After the Chu Dynasty left Beijing, the capital did not become quiet.Xie Yanfang entered the court with the eldest princess's token, trying to stabilize the gap left by the Chu Dynasty's absence.Deng Yi was not willing to give up power easily. One of them used the token to dispatch his old troops, and the other used court rules to suppress others, competing tit-for-tat for military orders and popular support.Xiao Yu was caught in the middle. He had to maintain the dignity of the imperial power, but also had to face temptations from all forces.Xiao Xun looked at the situation of mutual restraint between the capital and the capital, and took advantage of the chaos to cover up his secret collusion with King Shuo Mo.

On the way to Wangcheng, Chu Chao received news from the capital and learned that Xie Yanfang had confronted Deng Yi head-on.She did not look back immediately, but judged that what Xiao Xun really wanted was not a moment of rhetoric in court, but to take advantage of the Yunzhong County Army's instability to cooperate with Shuo Mo's attack.Xie Yanlai also saw the urgency of the situation and urged the team to speed up their journey.The people from Cangmuzhai followed behind. They were not familiar with the power struggle in the imperial court, but they knew that once Wangcheng fell, the people in the border areas would bear the brunt.

Before arriving at Wangcheng, the Chu Dynasty met Liang Qiang, a general who had not yet made any great achievements.Liang Qiang did not have many troops, and was struggling with frontline supplies and city defense.At first, she didn't dare to believe the Chu Dynasty who came suddenly. It wasn't until Zhong Changrong showed up to meet her and confirmed the identity of the eldest princess that Liang Qiang told Wangcheng's true situation.Shuomo's army had already assembled outside the city, and spies had been in and out of nearby villages and towns many times. There was insufficient food and grass in the city, and the morale of the defenders was disrupted by false news coming one after another.Without foreign aid, Wangcheng may not be able to hold on until the main force of Yunzhong County arrives.

Chu Chao did not act like the eldest princess, but first listened to Liang Qiang and Zhong Changrong explain the weak points of the city's defense.Xie Yanlai led people to check the distribution of city gates, granaries and residential buildings, and found that the terrain outside the south gate seemed easy to attack, but could actually be set up. The grain road on the north side was safe on the surface, but had been targeted by enemy spies.The people in Cangmu Village brought by Ge Dashi are familiar with the mountain roads, which is suitable for them to go around to the rear of Shuomo Army.Several people did not know each other at first, but they were temporarily brought together by the Chu Dynasty when Wangcheng was in danger.

The battle in the capital also intensified at the same time.Xie Yanfang used the eldest princess's token to suppress part of the military orders, forcing Deng Yi to explain why he secretly ordered the replacement of generals.Deng Yi refused to admit that he was being used by Xiao Xun, and still tried to suppress Xie Yanfang with his seniority in the DPRK.Xiao Yu felt for the first time in this dispute that if he just sat on the throne and waited for others to decide for him, Da Chu would sooner or later be dragged into the abyss by these people.Xie Yanfang did not talk too much, but only connected Wangcheng's urgent situation with the whereabouts of the eldest princess, letting Xiao Yu understand that the border war could no longer be covered up by the selfish motives of the capital.

Looking inside the city, the Chu Dynasty decided not to passively defend the city.She asked Liang Qiang to continue to maintain the superficial panic in the city and secretly organize the available troops; she asked Zhong Changrong to stabilize the Chu family's old troops to prevent the morale of the army from being scattered due to Chu Cen's serious illness; and she asked Ge Dashi to lead people to find out where the food and grass in Shuomo were.After Xie Yanlai listened to her arrangements, she took the initiative to take over the most dangerous raid mission.Chu Chao looked at the enemy camp getting closer and closer outside the city wall, knowing that if he lost this battle, not only would he not be able to see his father, but Xiao Xun would also be forced to use the hands of foreign enemies to tear apart the Chu border defenses.She summoned everyone to the city tower, made a plan to cut off food and lure the enemy, and prepared to fight an unlosable battle in Wangcheng.

That night, the lights everywhere in the city were lowered, leaving only the secret signals on the towers used to convey orders.The Chu Dynasty asked Liang Qiang to divide the manpower that could be mobilized into several groups, and no one department was allowed to know the overall arrangements alone, so as to prevent the insider from sending out the news again.Xie Yan came and looked back at her before leaving. Chu Chao didn't say much and just handed him the last token.Both of them understood that from this moment on, the Wangcheng defenders, Cangmu Village and the old Yunzhong County troops were tied to the same line. Whoever started to cause chaos would have the whole city collapse.