Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2630 Approaching
Xu Yishan sat blankly on the low couch, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but in the end he could only let out a heavy sigh.

"It's a great relief that Master is alright."

He had witnessed too much life and death on the Great Wall of Eternal Night, and was no longer the ignorant academy disciple he was when he left Southern Chu.

Ying Baoyue nodded, staring quietly at the message in her hand. "The Jixia Academy has lost at least half of its disciples this time, including two-thirds of those at the sixth level or above."

Xu Yishan, who thought he had seen enough storms, froze.

He knew very well that behind those cold numbers lay the corpses of countless classmates.

"How could it be... like this..."

"The Zen temple had been plotting for many years. Mr. Haoran was ambushed by his own personal disciple and poisoned with Gu and black mud," Ying Baoyue stared at the secret letter written by Ji Jiashu himself. "Afterwards, he held a banquet and ambushed other academy leaders and personal disciples, causing the disciples to kill each other."

"Black mud..."

Xu Yishan gritted his teeth, "This time, the fall of the Northern Wei Great Wall was also due to an internal traitor."

"The message from Liuyun Tower said that someone was working together from the inside," Ying Baoyue said, "but because of the urgency, they didn't go into details."

"Actually, I don't know all the details either. The situation was chaotic at the time," Xu Yishan took a deep breath. "General Meihua had always been wary of traitors within the Northern Wei garrison and had sent the Silver Cicada Guards to infiltrate them as spies. That night, twelve spies were killed at the same time..."

Ying Baoyue's fingers trembled slightly as she held the secret letter.

"I was patrolling the city wall with Zichu when a familiar Silver Cicada Guard ran over and told us to hurry up. Before I could react, I heard the bugle call to charge."

"The friendly troops who had been patrolling and guarding us these past few days suddenly drew their swords and attacked us."

"For a moment, we couldn't tell who was friend and who was foe, and we only dared to trust the Silver Cicada Guards, but there were too few of them..."

There were far too many traitors among the Northern Wei garrison, and even the Northern Wei soldiers were killing each other.

In the chaos, he and Chen Zichu, along with a small group of Silver Cicada Guards, desperately broke through the encirclement and fled north. On the way, he encountered Wan Liuyun, Li Meiniang, and others who had also broken through the encirclement, and learned that Shanhaiguan and Lingbi had fallen overnight.

Besides the Silver Cicada Guards, Li Meiniang was accompanied by three Northern Wei generals and three groups of Northern Wei garrison troops. In the end, they all retreated to Ye City, outside the Northern Wei capital.

"Ye City?" Ying Baoyue was taken aback. "Have they all retreated to Ye City?"

Ye City was the largest city 100 li north of the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It has always been regarded as the gateway to Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and was known as the "Gate of Ghosts".

If Ye City is captured, the enemy army can advance unimpeded and directly besiege Luoyang.

The fact that Li Meiniang and others retreated to Yecheng is enough to illustrate how critical the situation had become in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

“It seems Meng Shi won’t need to return to the Great Wall,” Ying Baoyue said with a grim expression. “The entire northern part of Northern Wei has been lost.”

What Meng Shi needs to do now is no longer to defend the Great Wall, but to preserve the entire Northern Wei Dynasty.

If Ye City falls, Northern Wei will have to fight a direct battle to defend its capital.

"Has Her Majesty the Queen returned to the North?" Xu Yishan asked in surprise. "The Northern Wei generals who are with General Meihua are all looking for her."

“Those should be people loyal to Guanghua and Mengshi,” Ying Baoyue sighed, “only three?”

Yelü Hua's throne was also quite unstable.

She remembered that there were originally ten generals guarding the Great Wall of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Three of them followed Li Meiniang, and the remaining seven either died or all rebelled.

However, these were only the generals of the border garrison. There were imperial guards in the capital and garrison troops outside Luoyang. If these generals were all loyal to Yelü Hua, then the capital of Northern Wei would not fall easily.

The premise is that... nothing goes wrong within the Imperial Guard and the garrison.

Ying Baoyue took a deep breath, feeling that the situation was not optimistic.

The first king of Northern Wei was manipulated and ultimately killed by Yun Zhongjun. Of the six kingdoms within the Great Wall, Northern Wei was the most severely corrupted by the Chan Buddhist monasteries. Even though Yelü Hua purged them after ascending the throne, it was impossible to completely eradicate them in a short time. Northern Wei was the closest and most dangerous country to the Western Rong tribes, and now it was once again teetering on the brink of collapse.

Xu Yishan also realized the danger of the situation in Northern Wei, "Embracing the Moon..."

“We cannot let Northern Wei fall like this,” Ying Baoyue looked up at a map of the Shanhai Continent hanging on the wall. “Luoyang should be able to hold out for a while. Once I receive news from the Western Rong, I will lead my army to Northern Wei.”

"Leading an army to Northern Wei?" Xu Yishan exclaimed in astonishment. "Baoyue, you are the former King of Qin!"

Could it be that Ying Baoyue is going to lead the Former Qin army to Northern Wei to help the Northern Wei people defend their capital?
This was something that the rulers of the six kingdoms within the Great Wall had never done before.

"Once Luoyang is captured and the Northern Wei falls, Guiyang will be the next city to be besieged."

The territories of the Northern Wei and the Former Qin were adjacent. The Central Plains were flat, and there were no natural barriers between Luoyang and Guiyang. In fact, there was even a highway built by Emperor Taizu.

If Ye City was the gateway to Luoyang, then the Northern Wei Dynasty was the gateway to the Former Qin Dynasty.

Ying Baoyue could imagine how much resistance she would face in the court when she made this decision, but she had to do it.

She could not wait until the enemy army crossed the Northern Wei and reached the territory of the Former Qin before launching an attack.

"However, before setting out, I need to find out exactly who breached the Great Wall."

Ying Baoyue's gaze darkened.

If it were merely rebels from Northern Wei seeking to remove Yelü Hua from the throne, then it would be considered an internal affair of Northern Wei. Even if she wanted to help, she couldn't bring the Former Qin army into Northern Wei territory.

However, the fact that this rebel army was able to breach the Eternal Night Wall through a coordinated attack from within and without suggests that its composition was not so simple.

"You said you were waiting for news from the Western Rong, but who exactly are you waiting for?" Xu Yishan asked, puzzled. "Both Shanhaiju and Liuyunlou have lost contact with the Western Rong."

In the current situation, news from the Western Rong is more precious than gold, and almost no one knows what is happening outside the Great Wall.

“I sent a messenger to the Western Rong,” Ying Baoyue said softly.

"Could it be that……"

“Aji went to the Western Rong,” Ying Baoyue gave Xu Yishan a forced smile. “He promised I would come back.”

……

……

After recovering his strength, Xu Yishan immediately headed south, anxiously heading to the Jixia Academy.

Once again, only Ying Baoyue remained in the Imperial Prayer Hall of the Epang Palace.

Ji Jiashu's second letter arrived a day later, stating that he would stay at the Jixia Academy for three more days to help Mr. Zhenshan rebuild the mountain gate's protective array.

Ying Baoyue waited alone.

Three days later, the Epang Palace received a letter from the north.

However, this letter did not come from Li Ji.

Li Ji did not return.

What Ying Baoyue received was Meng Shi's secret letter.

The secret letter contained only one message.

"Ye City has fallen, and the enemy army has reached the walls of Luoyang."

The Battle of Luoyang is about to begin.