Chapter 603: Quick, Quick, Quick!

Wan Qingyan and Gai Huan fell silent. Both knew they had no choice; what rankled was the sheer frustration of being struck by disaster out of nowhere.

Wan Qingyan could not help cursing, “Everyone knows Shang Chaozong is ambitious. Dingzhou happens to border Nanzhou. We must have had rotten luck for eight lifetimes.”

Gai Huan added, “Zhou Shouxian had even worse luck.”

At a time like this, they still had the leisure to make idle remarks. Xue Xiao was just about to tell them to stop wasting words when a shout came from outside. “My lord, a message from the imperial court!”

“Bring it here!” Xue Xiao barked irritably.

The soldier jumped in fright, hurried inside, and presented the dispatch from the capital.

Xue Xiao read it, then waved the man away.

Wan Qingyan asked, “The court is sending word now. Have they already come up with a response?”

“They have a response, all right. By now, the daylilies have gone cold.” Xue Xiao could not keep the complaint from his mouth. He tossed the letter to the other two.

After reading it, they found that the court was warning Dingzhou that Nanzhou was very likely to provoke an incident as a pretext to send troops. Xue Xiao was ordered to restrain his men, endure any provocation, and buy the court time to resolve the matter.

Wan Qingyan bared his teeth in fury. “They wait until the enemy is already attacking before they think to warn us? What in the world does the Intelligence Directorate do?”

After something like this, even these three normally composed men could no longer suppress their tempers.

They had no choice. The message they themselves had sent to the court had probably not even arrived yet. Whatever had to be done still had to be done. The three men, fellow sufferers in the same disaster, left the Provincial Inspector’s Residence together and rushed toward the battlefield as fast as they could, issuing order after order along the way for the army to concentrate, establish defenses, and block the Nanzhou forces.

As the army hurried onward, a Goldenwing descended from the sky. A secret letter was soon in Gai Huan’s hands.

“Brother Xue, Brother Wan.” After reading it, Gai Huan called the other two over.

The army continued its rapid march while the three men reined their horses out of the column and drew aside beside the official road. Gai Huan handed them the letter. “I thought something was strange. With the three major sects watching over Yan, how could Nanzhou suddenly dare provoke Dingzhou and attack? So the root of the trouble still lies with the imperial court. The court assembled a force and launched a surprise attack on Maolu Villa. They fought a bloody battle against the villa’s defenses and failed. Cao Yuer, Sect Leader of Feihua Pavilion, Jin Wuguang, Sect Leader of Zhenling Academy, and other senior figures were captured and suffered miserably. They are hanging from the walls of Qingshan Commandery right now as a public display! Gentlemen, the imperial court angered Niu Youdao, and this is Niu Youdao’s retaliation!”

After reading the letter, Wan Qingyan burst into abuse. “Has Shang Jianxiong lost his mind? Of all times to make a move, he picks now? Has he not looked at Yan’s present situation? Song and Han are eyeing us like tigers, our interior is hollow, and he still dares create this kind of mess? I truly have to hand it to this emperor. How can affairs of state be decided on personal feelings? If he had no certainty of success, was this something he could casually attempt? He may not fear the trouble, but he has dragged us to our deaths!”

He had truly been enraged. In his venting, not a trace of respect for Shang Jianxiong remained.

Neither Wan Qingyan nor Gai Huan knew the actual details of the battle at Maolu Villa. At present, they did not even know that the court had sent Zong Yuan, seventh on the Golden Core Ranking, only for him to be defeated as well. Had they known, they would certainly have been stunned.

Dust rolled up as the army streamed past nearby. Xue Xiao held the secret letter with a cold, grim expression. He said nothing about Wan Qingyan’s disrespect toward the Emperor. A general away from court sometimes had to turn a blind eye.

In truth, Xue Xiao had known about the court’s surprise attack on Qingshan Commandery long before Gai Huan.

Shang Chaozong was ambitious, a fierce tiger licking its claws beside Dingzhou’s very bed. For Dingzhou, he was a grave danger. With Xue Xiao posted on the Nanzhou border, how could he possibly fail to watch Nanzhou’s movements closely?

He had long since planted large numbers of spies throughout Nanzhou to monitor every move there.

Otherwise, how could those generals have arrived from all directions so quickly earlier? Xue Xiao had summoned them in advance.

Although he believed that the presence of the three major sects should prevent Nanzhou from acting rashly, he still had not dared be careless and had tried to prepare ahead of time.

Even so, his reaction had been far too slow. He had not expected Nanzhou to move the instant Maolu Villa came under attack. They had not even waited for the bulk of Nanzhou’s forces to get into position; the border garrison had impatiently struck first.

The attacking side had rushed into battle before its forces were even fully concentrated. Who fought a war like that? It had caught him completely off guard.

But knowing what the imperial court had done was one thing. More precisely, knowing what fine work Shang Jianxiong had done. Especially now that the whole affair had ended in failure, Xue Xiao could say none of it to outsiders.

He knew perfectly well that Dingzhou had been dragged into disaster by one of Shang Jianxiong’s bad decisions, yet he could only swallow the broken teeth and blood.

That was the nature of a surprise attack like this. If Shang Jianxiong had succeeded, His Majesty would have been wise and decisive. If he failed and made a mess of it, then it became another matter entirely: His Majesty had been foolish.

At a moment like this, how could Xue Xiao add fuel to the fire? Though he had plainly been implicated by someone else’s mistake, he could only accept the blame for failing to discipline his own men, for failing to restrain the subordinates who had done the idiotic thing of robbing Shang Chaozong’s women and thus igniting the war.

He was the one who truly had grievances he could not voice. The whole court could push responsibility onto anyone it pleased, but how many ministers had ever dared push responsibility onto the Emperor? Only a man tired of living would try.

...

The Imperial Study in the inner palace at Yanjing was silent.

Three elders stationed in the palace on behalf of Xiaoyao Palace, Zijin Cave, and Lingjian Mountain had arrived together. All three stared coldly at Shang Jianxiong behind his desk.

Shang Jianxiong was reading the letters of accusation in his hands, the letters Niu Youdao and Shang Chaozong had sent to the three major sects, which had now been forwarded here.

The three elders were present as representatives of the three major sects, demanding an explanation from Shang Jianxiong.

Several more eunuchs than usual were inside the Imperial Study. Tian Yu stood beside Shang Jianxiong, while the eunuchs posted along both sides of the room occasionally revealed a sharp glint in their eyes, apparently keeping wary watch on the three elders.

“Your Majesty, have you finished reading?” one elder asked in a deep voice. “Is what the letters say true? Was there, or was there not, a surprise attack?”

Shang Jianxiong lowered the letters, his expression grave. “I will not conceal it from the three of you. I too have only just received word of this matter and am still verifying the facts. I have already sent an imperial edict to Nanzhou ordering them to escort the suspects involved in the attack to the capital for interrogation.”

The elder sneered. “In other words, Your Majesty knew nothing of it?”

Shang Jianxiong said heavily, “The three elders may rest assured. I will investigate this matter to the bottom and will certainly give the three major sects an accounting!”

Another elder chuckled. “Your Majesty is sovereign of ten thousand chariots. Since you have said so, we have no wish to force the issue. But words alone leave no proof. It would be better if Your Majesty put it in writing, so that once the truth is established later, there will be something to compare against.”

“Exactly.” The other two nodded.

Shang Jianxiong frowned slightly.

Tian Yu stepped forward with a smile. “His Majesty’s word is golden. What could the three of you possibly distrust? Asking His Majesty to write out testimony—is that not going a little too far? His Majesty has never treated the three of you poorly here in the palace.”

The elder who had worn a dark expression from the start replied indifferently, “Brother Tian, one matter is one matter. We are not trying to make things difficult for His Majesty, but His Majesty cannot make things difficult for us either. Do you know the situation now? Our Palace Master is furious. If we return with nothing but a few casual words from His Majesty, vague and unclear, how are we supposed to report back?”

The three remained firm. With no other choice, Shang Jianxiong personally wrote three letters for them to take back and report with. Only then did they leave.

Once they were gone, Tian Yu waved a hand. The other eunuchs in the Imperial Study withdrew silently as well.

Sitting behind the desk, Shang Jianxiong clenched one hand against its surface and crumpled a sheet of paper beyond recognition. The mighty Emperor had been forced to write testimony at someone else’s demand. The humiliation burned inside him, yet he could only seethe in silence.

“Report!” A eunuch appeared at the doorway, holding a secret dispatch in both hands.

Tian Yu took it and read it. His face changed markedly. He hurried back to the desk, hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “Your Majesty, urgent military intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate. Nanzhou has sent troops. Its vanguard has already entered Dingzhou territory. The Dingzhou border defenders have been routed and cannot withstand Nanzhou’s advance!”

Shang Jianxiong’s eyes flew wide in disbelief. He sprang to his feet, snatched the dispatch over, and read it rapidly.

“Report!” Another eunuch appeared at the doorway carrying a secret dispatch.

Calamities truly never came alone. Tian Yu took this one and found it was an urgent report from Xue Xiao, Provincial Inspector of Dingzhou.

The letter detailed how Nanzhou had provoked an incident and then used it as an excuse to attack. Xue Xiao stressed again and again that Dingzhou’s defenses were hollow and would likely be unable to hold. He urgently requested reinforcements from the imperial court.

After reading it, Shang Jianxiong trembled with rage. “Rebellious minister! Traitor! How is it that I never heard he had taken three new concubines?”

Tian Yu said anxiously, “Your Majesty, senior officials do not need to report when they take concubines. An excuse can be invented however he pleases. If he insists that they were his women, and Dingzhou’s garrison truly did commit an unlawful act, there is no explaining it away. The urgent matter now is how to respond!”

“They fell for something so easily? And were caught red-handed! That idiot Xue Xiao—how does he discipline his men? Imperial soldiers actually disguised themselves as masked bandits to kill people and rob their goods. It is an absurdity beneath Heaven! If this story spreads, where am I supposed to put my face? Am I to tell the world that these are the soldiers of my imperial court?”

Shang Jianxiong roared in fury, then collapsed back into his chair, nearly coughing blood from rage. Breathing hard, he said, “The Grand Minister of Works was unfortunately right. That rebellious wretch truly did seize the chance to provoke us... The Grand Minister of Works had the foresight after all. Quick, summon the Grand Minister of Works! Quickly! We must discuss how to respond!”

...

Along the Nanzhou-Dingzhou border, large bodies of troops marched at speed into Dingzhou to join the fighting.

“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

The thunder of iron-shod hooves made the earth tremble. Dust billowed, and countless cavalry stretched beyond sight. The Yingyang and Wulie Guards poured into Dingzhou like a long dragon.

Beside the road ahead stood a carriage. Several generals crowded around its front while Meng Shanming sat on the carriage board, pointing to positions on a map as he gave them instructions.

In the later letter Niu Youdao had sent Shang Chaozong, his message was simple: this campaign had to be fast. The letters of accusation sent to the three major sects were not merely complaints; they were also meant to delay the three sects’ intervention. Before the three major sects formally stepped in, Nanzhou had to open its jaws wide and eat. Whatever territory it could seize, it was to seize.

Again and again, the demand came down to one thing: quick, quick, quick!

To win the race against time, Shang Chaozong personally sent Meng Shanming to command the campaign and gave him authority to act first and report afterward, avoiding delays caused by repeatedly seeking approval.

To let Meng Shanming personally reach the front and shorten the army’s command-response time, Niu Youdao even dispatched five flying mounts on an emergency run to Nanzhou Prefectural Capital to bring him directly to the battlefield.

Nanzhou’s vanguard had made easy progress at first, routing every force before it. But as time passed, Dingzhou recovered from the shock and gradually concentrated troops to resist. The weakness of Nanzhou’s understrength vanguard began to show, and its offensive stalled.

The Yingyang and Wulie Guards had arrived quickly, but the infantry could not keep pace. Cavalry alone could not capture cities and seize territory.

Meng Shanming immediately changed his method. Rather than wait for the main army behind him, he turned to the garrisons in the nearest districts and ordered them to advance and concentrate in successive waves.

Nearby garrisons were to abandon their posts. Whatever defensive duties they had could be ignored. There was only one order: advance at full speed.

County seats, commandery capitals—abandon the defensive missions everywhere. The last troops to arrive would take over those responsibilities.

By this method, troops from each successive layer of the surrounding region kept streaming forward. It could not guarantee that a huge force would assemble quickly, but it did ensure a continuous flow of men into Dingzhou to support the advance of the Yingyang and Wulie Guards.

As for provisions, once Meng Shanming was on the battlefield, there was no mercy in him. The army was to replenish itself through war. Once a city was taken, the troops were permitted to loot locally.

[End of Chapter 603]