This is the Seven Great Noble Families.

When reporting one's identity, do not start with your official position, but with your lineage, as if the prefect of a state cannot compare to the disciples of the Liang Family.

Chen Mo knows who Liang Song is speaking with, but his attention is focused on the opponent's forehead.

1071...

Good grief, both are Fourth Grade, yet it's over two hundred higher than Lu Yonggang.

It's more than three hundred higher than himself.

Chen Mo's pupils slightly constricted.

Damn, noble families are noble families, far beyond what small noble clans like the Wang Family and Yi Family can compare to.

"Just a mere commoner, Chen Mo." Chen Mo couldn't help but crouch down, hiding behind the battlements—he hasn't seen Liang Song's weapon power yet. If the opponent is like him, able to track and lock in on targets with archery, then it's risky to expose himself.

As for reporting names, they've captured so many Celestial Master Army prisoners, they can just ask them. Even if Chen Mo wanted to conceal it, it's useless, so better to be open about it.

"Chen Mo." Liang Song murmured the name, then spoke: "Is it true that my grand general Xu Jie was slain by you? And Guan Weisheng, was he shot dead by you?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo froze; he knew about Xu Jie, but who is Guan Weisheng?

He recalled the one he shot dead at Luqing Mountain, murmuring: "Could it be him?"

Chen Mo said: "If Prefect Liang has business, say it; don't talk about useless things."

Liang Song furrowed his brows slightly, then said: "You're so young—why tread the path of rebellion and oppose the court? If you recognize the error and surrender the city, I will personally go to Celestial River and plead for you before Your Majesty, exempting you from punishment, even granting you a high official position and handsome salary. Wouldn't that be splendid?"

At these words, the people beneath Chen Mo's command all looked toward him.

Chen Mo raised his brows slightly, then declared: "You ask why I oppose the court? Let me ask you: two years ago, the Northern Land suffered a terrible drought, the land turned red for miles, yet did the court provide relief? Instead, it increased taxes.

We commoners—who among us isn't a fleeing refugee due to disaster, an indebted citizen caught in the tax trap, or a tenant farmer oppressed after losing land?

Has the Emperor, high above, ever lowered his gaze to us, cared for the life and death of his subjects? Corrupt officials bully us, and you mighty noble families seize wealth from our despair, with human-faced beast hearts.

Us poor and lowly, with no roof over our heads, nor a weapon in hand, we have only numbers and unity. Today, we impoverished and humble band together and rise up, determined to reform the heavens.

The officials wish for us to kneel and submit; we refuse. One day, we the impoverished shall march over Celestial River.

As for the high offices you speak of, we will seize them ourselves.

Are the princes and ministers born to rule?!"

Chen Mo's voice was bright and powerful, each word was a pearl, especially that phrase "Are the princes and ministers born to rule?" It was truly awakening.

Xia Zhining stared blankly at the youth beside her, momentarily captivated by his aura.

"Are the princes and ministers born to rule?!"

"Are the princes and ministers born to rule?!"

"Are the princes and ministers born to rule?!"

The neighboring Divine Brave Guards had already raised their weapons, fervently responding to Chen Mo, followed by the Divine Martial Guard, Xianzhen Guard, and then the deserters of the Celestial Master Army atop and below the walls.

Chen Mo's words were incredibly uplifting.

Liang Song intended to manipulate hearts, yet didn't foresee the opponent using the opportunity to boost morale.

Although somewhat surprised, Liang Song wasn't flustered; the rebel army was already fearful, now defending the city merely in a desperate resistance.

He began to sway the men under Chen Mo, saying those who surrender not only will be pardoned, but also rewarded with gold and silver, office and rank, but if they resist desperately, they will certainly be executed.

Indeed, Liang Song's words stirred the deserters of the Celestial Master Army in the city.

Chen Mo frowned, changed positions, bent his bow, fitting the arrow, aimed at the military banner beside Liang Song's armored vehicle, took a deep breath, then aimed at Liang Song, releasing his fingers, the arrow flew from the string, shooting fiercely at Liang Song.

Liang Song sensed something, the corners of his mouth curled into a mocking smile, he didn't even dodge, and when the feathered arrow was about to hit his face, he raised his hand and caught it.

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, another feathered arrow shot rapidly from the side, targeting Liang Song's left personal soldier.

Liang Song's body flickered, suddenly appearing in front of the left personal soldier, catching it again.

With a clear "crack" sound.

The great banner on the chariot broke and fell to the ground.

It turned out, while on Liang Song's second arrow, Chen Mo had already shot his third arrow, directly aiming at the great banner on the chariot.

"Heroic!"

"Heroic!"

"Heroic!"

On the city head, the soldiers cheered ecstatically.

Liang Song's face darkened, the personal soldiers hurriedly lifted the great banner, retreating.

"In two hours, prepare to attack the city."

Liang Song left a harsh word, retreated.

His words did have an effect.

Inside the city, the Celestial Master Army deserters had grown increasingly anxious as time passed.

Especially when someone on the wall shouted, "Head Mound."

It turned out, during this time, the Yu State Army used the heads of the Celestial Master Army to build a massive head mound outside the city.

The Celestial Master Army deserters on the wall were terrified, fearing they'd become part of it.

"Impossible to hold, surely impossible to hold, even Lu..." A deserter muttered, but before he could finish, Xia Zhining, who was closest to him, sliced open his throat with a sword, her voice cold: "Those who disrupt morale, die!"

Below the city, five hundred members of the supervision team struck their weapons against the round shields, producing a loud sound.

"Boom boom boom..."

The drums began to sound again.

Chen Mo personally beat the drum to boost the army's morale.

At this time, the people led by Sun Meng also sequentially brought over the beating wood, rolling stones, and fire oil.

...

The sky gradually darkened.

Seeing the hour had arrived, but Zhuima City remained silent, Liang Song knew his plan had failed, yet he still ordered, "Beat the drum, attack the city!"

He knew the rebel army was already scared out of their wits and would certainly not hold out, so they needed just two rounds to retake Zhuima City.

Of course, to prevent the rebel army from holding out, he also sent people to notify the garrison at Shiling County, asking them to aid.

Winter was approaching, and the group of rebel army inside the city was probably the last one.

"Boom boom boom..."

The sound of drums rose.

The Yu State Army launched an attack on the city.

"Release."

The injured Shi Meng gave an order, and the catapult that had been brought back once again hurled stone bullets at Zhuima City to cover the Yu State Army's assault.

Of course, the first to go up were definitely not the Yu State Army but the Yu State Army captives who had surrendered earlier.

Such appropriate cannon fodder for the siege should not be wasted.

The siege vehicle was also being pushed up and was ready at any moment.

"Hold your ground, no retreat..."

Facing the stone bullet attack, Chen Mo bent his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at the attacking Yu State Army.

He did not shoot the captives, targeting only the Yu State Army carrying the cloud ladders.

"Divine Brave Guards armed with Divine Arm Crossbows, listen to my command, aim at those carrying the cloud ladders and fire ferociously." Chen Mo ordered.

Under the signal soldier's transmission, everyone responded in unison, "Yes."

Clack!

The strong bow in Chen Mo's hand was on the verge of collapse and completely broke after shooting two more arrows.

Chen Mo had to replace it with an ordinary longbow, which, although a bit unfamiliar, was still sufficient for killing the enemy.

The stone bullets from the catapult killed many Celestial Master Army deserters, nearly injuring Xia Zhining.

Fortunately, being an Eighth-Grade Martial Artist, she dodged just in time.

The Celestial Master Army deserters had already started to flee.

However, Han Wu and his group strictly adhered to Chen Mo's orders, cutting down anyone coming down from the city walls with a single stroke.

The crossbow arrows from the Divine Arm Crossbow whistled through the wind, piercing through the armor into the chests of Yu State Army soldiers charging forward.

"Smash them." Xia Zhining commanded the Divine Brave Guards, urging them to hurl rolling stones at captives nearing the city wall.

"Hold the line."

Below the city, Sun Meng and Liu Ze watched the city gate.

The Celestial Master Army deserters on the walls were frightened, and the captives used by the Yu State Army as cannon fodder were also scared.

Thus, in less than a quarter-hour, the captives were beaten back by Chen Mo and the others.

Although these captives had surrendered, in Liang Song's eyes, they were only destined to die as cannon fodder.

Under the intimidation of the Yu State Army formation, the captives began pushing the siege vehicle for a second wave of attack.

Seeing that they were only killing captives, which were technically "their own people," it wasn't effective as it did not damage the core of the Yu State Army. Something had to change.

Chen Mo ordered Shao Jinneng to take a group of Xianzhen Guards, pick out former small leaders under Lu Yonggang from the deserters, and organize some to shout at the captives below, encouraging them to counterattack.

Chen Mo didn't know if this would work, but it was worth a try.

Surprisingly, it did have some effect.

For these Celestial Master Army captives who had surrendered to the court, faced with Liang Song forcing them to attack, they understood there was no way out.

But on the Zhuima City side, they were once on the same side, some might even have family or villagers among them.

Faced with such a choice, some turned around and started fighting back against the Yu State Army.

"Majestic."

The Yu State Army began their third wave of assault, and this time, the real Yu State Army joined in, advancing with crushing force against their own captives, coming back strong.

The Yu State Army's offensive was like an endless tide, one wave after another, seemingly unstoppable.

Chen Mo looked at the Celestial Master Army soldiers killed by the enemy on the walls, far fewer than the deserters killed by the supervision team below, making his heart grow cold.

"Pour all the fire oil down."

Chen Mo gave an order and personally beat the drum again, hoping to boost morale once more.

However, the Celestial Master Army's morale had reached rock bottom; more were fleeing than being killed by the enemy.

Fortunately, as it grew darker, and both armies were exhausted from the extended battle since morning, seeing that all three waves had been blocked, and with the inherent heavy casualties of siege warfare and the coming night, Liang Song had no choice but to order a halt to the attack.

Watching the Yu State Army retreat, the people on the walls breathed a sigh of relief.

They had held their ground.

But Chen Mo, looking at the bodies inside the city, was not optimistic.

After a moment's thought, he closed his eyes, making a decision in his heart.

Taking advantage of the army's rest, Chen Mo, on the pretext of guarding the front gate, had Sun Meng select three thousand still robust and resilient men from among the deserters, as well as those who resisted determinedly earlier, and dispatched all the Black Cavalry to guard the front gate.

In the dead of night, while the deserters thought they were safe and resting against the city wall, Chen Mo took the remaining Three Guards and went to the front gate.

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