Chapter 1394: Do All One Can, Then Leave the Rest to Heaven

After this affair, the Three Great Sects could also see that Huyan Wuhen had never favored anyone in particular to inherit the throne.

Hao Hong had fooled them.

But matters had already reached this point, and they truly did not dare create more trouble. They could only keep quiet.

The position of Crown Prince, which Qi had left unresolved for so long, was finally settled.

No one had imagined it would be settled in this fashion.

Hao Hong was somewhat dissatisfied with Huyan Wuhen's interference because it prevented him from finishing everything in one stroke.

But there was nothing he could do about Huyan Wuhen.

Nor was this a moment when a man whose power had not yet stabilized could afford to lose his temper.

Overall, however, the greater trend had already been decided.

Hao Hong was still very pleased.

If it had to be delayed, then so be it.

Once he secured Huyan Wuhen's support, the Supreme General's influence over the military allowed troop movements around the capital region to proceed smoothly at last. There was no longer any need to fear someone causing trouble.

Hao Hong's first act was to reward Huyan Wei, promoting him three ranks at once.

Part of the reason was also to stabilize the capital's internal defenses.

Astonishingly, he appointed Huyan Wei Commander of the Imperial Guard.

The previous commander of the Imperial Guard had been a die-hard loyalist of Hao Yuntu and had already been dealt with. That made Huyan Wei's appointment perfectly convenient. With the Huyan clan's influence, it would also help settle military morale.

Whether Huyan Wei himself was competent for the office was not especially important.

It was enough if his assistants were competent.

Would the Huyan household really be unable to produce a few men who knew how to organize troops? Randomly calling over a few of its veteran retainers would probably suffice.

Huyan Wei was unwilling to accept the promotion.

He was not particularly mature, but he was at least a man of loyalty and feeling. He knew the Imperial Guard had originally been Hao Yuntu's personal army, and its commander had been one of Hao Yuntu's closest confidants. Now the Emperor's son had rebelled, while he, the Emperor's son-in-law, was supposed to serve the usurper as Commander of the Imperial Guard. He found it difficult to accept.

He tried to decline and also asked his father Huyan Wuhen for his opinion.

Huyan Wuhen told him to accept the post and have the household generals assist him in stabilizing military morale in the capital as quickly as possible.

Only then did Huyan Wei grit his teeth and accept.

After the upheaval in the capital, Huyan Wei seemed to mature considerably overnight.

He lost all interest in drinking, carousing, and wasting time with his disreputable friends.

Instead, several more layers of worry seemed to settle into his heart.

He began inspecting military camps frequently, handled affairs seriously, and for the first time truly started laboring with care.

The atmosphere within his household had changed as well.

First there was his princess wife.

The willful, unreasonable temper Hao Qingqing had once shown was completely gone.

So too was her romantic innocence.

She often hid alone and cried.

Her elder brother had rebelled and seized power, placing the imperial father who had always doted on her under house arrest. Her imperial mother was clearly one of her brother's accomplices.

She wanted to visit her father.

Her brother would not let her see him.

Her mother would not let her see him either.

Even her own husband and the Huyan household were advising her not to visit her father for the time being.

A perfectly good family had become like this.

People who had once been loyal to her father now seemed to be doing their best to distance themselves from him.

Having just given birth and then suffered such an enormous upheaval, she often began crying whenever the baby in her swaddling clothes started wailing.

Watching this, Huyan Wei did not know what to say either.

He was constantly troubled and sighing.

But he had become much more considerate toward Hao Qingqing.

He truly had no heart left for fooling around outside with women.

One upheaval changed many people.

For Crown Prince Hao Hong, once the situation in the capital had stabilized, suppressing the rebellion naturally became an urgent priority.

Because Gu Yuanda had defected to the enemy and rebelled, Hao Hong no longer dared trust people casually.

He also intended to bind himself more tightly to the Huyan family, so he appointed Huyan Wuhen's second son, Huyan Ding, Grand General for Suppressing the Rebellion.

During Prince Jin Hao Qi's previous rebellion, the three Huyan brothers had all taken part, and Huyan Ding had been one of the principal men responsible. He therefore possessed experience in suppressing rebellions.

This appointment had been made with Huyan Wuhen's agreement beforehand.

For one thing, Huyan Ding was already at the front, serving beside Huyan Wuhen with the army. Without Huyan Wuhen's agreement, Hao Hong could not have moved him anyway.

More importantly, this concerned a genuine military campaign. Hao Hong naturally had to ask Huyan Wuhen's opinion. The Three Great Sects wanted the same thing.

When it came to war, no one in Qi was stronger than Huyan Wuhen.

This was not something anyone could afford to mishandle.

Seeking Huyan Wuhen's opinion was unavoidable.

Huyan Ding accepted the command to suppress the rebellion.

Huyan Wuhen detached two hundred thousand troops from the frontline army and assigned them to his son.

That was already the limit of what could be withdrawn.

The principal battlefield against Jin remained here. The main line could not be shaken.

Two hundred thousand troops were no small number.

But there was no choice.

The rebel general Gu Yuanda had originally been responsible for guarding Qi's rear and preventing internal unrest. He had held three hundred thousand troops under his command from the beginning.

Now those three hundred thousand men had become rebels.

Against that, were two hundred thousand really so many?

To guard against the unexpected, Huyan Wuhen also sent word to Luo Zhao, asking him to detach another one hundred thousand men from the Qi forces on the eastern line to provide support.

First, it was to secure their chances of victory.

Second, it was to create an east-west pincer against the rebels and restrain them from scattering and fleeing in every direction.

Luo Zhao said nothing unnecessary.

He agreed immediately and actively redeployed troops to cooperate.

Both men were seasoned commanders.

They had long since understood the disposition of forces on both sides and knew Huyan Wuhen could not conveniently draw much more manpower away from his own front.

Nor could Qi's interior be allowed to fall.

If Qi's logistics were cut off, Qin's army would likewise be doomed.

Naturally, Luo Zhao had to support the operation wholeheartedly.

And precisely because Qi's interior could not be lost, three hundred thousand loyal troops against three hundred thousand rebels still might not guarantee victory.

They needed an absolute advantage.

That meant more troops were required.

The rebels were already driving straight toward the capital.

The reinforcements from the front would not arrive in time to intercept them.

Someone had to slow the rebels' advance.

Qi therefore needed to mobilize troops from the various Commanderies and Prefectures, gather them together, and block the rebel army long enough to buy time for the main suppression force to arrive.

Outside the military camp, father and son personally watched the vast columns of troops set out.

Huyan Ding did not travel with the main force.

He intended to move ahead of the rebels first and personally assemble troops from the various Commanderies and Prefectures.

After dismissing everyone unnecessary, Huyan Wuhen turned to warn his son. "Gu Yuanda was entrusted with three hundred thousand troops and the defense of Qi's interior. A man given such responsibility is no mediocrity. He has considerable ability. Once you gather troops from the various Commanderies and Prefectures, remember this: you only need to delay the rebels. Do not advance recklessly in pursuit of victory. You must wait until the three bodies of troops converge and we possess an absolute advantage before destroying them. Everyone in the country is anxious to suppress the rebellion. Everyone wants the interior stabilized as quickly as possible, and naturally the best result would be to end the rebellion swiftly. But you must remember: the final result of suppressing the rebellion outweighs everything else. So long as the rebellion is successfully crushed, that is better than taking risks because you were impatient for victory. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore, seek stability above all. A secure result outweighs everything. Remember this: without my military order, even if the court pressures and urges you, you must withstand that pressure. Do you understand?"

Huyan Ding cupped his hands. "This general obeys!"

These words were also meant for the Three Great Sects' elders standing nearby.

Huyan Wuhen turned to them. "Three Elders, when the court sees Ding'er taking his time and not pushing hard enough, they will certainly pressure and urge him. I ask that you help me keep the Three Great Sects steady."

The three elders all nodded.

They had personally heard and understood Huyan Wuhen's strategic intent.

Naturally, they knew what mattered.

The Tianhuo Sect elder stroked his beard. "The Supreme General speaks reasonably. You may also rest assured. How could an affair of this magnitude be allowed to suffer interference from those selfish men at court? We will immediately send word to our sects and explain the Supreme General's intentions. The sects will certainly support the Young General with all their strength and suppress those noisy voices!"

The other two elders nodded in agreement.

Huyan Wuhen neither approved nor objected aloud.

He turned back and warned his son again. "You must be extremely careful on this trip. The small forces in the hands of the various Commanderies and Prefectures exist so they can protect themselves. Forcibly requisitioning them is no different from making those officials surrender their own foundations. It may provoke disloyal thoughts. Remember this: before you mobilize troops, first place the principal officials of the relevant Commanderies and Prefectures under control. First hold their lives in your hands, then mobilize their men. If anyone dares disobey orders, you may kill without mercy! I grant you authority to execute first and report afterward. I will bear the responsibility before the court myself."

Huyan Ding cupped his hands again. "This general obeys!"

Huyan Wuhen suddenly turned toward the Three Great Sects' elders. "I ask the Three Great Sects to cooperate fully!"

"Rest assured. The Three Great Sects will protect the Young General's safety and cooperate with him in full!" All three elders nodded without objection.

Only then did Huyan Wuhen sweep one hand toward his son. "Go!"

The elders of the Three Great Sects also gestured.

A group of cultivators came forward, escorted Huyan Ding and several others into the air, and departed aboard several flying mounts.

Those cultivators were only seeing him off.

Later, the Three Great Sects would dispatch additional expert cultivators to assist Huyan Ding in carrying out his mission.

Back inside the central army tent, Zha Hu's brow remained faintly furrowed.

Huyan Wuhen's earlier words about Qi's allotted fate being exhausted and the greater trend already being lost had been circling in his mind ever since.

When Huyan Wuhen stopped before the map, Zha Hu could no longer resist walking over. He ventured, "General, are you worried the people of the various Commanderies and Prefectures may harbor disloyal thoughts?"

Huyan Wuhen shook his head and sighed softly. "Prince Jin's rebellion swept through the country and caused enormous destruction. People's hearts were already shaken. Now the greater trend no longer favors Qi. No one is a fool. Everyone can see Jin holds the momentum. And at precisely this time, the imperial clan begins slaughtering its own flesh and blood again, even producing rebellion and usurpation. What do you think the regional lords will think? Could none of them be planning a road of retreat for themselves? When the court was powerful enough to suppress every region, naturally everyone behaved. But now the court's main armies are on the front lines fighting the external enemy, while the three hundred thousand men who guarded the interior and deterred those regions have themselves become rebels. That is no different from unlocking the shackles on their hands and feet. How could I not tell Ding'er to proceed with caution?"

Zha Hu asked, "If that's the case, and the General knows the Young General may face danger on this trip, why send him personally? Why not send someone else? The Young General is the commander of the suppression campaign. By rights, he should move with the main suppression force."

Huyan Wuhen said, "There is no choice. My army is too far away to reach where it needs to be. If we do not find a way to intercept them, the rebels will certainly attack the capital, and the capital's one hundred thousand defenders may not be able to hold. But if we want to intercept them, then we must mobilize the garrison troops of the various Commanderies and Prefectures. Haven't you seen what happened when the court ordered them to block the rebels? They all shout loudly, but who is willing to risk his life? Wherever the rebel army passes, the local garrisons shut themselves inside and refuse to come out. They say most of their troops were already transferred away by me and that the limited forces left in their hands cannot stop the rebels. Can you say that excuse is false? The court knows perfectly well it is an excuse, but it cannot easily turn hostile, nor does it possess the strength to do so. If there were no external enemy, with this commander here, who would dare ignore a mobilization order? Would Gu Yuanda have dared rebel at all? Before I marched to war, when I requisitioned troops, who dared object? Ding'er is the Grand General for Suppressing the Rebellion, and he is my son. If he personally goes to mobilize troops, the regional officials will not dare refuse him. At the very least, they may not dare openly defy him. If someone else goes, those regional lords will produce endless tricks. Even if they provide troops, they'll send only the old, weak, sick, and crippled, refusing to hand over their real strength. Can a rabble like that stop the rebels' edge? Forget delaying them. They would probably collapse at the first blow. Another man would also struggle to command such a mixed body of troops. Either I go personally or Ding'er must go. Under the circumstances... do all that man can, then leave the rest to Heaven."

[End of Chapter 1394]