Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Daiyu's courtyard was suddenly quiet.

Just as Daiyu and Baochai were each lost in their own thoughts, a smiling maid from Grandmother Jia's courtyard entered and said:

"Miss Bao, Miss Lin, the old lady's headache has improved a lot today. She said she wants to have dinner with you tonight, so she sent me to call you to Rongqing Hall."

"The other girls have already gone; we're just waiting for you!"

Daiyu covered her mouth and chuckled softly:

"That's amazing! As soon as Third Brother left, the old lady's illness improved by more than half."

No wonder some people in the household said that the old lady suffered from a disease that caused her to "get a headache whenever she saw a certain grandson".

Baochai said softly:

"It's getting late. Since the old lady is calling us, let's hurry over and not keep her waiting!"

As they spoke, the two women, accompanied by their maids, walked toward Grandmother Jia's courtyard, displaying an air of sisterly affection.

…………

More than ten days later.

Jia Jing's two thousand light cavalry are about to arrive at Yulin Garrison City. They have barely rested along the way, traveling day and night, and dozens of their warhorses have died from exhaustion.

The reason Jia Jing couldn't let the Han soldiers stop to rest and recover their fighting strength was because the closer they got to the vicinity of Yulin Garrison, the more tragic the scene became.

While riding through a village less than 100 miles south of Yulin City.

Looking around, one sees corpses and blood everywhere, most of them the old and weak, all lying dead in a gruesome state.

Some of the women's bodies lay naked on the ground, their eyes filled with despair and struggle.

Jia Jing gripped the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear tighter and tighter, his urging for Red Hare to move forward became increasingly urgent.

At dawn,

Smoke billows from the southern city wall of Yulin Garrison, and bloodstains are visible on the bricks and stones of the wall.

The corpses piled up layer upon layer at the foot of the city wall, including the braided heads of Northern Yuan soldiers and the broken bodies of Han defenders.

The bastions were chipped into jagged gaps by the boulders, and the city bricks were densely inlaid with arrows, like the bristling mane of a dying beast.

On the city wall, the large banner embroidered with the Chinese characters "Great Han Yulin Guard" was cut down by a soldier of the Northern Yuan Mongol army wearing a sable hat.

The flagpole crashed down, smashing onto the stone steps in front of the city gate. Blood soaked into the flag, and it was quickly trampled beyond recognition.

The next moment, the south gate of Yulin Garrison City was slowly opened.

The soldiers of the Northern Yuan royal court, under the command of a general clad in black armor, launched a fierce attack on the south gate of Yulin City.

And not far from the south gate, under the central banner of the Northern Yuan army.

A burly, dark-skinned man with a thick beard and hair and eyes as sharp as a hawk sat on horseback, gazing at the battle scene at the south gate.

This was none other than Toghtog Bukha, the Left Wing Commander and Privy Councilor of the Northern Yuan Royal Court, who was the commander-in-chief leading 80,000 Northern Yuan troops to conquer the Han Dynasty.

Toghtoa Bukha was a key high-ranking military official in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, deeply trusted by the Khan of the Northern Yuan, and held a high position and great power.

Sitting on horseback beside Tuotuo Buhua was a young man with fair and delicate skin, handsome face, and wearing golden armor and a golden crown.

This is the deputy commander of the 80,000-strong Northern Yuan army, the Crown Prince of Northern Yuan, Borjigin Bayar.

Both men smiled when they saw that the south gate of Yulin had been breached.

Tuotuo Buhua, seated on horseback, roared coldly:

"The gates of Yulin City have been opened. Kill the last of the Han soldiers, and Yulin City will be ours."

"After the city falls, you may loot for three days as you please; the Han people's gold, silver, treasures, and women will all be yours."

After saying this, he ordered his men to continuously push the central army banner toward the south gate, hoping to boost morale and quickly encircle and annihilate the last few thousand Han soldiers remaining in the south gate of Yulin.

At the same time, the savage and arrogant laughter of the Northern Yuan soldiers rang out from inside and outside the city walls and from the city walls themselves:

"Charge into Yulin City and plunder all the wealth and women of the Han people!"

Inside and outside the south gate, thousands of Han soldiers were still fighting bravely against the Northern Yuan cavalry as they entered the city.

Zhou Yingyuan, the deputy general of the Han army in Yulin City, stood in the middle, sword in hand, directing the troops.

His armor was covered in blood, both his own and his enemies'. His spear was also full of nicks, and his quiver was almost empty.

The other Han soldiers were almost all wounded, their bodies covered in old bloodstains and fresh blood.

But in each of their eyes also gleamed a fierce determination born from countless battles.

"Damn it, this wolf cub from Beiyuan is really something! He even chipped my knife!"

A man in his twenties, who looked like a Han army captain, spat out a mouthful of saliva, which contained a trace of blood.

"Damn it, it's all that spineless bastard Marquis Ji'an's fault. He actually led his personal guards and trusted soldiers to run away from the south gate in the middle of the night."

"This caused chaos among the troops in the southern city, which allowed the wolf cubs of the Northern Yuan to take advantage of the situation and break through."

"Otherwise, if we had held out for another ten days or half a month, the imperial reinforcements would have arrived! We wouldn't be in this hopeless situation!"

A veteran in his thirties cursed viciously.

However, with each word he spoke, his eye twitched violently. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that a broken arrow was embedded in his back, deeply embedded in the bone.

"Why are you talking about that bastard! He's been in Yulin Town for so long, has he ever done a single good deed?"

"Besides exploiting soldiers and withholding their pay, what else can he do besides spending his days drinking and watching operas with young women and oppressing his own people?"

"I was hoping this bastard could hold out a little longer. We have food and soldiers in the city, what are we afraid of from the Northern Yuan!"

"Who knew that a leopard can't change its spots? He actually abandoned all the people and brothers in the city and ran away!"

"If I ever see that bastard again, I'm going to kill him!"

The man, who looked like a captain, had a fierce look in his eyes, clearly hating Marquis Ji'an to the extreme.

"Why do you think he ran away? Because there's no food left in the city!"

"That bastard Marquis of Ji'an, in league with those civil officials, secretly sold all the grain from the Guangyou Granary..."

"Alright! It's pointless to say all this now!"

Before the other man, who looked like a military officer in armor, could finish speaking, Zhou Yingyuan interrupted him.

Zhou Yingyuan surveyed the surrounding Han army and shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Brothers, Marquis Ji'an has fled, and the imperial reinforcements are probably still on their way. We can only rely on ourselves!"

"Behind us is Yulin City, our home, our parents, wives, children, brothers, sisters, and the hundreds of thousands of people in the city."

"They're counting on us! If we retreat, they're doomed. We have no choice but to fight to the death!"

Zhou Yingyuan raised his spear, his voice ringing out clearly in the empty city gate.

"General Zhou is right! Let's fight them! Killing one is enough, killing two is a bonus!"

The captain followed closely behind and shouted.

"Fight to the death, never retreat!"

"Fight to the death, never retreat!"

……

The three thousand remaining Han soldiers all raised their weapons and shouted in unison.