Chapter 163 Jianwu
After Li Jiancheng and Lai Huer reached an agreement, things became simple. Li Jiancheng launched a feint attack in response, while Lai Huer contacted the noble families in the city. Occasionally, the city gates would be opened in the direction of his main attack.

But each time, the prison was closed again before the Sui army could take advantage of the opportunity to enter. The disputes between the royal family and the aristocratic families in Pyongyang became more and more intense. Some people even advised the king to die for the sake of the ancestral temple and the country.

Gao Yuan agreed after being silent for a long time in the court, which surprised the court officials. If they worked together, the hundreds of thousands of troops outside the city would not be enough to capture Pyongyang before the cold winter came.

So in a strange atmosphere, the person who said this immediately kowtowed and apologized, and the other civil and military officials also tried their best to persuade him, but Gao Yuan said nothing.

Political weakness and compromise will not be treated well, but will only make people become more aggressive.

Finally, at the agreed time, facing the wide open city gate, Lai Huer finally made a desperate effort and personally led the troops into the city, and the guards fled towards the palace.

Not only one city gate, but also the city gates that Li Jiancheng pretended to attack were all lost. The capital of Goguryeo was conquered in a ridiculous way.

Li Jiancheng only felt that this world was indeed a huge makeshift team. He could not imagine how those aristocratic officials of Goguryeo dared to turn themselves into fish and allow Lai Huer to chop them down.

Perhaps it was because they felt that Lai Huer could not stay in Goguryeo for long, and such an enclave would not be worth the loss for the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, as long as they compromised, they could get a result that satisfied both sides.

As agreed, Li Jiancheng did not enter the city to seize the credit. He only sent Luo Yi to control the city gate and arranged for Shan Xiongxin to lead a group of troops to station outside the city.

Lai Huer's side was going even more smoothly. They were now storming the palace gate. As long as they could break through, the overall situation would be decided.

In the palace city, members of the royal family led their troops to hold the fort, while those officials from aristocratic families were unwilling to even cover up and restrained the troops in their hands.

Seeing that the palace gate was about to be breached, Gao Jianwu was extremely anxious. Could it be that Li Jiancheng had broken the agreement? Then he could only escape through the secret passage. With the support of the troops in Liaodong City, he would still have a chance to make a comeback.

But he soon calmed down because he saw a group of soldiers with the Gao flag suddenly attacking the rear of the Sui army, and no one knew where they came from.

Lai Huer also regarded it as Gao Yuan's backup. Although he was attacked from both sides, he did not panic because he had someone to rely on. As long as Li Jiancheng came to help, the enemy would be the one to be attacked from both sides.

He immediately comforted the soldiers and ordered scouts to ask for help. Li Jiancheng also got the news soon and led his troops to march forward. But on the way, Zhang Huli reined in his horse and said to the soldiers behind him: "It would be better if they were all dead. Brothers, you can get all the gold, silver and treasures now. Go and grab them for me!"

With the cheers, the originally orderly formation immediately became chaotic. Li Jiancheng could not give orders at all and could only lead his personal guards back to the city gate.

Back at the city gate, Li Jiancheng's originally panicked expression returned to calm. It would definitely not be possible for him to kill Lai Huer directly. Not only would it be difficult to explain to the court, but the navy would also become alienated from him.

Lai Huer was struck by lightning when he heard the news that Li Jiancheng's troops were out of control. After asking for details, he was furious: "I have already reminded him that the Yanyun Iron Cavalry is a pervert and can be won over, but they must be kept outside the city. How can you bring them into the city? You are misleading me!"

Seeing that Lai Huer was in a bad situation and had no reinforcements, the officials of the noble families in the palace looked at each other in bewilderment. They did not expect that Gao had a trick up his sleeve, and immediately decided to abandon the agreement with Lai Huer. With their participation, the troops in the palace were not only enough to hold the city, but they could even attack the Sui army from outside the palace, and Lai Huer began to retreat.

The troops that inexplicably appeared in the rear suddenly opened a gap, allowing a small group of Sui troops to escape. If there was no gap, the Sui army, which was trapped in a desperate situation with no way out, would probably have burst out with powerful combat power.

But with this opening, their momentum was deflated. Lai Huer struggled to hold on, but his troops were getting fewer and fewer. The navy that had escaped, seeing that no one was chasing them, some naval officers and officers organized themselves to return for support.

But the soldiers were reluctant to do so, especially since they were facing the Yanyun Iron Cavalry who were burning, killing and looting. Every knight's horse was wrapped, and in the gaps between the wrapped horses, the luster of various gold, silver and jewels could be seen.

As a result, the navy completely lost restraint under the ups and downs, and began to join in the looting. When they felt they could not carry the load anymore, they fled out of the city in a swarm.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Li Jiancheng ordered Shan Xiongxin to intercept the soldiers escaping from the city gates and collect their property. Anyone who dared to disobey would be executed immediately!

Then he led Luo Yi's troops to rush to rescue Lai Huer, who at this time had already fallen in front of the Goguryeo palace gate with blood all over his face, several arrows stuck in his chest, and his angry eyes were full of unwillingness.

However, the troops that attacked Lai Huer did not stop fighting and continued to attack the palace. The ministers of Goguryeo thought that Gao Yuan wanted to settle accounts with them, so they immediately knelt down and begged for mercy from Gao Jianwu, asking him to say something good about them in front of Gao Yuan.

But Gao Jianwu couldn't be happy. He was shaking in disbelief. He originally thought that it was the troops arranged by Li Jiancheng, but now he realized that the cavalry general leading the troops was his cousin, Gao Teng, the former defender of Liaodong City.

Shouldn't they be waiting for his transfer order outside the city? Why are they here? How could this happen?
Gao Jianwu ran towards the palace, leaving the ministers behind in astonishment. With the appearance of Gao Teng, the already exhausted palace guards no longer resisted and let them in.

Faced with the aristocratic officials who were fawning and begging for mercy, Gao Teng killed them all with a grim smile. Li Jiancheng then arrived and entered the palace unimpeded, following Gao Teng slowly.

All that could be seen along the way were corpses, with palace guards and eunuchs lying on the roadside in large numbers, and a bloody path leading directly to the Goguryeo's imperial hall.

After clearing out some of the imperial guards who came to support, Li Jiancheng walked into the hall under the protection of Luo Yi, slowly sat down on Gao Yuan's throne, and quietly waited for the result he wanted.

A moment later, Gao Teng came out of the back hall holding two heads in his hands. He casually threw one of them to the bottom of the stairs. It turned out to be Gao Jianwu, who was incredulous. He held the head that was still bleeding and walked to Luo Yi's side and knelt down towards Li Jiancheng: "This is the head of the state, Gao Yuan."

Li Jiancheng smiled and said, "Your Highness Jianwu has worked hard. According to our agreement, all the nobles in the city have been slaughtered. I will also report to the emperor and order you to be crowned as the king. If anyone dares to disobey the order, the imperial court will send a million strong troops to help Your Highness restore order!"

"Jianwu, I bow to thank the general."

………………

(End of this chapter)