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Chapter 539: Foregone Conclusion

The east, west, and north gates of Youxin City collapsed with a loud crash. Huge stones were smashed into the original locations of the gates as the rebels, who were just about to retreat, looked on in despair. The city gates were now completely blocked.

Someone, who seemed like a commander, shouted at the top of his lungs, “Move the stones! If we can’t escape, all of us will die here!”

However, he was greeted by a series of grenades that were thrown from the top of the city wall.

At this time, blood and fire intersected each other in Youxin City while endless, blood-curdling screams could be heard. The majority of the city was in flames.

Countless people who were hiding in the houses were either driven out by the huge inferno or engulfed by the flames. The thick smoke caused people to cover their mouths, crouch their bodies, and flee in disarray.

These commoners were akin to fish in a net. As far as they could see, there were flames almost everywhere. It was as if the entire city was caught up in a sea of fire. This made them even more distressed as a large portion of the commoners subconsciously fled toward the nearest city gate.

“Run toward the south! There’s no fire over there!” It was unknown as to where this voice came from, but it caused many people to panic and subconsciously run toward the south.

This stream of people spurred even more people to run.

Humans were known to conform, particularly during a disaster like this.

A few silhouettes appeared on top of a roof that was away from the disaster zone. These people looked over the commoners as they fled for their lives. From time to time, brilliant rays could be seen emanating from weapons. The screams of people facing death could also be heard.

One after another, the rebels who were squeezed within the crowd spat out blood and fell to the ground.

The empress stood at the top of the city wall and looked down at the city that had been set ablaze. Ren Baqian was standing slightly behind her.

“Your Majesty, Sir, the refugees are running over,” Zuo Leng said as he landed somewhere 10 meters away from both the empress and Ren Baqian.

“Open the city gates! Let them exit the city freely. Place a noisy fellow outside the gates to spread news about who caused the fire,” Ren Baqian said. At this point, he could already see the crowd below that was rushing toward the gates.

Even though heading to the south seemed like a safe option and the majority of the commoners were rushing over in this direction, the south was already overcrowded. The commoners were pushing their way toward the south, using violence, and even trampling on one another. Practically all sorts of things were happening constantly.

“Your Majesty, the head of the rebels,Tie Zihe, has been killed!” Qing Ping landed in front of the empress with Tie Zihe’s head in his hand.

“Got it!” the empress replied without even looking at Qing Ping. Then, she turned to Ren Baqian and said, “Even if they manage to flee with their lives today, they won’t be able to survive without any food.”

Ren Baqian thought for some time before speaking up. “I implore Your Majesty to make an imperial decree to transfer rations over from cities like Xueyang City for assistance. When we grant them with the rations, we must let them know who provided food for them. The people who fled for their lives will certainly remember Your Majesty’s graciousness!”

“There’s practically no more rations left in Jiangbei City. Previously, when the army left, they took most of the rations away,” the empress responded. Even though it seemed as if she allowed Ren Baqian to be in charge, this didn’t imply that she was clueless about what was going on. “The rations in Xueyang City can definitely sustain these refugees for a few days, but the army has to return before they can transfer the rations over. The earliest would be in three days’ time. However, I’m unsure how many things will happen within these three days.

“What’s Your Majesty’s plan?”

“Get the commoners in the south to give up the surplus food in their houses. Distribute this excess food according to the number of people so that we can hold on for at least another few days. Afterward, when the rations are transferred over, we can guarantee that the refugees will not starve to death.”

As for whether those commoners in the south were willing or not, it was completely outside of her consideration.

Such an arrangement could already be considered an act of benevolence from her.

“Your Majesty’s actions are definitely that of a wise ruler!” Ren Baqian went along with the empress’s words.

“Are you trying to imply that I was an incapable ruler in the past?” The empress swept her gaze across him.

“How’s that possible? It’s just that previously, Your Majesty’s brilliance was shown toward the aboriginal commoners,” Ren Baqian replied.

“Seeing that you have spent a lot of effort on these people, I can’t just let them starve to death,” the empress said in an indifferent tone.

At this time, chaos ensued below the two of them. Countless people were squeezing together while wailing noises and sounds of grief echoed in the air.

The empress emitted a majestic aura, suppressing the minds of everyone like a huge mountain. Immediately, the crowd calmed down. It was as if something invisible was clutching their necks, making it hard to even breathe.

She didn’t even need to speak a single word, yet the refugees below were already covering their mouths.

“Indeed, you are worthy to be the ruler of Dayao! Just from the aura you released, these panic-stricken commoners actually calmed down!” Ren Baqian exclaimed.

“The fire is spreading!” The empress ignored him and looked into the distance.

“Guards!” Ren Baqian raised his head to take a glance, shouted for somebody to come, and gave instructions. “Start from the location closest to the fire and inform the commoners in the south to flee the city with their food immediately!

“In addition, get Protector General Xi to send some soldiers to maintain order.”

Both Ren Baqian and the empress stood at the top of the city wall until they saw the marble white sky of the dawn. At the same time, the yelling and fighting noises had also been growing softer.

This very night, Xi Wanya and the Protectorate of the South had gradually retreated with the intensity of the fire. All along, their objective was to trap the rebel soldiers, who were trying to dash out of the city, within the fire.

As for the winged cavalry, their task was to obstruct any rebel soldiers who wanted to escape by going over the city wall.

In the end, only a handful of the 150,000 rebel soldiers managed to escape.

Apart from dying under the aboriginals’ swords, these rebel soldiers mostly died due to lack of oxygen.

“Your Majesty, it has ended,” Ren Baqian said as he stood behind the empress.

The empress’s red silhouette flashed across the wall before disappearing. The next moment, she was already in the imperial chariot.

Ren Baqian extended his hand just as the empress left, but it was all in vain.

He placed both of his hands behind him, unhurriedly walked down, and could hear the voices of people far away.

“Don’t you guys know who the people were that set the city on fire? It’s Her Majesty who saved all of your lives and gave you guys a way to live… All the rations will be distributed accordingly. As long as we persist for a few more days, the rations arriving from Xueyang City will be sufficient to keep everyone alive…”

“Zuo Leng!”

“Sir Ren!”

“Organize these people and find a few strong ones among them. Search for valuables in the city and food that has not been destroyed,” Ren Baqian instructed. At present, the commoners mostly used stone jars to store food. Although some houses were burned, the food in the stone jars could still be eaten.

“In addition, dig a pit outside the city and bury the corpses so as to avoid any diseases from emerging.Then, arrange the men to do a search of the surroundings. Determine how many rebels have escaped and in which direction they escaped to.”

After giving out instructions, Ren Baqian stood near the city gate and looked at the frightened and sorrowful expressions of the commoners. After that, he made his way to the side of the empress’s imperial chariot, lay on the ground, and closed his eyes to rest.

Not long after, two pieces of animal hide were thrown out from the imperial chariot, landing on his face.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty!” Ren Baqian happily covered the bottom half of the body with the animal hide . He fell into a deep slumber in no time.

After a long while, apart from leaving a few soldiers to maintain order, the army that had rested for half a day returned to Xueyang City once again.

They took a day and a half to return to Xueyang City, but before they even entered, the stench of blood permeated the air.

Upon entering the city, the soldiers found out that Rao Yu had led an army and attacked as expected after most of the aboriginals left.

1,000 aboriginal soldiers firmly obstructed 50,000 rebel soldiers outside of the city.

With the help of a few strong people, Hong Cheng managed to chase away many of the rebel soldiers, causing their morale to drop so rapidly that Rao Yu had no choice but to retreat.

This, however, caused the commoners in Xueyang City to panic as well.

Fortunately, the current situation was set. There was only Rao Yu left, and she couldn’t create too big of a commotion. As for the hearts of the refugees, time could slowly be taken to gain their acceptance.