Chapter 1159: Xiping Pass Falls

Chen Changgong's expression shifted between light and dark. He could hardly believe it. How had things turned out like this? Of all the women he could have slept with—even the wife of some other high official—why did it have to be these two?

He had suspected there might be something unusual about the two women's backgrounds, but no matter how suspicious he became, he could never have imagined they were imperial consorts. Who would send imperial consorts out to do something like this? Even if someone had beaten him to death beforehand, the thought would never have occurred to him.

He knew this was a trap laid by Jin.

Earlier, he had wanted to turn toward Jin because Wei's situation looked hopeless. That sister and brother had driven the State of Wei into such a state that military morale had nearly collapsed. There had been no reason for him to hold the pass to the death and be buried with them.

Later, once the chaotic situation became clearer, he had returned to the position of a loyal Wei commander because the alliance of Wei, Qi, and Qin had taken shape and military morale had recovered. If he could hold out for a while, Qi's reinforcements would arrive, and he had become confident that he could defend the pass successfully.

In the end, whichever side he chose, he had always been calculating for his own future.

What Jin was doing now was precisely to strip away as much as possible of the benefit he could gain by remaining loyal to Wei, filling his future in Wei with uncertainty and forcing him toward Jin.

"As long as the General wishes it, we sisters can continue serving you from now on. If the General does not wish it, we can disappear at any time. For the sake of the Seventh Princess's reputation, no one will mention what happened between us and the General again, nor will we let the Seventh Princess know."

The sword in Chen Changgong's hand slowly lowered until its point rested against the floor.

Smack!

He suddenly slapped himself hard across the face. A miserable smile appeared. "Jin actually used such a vicious scheme. I, Chen, admit defeat!"

Did he still have a choice?

No.

He could sleep with almost any woman he wanted. Only women of this particular status were untouchable.

Whatever these two women had done, even if they were the consorts blamed for ruining the state, even if the Wei court knew perfectly well that Jin had deliberately framed him, even if the court truly refrained from settling accounts afterward—could a general who had slept with Wei's imperial consorts still expect the court to loudly celebrate his merits and joyfully promote him?

Once Wei's crisis passed, once the situation stabilized and the court no longer feared he might defect, simply having no one come looking for trouble would already be the best outcome he could hope for.

The road to promotion was full of competition. His rivals would never willingly step aside.

The two women exchanged glances and smiled, though bitterness hid beneath those smiles.

They too had no choice.

After dressing properly, Chen Changgong summoned trusted subordinates and began making arrangements.

With insiders manipulating things, slipping one man inside while avoiding outside attention was easy. Among the common laborers carrying supplies up the mountain, a secret envoy from Jin was quietly mixed in.

After meeting and speaking with the envoy, Chen Changgong discovered that this time Jin was leaving him no room to retreat. He was made to write a letter of submission, and the envoy took away the official seal the Wei court had issued to him as commander of Xiping Pass.

Afterward, Chen Changgong personally inspected the routes through the pass and happened to encounter another merchant caravan coming through.

He immediately ordered Xiping Pass completely sealed. His reason was that a great battle was imminent and no one would be allowed passage from that point onward.

The merchant caravan was detained.

There was a beautiful young woman among the merchants. One of Chen Changgong's subordinates took a liking to her and quietly removed her from the caravan.

But the subordinate did not keep her for himself. Instead, he secretly delivered her to Chen Changgong's residence.

The young woman was none other than Taishu Huan'er, Seventh Princess of Jin and treasured daughter of Emperor Taishu Xiong.

To ensure the war proceeded smoothly, to prevent any unexpected variable, and to reassure Chen Changgong completely, Jin had indeed kept its word and delivered Taishu Xiong's beloved daughter to him.

Noble Consort Chang and Noble Consort Sang treated the princess as their mistress. They personally attended Taishu Huan'er, who was disguised as an ordinary foot soldier, helping her bathe and change.

Afterward, she sat waiting in silence, tears running down her face.

When Chen Changgong returned from his inspection, he saw the young woman waiting for him. He waved one hand.

Noble Consort Chang and Noble Consort Sang withdrew of their own accord and shut the door behind them.

Taishu Huan'er stared in terror, tears streaming down her face, as the nearly fifty-year-old man in battle armor approached her.

She instinctively tried to retreat.

There was nowhere to go.

The formal marriage could wait. Chen Changgong had no intention of sending Taishu Huan'er back to Jin untouched and leaving room for future uncertainty. He meant to make the arrangement irreversible first.

And so, a bright pearl was sullied...

Toward evening, Yin Chu's army finally arrived in a vast tide after its long, dusty march. Birds and beasts throughout the surrounding area scattered in alarm before its momentum.

Shao Pingbo stood on a mountaintop and watched from afar. He did not go over to pay his respects. He merely sent word that every preparation had been completed.

Covered from head to toe in the dust of the road, Yin Chu sat on horseback with both eyes shining. He reined in, raised his riding crop, and stared toward Xiping Pass.

A mighty pass.

Easy to defend, difficult to attack.

Blackwater Terrace personnel accompanying the army rode forward and presented secret intelligence.

There were two reports.

One contained a detailed deployment of Xiping Pass's defenses. The other was a letter personally written by Shao Pingbo.

Yin Chu took them and read.

After examining the troop deployment, he handed it to the generals below him for detailed study. Then he opened Shao Pingbo's letter.

The letter informed him that the commander of Xiping Pass had already been dealt with and would coordinate with the Jin army from within.

Yin Chu put away the secret letter without changing expression. He said only, "Good."

Then he turned and asked, "Where is the Qi army now? How long before it arrives?"

A subordinate general replied, "They have already crossed the Jade Belt River. The main force should arrive in less than two days. Their fifty-thousand-man cavalry vanguard is moving ahead at full speed and should arrive in less than one day!"

Yin Chu ordered, "The army camps here. Light the fires and cook. Once the soldiers have eaten their fill, have them rest immediately!"

One general cried out in alarm. "General, the situation is unfavorable! We should take Xiping Pass with all speed before the Qi army arrives. If we're late, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Yin Chu barked, "Carry out the military order!"

The generals looked at one another.

A Qiyun Sect Elder said gravely, "General, fifty thousand Qi cavalry will be here in less than a day. How can we rest now?"

Yin Chu replied, "Elder worries too much. This is mountainous terrain. Cavalry will have little room to use its strength."

The Elder earnestly tried to persuade him. "If the assault stalls and reinforcements arrive, every faction inside Wei that is still watching the situation will immediately follow the wind and turn against us. Then our army will be unable to advance or retreat. We will be trapped in a heavy encirclement and doomed!"

"We should commit everything to taking Xiping Pass. Once the pass is ours, it will not be too late to rest!"

Yin Chu said, "Our army has marched a great distance and is already exhausted. Xiping Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. How is an exhausted army supposed to take it?"

"We rest and recover first, then seize it in one burst!"

"Gentlemen, my decision is made. Say no more. Anyone who disobeys orders will be executed!"

With that, he turned his mount and rode back.

The others exchanged worried looks.

The accompanying cultivators still refused to give up. They found Yin Chu again and privately tried to persuade him.

Yin Chu remained unmoved.

He would rather endure everyone's resentment than allow even the slightest hint of the secret to leak.

And at this moment, it was hardly only Jin's intelligence apparatus that was active. Wei, Qi, and Qin were also operating at any cost. The intelligence networks of the various states had begun fighting before the armies ever met. The struggle behind the scenes had started long ago, with every side using every method at its disposal to ensure its armies could fight smoothly.

No one knew how many enemy eyes were hidden within the army.

The matter concerned the survival of this entire force. Yin Chu trusted no one now. He guarded the secret with absolute rigor.

If word leaked, that would be when the consequences truly became disastrous.

The moment the enemy learned what was happening, its cultivators would kill Chen Changgong at once and replace him with someone else to command the defense.

The army pitched camp.

Stones were stacked and pits dug for cooking hearths. Smoke rose into the air.

After eating, many soldiers simply lay down where they were and fell into deep sleep.

They had marched an enormous distance, crossing almost the whole of Wei.

They were truly exhausted.

Night fell.

By lamplight, Yin Chu still stood before a map, every nerve taut as he repeatedly studied the terrain around Xiping Pass.

Around midnight, Blackwater Terrace secretly brought someone into camp.

It was a trusted subordinate of Chen Changgong, disguised beyond recognition.

After speaking with the man in detail, Yin Chu suddenly summoned his generals and issued a series of attack orders.

They were actually going to attack mountainous terrain in complete darkness.

The generals were shocked. The night plainly disadvantaged the attackers.

But military orders were as immovable as mountains.

The sleeping army was roused and, according to the deployment, began advancing through the darkness along multiple routes.

How could the defenders of Xiping Pass have taken no precautions?

The moment the Jin army moved, before it had even approached the defensive positions, hidden Wei scouts discovered the advance.

The surprise attack failed.

The Jin army lit torches. They gathered toward the mountain like stars filling the night sky, like countless fireflies converging in one direction.

From above, fire arrows streaked down. Burning balls rolled thunderously into the crowds climbing the mountain.

Battle cries shook the night.

Beside Yin Chu at the command position, Chen Changgong's secret envoy watched the torch signals on the heights and interpreted them for him.

On the mountain, Chen Changgong was likewise reading the opposing torch signals and adjusting the defensive deployments accordingly.

With the two sides cooperating from within and without, the Jin army shifted men and units in an orderly fashion and easily tore open weak points in the defenses leading up the mountain.

After a prolonged battle, Wei cultivators and cultivators secretly sent by other states were still fighting desperately against Jin's cultivators halfway up the slopes when they suddenly discovered that large numbers of Jin soldiers had already reached the summit.

More Jin units were climbing up continuously.

How could this be happening?

The defenders were thrown into confusion.

The cultivators from the various states, fighting in darkness and unable to understand the full situation, were stunned.

Everyone said Jin's army possessed formidable combat power, but they had never imagined it was formidable enough to storm a mountain at night and break through in a single assault.

The area of the cultivators' fighting rapidly contracted until the entire clash had compressed around the fortress at the summit.

Jin's cultivators, especially the disciples of Qiyun Sect, roared and fought desperately. There were simply too many cultivators helping the opposing side, and Jin's cultivators felt as though they had fallen into an encirclement.

Amid the savage fighting, a Qiyun Sect Elder who had reached the summit suddenly led men charging straight toward Chen Changgong.

The cultivators guarding Chen Changgong immediately moved to intercept them.

But in the chaos of battle, a newly transferred personal guard unit of more than ten men around Chen Changgong suddenly threw off their helmets and shouted battle cries.

Their skills revealed them to be Qiyun Sect disciples.

They caught Chen Changgong's close retainer cultivators completely off guard.

Combined with Chen Changgong's active cooperation, control of him fell into Jin's hands in an instant.

Immediately afterward, beneath the blazing firelight, a white flag was raised behind Chen Changgong for every soldier on the mountain to see.

Chen Changgong shouted, "Brothers! The greater tide is lost! Xuan Wei and her brother lack virtue. We have already done everything we could. Surrender!"

A Wei cultivator overseeing the defense turned his head.

His beard and hair seemed to stand on end. His eyes instantly flooded red with fury.

He pointed his sword and roared, "Traitorous dog!"

Enraged beyond reason, he charged desperately toward Chen Changgong, intent on killing him.

"Hah!"

A Qiyun Sect Elder bellowed and charged out, swinging a heavy astral hammer in both hands. He leaped into the air and intercepted the attack.

Even against three opponents at once, he did not fall behind.

"The Jin army has broken Xiping Pass! The General orders surrender!"

The cultivators on both sides were still locked in fierce combat when cries suddenly rose one after another from the summit.

Every Wei soldier and cultivator above and below Xiping Pass was shocked.

The wave of surrender spread down from the heights.

In the end, only the cultivators of the two sides remained locked in desperate battle.

The moment Chen Changgong saw Yin Chu leading men onto the summit, he immediately dropped to one knee.

"This defeated general surren—"

Yin Chu strode forward before he could finish, grabbed him with both hands, hauled him upright, and burst into loud laughter.

Then he wrapped Chen Changgong in a great bear hug, treating him like a blood brother.

Immediately afterward, the Jin army and the surrendered Wei defenders joined forces.

Arrows and armor-piercing projectiles poured toward the cultivators who had been defending Xiping Pass, aiding Jin's cultivators in the fight.

[End of Chapter 1159]