780. Withdraw

“Duke Wei gave me two tasks…”

The chief guard suddenly stopped speaking and glanced at the two armoured soldiers behind him.

Nangong Qianrou looked at his two subordinates and said:

“You are dismissed!”

“Yes!”

The two soldiers withdrew and shut the door behind them.

The chief guard took the opportunity to sit by the table and first brought out a brocade pouch.

“Duke Wei’s first task was this: after the late Emperor died, if Her Highness Huaiqing wished to seize the throne for the Fourth Prince, I was to come here and find someone. To be honest, before coming here I did not remember Gold Gong Nangong. There was only an address inside the pouch.”

Nangong Qianrou nodded.

“This is the Arcanists’ art of concealing Heaven’s secrets. In the capital, I don’t think anyone remembers me any more.”

He knew his own circumstances best. Apart from his adoptive father, he had never been close to anyone, and the shallower the karmic ties, the easier it was to forget him.

It was like how, if a person lost their parents, they would remember it for life, but the disappearance of a stranger would never weigh on their heart.

“You just said that if Her Highness Huaiqing seized the throne for the Fourth Prince, you were to come find me. Then why did you call Her Highness Huaiqing ‘Her Majesty’?” Nangong Qianrou could not help voicing the doubt in his heart.

“Her Highness Huaiqing has ascended the throne. Silver Gong Xu helped her to it,” the chief guard said with a smile.

…

It took Nangong Qianrou quite a while to digest this earth-shaking news. In astonishment, he said:

“Xu Qi’an helped her ascend the throne? Wait, how did Yuanjing die?”

“The late Emperor was personally slain by Silver Gong Xu. Not long after Duke Wei died, Silver Gong Xu advanced to beyond-mortal. Now he is even a second rank martial artist.” The chief guard’s face was full of admiration.

“W-wait!”

Nangong Qianrou raised a hand to interrupt him. After sitting there blankly for a long time, he asked with an uncertain expression:

“In what year of Yuanjing’s reign did Duke Wei invade Mount Jing City?”

“This year’s spring sacrifice has only just passed. Duke Wei campaigned against Mount Jing City last autumn, about five months ago,” the chief guard replied in an utterly certain tone.

So I really have only been here for five months, not five years, and certainly not fifty…

Nangong Qianrou pinched the bridge of his nose.

“If there is no hurry, tell me first what has happened outside.”

The chief guard at once gave him a simple summary, beginning with Wei Yuan’s death, then Xu Qi’an facing three hundred thousand troops of the Church of the Warlock God alone outside Yuyang Pass with a single sabre, then after returning to the capital storming Jinluan Hall in fury and slaying the incompetent ruler Yuanjing, and then all the various deeds from his travels through the jianghu, right up to the recent tribulation-crossing battle.

Though it had already been told in very broad strokes, Nangong Qianrou was still left dumbstruck, his face dazed.

“So that’s how it is…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose again, seized by a sense of life’s passing in the mountains while a thousand years had already gone by in the world.

When Sun Xuanji had hidden him away, if he remembered correctly, that grinning brat who only knew how to fight him for favour had merely been at fifth rank cultivation. a second rank was at the beginning of fifth rank.

“Go on then. What was the second task my father gave you?”

The chief guard answered frankly:

“The pouch Duke Wei gave me said that Xu Qi’an and the Sitianjian would do everything in their power to resurrect him. If there were any signs of movement at the Stargazing Tower, I was to leave the capital at once and come find you, then have you open the third pouch. Duke Wei gave me the address of this place.”

As chief guard, wherever His Majesty went, he followed.

He had seen the happenings at the Stargazing Tower clearly.

“Father has returned to life?”

A flush instantly spread across Nangong Qianrou’s cheeks, blooming into a vivid crimson.

His whole body trembled slightly, and he fixed the chief guard with a gaze that was both excited and fierce.

In the orange-yellow light, there was a crystal gleam in his eyes.

“This is the pouch Duke Wei gave me.” The chief guard directly took it out and handed it over.

He believed that no words could be as effective as this pouch.

Nangong Qianrou snatched it away and unfolded it impatiently.

After reading it over and over, his nose stung. He drew a deep breath and did not let the tears fall.

Then Nangong Qianrou got up, dragged a wooden chest out from beneath the bed, and took out two more brocade pouches.

Without avoiding the chief guard beside him, he first opened the pouch marked with the character “Two”.

“Qianrou, I left a Blood Pill for Xu Qi’an. After I died in battle at Mount Jing City, he would already be a man driven to the brink. Either he would advance to fourth rank and then take the Blood Pill to strike at beyond-mortal, or he would die to Zhende’s schemes.

“He carries fortune upon him, so he would most likely weather this disaster safely.

“With his temperament, the first thing he would do after advancing to beyond-mortal would certainly be to kill Zhende.

“The Crown Prince is weak in character and content with pleasure. He cannot shoulder the great burden. Huaiqing, by contrast, has always had ambition and possesses resolve. She is highly likely to use the opportunity to join hands with Xu Qi’an and stage a coup to seize the throne.

“However, the Great Feng has not yet reached the point of utter ruin. The ministers at court recognise only the Crown Prince as the rightful heir, and so usurpation would be difficult and internal strife would be unwise. Therefore, you must assist Huaiqing in suppressing the Imperial Guards, so that the overall situation may be settled as swiftly as possible.

“With the combat power of ten thousand heavy cavalry, you are fully equal to the task.”

So he really had wanted me to help Huaiqing seize the throne…

Nangong Qianrou put down the note and opened the third pouch.

“Qianrou, when you open this pouch, it means Huaiqing did not seize the throne. Then your next task is to launch a surprise attack on Yunzhou.

“Among the thirteen provinces of the Great Feng, Yunzhou’s population is only slightly larger than Chuzhou’s. If Xu Pingfeng wishes to use Yunzhou as his base and march north to attack the Great Feng, then no matter how thorough his prior preparations are, insufficient troop strength will be his greatest weakness.

“There will not be too many troops left behind to garrison Yunzhou. Of course, that still does not mean an ordinary army could swallow it. That is why this heavy cavalry force, which I poured my heart and soul into forging, now has its use. From the horse breeds to the armoured soldiers, and the armour you wear and the weapons you use, all are magical artefacts, enough to sweep aside a thousand armies.

“Through mental suggestion, I will make sure that after I return to life I remember that the trump card for defeating the enemy is a surprise attack on Yunzhou, but I will not remember you. Therefore, you must question the hidden agent I send, learn the specific war situation in the Great Feng and Yunzhou, and decide according to circumstances.

“If the Great Feng army proves too weak and is jointly suppressed by the Yunzhou army and the Buddhist troops of the Western Regions, or if the two armies are still using Qingzhou as the battlefield and remain locked in a contest of strength, or if there is any beyond-mortal expert left behind guarding Yunzhou, then you are to abandon the plan of a surprise attack on Yunzhou, and have the hidden agent who notified you return swiftly to the capital and report to me.

“I will change strategy, give up the plan of a swift resolution, and try to take command of the army and contend with the Yunzhou forces on the main battlefield.”

Father never even considered that, by the time he woke, the Great Feng might already be doomed? Well, if it really comes to that, Xu Qi’an and Huaiqing probably would not revive him anyway…

Nangong Qianrou slowly let out a turbid breath.

He looked at the chief guard and said:

“At present all the beyond-mortal experts are away at war, and the Yunzhou army has suffered losses and is pressing on Yongzhou. Is this not the perfect chance for a surprise attack on Yunzhou?”

The chief guard smiled.

“I think it is.

“Her Majesty said that Xu Pingfeng leaves nothing unaccounted for and would never give the Great Feng a chance to raid Yunzhou. But he would not know about this heavy cavalry under Gold Gong Nangong’s command. After all, even Duke Wei could not remember you all.”

Nangong Qianrou let out another foul breath.

“Good! Troops are raised for a thousand days to be used in a single moment. I shall lead them south at once.”

The chief guard cupped his fists.

“May Gold Gong Nangong return in triumph!”

…

Stargazing Tower.

Beneath the night sky, Wei Yuan stood at the edge of the Bagua Platform, overlooking the sleeping capital.

He first gazed southward and remained silent in thought.

Then he looked to the north-east, his brows tightly furrowed.

Now that he had returned to life, the Confucian Sage’s seal had broken, and the Warlock God had returned to its former state. Breaking the seal was only a matter of time.

Thinking back now, if he had not fought his way to the Church of the Warlock God’s main altar, then by now the Warlock God would already have completely broken free of the seal.

The Gu God is not far from breaking its seal either. As for that one in the Western Regions, his condition remains unclear, but presumably he is in much better shape than the Gu God and the Warlock God. A great calamity is approaching.

Wei Yuan then turned and looked towards the northern frontier.

“You little brat, even Luo Yuheng has become your dual cultivation partner.”

In truth, he had already vaguely guessed what Xu Qi’an was planning, but he had not told Huaiqing.

After cursing with a smile, he said softly:

“You did very well.”

Of course, he was not referring to the matter of bedding the greatest beauty in the Great Feng and then also bedding the Great Feng’s National Teacher.

The fact that Xu Qi’an could shoulder the Great Feng after him, that was what was good.

…

Yongzhou City.

Yongzhou City had already been sealed off for several days. The common people and soldiers within the city were all forbidden from entering or leaving.

The defenders on the walls patrolled day and night, while warriors of the Dark Gu Tribe from the shaman clans acted as scouts, monitoring every movement of the Yunzhou army from within the shadows.

So long as they did not approach the Yunzhou army too closely, the Dark Gu Tribe’s warriors were the most covert of scouts.

For the past few days, the whole of Yongzhou City had been shrouded in an atmosphere of fear and unease, especially among the common people, who thought every day of fleeing the city for their lives. The spies of Tianjigong fanned the flames within the city, spreading panic, stirring the people to revolt, and urging them to storm the gates.

Yao Hong, the Administrative Commissioner of Yongzhou, found it impossible to restrain them, because among those commoners and nobles who wished to leave Yongzhou City was none other than himself.

Everyone knew Yongzhou could not be held. After Xunzhou fell, the Great Feng had fewer than five thousand elite troops left and retreated to defend Yongzhou.

With so few soldiers, how could they resist the Yunzhou army glaring covetously outside the city?

In the end, the one who resolved the matter was Xu Erlang. He killed Yao Hong, then had the leader of the Corpse Gu Tribe turn Yao Hong into a puppet, first stabilising Yongzhou’s official circles.

Then, under the banner of punishing the heartless rich, he confiscated the estates and exterminated the families of several great clans that had stirred up the fiercest trouble, arrested the rioters and beheaded them in public as a warning, and then used the wealth and grain seized in the confiscations to relieve the people, while standing before the porridge sheds and painting rosy promises for the common folk with his glib tongue.

Xu Erlang was extremely eloquent and highly skilled at swaying hearts, though he normally used that talent only to verbally tear people apart. Put another way, the fact that he could abuse people with such marvellous artistry was itself proof of his eloquence.

With both grace and severity employed, the people of the city indeed became much more obedient.

After finishing his city inspection, Xu Erlang returned to the barracks and saw Chu Caiwei leading soldiers carrying bucket after bucket of fish into the kitchen.

These fish had been caught from the river in Yongzhou City. Besides being food, they were also a kind of “medicine”, more precisely, fish skin was a medicinal ingredient used specifically to treat burns.

Because of cannon fire, flaming oil and the like, there were many burn victims among the Great Feng army.

If such wounds were not treated promptly, they would soon fester and become infected, and in the end death would be the only outcome. Yet the shortage of medicinal supplies made it impossible for every wounded soldier to be treated.

So Chu Caiwei had invented the use of fish skin to treat burns. One need only cover the burned area with fish skin to prevent infection.

This truly was the sort of method only Chu Caiwei could have developed.

Xu Erlang entered the barracks and was walking towards his own room when he ran into his teacher, Zhang Shen.

“You came at the right moment!”

Zhang Shen said in a grave voice:

“The imperial seal carrying eunuch has just arrived through the teleportation array in the barracks. He was sent by His Majesty. I am going to summon all the fourth ranks for a council.”

As the central prefectural city of Yongzhou, Yongzhou City had a teleportation platform built here by Sun Xuanji, though the teleportation array could carry people no farther than within a single province.

“What is it?”

Xu Erlang asked.

Zhang Shen’s expression instantly turned ugly.

“His Majesty has issued an edict ordering us to withdraw from Yongzhou tonight.”

Xu Erlang’s face also darkened.

780. Withdraw

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