Chapter 72: Blade in Hand, Follow Me |
In the dark night, countless pairs of eyes stared straight at him like starving wolves.
Qin Kuo raised his hand holding the Emperor's decree, knowing that if he spoke one more word to obstruct them, the next instant he would be hacked to death by chaotic blades and chopped into mincemeat on the spot.
The heavens are high and the Emperor is far away.
And at a time like this, these people had all gone mad.
Song Shi'an, what the hell are you trying to pull!
The hand holding the decree dropped heavily, and his head bowed down as if his soul had been drained from him.
The next moment, the cavalry mobilized in full force. Qin Kuo was like a stone protruding from a river—the torrential current split around him before converging again, surging turbulently all around.
Bypassing him, all the cavalry and infantry advanced toward the main road.
Song Shi'an slowly turned his head back, and upon seeing him, his brows furrowed slightly.
Even Wei Wusheng, as supreme commander, didn't know about it.
This thousand Forbidden Army troops going to Shuofeng to die was already inevitable—why would the Emperor still plant an eye within the army?
Qin Kuo, who was he assigned to monitor?
Me, who intends to establish merit in Northern Liang?
What am I worth that the Emperor would even notice me?
Then, the Emperor must be guarding against Wei Wusheng.
Is it really necessary?
Just because he's a 'wusheng' whose legs came out first during a difficult birth?
Isn't that bullshit!
Song Shi'an simply couldn't guess what this Emperor was thinking, but the Emperor's decree that Qin Kuo produced at this moment at least proved one thing—the Emperor extremely distrusted Wei Wusheng.
"How do you have an Emperor's decree?"
After Qin Kuo was left alone in place, Zhu Qing asked.
"I don't know." The disoriented Qin Kuo shook his head. Though his thoughts weren't here, still processing the terror of that recent scene, he instinctively answered, "Before the expedition, the Jinyiwei gave it to me without saying a word."
"Without saying a word?" Zhu Qing furrowed his brows, finding this matter too strange. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Why would I lie to you? Going to Shuofeng on this trip, I'm certain to die too. Why bother being a blade for His Majesty?"
Raising his head, Qin Kuo directly countered with a question.
This statement made sense indeed.
If the Emperor had arranged some task for him, he surely would have promised some benefits. But this trip to Shuofeng was a death sentence—what benefits could there be?
"I guess His Majesty anticipated something would happen, or to prevent something from happening, granted me this special authority."
Thinking this through, Qin Kuo analyzed his own special circumstances: "Compared to you, I have more concerns, I suppose."
Commanding an army certainly wasn't something just anyone could do.
The Forbidden Army Captain was Rank 5, the army's Chief Clerk was Rank 5 from the bottom—these two held the highest official positions.
And Zhu Qing was a commoner.
On his side, though he also wasn't from any prestigious family, his father was at least a court official, and through his position plus his own capabilities as a current official, he had also cultivated a family with some local prestige in the district.
The Emperor had precisely calculated that he had vulnerabilities and wouldn't dare join a rebellion.
"There's no other way." Zhu Qing looked at him and said helplessly, "Going back now is also a dead end."
"This Song Shi'an, really!" Clenching his fists, Qin Kuo said resentfully.
"It's His Highness. Song Shi'an just said this was all His Highness's order," Zhu Qing reminded him.
If for no other reason, it was also to fulfill his obligation to Song Jing.
Now that this incident had occurred, only an imperial prince could shoulder the blame.
"So what do we do now?" Qin Kuo asked.
Zhu Qing smiled bitterly and walked to the side, leading over the two horses he had left behind earlier: "Old Qin, let's follow along."
………
Wuwei was about to fall, with General Han Yuan eighty percent likely dead in battle. Zhao Xiang had been defeated and demoted to Centurion. The current Regional Inspector and Governor-General would both be demoted for losing Tongmen Pass, currently just waiting on their posts for the court to send replacements. So the current Luo Ting could be said to be the most powerful person in all of Liang Prefecture.
He was Cangwu's Prefect, its defending general, and also controlled a naval force of dozens of large ships.
When seizing his authority, this had also been taken into consideration.
But from the current situation, there seemed to be some issues.
The naval force outside Langya City only comprised part of Liang Prefecture's navy. The rest were still further upstream.
Currently, there were fifty-five ships in total.
Thirty-two large ships, eleven medium ships, twelve small ships.
Though it could be transported in two trips, Wei Wusheng didn't have enough time to make two trips.
Because once dawn broke, news of the mutiny would spread throughout all of Liang Prefecture. Reinforcing troops would also swiftly take control of Langya City. To dare sail the ships back again for another load at that point would be truly insane.
It was impossible to abandon these four thousand soldiers for the sake of cargo—that would be putting the cart before the horse. But if all the soldiers boarded the ships, some choices would have to be made regarding the supplies.
Just as Wei Wusheng was pondering this, the soldiers by the riverside suddenly went on full alert.
The archers also reacted instantly, taking down their crossbows from their backs, arrows nocked and ready to fire.
"Your Highness, a military force is coming from the east!"
Wei Wusheng immediately rode over, and following the direction from which the army was coming, his vigilance peaked.
Until a cavalry soldier on that side, illuminated by torches held by cavalry to his left and right, vigorously waved the 'Wei' character banner in his hand, did he finally relax and reveal an easy smile: "Stand down, it's a friendly force of our Great Yu."
If word had leaked and someone had brought troops from elsewhere attempting to suppress them, that would be troublesome.
Though the nearby stationed troops that could arrive would at most be a hundred or so men.
But Wei Wusheng really didn't want to engage in fratricide.
"Your Highness, I've arrived."
Song Shi'an rode his horse and quickly rushed over.
The two men's horses crossed paths, their hooves stamping in place.
"Did they all follow?" Looking behind, Wei Wusheng asked.
"All of the Forbidden Army have become loyal warriors to Your Highness." Song Shi'an's gaze was resolute.
"Excellent!" Finally possessing his own core force, Wei Wusheng was greatly invigorated. "What about Captain Zhu and Chief Clerk Qin?"
"Though they opposed the mutiny, they should have followed as well," Song Shi'an speculated.
What else could they do if they didn't come?
Just return like that—they'd die even faster.
Better to gamble on a possibility—that Shuofeng holds out, and afterward the Sixth Prince shoulders everything alone.
"Your Highness! A cavalry unit has fled west!"
Suddenly, a Military Commandant from the Langya side's troops came to report.
Wei Wusheng's brows furrowed as he inquired, "How many?"
Xinyue also looked over nervously, ready to give chase at any moment.
"About a dozen or so..." The Military Commandant asked, "Should we pursue?"
"They probably took advantage of when we arrived just now and stopped transporting, when the whole army was on alert, to escape." Song Shi'an said.
"Probably some military officer who came to question me earlier," Wei Wusheng speculated.
"Then they've gone to report." After pondering briefly, Song Shi'an said, "Forget it, we'll just be exposed a few hours earlier at most."
"Then we'll ignore it."
Wei Wusheng waved his hand dismissively, not taking it too seriously, then asked, "There are fewer ships than imagined, and more supplies than estimated. We'll probably need to make some choices."
Without thinking, Song Shi'an said, "Military equipment first, especially arrows. After that, uniforms."
"Are uniforms more important than grain?" Wei Wusheng asked.
"Our ultimate goal is to hold out until winter. Now that the army has increased so much, the north is cold—we can't let the soldiers freeze to death."
After hesitating, Song Shi'an said, "If we can't transport all the grain, so be it. If we really don't have enough, we'll figure something out later."
"Good."
With Song Shi'an helping him consider things, Wei Wusheng didn't get annoyed and directly ordered, "Stop loading grain onto the ships now. Prioritize arrows, military equipment, then uniforms... and also bandages and medicinal herbs."
"Right, right, right." Song Shi'an quickly nodded, agreeing with Wei Wusheng's addition.
Thus, after Song Shi'an's troops arrived and joined in the transportation, all the medicinal herbs and bandages, eighty percent of the military equipment, seventy percent of the uniforms, and fifty percent of the grain were loaded onto all the ships as dawn was breaking.
After leaving twenty men in place to guard these remaining supplies—so that when Luo Ting woke up, they could eventually be completely recovered back to Langya City without loss—all the soldiers also boarded the ships.
"I'll bring up the rear to prevent any ships from turning back. You go to the very first ship."
Before boarding, Wei Wusheng decided thus.
"Alright."
Song Shi'an agreed, and the two directly rode their horses to "part ways."
Xinyue naturally followed Song Shi'an, but suddenly, her pupils contracted sharply, she reined in her horse, then turned it around.
Song Shi'an also noticed this scene.
At this moment, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.
Until Wei Wusheng, as if suddenly remembering something, smiled faintly and said, "Right, the lead ship is critically important, in case something changes—Xinyue, you go assist Shi'an."
"...Yes."
Xinyue responded to his order with her head lowered, but her hands still trembled with nervousness.
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