The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 487- 489

Chapter 487: A Rest Cure

In a great hurry, a group of courtiers nervously helped the emperor into his carriage and then escorted him back to the imperial bedchamber. Looking at the emperor who was lying in bed unable to move, the courtiers all appeared rather anxious. Wh–Why was this happening? What should they do if the emperor’s waist was permanently damaged?

The chairman of the imperial hospital, whose surname was Sun, along with two of the best court physicians, soon arrived with all haste. They said that the room had to be quiet, so the courtiers had no choice but to leave the bedchamber and wait outside. Ling Zhang and the two prime ministers were the only ones staying.

When all the courtiers had left, Ling Zhang looked at the two prime ministers.

The two ministers nodded at him and then quietly moved to the side.

Yuwen Tong sat up, as though the man who had been in too much pain to walk a moment ago were another person.

“Physician Sun, are you ready?” Ling Zhang asked Chairman Sun.

“We’re ready, Your Highness,” answered Chairman Sun, the other two court physicians standing behind him with their heads down as if pretending they were invisible.

Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong, who rose to his feet, stretched and said, “Now that everything’s in readiness, let’s begin.”

…

An hour later, the doors of the imperial bedchamber opened. The two prime ministers walked out first, followed by Chairman Sun. At the sight of them, the courtiers waiting outside hastened to cluster around them.

“Chairman Sun, how’s my father?” inquired Yuwen Qi, Yuwen Yue standing on his right, Yuwen Lin beside her. The little princess, somewhat frightened, put her arms around her big brother’s waist, looking into the bedchamber with a mixture of nervousness and fear in her eyes. She attempted to go inside right away but was stopped by Yuwen Qi, who breathed to her, “Wait a moment, Crescent.”

After Yuwen Qi asked the question, the others also looked at Chairman Sun.

Chairman Sun replied, “His Majesty is fine.”

All the others were relieved at the answer.

“But…”

The others felt their pulse throbbing in their throats again.

“His Majesty hurt his waist. It’ll take a two-month rest cure to nurse him back to health. He’ll have to lie in bed all the time for the duration, which means he won’t be able to preside over any court meetings or deal with any state affairs.”

“But he’ll fully recover from the injury in two months, right?” Yuwen Qi looked at him.

Chairman Sun inclined his head. “Yes.”

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin both heaved a sigh of relief. “Can we go in there to see him?”

“Certainly. His Majesty said that all three of Your Highnesses may go inside directly,” responded Chairman Sun.

Yuwen Qi gave a nod and looked at Yuwen Lin and with that the two boys, along with Crescent who had been meaning to get in for quite some time, entered the imperial bedchamber.

Compared with the three young imperial family members who were now relaxed, the courtiers appeared rather tense. One of them asked, “Chairman Sun, His Majesty really can’t walk before a full recovery from the wound?”

Chairman Sun shook his head. “He can’t. He must lie in bed for a rest cure. Otherwise his health would be severely damaged.”

“What should we do? The Wan Kingdom–”

“There’s no need to panic. His Majesty’s being absent from court meetings for two month is not the end of the world. If there’s anything urgent, we could still come here to report it to His Majesty,” said Old Master Ji, his eyes sweeping across the courtiers around him. Seeing that the speaker lapsed into silence, he softened his face a little and added, “His Majesty wants the six ministers in his bedchamber for a consultation in a quarter. You may make some preparations, Your Lordships.”

…

A quarter of an hour later, the six ministers entered the imperial bedchamber. Before long, the courtiers outside were ordered to get on their knees to listen to the emperor’s instructions.

“What with my waist injury, I won’t be able to walk anytime soon. Starting tomorrow, my consort will be attending morning court meetings in my stead. After every court meeting, the two prime ministers are to accompany my consort to my bedchamber to report to me on the meeting. Urgent intelligence reports or memorials are to be delivered to me directly. In addition, since it’s inconvenient for me to write, my consort will be writing my decisions on the memorials on my behalf,” said Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong’s voice was as sonorous as always, and there was no panic on the face of any of those in the bedchamber, so the courtiers were convinced that Yuwen Tong was fine except for his temporary loss of mobility caused by the waist injury, and none of them raised any objections. Though Ling Zhang had scarcely shown his face in court meetings in recent years, the courtiers were all fully aware that he had an intimate knowledge of the situation in the court. Besides, currently the political landscape was stable, and the emperor had two adopted sons, which meant that the empress’s position was quite secure, so the courtiers didn’t have the guts to raise any objections. Furthermore, the couple of top-ranking courtiers didn’t say anything, so the others naturally didn’t dare utter a word.

Next, Yuwen Tong made a lot of other arrangements and eventually instructed, “Except for those who have urgent business to report, the two prime ministers and the heads of the six major departments, nobody is to come to this palace lest my rest be disturbed. If your service is needed, I’ll have the two prime ministers or the other six ministers inform you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“All right, you may leave. Today is a festive day and I want my subjects to enjoy the celebration, so do not tell anybody else about my injury. Let them spend the festival without having to worry about my health.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” chorused the courtiers. Then they rose to their feet and filed out of the bedchamber.

Old Master Ji and Chu Liangyan, along with the other courtiers, left the bedchamber. When they had descended the stairs, Chu Liangyan said to the courtiers, “Your Lordships, the Wan Kingdom is itching for a war, so it’s best if we keep the matter of His Majesty’s injury to ourselves. Please make sure you don’t let slip anything about it.”

“Your Lordship may rest assured we have enough sense of perspective to stay tight-lipped,” a courtier hurriedly replied.

After seeing the group of courtiers off, the heads of the six major departments and the two prime ministers also took their leave. Chairman Sun, along with the other two court physicians, went to the side hall, and the imperial bedchamber quieted down again.

Yuwen Yue, leaning propped against the bed, was gazing at Yuwen Tong with her big eyes, the expression in which suggested her heart was aching badly for her father. “Does it hurt, Father? You want Crescent to blow at your injury to ease the pain?”

Yuwen Tong, whose heart melted at his daughter’s cajoling voice, reached out a hand and stroked Yuwen Yue’s head. “I’m not in pain or experiencing any other discomfort. I just can’t move.”

A considerable part of Yuwen Yue’s distress dissolved at these words, but she was still holding Yuwen Tong’s hand, refusing to let go. Seeing this, Yuwen Tong felt somewhat guilty, but Yuwen Yue was still a child, and she might not be able to keep the secret if he confided it to her, so Yuwen Tong, guilty as he was, had no choice but to continue to conceal the truth from her.

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Qi were also unaware that Yuwen Tong was faking his injury. Mistakenly believing that Yuwen Tong was really wounded, they both looked upset.

He had a hard job coaxing his daughter into leaving. When his two sons had also left, Yuwen Tong heaved a sigh of relief and sat up. Lying prostrate on the bed motionlessly for such a long time turned out to be quite an ordeal. “What we need to do next is just wait for the Wan Kingdom to declare war on us.”

Ling Zhang said with an inclination of the head, “Since you’re ‘hurt’, your great-uncle and my grandfather and some others may well come here to visit you this afternoon or tomorrow, so you’ll have to keep up the pretence in the next two days. I’ll keep an eye on the kids and make sure they don’t come here to disturb you, so you won’t have to lie on your stomach to hoodwink them again.”

Yuwen Tong sighed, “Did you see Crescent’s eyes when she was looking at me a moment ago? They were so sad. It seems our daughter’s grown up and learned to show concern for her father.”

A short while before, his daughter’s gaze had almost rendered Yuwen Tong unable to maintain his pretence, because her eyes looked so much like Ling Zhang’s. At the sight of the eyes full to the brim with sorrow, Yuwen Tong had felt as though he were looking at a young version of Ling Zhang whose heart was aching for him, and he had had an almost overwhelming urge to immediately “recover” and get out of bed to console her.

Looking at Yuwen Tong with his bright eyes, Ling Zhang said, “Crescent is quite stubborn. I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes when she finds out about it.”

Yuwen Tong gave a little cough and said, “Which is why we have to make sure she never comes to know I’m faking my injury. I’m counting on you to keep this secret from her, my dear empress. Whether or not I’ll be able to get away with this purely depends on you.”

Ling Zhang gave an involuntary shudder at the words “my dear empress”, sliding Yuwen Tong a reproving glance.

Yuwen Tong chuckled. Indeed, his daughter’s eyes closely resembled Ling Zhang’s, but in his sight, Ling Zhang’s eyes were the most charming in the world. No matter whether Ling Zhang was smiling or sulking, the gleam in Ling Zhang’s eyes always made him feel as though it were tickling his heart, filling every fibre of his being with joy.

…

Though angered by the fight between Yuwen Jin and the former champion, afterward the emperor still rewarded the top twenty contestants handsomely and gave the order for fireworks to be set off on the palace ramparts at night. As a result, residents of the capital city still enjoyed the ship-lantern show very much which was lively and uproarious. None of them was aware that their emperor was injured and lying in his bedchamber, unable to move.

Meanwhile, Yuwen Jin, after hearing about the emperor’s waist injury, immediately requested permission to go into the palace to help nurse the emperor back to health, saying that he would stay in the imperial bedchamber until the emperor made a full recovery. In order to show his sincerity, he knelt outside the study of the Marquess Fuan for quite some time. Eventually, the Marquess Fuan became resigned and the next day specially went into the palace and petitioned the emperor to allow Yuwen Jin to enter the palace to help instead of introspecting about his faults at home, and give him an opportunity to make amends for what he’d done. The empress also interceded, so eventually the emperor granted Yuwen Jin’s request. On that very day, Yuwen Jin moved into the imperial palace, beginning to help nurse the emperor’s injury.

“Sire, I’ve done everything you told me to. Do I have your permission to go to the south-west with you?” asked Yuwen Jin, looking at Yuwen Tong, expectation written all over his face. In order to make his act convincing enough, he had suffered a lot of wounds and been suspended from his post as Assistant Commander of the Western City Garrison Battalion too. He felt that he wouldn’t be able to refrain from kicking up a stink if the opportunity to go to the south-west was denied to him.

After hearing this, Yuwen Tong who was reading a memorial didn’t even lift his eyes.

Yuwen Jin became anxious. “Sire, would you please look at me? Am I allowed to go or not?”

Yuwen Tong still made no reply. Ling Zhang, now unable to keep from staying silent, reproached, “Are you really a fool or pretending to be one?”

Yuwen Jin looked at him, a faint glitter in his eyes. “Can you drop a hint to me, dear Brother Zhang?”

“Why else would your second cousin go to such trouble to get you in here, if not to have you go to the south-west?” asked Ling Zhang. Yuwen Tong would never have tolerated such a talky guy lingering in his bedchamber for so long if it weren’t for that reason.

Yuwen Jin’s eyes instantly brightened. “Are you saying that…” He paused and then delightedly swiveled around and said to Yuwen Tong, “Thank you, Sire!”

It was not that Yuwen Jin was stupid. The main reason was that he didn’t dare risk stepping out of line in front of Yuwen Tong. Though having a speculation, he had been uncertain and apprehensive before receiving a definite reply.

Yuwen Tong coldly snorted, “You expect me to put an army under the command of someone as slow-witted as you? I’m not sure I could afford to take the risk.”

These remarks deflated Yuwen Jin instantaneously. “Please don’t change your mind, Cousin!”

Given that he was addressing Yuwen Tong as “Cousin”, Yuwen Jin was indeed anxious. “I–I was just worried there might be unexpected changes. I promise I’ll never make that kind of mistake again! Please don’t leave me in the capital city.”

Ling Zhang decided that it was best if he stayed out of it when Yuwen Tong lectured Yuwen Jin lest he get himself into trouble. He picked up the intelligence report which had been delivered here by Wang Dashan a moment before, and which told him that staff members of the chamber of commerce had successfully got the medicines and physicians ready and were now transporting them to the south-west. After reading the report, Ling Zhang instructed Wang Dashan to send a message to the chamber of commerce, telling them they must be extra careful not to rouse anybody’s suspicions.

Chapter 488: Give It Your Best Shot.

In the Wan capital.

A rider on a fast horse entered the city in a great hurry, galloping towards the royal palace.

“Dispatch delivery!”

“Sire, an urgent letter from our scouts in the Great Wen has just been delivered here.”

On hearing that it was an urgent letter from his scouts in the Great Wen, Shan Congli, worrying that something unexpected had happened, hastened to have his henchman bring him the letter. After reading the secret letter, however, he burst into laughter, “What a godsend!”

The courtiers, unaware of what it was about, were all confused as to why their emperor was laughing heartily.

“Yuwen Tong suffered a severe waist injury and has to lie in bed for two months. He’s not even attending court meetings. What else would you call this, if not ‘a godsend’?” explained Shan Congli, smugness and determination glinting in his eyes.

“In that case, there’s no way Yuwen Tong could lead the army himself. Without Yuwen Tong being in charge, Jiang Ke, Jiang Xi and Shao Feng don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of withstanding our and the Luohai Kingdom’s concerted attack,” croaked Shan Congyi, whose face was terribly disfigured in the explosion five years ago and was now covered with a mask.

“Our chance of defeating the Great Wen is now fifty percent higher,” commented Xue Chi who would be leading the Wan army as commander-in-chief in the upcoming war against the Great Wen, a relaxed look appearing on his face.

“Fifty percent? Yuwen Tong is only human. Don’t you think you’re giving him too much more credit than he deserves, General Xue?” sniffed Shan Congyi, displeased at Xue Chi putting it so dramatically as though their chance of winning would be halved if Yuwen Tong would be leading the Great Wen’s army. He was just one man, thought Shan Congyi.

Xue Chi shook his head. “I’ve long since come to know what Yuwen Tong is capable of when he has an army under his command, but no matter what, now that he’s injured, we’ve been offered an opportunity that is nothing short of a godsend. Sire, I suggest we attack immediately instead of continuing to wait for the Luohai Kingdom. It would be such a shame if we let this opportunity slip away!”

Naturally, Shan Congli was fully aware of the importance of seizing the opportunity, so he agreed on the spot, “Okay, General Xue. How soon can you get our troops ready to depart?”

Xue Chi answered, “Everything’s in readiness already, Sire. The provisions and fodder have also been delivered there in advance. Our men are ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

Shan Congli said, “In that case, they shall set off first light tomorrow morning. I’ll be seeing them off personally.”

Xue Chi said, “Yes, Sire.”

None of the courtiers dared raise any objections. It was now a foregone conclusion that the Wan Kingdom would attack the Great Wen, and their monarch had paid a heavy price to convince the Luohai monarch to join hands with him. On top of that, right now the emperor of the enemy country was injured and unable to lead his army, which meant this was a perfect opportunity. Anybody who dared oppose the operation at this point in time would be making an enemy of the monarch and might well be beheaded.

Shan Congyi glanced around him and then said to Shan Congli, “Sire, I petition you to grant me the permission to go with the army.”

Shan Congli looked at him, a fairly disapproving expression on his face. “You’ve just recovered from your injuries. Staying in an encampment will take its toll on your health.”

Shan Congyi said, “All my curable injuries have been healed. The rest of them are not going to be any different no matter how much rest I take, so I might as well go with the army. I swear I’ll take the capital city of the Great Wen with General Xue and kill Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong to avenge my sufferings and the deaths of the countless men we lost.”

Shan Congli was still hesitating, but Shan Congyi was very intransigent, desire for revenge glinting in his eyes. Eventually, Shan Congli gave a nod of consent. “Take care of yourself. I don’t want to hear any news about you getting hurt again.”

“Thank you for your concern, Sire. I promise I’ll take good care of myself,” said Shan Congyi.

Xue Chi inwardly furrowed his brows, not because he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having a royal family member in his army, but because ever since Shan Congyi had returned after surviving the explosion, he had changed dramatically. He was now snaky, ruthless, unpredictable and unapproachable. Xue Chi was worried that Shan Congyi might lose control of himself. When they were at the border, without the monarch’s authority being a deterrent, there was no telling what kind of trouble Shan Congyi might get them into. However, Shan Congli had given the order, and Xue Chi had no alternative but to obey it and accept the fact that Shan Congyi would be going with the army.

“Sire, I have another suggestion – please send a message to Mu Hengtian and urge him to send his army as soon as possible. Only by joining hands with him would we be able to occupy the north of the Great Wen in the shortest possible amount of time and then move south to take their capital. If we fail to achieve the goal before Yuwen Tong recovers from his injury, we’ll lose the most precious opportunity we’ve ever had,” said Xue Chi.

Shan Congli took his advice and immediately had someone set off to send a letter to Mu Hengtian the Luohai monarch.

The next morning, Shan Congli drank a farewell toast to the troops and then the Wan army departed advancing towards Shengzhou Pass.

…

The moment the Wan army set off, scouts of the Great Wen sent a message back. Yuwen Tong, who had stayed in his bedchamber for almost ten days, curled his lip and said, “I specially lowered the security level, but it still took Shan Congli such a long time to find out. What a good-for-nothing.”

Ling Zhang was not as composed as him. The departure of the Wan army meant that Yuwen Tong would soon set off to the south, that they wouldn’t be able to see each other until they were both in the Wan Kingdom.

“It takes a couple of days for a message to be delivered here from the Wan Kingdom. Given that the Wan Kingdom wants to attack as soon as possible, the enemy may well arrive in Shengzhou Pass in six days,” observed Ling Zhang.

After the message was delivered back to the capital city, Yuwen Tong would put in an appearance in front of the courtiers once again, make some arrangements and then set off to the south without more ado.

Yuwen Tong said, “That old bastard Xue Chi thinks he could get through Shengzhou Pass while I’m absent. What a daydreamer.”

Xue Chi was a famous general of the Wan Kingdom. During the first few battles between Xue Chi and Yuwen Tong, the former had got one over on the latter, but the period when the former had had the upper hand had been very short. Yuwen Tong had soon inflicted several defeats on Xue Chi in succession. He knew Xue Chi very well, and so did his lieutenants, Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi. In the last few years of the former emperor’s reign, Yuwen Tong had been unwilling to help the then emperor expand his territory, and it had been Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi who were defending the border against Xue Chi, but Xue Chi was unaware of it.

“Still, we shouldn’t take him lightly. Once word gets out that you’ve occupied the south of the Wan Kingdom, Xue Chi would no doubt launch an all-out attack to force you into retreating and save the situation. Shengzhou Pass must be held,” said Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong looked at him. “You must be careful when you’re in Shengzhou.”

Ling Zhang said, “I will. You need to be cautious as well.”

The mood in the room became somewhat subdued. If everything went as planned, they would be reunited in the Wan capital in half a year. However, anything could happen on the battlefield. No matter how much the odds were in their favor, there would always be risks. Neither of them would be able to stop worrying about the other until the war was over.

“My father has already returned. He’ll be taking care of the children for us, and my maternal grandfather will be here as well. Even if anything goes awry, I’m sure they’ll be able to put things back under control before the situation gets any worse. In addition, I’ve instructed the chamber of commerce to give your plan their full support. They’ll be working at full stretch to ship medicines, provisions and weapons for the South-western Army. I can guarantee you even if the supply line in the charge of the court is crippled, your army won’t be short of supplies, so don’t worry about the capital city. Just give it your best shot,” said Ling Zhang, looking at Yuwen Tong earnestly.

Only if Yuwen Tong gave it his best shot would he be able to keep himself safe.

Yuwen Tong, gazing fixedly at him with intense affection gleaming in the depths of his eyes, said, “I will.”

Ling Zhang exhaled lightly and said, “I’ll cooperate with Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi and do our level best to hold Shengzhou Pass.”

This time Yuwen Tong made no reply. Instead, he drew Ling Zhang into his embrace and the next moment they were hugging each other tightly.

…

In the following few days, Yuwen Tong frequently summoned the two prime ministers, the heads of the six major departments and some generals to his bedchamber.

A couple of days later, a message was delivered back to the capital city, which said that a large army of the Wan Kingdom was advancing towards Shengzhou Pass. All courtiers inwardly muttered “About time” at the news and then started bustling around.

In Ling Zhang’s company, Yuwen Tong ‘managed to’ settle himself in the high seat in the outer hall of the imperial bedchamber and had a meeting with his whole court, at which he made the detailed arrangements that he had long since finalized.

“It’s been five years since the end of the last war. The semblance of peace between the Wan Kingdom and us has now been shattered. Their army is large and strong and closing in on us as we speak, but we have made preparations some time ago as well. The Shengzhou garrison and the Youzhou garrison are both on full alert and combat-ready, and I have no doubt they will make sure the enemies never make it back home if they dare attack. Our victory is certain, as long as everybody sticks to the plan I made, but if anybody chickens out of performing his sworn duty during the war, under no circumstance will I let him off lightly.”

“We will not let the Great Wen fall as long as we still draw breath. If the enemy attacks, we will fight back with all we got. On no account will any of us shrink from confrontation.” The courtiers stated their stand clearly.

“Good. The Wan Kingdom’s army will soon arrive in Shengzhou Pass. Now go and do what you are supposed to be doing. Get ready for the war.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After the meeting, Yuwen Tong had the couple of courtiers who were privy to the plan concerning the South-western Army stay, had the guards shut the doors and consulted with them covertly. Two hours later, the doors were reopened, and the couple of courtiers took their leave, and with that the imperial bedchamber fell silent again.

Yuwen Tong returned to the inner hall, took off his imperial robes and changed into a common skintight outfit.

Ling Zhang silently helped him change clothes. There’s a lot he wanted to say, but eventually he said nothing, feeling that he had said all he needed to say, that all he could do next was pray everything would go as Yuwen Tong planned.

Yuwen Tong waited until Ling Zhang finished helping him change clothes to take Ling Zhang’s hand. “It’s been five years, and we still have so many years ahead of us, so I’ll come back in one piece. You must stay safe, because everything I did would be meaningless without you by my side.”

The lines around Ling Zhang’s mouth tightened, an apprehensive look in his eyes. What Yuwen Tong had just said was exactly what he wanted to say.

“Wait for my message. I know you’ve deployed a large-scale Formation outside Shengzhou Pass. I’ll take all cities in southern Wan Kingdom before Xue Chi’s men break out of the Formation.”

Ling Zhang was not surprised that what he had done outside Shengzhou Pass had come to Yuwen Tong’s knowledge. In fact, it was Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi who had helped him deploy the Formation. At that time, apart from bring his aunt back to the capital city, confirming the completion of the Formation was also part of the reason why he had detoured to Shengzhou.

“Okay,” said Ling Zhang in a deep voice.

The two of them were hugging each other before they knew it, and the hug lasted quite a while.

Yuwen Tong and Yuwen Jin would leave the city together immediately after dark, and nightfall was drawing near.

The two of them had had lunch with their children in the bedchamber at noon. In order not to raise any doubts in the children’s minds, Yuwen Tong had been leaning against the headboard when eating.

With the moment of parting approaching, Yuwen Tong kept from thinking how his children would feel after coming to know about his departure, because he would be burdened with worries if he thought too much about it. Ling Zhang told him not to let anything weigh on his mind, saying that he needed to exert himself, that he must stay safe.

The two of them were in a cuddle, both unwilling to let go. However, time always seemed to quicken its pace when people wished it would slow down. As the sun set behind the mountains, the night closed in, cloaking the capital city in darkness. Palace lanterns were lit one after another, including those outside the imperial bedchamber. Nobody would enter to disturb the two of them.

Ling Zhang was uncertain as to what he was feeling exactly, and he didn’t dare think deeply about it, fearing that he might not be able to bring himself to let go of his lover if he gave it too much thought.

After his hands moved slightly, Ling Zhang freed himself from Yuwen Tong’s hug. Yuwen Tong edged his arms forward with the intention to pull Ling Zhang back but soon paused and forbore from doing so in the knowledge that the two of them wouldn’t be able to part unless they hardened their hearts a little. Now that the parting was unavoidable…

Yuwen Tong decisively rose to his feet, spun around and made towards the door in a determined manner.

Ling Zhang followed in his wake, watching him heading for the front gates of the imperial bedchamber. Outside the gates were dozens of personal bodyguards led by Yao Yi. At ordinary times they wore palace guard’s uniform, but now they had all changed into common black skintight outfits, standing motionlessly in the gateway as though having merged into the dark night.

“Let’s go.”

Yao Yi and the others inclined their heads, quietly followed Yuwen Tong out of the Infinite Fortune Palace and then disappeared from view.

Standing on the stairs in front of the doors, watching them ride out of sight, Ling Zhang balled his hands into fists at the back, a feeling of constriction in his chest, having difficulty breathing, his eyes gazing fixedly into space as though he were seeing through the high palace ramparts at the group of people leaving the city.

Chapter 489: An Offensive from the Wan Kingdom’s Army

Three days later, the large army of the Wan Kingdom bore down upon Shengzhou Pass. The Shengzhou garrison, ready in full battle array, were determined to hold Shengzhou Pass.

Xue Chi wanted very much to launch an attack immediately, but his men were somewhat tired after the long weary journey, so he had no choice but to give the order for the troops to make camp and take one day of rest to recharge.

At the sight of the defense of Shengzhou Pass, Xue Chi’s face turned grave.

“Father, it would seem the Great Wen is well prepared. I wonder whether Shengzhou Pass is the only place well-defended or the Youzhou garrison has done the same thing,” said Xue Yi, frowning.

On hearing this, Shan Congyi who was also in the main tent, sneered, “Our alliance with the Luohai Kingdom is top secret. If there’s such defense deployed in Youzhou Pass as well, then it would mean they’re fully aware of our alignment with the Luohai Kingdom.

Still, what difference would it make if they’ve come to know about it? Yuwen Tong is injured and lying in bed too weak to even walk. There’s no way the Great Wen could withstand a coalition offensive from two countries, no matter how resourceful their commanders are.”

Xue Chi listened quietly as Shan Congyi spoke. After pondering for a few moments, he said, “Though it’s inadvisable to take the enemy lightly, I think Your Highness’s words make sense. Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi are in Shengzhou, but in Youzhou, there’s only Shao Feng. Well-defended or not, Youzhou would fall sooner or later if the Luohai Kingdom launches an all-out attack.”

Xue Yi said indignantly, “But Mu Hengtian is such a bastard. We weighed his pocket with money, yet the army he promised is still nowhere to be seen.”

Both Xue Chi and Shan Congyi were disgruntled about it as well. The reason why they had stayed put for a long time was because they had been waiting for the Luohai Kingdom’s army to get ready. Had they taken action sooner, they might have got through Shengzhou Pass and entered the prefecture by now, and might even have marched all the way south with unstoppable momentum while Yuwen Tong was recovering.

“Sire has sent someone to the Luohai Kingdom to give Mu Hengtian a prod. It won’t be long before he sends his army south. Actually his men arriving later than scheduled has its compensations in the sense that they’re now bound to get only a tiny share of the pie at the end of the war. Simply keeping the Youzhou garrison busy to save us fighting on two fronts would be a decent fulfillment of their duty as an ally,” said Xue Chi.

If Yuwen Tong were not injured, Xue Chi would indeed be infuriated by Mu Hengtian’s behavior, but now that Yuwen Tong was wounded and unable to lead his army, Xue Chi was confident that he would be able to take all cities in northern Great Wen before Yuwen Tong recovered and took command.

Xue Yi and Shan Congyi agreed with Xue Chi as though Shengzhou Pass were already in their pocket.

Early in the morning of the third day, the Wan army launched an offensive. Their attack was savage from the very beginning, which indicated that they wanted to take Shengzhou Pass at one fell swoop.

However, the whole morning had now passed but Shengzhou Pass remained impregnable. All counter-attacks were quite effective. The fighting soon reached a stalemate. At dusk, seeing that his men still hadn’t breached the defense of Shengzhou Pass, Xue Chi finally gave the order to sound retreat, commanding the troops to return to the encampment to rest and be regrouped.

In the main tent, Xue Chi was contemplating in silence. Xue Yi was discussing something with the other generals. Shan Congyi’s face clouded over with displeasure.

Without Yuwen Tong in command, the defense of Shengzhou Pass still seemed unbreakable, which was something none of them had bargained on. Shan Congyi had a burning desire to take Shengzhou Pass, march south, storm into the capital of the Great Wen and kill Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong to get his vengeance on them, but unfortunately for him, the first day’s attack had turned out to be utterly unfruitful. The resentment and snakiness in his eyes seemed to be deepening.

Xue Chi was a veteran. Though it had been many years since he had last commanded an army, these people couldn’t hold a candle to him in terms of both battle experience and mental endurance.

“This is just the first day. It’s impracticable to take Shengzhou Pass in one day. If Shengzhou was so easy to take, the North-western Army of the Great Wen wouldn’t have enjoyed such great fame, and our cavalry would long since have flattened the Great Wen, and Yuwen Tong would never have acceded to the throne. All of you should know this very well, seeing as you’ve fought by my side for so many years. The main purpose of today’s operation is to take their measure. Now that we’ve got a rough number of the troops stationed in there, our first priority should be to design a battle plan so that we may take Shengzhou Pass as soon as possible.”

Xue Yi and the others, who were fairly anxious, cooled themselves down as they saw the composure on Xue Chi’s face. Shan Congyi was the only one still appearing sulky, but he didn’t say anything.

Xue Chi continued, “Now you may return to your respective units and pacify your men. Make sure their morale is unaffected. We’ll gather here again to formulate a battle plan tomorrow.”

Shan Congyi couldn’t help but furrow his brow at these words. “We’re not attacking tomorrow?”

Xue Chi said, “Your Highness, we’ll have to show patience if we are to get through Shengzhou Pass as soon as possible. We’ll resume the attack after a battle plan is made tomorrow. I believe we’re both familiar with the saying ‘Grinding a chopper will not delay the work of cutting firewood.'”

Looking at him with penetrating eyes, Shan Congyi smiled wryly, “I admit you know more about war than I do. Fine, let’s do it your way and stay put tomorrow. I look forward to seeing how General Xue will get us the ‘firewood’ we need.”

When he had finished speaking, Shan Congyi rose and left the main tent.

“You–!” Xue Yi was annoyed, sprung to his feet and was just about to block Shan Congyi’s path when his father stopped him.

“Sit down,” instructed Xue Chi.

Unconvinced as Xue Yi was, he had no choice but to sit back into his seat. “Father, His Majesty’s decision to allow Prince Yi to come with us serves only to bring us trouble.”

“Shut up!” railed Xue Chi. “It’s not for you to question His Majesty’s decision!”

Xue Chi’s eyes casually swept across the generals sitting in the tent before resting on his son, a warning look in them.

Xue Yi caught on to the situation. Knowing that he had said the wrong thing on this occasion, he hastened to apologize. “I was being reckless, Father. Please punish me.”

“Ten strokes. You know where to receive the punishment.”

“Yes, Father.”

All the others’ attempts to talk Xue Chi out of it were unsuccessful. Xue Yi received ten strokes of the staff. Such an unpleasant occurrence on the first day rendered Xue Chi fairly fretful. This, coupled with his craving to take Shengzhou Pass while Yuwen Tong was nursing his injury, caused him to become a little anxious, though he had always been a poised man. However, being anxious was one of the most dangerous mistakes that a commander could make during a war.

…

The next day, the Wan army didn’t attack.

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi, both of whom had seen this coming, were totally unworried.

“Xue Chi is still as cautious as always. Come to think of it, he’s indeed an old man now. I remember that he was much bolder and more decisive when we and Sire first met him. He kicked our asses hard during that fight. We might have been incapacitated by that geriatric if Sire hadn’t been composed from start to finish and bought us some time to make our escape,” said Jiang Xi bluffly.

Jiang Ke resignedly gave him a that’s-a-long-time-ago look.

However, it was true that Xue Chi was now far more prudent than he used to be. It didn’t take a genius to see that the Wan army were standing by on this day because Xue Chi was regrouping his army and designing battle plans. Still, while his men were recharging, the Shengzhou garrison were also resting up. Officers of the North-western Army had been working as a team for years, and one day was more than enough for them to finish analyzing the battle the day before, which meant that the North-western Army would have also adjusted their mentality and changed the defense plans by the time the Wan army launched another attack.

The soldiers’ morale is the highest at the first round of battle drumbeat, halves at the second and plummets to the bottom at the third. (A quotation from Annals of Zuo) Xue Chi’s men had been deflated somewhat when they had arrived only to find the enemy well-prepared, and then, after a whole day’s fierce attack, the defense of Shengzhou Pass still seemed impenetrable, which burdened their minds further. These two setbacks, though not enough to reduce the Wan army to the losing side, had actually become a great hindrance to them, making it impossible for their morale to rise to the same level it had been at on the first day of the battle. In other words, this fight was bound to remain in a stalemate for some time.

And time was what the Shengzhou garrison needed the most.

Unsurprisingly, after a day’s rest, Xue Chi’s army launched another offensive on the city early the next morning.

Compared with the frantic savage attack of the first day, this offensive action was much more methodical. The Shengzhou garrison were indeed having a hard job to withstand the attack from the Wan army who had prepared for this war for five years. However, the Great Wen had been becoming increasingly defensive with the Wan Kingdom in the last five years, and the Shengzhou garrison had all along been making provision for the Wan army marching south to attack, so the defense of Shengzhou Pass was much stronger than it was five years ago. There was no way Xue Chi could take it after merely making some adjustments to his battle plan.

Battle cries lasted a whole day. Smell of blood filled the air outside Shengzhou Pass. The ramparts and the garrison withstood one attack after another. When night fell, the city still stood. The garrison successfully held Shengzhou once again.

The army of the Wan Kingdom had no choice but to retreat again.

This time Xue Chi was also weighed down with concern, but it was not because of the prospect of Shan Congyi picking on him, or the possibility that his army might fail to take Shengzhou Pass eventually. He was apprehensive because he had come to realize that it was very difficult to breach the defense of Shengzhou, that his army would very likely be held back outside the city walls for some time, but right now time was a luxury he and the Wan Kingdom no longer had. Once Yuwen Tong recovered from his injury and took command of the army, there was a high chance the Wan army would be stopped in the north and unable to go south even if Shengzhou Pass was taken.

…

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi had a shrewd idea what the mood in Xue Chi’s army was like. The enemy’s attack during the day had inflicted heavy casualties on the Shengzhou garrison, so although the city was still impregnable, the two generals had leaden hearts.

Jiang Xi was watching the soldiers clearing the battlefield of the dead in orderly fashion, gripping the hilt of the saber fastened to his belt, his eyes full of anger at the Wan Kingdom.

“It won’t be long before we send them to meet their Maker,” said Jiang Ke, walking over and clapping him on the shoulder.

Jiang Xi said, “I know. When the time is ripe for us to be on the offensive, I swear I’ll kill Xue Chi and each and every single man of his, completely destroy the Wan Kingdom’s military strength, crush these greedy jackals’ bones, flatten the cavalry of the Wan Kingdom and make sure they could never straighten their backs again!”

Resentment towards the Wan Kingdom had been building inside him since the very beginning of the fighting between the two countries. The Wan monarch was disgustingly avaricious and bent on taking possession of the Great Wen’s beautiful rivers and mountains, fertile farmland and rich cities. If the Great Wen didn’t destroy their regime completely and exterminate the young and middle-aged men of the Wan Kingdom, they would sooner or later make a comeback.

“Sire has the intention to unify the three countries, which means some day the Wan Kingdom will be part of the Great Wen. When that day comes, I’ll request permission to be stationed in the Wan Kingdom, and I’ll make sure they never make trouble again,” continued Jiang Xi.

Jiang Ke gave a smile, slightly shaking his head.

Jiang Xi looked at him. “What are you smiling at? Did I say something wrong?”

Jiang Ke replied, “Sending troops there to stand guard will be necessary, but after the Wan Kingdom is annexed, maintaining a military presence there will be a measure of secondary importance. It’ll take some of those civil officials’ methods to turn Wan people into our fellow countrymen. Not all matters could be settled through violence.”

Jiang Xi’s brow corrugated in a frown. It was true that he was an army man, and those civil officials’ methods were beyond his grasp. “How do you think those civil officials would handle it then?”

Jiang Ke replied, “I’m a general, not a civil official.”

Jiang Xi didn’t believe him. He was sure that Jiang Ke knew the answer but was keeping it back from him, for Jiang Ke was much more cunning than him.