At this moment, she remembered the small town north of the city. Although the town was not big, there were 100,000 private soldiers stationed there. Those private soldiers were carefully selected and trained by her, and they were extremely powerful in combat. As long as we can reach that small town, we can mobilize enough troops to fight against these rebels. So she immediately ordered a retreat to the small town north of the city. After receiving the order, the personal guards immediately escorted her towards the north of the city. Wen Boyuan also led the fire gun soldiers to follow closely, covering Zhao Yingluo's retreat. When the rebels saw Zhao Yingluo and her party withdrawing towards the north of the city, they immediately pursued them. They shouted and ran, trying to catch up with Zhao Yingluo and his party and kill them all. However, Zhao Yingluo and her group were extremely fast. They rode horses and quickly passed through the rebel encirclement under the cover of Wen Boyuan's fire gun soldiers, galloping towards the north of the city, quickly leaving the rebels behind. Wen Boyuan protected Zhao Yingluo, and the group retreated non-stop to the quiet town in the north of Kaifeng City. The town at this moment was extremely nervous because of the coming storm. The people in the town were evacuated to a safe place, while private soldiers stood in line on the city wall, preparing to fight the incoming rebels. The rebels led by Song Lun were in hot pursuit and soon surrounded the town. They shouted and tried to break through the city wall and capture Zhao Yingluo and others in one fell swoop. However, the town's defense caught them by surprise. The city wall was tall and strong, and the private soldiers were well-trained. The cannonballs pouring down from the city wall caused them heavy losses. When Song Lun saw this, he couldn't help but panic. He didn't expect that the defense of this town was stronger than that of Kaifeng City. He knew that a hard attack would not work, so he could only adopt a siege strategy to trap Zhao Yingluo and others in the small town.
So, he ordered the town to be surrounded and mobilized manpower quickly, preparing to catch Zhao Yingluo and others in one fell swoop. At the same time, he also sent people into Kaifeng City to report the battle situation to Zhao Gou and prepare to welcome Zhao Gou back to the throne. At this time, Zhao Gou in the palace was immersed in the joy of returning to the throne. Feng Yi reported the latest situation to him flatteringly: "Your Majesty, the rebels have taken control of the town, and Zhao Yingluo and others have become turtles in the jar. As long as you give the order, we can kill them all." Zhao Gou laughed loudly after hearing this, with a proud look on his face: "Okay! Okay! The day has finally come. You go and prepare for the ceremony immediately. I will return to the throne and announce my return to the world." The sudden change in Kaifeng caught the civil and military forces of the entire court by surprise. Qin Hui and others were very happy. They had always been dissatisfied with Zhao Gou, and now they finally had a chance to get rid of him. However, Lu Yihao, Zhu Shengfei and others were extremely angry. They knew that Zhao Gou's return to power meant that the Song Dynasty would become weak again and bow to the Jin Kingdom. In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Gou returned to the throne with the support of Feng Yi, with a proud and satisfied smile on his face. Feng Yi stood in the main hall and read out the edict loudly. The edict deposed the young emperor Zhao Min as the crown prince and was to be implemented immediately! At the same time, Lu Yihao, Zhu Shengfei and others were dismissed from their posts. The post of imperial envoy in front of the palace was taken by Yang Cunzhong, and the post of privy envoy was taken by Song Lun. Soldiers and horses from all over the country immediately came to Kaifeng to help King Qin. Anyone who was disloyal to the Song Dynasty would be dismissed!
As soon as the edict was read out, the entire hall fell into a dead silence. The courtiers looked at each other at a loss. They did not expect that Zhao Gou would take such decisive action. Lu Yihao, Zhu Shengfei and others looked ashen as death. After thanking them, they took off their official hats and left the court unwillingly. After Qin Hui and Huang Qianshan looked at each other and smiled, Qin Hui said first: "Congratulations to the Emperor! Your return to the throne is indeed God's will and the people's wish. We will do our best to assist the Emperor in governing the world and creating a peaceful and prosperous era!" Huang Qianshan also echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty! You are wise and powerful, and your return to the throne is expected by everyone. We will do our best to relieve the Emperor's worries and protect our Song Dynasty forever!" Listening to the two people's flattery, Zhao Gou felt even more proud. He smiled and nodded and said, "Okay! Okay! You are all my loyal ministers and good generals. I will not treat you badly." At this moment, Zhao Yingluo did not know everything that happened in the palace. Outside the city, in the rebel camp, Song Lun was anxiously waiting for the results of the siege. He sent out wave after wave of siege troops, but they were all blocked by the town's tenacious defense. Seeing the sky getting dark, Song Lun couldn't help but feel anxious. At this time, a general rushed over to report: "Sir, it's not good! The defenders in the town suddenly launched a counterattack, and our siege troops suffered heavy losses!" Song Lun was furious when he heard this: "What? How many people can such a small town accommodate? How come they still have the energy to fight back? Aren't they afraid of death?" The general explained: "The defenders in the town are all elite men, and their generals are very brave and personally lead the soldiers to charge into the battle. Our siege troops cannot stop their offensive at all." Song Lun gritted his teeth and said: "What a great Wen Boyuan! You really have some skills. But do you think you can stop me like this? I want to see how long you can last!" After saying that, he ordered the whole army to press forward. , be sure to capture the town before dark. However, the rebel offensive did not last long. As night fell, the town's defenders lit torches and launched an attack from the city walls.
A dense rain of arrows and rolling logs and stones poured down like a torrential rain, catching the rebels by surprise. For a time, the rebel camp was filled with wailing and heavy losses. When Wen Boyuan saw more and more enemy troops outside the city, but the offensive gradually weakened, he couldn't help but feel a little cruel. He turned to Zhao Yingluo and said: "Your Royal Highness, there are 100,000 private soldiers in the city, and it is easy to deal with the 50,000 troops outside the city. The general will please lead the army to completely wipe out these rebels!" Zhao Yingluo shook her head slightly. She looked at the tens of thousands of rebels outside the city, with a hint of sadness in her heart: "These rebels are all soldiers of the Song Dynasty. They all have parents and wives. Bloody battles will only weaken the combat power of the Song Dynasty. Leaving more families torn apart.” Zhao Yingluo shook her head and said: "General Wen Boyuan, please be patient. These rebels are all troops of the Song Dynasty, and they all have parents and wives. If we fight them bloody battle to the end, it will only weaken the combat power of the Song Dynasty. And once there are casualties, Too much will affect public opinion and the consequences will be disastrous.” Wen Boyuan asked anxiously: "Then what does Her Royal Highness mean?" Zhao Yingluo looked at the setting sun outside the city and said slowly: "It's getting late today, so it's not appropriate to fight anymore. We'll make a decision after dawn tomorrow." Early the next morning, the sun shines through the clouds on the small town. After a night of fierce fighting, the morale of the defenders in the town was still high. Zhao Yingluo stood on the city wall wearing a military uniform, looking into the distance. Yang Cun was filled with contradictions. Although he was Zhao Gou's trusted general, he also criticized Zhao Gou's actions. During the battle last night, he witnessed with his own eyes the tenacity and bravery of the defenders in the small town, and he couldn't help but feel some respect in his heart.