Chapter 601: Infighting

There was one more thing left unsaid. With the affair blown this wide open, no one was a fool. Before long, who would not know that the people from the two sects had been sent by His Majesty?

If His Majesty tried to save them, he would all but confirm that the sneak attack had been his doing, and Nanzhou would demand an accounting from the three major sects.

If His Majesty did not save them, or could not save them, the loss of face would be enormous.

This was a public slap in the Emperor's face.

Even without it being said aloud, Shang Jianxiong quickly realized the same thing. His expression twitched as he snapped, "I will never let that wretch off!"

Ga Miaoshui offered from the side, "Your Majesty, you can issue an edict to Nanzhou demanding the prisoners in the name of an interrogation. Unless Nanzhou intends to defy an imperial edict openly!"

Shang Jianxiong and Tian Yu both frowned. As if Shang Chaozong had not openly defied enough edicts already. How many times had the court ordered him to the capital to report on his duties? The moment an edict arrived, Shang Chaozong would fall ill. The moment the edict was withdrawn, he would recover at once. No matter what, he simply refused to come to the capital.

Of course, the truth was that he did not dare come. Once he came, did he expect to leave again so easily?

If such an edict were sent, there was no telling what excuse Shang Chaozong would invent this time.

Tian Yu nodded. "Whether it works or not, we have to try, Your Majesty. At present, this is the only course left to us. We cannot simply stand by and watch them die. That would chill people's hearts, and it would be difficult to make those cultivators risk their lives for us again in the future."

Shang Jianxiong closed his eyes and sighed. "Draft the edict."

He had no confidence whatsoever that his nephew Shang Chaozong would release the prisoners. And with Niu Youdao behind him, it would probably still depend on Niu Youdao's say-so.

Yet not long after the edict was sent, an urgent secret report from the Intelligence Directorate was delivered to the Imperial Study.

Outside the Imperial Study, Tian Yu was giving several eunuchs instructions. The moment he read the report, his expression changed drastically. He waved the eunuchs away and hurried inside.

Within, Shang Jianxiong sat behind his desk while Tong Mo, the Grand Minister of Works, spoke with him, one standing and one seated.

With no time for ceremony, Tian Yu broke in with the urgent report. "Your Majesty, the Intelligence Directorate has sent urgent military intelligence. The Nanzhou army that had been slowly withdrawing from the direction of Jinzhou has suddenly begun concentrating again. It has accelerated its march and is heading straight for Dingzhou. The forces already nearer Dingzhou are massing even faster and moving directly for the Dingzhou border!"

Tong Mo froze, thoughts racing through his mind.

Shang Jianxiong shot to his feet in alarm and snatched the military report from Tian Yu's hand. As he read it, the color drained from his face. "What is that wretched Shang Chaozong trying to do?"

Tong Mo held out a hand. "Your Majesty, may this old minister have a look?"

Shang Jianxiong tossed the report to him and began pacing the study, his face dark.

After reading it, Tong Mo's expression grew grave. He shook the paper in his hand. "Can Shang Chaozong truly be planning rebellion? That should not be possible. If he really dares act recklessly, would the three major sects spare him? Your Majesty, has something happened?"

He knew perfectly well that something had.

Tong Mo had deep roots at court. An undertaking this large, especially one arranged in secret by Shang Jianxiong, could not possibly escape his notice. Zhenling Academy and Feihua Pavilion had long courted his favor as well; he had known about the operation even before they moved.

He also knew the attack had failed. The remnants of the two sects had already appealed to him for help, hoping he would speak to the Emperor and save those hanging from the city walls of Qingshan Commandery.

In fact, he had come to the Imperial Study precisely to sound Shang Jianxiong out. Whether he actually spoke on their behalf was secondary. First he intended to see how Shang Jianxiong reacted.

Had something happened? How was Shang Jianxiong supposed to say it aloud? If the matter had remained quiet, that would have been one thing. Now that it had exploded into the open, admitting it would make him look like a muddleheaded ruler.

Tian Yu stepped in to rescue him. "Yan's envoy in the State of Zhao, Gao Shaoming, offered this old slave a scheme to eliminate Niu Youdao. This old slave let himself be persuaded and thought it might succeed, so I listened to him. Without informing His Majesty, I mobilized men to attack Maolu Villa. The attack failed. I fear we have now provoked Niu Youdao's retaliation."

He took the entire blame upon himself.

"Eunuch Tian, at a time like this, with powerful enemies before us, how could you stir up internal strife again? You were muddleheaded!" Tong Mo stamped his foot as he rebuked Tian Yu.

Inwardly, however, he understood the situation perfectly. He was merely playing his part. The Emperor could not be wrong. If there was blame, it belonged to those beneath him.

"Yes, yes. This old slave was muddleheaded. Every mistake was mine, all of them!" Tian Yu bowed repeatedly in confession. Then he continued, "Grand Minister, after this you may have this old slave cut to pieces if you wish, but affairs of state cannot be neglected. You are seasoned in governing the realm. You must think of a way to salvage this!"

Shang Jianxiong stood to the side with a taut face, saying nothing. Not even in his dreams had he imagined that Nanzhou would actually dare mobilize troops and act recklessly.

"Ah!" Tong Mo let out a long sigh toward the ceiling, then frowned. "This should not be happening. Would Dachan Mountain really dare follow them into rebellion so readily? Could they merely be making a show of force?"

Tian Yu said, "Grand Minister, whether it is a bluff or not, we must guard against the worst."

Tong Mo looked over the military report again and pondered. "Nanzhou will not dare move without cause. The three major sects would not let them off lightly. If they truly mean to send troops against Dingzhou, they will need a proper and defensible pretext."

He suddenly raised his head. "Your Majesty, Xue Xiao must be warned immediately. Tell him to guard against provocations from Nanzhou. No matter how Nanzhou provokes him, he must endure it. He absolutely must not give Nanzhou a pretext to send troops! So long as there is no pretext, neither Nanzhou nor Niu Youdao will dare act recklessly. Otherwise, the three major sects are not to be trifled with. They will certainly kill one to warn a hundred!"

"Excellent counsel, Grand Minister of Works!" Shang Jianxiong nodded repeatedly, much of the gloom in his heart dispersing. He immediately turned to Tian Yu. "Quickly! Contact Xue Xiao at once!"

Tian Yu nodded again and again and hurried out of the Imperial Study. He too knew there was no time to lose.

But Nanzhou had been plotting this for a long time. This was no sudden impulse. They had settled the plan before moving, and by the time the capital reacted and messages went back and forth, it was already too late.

...

At Xiaoyao Palace, Long Xiu stood with a dark face, holding two letters of accusation. One was from Niu Youdao and the other from Shang Chaozong. The two had arrived together.

Niu Youdao accused the imperial court of sending men in a surprise attack that had killed several thousand cultivators of Maolu Villa.

Shang Chaozong likewise accused the imperial court of sending men in a surprise attack that had killed nearly ten thousand of his garrison troops.

The court had acted without benevolence or justice, and their grievances had nowhere to be redressed. Both men asked Xiaoyao Palace to uphold justice for them.

"What the hell is Shang Jianxiong doing?" Long Xiu erupted. "With powerful enemies pressing us now, he still finds time for infighting? He tries to kill people and cannot even finish the job. Does he think there is not enough trouble already? Is he trying to force them into rebellion? If he no longer wants that throne, tell him to hand it over to me!"

He pointed at Yi Shu. "Contact Shang Jianxiong immediately. Tell him I want an explanation!"

"Yes!" Yi Shu accepted the order and left.

An elder at the side paced closer. "These letters laying out their grievances were probably not sent only to us."

Long Xiu gave a cold snort. "Do you even need to ask?"

...

In Dingzhou near the Nanzhou border, a group of masked men fell upon a merchant caravan on an official road winding through the forest and left it a bloody shambles.

A woman's scream came from inside one carriage. A masked man lifted the curtain aside with his saber and saw three young beauties within, all pale with terror. Their looks were enough to make any man's heart stir.

The masked men who crowded closer to look exchanged glances, naked desire appearing in their eyes.

They had already gone this far. Naturally they meant to take the opportunity to enjoy themselves. Whether anyone would be left alive could be decided afterward.

At another wagon carrying freight, someone opened one of the chests and looked inside. It was filled with gold, silver, pearls, and jewels.

He shut the chest and called out, "Boss, no mistake."

The masked leader waved a hand. "Move!"

The wagons carrying the valuables and the carriage holding the three beauties were immediately turned around and driven away at speed. As for the corpses of the caravan's servants, they were all dragged into the woods and hidden, leaving only bloodstains along the road.

Deep in the dense forest, a cultivator who had secretly watched the entire scene released a Goldenwing from his hand, then began following the masked men from a distance.

...

In the border forests on the Nanzhou side, more than a thousand cavalrymen waited in concealment.

A Goldenwing descended. The moment the message arrived, an armored commander immediately ordered another Goldenwing sent to inform the main army behind them. Then he shouted, "Move out!"

More than a thousand cavalrymen mounted at once and burst from the forest. Accompanied by several cultivators, they thundered down the official road at full speed.

A Dingzhou checkpoint lay just ahead. By the time the garrison beat the gong in alarm, it was already too late. The cavalry came roaring in, horse-chopping sabers swinging, hacking men apart in sprays of blood and flesh.

How many men could a checkpoint possibly hold? The small garrison scattered in panic.

A cultivator stationed there had barely shown himself when two cultivators who came flying in joined forces and tied him down.

The thousand-odd cavalrymen did not slow. They galloped on at full speed, and before long they caught the dozen or so masked men who had robbed the caravan.

The cavalry commander swept out one hand. His men immediately split three ways. Two groups plunged into the woods on the left and right to encircle the masked men from both flanks. The sight truly scared the robbers out of their wits.

Before long, every one of them had been captured. They did not withstand much intimidation. The moment a single head hit the ground, they broke and confessed their identities: they were soldiers from the pass ahead.

Earlier, they had seen a chest fall from one of the caravan's wagons and spill gold and silver all over the road. The caravan was small, the country ahead sparsely populated, and greed had gotten the better of them. That was all.

Sitting high on horseback, the commander flourished his saber toward them and sneered. "You have landed yourselves in serious trouble. Do you know who these three beauties are? They are newly taken concubines of Commandery Prince Yongping. We were on our way to receive them, yet you had the nerve to profane, humiliate, and rob the Prince's women. Does the imperial court have any law left at all?"

"Ah!" The man answering him went limp and fell to the ground. He had thought revealing that they were garrison soldiers might save his life.

The commander gave the order on the spot. "Take a few of them to the pass ahead and demand an explanation. Bring the rest back with us as witnesses!"

What explanation was there to demand?

When several of the robbers were delivered to the pass, its commander nearly panicked himself senseless. His men had robbed money, seized women, and somehow robbed Commandery Prince Yongping himself?

Who was Commandery Prince Yongping? He was a man who dared oppose the imperial court head-on, a man who had seized the court's own Nanzhou from it. This joke had gone far beyond anything funny.

Once the prisoners had been delivered, the cavalrymen quickly returned. The commander of the pass urgently reported the matter to his superiors.

But the Nanzhou army gathered along the border had prepared for this long ago. They had no intention of waiting for any explanation.

Without another word, the vanguard army crossed into Dingzhou at the first opportunity and swept forward, sending the completely unprepared Dingzhou troops collapsing into rout.

They did not even wait for the rest of their own forces to arrive. They were openly exploiting the fact that most of Dingzhou's troops had already been transferred away, leaving its defenses hollow.

Behind them, Nanzhou's main forces advanced rapidly as well, bearing down in overwhelming force.

Soon, stories spread throughout Nanzhou that Dingzhou had robbed the Prince's women and sent men to raid Qingshan Commandery, killing nearly ten thousand garrison soldiers.

Everyone in Nanzhou was furious. Men cursed Dingzhou for going too far. What imperial troops? They were plainly bandits and thieves!

The army surged toward Dingzhou amid furious shouts. Men clamored to avenge the Prince and wipe away the humiliation, to purge rebel traitors on behalf of the imperial court, and to demand that the court hand over Xue Xiao's head.

[End of Chapter 601]