The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 532- 534

Chapter 532: Extermination of the Royal Family

Ling Zhang’s sword strikes accompanied by a field of internal energy, just like the air he was emanating, were as powerful and unstoppable as thunderbolts. He was moving so nimbly and swiftly that none of the arrows could approach him. One moment he was here, but the next he materialized on the back of an enemy’s horse, cleanly slitting the rider’s throat with the blade of his sword.

Due to what he had been through in recent battles, each and every stroke of his sword was fatal. If he had an opportunity to kill the target with one blow, he would never let it slip away and deal the target a second blow to finish him off.

Several cavalrymen at the front fell off their horses without notice before those behind them could see how their opponent attacked, blood spattered all over the ground.

It was at this very moment that fear clutched at their hearts once again. There was a reason why Ling Zhang had dared come here to intercept them single-handed!

Ling Zhang had taken the lives of several men in the blink of an eye and was fending off the blows from those surrounding him with great ease. Watching this scene, the Fifth Prince, whose judgement was blinded by his hunger for vengeance, and who was bent on capturing Ling Zhang to force Yuwen Tong into pulling out his forces, began to panic as well. After a few moments, he finally regained his composure. “How come this Ling Zhang guy has such consummate kung fu?! Isn’t he the empress?!” he said incredulously.

The Third Prince also had an ugly look on his face, his brow corrugating in a deep frown. Were they by any chance going to be killed by Ling Zhang in this place after they had had a hard job fleeing the capital and got so close to Zhangfei City?

“Join the fight, all of you. I want Ling Zhang captured, by hook or by crook. If you can’t restrain him, kill him!” said the Third Prince to the rest of his guards standing beside him.

The leader of the guards also felt that Ling Zhang was no sitting duck. After a brief moment’s hesitation, he sent another eight guards to help mob Ling Zhang.

But after that, the two princes had less than ten men in the vicinity of them, the leader of the guards included.

As the number of men dying to Ling Zhang’s sword doubled and then trebled, the princes sent another four guards, leaving only four men protecting them!

Everybody’s attention was drawn to Ling Zhang. None of them noticed that a man had quietly emerged from behind the top of a tree in a secluded corner and was now soundlessly sneaking up on the two princes!

“AAAARGH!”

An anguished sudden screech was heard. When those men spun around, the Fifth Prince had sunk to the ground, his hands holding his chest which had been penetrated by a blade from behind, blood gushing from the wound profusely.

The assailant, after assassinating the Fifth Prince, came at the Third Prince liked greased lightning. The leader of the guards, who had realized what was going on, promptly whipped out his saber and lunged at the attacker.

Yao Yi, as his blow was blocked, furrowed his brows briefly, then abruptly slapped the back of the Fifth Prince’s steed and leaped up, hurling his wicked-looking dagger at the Third Prince’s heart. The Third Prince tried to dodge aside but wasn’t quick enough and the dagger hit his arm, almost penetrating through it!

“WATCH OUT, YOUR HIGHNESS!” the leader of the guards shouted, eyes rounding with alarm, then wielded his long knife and slashed at Yao Yi.

Yao Yi backed away a few steps, feeling it a pity that his dagger failed to take the Third Prince’s life, but he did not give up and continued exchanging blows with the leader of the guards while trying to approach the Third Prince.

“Run, Your Highness! Zhangfei City is not far away. You’ll be safe once you get in there. We’ll hold them back and buy you some time!” The leader, knowing that the odds were against them, hastened to tell the Third Prince to flee right away.

Yao Yi’s eyes went cold. Under no circumstances would he let the Third Prince of the Wan Kingdom escape.

At the same time, Ling Zhang killed another few enemies. There were now less than ten men in the surrounding circle. He observed the Third Prince galloping in this direction, heedless of his army injury, attempting to ride around the roadblocks and flee to Zhangfei City.

Ling Zhang sneered and gave a bodyguard’s saber a kick, sending it flying squarely towards the Third Prince’s horse. The horse got hit, let out a pained neigh and thudded to the ground, throwing the Third Prince.

“Your Highness!”

The leader of the guards roared and wheeled around with the intention to rush to the prince’s rescue but was stopped by Yao Yi, who said, “Your opponent is me.”

“Today your life ends!” bawled the leader. Furious as he was, he still had sense enough to instruct the others to rescue the Third Prince. “GO HELP HIS HIGHNESS!”

The Third Prince, whose face was badly bruised in the fall, actually managed to lift himself to his feet and made towards the nearest horse with the intention to resume fleeing. At the sight of this, Ling Zhang killed the closest enemy with a stroke of his sword, abruptly leaped out of the surrounding circle which now consisted of less than six men and, in mid-air, swung his sword in a circle before hurling it straight towards the Third Prince.

With a puff, the sword penetrated through the Third Prince’s chest and, thrusting him, went into the tree behind him and pinned him to its trunk.

Ling Zhang landed in front of the Third Prince, pulled out his sword and watched his victim slump to the ground.

“You … ” the Third Prince trailed off, vomiting blood, his breathing feeble. Soon his pupils became unfocused.

Ling Zhang looked impassively at him. “There’s no way I’m letting any of you leave here alive. You should have seen this coming when the Wan Kingdom sent its troops to Shengzhou Pass.”

The Third Prince gave a cough and soon breathed his last.

“YOUR HIGHNESS!” Those guards yelled before charging at Ling Zhang, their eyes red with grief and fury, intending to kill him.

One by one, Ling Zhang killed all those coming at him. Blood soon dyed every inch of the ground red.

Yao Yi also disposed of the leader and the remaining couple of guards.

Silence reigned on the scene immediately. Yao Yi’s eyes raked the corpses on the ground. It was only after he had checked that the two princes’ bodies had gone cold that he found himself completely at ease.

“Send a signal to inform Xie Shi of our location, remove these bodies, then we wait for Jiang Xi and the others to arrive,” said Ling Zhang.

Yao Yi nodded, glanced in the direction of Zhangfei City, shot a signal flare to tell Xie Shi to come and rendezvous with them, and then cleared the scene of the dead quickly.

“I wonder if the garrison in Zhangfei City would send anybody here to check.”

Ling Zhang also looked in the direction of Zhangfei City. “Nobody’s coming our way, at least for now, but sooner or later we’ll take Zhangfei City. When the regroupment is done, our troops will depart from their capital, push north and take the northern prefecture of Zhangzhou.”

The whole Wan Kingdom would be under their control when they took Zhangzhou.

…

Before long, Xie Shi arrived. At the sight of the bodies on the ground, he came to know that Ling Zhang and Yao Yi had got the job done. Feeling that he had barely been helpful during this operation, he appeared faintly awkward.

“Would you like me to examine you, Your Highness?” asked Xie Shi, believing that he should make himself useful in some way.

Ling Zhang shook his head. “I’m fine.”

After another short while, Jiang Xi, He Xiao and Yuwen Jin also arrived, all of whom exhaled deeply in relief as they found that the two princes, along with all their guards, were dead, feeling that all the loose ends had now been tied up.

‘But … His Highness and Yao Yi are unbelievably badass. The two of them killed all these people unaided. We don’t have to do anything,’ they thought.

He Xiao, Yuwen Jin and Jiang Xi shared Xie Shi’s subtle feelings. It struck them that they had done nothing other than having a horseback trip, for which they didn’t think Yuwen Tong would give them much credit after they returned.

Ling Zhang said to them, “This place is not far away from Zhangfei City, and it’s likely the garrison there will soon get wind of what happened here. Let’s just dispose of these bodies and go back. Jiang Xi, do you think it necessary to have someone stay here, keeping an eye out for movements of the troops stationed in Zhangfei City and sending messages back to the capital city when there’s a situation? Our army won’t stay in the capital for long. They’ll soon arrive.”

Jiang Xi inclined his head. “You’ve got a point. How about this – I stay here with some men and make some inquiries; He Xiao and Yuwen Jin take the others and escort you back to the capital.”

He Xiao and Yuwen Jin agreed and escorted Ling Zhang back to the capital.

It was late at night when they returned to the capital. Lucky for them, there had not been any dangers during their journey back, and everybody arrived in the city safe and sound.

The Shan family, the royal household, had been wiped out. Officials who surrendered themselves were spared, those who refused to yield executed.

Yuwen Tong did not hurt any of the citizens who were not putting up resistance, and he gave his men a hint that they should make efforts to placate the natives. He also promised the citizens that he would guarantee their safety, that his soldiers would not plunder their houses. On top of that, he detailed some soldiers to patrol the streets and punish local ruffians who attempted to take advantage of the disarray to rob or murder citizens. The locals who had been gathering at the north city gates had cleared off and returned home in twos and threes. As long as Yuwen Tong did not try to kill them and they still had what they needed to continue with their lives, these citizens would set their minds at ease and make peace with the situation, for none of them wanted to be a refugee.

The Wan capital was a large city, and there were tons of arrangements to be made. Yuwen Tong had been fully occupied for a whole day without having a moment’s rest.

When Ling Zhang and Yuwen Jin returned, order had gradually been restored in the city after a whole day’s placatory work, and a semblance of peace had been brought about.

Ling Zhang, after hearing about it, directly went to see Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong was still busy, though it was very late.

The mess caused by the explosion in the royal palace of the Wan Kingdom had been cleaned up. Yuwen Tong was temporarily staying in the audience hall of the palace to deal with state affairs.

There were lamps still ablaze when Ling Zhang arrived. Before he entered, Yuwen Tong heard his footsteps and breathing and said, “You’re back. Are you hungry? Come here and sit. The food will be ready in a few moments.”

Yuwen Tong put down his writing brush and kneaded the bridge of his nose.

Ling Zhang had stripped down to his underwear.

As he saw Yuwen Tong kneading the bridge of his nose, Ling Zhang reached out his hands to give Yuwen Tong’s temples a massage. “It’s so late. You may deal with these tomorrow morning. It’s not like something would go wrong if you don’t finish these tonight.”

Yuwen Tong pulled Ling Zhang’s hands down and looked at him. “Why are you wearing so little? It’s cold at night.”

“My overgarment is terribly bloodstained. I’ve just taken it off and haven’t found time to change clothes yet. Stop stroking me. I’ve got blood and dust all over my body,” said Ling Zhang.

“The two princes of the Shan family are both dead, and so are their guards. I had Jiang Xi stay there staking out Zhangfei City,” Ling Zhang continued.

Yuwen Tong nodded. Now that Shan Congli’s two sons had both died, the royal household had been wiped out. It was a rather callous way to handle this kind of matters, but at least the problem had been solved once and for all and there wouldn’t be any trouble in the future.

“You must’ve had a tough day. Go and change clothes. We may grab a bite together in a moment,” said Yuwen Tong, worrying that Ling Zhang might catch cold.

Ling Zhang replied, “It’s okay. My constitution is far better than that of the next person now and I won’t catch cold that easily. Besides, it’s pretty warm in here. I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat first. And then we may go and have a bath together. It’s been a tough day for you as well.”

The look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes flickered slightly. “All right,” he said.

Next the two of them dined in the audience hall. Having had their fill of food, they bathed and, both feeling tired, went to sleep.

Chapter 533: Yuwen Tong’s Troops Storming into the Chaotic Luohai Kingdom

It was after ten days that an assault on Zhangfei City was mounted. The commander of the troops garrisoned in Zhangfei City had come to know that the royal household had been exterminated, and that more than half of the courtiers had capitulated, so there was little resistance against the army of the Great Wen, who took Zhangfei City without breaking a sweat.

After that, the army pushed straight north and then launched a two-pronged attack on Zhangzhou. The enemies there hardly put up any resistance; some of them even opened the city gates on their own account and welcomed the army of the Great Wen into the city.

Thus, before long they engaged the Wan forces stationed at the northern border, who had joined hands with some tribes to the north of the Wan Kingdom with the intention to defend against the army of the Great Wen. However, most crack troops of the border forces had died in the south. Though having some northern tribes at their back, they were still no match for Yuwen Tong’s army and, after a couple of fights, having lost over seventy percent of their men, fled north out of the country helter-skelter.

Yuwen Tong garrisoned a number of soldiers led by He Xiao in this border city in case those surviving enemies came back after the main force left.

For the moment Yuwen Tong could not spare any time to have his army pursue them, but he would find time to finish them off after reunifying the three countries.

It took them over a month to take the Wan capital and Zhangzhou and establish interim prefectural governments in the many prefectures.

After Zhangzhou was occupied, Yuwen Tong’s army covertly transferred to the east.

…

In the Luohai Kingdom.

Over half a month ago.

After the city gates of the capital were battered open, Nian Feng and his troops stormed into the city.

The Yuexi garrison had not been defeated but suddenly turned renegade and switched to Nian Feng’s side.

Mu Rongfeng had trusted the Yuexi garrison very much and even more so after the Yuexi garrison held the city against attacks from Nian Feng’s army for weeks, so it had never crossed his mind that the Yuexi garrison would turn traitor. He was utterly unprepared when Nian Feng’s men flooded into the royal palace. He took some guards and tried to make his escape but was caught by Nian Feng, who then tried to force him to write a royal edict of abdication.

By doing this, Nian Feng believed that he was taking his cue from what Yuwen Tong had done five years ago, heedless of the fact that he had directly laid siege to the capital city to take the throne, that he had some time ago become a usurper, which meant a royal edict of abdication wouldn’t do him any good whatsoever.

Mu Rongfeng refused. Why would he do the enemy’s bidding when his death was certain?

Nian Feng, beside himself with rage, killed Mu Rongfeng. A lot of Luohai courtiers hated Nian Feng’s guts after that.

Everybody believed that Nian Feng was going to accede to the throne, but unexpectedly, things took yet another drastic turn.

The Yuexi garrison, shortly after transferring allegiance to Nian Feng, turned traitor once again.

They shut the gates, locking Nian Feng’s main force out of the city, and at the same time surrounded the royal palace, trapping Nian Feng in it, putting him in the same position that Mu Rongfeng had once been in.

No one could have foreseen that the Yuexi garrison would change allegiance once again. When the whole royal court was in panic, Dugu Shan made his appearance, to whom the commander of the Yuexi garrison was very deferential.

“Nian Feng is a traitor who attempted to usurp the throne. According to the law, the punishment for that crime is extermination of his whole family,” said Dugu Shan after entering the royal palace.

Nian Feng, who was under the protection of some guards, was reduced to vomiting blood from fury as he came to realize that the Yuexi garrison had switched allegiance to Dugu Shan. Face contorting with rage, gnashing his teeth, he huffed, “Dugu Shan, you bastard have been in collusion with the Yuexi garrison all this time!”

“The Yuexi garrison just saw the error of their ways and decided to right their wrongs by joining me in assisting the Seventh Prince to ascend the throne and protecting the royal lineage.”

Beside Dugu Shan stood the seventh son of Mu Hengtian’s. He was fourteen or fifteen and appeared thin and weak, having little royal air about him. As Nian Feng cast a fierce glance at him, his legs started quivering.

Dugu Shan rested a reassuring hand against the young prince’s back and said, “Don’t be afraid, Your Highness. The throne belongs to the Mu family, as it always has. You’re His Majesty’s son, a man of the purest royal blood. Nian Feng is but a traitor and would-be usurper. You don’t have to be scared of him. Besides, he’s trapped in this place, and there’s nothing he could do to harm you.”

Naturally, Nian Feng was unreconciled to the situation and, along with his guards, crossed swords with the Yuexi garrison ringing the royal palace, attempting to fight their way out of the palace.

As the supreme commander of armed forces of the Luohai Kingdom, Nian Feng was no mean fighter. Several times he was within an inch of breaking out of the palace, but because he and his men were vastly outnumbered, they were defeated by the Yuexi garrison eventually. Dugu Shan gave the order for Nian Feng, grievously wounded, to be thrown into prison.

At that time, Lian Hai, standing right behind the courtiers, furrowed his brows as he saw Dugu Shan have Nian Feng restrained instead of killing him right away.

Dugu Shan, after throwing Nian Feng into prison, moved into the palace with the young prince and held a funeral for Mu Rongfeng. The young prince, not daring disobey Dugu Shan, stayed with him and trusted him very much, seeing him as someone he could rely on.

All courtiers were shocked by Dugu Shan’s strategies. When Mu Hengtian had still been alive, there had been a balance of power between Dugu Shan, Mu Rongfeng and Nian Feng; afterwards, with Mu Rongfeng being the new monarch and Nian Feng commanding a strong army, everybody had believed that Dugu Shan had been kicked out of the game, that he was bound to come to grief, considering both Mu Rongfeng and Nian Feng had wanted him dead.

But it had never crossed their minds that Dugu Shan, instead of struggling for his life, would actually counter-attack when the odds seemed to be heavily against him. He had first used Nian Feng to kill Mu Rongfeng, and then used the Yuexi garrison to eliminate Nian Feng!

The most unexpected part was the Yuexi garrison cooperating with Dugu Shan, which astounded everybody.

In fact Dugu Shan himself had also been amazed, but what had amazed him was the fact that Lian Hai, a chairman of a chamber of commerce, had actually managed to convince the Yuexi garrison to cooperate with the Dugu family. Outsiders did not know about it, but the inner circle of the Dugu family were aware that it had been Lian Hai who had made it happen.

Dugu Shan, who had always relied heavily on Lian Hai’s intelligence network, trusted Lian Hai even more after that.

As a result, when holding Mu Rongfeng’s funeral, he secretly summoned Lian Hai to consult with him.

He asked Lian Hai whether he should enthrone the prince and make him a puppet monarch or take the throne himself.

Of course, Dugu Shan did not put it explicitly. He just asked Lian Hai his opinion about it in a roundabout way.

Lian Hai immediately caught on to what Dugu Shan meant. Dugu Shan was no longer inclined to help the Seventh Prince succeed to the throne, and the idea of being a regent no longer struck him as appealing. He wanted to be the one sitting on the throne.

It was possible that Dugu Shan had been inspired by Nian Feng’s deeds. After all, in the beginning, Nian Feng, like him, had been a supporter of a prince. No one had bargained on Nian Feng abandoning the prince and trying to usurp the throne.

The difference was that Nian Feng had failed, but Dugu Shan had no rivals.

At this time, news of the fall of the Wan capital had spread to the Luohai Kingdom. Lian Hai had received a message saying that the northern prefecture of Zhangzhou would soon be taken as well, that the army would then push towards the Luohai Kingdom, but it would be some time before the army arrived. He had also received a secret instruction from Ling Zhang that he was to play for time and make sure Dugu Shan was too busy to muster an army.

As a result, Dugu Shan’s implication was virtually a godsend for Lian Hai, who immediately advised Dugu Shan, “I’m afraid I’m too short-sighted to be able to offer any constructive suggestions, but it strikes me that the Seventh Prince is weak and he doesn’t have what it takes to be a ruler.”

Dugu Shan narrowed his eyes at these words. Naturally, he was not really here to seek advice from Lian Hai, because after all Lian Hai was merely a chairman of a chamber of commerce, one of his servants, but Dugu Shan found Lian Hai’s words very pleasant to the ear.

“The Seventh Prince is just young. He’ll be ready for the responsibilities of a ruler when he grows up,” demurred Dugu Shan, hypocritically defending the Seventh Prince.

Lian Hai inwardly sneered, but his face wore an even more reverent look and he said, “I believe you’ve come to know what happened in the Wan Kingdom – their capital was nearly flattened by the army of the Great Wen. Shan Congli was a ruthless and cunning man, but he was still defeated by Yuwen Tong. From now on, Luohai is the only opponent of the Great Wen, and … if our new monarch is not strong enough, I’m afraid the Great Wen will run roughshod over us.”

Lian Hai skirted the subject of the prince’s age and gave Dugu Shan a cast-iron excuse to do what he wanted.

Unsurprisingly, Dugu Shan’s countenance changed somewhat at these words. “You’re right. The Great Wen has now annexed the Wan Kingdom, and there’s no guarantee Luohai won’t be their next target. If our monarch is too weak, we’ll sure as hell be at a serious disadvantage in future conflicts, and our people will suffer greatly.”

On hearing this, Lian Hai came to know that Dugu Shan had “taken” his advice, so he said no more.

Now that Dugu Shan had come up with the idea of enthroning himself, on no account would he be satisfied with continuing to be a regent, but he was faced with quite some obstacles to becoming the monarch, and the biggest one was that the reason why the Yuexi garrison was supporting him was because they wanted the Seventh Prince to be the monarch, not because they wanted Dugu Shan to be crowned. If by any chance the Yuexi garrison were angered by his attempt to take the throne and changed allegiance again, all Dugu Shan’s efforts might come to nought.

Therefore, Dugu Shan wanted Lian Hai to convince the Yuexi garrison. “Seeing as you convinced the Yuexi garrison to help me deal with Nian Feng, I believe you’ll have no problem making this happen.”

He was putting pressure on Lian Hai.

Lian Hai, fully aware of the situation, said, “Rest assured, Your Lordship, I’ll do whatever I can to get the job done.”

Dugu Shan squinted fixedly at Lian Hai, mistakenly believing that Lian Hai was unable to perceive the murderousness hidden in the depths of his eyes.

But Lian Hai pretended not to notice. After all, what he needed to do was play for time, and Dugu Shan was not his real master. Dugu Shan wanted to kill him, but there was no telling which one of them would end up being the victim.

The next day, Dugu Shan suddenly declared that he would keep vigil beside Mu Rongfeng’s coffin for another few days. Thus, the Seventh Prince’s enthronement ceremony was postponed, and the date for it had not been fixed yet.

…

When the Luohai Kingdom was mired in political turbulence, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had arrived at the border between the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom with their army. Dugu Shan was still daydreaming about ascending the throne when the army of the Great Wen launched an offensive on a Luohai border city!

At the same time, the gates of Youzhou Pass opened and the Youzhou garrison sallied forth in full strength.

…

The Luohai Kingdom was caught off guard by the two-pronged attack and two border cities were taken in succession before the court of the Luohai Kingdom knew it. The army of the Great Wen, with unstoppable momentum, occupied several border cities before the Luohai Kingdom reacted, and now they were advancing east.

Yuwen Tong’s army and the Youzhou garrison had taken two prefectures near the border when Dugu Shan received the message.

The Luohai courtiers panicked. All of them suggested Dugu Shan enthrone the Seventh Prince immediately and then muster an army to stop the invaders.

What with the previous civil strife, the Yuexi garrison which was the most important force defending the northern border and Nian Feng’s army had both been dispatched to the capital. Without the monarch’s order, neither armies could go anywhere.

Dugu Shan, naturally, was aware that the current situation was dire, but how could he give up when he was only one step away from kingship?!

Chapter 534: Inexorable Momentum

“Your Lordship, the commander of the Yuexi garrison has been swayed. Given a little more time, I’ll be able to rope him in. If you give up at this point in time, all our efforts will come to nought.” Lian Hai tried to dissuade Dugu Shan.

Dugu Shan paced up and down anxiously. Naturally he also wanted to buy himself more time, but the courtiers had already begun to put pressure on him, and the young prince had been casting uncharacteristic glances at him in the past few days too. On top of that, the army of the Great Wen had been advancing so quick – they were about to take the second prefecture!

“Your Lordship, you’re within an inch of taking the throne. If you let this opportunity slip away, it wouldn’t be easy to have the Seventh Prince abdicate in favor of you. Please think twice,” added Lian Hai.

“I see. I need some more time to think it through. You may leave.” Dugu Shan came to a halt.

Lian Hai, knowing that Dugu Shan would become suspicious if pushed too hard, took his leave.

When Lian Hai had left the Dugu family, the look in his eyes changed.

Dugu Shan was hesitating again and would very likely choose to give up eventually. In fact, considering the current circumstances, even if the Seventh Prince acceded to the throne, it wouldn’t make much difference, but if by any chance Nian Feng was released at the request of some courtiers, the Great Wen would be faced with a formidable opponent.

Lian Hai hastened back to the chamber of commerce and immediately made arrangements for some men to perform a secret task.

That very night, Nian Feng died of poisoning in the prison.

Because Nian Feng had been a traitor, most people did not give much thought to his sudden death, speculating whether or not it had been Dugu Shan who had poisoned Nian Feng.

But there were also a small number of people who felt that Nian Feng had died in very suspicious circumstances, that something was not quite right.

Dugu Shan, after being informed of Nian Feng’s death, immediately summoned Dugu Miao and, believing that it had been Dugu Miao who had done it, asked him the reason.

“Father, it wasn’t me who did that. I didn’t have the time for that,” explained Dugu Miao.

Dugu Shan frowned. “Then who did it?”

Dugu Miao gave it some thought and then said, “There were a lot of courtiers holding grudges against Nian Feng. Mu Rongfeng’s supporters, for instance, hated his guts. It’s possible that one of them went to the Court Prison and killed him when no one was watching.”

Dugu Shan did not rule out that possibility. By killing Mu Rongfeng, Nian Feng had destroyed the inexhaustible wealth and lifelong glory of his supporters, who did have a reason to kill Nian Feng out of hatred, but Dugu Shan still had a vague hunch that there was something fishy behind this matter.

“Father, I don’t see why we should be bothered by Nian Feng’s death. I mean, it won’t affect us in any way. Actually the murderer did us a favor by killing him. Right now our first priority is to convince the Yuexi garrison to help you accede to the throne! Didn’t Lian Hai say that the commander has been swayed? I think our next step is for you to pay a personal visit to the commander to show your sincerity,” said Dugu Miao.

Dugu Shan, however, made no immediate remarks, still wavering.

If he paid a personal visit to the Yuexi garrison, his intentions would be exposed thoroughly, and he would be past the point of no return. The current situation was urgent, and if by any chance the Yuexi garrison suddenly decided to support the Seventh Prince, then his plan to take the throne would undoubtedly be used against him and might even lead to his death.

“How far has Yuwen Tong’s army got?” inquired Dugu Shan.

Dugu Miao was surprised by the question. For the past few days he had been busy helping make preparations for his father’s plan to take the throne, and had not paid any attention to the movements of Yuwen Tong’s army.

At the sight of his son’s facial expression, Dugu Shan came to know that Dugu Miao had not bothered keeping abreast of enemy troop movements at all, knitting his brows.

Dugu Shan was now a de facto regent, and military reports were delivered to his desk on a daily basis, so he better than anybody knew how far the army of the Great Wen had got. He asked Dugu Miao that question only to calm him down, but it turned out that Dugu Miao knew nothing about it.

“Yuwen Tong has taken both of the border prefectures and reached Zizhu City. His army is pushing towards this city as we speak.”

Dugu Miao jerked out of his trance, looking shocked. “How did he take all those cities in such a short time?!”

…

The military reports were not up-to-date. The army of the Great Wen had some time ago past Zizhu City and had already taken Zhongjiang City, which was the nearest to Zizhu City.

Zhongjiang City was at the center of Zhongzhou, and Wanzhou was the only prefecture between it and the Luohai capital.

“Dugu Shan is on the verge of giving up. At this rate, the Yuexi garrison and the troops left by Nian Feng will soon join forces,” said Ling Zhang after reading an urgent letter from Lian Hai.

Yuwen Tong composedly inclined his head and, looking at the map on the desk, said, “Delaying them for this long constitutes an achievement, I would say. Considering the Youzhou garrison has rendezvoused with us, even if we encounter the Luohai army, we’ll have a very good chance of winning.”

Many of their troops had been garrisoned in the many cities of the Wan Kingdom which they had just taken. Also, there had been some casualties during the previous battles, so the army Yuwen Tong had led into the Luohai Kingdom was considerably smaller, with less than 100,000 troops.

They would never have taken the two border cities that easily if the Luohai Kingdom had tried to hold the cities with all its strength. However, at that time, the commanders of the Luohai troops stationed in the border cities had not been able to spare a thought for deploying defenses, which was why Yuwen Tong’s army had taken the cities quickly.

The Youzhou garrison, after defeating a Luohai army stationed outside Youzhou Pass which had had only one fourth of its original strength, had quickly marched north and taken three cities in a row before joining forces with the army led by Yuwen Tong eventually. The army, its strength quadrupled, was now so strong that the main force of the Luohai Kingdom didn’t stand a chance of winning.

How was the Luohai army, which on the surface had been reserving its strength all along but in fact had been slack in training, supposed to defeat the army of the Great Wen which enjoyed victorious and inexorable momentum, and which even the Wan cavalry had failed to hold back?

“I’ve told Lian Hai to figure out a way to get out of the Luohai capital. There’s a high chance Dugu Shan will become suspicious of him if he stays there,” said Ling Zhang.

But Lian Hai and Han Shu, both of whom harbored hatred towards the Luohai Kingdom, probably would not easily give up their chance to watch the Luohai capital fall with their own eyes.

Yuwen Tong, who had a general idea of the reasons why the two men had chosen to join the chamber of commerce, said, “You may let them do what they want, as long as they don’t rat you out.”

Ling Zhang had faith in Lian Hai and Han Shu, but in fact, considering how things stood, it wouldn’t make much difference if his relations with Jiahe Chamber of Commerce were brought to light.

“Should our next step be staying here for a couple of days or resuming going north tomorrow?” Ling Zhang inquired of him.

“The latter. It’d be best if we took this city before the Luohai army arrives,” said Yuwen Tong, running a finger around a spot on the map.

Ling Zhang looked at it. “Lishan City?”

After thinking back to the two occasions when he had passed Lishan City, he generally caught on to what Yuwen Tong meant.

Lishan City, like Jifang City of the Wan Kingdom, was easy to hold but hard to take. Though it was not as difficult to take as Jifang City was, the terrain of Lishan City was less complicated than that of Jifang City, which meant he would not be able to deploy any Formations to help the army gain a strategic advantage over the enemy. If the Luohai army reached Lishan City before them, there would be a tough fight between the two sides.

“I see. Let’s set off tomorrow.”

…

Dugu Shan eventually decided not to risk his life. After the courtiers made another attempt to pressure him into relenting and he received a military report saying that the army of the Great Wen had taken Zhongjiang City, he chose to let the Seventh Prince accede to the throne, and then a royal edict was quickly issued, ordering the Yuexi garrison and the surviving troops of Nian Feng to muster and immediately move south to intercept the Great-Wen army.

Lian Hai, shortly after being informed that Dugu Shan did not visit the encampment of the Yuexi garrison, had secretly had important account books and staff members of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce transferred out of the city, telling them to go east to the seacoast where they were to get on a ship and return to the Great Wen.

When news of the fall of the Wan capital spread to the Luohai Kingdom, Lian Hai had given the order for all hard-core staff members of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, except for those who had unfinished tasks, to covertly evacuate the Luohai Kingdom and return to the Great Wen. The reason why he had waited so long to tell those in the capital to leave was because he didn’t want to arouse the Dugu family’s suspicions, who had eyes everywhere in the city.

Those who stayed were basically natives of the Luohai Kingdom, who did not know any inside information and believed that Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was under the control of the Dugu family. All stores of the chamber of commerce would be traded or liquidated after the Luohai Kingdom was subjugated.

But Lian Hai and Han Shu had now chosen to stay in the capital.

Lian Hai tried to persuade Han Shu to leave, but the latter refused.

“I have an old score to settle with Luohai. Seeking revenge was the very reason why I agreed to serve the chamber of commerce. Boss promised me he would let me choose whether to stay or leave when the time came. I’m staying. You may leave without me,” said Han Shu.

Lian Hai shook his head. “I can’t.”

He was the liaison with Dugu Shan, who would find out if he fled the city.

On top of that, Dugu Shan had now allowed the Seventh Prince to succeed to the throne, and Lian Hai knew about Dugu Shan’s previous plan to usurp the throne and had even helped Dugu Shan lobby the commander of the Yuexi garrison, so under no circumstances would Dugu Shan let him live. If he exited the city, Dugu Shan would immediately be informed and send men to hunt him down.

“I’ll impersonate you and pay Dugu Shan a visit. If I succeed in assassinating him, the court will be in chaos for some time, which I think will do some good,” said Han Shu.

Lian Hai smiled, “You and I do not look alike. Dugu Shan will see you through immediately. Don’t worry – Dugu Shan will not kill me so long as he still needs Jiahe Chamber of Commerce to be at his service. I have a way to survive another few days. Let’s just pray our master’s army will get here in time.”

…

There were two smaller cities between Zhongjiang City and Lishan City. Though small, they were indeed cities and thus had defenses, so taking them took some time.

The army pushed north at a very fast speed, intending to take Lishan City before the Luohai army reached it.

Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang had not slept for two days, and neither had the officers.

The soldiers slept at night, but the officers, in order to save time, stayed up all night making battle plans for the next day’s operations.

Just like this, the army, after taking both of the two smaller cities in succession, reached Lishan City.

At this time, the Luohai army was two or three days’ march away from Lishan City.

Yuwen Tong ordered that the army take Lishan City within two days.

In Lishan City were some stores affiliated to Jiahe Chamber of Commerce as well, but the situation in the Luohai Kingdom was rather special – unlike staff members of the branches in the Wan Kingdom most of whom answered to Ling Zhang, those in Lishan City did not know much about the management layer of the organization, and only two or three of them could be of help, and there was not much they could do.

“We’ll attack directly. Putting out feelers would be a waste of time,” said Yuwen Tong.

Soon he made some arrangements and the army mounted an assault on Lishan City early the next morning.

There were not many troops stationed in Lishan City. The Luohai army had not arrived yet, and the garrison had no other source of reinforcements, so the city, under the savage attacks from Yuwen Tong’s army, was soon on the verge of falling.