Chapter 667: A War to Destroy a State

When the dust finally settled, Xin Mao, who had led the Fuzhou troops in pursuit ahead of the others, reined in at the edge of a vast expanse of churned, pitted ground that stretched beyond sight.

The soldiers sent forward to test the terrain soon returned with mud caked around their boots and reported that the army could not continue.

The floodwaters had already receded, but the soaked earth had turned almost into marshland. A man could barely pull one foot free once he stepped into it; there was no possibility of sending thousands upon thousands of men and horses across.

Xin Mao looked back at the Fuzhou troops who had chased this far without rest, travel-worn and exhausted almost beyond recognition. They had suffered so much and were finally close to the rebels, only to fall short at the last moment. He raised his face to Heaven and let out a long sigh. He knew perfectly well that once Wu Gongling escaped this time, the trouble would only grow.

Afterward, the several pursuing regional armies had no choice but to take long detours, buying Wu Gongling another one or two days to flee.

Anyone with eyes could see that this flood had not happened for no reason. Wu Gongling had obviously breached an embankment to obstruct the pursuers.

The cultivators around Wu Gongling, Hui Qingping included, soon realized the truth as well. Wu Gongling, however, refused to admit it no matter what anyone said. With shamelessly thick skin, he insisted the flood had come from divine power he had borrowed.

Worse, he made no attempt to hide the written agreement in which Hui Qingping had promised to marry him. He handed it around throughout his army for the brothers to read and laugh over together.

Every other sentence out of his mouth now declared Hui Qingping his woman. He even ordered the entire army that whenever they saw Hui Qingping in the future, they were to address her as “Madam Wu.”

Hui Qingping could not bear the shame and fury. More than once, the thought of suicide nearly crossed into action.

Faced with Wu Gongling’s shamelessness, she was completely defeated and returned to Tiannü Sect.

More precisely, Tiannü Sect forcibly recalled her. In the sect’s view, Hui Qingping had clearly lost her reason. If she could fall for such a crude little trick, what else could it be but loss of reason? They therefore sent someone to replace her by force.

Before long, news of Hui Qingping’s humiliating return spread throughout the realm. Her reputation had been thoroughly ruined in Wu Gongling’s hands.

Not long after returning to Tiannü Sect, Hui Qingping was removed from her position as Elder. She had become a complete laughingstock in the cultivation world; allowing her to continue as an Elder was no longer appropriate. Hui Qingping herself was too ashamed to resist the decision. She accepted the sect’s ruling and withdrew into seclusion from then on.

The one thing she still could not forget was killing Wu Gongling...

...

“Oh? Something like that actually happened?”

Outside a thatched cottage among green hills and clear waters beyond Yanjing, Niu Youdao stood leaning on his sword. After hearing the story, he was somewhat surprised.

He had already been caught off guard when he learned Wu Gongling’s rapid defeats had been part of an attempt to link up with Song’s army. The man’s flashy movements had fooled even him. Now Wu Gongling had somehow produced another outrageous trick and forced an Elder of one of Han’s three major sects out of office without shedding a drop of blood. Niu Youdao was beginning to find Wu Gongling rather interesting.

The darkest place was often directly beneath the lamp. Yanjing was the most dangerous place in the world for Niu Youdao, yet lately he had been hiding nearby.

He had little choice but to act within his abilities. He understood nothing about campaigning with great armies, so joining the battlefield himself would accomplish very little. Nor could the cultivators in his hands withstand the great powers now contesting the situation; sending them out would only mean sending them to their deaths. On top of all that, he still needed to avoid the search being conducted by Yan’s three major sects.

In ordinary times, the power those three sects could mobilize was not to be underestimated, and hiding inside Yan might not have been enough to evade them. At present, however, even their own deployments were stretched thin. They no longer had the manpower to launch a large-scale search specifically for him.

Ever since Shang Chaozong was seized, Niu Youdao had moved to the area around the capital. He had already met Grand Minister of the Masses Gao Jiancheng several times, instructing him to watch the court’s attitude toward Shang Chaozong with extreme care. If Gao discovered any sign that Shang Jianxiong intended to kill Shang Chaozong, he was to use every ounce of influence he possessed at court. Even if it meant exposing himself afterward, he had to cooperate from within while Niu Youdao acted from without to rescue Shang Chaozong.

Niu Youdao would also arrange the Gao family’s evacuation. Gao Jiancheng himself would be flown out immediately on a flying mount.

Gao Jiancheng had agreed. If matters truly reached that point, with Yan’s fortunes declining year after year, he was willing to abandon the office of Grand Minister of the Masses.

Of course, unless matters reached the final step, Niu Youdao had no intention of exposing Gao Jiancheng. The very reason he remained hidden near the capital was to prepare for the worst, safeguard Shang Chaozong’s life, and look for a suitable opportunity to fish him out. There was no possibility Niu Youdao would truly let the imperial court seize Shang Chaozong and then simply ignore him.

As for the physical suffering Shang Chaozong had endured, Niu Youdao already knew about it through Gao Jiancheng. Gao had personally gone into the imperial prison to see him.

Whether Shang Chaozong understood the reason for that suffering or resented it, Niu Youdao did not particularly care. Some things would not necessarily be believed even if explained. He could only count it as Shang Chaozong bearing hardship for the larger situation.

Guan Fangyi said, “Yes. The story has already spread throughout the cultivation world. We haven’t heard anyone from Tiannü Sect come out to deny it, so it should be true.”

Thinking back on the sworn elder sister he had met several times, Niu Youdao could vaguely remember the sense of superiority that seemed to seep naturally from her bones as a member of a great sect. He truly had never expected Wu Gongling to beat her down this badly. Just imagining how stifled and humiliated she must feel was almost funny.

But the situation before him soon made Niu Youdao sigh again. “It seems Wu Gongling linking up with Song’s army is unavoidable now.”

Guan Fangyi said, “After Wu Gongling destroyed the river embankment, the rebellion-suppression armies lost any chance of catching him. Marshal Meng also believes the imperial court’s heavily defended border line cannot withstand Wu Gongling creating this kind of disruption. Song’s army invading Yan really does look unavoidable now. For the Prince, though, that may not be entirely bad. It could become an opportunity to get free.”

“Shang Jianxiong will find it very difficult to back down. His dignity won’t allow it.” Niu Youdao nodded slowly. “It looks as though Nanzhou will have to take the initiative and name its conditions.”

Wu Gongling had unexpectedly created an opportunity for him, but Niu Youdao could not feel happy about it. Once Han and Song entered Yan, pressure from both within and without would make it impossible for Nanzhou to remain peacefully aloof from the greater conflict...

...

Wu Calendar, Year 530, beginning of the year.

Under attack from the rebels led by Yan’s renegade general Wu Gongling, the heavily defended Yan border line fell into chaos. Song paid only a very small price to seize the confusion, cross the river, and successfully invade Yan.

Inside the command tent, Shang Yongzhong read the urgent report from the front and collapsed weakly into his chair. His face was ugly, and the report slipped from his hand to the ground. His heart was full of panic.

His army had only just finished detouring around the land inundated by the flood when Song’s attack began. One Yan general fighting Song head-on had already died in battle. From the moment hostilities erupted, the situation at the front had turned unfavorable, and urgent requests were coming in for the several regional armies to reinforce the line and plug the breach.

Shang Yongzhong had come here to seize merit because he believed suppressing the rebellion was already all but certain. Who could have imagined that something so certain would go wrong? Not only had the rebellion not been suppressed, it had instead brought on a calamity that could destroy the state.

That was a responsibility Shang Yongzhong could not carry.

Shen Yuhong and the others hurried into the command tent. The moment Shen Yuhong saw Shang Yongzhong sitting there with a devastated expression, anger rose in him.

“Grand Marshal, the border situation is critical and you still have the leisure to sit here in a daze? The heavy border forces of the imperial court are all under the Grand Marshal’s coordination. Why are you not issuing emergency orders?”

Shang Yongzhong came back to himself, hurriedly picked up the report from the ground, rose, and came around the desk to hand it over.

“The border army is requesting reinforcements. Have the three major sects immediately pressure Xin Mao of Fuzhou, Zhang Hu of Changzhou, and Xu Jingyue of Gongzhou. Order all three forces to hurry ahead and reinforce the front first, suppressing Song’s offensive. An Xianzhao’s and Su Qitong’s forces must proceed at once as well. I am returning to the capital immediately to see His Majesty!”

Shen Yuhong seized him by the front of his robe and snapped, “You are commander of the entire army. At a moment like this, instead of going to the battlefield and directing the fighting in person, you want to run back to the capital? Messages have to travel such a long distance. By the time a decision comes back, the situation will already have changed. How are you supposed to command a war like that?”

Even Shen Yuhong, who did not understand warfare, understood such a simple principle.

Shang Yongzhong stamped his foot anxiously. “Wrong. You have it wrong. The true supreme commander of the entire army is His Majesty. The central military command responsible for directing operations answers to His Majesty. There are many matters I cannot decide alone. I must ask His Majesty for a ruling!”

To prevent a second Prince Ning from appearing, Shang Jianxiong had deliberately placed restraints on the Grand Marshal’s military authority.

And as for Shang Yongzhong himself, he could still find excuses for why the rebellion-suppression campaign had failed. Asking him personally to command Yan’s armies in a full-scale war was no different from asking for his life. If the war were lost, the responsibility would be so enormous that even every head in his family combined would not be enough to pay for it.

Shen Yuhong said angrily, “As commander, you cannot leave now. You must remain here and stabilize military morale. If the commander runs away, how is this war supposed to be fought? Anything requiring His Majesty’s ruling can be transmitted to him. There is no room for you to run back and forth at a time like this!”

Since they refused to let him leave, Shang Yongzhong had no choice. He issued order after order urging the regional armies to accelerate toward the battlefield, while summoning Su Qitong and An Xianzhao to ask for advice.

Afterward, while reporting the military situation upward, he also secretly wrote two letters to Tong Mo and Gao Jiancheng, asking the two men to help shift blame away from him—specifically, the blame for failing to suppress the rebellion and thereby bringing on a calamity that threatened the destruction of the state. He promised them generous repayment afterward.

Along the Yan-Song border, Song’s offensive under Luo Zhao was ferocious. Yan’s army retreated again and again, unable to withstand the momentum.

Ever since Qin was destroyed, the realm had gone a very long time without another war to destroy a state. Once Song formally launched a full-scale offensive, the whole world was shaken.

With defeat following defeat, the Yan court descended into chaos. Every manner of voice emerged, until even Tong Mo and Gao Jiancheng found it difficult to suppress them.

Under pressure from those blaming Shang Yongzhong, Tong Mo and Gao Jiancheng continued defending him. They argued that responsibility for Wu Gongling’s rebels escaping did not lie with Shang Yongzhong. By the time Shang Yongzhong took command of the rebellion-suppression campaign, Wu Gongling was already fleeing. How could the entire blame be placed on Shang Yongzhong’s head?

Shang Yongzhong kept himself well informed about developments at court. Once he heard this, he immediately submitted a memorial defending himself and shifted responsibility onto the five regional lords, blaming their ineffective pursuit for allowing Wu Gongling to escape.

He did not need to state the implication aloud. Everyone understood it: the five regional lords held their armies for their own interests, and Shang Yongzhong had never been able to command them fully.

As the saying goes, in a national crisis, one longs for a worthy general. Yan had reached a moment of life and death, and voices that would normally never have dared emerge now appeared openly. They bluntly accused the court’s current generals and commanders of being poor at war and called on the imperial court to release Shang Chaozong and let him lead troops into battle.

Those voices stopped just short of directly saying Shang Jianxiong had been wrong to replace the commander before battle. Shang Jianxiong’s face turned extremely ugly.

Of course, others spoke in his defense, arguing that even if Shang Chaozong had remained in command of the rebellion-suppression campaign, he might not have been able to catch Wu Gongling.

When news reached the five regional lords that Shang Yongzhong was shifting blame onto them in order to save himself, they were furious.

Given the present situation, they had already seen that Yan, riddled with absurdity at every level, was unlikely to reverse its decline. They could not command the imperial court’s forces and could only watch those people stumble about chaotically. If the five of them alone bled themselves white on the battlefield, exhausting the foundations in their hands, it would still accomplish nothing.

And now, while they were being sent to the battlefield to risk their lives, responsibility was being pushed onto their heads as well.

It was outrageous.

The thought of preserving their own strength and making other plans, which had already taken root secretly in the regional lords, immediately grew stronger.

Under threats from the three major sects, however, the five regional lords had no choice. Refusal meant death. They were forced to go to the battlefield.

But while the sect cultivators could force them to appear, they could not force them to fight the war in any particular way. If you think my command is wrong, then go ahead and tell me how to command. I’ll listen to you.

And so even after the five regional armies entered the fighting, it made little difference. Song’s army still drove them into retreat after retreat. The cultivators accompanying them had no choice but to retreat as well. When thousands upon thousands of soldiers had been beaten back, what else were the cultivators supposed to do? Charge forward alone and withstand the enemy’s armies and cultivators head-on?

[End of Chapter 667]