Chapter 243: "Last Stand"
Western Mausoleum Command Tent.
A personal guard lifted the tent flap and reported: "Your Highness, the fifty thousand troops newly deployed from the capital have also surrounded Gole City."
Inside the tent besides He Yi was an elderly man wearing an ochre-colored robe. Their previous conversation seemed to have been unpleasant, with He Yi's expression sharp and severe. Upon hearing the guard's report, she merely lifted her chin slightly: "Order them to issue challenges and begin the assault. This princess will join them shortly."
The old man appeared even more troubled upon hearing this, the wrinkles on his brow deepening with worry. After the guard departed, he continued his admonition: "Your Highness, by deploying all one hundred fifty thousand troops away from Western Mausoleum, you are exhausting our entire strength to attack Chen Kingdom and its supporter Liang Kingdom. Using the Central Plains people's expression, this is militarism to the extreme and truly unadvisable..."
He Yi, clearly growing impatient with the old man's counsel, coldly interrupted: "Aren't the Central Plains people also exhausting their national strength in defense right now? Western Mausoleum has encountered this once-in-a-century opportunity. Does my teacher want me to timidly squander it?"
Throughout her life, He Yi had studied under numerous mentors, but the only one truly worthy of being called "teacher" was this old monk who had retrieved her from a leopard den in her infancy.
After the previous queen passed away, her mother became a candidate for the new queen. Before the grand wedding, however, frequent vomiting and abdominal swelling led the shaman to discover her pregnancy.
Her mother refused to admit to any illicit relations, claiming she had dreamed of a golden leopard charging toward her and entering her abdomen. Upon waking, she found herself with child.
Western Mausoleum observed the custom of not killing unborn children, as pregnancy was considered a divine blessing. Legend held that preventing a child's birth would anger the deities and incur their punishment, which was why He Yi's mother was permitted to give birth to her.
However, the King of Western Mausoleum didn't believe her mother's story at the time. After He Yi's birth, he declared that since she was supposedly born from a golden leopard entering the womb, she should be sent to a leopard den to see what divine will truly intended.
Whether the desert leopards had already fed that day or the capital soldiers feared death and didn't venture too close to the leopard den, they abandoned the swaddled infant He Yi beneath a withered tree frequented by hunting leopards and returned to report mission accomplished.
Given the desert's temperature fluctuations, such a small infant would have frozen to death in the desert night even if she escaped being devoured by wild beasts.
But fate works in mysterious ways.
The old monk, while traveling, happened to pass through that desert at precisely that moment, and happened to discover the crying He Yi beneath the tree.
The old monk marveled that this child, abandoned in the wilderness, had not fallen prey to wild beasts, suggesting she carried heaven's mission. That he had encountered her likely indicated some karmic connection between them, so he gathered the swaddled infant and departed.
Upon entering the city the next day, the old monk learned of the child's origins from the townspeople's discussions. Knowing the King of Western Mausoleum could not tolerate her, when the queen's clansmen came seeking the child after learning the old monk had taken her, he fabricated a story.
He claimed to have heard an infant's cries in the desert that morning and followed the sound to discover the child in a leopard den. The desert's fierce beasts had guarded the tiny life through the night without devouring her.
The tale of the queen dreaming of a golden leopard before conceiving suddenly became credible. The people of Western Mausoleum regarded the child as an auspicious sign, and she was formally welcomed back to the royal palace.
The queen begged the old monk to name the child. He chose "He Yi," meaning "divine offspring."As if to witness what mission this child would ultimately fulfill, at the queen's repeated invitations, the old monk chose to remain in the royal capital and became He Yi's teacher.
Over twenty years passed in the blink of an eye. As if living up to her name, He Yi was determined to achieve feats as dazzling as those of her ancestor Latirang, her ambition growing with each passing day.
The old monk watched her battle her uncles and brothers for power until she had reduced the King of Western Mausoleum to a mere puppet, yet her ambition remained unquenched.
Imitating the Western Mausoleum King's tactic of using marriage alliances to gradually consume tribes, she lulled allied tribes into lowering their guard before annihilating them in one fell swoop. Over a decade, she went through two husbands and wiped out two desert tribes.
She sought to expand Western Mausoleum's territory eastward, but the Jashi Mountains rising from the high frozen plateau blocked her advance. Faced with such an insurmountable natural barrier, she eventually settled for the next best option: attempting to swallow Chen Kingdom, which was similarly blocked outside the pass.
The old monk understood that the appearance of that young Pei clansman from the Central Plains had reignited He Yi's ambition to conquer the Central Plains in one stroke, hence her willingness to mobilize troops on such a scale.
The old monk sighed: "Chen Kingdom's defeat is inevitable. The previous seventy thousand troops alone would be more than sufficient to besiege them to death. Why must Your Highness transfer additional forces from the royal capital?"
He Yi raised her sharp eyebrows slightly: "Does my teacher think this student cannot see through that little princess from the Central Plains' scheme? Using herself as bait, she merely seeks to tie down Western Mausoleum's forces at Gole City to buy time for her Liang territory's Tiger Gorge Pass."
The old monk was puzzled: "Then why would Your Highness still..."
He Yi glanced sideways, stroking the Great Liang imperial seal placed on the small table, her eyes filled with arrogance and determination: "How could those petty scoundrels heading for Tiger Gorge Pass withstand my thirty thousand Western Mausoleum troops? If that Central Plains princess realizes Tiger Gorge Pass is completely indefensible, what purpose would her risking her life serve? Should she escape back to the royal court or even Liang territory, unless we fight until not an inch of Chen and Liang lands remains, do you think we'd have another chance to capture her alive?"
Hearing this explanation, the old monk finally understood why He Yi insisted on transferring troops.
That Liang princess wouldn't have dared come into danger without thorough preparations, ready to be evacuated by her subordinates at the slightest sign of trouble.
To capture her alive, Gole City must be capable of being breached instantly. Even if the Liang princess managed to escape, subsequent carpet searches would be needed to apprehend her.
Therefore, Western Mausoleum's forces dispatched to Gole City must be numerous enough.
Ideally, the sight of them should terrify the defending soldiers, making subsequent attacks unstoppable.
Yet the old monk still sighed: "With all fifty thousand royal capital garrison troops transferred, Western Mausoleum's gates will be left wide open!"
He Yi seemed to find the old monk's concern laughable. Rising and spreading her arms, she said: "What tribe in the desert would dare attack Western Mausoleum?"
"Even if Chen and Liang soldiers wanted to exploit the gap to assault our royal capital, they're besieged and can't even leave Gole City. Could they possibly fly through the skies or tunnel through the earth past the iron wall formed by my hundred twenty thousand Western Mausoleum troops?"
Knowing he couldn't dissuade He Yi, the old monk closed his eyes and spoke no more.
He Yi looked at the old monk and said: "This disciple will let the master witness the creation of unparalleled achievements!"
With that, she flung her cloak and strode out of the command tent.
On the walls of Gole City, banners fluttered fiercely in the wind.Wen Yu stood atop the city tower, maintaining her dignified composure as she locked eyes with the Princess of Western Mausoleum who sat astride her horse at the forefront of the massive army below. The princess’s gaze held the wild ferocity and sharpness of a predator.
The military formation spreading out behind the princess far surpassed the scale of their previous siege attempt, a dark tide stretching endlessly into the desert beyond, its boundaries barely visible.
Wen Yu’s gaze remained calm from beginning to end, her eyes meeting the other’s without the slightest hint of retreat.
This battle would truly decide both life and death, as well as victory and defeat.
Gu Xiyun approached Wen Yu with a worried expression, calling out softly, "Your Highness..."
Wen Yu responded with just two words: "Hold to the death."
Zhao Bai stood beside Wen Yu with sword in hand, while high in the vast sky, Western Mausoleum's eagles circled overhead, their piercing cries echoing with each beat of their wings.
At the same time, a White-feathered Sparrow darted through the twilight streets of the Chen Kingdom's royal court, heading straight for the royal palace.
In Zhaohua Palace, an Azure Guard hurried into the inner chamber holding a letter adorned with white feathers, reporting to Tong Que who was watching over A Li: "Sister Tong Que, the migrating herders have already left the territory."
Tong Que quickly asked, "What about Western Mausoleum?"
The Azure Guard replied, "They learned that the princess personally went to Gole City and have transferred all the capital's defense troops to the front lines!"
A hint of joy appeared on Tong Que's face: "The princess truly foresaw everything!"
Suddenly, commotion erupted outside the hall. Seeing that A Li—who had finally been coaxed to sleep—was still with closed eyes but already puckering her lips as if about to cry, Tong Que quickly rocked the cradle twice and demanded in a hushed voice, "What's happening out there?"
Before she finished speaking, the instigator had already kicked open the palace doors—it was King Chen, disheveled and appearing mad, storming in with a sword in hand.
After the Wolf Cavalry withdrew, the palace had been taken over again by Wen Yu. The Yan father and son and their faction, having legitimate charges against them, naturally remained detained in the imperial prison. But King Chen was still nominally the king of Chen Kingdom, and the Ministry of Justice and Dali Temple needed to frequently interrogate the Yan family and their followers.
Keeping King Chen imprisoned alongside them would inevitably cause dissent among court officials.
Thus, Wen Yu had ordered King Chen to be confined again in Zhanghua Hall, publicly claiming that the king was obsessed with alchemy and seeking immortality, secluded with Taoist priests and unavailable to court officials.
After Wen Yu left the royal court, the Azure Guard had been preparing to evacuate the royal court, waiting only for the group of Chen court officials who would depart with them to finish handing over their duties before setting out. New personnel had also been appointed for the royal guard patrol duties.
The moment Tong Que saw King Chen storming into Zhaohua Palace with a sword, she guessed that after the Azure Guard's withdrawal, the royal guards must have failed to restrain King Chen in Zhanghua Hall. After all, to the guards, King Chen remained their sovereign.
With Wen Yu absent from the royal court, if they provoked King Chen recklessly and lost their lives, there would likely be no one to plead for them. It was these concerns that allowed King Chen to break through all the way to Zhaohua Palace.
"What is Your Majesty doing?" Tong Que asked, already positioning herself in front of the cradle while signaling to the Azure Guard by the door.
Before leaving the royal court, Wen Yu had already discussed proper arrangements for both her and King Chen with the Empress Dowager. Although the plan was delayed due to border conflicts, when Wen Yu visited the Empress Dowager again before personally going to Gole City, the Empress Dowager had promised that after Wen Yu's departure from the capital, she would prevent King Chen from causing further trouble.
As they were ostensibly servants, they couldn't openly attack King Chen, so they needed to quickly summon the Empress Dowager.King Chen’s face was sallow, his form gaunt, yet his slightly bulging, bloodshot eyes brimmed with hatred and excitement. “What am I doing? That Liang woman has brought ruin upon my kingdom of Chen! I must protect the rightful lineage of Chen—by chopping that bastard child she bore with her illicit lover!”
Seeing the situation turn dire, Tong Que swiftly lifted the wailing A Li from the cradle. The Azure Guard closed in, layer upon layer, drawing their swords to block the frenzied advance of King Chen.
Tong Que shouted, “Has Your Majesty taken too many elixirs again, clouding your mind?”
She signaled the nearby Azure Guard with her eyes: “Restrain His Majesty and escort him back to Zhanghua Hall. Then summon Physician Fang to the palace!”
King Chen had suffered numerous times at the hands of the Azure Guard and did not press forward. Instead, he brandished his sword wildly, yelling, “Stay back! Do not think I am unaware of your schemes!”
“Your Majesty, this must not happen! It must not!”
The ministers, who had rushed over from the morning court, knelt in panic upon witnessing the scene, pleading desperately. Accompanying them were the Imperial Guards—likely summoned because they had failed to restrain King Chen after he stormed out of Zhanghua Hall with his sword.
Tong Que’s eyelids twitched violently.
Under such circumstances, the arrival of all the court ministers was far from favorable. What if King Chen continued to utter things he should not…
As she worried, King Chen, standing at the hall entrance, let out a chilling laugh upon seeing the assembled ministers. “You’ve come at the right time! Today, I shall expose that Liang woman’s true face!”
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