leonardwarren Chapter 172 Two Famous Generals
Chapter 172 Two Famous Generals
"I've found out that the entire northern frontier has completely fallen. The King of Beiyou has led a large army in rebellion. Now he has gathered troops and civilians from various places, along with his own elite forces. I heard that he has amassed an army of over a million and is heading towards the imperial city."
Those who refused to surrender were beheaded, plunging several northern prefectures into chaos.
The King of Qin conquered Youzhou and Jizhou without bloodshed, and it is said that he will continue to advance his gains.
The voice of the clan disciple faded away.
Zhang Hong's expression turned extremely ugly. He truly hadn't expected things to develop to this point, and he certainly hadn't expected Lu Yuan to possess such strength.
After glancing at his younger brother Zhang He and nephew Zhang Zhe, he continued, "Anything else?"
"The Zhou family and the Helian family have a good relationship with Lu Yuan. I heard that they were the ones who opened the city gates. Now there are no more fortresses in the north." The disciple said cautiously after seeing that the family head's expression was not right.
Zhang Hong said in a deep voice, "Continue the investigation and see how the Zhou family and the Helian family are doing now. I heard they got involved with Lu Yuan back then, which ruined a lot of my plans. Now they've indeed joined forces with him."
"Yes, sir!" the disciple replied and withdrew.
When only three people remained in the living room, Zhang Zhe couldn't help but ask, "Is the Crown Prince really finished?"
"It's over. Under the circumstances, what is a crown prince? The power of the Qin Dynasty is growing day by day. Now that it has invaded the Dayong, the world order is likely to change. Apart from those few people who stand at the top and can stir up the world, everyone has to be careful of others."
A crown prince may be high and mighty in ordinary times, but in the face of a war at the national level, he can die easily, let alone fall from power.
"I misjudged him. I never expected A Yuan to have come this far," Zhang Hong said with a complicated expression.
Zhang He glanced at his son, sighed, and remained silent. Only Zhang Zhe seemed unconvinced but dared not say more. After a moment, he said with a flushed face, "Yes, I am not as good as Zhang Yuan, but it's too late to say anything now."
Moreover, Yunzhou is located in the south, thousands of miles away from the northern frontier. No matter how powerful the King of Qin is, he is of little use in this place.
But the Prince of Polu's mansion is still there.
He was a member of the imperial family, and the rebellion in the northern frontier had little to do with him.
Once this storm passes, everything will be fine.
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has come to investigate our house so many times, and nothing has happened, has it?"
After Zhang Zhe finished speaking.
Zhang Hong and the other man did not say anything more.
The deed is done, and it's too late to say anything now.
Moreover, Zhang Zhe's words make some sense; no matter how strong Lu Yuan is, he can't extend his reach into Yunzhou.
This place is close to southern Xinjiang, while northern Xinjiang is too far away.
Meanwhile, within the Dayong court, chaos reigned completely. Emperor Yong sat in the main hall, his heart filled with unprecedented fury.
Such a large territory in the northern frontier was seized in just a few days.
The border generals surrendered one after another.
The King of Beiyou even rebelled outright.
This was completely different from what he had expected.
"How is things going with the King of Beiyou?" Although he was anxious, the King of Beiyou tried his best to calm himself down.
After all, things have already come to this.
The instigator had not yet returned to court, so venting on the officials below was not very meaningful.
"Your Majesty, after being reinstated three days ago, Grand Commandant Chang Dao led elite troops from various regions yesterday to meet the Northern King of You. We should be engaged in battle at Luzhou, and it should be no problem for him to hold off the Northern King of You."
Emperor Yong nodded. He wasn't in a hurry about the Northern King, as the latter's strength was insufficient to cause any major upheaval. The most important thing now was Great Qin.
If the Qin army is not driven out of Dayong territory as soon as possible, the territory in the northern frontier may be lost.
This is unacceptable to him, not to mention that this is the territory left by his ancestors.
More importantly, this is the northern barrier of Dayong. If it falls into the hands of Qin, then Qin can launch an attack on Dayong at any time.
The ambitious Emperor Yong could not allow such a thing to happen.
Therefore, knowing that there was no need to worry about the Northern King, he asked in a deep voice, "Where is the King of Ze? Where is his army?"
"We have already reached the border of Songzhou. It is expected that we will be able to form a stalemate with the Qin army tomorrow. However, after Wushuang Hou, Xiao Heng, and the Seventh Prince broke out of Huangsha Pass, it is expected that they will reach Songzhou in three days at the earliest," Lu Ze said softly.
"Then let's join forces and fight together. The northern border has already been lost, so what's a few more days? With two famous generals attacking from both sides, even with their two million troops, I don't believe that Lu Yuan can withstand them."
Emperor Yong said in a deep voice.
It is rare in the entire history of the world for two famous generals to take action at the same time.
Moreover, this time it was a combined attack on Lu Yuan, and he didn't believe that the King of Qin could stop it.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Lü Ze immediately replied.
"Alright, now that everything is arranged, let's adjourn the court. All resources of the court will be allocated to the Imperial Guards on the battlefield."
"Yes, sir!" the ministers replied and withdrew.
Emperor Yong's body swayed like ripples on water before disappearing from the spot.
In Youzhou, in a ravine, Wushuang Hou and Xiao Heng and others hid, waiting for nightfall to continue their journey.
Since breaking out, they have been hiding during the day and active at night.
I dare not relax for a moment.
Marquis Wushuang did not want to be captured by the Qin Dynasty again.
I'd rather die than accept that.
After resting for a while, he looked around and found that the number of Imperial Guards who had survived was less than three thousand. Some died during the breakout, and others were ambushed several times by the army of the Northern You King's Mansion within Youzhou.
It was truly a tragic situation.
Moreover, the Northern Netherworld King's Mansion had a real number of martial arts figures, and Wushuang Hou and his companions experienced several assassination attempts along the way.
On one occasion, he almost succeeded.
For these individuals, this was an experience they had never had before.
Seeing Wushuang Hou's unpleasant expression, Xiao Heng slowly said, "I just received news that Ze Wang has led his army to Songzhou. We will join forces with him and then launch a counterattack against Da Qin."
Starting tomorrow, the march will be accelerated.
The gloomy face of Wushuang Hou brightened as he looked at Xiao Heng and said, "Lord Xiao, the rest of the Imperial Guards will be left to you to lead out. I'll go first. This time, we must defeat the Great Qin in a fair and square manner and let them know the power of a famous general."
His words made Xiao Heng's expression turn sour. Wushuang Hou's strength was at the Dharma Aspect Realm. With him around, the chances of breaking through to Songzhou would be much greater, and it would also be easier to resist the attack from Youzhou.
If Wushuang Hou leaves first, leaving me alone, the road ahead will be much more difficult.
Marquis Mucheng, guessing Xiao Heng's thoughts, looked at Marquis Wushuang and said, "We already have few experts. If Marquis Wushuang leaves, the number of strong individuals will be insufficient. At that time..."
"Do you even have the right to speak here?"
Wushuang Hou said in a cold voice.
Cola Novels: turn the page and you're in another world.
Although both are marquises, Wushuang Marquis grew up in the capital and is a renowned general. As long as he wins a battle, promotion is only a matter of time. He is nothing like Mucheng Marquis, who barely managed to become a marquis by relying on Xiao Heng's support.
Marquis Mucheng's expression changed, but he remained silent.
He lowered his head, a look of humiliation appearing in his eyes.
Then, Marquis Wushuang continued, "Lord Xiao, my departure is not to abandon you, but to prevent the Qin army from continuing its advance, which would be a huge problem."
"Since that's what Marquis Wushuang has said, then I can't stop him. Do as you please," Xiao Heng said slowly.
"Farewell!" Without any hesitation, Wushuang Hou disappeared into the air in a flash.
In fact, if it weren't for the three thousand imperial guards under his command, Xiao Heng could have left easily.
But he couldn't.
These are all his old brothers who have fought alongside him all the way to this point. If even the last of them are gone, what's the point of him being a duke?
Marquis Mucheng looked at Xiao Heng and gritted his teeth, saying, "General, you should leave first. I will definitely bring my brothers back."
"You? Never mind. Since I brought everyone out here, I will definitely bring everyone back. If we can't go back, then dying together will be a way to make sure everyone has come with me."
Xiao Heng looked at the wounds on Mu Chenghou's body and smiled bitterly.
At this point, the latter had already lost an arm and had been stabbed in the chest.
It was truly a tragic situation.
"Back then, you pushed Lu Yuan out to take the blame, and now you still blame me?" Xiao Heng said softly with his eyes closed.
"My lord, so much time has passed, why are you still bringing this up?" Marquis Mu Cheng sheathed his gleaming longsword and prepared to leave.
"Back then, I pushed him to the front, allowing the entire court of nobles to vent their anger. Now I've been abandoned by the Marquis Wushuang to cover the rear. It's truly ironic. I regret it. If I had properly nurtured Lu Yuan back then, perhaps things wouldn't be like this now."
Or rather, if they had been even more ruthless back then, there wouldn't be the Qin Dynasty we have today, but it's all too late.
"My lord, you don't regret pushing Lu Yuan out, you're afraid that the Great Yong will really be destroyed by Lu Yuan. The Great Yong has too much prejudice against the lower-level generals and doesn't have the heart to embrace the people of the world."
Deep down, isn't that the same for you? If you had replaced Lu Yuan with someone of Wushuang Hou's status, would you have given him up?
After speaking, Mu Chenghou turned and walked to the side to bandage the wounds of the injured soldiers.
Xiao Heng opened his eyes, a look of helplessness in them.
My palm gently stroked under his ribs, and blood kept seeping out.
Last night, this place was hit by an assassin's hidden weapon. Logically speaking, with his cultivation level, he should have recovered by now, but there is no sign of improvement at all.
Instead, the sores got bigger and bigger.
The blood kept flowing out.
Now that I have lost seven or eight tenths of my cultivation, it will be very difficult for me to complete this path.
But Lu Yuan wasn't paying attention to any of that at the moment.
At this moment, looking at Wang Shi and Hongxiu walking over, she showed surprise in her eyes. She seemed to have seen this person somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where.
The surrounding high-ranking officials of Daqin were also somewhat curious.
I don't know why a woman would come over. It's normal for a man to offer a toast, but it's rare to see a woman doing it.
Zhou Ren's expression changed, and he thought to himself, "How could I have forgotten about Wang Shi and Hong Xiu? Those two are always causing trouble. I wonder if they'll pull some crazy stunts today?"
Thinking of this, although he was annoyed, he couldn't be rude in front of so many high-ranking officials, so he turned to look at Madam Wang and asked, "Is there something you need, sister-in-law?"
This time, Wang Shi naturally dared not throw a tantrum, but respectfully said, "Uncle, he is Hongxiu's husband. He used to be a captain in Liyang Prefecture of Jizhou. When our Qin army arrived, he directly ordered his men to disperse without resistance."
"Could you perhaps speak to the King of Qin and spare his life? Hongxiu is someone you've watched grow up."
After saying that, he pulled his daughter down to kneel on the ground.
The next moment, everyone at the table focused their attention on Lu Yuan.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Lie quickly said, "There's no need to trouble Your Highness with such a small matter. Since they are from the Zhou family, there will certainly be no problem. I'll have someone take care of it right away."
After saying that, he turned to the person next to him and gave a few instructions, then smiled at Madam Wang and said, "It's all resolved. Don't worry, your son-in-law will be fine. In the future, you can ask the servants for these kinds of small matters. There's no need to trouble Your Highness."
Xiao Lie understood that these two were there for the prince, hoping to get him to speak.
He understood perfectly that every family has a few troublesome relatives.
"Oh, oh, thank you so much, sir."
"No need to thank me, it was nothing. Go back and eat." Xiao Lie's voice was kind, giving face to the Zhou family while also upholding Lu Yuan's dignity.
Only then did Wang realize that Lu Yuan's every move could change the fate of countless people; in his presence, it was like looking down on a mountain.
After leaving with her dazed daughter.
She sighed inwardly, thinking that she and her daughter were unlucky. She looked at Zhou Hongling, who was sitting next to Lu Yuan and serving him food, surrounded by people like a star.
The sense of loss in my heart was even greater.
Even though Wang was an ordinary woman, she knew in her heart that if it weren't for Lu Yuan, Zhou Hongling would never have been made a princess.
But it was Lu Yuan who changed the fate of the entire Zhou family.
"Your Highness, we just received a message that the King of Dayongze is confronting our vanguard at the border of Songzhou."
"Hmm? They arrived quite quickly. This Prince Ze must be someone special." Lu Yuan turned his head to ask, his chopsticks hovering over the edge of his bowl.
"Indeed, it is said that he is very talented, not only in cultivation but also in military formations. However, he went into seclusion ten years ago and there has been no news of him since. This time he has come out, and he may have made a breakthrough."
After Xiao Lie finished speaking, a look of worry appeared on his face.
He had a feeling that this Prince Ze might also have risen to the ranks of famous generals.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, the military formation diagrams have all been distributed for practice, right?"
"The beast riders, wolf riders, and blood riders are all proficient. The brothers of Tianwang Village were also given the formation diagrams a few days ago, and they are now training in Yanzhou. General Wu Han sent a message that they are ready to go into battle."
Lu Yuan nodded and said with a smile, "In that case, there's nothing to worry about. Order the army to follow the route I've designated, form ranks, and slowly advance towards Songzhou."
"Your Highness, these armies are not in one place. The furthest is hundreds of miles apart, and the closest is tens of miles apart. How can they form a battle formation?"
"Those formations that are gathered together are just the methods of ordinary generals. This time, I will show you a different kind of formation, a grand formation that can truly influence celestial phenomena," Lu Yuan said.
He then addressed the crowd, saying, "Hurry up and eat. We'll head towards the border in half an hour."
"Yes, sir!"
Upon receiving the order, the generals immediately responded.