Chapter 111 Mist and Fire
The gate of Linzi city slowly opened.

More than 20,000 Qi County rebels came out one after another and slowly formed a battle array in the south of the city. On the big banner in the battle array was inscribed "General, King of Chengyang Murong Xuan".

Such a large-scale action by the rebels naturally alarmed the entire Yan army. After learning the military situation, General Lou Jushi immediately ordered all troops to prepare for the expedition.

"The rebels are ready to fight to the death. Send orders to all units to quickly beat the drums to gather the troops, prepare for battle, and follow orders without error."

After forming a battle formation, the more than 20,000 rebels slowly advanced southwestward along the Zibo River, apparently intending to break into the Lushan Mountains along the Zibo River.

Upon seeing this, Mr. Lou immediately gave orders for all the troops to assemble at the rear and to block the way back to the city as soon as the rebels advanced.

The general Zhao Yi, who was camped between the Lushan Mountains, was an obstacle that the rebels had to break through if they wanted to escape.

Murong Xuan felt relieved as he watched the Yan army gradually encircling him.

At this time, Mr. Lou was a little confused. Was Murong Xuan going to fight to his death?

However, the subsequent news made him feel a little absurd. Murong Xuan was using him as bait. Why would he fight for a chance to survive?

A cavalry of several hundred people came out of the west gate and rushed into the area between Jiuding Mountain and Heitie Mountain. There was indeed a narrow road between the two mountains, but it could only accommodate a small number of people. Murong Xuan led the army out, and Master Lou did not care about this small road at all. Moreover, there were also cavalrymen of the Yan army roaming on this small road.

"Pass the order, all troops move forward and advance."

A few days later, Murong Ying received the battle report from Linzi at Dushan Lake.

King of Qi Murong Ju and General Lou Jushi jointly submitted a petition, and Linzi was recovered.

The traitor Murong Xuan led his men to break out and was killed in battle, along with many of his trusted old subordinates. The rest of the men surrendered.

However, his son Murong Sanzang, Murong Shangshi, nephew Murong Xia, and close confidants Jia Xiong, Zou Wuben, Yang Xianguo all managed to escape and their whereabouts are unknown.

In addition, the Beihai and Donglai counties were basically pacified, and Wang Bozhong led his troops to escape into the mountains.

Murong Ying was not very satisfied with the battle report and was about to issue an edict to kill all the surrendered soldiers. But after thinking about it, he felt that it was not right.

Gao Zhixing saw Murong Ying's dilemma, so he suggested: "Sage, if we kill all these surrendered soldiers, it will harm the harmony of heaven. It is better to exile them to Youzhou and Bingzhou and serve in the border army."

Murong Ying thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Here, Emperor Murong Ying and his ministers were playing music in the hall on the dragon boat, and had no idea that a heavy fog had risen in Weishan Lake.

Li Yuanhui's ship was behind the dragon boat, not from a distance, and was several miles away, so he could no longer see the tall and wide dragon boat.

We can only see nearby warships and canal ships. If we are attacked in this weather, it will not be good.
As soon as this thought flashed through my mind, something strange happened.

"The dragon boat was attacked!"

"The dragon boat was attacked!"

Even miles away, loud shouts could be heard from the front.

"The tyrant emperor Murong Ying, today this Dushan Lake is where you will be buried! Kill! Juye Zeliang Wu is here again!"

"The Wagang rebels are here again!"

At this time, hundreds of fishing boats and small boats, under the cover of thick fog, rushed towards the dragon boat where Murong Ying was at an extremely fast speed.

Murong Ying also reacted after hearing the sound. He walked out of the cabin and looked at the small boat with fire rushing towards him not far from the flank. He was horrified.

The tower ships guarding the dragon boats on both sides were unable to stop the agile small boats. Although they quickly sank dozens of small boats with their poles, more than ten small boats still broke through the tower ship's defense network and rushed to the front of the dragon boats with their small hulls and easy evasion advantages. The front of these small boats was filled with kerosene and firewood, and they were immediately ignited when they approached the dragon boat. After the fire was ignited, the people on the boats quickly jumped into the water and fled.

Soon, the dragon boat's hull was set on fire.

Li Yuanhui, standing on the top of the ship several miles away, could vaguely see the flames and billowing black smoke through the fog.

"Quick, the dragon boat is on fire, go full speed ahead to protect the emperor!"

At the same time, Liang Wu, the bandit from Juye Lake, and Zhai Rang, the leader of the Wagang rebel army, were standing on a transport boat that had been seized earlier. They celebrated when they saw the dragon boat being lit in the distance.

"Hahahaha, King Liang, this time, thanks to the help of your heroes from Juye Lake, we were able to accurately grasp the hydrological weather on Dushan Lake and Weishan Lake. The tyrant Murong Ying will not be able to escape this time."

Liang Wu was wearing a black cloth shirt, which looked very thin, and his chest was open. He had a short beard and looked very rough. "Mr. Zhai, you are too polite. It was all thanks to the intelligence of the Wagang righteous army and Mr. Yang's planning that we won today. I will definitely get drunk with Mr. Zhai and the Wagang righteous men later."

"Hahahaha, well, it's a natural thing!"

At this time, Yang Sui, who was standing on the side, said: "Lord Zhai, King Liang, our surprise attack was successful this time because of the cover of the fog, which caught the Yan army off guard. We need to withdraw our troops as soon as possible, otherwise the fleet behind the Yan army will outflank us, which will be bad."

Liang Wu nodded and said, "Mr. Yang is right. Pass the order, the men, hurry up!"

As the gong sounded, the Juye Lake bandits and the Wagang Army rebels who were still fighting with the Yan army's large ships in small boats immediately began to retreat.

Li Yuanhui's large ship was moving at full speed and was finally within a mile of the dragon boat.

Although the burning small boat next to the dragon boat had been knocked away by the warships of the Yan army navy, the fire on both sides of the dragon boat could no longer be controlled, and the entire dragon boat was filled with billowing black smoke.

Murong Ying and a group of nobles who arrived above the water palace stood there in panic, watching the fire on both sides continue to rise.

"Saint, the only way out now is to abandon the ship and save our lives. The enemy troops have already fled, so abandon the ship!"

Gao Zhixing looked at the fires on both sides and was choked by the smoke and could hardly open his eyes.

Murong Ying also knew that if he didn't act decisively, he might be burned to death on the ship, so he made up his mind and jumped down from the deck.

Murong Ying jumped, and the rest of the people also jumped off the boat to survive.

Gao Zhixing did not jump in a hurry, but shouted with Feng Jin and others, "The saint has fallen into the water, hurry up and save him."

Li Yuanhui's Wu Ya warship finally caught up, and he quickly dispatched sailors to work with the surrounding large ships to rescue Murong Ying and Murong Yang, father and son, who had fallen into the water, as well as a group of nobles.

The water of Huishan Lake in October was icy cold. Murong Ying, who had just experienced a major epidemic in the south, choked on water again. After being rescued onto Li Yuanhui's large ship, he was quickly sent to the cabin for treatment.

Soon after, Murong Yang was also fished out, trembling and shivering all over, and was hurriedly sent into the cabin.

Most of the people on the dragon boat were rescued and placed on various warships.

After Murong Ying was rescued, he had fallen into a coma. After the doctor came on board and examined him, he found that due to the lack of medicinal materials, the fleet rushed forward and docked in Rencheng to replenish charcoal and medicinal materials.

Murong Ying was still in a coma. General Duan Yihong and Li Shenfu discussed and decided that the saint's body was unwell and he should stay in Rencheng to recuperate for a while.

Murong Ying had a high fever for several days thereafter, and finally recovered after a few days of recuperation and treatment.

After he woke up, he immediately ordered the fleet to advance at full speed and return to Luoyang. At the same time, he issued an edict ordering Prince of Qi Murong Ju, General Lou Jushi, General Zhendong Gao Huang and others to return to the capital quickly. General Zheng Guo of the Left was temporarily appointed as the governor of Qingzhou.

Li Yuanhui had already noticed some signs. After all this trouble, his father-in-law might have to go to meet the ancestors of Dayan in advance.

(End of this chapter)