole.

The area outside the city quickly became brilliantly golden, especially on the bridge directly facing the city gate, which was covered with countless treasures.

The Xiongnu first watched from a distance in confusion, but before long, they swarmed forward in a mass, paying no attention to order—whoever grabbed something got to keep it.

The Xiongnu were skilled horsemen who barely needed to slow down. Leaning sideways from their saddles, they could scoop up a jewel with each pass.

But this also provided targets for the Chu army on the city walls.

Deng Cui regretted only two things: Prince Dai’s wealth was insufficient, and the Chu army’s arrows would eventually run out. But he didn’t care—since the Emperor had ordered him to defend the city, he would kill to his heart’s content. Merely defending passively didn’t suit his temperament.

Outside the eastern wall, the Xiongnu suffered heavy casualties. They had also failed to capture the southern wall, where thousands of Chu soldiers continued shooting arrows from the ramparts, and their arrow supply still hadn’t been exhausted.

As the sun tilted westward, the Xiongnu finally stopped their assault and withdrew to make camp in the distance. Han Ruzi climbed the gate tower to gaze out and noticed large numbers of Xiongnu moving toward the southwest.

He guessed that the main force of the Northern Army had not been completely annihilated and that a contingent remained in the distance, drawing the Xiongnu’s attention.

This gave Jincheng City a brief respite.

Han Ruzi breathed a slight sigh of relief, but he was well aware that what came next would be an even greater test: whether reinforcements from various regions could arrive depended not only on whether information traveled swiftly, but also on how much recognition the civil and military officials throughout the realm had for the Emperor.

Most of these people had never seen the Emperor. Han Ruzi could only hope that they still held Great Chu in their hearts.

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