Chapter 548 is about to break out!
Murong Qingwu was very surprised when she heard Pei Zhixiu's question, but she said without hesitation:

“I have never met Ye Mingsheng…”

Pei Zhixiu didn't seem surprised by Murong Qingwu's answer, but continued to ask:
"Are you sure?"

Murong Qingwu nodded affirmatively and said:
"If you meet someone like him once, you will definitely be impressed. How can you not remember him?"

After saying this, Murong Qingwu looked at Pei Zhixiu and said:

"Why do you ask?"

Pei Zhixiu said to herself:

"My husband has a very precious portrait. It is said that this painting was made by a famous painter at a high price when he was promoted to the commander of the imperial guards!"

Pei Zhixiu paused at this point, looking at Murong Qingwu's sermon with a half-smile on her face;
"This painting depicts you, Murong Qingwu, looking so beautiful under the peach tree..."

Murong Qingwu was shocked when these words were spoken. Although she had made some preparations in her mind before coming to find Pei Zhixiu, she never expected that things would turn out like this!
After appreciating Murong Qingwu's stunned expression, Pei Zhixiu continued:

"I heard from the soldiers who followed my husband that Ye Mingsheng had seen you many times before, and he fell in love with you at first sight. No other woman would be in his eyes. When he was serving in the Imperial Guard, some people wanted to introduce him to a wife, but he politely refused because he wanted to marry you one day!"

Although Pei Zhixiu didn't say much, the amount of information was so great that Murong Qingwu felt dizzy and difficult to accept. After a while, she looked at Pei Zhixiu warily and said:

"You're lying to me!"

Pei Zhixiu smiled and shook his head and said:

"What good will it do me to lie to you?"

"You are my husband's dream lover, he is crazy about you, and now you are in the territory of Fengwu Army. You will enter the mansion sooner or later, and you have the Murong family as your strong backing. Even if you don't want to fight, the Murong family will help you fight for the family's interests. Therefore, your existence completely threatens her!"

Listening to Pei Zhixiu's words, Murong Qingwu's expression suddenly became very complicated, and she didn't know what her mood was.

Although it was still hard to believe that there was such a connection between her and Ye Mingsheng, her intuition told her that Pei Zhixiu had not lied to her and had no reason to lie to her················

Although Murong Qingwu realized before that she was very afraid of her family background, she never expected that there was such a reason!

No wonder she wanted to kill herself!

But if this is true, then wouldn't Ye Mingsheng have recognized me long ago whether I was distributing porridge in Fengzhou or watching a play in the theater?

So what was his idea in deliberately not recognizing me?
Recalling the moments when she met Ye Mingsheng and his meaningful expression, Murong Qingwu couldn't help feeling very ashamed and annoyed!

At this time, Pei Zhixiu continued:

"Youyan's condition is gradually stabilizing. The Governor's Mansion will be moved to Yijing soon. She doesn't have much time left, so you'd better pray for the best!"

Pei Zhixiu took a sip of the teacup. Although she still had some doubts and wanted Pei Zhixiu to answer them, Murong Qingwu bowed to Pei Zhixiu and said:

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts. I will keep this in my heart and will repay you in the future!"

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Youyan, Shunping

"Fireguns! Shoot! Don't let the enemy rush over!"

"Prepare the thunderstone and rolling log! Smash these bastards of the Yan army to death!"

"The enemy has rushed to the north gate. Follow me! Drive them back!"

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On the city wall, Gu Shouting and Ma Zhongjun tried their best to command the Fengwu Army soldiers to resist the tidal charge of the Yan Army. Although they had received a pigeon message from Yi Jing before the Yan Army launched the attack, knowing that the Yan Army was going to launch a counterattack on Shunping with all their strength.

They also made some targeted deployments in response to this, strengthened defensive fortifications, imposed martial law and curfew in the city, and mobilized the young and strong in the city to go to the front line to defend the city. However, because the previous battle had just ended, the firearms and ammunition of the Fengwu Army in the city had not been replenished, and the enemy's troop strength advantage was too great, so this Shunping siege was still very difficult and hard.

The Yan army outside the city seemed to know that if they could not take Shunping City now, the destruction of the Yan army would be inevitable, so the three armies were united, the soldiers risked their lives, and launched wave after wave of attacks on Shunping regardless of casualties.

Facing the fierce attack of nearly 100,000 Yan troops, Gu Shouting and Ma Zhongjun had led their troops to hold out for five days. During these five days, in addition to the traditional ant-like siege, the Yan army also used the method of digging tunnels and cutting off water sources to attack the city. If the Fengwu Army had not been well prepared and discovered it in time, they might have been ambushed.

Although the Fengwu Army still controls Shunping City, the casualty rate of the soldiers defending the city is as high as 35%, and nearly half of the various firearms they are equipped with have been damaged. There is only a basic amount of ammunition left. There are even some critical moments where Ma Zhongjun has to lead the guards to plug the gaps. It is no exaggeration to say that Shunping is now at a critical moment of life and death!

Just when Gu Shouting, Ma Zhongjun and others in Shunping City were feeling very anxious, Zhao Fuqu, who was watching the siege situation outside the city, also had a very ugly expression...
This battle was his last chance. If he could successfully capture Shunping City, he might still have a chance to fight with Ye Mingsheng again. If he failed to capture Shunping City, he would be completely finished. Even without the Fengwu Army's attack, the army's logistics would be enough to kill him. It was precisely because of this that Zhao Fuqu gave up the general siege tactics of attacking the city with the main attack and the secondary attack, and instead attacked from all sides without any trial. The 100,000-man army pressed forward without reservation, just to make a quick decision and capture Shunping City as soon as possible. However, although the Yan Army's attack was very fierce and they were not afraid of sacrifice, the Fengwu Army in the city was as tenacious as a rock and persisted for five days, making Zhao Fuqu's plan of a quick victory close to bankruptcy.

Looking at the Yan army soldiers who rushed to the north gate of Shunping and were driven down one by one, Zhao Fuqu's face became more and more gloomy. He originally planned to capture Shunping City within three days, and now it is the sixth day of his siege. According to the intelligence he has obtained, tens of thousands of Fengwu troops have been led by Yuan Song, who is known as the first general of Fengwu Army, and are rushing towards Shunping.

According to the marching speed of the Fengwu Army, they will most likely arrive near Shunping within the next one or two days. If Yuan Song’s reinforcements arrive, the Yan Army’s hope of taking Shunping will undoubtedly be reduced by half with their presence. Therefore, Zhao Fuqu is planning to send a large number of scouts to the vicinity of Shunping to determine the specific location of Yuan Song’s reinforcements so as to prepare for the worst...
Although the current situation is not as expected, Zhao Fuqu is not completely desperate. Through the spies in the north of Yijing, he has found out that the reinforcements from Yuan Song's side are less than 30,000 people, and the attack of the Luobi people on the northern part of Youyan is imminent. As long as the Luobi people can be more powerful, then he still has a last chance to turn defeat into victory!

Just when Zhao Fuqu placed his hopes on turning defeat into victory and dreaming of his own great future, he would never have imagined that thousands of Fengwu Army soldiers were quietly hiding in a secluded valley ten miles away from Shunping!
In the military camp in the valley, Ye Dong, dressed in military uniform, paced back and forth in his tent, his eyes full of confusion, not knowing what to do. Ever since the Fengwu Army captured Yijing and the war in the northern part of Youyan came to an end, Ye Mingsheng had drawn elite troops from various parts of the army to expand his own guard force into a team of 3,000 people, and Ye Dong was also transferred back from the First Division to serve as the commander of the personal guard camp, responsible for the protection of Ye Mingsheng himself and his mansion.

However, because the time was tight and the task was heavy for supporting Shunping City this time, Yuan Song lacked capable personnel, so Ye Mingsheng ordered Ye Dong to lead a thousand soldiers from the Royal Guard Battalion and temporarily assign them to Commander Yuan Song to support Shunping and return to the base after the war was over.

According to the plan made previously, Yuan Song led the 1st Division and the 6th Division, as well as Ye Dong's personal guard battalion, a total of about 30,000 troops to rush to Shunping. However, not long after the march, Yuan Song realized that the army could not march quickly while carrying a large amount of baggage and artillery.

Therefore, Yuan Song, as the commander-in-chief, made a decisive decision to let the main force advance as usual with baggage and artillery, while he himself led 8,000 elite troops, including Ye Dong's 1,000-man guard battalion, and advanced lightly at a speed of nearly 80 miles a day. Yesterday, they arrived at a valley not far from Shunping City...

Following Yuan Song all the way to Shunping, Ye Dong thought that Yuan Song would immediately order the entire army to join the battle to support the Fengwu Army defending the city. He was also ready and eager to fight a big battle with the Yan Army. However, what he did not expect was that Yuan Song did not send the entire army into the battle to support the friendly forces in Shunping City as he thought, but led them to hide in this valley and wait.

This strong sense of gap made Ye Dong feel a little lost. He wanted to find Yuan Song to find out what was going on, but he was worried about offending Yuan Song. He struggled in his tent for a long time. Thinking of the friendly troops in Shunping City fighting bloody battles and people dying at the hands of the Yan army every moment, while he could only watch in this valley, Ye Dong finally made up his mind, plucked up the courage to walk out of the tent and head towards Yuan Song's camp.

Arriving outside Yuan Song's tent, Ye Dong said to the guard:

"I have something to discuss with General Yuan. Can you please help pass the message and see if General Yuan is available?"

"Yes!"

Soon the guard came out of the tent and said:

"Commander Ye, please come in!"

Walking into the tent and looking at the imposing Yuan Song, Ye Dong bowed and greeted him. Yuan Song nodded slightly and said:

"What are you doing?"

Facing Yuan Song's question, Ye Dong mustered up the courage to say:

“General, the friendly forces in Shunping City are fighting fiercely and are eagerly waiting for support. The brothers below are full of fighting spirit and want to go into battle as soon as possible…”

Yuan Song glanced at him and said calmly:
"You want to rush out and fight the Yan army right now?"

Ye Dong nodded heavily without any doubt and said:
"I am willing to lead my troops as the vanguard!"

Yuan Song glanced at him deeply, then shook his head and said:

"Ye Dong, you are really very confident. Even though the Yan army has lost a lot of soldiers and horses in the past few days under Shunping City, there are at least 70,000 to 80,000 Yan soldiers now. What use will the more than 1,000 people under your command be? Not to mention the more than 1,000 people under your command, even if the more than 8,000 people go together, facing an enemy force that is several times yours, there is still no chance of winning. It is important to be brave in battle, but you can't be brave without strategy!"

Listening to Yuan Song's teachings, Ye Dong bowed his head in shame and saluted:
"General Yuan is right. Ye Dong has learned a lesson!"

Seeing that Ye Dong admitted his mistake, Yuan Song's tone softened and he continued:

“I understand your thoughts. Your comrades are fighting bloody battles, and you want to fight with them. This is a normal thought for a military commander, but we must also face up to the gap between the enemy and us. The 8,000 of us now do not have the strength to fight head-on with tens of thousands of Yan army’s main forces…”

When Yuan Song finished speaking, Ye Dong seemed to have heard some clues from his tone, and he immediately perked up and said:
"My Lord, do you have a plan in mind?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Song did not answer his question but spoke:
"What you should do now is go back and recuperate, because you have to fight some battles!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Dong nodded and said:

"General Yuan, I'm going to go back and have a good rest. Don't forget to let me be the vanguard when the time comes!"

Yuan Song laughed and scolded:
"Get out of here!"

After scolding Ye Dong away, Yuan Song focused his attention on a place called Fuhugang on the sand table. This is a very famous place in Shunping. According to legend, more than ten years ago, a wandering Taoist priest passed by this place and subdued three big tigers here by himself. People admired his reputation and came to see him.

Now Yuan Song focused his attention on this place, not because of the story of the crouching tiger, but because this was a strategic location. Since he arrived in Shunping yesterday and ambushed in this valley, Yuan Song wanted to take advantage of the surprise attack, find the loopholes of the Yan army and give them a fatal blow.

But unfortunately, as a veteran general, although Zhao Fuqu has not yet captured Shunping City, the layout of his camp is quite excellent, and all aspects are stable. Whether it is to prevent night attacks or to protect important places such as granaries and gunpowder depots, it is difficult to start. Only this Fuhugang seems to be able to do something...

(End of this chapter)