Qi Wang, momentarily overcome with hot blood, was stopped by Yan Xiaohang and gradually calmed down. He told the attending servants: “Go investigate the capital’s situation. Report any palace movements to me immediately.”
Later, Yan Xiaohang would repeatedly think that if time could rewind, he would first give himself a big slap and take back those words “observe and wait”. What did Qi Wang’s life or death have to do with him? Let the princes fight it out, whoever wants to sit on the throne can sit on it. He just wanted to return to the capital, to be by his general’s side.
Yan Xiaohang never imagined that his “observing and waiting” would bring national destruction, territorial loss, and a long separation.
In the 26th year of Emperor Tai’s reign, rebels broke through the capital.
Emperor Tai fled in panic to the west. Some officials, inner court members, and Beijing citizens followed him to Shu, while others fled south with their families to Jing, Chu, and Huainan regions.
The Northern Yan cavalry contracted their defense lines, breaking through from the western line. Midway, they encountered the Ning Zhou military head-on.
The Northern Yan army, burning with rage, defeated the Ning Zhou rebel army. Fu Shen personally drew his bow and shot the rebel leader dead. Two Northern Yan soldiers climbed the Ning Zhou city walls and, taking advantage of the dark night, hung that head high on the city gate tower.
This battle established their might. The Northern Yan cavalry remained as brutal as ever, with no one daring to challenge their edge. In early July, the Northern Yan army joined the Gan Zhou army in Wuwei. Fu Shen gathered remnant troops from the northwest, reorganized, used Gan Zhou as a base, reclaimed and cultivated land, recuperated, and prepared for counterattack.
