Chapter 863: I Ask You All to Die for This Prince!

Inside the field headquarters, silence fell all at once.

When Li Xundao had requested this audience, he had specifically asked that everyone else be dismissed. So at this moment, only six people were inside the tent.

One was Li Xundao; another was Yao Zizhan. The Emperor sat upon the dragon couch, while Baili Sword and Baili Xianglan stood to either side of him. There was also one other person—unseen, but certainly present.

It was a pity Prince Pingxi was not here. Had he seen this scene, he would probably have puffed out his chest and told the people beside him, "See? I'm not the one most afraid of death!"

All the other ministers who had accompanied the Emperor on campaign, as well as the other generals of this Imperial Guard army, were absent.

"Heh... heh-heh..."

The Emperor, who had been staring blankly for a long time, began to laugh. He was laughing, but no one else present dared. Shangjing might already be gone, but the Emperor himself was still here.

"Xundao, what do you think we should do next?"

The Emperor showed no intention of punishing Li Xundao. The plan behind this campaign had indeed been drafted by Li Xundao, but the man who made the final decision was still the Emperor of Great Qian himself.

Perhaps this Emperor genuinely lacked something when it came to warfare. In almost every other respect, however, he was exceptionally capable. He was willing to face reality, and he could accept it quickly. He would not waste time and emotion screaming hysterically, much less bury his head in the sand with bloodshot eyes.

"Your Majesty, the Yan invaders have few troops. Even if they have taken Shangjing, as invaders they cannot possibly hold it. If the Imperial Guard now withdraws to recover the capital, that would be perfectly natural."

Li Xundao answered calmly.

Since ancient times, capitals had always been difficult to defend. The larger the city, the harder it became to guarantee its security from a purely military standpoint.

That was precisely why, after the new districts of Fengxin City in eastern Jin were expanded, the lands around all four sides were deliberately left empty—so empty one could practically play golf there. The population had also been intentionally controlled rather than blindly packed inside. Even now, the only thing standing outside the city was Gourd Temple. The entire purpose was to preserve Fengxin City's military defensive character as much as possible.

By the same principle, even if the Yan had taken Shangjing, with the number of troops they currently possessed, holding the city would be extremely difficult. Almost impossible.

The Emperor blinked, thought entering his eyes. As sovereign of a state, no one understood better than he did what a capital meant to a country.

This was completely different from the last time Prince Jingnan burned Ying Capital. On that occasion, the Chu Emperor had almost seemed to be borrowing another man's blade to kill his enemies. The officials he had selected, his troops, the treasury, and all manner of other important resources had been transferred away in advance.

Shangjing, however, had been left there in its original state. Everything inside it.

Yet the Emperor did not immediately order a withdrawal.

Instead, he asked:

"If this Imperial Guard force around me turns back toward Shangjing, can we still tear down that royal banner currently surrounded by our four armies?"

Li Xundao shook his head.

"Reporting to Your Majesty: either the Imperial Guard does not withdraw, or it must withdraw in full. Only that way can we ensure that Shangjing is recovered steadily and safely. If only part of the army is sent back, further trouble may arise. Once the Imperial Guard withdraws, of the other three armies, the Northern Qiang cavalry are loose by nature and cannot truly be restrained. Han Sui's force has long remained immovable as a mountain. The thirty thousand new Zu Clan troops will be dragged down by the auxiliary troops around them. Because of that, turning a four-sided encirclement into a three-sided one will inevitably create many gaps. That royal banner will then be able to find an opening in the bag and slip out at leisure."

The Emperor nodded. Then his palm settled upon the imperial desk before him.

"If Shangjing has already fallen, then whether we recover it early or late no longer matters very much. The face we were going to lose has already been lost. The people who were going to die have probably already died."

The instant he said those words, every expression in the tent changed. It was difficult to imagine such words coming from the Emperor's mouth.

"Years ago, when that Prince Pingxi was still only a young officer, he pointed at my nose and said I did not understand warfare. At the time, I could have ordered someone to crush him to death as easily as pinching an insect. Xianglan's sword even once passed beside his neck. Only the tiniest distance remained. But I did not do it. Do I regret that? I do. I regret it greatly! I believe the one in Chu regrets it just as much. He once rode in the same carriage with that man. They even traded poetry and verse. Heh-heh-heh. And what happened? That man stole his younger sister and humiliated Chu again and again. Xundao. You are Master Cang's final disciple. Tell me. Does there truly exist a kind of man in this world who is simply a hidden dragon sleeping in the abyss? A man born with absurdly good fortune, who only needs the chance to stir before he leaps up and transforms into a dragon?"

"Your Majesty, this subject has entered officialdom. Since I descended the mountain, I no longer speak of matters from the mountain."

"Yes. I have put you in a difficult position."

He was now a Chancellor of the court. How could he still behave as he once had, casually talking about fate, fortune, celestial signs, and destiny? No matter how popular Qi Refiners were in Qian, officials of the imperial court still possessed enough shame not to descend into that degree of absurdity.

Bang! The Emperor's fist struck the desk.

"But I truly believe that Prince Pingxi—that Zheng Fan—is exactly such a man! A man carrying that kind of fortune. A man capable of changing the fortune of an entire state! I missed one chance before. This time... I do not want to miss another! I know myself. I understand myself. I can even imagine the man I will be one year from now, two years from now, five years from now. If I look back upon today and remember that I cared only about recovering the capital and allowed him to escape... I will still hate the choice I made today!"

The Emperor's voice grew lower and lower, yet every word became clearer.

"Before, I did not understand. But now I see it. He used himself as bait to draw my armies here, creating the opportunity for his main force to circle behind us. Isn't that right, Xundao?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

"I am not wise. I am very far from wise. Had I understood his purpose earlier, I would have protected Shangjing first. That is where I was born. It is the most beautiful place in Great Qian, the most beautiful place in all Xia. But now... matters have already reached this point. You, Li Xundao, have said Shangjing probably cannot be held. Then the Crown Prince in Shangjing, the Empress in Shangjing, the ministers and people of Shangjing... all of them may already have suffered disaster. But I suddenly believe... it is worth it. I am not saying pleasant words merely because I have no other choice. Nor am I deliberately looking for a stairway down from humiliation. For an Emperor to lose his capital is a disgrace beyond measure! But now I truly believe... No. He miscalculated one thing. He miscalculated his own weight in my heart! To me... he is more important than Shangjing! If the capital is lost, it can be rebuilt! If popular support scatters, it can be gathered again! If national strength is exhausted, it can be restored! Great Qian can still recover. I will gamble on that. I will stake everything on my judgment that this exchange is worth the price! That Zheng Fan... is worth a choice like this from me! Li Xundao, receive the decree!"

"This subject is here!"

"I order you to scatter scout cavalry and intercept every piece of news coming from Shangjing. I will not allow word of Shangjing's fall to disturb the morale of the army. Furthermore... I order you to command all four armies. At any cost... for me... smother him to death here! I want his royal banner. I want his head. I will use them to make offerings to the soldiers and people of Shangjing! I... want him dead!"

...

Over the next two days, the armies on both sides drew so close that if they were two people, they would practically have been standing face to face, close enough to count the lashes around each other's eyes.

"Do you think Chen Yang has reached Shangjing?" the Sword Saint asked.

"I'm afraid he's already taken it," Zheng Fan answered.

"Then do you think the Qian have realized what's happening?"

"Both sides already understand one another's actual strength. The Qian should have figured it out two days ago. My royal banner is here, but my main force isn't. And since that main force isn't nearby trying to strike one of Qian's armies from the side, there's only one place left it could have gone."

"The Qian know, but still haven't withdrawn. Why?"

The Sword Saint did not wait for Zheng Fan to answer. He smiled. "That Emperor of Qian would rather abandon the recovery of his own capital than give up the chance to eat you."

"He's gone mad," Zheng Fan said.

"I don't think he has." The Sword Saint shook his head. "Perhaps I'm just narrow-minded and was born only fit to wave a sword around, but from their perspective, paying any price necessary to get rid of you first actually seems like a worthwhile trade."

"You're mad too."

"Probably. But think about it. Shangjing is already lost. If they lose Shangjing and then lose you as well, wouldn't that mean they came away empty-handed on both ends? Better to grab something solid and hold it. This chance will only appear once. With your temperament, after this, getting you to personally put yourself in danger again and hand Qian an opportunity like this will probably be difficult. No. Nearly impossible."

"Old Yu, I'm already panicking inside. Can we please discuss this in some other way?"

"Fine. What do you plan to do? The Qian army will probably attack tomorrow."

"Break out. I don't want to die." Zheng Fan's answer was perfectly straightforward. "I haven't lived enough yet. My two children are still in their mothers' bellies. I haven't even met them."

"Can you break out?"

"It'll be difficult. But sitting here and defending the camp is impossible. If we do that, death is certain. Still, there is one thing worth being happy about. The Qian army has not turned back. That means after Chen Yang's force takes Shangjing according to plan, they actually have a chance to circle back out again. Originally, getting that force back would have been extremely difficult."

"So Chen Yang's force was meant to be a sacrificial piece from the beginning?"

The plan had been to draw the Qian main force back toward Shangjing. Chen Yang would then tie down Qian troops there while Zheng Fan used the opportunity to leave the battlefield, heading north or northeast. Either way, he would escape alive.

"Do you understand what Shangjing means?"

"I do."

"Paying this price in exchange for an enemy capital is worthwhile. That one cut will make Qian bleed. Bleed a great deal. And bleed for a very long time. At the very least, Qian will not have the strength to organize another great northern campaign for five years. Five years. My eastern Jin will become even stronger in soldiers and horses. Five years. Old Sixth Ji will have enough time to let Yan finally catch its breath. This has been the hardest threshold of all. Great Yan has spent all these years walking a tightrope. One careless step and the entire board would collapse. At the very least... I've managed to hold the situation together. Once Yan and Jin finally catch their breath and settle... that will be the moment Great Yan declares war on Qian and Chu at the same time."

The Sword Saint nodded.

"But you still haven't told me how you plan to break out."

"I'll use the soldiers beside me as cover and have them create the opening I need."

"You say that... so easily?"

"Easily?"

"You've already decided to cut off the tail so the body can survive?"

"Yes."

"They aren't your own eastern-Jin troops, so you don't feel the loss?"

"Even if they were my eastern-Jin troops, I would do the same. Li Fusheng was a general. He could stay with his men and die in battle. When he died, perhaps he was still thinking that I would avenge him. I am the commander-in-chief. My life alone is tied to the stability of Jin. If I die, who avenges me? And who continues what we've started?"

"Those words are very grand."

"You think I'm being hypocritical?"

"I don't know. But I appreciate the fact that you're honest with me."

"My honesty... isn't only for you."

"Oh?"

Zheng Fan rose and walked out of the command tent. The Sword Saint followed.

Outside, a deep pit had been dug. Chen Xianba had just led men in completing it under orders.

When he saw the Prince emerge, Chen Xianba entered the command tent, carried out a chair, and placed it beside the pit.

"Begin."

"Yes!"

Squad after squad of Yan soldiers approached, passed before their Prince, then reached the pit and threw their identity tags inside. Many could not help letting their eyes settle on the Prince as they passed. He simply sat there in silence, like a statue.

Gradually, the pit filled with more and more identity tags.

Zheng Fan sat there for almost two hours.

The last man to come forward and throw in his tag was Chen Yuan.

"Your Highness, apart from the scout cavalry and sentries still deployed outside, everyone else has cast in his identity tag."

"Good."

The Prince nodded. He stood and moved his stiffened limbs a few times, then walked onto a small raised platform ahead.

Below the platform, soldiers holding torches stood in ordered ranks. When the Prince stepped up, every gaze turned toward him.

At that moment, Zheng Fan suddenly remembered something Gou Moli had once said: his one true ability was convincing enormous numbers of Savage warriors to go willingly to their deaths.

Those words suddenly carried a completely different flavor in Zheng Fan's mind.

"Soldiers! Count Yishan is following this Prince's orders and leading our main force. By now, they have already broken into Shangjing! The Qian capital is being trampled beneath our boots! You should all know this already."

Two days earlier, Zheng Fan had ordered the campaign plan explained to the troops below.

"The Qian outside us—their Emperor—already knows their lair has been ripped open! Their Empress has probably already fallen into Count Yishan's hands, washed clean and waiting for this Prince to go favor her!"

"Ooooooh!"

"Ooooooh!"

The instant they heard that the Empress had been captured, the soldiers below erupted into frenzy.

"But they know their home has been taken. That Emperor knows his wife and his children may already be in our hands. And yet he... and the Qian... have not withdrawn their armies to rescue the capital! These past days, they have kept closing in step by step, squeezing tighter and tighter around our camp. Why? The reason is simple! The Qian want to win back their face! The Qian believe that a capital—a whole Shangjing—isn't worth as much as this Prince's head! They have nothing left to lose. They've gone mad. All they want now is to seize this Prince's royal banner and this Prince's head and carry them back as offerings for the dead! But we... have already won! We've won enormously! This trade has made us rich beyond measure! There is no more profitable bargain beneath Heaven! But now they want this Prince's life. They want this Prince dead! This Prince does not want to die! This Prince cannot die yet! And this Prince refuses to let the Qian recover even one damned copper of what they've already lost here! But there are more than two hundred thousand Qian troops around us. We have ten thousand! So this Prince is going to break out! I'm going to punch my way free! And this Prince needs all of you to carve open the Qian interception lines. I need you to smash open their battle formations. Only then can this Prince escape alive! Yes! This Prince is running away! We've already taken a bargain this enormous. Only a fucking idiot wouldn't run! But if this Prince is going to escape with his life... then all of you must die for me! The more decisively you die, the greater the chance this Prince has of escaping alive! From the first day this Prince put on armor, I have never abandoned the soldiers beside me. But this time... I have no choice. I need you to cover my rear. I need you to clear my road. I need your blood and flesh to create a path of life for this Prince! By ordinary reasoning... I should not be saying this so plainly. I ought to shout that I will live and die together with you. I ought to lie and promise that I will remain beside you to the very end! But that would be a losing bargain. This Prince refuses to make it! Your identity tags have just been thrown into this pit before my eyes. In a little while, this pit will be filled back in. One day... this Prince will return here leading one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand riders of Great Yan! We will dig this pit open again! Every brother who dies in battle... every brother who dies for this Prince... I will raise a memorial for every single one of you! This Prince... will avenge you! One day... this Prince will destroy the State of Qian to repay all of you for the grace of giving me my life today! I will take the head of the Emperor of Qian. I will take Qian's rivers and mountains and sacred altars. And I will bury them with all of you!"

Zheng Fan stopped, cupped his fists before him, and roared:

"Gentlemen! I ask you... die for me!"

The entire field fell silent. Only the night wind remained, passing over them again and again. The silence was terrifying.

The Sword Saint raised a hand and pressed down the hair the wind had blown across his face.

This was the first time the Sword Saint had ever seen a commander tell his soldiers this directly: I want to trade your lives for mine.

Since ancient times, even when an army was assigned to cover a retreat, the soldiers themselves often did not know what task they were actually performing.

Because if the order were explained openly, the morale of the troops below could collapse immediately.

The Sword Saint instinctively looked toward his own son. Liu Dahu's face was solemn and resolute.

The Sword Saint withdrew his gaze.

His fingertips gently tapped against the sword scabbard, trying to break some of the suffocating pressure hanging over the field like the stillness before a storm.

On the platform, the Prince still stood with his fists cupped, motionless. Then suddenly, almost every soldier below dropped to one knee. Right fists hammered violently against armored chests, and the sound rolled across the field like thunder.

And immediately afterward came a roar like mountains collapsing into the sea:

"We are willing to die for the Prince!"

[End of Chapter 863]