The Road to Glory

Chapter 181: "Please, Lord Xiao, Save Northern Wei!..."

The bright moon hung high in the snowy sky.

From the mountain gate of Hongyan Temple to the half-hill temple built against the mountain slope, scattered lights twinkled in the cold night, majestic and solemn.

At the summit, within Yanhui Pagoda, Wen Yu sat quietly before a desk. Candles blazed on stands flanking both sides, illuminating the space as bright as day.

Directly ahead, niches carved into the mountain wall housed countless Eternal Lamps. Behind each lamp stood a memorial tablet, among which names like Gu Kaiyan, Zhou Jing'an, and Gu Changfeng were visible—these were the posthumous tablets of all loyal ministers who had perished for Great Liang since its collapse.

Wen Yu diligently copied scroll after scroll of scriptures. Tong Que stood by her side, taking the completed copies and handing them to the Azure Guard. Two armored soldiers then neatly laid them out on the brick floor before the wall niches.

Suddenly, a knock echoed from the tightly shut hall doors. Tong Que stepped forward, cracked open a sliver of the door, listened to the report from the Azure Guard, then closed it again. Returning to Wen Yu’s side, she leaned in and whispered, "Princess, the fish has taken the bait."

Wen Yu’s jade-like face, bathed in candlelight, remained serene and composed as she continued writing, undisturbed.

Outside the Hongyan Temple gate, a contingent of soldiers advanced through the snowy night. In the center of their procession, a pitch-black coffin was prominently escorted.

The leading official dismounted and cupped his hands toward the guards at the mountain gate. "We are escorting the coffin of Piaoqi General Jiang of Chen back. Having received word from the Princess to erect posthumous tablets here for all martyrs, and with Master Xuanqing personally conducting the rites, we have specially brought the General’s coffin."

A guard following the official dismounted and presented his waist token. After inspecting it, the gate commander gestured to his rigorously stationed troops. The armored soldiers promptly and uniformly cleared a path wide enough for four people abreast.

The procession entered the mountain gate with Jiang Yu’s coffin, where a host monk, already informed, came to guide them.

As it was the middle of the night, the ceremony could not be held immediately. The armored soldiers placed Jiang Yu’s coffin in a side hall, then shut the hall doors, leaving only guards stationed outside.

During the shift change in the latter half of the night, a group of Southern Chen soldiers relayed the passcode and took over from the Liang troops who had guarded the doors earlier.

Before long, the entire mountain temple fell into deep silence, save for the swirling snowflakes under the glow of lanterns hanging from the eaves.

After exchanging glances, several Southern Chen soldiers guarding the hall doors made a signal and silently pushed open the side hall doors.

Inside, candle stands at the four corners still burned, clearly illuminating the hall’s layout and the coffin placed squarely in the center.

At a signal from their leader, four Southern Chen soldiers stepped forward to lift the heavy, carved lid.

They had heard rumors that Jiang Yu wasn’t actually dead—that this was a ruse by the Liang and Chen camps to deceive the Pei and Wei camps.

Whether true or false, they would know once they saw the body inside.

As the four soldiers shifted the lid just a crack, the entire cover was suddenly kicked open from within. Immediately, an unknown powder burst and scattered in all directions. The Chen soldiers, caught off guard, had their eyes affected and hastily retreated, closing their eyes.

Zhao Bai leaped from the coffin, sword in hand, and shouted commandingly, "Seize them!"Taking cover behind the dim yellow drapes in the hall, the Azure Guard members hidden on the beams swiftly threw out rope loops, snaring the necks of the fleeing Chen Jun soldiers. They landed and tightened the nooses, dislocating the captives' limbs and jaws as the desperate soldiers clawed at the strangling cords.

The Chen Jun commander attempted to escape but was struck down by Zhao Bai's thrown scabbard. Gritting through the pain, he crawled laboriously toward the hall entrance, forcing the doors open only to despair at the sight of Liang troops massed darkly outside. As he tried to bite down on the poison sac concealed in his teeth, Zhao Bai stomped on his jaw, dislocating the entire mandible and rendering him incapable of closing his mouth.

Liang soldiers pouring in from outside promptly pinned his limbs.

Zhao Bai stood bathed in the murky candlelight, his countenance as fearsome as a wrathful deity, demanding coldly: "Who sent you?"

In the Wei Manor dungeons, facing a sudden volley of arrows from Wei soldiers, Tao Kui roared and lifted a long table from the cell. With Zheng Hu gripping the opposite end, they barricaded the narrow corridor completely, steadily advancing up the steps toward the exit while using the table as a shield.

Arrows thudded into the wooden table, some piercing clean through to expose their cold steel tips.

Under this cover, the group finally reached the dungeon exit. Tao Kui and Zheng Hu used the heavy table to bowl over the Wei soldiers blocking the doorway.

Crossbows became useless in close quarters. The Wei soldiers abandoned them, raising swords and spears with battle cries as they surged forward.

A dozen Tongzhou soldiers roared in response, crashing into the Wei troops.

Amid swirling snowflakes thick as cotton, distant roaring flames from burning pavilions, the clamoring bronze alarms echoing through Marquis Wei's estate, and the panicked shouts of servants created a cacophony both muffled and starkly clear.

Xiao Li, lacking a proper weapon, blocked descending blades with his steel-reinforced bracers. His gaze held more chill than the howling northern wind, forcing the phalanx of Wei soldiers to retreat step by step.

Song Qin returned after torching the manor's study and shouted from beyond the fray: "Prefect! Your blade!"

He tossed a seven-foot long blade wrapped in silk toward Xiao Li.

Xiao Li used his arms to collapse the defensive line like a crumbling mountain, catching the heavy miaodao single-handedly. As rear-guard Wei soldiers thrust their spears in unison, he drew the blade and severed the spearheads. Lifting wolf-like eyes burning with murderous intent in the firelight and bloodshed, he declared: "Whoever stands in my way tonight—dies!"

With Wei Qishan and his son away on southern campaigns and Liao Jiang dispatched to defend Yanle Mountain, the Wei Manor had retained guards as precaution. Their greatest leverage had been using Xiao Li to deter the righteous army outside the city walls from attacking—never anticipating they'd storm the manor to free their leader.

Though defenders outnumbered them, the chaos of flames and incessant clanging alarms had shattered their morale. Having witnessed Xiao Li's ferocity during his capture, the armored soldiers dared not charge to certain death.

Xiao Li's group fought through the encirclement all the way to the manor's main gate.

Tongzhou officers waiting outside had prepared swift horses. At their whistle, a dozen steeds galloped from the street's end. Xiao Li and his men mounted immediately to depart.

The pursuing Wei generals shouted furiously: "Loose arrows! Loose arrows at them!"

Snow accumulated through the night before the gates was trampled into sludge as horses broke through the human barricade. Suddenly, a rider came galloping toward them through the storm.

"Prefect Xiao!"Wei Ang's armor was caked with a layer of frost-encrusted blood. Upon seeing Xiao Li, his initial elation swiftly turned to understanding as he took in the tense standoff between the Wei soldiers and Xiao Li's retinue.

Raising his waist token high, he shouted to the Wei troops behind him: "Hold your arrows!"

The Wei family guards stationed at the estate, recognizing Wei Ang, dared not act recklessly and signaled their subordinates to lower their crossbows.

Dismounting, Wei Ang retrieved another blood-stained object from his belt and presented it to Xiao Li, his grief stark beneath the grime on his face: "Governor Xiao, I beg you to save General Liao and Northern Wei!"

Torchlight from the Wei soldiers illuminated what Wei Ang held in his hands—a Military Tally.

Xiao Li remained mounted, snowflakes pelting his face, lending his features an unprecedented severity: "What is the meaning of this?"

Wei Ang's eyes reddened as he recalled the battle's brutality: "Yanle Mountain... cannot hold. General Liao is gravely wounded and ordered me to request you defend the Northern Border in his stead. This tally commands the Wolf Cavalry."

Zheng Hu and his companions, their clothes stained with blood, wore scornful expressions at these words.

Xiao Li's voice was icy: "I owe Wei Qishan nothing. What concern are Northern Wei's affairs to me?"

Wei Ang noted the blood on Zheng Hu and Tao Kui's group, then the crossbow-wielding Wei soldiers behind him. The Wei family guard avoided his gaze, visibly guilty.

Consumed by shame and sorrow, Wei Ang knelt in the snow, offering up the tally: "If Yanle Mountain falls, the barbarians will invade, and the entire Northern Border's populace will suffer. My Wei clan has wronged you greatly, but I implore you to pity the common people and aid Northern Wei once more!"

Xiao Li's voice was frigid: "Yanle Mountain's weakened defenses result from Marquis Wei diverting troops southward to contend for the realm—no fault of mine. My tens of thousands of men have families too. Their parents, wives, and sisters aren't here. Thousands have already died holding back the barbarians. What has your Wei camp given them besides suspicion and suicide missions? My promise now is to lead them home!"

With that, he spurred his horse fiercely and galloped into the night-shrouded street.

Zheng Hu snorted coldly at Wei Ang before following Song Qin and the others away on horseback.

Kneeling in the snow, Wei Ang swayed abruptly, his face ashen with despair.

The Wei soldiers at the estate entrance hurried to surround him.

When a family guard reached to assist him, Wei Ang brushed the hand aside and pushed himself up from the ground. Staring dazedly at the silent Wei Province city enveloped in the cold night, he lamented: "Open the city gates! Sound the gongs immediately—notify all citizens to evacuate southward tonight!"

Hearing the urgency, the family guard panicked and hastily directed subordinates to carry out Wei Ang's orders.

Wei Ang stood sustained only by sheer willpower, the frozen blood on his palms now thawing into viscous crimson. Nearly broken by despair, he commanded: "Assemble every soldier still available in the city at the northern gate! We march to Yanle Mountain to reinforce General Liao!"

The barbarians excelled at feinting attacks, striking one location before shifting to another.

With Wei Qishan's southern campaign having drawn away nearly half their forces, the barbarians repeated their tactics—exhausting the Wolf Cavalry before launching their full assault. Thus had Liao Jiang fallen into their trap.Only the thirty-thousand strong righteous army under Xiao Li's command could be deployed now to potentially turn the tide.

Xiao Li and his companions galloped swiftly through the streets, but soon Wei soldiers on horseback appeared in the alleys, striking bronze gongs and shouting, "The barbarians have broken through! Evacuate the city immediately!"

Lamps and candles lit up in every household one by one. Panicked cries and the wails of young children completely shattered the silence of this snowy night.

Soon, people began breaking down their doors, clutching hastily packed bundles of valuables as they fled outside.

A young couple escaped with their crying child. The child, perched on the father's shoulder, wept and called back toward the old woman standing alone in the cold wind at the doorstep, "Grandma... Grandma..."

The old woman wiped her reddened eyes with her sleeve and said sorrowfully, "Don't cry... don't cry. Grandma is too old to leave. Little Dog, live well with your parents..."

Not far ahead, Rogues targeted families of relative means who were fleeing with their belongings, snatching their bundles and running off, leaving the entire family—young and old—to weep in despair.

Amid the chaos, what finally roused those households whose lights had not yet been lit was no longer the sound of gongs, but the pervasive cries of anguish everywhere.

Xiao Li reined in his horse amidst the crowd, letting the swirling snowflakes fall thick upon his clothes and hair.

Zheng Hu called out, "Second Brother?"

Xiao Li lifted his gaze to Song Qin and said, "Eldest Brother, go outside the city on my behalf and ask our brothers there: those willing to stay and fight the barbarians with me, let them enter the city; those who wish to return home, pay them their due wages and let them depart."

Then he turned to Zheng Hu and the others: "The same goes for all of you."