The defending general was stunned for a moment and stared at the prince, feeling that what he said was a bit over the top.
"Surely not? Is the prince being overly cautious? When we cooperated with Lord He back then, we didn't see him being so cruel and inhumane."
"A man who can casually discard his own daughter, do you think he's kind - hearted? I don't know whether to call you naive or ridiculous."
Ji Huang said this indifferently, then his gaze fell on the window.
"I won't ask His Majesty the elder brother for reinforcements. I was blind and made a grave mistake. His Majesty will never forgive me."
Saying this, he looked dejected.
The defending general was getting anxious on the side. Just then, the soldier they had sent out returned.
The moment he saw the soldier, there was still a glimmer of hope in Ji Huang's eyes.
"How's the investigation going? Is that army still there?"
The soldier's answer not only disappointed him but also brought him bad news.
"Your Highness, your subordinate didn't see any of our soldiers out there. Instead, I saw Lord He organizing his army not far away. It seems like he's about to attack. And there are countless soldiers in that army. I overheard that all of your troops outside the city have become Lord He's men."
This news was like a thunderbolt, striking Ji Huang so hard that he was almost in a daze.
"Are you sure? All the people outside have become theirs?"
"Your subordinate wouldn't dare to deceive you even if I had a hundred guts. Your Highness, what should we do next? How about retreating from Yijin City?"
Everyone was saying this. Almost everyone thought this was the last and the safest way out.
But how could he be willing to leave like this? Even the teachings he had received since childhood didn't allow him to flee from the battlefield.
At this moment, the guard brought another piece of bad news.
"Your Highness, there are many commoners gathered at the gate of our mansion. They all hope you can go out and give them an answer. If you don't go out, I'm afraid they'll rush in later."
Ji Huang rubbed his forehead. "Lord He hasn't even attacked the city yet. Why are these people coming to me now?"
He always felt that there was someone behind this, guiding everything.
Well, his intuition was right this time.
Lord He was standing outside the city at this moment. Listening to his subordinate's report, he burst into laughter.
"I didn't expect the effect to be so good. It seems our spies inside have done a great job this time. When I achieve success and fame, I must reward them well."
"It's all because of your excellent leadership, Lord. Should we prepare to attack the city next?"
The shadow guard rubbed his hands excitedly, but the answer he got was negative.
There was a glint of victory in Lord He's eyes.
"Next, we still need to wait. This matter hasn't reached its peak yet. When the people in the city are in panic, that's the time for us to break in without even attacking."
"Everything shall follow your order, Lord."
...
Inside Yijin City.
The spies sent by Lord He kept spreading rumors in the city about the city being breached. The commoners were afraid of being involved, so they surrounded the mansion tightly.
"Your Highness, I wonder if those rumors in the city are true? Are we surrounded outside?"
"Please tell us the truth, Your Highness. We commoners living in the city also have the right to know."
Ji Huang was escorted out by the guards. He cast a cold look over the commoners' faces one by one.
"I wonder where you all heard these rumors? Have you ever heard the saying that rumors stop with the wise? You'd better not believe those groundless things."
Normally, his words would have intimidated the commoners, but in the face of life and death, the commoners didn't care about the hierarchical differences.
"Your Highness must be deceiving us. We've all heard that the Empress Dowager killed Lord He's two daughters. Now he's just seeking justice for his daughters. Are you, Your Highness, not taking our lives seriously by standing in the way? Do you think our sacrifices don't matter?"
"That's right. All this is the evil result caused by the Empress Dowager. Why should we innocent commoners bear the responsibility?"
This wasn't the first time. Shi Muyuan was in the mansion, listening to what the commoners were saying outside. She felt a chill down her spine.
Lord He was really good at taking advantage of the situation. His two daughters did die in the mansion, and someone had seen the daughters of the He family enter the mansion before. Now, under the pretext of seeking justice, even the commoners were dissatisfied with them.
She suppressed her emotions and continued to listen silently in the mansion. She didn't plan to go out. Going out at this time might just make the situation worse.
The blaming voices of the commoners outside continued.
"Your Highness, please hand over the Empress Dowager. Then we can be safe. Even if the city gate is breached, Lord He surely won't make things difficult for us commoners."
"That's right! Let the Empress Dowager come out and take responsibility. We won't be responsible for her viciousness."
Ji Huang was really annoyed by these people. They were so stupid that they were being played around and didn't even realize it.
"Shut up!"
This was the first time he had lost his temper so badly in front of people. But it was worth it for the sake of his mother.
The commoners were scared by his sudden outburst.
But there were always one or two fearless people who started to stir up trouble in the crowd.
"In the face of life and death, who would listen to a prince? Even if the Emperor were standing here today, he couldn't protect the guilty. So what if they're from the royal family? Shouldn't the royal family be more strict with themselves? Now they've killed his daughters but are cowering in the mansion and not willing to come out. Is this the attitude of the Empress Dowager of a country?"
Once someone started to stir up trouble, the others naturally followed.
Soon, the crowd began to get out of control. Some people even tried to break through the guards' defense line to take Shi Muyuan out of the mansion.
Fortunately, these guards weren't useless.
In the scuffle, several commoners were pushed to the ground and lost their lives in the stampede in just a blink of an eye.
Everyone screamed when they saw the blood flowing.
"Murder! Murder! The prince, in order to protect his mother, actually killed our innocent commoners in public."
Since the ancestors, the people from the royal family and the court rarely had conflicts with the commoners, let alone accidentally kill someone.
The reason was that these commoners were the foundation of a country. If a country lost the support of the commoners, it would surely perish.
Ji Huang knew that his guards definitely wouldn't attack the commoners under such circumstances. His sharp eyes swept across the crowd and locked onto one person.