Chapter 741: The Battle Rages On

No matter what Wu Gongling got up to, the true pressure facing Song still came from the invading Han army under Jin Jue.

With the great edifice on the verge of collapse, panic gripped the Song capital. Emperor Mu Zhuozhen could neither eat nor sleep in peace. The humiliation he had once felt over sending his most favored consort to Shang Jianxiong had vanished without a trace. If the situation could be salvaged, forget one Que'er—even ten Que'ers, Mu Zhuozhen would hand them over.

What dignity did Song still have before Yan now? Song was practically kneeling on the ground begging, pleading for Yan to remember the bond between allies and send troops to relieve the threat.

Only Yan could save Song now. The other states were distant water that could not quench a nearby fire. Only if Yan attacked Han from the north could Han be forced to withdraw troops to reinforce its rear.

But this was not something Shang Jianxiong could decide on his own. Begging him was useless, and Yan had ample grounds to refuse.

It was not that Yan had abandoned the bonds of alliance. Zhao had begun invading Yan. Yan had to deal with Zhao's attack and simply did not have the strength to spare.

Song sent men to plead with Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming as well, and even went to Yan's three major sects.

It still did no good.

Yan's national strength could not support a war on two fronts. It had only just managed to redirect Han's main offensive elsewhere. Why would it invite Han back and court death?

If Han and Zhao joined forces to strike Yan from both sides, whom was Yan supposed to ask for help? Song?

The greatest threat in front of Yan was Zhao. Faced with Zhao's full-scale offensive, with the survival of the state itself at stake, Yan had to commit everything it possessed. Who had the leisure to worry whether Song lived or died?

So no matter how Song begged, Shang Jianxiong, Shang Chaozong, Meng Shanming, and Yan's three major sects would not agree.

Fortunately for Song, it had not changed commanders in the middle of the campaign and replaced Luo Zhao.

It was not that no one wanted to replace him.

No one was willing to take over the mess he had created.

Luo Zhao therefore remained in command of Song's troops. And when it came to maneuvering troops in direct battlefield confrontations, Luo Zhao genuinely possessed considerable ability.

After the Song army retreating from Yan suffered another round of torment from Wu Gongling, only a little over one million men remained.

Luo Zhao cast off the remainder—nearly two hundred thousand troops—to keep Wu Gongling tied down. Whether they could defeat Wu Gongling was not important. What mattered was buying time for the war in the north.

He personally led a full one million of Song's main force north at top speed. Joining the troops already there, he took command of two million elite troops against the four-million-man Han army Jin Jue had assembled for the invasion.

And Luo Zhao fought well.

He locked down the Han offensive and held it firmly in place.

This was not the result Jin Jue had wanted.

He had wanted Wu Gongling to crush the troops Luo Zhao brought back from Yan. He had wanted Wu Gongling to lead his forces north from the south and coordinate with Han's offensive.

That was precisely why Jin Jue had chosen Song as his target.

Yet at this critical moment, Wu Gongling dropped the load and refused to cooperate.

Jin Jue lowered his demand.

Fine. If you cannot destroy the troops Luo Zhao withdrew from Yan, then at least do everything possible to keep them tied down.

Tie them down, hell.

Wu Gongling made a token effort, helped bring about the war between Han and Song, then promptly pulled his head back into his shell and led the Cangzhou rebels off to live their own little life.

That left Jin Jue in an awkward position.

He had originally thought dealing with the one million Song troops in the north would be easy. Now those troops had become two million men huddled together in resistance.

Fine.

Things had already reached this point.

Jin Jue lowered his demand yet again and asked Wu Gongling to attack from Song's rear.

Wu Gongling agreed.

But he did not put in any effort.

He and the Song army seemed to be performing a double act together, fighting a little, retreating a little, and complaining that the enemy was difficult to beat.

Jin Jue was furious.

But Wu Gongling had gained the support of the Tiannü Sect. The Tiannü Sect was clearly relying on the usefulness of Wu Gongling in its hands to press Baichuan Valley and Wushang Palace for a larger share of the benefits.

The three major sects began wrangling among themselves, leaving Jin Jue helpless.

Was it not simply a matter of benefits?

After Jin Jue persuaded them, Baichuan Valley and Wushang Palace finally loosened their stance. On top of an equal division, they agreed to give Wu Gongling another five prefectures of territory.

Wu Gongling refused.

I've already got fifteen prefectures in my hands!

Fifteen prefectures?

That was nearly half of Song.

We're fighting and bleeding for this, and you want to take half in one bite?

How could Baichuan Valley and Wushang Palace possibly agree to swallow a loss like that?

If necessary, they would simply take Song more slowly.

But Wu Gongling had already helped the Tiannü Sect clamp its jaws around this enormous piece of fat meat. Getting the Tiannü Sect to spit it back out was not so easy either.

The two sides continued wrangling.

Behind the scenes, Wu Gongling kept urging the Tiannü Sect to hold firm.

The Tiannü Sect understood exactly what he meant.

He needed time to turn the situation into an accomplished fact. Once that happened, all fifteen prefectures would belong to the Tiannü Sect's sphere.

Song was delighted to see Wu Gongling behaving this way as well.

Since he was not putting any real effort into helping Han, Song did not dare push him too hard. The sight of Wu Gongling recruiting troops and buying horses on Song territory made their teeth itch with hatred, but for now they could only close one eye and pretend not to see.

Watching Wu Gongling conduct his affairs with such tremendous momentum, and seeing how astonishingly efficient his methods were despite their baseness, the Tiannü Sect began to feel that swallowing this piece of fat meat truly might be possible.

That made them even less willing to yield to Baichuan Valley and Wushang Palace.

The Tiannü Sect even began to feel that sacrificing one Hui Qingping to bind Wu Gongling had been an excellent bargain.

Wu Gongling had handed them an enormous and entirely unexpected surprise.

Hui Qingping herself also seemed not to have imagined that Wu Gongling could bring the Tiannü Sect such great benefits.

Whether her sacrifice had been worth it was one question, but at least some of the resentment in her heart seemed to fade. Her attitude toward Wu Gongling gradually began shifting toward cooperation.

To placate Hui Qingping, the Tiannü Sect had already given her something in return.

Control over affairs on Wu Gongling's side was transferred from Qi Bisang back into Hui Qingping's hands.

All the disciples from Hui Qingping's faction were promoted and given important responsibilities. Almost all of them were sent to Wu Gongling's side.

That meant once Wu Gongling firmly established control over this territory, Hui Qingping would possess enormous influence inside the Tiannü Sect.

Fifteen prefectures.

Her voice would only be stronger than it had been when she was an Elder, not weaker.

This outcome had surprised Hui Qingping too.

She had thought she had already fallen from power, only to discover that through Wu Gongling she now showed signs of rising again.

She had gone from Elder Hui of the Tiannü Sect to Madam Wu.

After going around such a large circle with Wu Gongling, even she was speechless at the change in identity that accompanied her resurgence.

Her disciples, on the other hand, were overjoyed.

They seemed even more accepting of Wu Gongling's identity than Hui Qingping herself was.

He was their master's husband.

Soon afterward, Hui Qingping once again witnessed the cunning hidden beneath Wu Gongling's crude, rough exterior as he exploited the present situation to seek benefits from every direction.

Wu Gongling secretly sent men from Tongxian Pavilion to Wei and Qi to purchase grain and warhorses.

After receiving so many donations from wealthy households, he did not lack money.

What he lacked were resources money alone could not necessarily buy.

He wanted support from Wei and Qi.

Wei and Qi had previously sent men to support Song, despite having condemned Song earlier, because they did not want the balance of power overturned and did not want Han to grow too strong.

Now Song seemed close to destruction, while Wu Gongling was instead dragging down Han's advance.

That greatly surprised both states.

And the men Wu Gongling sent made his intentions perfectly clear.

Wu Gongling intended to establish himself independently.

Anything that obstructed Han's expansion was something Wei and Qi wanted to see. They were also happy to create one more force capable of restraining Han.

As a result, Wu Gongling once again succeeded in accumulating strength. Wei and Qi sold him grain and warhorses.

Wu Gongling did not conceal this process from Hui Qingping.

Instead, he discussed it with her first.

Otherwise, once he suddenly produced grain and warhorses, there would be no way to explain them to the Tiannü Sect.

He hoped Hui Qingping would speak on his behalf and explain to the Tiannü Sect that everything he was doing was meant to help the sect truly secure control over these fifteen prefectures, so that the Tiannü Sect would in turn help him withstand pressure from Han.

Hui Qingping's heart, which had already sunk into despair, tasted the flavor of power again.

Wu Gongling had awakened it.

The two were now bound together by mutual benefit. When matters arose, they began discussing them privately.

Without realizing it, Hui Qingping had been dragged into the water by Wu Gongling.

More than that, she was willing to be dragged in.

Her previous unwillingness now seemed almost affected. Even Wu Gongling's beastly sexual appetites no longer repulsed her as much.

Things had already gone that far, after all.

And the two were now husband and wife in both name and fact.

At the same time, Wu Gongling discovered another kind of suffering.

Hui Qingping knew exactly what sort of man he was and had begun keeping watch on him. She stamped out any improper relationship between him and other women.

Hui Qingping's disciples were around him almost constantly.

Even when he wanted to taste something fresh, he no longer had the chance.

One Hui Qingping was nowhere near enough to satisfy his appetite.

Still, the two of them increasingly looked like a real married couple.

...

Song suffered in torment.

The war between Yan and Zhao raged just as fiercely.

Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming operated from the south and north of Nanzhou respectively, coordinating their strategy and tactics as they attacked Zhao from two directions.

Shang Chaozong led the combined forces of Nanzhou and Jinzhou in an offensive from the south.

Meng Shanming led the court coalition in an attack from the north.

On the southern front, another great battle was about to begin.

At the forward lines, five hundred thousand Nanzhou troops faced one million Zhao soldiers.

Nanzhou's war drums sounded first.

Clad in battle armor, Shang Chaozong swung onto his horse.

Beside him, Feng Ruonan, likewise armored, mounted as well.

"Kill!" Shang Chaozong roared, brandishing his saber as he charged out first.

Feng Ruonan spurred after him with spear in hand.

Husband and wife led one column of cavalry in the vanguard, with the army behind them surging forward to attack.

"What is going on?"

Huang Lie had gone to the rear on business and happened to return just then. The sight left him aghast.

He cried out to Shang Shuqing, who was likewise dressed in armor, "Why have the Prince and Princess Consort gone charging into battle themselves? As commander-in-chief, does he not understand his own responsibilities? This is sheer nonsense! Princess, why didn't you stop them?"

Shang Shuqing bit her lip.

She broke into a short run, caught up with a moving battle wagon, and climbed aboard.

Pushing aside the soldier beating the drum, she seized the drumsticks herself.

Staring toward the direction in which the army was charging, she swung her arms and pounded the war drum with all her strength, urging them on.

"Come with me, quickly!"

Huang Lie stamped his foot in panic and waved for the Dachan Mountain cultivators accompanying him to follow.

They rushed after Shang Chaozong.

The small Zhao force at the front offered only brief resistance before news reached the rear that Shang Chaozong and Feng Ruonan were personally leading the charge.

Zhao Xingyan, commander of Zhao's southern front, was overjoyed.

"They can't hold themselves together anymore. Heaven is helping me! To capture the bandits, first capture their king. Take Shang Chaozong and Nanzhou's army will collapse!"

To seize Shang Chaozong in one stroke, Zhao's side rapidly concentrated large numbers of cultivators along the direction of his attack.

The two sides soon smashed together.

Battle cries shook the heavens.

Shang Chaozong's horse went down beneath him after an enemy cultivator struck it dead.

He rolled across the ground and sprang back to his feet, swinging his saber as he fought the enemy soldiers rushing toward him.

Saber-light flashed.

Blood sprayed again and again beneath his blade.

Feng Ruonan remained on horseback, stabbing repeatedly with her spear to relieve the pressure around him.

Large numbers of Zhao cultivators converged and surrounded the area.

Yan's cultivators fought desperately to protect and rescue Shang Chaozong.

Sword qi blazed like rainbows.

Men fell in swaths like cut grass.

Blood and flesh flew.

At the critical moment, cavalrymen concealed behind the mass of Nanzhou troops surged forward and vaulted onto their horses.

They split into two torrents.

Two battle flags rose high and snapped violently in the wind, guiding the thunder of hooves as the two forces swept around the flanks of the battlefield.

The column on the left wore blue-green battle robes.

The column on the right wore earth-gray.

"Yingyang! Yingyang! Yingyang!"

The cavalry on the left shouted the name again and again as they charged ferociously toward the enemy's left wing.

"Wulie! Wulie! Wulie!"

The cavalry on the right thundered the other name repeatedly, following the battle flag as they hurled themselves at the enemy's right wing.

"The Yingyang and Wulie Guards!"

Standing atop a battle wagon with a commanding view of the field, Zhao Xingyan went pale with shock.

Only then did he finally understand Shang Chaozong's plan.

Shang Chaozong had actually used himself as bait, luring a large number of Zhao's cultivators into concentrating around him.

Zhao Xingyan slapped the railing and cried out in alarm.

"Not good!"

[End of Chapter 741]