Chapter 1208: Kill Him!

He had promised her that he would take her away. She had failed to leave with him then only because certain matters delayed her, but his promise had not changed. He would wait until she finished what she had to do.

Xuan Wei smiled, though it was hard to say what emotion lay in that smile. "Even you think Wei is certain to lose?"

Ximen Qingkong did not know how to answer. The outcome of this war might matter enormously to her, but to him it did not matter at all. Deep down, he even harbored a small selfish hope that everything would end sooner, that the war would end sooner, even if Wei lost.

But he could not say that. He knew what Xuan Wei cared about. He knew she was exhausting the last of her strength in the hope of somehow salvaging the situation.

He had also thought of helping her, but against armies of thousands upon thousands surging forward like mountains collapsing and seas overturning, with experts everywhere among them, throwing himself into that maelstrom would create no more than a slightly larger splash. He was powerless. He could do nothing that would truly help Xuan Wei or bring her any joy. All his ability amounted to was doing what lay within his power: using his own strength to protect her as best he could.

His silence was answer enough. Xuan Wei gave a bitter smile. How could she not know that Wei was already all but finished?

Wei still possessed a considerable amount of territory that Jin had not occupied, but only because the state was vast. Jin could not possibly swallow the whole thing at once.

Yet many vital passes and strategic points had already fallen to Jin. The territories not yet occupied had been cut apart and isolated. Jin forces gripped the crucial routes connecting one region to another, making it extremely difficult for troops in the remaining territories to assemble on any large scale.

In truth, the imperial court had already lost the ability to organize the State of Wei as a whole.

With war and chaos everywhere, the court itself had lost much of its meaning to Wei's common people. Whichever army arrived, whichever soldiers could threaten their lives, that was whom they obeyed in fear. Who still cared what the imperial court said?

The civil and military officials who followed the court but could offer no effective solution were, at a time like this, perhaps less useful than a group of ordinary soldiers.

And Xuan Wei, once the woman who held towering power in Wei as its female Chancellor, now Her Majesty the Empress of Wei, had been reduced to a humility she had never known before.

Every day, she sent letters to officials in territories Jin had not yet occupied. She reminisced about the past with them, invoked old ties, cultivated their feelings, continuously granted offices and noble distinctions, and made promises about how generously they would be treated once victory came. Put plainly, she was begging those local officials to hold on and not surrender.

Their replies were equally perfunctory and evasive.

Xuan Wei knew perfectly well that the officials who had not yet surrendered were not unwaveringly loyal to Wei. A small number perhaps were, but they were truly a minority.

Once matters reached life and death, when whole families and even great numbers of subordinates might lose their lives, what loyalty remained among people who had always lived in the arenas of power and interest? Those who had not yet surrendered were still watching and waiting. Qi had entered the war to help, and Huyan Wuhen's ability on the battlefield made them afraid to choose too quickly. They feared taking the wrong side and making one misstep that would become a lasting regret, so they did not dare commit themselves recklessly.

Some were also trying to raise their own price. They wanted greater promises from Jin and were holding out a little longer in the hope that Jin would offer them better terms.

There was another reason as well. Once the truth came out that Yin Chu had killed Chen Changgong, it affected the hearts of at least some people in Wei. The death of a single Chen Changgong slowed Wei's wholesale collapse toward Jin. That was why Shao Pingbo had been furious enough to smash things at the time.

Jin had spared no expense trying to repair the damage. Chen Changgong's wife and son were showered with rewards. His still-young son had already been granted the rank of Grand General, together with a high office and generous emoluments, all for the benefit of those in Wei who were still wavering.

Xuan Wei understood all of this, yet she still had no choice but to lower herself and keep doing what she was doing.

A court that had lost the ability to organize Wei no longer had much value to Qi. If you could not organize greater resistance, then what use were people like you to Qi? Why should Qi continue spending its strength helping and protecting you?

Huyan Wuhen had dared slaughter the families of Wei's officials and even openly shoot down a high minister of the Wei court. Hao Yuntu had turned a blind eye and a deaf ear. That alone was the starkest warning Wei could receive. So what if Qi killed your people? What could Wei do about it? Once you lost your value, you also lost the reason for your continued existence.

Those unoccupied territories were therefore Xuan Wei's last hope. They were also the final bit of value Qi still saw in Xuan Wei and the people around her. Once Huyan Wuhen's army broke open the military situation, Qi still hoped Xuan Wei's group might be able to draw those local forces over to assist.

Now even an ordinary Qi general could come over and scold Jin Lingzan, one of Wei's foremost ministers, and Jin Lingzan still had to squeeze out a smile while explaining himself.

One Qi general, eyes red from killing and his body covered in wounds, had come raging into camp because Wei's troops had fought poorly and gotten many of his brothers killed. In front of everyone, he cursed the Sect Leaders of Wei's three great sects, demanding what use they were and calling them worthless.

The three great sects were naturally furious. They detained the man, but then what? Did they dare kill him?

Qi's army was fighting for Wei. It was helping Wei's three great sects recover their lost territories, gambling lives to protect the sects' interests and keep them from becoming homeless dogs. Go ahead and kill a Qi general and see what happened. If they truly killed him, the three great sects would have to hand over lives of their own in explanation before the matter could possibly end.

The soldiers were bleeding and risking their lives on the battlefield. Army morale mattered enormously. When morale was high, men dared fight to the death; when morale broke, an army collapsed like a mountain. If a general died at the hands of these people, Huyan Wuhen would have no choice but to give his soldiers an accounting, and he would inevitably demand an accounting from Wei as well.

Once they considered the consequences, the three great sects had no choice but to swallow their anger and release the man without daring to do anything further.

So much for their lofty standing beneath the Misty Pavilion. So much for looking down from on high. When the situation was stronger than you were, there was no dignity to speak of.

Under circumstances like these, how could Xuan Wei afford not to lay aside an empress's pride and dignity and beg others for help?

They had already come back. What else could be done? Xuan Wei stopped arguing with Ximen Qingkong and turned to Tang Yi. "You shouldn't have come back either. Now that you're here, you won't be able to leave. At a time like this, the three great sects will not allow the Shangqing Sect to go."

Tang Yi froze. At first she did not understand. Then realization came, and she knew Xuan Wei was right. They truly should not have returned.

The Shangqing Sect belonged to Xuan Wei's people and was counted among her trusted retainers. If even the retainer cultivators closest to Xuan Wei fled, the impact on what little military morale remained would be considerable. At such a desperate moment, how could the three great sects possibly allow them to leave?

Had they left before and stayed away, nothing could have been done about it. But now that they had returned, the three great sects would never let them go again.

"You may go for now," Xuan Wei said.

Tang Yi studied Xuan Wei for a moment. She had grown much more haggard. White hairs had even appeared among the black strands on her head. Tang Yi also knew that Xuan Wei and Ximen Qingkong, reunited after so long apart, still had private things to say. It was not appropriate for her to remain. She cupped her hands and withdrew.

After leaving the command tent, Tang Yi walked with a heavy heart, wondering where the Shangqing Sect was supposed to go from here. Suddenly, loud shouting came from a nearby tent.

"Retribution! Retribution..."

The voice was familiar. It sounded like Xuan Chengtian.

Tang Yi went over. The guards outside recognized her as one of Xuan Wei's people and did not stop her.

She lifted the tent flap and found that it truly was Xuan Chengtian. An iron chain locked him in place. Beside him was Hao Cheng, Xuan Wei's husband, flustered and apparently trying to cover Xuan Chengtian's mouth.

When Hao Cheng saw Tang Yi enter, he immediately looked awkward.

After seeing Ximen Qingkong return, Hao Cheng had become frightened. He did not dare remain in his own tent, yet he had nowhere else to hide. Eventually, he decided this place might be relatively safe and slipped inside. He casually exchanged a few words with Xuan Chengtian, only to let something slip and reveal Wei's current situation.

When Xuan Chengtian learned that Wei was on the verge of destruction, he felt no self-reproach at all. Instead, he believed Xuan Wei had caused everything herself. He threw back his head and laughed, shouting wildly that this was Xuan Wei's retribution.

His yelling alarmed quite a few people nearby. Suddenly, the tent flap snapped open and Chang Linxian, Sect Leader of Lingxu Mansion, strode in with a black expression.

"What are you shouting about?" Chang Linxian demanded.

Xuan Chengtian, still bound by the iron chain, laughed loudly. "Sect Leader Chang, look at the fine thing you've done! What did it get you to put that bitch on the throne? You brought this calamity on yourselves. Retribution!"

Shing!

Chang Linxian abruptly drew his sword. A streak of cold light flashed.

"Urgh..." Xuan Chengtian's shouting stopped. His eyes went wide as he stared at Chang Linxian, lips trembling. "You..."

Chang Linxian's sword had already pierced straight through his heart. Blood welled steadily from his chest.

Hao Cheng stared in shock.

Tang Yi was equally horrified. "Sect Leader Chang, what are you doing?"

"He dared disrupt army morale!" That was Chang Linxian's only answer. He pulled the sword free and returned it to its sheath.

Ximen Qingkong had already made him lose face earlier, leaving him in a foul mood. Then he heard Xuan Chengtian shouting recklessly. In a fit of anger, he killed him.

Xuan Chengtian had long since lost any usefulness to the three great sects. Had Xuan Wei not insisted on protecting her younger brother out of familial affection, the three great sects would have dealt with him long ago.

Xuan Chengtian stared wide-eyed as he collapsed to the ground, struggling for his final breaths.

"You!" Chang Linxian spun and pointed at the trembling Hao Cheng. "Chain him up and guard him strictly. Without my word, no one is permitted to take him away. If anyone tries to remove him by force, kill him immediately!"

Qi's army had previously demanded that Hao Cheng be handed over. Whatever excuse they used, their purpose was obvious: they wanted to take Hao Cheng away from Wei's side.

Everything else could be negotiated. Even when Qi's soldiers humiliated Wei's three great sects, the sects could grit their teeth and endure it. But on the matter of Hao Cheng, neither Wei's three great sects nor the civil and military officials of the Wei court would agree to let him go.

With the situation reduced to this point, the son of Qi Emperor Hao Yuntu had become the only piece of leverage they still held against Qi. Huyan Wuhen was a subject of Qi; at the very least, he had to give some consideration to the safety of an imperial prince.

Even in the worst case, holding Hao Cheng gave them something that could keep Qi's army from acting too wantonly.

Hao Cheng was frantic and tried to dodge away. "What are you doing? What do you think you're doing? Whoever dares act recklessly, the army of Qi will never let him off!"

One disciple stepped forward and seized Hao Cheng as easily as grabbing a chick. Another removed the chain from Xuan Chengtian's body. Working together, the two had Hao Cheng bound in moments.

Watching all of this, Tang Yi felt unbearably heavy inside. She had been away for some time and did not know many of the things that had happened, but the scene before her made it clear that matters were even worse than she had imagined. How desperate must Wei's situation have become for Chang Linxian to kill Xuan Chengtian without the slightest hesitation?

At that moment, a young soldier lifted the tent flap and entered. He cupped his hands to Tang Yi. "Sect Leader Tang, outside..."

Then his gaze fell on Xuan Chengtian lying in a pool of blood, and he froze in shock.

Chang Linxian swept a cold glance over him. "What is it?"

The soldier stammered, "Someone has arrived outside. He says his name is Chuan Ying and asks to see Sect Leader Tang."

[End of Chapter 1208]