The affair was far from over. It had only just begun.
At Li Yunjing's courtyard residence, Zhao Qi and Su Muqing had also heard the commotion and even learned what had happened from the neighbors.
Though both women were anxious, they knew Li Yunjing was exhausted and did not go into his bedroom to wake him.
While Li Yunjing slept soundly, the Chang'an Dynasty's three great armies completed their encirclement of Zixiao City at dusk.
A million troops barely managed to surround the vast city, which spanned a thousand li!
The Wei Wu Army held the east, the Imperial Guard Army the west, and the Frontier Army the south. Only the lake to the north remained without troops stationed there.
But murderous intent lurked beneath its waters. The Heaven-Punishing Bureau, the Heavenly Supervision Bureau, the Imperial Clan Court, the Hall of Venerable Masters... every agency of the court had dispatched experts to the front to serve the armies.
They surrounded three sides and left one open!
Any attempt to escape by water would be courting death.
The court's elite were no ordinary opponents!
Grand Preceptor Zhao Wuji and Prince Li, Zhao Wushuang, were both among the Chang'an Dynasty's foremost experts. Neither could defeat Xiao Yuntian alone, but if they joined forces, even Xiao Yuntian might not be able to subdue them!
The flames of war were about to ignite!
Xiao Yuntian gathered his trusted followers at the City Lord Mansion to discuss their plans.
A luminous map hovered in the center of the hall, clearly displaying the situation inside and outside the city.
"Today, we captured twenty-three court spies and killed eleven."
Xiao Han reported, "According to their confessions, their primary objective was to sabotage the Nine Heavens Cloud-Moving Wind and Thunder Array. Their secondary objectives were to disrupt order