Continuous firelight, angry roars, shattered rocks, desperate wails...the cruel war scene composed of light, shadow and sound has not stopped for two days.
There are more than 400,000 Daning troops and nearly 300,000 Dafeng defenders.
Seven hundred thousand people fought in the four directions of southeast, northwest and for two whole days. Broken limbs and blood could be seen everywhere on the city walls, making it as terrifying as purgatory.
With the "same" hatred for the Yuanzhou City massacre, the soldiers on both sides were furious and wanted to send the "culprit" of all this to the underworld.
At this moment, the truth about who killed three million people in Yuanzhou City is no longer important.
Whoever loses will be the inhumane devil.
Whoever loses will have his name firmly nailed to the pillar of shame in history by historians, and will be reviled by countless people in future generations.
Therefore, this is no longer just an aggressive war that determines the life and death of a country.
It is also a struggle for the power to "write history".
But now, the balance of this battle was already tilted to one side, but because of Li Qi's serious injury and coma, it once again fell a few inches to Daning's side.
Although it hasn't really hit the bottom yet, it has reached the final moment.
...
Dafeng Palace, Tianlu Pavilion.
As Li Qi's former study room, the main hall, which was originally filled with the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers, is no longer as comfortable as before.
Dozens of court officials in official uniforms gathered here, and the first person sitting there turned out to be a haggard woman.
Dressed in black, her long hair was tied into a bun, with a strand of black hair scattered around her ears, swaying slightly in the candlelight.
"My lords..."
"you......"
Listening to the distant roaring and looking at the court officials discussing in the palace, Li Wutong wanted to say something, but perhaps because her voice was too soft, no one noticed her at the moment.
"My lords, I wonder if you could hear me say a few words."
The fists hidden under the table were tightly clenched. Li Wutong took a deep breath and raised his voice slightly.
However, the turbulent arguments in the palace still did not stop.
Shifting the blame, blaming, suing for peace, fighting to the death, retreating westward...
Every purple-robed official was arguing with his colleagues about something, but no one raised his head to look at Li Wutong.
Although after Li Qi was seriously injured and fell into coma, the latter began to preside over the government in accordance with the law, and he indeed sat in this position.
But for these court officials, all they needed was Li Wutong sitting there.
What insight can a woman have?
How can it be possible to decide on state affairs?
Bound by the deep-rooted idea of "men are superior to women" in this world, almost everyone thinks so.
What's more, Li Wutong is only a woman in her early twenties.
Therefore, no one cares about what Li Wutong is thinking or what he wants to say at this time.
In fact, they had heard those two sentences a long time ago, but they just pretended not to have heard them.
They didn't even want to give them time to listen to Li Wutong say a few "nonsense" words.
And the latter seemed to have no courage to speak for the third time.
"..."
The fist against his knee trembled slightly, Li Wutong slowly lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly.
She especially wanted to shout and tell everyone to shut up.
But she also understood that even if she did do this, she would not be able to say anything useful.
Because even if everyone obeys her words, she does not have the courage to make decisions as a "person in power".
She is afraid of making the wrong choice...
Only now did Li Wutong understand how difficult it is to be a person with great power.
She finally understood Li Qi and Wei Changtian.
Understand the heavy pressure that every choice they make will determine the lives and deaths of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people.
But now when the heavy burden is on his shoulders, this feeling of walking on thin ice makes Li Wutong almost breathless.
"..."
The long skirt swayed, and Li Wutong silently stood up from behind the desk, walked around the screen, and left through the side door of the hall.
The noise behind them remained the same, but no one paid attention.
...
After leaving Tianlu Pavilion, we walked along the corridor for a while and then passed through a courtyard.
A quarter of an hour later, Li Wutong came to Li Qi's palace alone again.
The Imperial Guards, who held their hands heavily, saluted her respectfully, finally giving her some dignity back.
Li Wutong forced out a smile, and then the smile gradually faded away after entering the main hall.
"Grandpa Zhu, how is your father?"
Arriving all the way to Fuyun Diaolong's bed, Li Wutong looked at an old man guarding the bedside and asked softly a question he had asked countless times.
And the answers are still the same.
"Still asleep."
The old man shook his head, with some helplessness and self-blame in his eyes.
His name is Zhu Tianhong, and he is a retainer of the Li family. He is also the highest-ranking person who protects Li Qi when he climbs the tower.
At that time, it was he who blocked the "ordinary soldier" who suddenly made an attack, so that the latter did not die on the spot.
An unknown second-level master dressed up as an ordinary soldier and failed in his attempt to kill Li Qi... Zhu Tianhong thought that the incident would pass without any danger.
But the move that clearly didn't hit Li Qi caused the latter to pass out after a few breaths.
Although they were surprised, everyone still thought it was not a big problem at first.
After all, the Dafeng royal family had stored various kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and everyone felt that it would not be difficult to cure Li Qi.
Things like Mica Zhi are not only found in Ning Yongnian, but also in Wei Changtian and Dafeng.
However, the fact is that no matter what treasures were used and no matter how many imperial doctors were consulted, Li Qi, who had neither external nor internal injuries, remained unconscious.
And he was clearly not injured, but his life fire was getting weaker and weaker, and now there was only the last trace left.
No one has ever seen this disease, let alone a cure.
Then what awaits Li Qi may be that he dies in a coma.
"..."
Tears suddenly welled up in the corners of his eyes again. Li Wutong bit his lips and no longer looked at Li Qi who seemed to be sleeping. Instead, he hurriedly wiped away his tears and slowly sat down opposite Zhu Tianhong.
"Grandpa Zhu, if my father doesn't wake up...what should Dafeng do?"
"well."
Zhu Tianhong sighed deeply: "Princess, what did those court officials say to you?"
"No, no..."
Li Wutong's eyes were a little dodgey: "Yes, I want to hear your opinion."
"..."
Shaking his head, Zhu Tianhong seemed to have guessed something.
However, he didn't give any clues, but slowly explained all the options to Li Wutong...
To put it simply, there are only four paths before Dafeng, or the Li family.
First, defend Fengyuan to the death, and would rather die than escape, even if the fight is fought to the last soldier.
Second, cede territory and seek peace, but Ning Yongnian, who has the advantage, will most likely not agree. Even if he is willing, the price Dafeng will pay for it is absolutely unimaginable.
Third, give up Fengyuan and continue to retreat westward. Judging from the current battle situation, at most we can just hang on for a while longer.
Fourth, abandon the entire Da Feng. While Daning has not yet broken the city, escape with all the Li family's property and start over in another place. After a few years, it may be possible to restore the country.
There is no doubt that each of these four options is filled with despair.
However, as Zhu Tianhong said, no matter how much the officials discussed, in the end they would just choose one of these four.
so......
"Princess, which one do you want to choose?"
"..."
"Grandpa Zhu, I want to go to the top of the city wall to see it."