Unyielding Spring Mountains - Chapter 96: Defending the City

Chapter 96: Defending the City

The capital of Wei—Anyì.

The Chu army had continued attacking the city for three straight days, and each day, more Wei soldiers fell than the day before.

The roads were crowded with the wounded, leaving nowhere to step. Wei Zhen walked among them, treating one injury after another, her hands covered in blood and her clothes stained with filth.

“Princess, you haven’t rested the entire night while tending to the wounded. Please return to the palace and rest for a while,” a guard said.

Wei Zhen shook her head and looked toward the city walls.

Thick smoke billowed from the ramparts, kicking up clouds of dust. Soldiers wearing armor fell to the ground, pierced by arrows, collapsing onto blood-soaked earth.

The massive vermilion gates symbolizing the majesty of the capital were cracked in two great fissures from repeated assault, on the verge of collapse.

It had been three days, yet the Chu army’s onslaught had not eased in the slightest. The battle seemed endless. Wei Zhen had tended to the injured for so long that she had become numb to it.

Morale in the barracks was low, and fear blanketed the city in every corner.

Supporting herself against a wall to stand, Wei Zhen’s vision turned black, and she nearly collapsed. A guard quickly caught her.

“Careful,” he said, helping her steady herself.

“If the King knew you had exhausted yourself like this, Princess, he would be deeply distressed.”

At the mention of “His Majesty,” Wei Zhen suddenly realized she hadn’t returned all night. The King of Wei was likely worried. She nodded and said, “Help me return to see Father.”

She returned to the palace by carriage, not even bothering to clean the blood and grime off her clothes before heading directly to the royal hall.

A group of ministers stood at the entrance to the courtyard. Wei Zhen walked in slowly. One by one, they turned to look at her, falling silent.

Wei Zhen smiled and said, “Gentlemen, did you all come today? His Majesty is resting in the main hall. Your conversations here might disturb him.”

At this time, civilians remained hidden in their homes, and court sessions had been suspended. These ministers were not among Wei Zhen’s trusted inner circle—she knew they would not have come without reason. Her gaze swept across their unfriendly expressions—she could already guess they had come to make demands.

One man stepped forward, saluted her, and asked, “Princess, how much longer can the capital hold out? When exactly will the reinforcements arrive?”

“Soon.”

The man’s brows creased with impatience. “How soon? Can you give us a precise answer? The Chu army is attacking our walls right now. If reinforcements don’t come, the gates will fall!”

“That’s right, Princess!”

His words dropped like scalding water onto hot oil, triggering a wave of reactions.

“We allied with Jin, but if the Princess hadn’t gone back on her initial decisions to help Qi Yan, none of this might have happened. Now the entire city—inside and out—is talking about you!”

“His Majesty made a foolish error entrusting the Princess with governance. True, she may be of royal blood, but she’s never led troops in war.”

Some even muttered under their breath, “She lived in exile for years—who’s to say which country her loyalties truly lie with?”

Wei Zhen listened in silence, her expression calm. She smiled faintly and said, “The city is under siege, and fear is widespread—your concerns are not unreasonable. But know that the reinforcements truly are already on their way.”

Some ministers opened their mouths to press her further, but Wei Zhen stepped forward and said, “Think on this—if the Chu have rushed to strike swiftly at the city, then surely they hope to bring about a quick victory. If this drags out any longer, it’s they—not us—who will first run out of rations and supplies.”

The ministers’ rhetoric was cut off. They exchanged uncertain glances.

One stepped forward, saluted, and said, “Princess, let’s speak plainly. We did not come here to make trouble for you. The situation truly is dire. There’s a small, little-used gate on the far side of the capital, and the main army could breach our walls at any time. We beg you—grant us a way out. Let us take our wives, children, and elders to safety outside the city.”

Several other ministers followed suit, bowing their heads. “Since the Princess cannot guarantee the reinforcements will arrive in time, let us leave instead of waiting here to die.”

“If the city were truly about to fall, wouldn’t the Princess find her own means of escape? Please understand our desperation.”

“I will not leave.”

That one sentence stunned everyone around them, as though they had heard something utterly inconceivable.

Wei Zhen replied with unwavering resolve, “And you may not leave either.”

“Princess—!”

She stepped forward. “If even one person is allowed to flee, more and more will follow. Your fellow citizens are on the ramparts, fighting with their lives. If word spreads that those inside are abandoning them, their morale will break completely—at that point, our capital will truly be lost.”

Wei Zhen took a deep breath. “I’ve looked upon the bodies of the soldiers who have died today. What I feel in my heart is no less painful or unbearable than what you feel. But there is no other choice—Wei and Chu have long-standing hatred. This battle was always inevitable.”

Silence fell over the courtyard. No one spoke.

Wei Zhen said, “In just a few days, the reinforcements will arrive.”

Bathed in sunlight, her expression was especially firm, and for a brief moment, the ministers allowed a bit of hope to spark in their hearts — perhaps the capital truly could hold out until help came.

She turned and walked into the royal hall. Behind her, the ministers murmured to one another.

Suddenly, her clear, jade-like voice rang out once more: “I will issue a royal decree—place guards at the small city gate and prevent anyone from leaving. If anyone attempts to approach that exit, then in accordance with the laws of Great Wei —”

“—they are to be executed on the spot.”

She stepped over the threshold, and the guards moved forward to disperse the gathered officials.

The grand hall was brightly lit and unyieldingly quiet. As the door closed behind her, Wei Zhen finally exhaled deeply in relief.

She made her way into the inner chambers and saw that the King of Wei was still peacefully sleeping. Only then did her long-tensed shoulders begin to relax.

She was thoroughly exhausted. Forgetting the blood that stained her completely, she leaned her head against the bedside and drifted off to sleep.

The King of Wei awoke that afternoon and saw Wei Zhen asleep on the floor beside him, slumped forward with her hand tightly grasping his. Soft light danced across her form, gently trembling with the breeze.

He summoned a chambermaid in a soft voice. Hearing what had happened earlier, he lowered his gaze and studied his sleeping daughter with tenderness.

Wei Zhen stirred awake at the sound of footsteps and opened her eyes. “Father?”

The king smiled faintly and reached out to stroke her hair. Wei Zhen leaned her head against his arm and listened in silence to the faint crackling of incense from the burner.

All the noise of the outside world had been shut out—it was as if war had never touched this place.

“Father, I’m so tired,” she whispered.

The king looked down at her and understood that what she meant went far beyond mere physical fatigue. He said softly, “The blood on this land has never dried. The royal robe you wear is dyed red by it. It’s no wonder you feel the weight.”

She murmured, “So many of our people have already bled… can we really stop what’s coming next?”

“What do you think, Yangyang?” he asked gently.

Wei Zhen looked up. The shadows of blossoms danced across her cheek.

The king smiled again. “Ah Zhen… whether our Wei can truly resist the Chu might seem up to fate. But those soldiers you’ve led—who have held the line day after day—they are not here by luck alone.”

He coughed weakly. Wei Zhen stepped forward to help him lie down, but he shook his head and gripped her hand tightly with all his remaining strength.

His eyes seemed to look beyond, as if remembering something long ago. “In the past, our forebears built this country with nothing but their bare hands—cutting through wilderness, braving wind and rain, forging the way forward with sweat and suffering.”

“Through years of war against both Chu and Jin, even when outmatched, Wei never faltered. That fighting spirit is etched into your very bones.”

A faint gleam burned in the King of Wei’s eyes. “Our people too, deep in their bones, refuse to back down. That persistence is what’s carried Wei through the ages. Stand with them, encourage them—together, you can overcome.”

He said all this in one breath, then began coughing violently again. Grabbing a handkerchief to cover his mouth, he glanced at the cloth and quietly turned it aside.

Wei Zhen snatched it back—on it bloomed a patch of red, like plum blossoms in winter’s snow.

Her eyes reddened. She clutched his hand. “I promised to bring physicians to help cure you. Have you forgotten? If you ask me to endure, then I ask you—please, endure for me as well.”

She pressed her forehead to his hand, her voice hoarse with emotion. “Father…”

As a girl, she had never once been taught by this man. And yet now, with fate on her side, she had found her way back to him. She had always known that everything he taught her—how to govern, how to rule—was not just for her to grow stronger, but also his way of fulfilling his duty as a father. He had wanted to make up for the years they had lost.

The King of Wei sighed with a gentle chuckle. “Of course I haven’t forgotten.”

He patted her back and said, “If you’re tired, rest well. When you wake, I’ll take you outside the palace—to meet our people together.”

Wei Zhen sat up and said, “No need, Father. I’ve rested enough.”

Wei Ji looked at her. She stood tall and poised like a budding flower, tears shining clearly in her eyes.

She was like a wild flame—drenched by wind and rain, yet burning still.

She was his only child. And to be her father—that, in this world, was his greatest pride.

She said, “Let us go now.”

The King of Wei gripped her hand. “Very well.”

At dusk, the capital’s streets teemed with panicked faces.

A carriage stopped in the center of the road, with guards forming a perimeter on all sides.

“The King—the King is here!” someone cried aloud, and the previously silent crowd erupted into commotion.

Civilians gathered beneath a raised platform.

The King stood beside it and said to Wei Zhen, “Go on. Tell your people what they must do.”

Wei Zhen ascended the steps one by one, sweeping her gaze over the sea of unfamiliar faces.

In the great silence, her voice rang out. “Wei has no retreat. If the Chu break through, they will ravage our homes—”

Just then, an earth-shaking boom came from the direction of the city gates. The ground beneath them trembled.

“The gates! To the gates!” guards shouted. “They’re going to break!”

Panic surged through the gathered crowd like fire.

Wei Zhen turned and looked toward the gates. A massive fissure had appeared across the surface. One section was struck repeatedly, and it seemed on the verge of caving in entirely—a gaping nightmare about to be torn open.

“Ammunition’s nearly used up! We’re almost out of stone, too!” a soldier rushed up to report.

With no wood or stone left, the troops could not stop enemy soldiers from climbing the walls.

The clash of weapons and shouts filled the heavens. Wei Zhen snapped out of her daze.

“There may be no stone or timber left in the city,” she said, “but the palace has beams—tear them down!”

The soldiers hesitated. Everyone knew—within the palace, such sacred places were inviolable. How could she say “tear them down” so easily?

Wei Zhen declared, “We may never rebuild the palace, but we must not lose the capital. I am the Princess—do as I say!”

In this breathless moment, there was no time for doubt. The soldiers clasped their fists to her and ran toward the palace with resolved urgency.

Though this is a romance novel, I also wanted to write the journey of a young girl seeking familial love, growing surrounded by care and affection, and slowly maturing into her own.