My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

The smile on Yao Jingyuan's face froze on his lips before it could fully bloom.

He squinted and carefully examined the things being pushed out of the city gate.

Those were indeed "shields," but their bizarre shapes were laughable—

It was made entirely of sticks, each no thicker than a wrist bone, tied together and pieced together. It wasn't even painted, showing its original grayish color.

The soldiers following behind those "shields" each held one of those sticks in their hands.

The slender iron rod, without a point or blade, was simply held bare in my hand.

Are these Wang Meng's soldiers?

Yao Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

The laughter sounded particularly abrupt in the otherwise silent battlefield, so loud that it could be heard even on the city walls.

"No—" He raised his riding whip, pointed at those strange-looking things in the distance, and laughed so hard he almost fell over.

"You wouldn't be thinking of fighting with these thin iron rods, would you?"

The soldiers behind him also laughed.

Laughter echoed from the front to the back of the battle lines, disrupting the tense atmosphere of the previous confrontation.

"Wang Meng, Wang Meng!" Yao Jingyuan laughed so hard he was panting, shouting at the top of his lungs towards the city wall, "Have you become so poor that you can't even afford swords?"

He Jin, standing beside him, chimed in jokingly, "You're right, sir! These traitors probably don't even have money for blacksmithing anymore, so they're using firewood sticks as makeshift weapons!"

There was another burst of laughter.

……

Modern times, the edifice of an era.

Lin Ye smiled as he sat on the living room sofa.

He crossed his legs, a playful smile playing on his lips.

"Young men, you have no idea about the power of modern steel reinforcement..."

He seemed to be talking to himself, then reached out and picked up the tea that Zhou Ran had just brewed from the coffee table, shifting into a more comfortable position.

The real show is about to begin.

……

After a long while, Yao Jingyuan stopped laughing and put on a compassionate expression, his voice filled with affected regret.

"Wang Meng, you were once a high-ranking official in the court, how did you end up in such a state? If you really can't even afford to eat, you should surrender now, or you'll get a severe beating later—"

"call out--!"

A sharp whooshing sound interrupted him.

Yao Jingyuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

An arrow shot down from the city wall, its shaft drawing a straight black line through the air, aiming straight for his face!

He didn't even have time to react; his blood seemed to freeze in that instant.

It’s over.

The thought had barely crossed my mind—

"Lord Yao, be careful!"

He Jin suddenly pounced over and pulled him off the horse.

The two crashed heavily to the ground.

Yao Jingyuan landed on his back with a muffled groan, suspecting that his internal organs had been displaced by the shock.

The arrow grazed the top of his head, severing the red tassel on his helmet, and a few strands of red silk drifted down onto his face.

On the city wall, Wang Meng looked down at the silver-white figure who had fallen to the ground and was now being protected by a group of people, his face grim. He slowly lowered the bow in his hand.

"So close!" he said bitterly, his tone full of resentment.

Zhao Wujun, who was standing next to him, spat and said, "That bastard is like an eel, he slips away so quickly."

Wang Meng didn't say anything more, but simply raised his hand and made a gesture.

Upon seeing the gesture, the flag officer took a deep breath, raised a red flag high, and then swung it down sharply.

"Fire arrows—!!!"

On the city wall, the archers, who had been waiting in ambush, simultaneously released their bowstrings.

"Buzz—!"

The sound of the bowstring vibrating merged into a deep, rumbling roar.

A dense volley of arrows rained down from the city wall, like a suddenly rising black cloud that blotted out the sky, whistling with death as it hurtled toward Yao Jingyuan.

"Protect the adults!"

"Quick! Shield!"

The guards swarmed around, some holding shields, others pulling people away, and together they dragged Yao Jingyuan backward.

Yao Jingyuan was dragged on the ground, the light armor on his back scraping against the gravel, making a crunching sound.

His mind was still blank, his ears were ringing, and all he could see were swaying figures and the reflection of shields.

He only came to his senses when he was dragged to the very back of the army formation, beyond the range of arrows.

Immediately, her face turned pale, her lips trembled a few times, and a surge of shame and indignation rushed to her head.

He abruptly shoved away the guards supporting him and shouted hoarsely towards the city wall, "Wang Meng! You shameless bastard!"

Her voice became sharp and shrill from excessive fright, completely unlike her previous smug demeanor.

"You're asking for it—!"

He was about to continue cursing, but He Jin stopped him firmly.

"Lord Yao!" He Jin whispered in his ear, "Don't forget our plan!"

Fearing he might start hurling insults again, He Jin spoke quickly. "Once they start fighting, we shouldn't attract attention. We need to take advantage of the chaos! Conserve our strength!"

Yao Jingyuan then shut his mouth, but still stared at Wang Meng on the city wall with a sinister look in his eyes.

Once Fangzhou is conquered, he will make Wang Meng suffer a fate worse than death!

At this moment, the archers of the imperial army also began to retaliate.

General Sun Xiang stood on his horse in the center of the army, looking at the strange shields lined up in a row at the city gate opposite him, and frowned.

He found it a bit strange.

Has Wang Meng gone mad?

If those soldiers wearing old cloth armor and carrying iron rods were sent outside the city, wouldn't they be sitting ducks?

But Sun Xiang quickly suppressed this doubt.

who cares!

He twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a disdainful sneer.

Even if there were some conspiracy, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble under their absolute strength.

He immediately ordered his men to fire arrows at the soldiers who had left the city.

They weren't using ordinary bows and arrows.

The arrowheads of these arrows all have "new iron" added to them, although because the production of "new iron" is too low, only a small amount is added to the arrows, which are consumables.

However, its hardness is now incomparable to what it used to be.

Sun Xiang narrowed his eyes, and the smile on his lips turned cruel and bloodthirsty.

He waited to see the sharp new arrows pierce the soldiers' flesh and blood, to see them fall with screams, and to see rivers of blood flow.

After this round of shooting, at least half of those rabble with fire sticks should be killed or wounded.

At that time, morale will surely collapse.

He didn't even need to attack the city; he could just chase the fleeing soldiers and kill his way into the city.

Before the city gate, the Northern soldiers, who had already lined up, looked up at the rain of arrows falling from the sky.

There was no fear or panic on their faces.

Some even had a strange glint in their eyes—

That was eagerness to try.

Immediately afterwards, everyone quickly crouched down and shrank under that strange "shield" wall.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, clearly indicating that they had practiced countless times.

"Tap tap tap tap tap—!"

Arrows rained down.

Sun Xiang's smile froze on his face.

"This...how is this possible!?"

He cried out in disbelief.

He saw it!

He saw it clearly!

The arrows, forged from new iron, struck the strange, gray-black shield—

The arrow shattered instantly!

And that shield—

Completely unharmed!

The archers were stunned. Their bows were suspended in mid-air, and they stared wide-eyed at the undamaged gray walls opposite them.

Some people didn't believe it and fired a few more arrows, but the result was still the same.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment.

The only sound was the wind rustling the flags.

Sun Xiang's face darkened, his lips pressed into a straight line, and his teeth clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.

It's fucking as hard as a turtle shell!

Where did Wang Meng get this thing from?!