Chapter 405: 405. Explode the city wall tomorrow

Translator: 549690339

Liang Country, Yao City.

Like Duanmu Chen, Situ Xie was closely following the wars. The difference was that Duanmu Chen was only concerned about the war between Qian Country in the north and Liang Country, while Situ Xie was also focusing on the war between Qian Country in the south and Yin Country.

Whether Yin Country could capture Jiaye City was important to Liang Country. So, when Situ Xie received the news that Yin Country had sent troops according to the time agreed with Ji Yuebai, he was greatly relieved.

In his view, as long as Liang and Yin countries put pressure on Qian Country from both sides, the destruction of Qian Country was only a matter of time, and there was no other possibility.

The cooperation of Mo Yan had made Situ Xie even more confident and emboldened, and he was just waiting for good news from the frontlines.

However, as time went on, the initial high spirits cooled down, and the constant stream of war reports made Situ Xie increasingly anxious: not only was Xuanbei City not falling, but there was no sign of Jiaye City being captured!

During this period, Jiao Jing, who had been the vanguard general of Xuanbei City, had been Situ Xie’s own grandson. His former identity as the second prince of Liang Country had made it difficult for people in the court, the common people, and the military to ignore him, resulting in many resentful and dissatisfied voices. Outsiders didn’t know the details of Jiao Jing’s betrayal of Liang Country and only felt that it was caused by internal problems within the royal family, but this hidden danger had not been resolved in time.

Situ Xie’s sons and grandsons kept advising him that Jiao Jing, the traitor, must be removed as soon as possible. They said that he was the scourge of Liang Country’s Situ Family and that only his death could stabilize the military and the civilian population.

That’s also why Situ Xie decided to let Nangong Lin and Yue Mei serve him and go to deal with Jiao Jing when they came one after another. It wasn’t just about “old grudges,” but also “new hatreds” and the need for the current war to proceed.

Situ Xie calculated the time and waited for the news of Nangong Lin and Yue Mei’s success. The two of them, one being Jiao Jing’s master and the other a poison master, should have no problem dealing with Jiao Jing, even with Qiao Cong present.

Right when Situ Xie estimated the time to be up, he happened to receive the news: Jiao Jing, who had been the vanguard general since the beginning of the war, had not shown up and had been replaced by another young general with an unfamiliar face.

The new general was Bai Yang, and the news Situ Xie received was from the day Bai Yang led the troops for the first time. Although Bai Yang was skilled in martial arts and still successfully kept the Liang Country’s army outside Xuanbei City, the news that day brought a smile to Situ Xie’s face for the first time since the beginning of the war. To those who hated Jiao Jing, they even celebrated with alcohol, saying they were “sending him off.”

No matter if it was for personal or public reasons, the disappearance of Jiao Jing was good news for them.

Unfortunately, their happiness was a bit premature… Because the next day, a new battle report came in, and Jiao Jing reappeared as the vanguard general of Qian Country and repelled the Liang Country’s army.

As much as they were happy yesterday, today they would reap double the frustration.

However, Situ Xie told Nangong Lin and Yue Mei that if they encountered any obstacles, they should go to Mo Yan. He believed that Jiao Jing could not escape Mo Yan’s hands.

But as time passed, in the following war reports, every time Bai Yang replaced Jiao Jing in battle, it led the Situ Family to believe that Jiao Jing had been captured by them, but Jiao Jing always reappeared on time the next day.

After three rounds of such substitutions, although it was only six or seven days, Situ Xie felt that something unexpected must have happened; otherwise, Jiao Jing would not have been unharmed.

Situ Xie did not arrange for any other skilled fighters to go and kill Jiao Jing. If Nangong Lin, Yue Mei, and Mo Yan combined could not do it, sending anyone else would be futile. However, Situ Xie did not think that the three of them together could not do it; he suspected that Mo Yan had not done the job.

So, Situ Xie planned to send a confidant to see Mo Yan and inquire about the situation, as well as ask Mo Yan to think of a way to capture Xuanbei City as soon as possible. Otherwise, relying on the food supplied by the Yin Country, Liang Country would not be able to last too long.

But before the confidant could be sent out, Situ Xie received a message that instantly changed his expression: Qian Country had secretly dispatched troops from Jiaye City northward before the war began!

The reason Situ Xie only found out about this now was that both Yin Country and Qian Country had tried their best to hide their covert actions in order to deceive Liang Country. Especially Yin Country, who had been attacking Jiaye City with their army every day, would never have let the Liang Country’s Royal Family suspect that they were merely putting up a show.

This message made Situ Xie furious! This not only showed that Qian Country had known about Liang Country’s intention to wage war, but it also indicated that the Qian Country’s Royal Family considered defending against Liang Country’s attack more important and didn’t need to worry about not defending the south!

It should be noted that the Yin Country, which has been watching the fire from the other side all these years, has a unique natural resource and a national strength that is no weaker than that of Qian Country or Liang Country, and its military power is not weak either.

In this situation, there is only one possibility: Ji Yuebai is a fraud! He said he would cooperate with Liang Country but actually colluded with Qian Country secretly!

“Emperor Grandfather, could it be that Qian Country thinks that Liang Country’s military strength is stronger so they transferred some troops from the south to the north?” Situ Jing couldn’t understand, “There’s no reason for Ji Yuebai to collude with Qian Country. If that were the case, why would he send so much food to us?”

That’s right, the food… Situ Xie recalled the performance of Ji Yuebai’s master when he came to discuss with him and willingly provided food to Liang Country first, which showed great sincerity. This was also the reason why Situ Xie had never suspected that there would be any problems with Yin Country before they sent troops and until today.

However, Situ Xie had been deceived, and the slap in the face was too sudden for him to defend against, leaving him burning with anger, almost spitting blood!

Seeing the terrifying gloom on Situ Xie’s face, Situ Jing realized that the worst situation had indeed occurred: not only was Yin Country not Liang Country’s ally, but it had also become Qian Country’s backing!

“Gu Ling…Su Liang…” Situ Xie gritted his teeth, “It must be their doing! Duanmu Chen doesn’t have the ability to persuade Ji Yuebai! Perhaps, when Ji Yuebai became the Crown Prince, it was Gu Ling who secretly helped him! As a matter of fact, Gu Ling’s whereabouts were unknown at that time!”

Situ Jing frowned deeply, “So…can we call for a cease-fire?” There is no chance of winning if we continue to fight.

Situ Xie said coldly, “That food is bait! We’ve already taken the bait; do you think they will stop fighting if we call for a cease-fire?”

A gust of wind blew in through the window, and Situ Jing felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if sensing for the first time that there was a crisis of national extinction in Liang Country.

“That mysterious master! Would he be able to do anything? Let him kill Gu Ling and Su Liang! Our obstacles will be reduced a lot! Also, kill Duanmu Chen and Ji Yuebai!” Situ Jing clenched his fist and said.

“It’s not that easy.” Situ Xie said coldly. Mo Yan had already said that he would arrange for his men to kill Duanmu Chen, and when Situ Xie received the news a few days ago, he thought that Mo Yan’s men had succeeded when he learned that Gu Ling had become the Regent King of Qian Country. However, not long after, Duanmu Chen appeared unscathed once again.

“If we can’t deal with Qian Country, then let’s kill Ji Yuebai who deceived us first!” Situ Jing said sharply, “Capture his son and hold him hostage! Let’s see if he obeys!”

Situ Xie didn’t answer Situ Jing’s words but wrote another letter and had his confidant bring it to Mo Yan.

After the man left, Situ Jing spoke again: “Father Emperor, is that Mo surnamed person really trustworthy? Could he be in collusion with Gu Ling and Su Liang?”

Situ Xie once evaluated that Su Liang’s greatest strength was his ability to sow discord in people’s hearts. Now even Ji Yuebai has unreasonably allied with Qian Country, Situ Jing finds the mysterious Mo Yan to be very suspicious.

Situ Xie narrowed his eyes and shook his head after a while, “He is not in the same league as Gu Ling and Su Liang.”

“But will he truly help us?” Situ Jing asked again.

As for this question, Situ Xie was not quite sure. But he knew that Mo Yan was an enemy of Gu Ling and Su Liang, and an enemy’s enemy is a friend. However, thinking that there was no exchange of interests between the Liang Imperial Family and Mo Yan, Situ Xie felt uneasy because he still didn’t know what Mo Yan’s purpose was for coming out…

But at this point, there is no turning back. Now that the war has begun in Liang Country, even if Liang Country wants to stop, Qian Country will not let it go easily.

In the letter that Situ Xie sent to Mo Yan, he informed him of the situation where Yin Country secretly colluded with Qian Country to set a trap for Liang Country and asked Mo Yan to help Liang Country turn the tide by any means necessary, or else their cooperation would be doomed to fail.

In addition to sending someone to find Mo Yan that day, Situ Xie later issued an Imperial Decree to the Peng Family, ordering Peng Wei, who had already disarmed, to go to Nanping City and fight on the battlefield with his only grandson.

The Peng family received the Imperial Decree, but dared not express their anger. Peng Wei was old and had retired because of a severe injury. Although his condition had improved under Su Liang’s treatment and he had survived, his current physical condition was not suitable for leading troops into battle. Peng Wei had only one grandson for three generations, and he had already sought a decree from the former Emperor Situ Han that his grandson would not be sent to the battlefield.

Although they were not on the front line, the Peng family still understood the current situation – Liang Country wanted to fight Qian Country, but had not yet captured Xuanbei City in nearly half a month of fighting.

The three generations of the Peng family knew very well that Situ Xie’s order to have Peng Wei take his grandson to Nanping City was not really to expect the old Peng Wei or his inexperienced grandson to lead soldiers, but because the Peng family had some past connections with Xing Ji, the current commander of Xuanbei City, Su Liang, and Gu Ling!

This was clearly a deliberate attempt to get the Peng family’s ancestors and grandchildren to go, to see if Xing Ji would show mercy to them, and even, if necessary, push the Peng family ancestors and grandchildren out as hostages.

But the Imperial Decree had been issued, and they had to accept it and couldn’t refuse. The Peng family has been part of the Liang Country for generations and has military roots. If they defy the decree, no one will care about their past achievements and it will lead to a great disaster.

Peng Wei’s son, Peng Qian, once suffered from a serious illness and was cured by Su Liang. He couldn’t bear to see his elderly father being forced to go to the battlefield again, so he went to the palace to plead to go to war in his father’s place.

Situ Xie said a few high-sounding words and finally changed the order, but only to let Peng Qian replace his son. As for Peng Wei, he must go, no matter what. Situ Xie said that the border needed Peng Wei to hold it.

So Peng Wei and his son Peng Qian left Yao City and headed south to Nanping City.

Peng Wei’s body could no longer bear the long journey on horseback. Peng Qian suggested that his father ride in a carriage, but the accompanying martial arts officer sent by Situ Xie was very firm, saying that the Emperor had set a time limit to arrive in Yao City and could not delay. He asked Peng Wei to understand their situation.

Peng Qian was full of anger but was stopped by Peng Wei, who said he was fine, could still hold on, and not to cause trouble.

The situation of the world divided into three had been maintained for nearly a hundred years. Although Liang Country and Qian Country occasionally had wars, nothing fundamentally affected the two countries.

However, with the recent upheavals within the royal families of the three countries and the changes in the imperial thrones, last year Yin Country attacked Jiaye City but was repelled. Thus, when Liang Country began to attack Xuanbei City now, even the common people felt that the world was really about to change.

As time went on, the stalemate in the war was not much of a problem for the Qian Country army, as their victory lay in blocking the Liang Country’s attack. However, it was clear that the Liang Country army from top to bottom was becoming increasingly restless.

Xing Ji and Qiao Jing analyzed together and thought this was an inevitable result. Liang Country wanted to fight but didn’t dare to start a war easily due to a lack of food and supplies. But this did not mean that the Liang Country army had the strength to crush the Qian Country army once they solved the problem of food and supplies.

Xing Ji had participated in the wars between the two countries when he was young, and he has been paying close attention to the changes in the Liang Country army over the years. Apart from Peng Wei, none of the other generals had anything he would be afraid of. However, Peng Wei was already old, and Peng Wei’s son-in-law’s entire family had been wiped out by Su Liang and Gu Ling.

On the other hand, the strength of the Qian Country army has obviously increased in recent years, thanks to Su Liang’s military training plan, as well as her efforts to improve the army’s food and medical conditions. Even though Duanmu Yi has been abandoned now, he was a wise emperor during his reign, and he greatly valued Su Liang and seriously implemented many of her suggestions.

At the military commander level, there might be a lack of people, but the current group of young generals, including Qiao Jing, Nian Jincheng, and Lian Shun, are all capable of facing any challenge alone. Even Bai Yang has been growing rapidly. In addition, there is Lin Bojun who guards the capital city. Not to mention that Gu Ling and Su Liang are both well-versed in military strategy and have more than once turned the tide as military geniuses.

Therefore, as long as they confirmed that Yin Country would not interfere, Xing Ji and Qiao Jing did not think they would lose a frontal war. They were only worried that the mysterious group Su Liang repeatedly warned against would make a hard move.

A few days ago, Nangong Lin sent a letter asking to meet with Qiao Cong and Qiao Jing, but the two didn’t go. They waited for Nangong Lin to make a move, but the latter remained quiet.

Qiao Cong, who was waiting for Nangong Lin to appear and kill him, cursed angrily, “He couldn’t have been struck by lightning, right?!”

Qi Jun nodded solemnly, “That’s really possible.”

That day Xing Ji received another secret order from the capital city. It was said to be a secret order, but Duanmu Chen would always kindly inform the Xing family and Su mansion so that they could send letters. Putting other matters aside, Xing Ji opened Duanmu Chen’s secret order and was somewhat surprised.

Duanmu Chen ordered Xing Ji to take the initiative to propose a truce and peace talks with Liang Country.

When Qiao Jing returned from the city with his soldiers and saw the secret order, he frowned and thought for a moment, “The emperor’s order must have been discussed with Gu Ling and Su Liang. I suspect that Su Liang is worried that if the war continues, the mysterious forces will not be able to contain themselves and make a hard move.”

“But will Nanping City agree to peace talks?” asked Bai Yang.

“As long as we bring this up, they will have to consult Situ Xie. It is possible to pause the war.” Qiao Jing explained to Bai Yang.

Nian Jincheng seemed thoughtful, “Situ Xie can’t be kept in the dark for too long about our alliance with Yin Country. He should know about it by now.”

The letter from Nangong Qian that arrived simultaneously confirmed that Nangong Lin had indeed lied before.

In Su Liang’s letter, she mentioned something that surprised both Nian Jincheng and Qiao Jing: If Mo Yan, the mysterious force’s suspected leader, appears and wants to capture or kill any of us or uses explosives to attack the city, tell him that I am his granddaughter and ask him to come to the capital city to see me.

“This…” Qiao Cong was puzzled, “is this true or false? Is this a tactic by Xiaoliang to lure the enemy?”

Thinking of Su Liang’s background, Nian Jincheng suspected that what Su Liang said in her letter might be true, even though everyone knows that she is Su Yuanzhou’s granddaughter, no one knows who her mother is!

“Did Su Liang just find out about this? Because of those assassins?” Qiao Jing thought that if Su Liang had known earlier, she would not have mentioned it now.

“It must be,” Nian Jincheng nodded. “Anyway, from what Xiaoliang suggested, Mo Yan is extremely dangerous, so be extra careful in the future. As she mentioned before, avoid direct contact, and unless they approach us first, don’t create unnecessary trouble. When Liang Country’s army arrives tomorrow, tell them it’s time for a ceasefire and negotiations.”

That night, in an inconspicuous house in Nanping City.

Mo Yan saw He Wei, whose one arm had been blown off and half of his face covered in scars.

“What happened?” Mo Yan asked coldly.

Hanging his head, He Wei knelt down, “Master, Gu Ling and Su Liang are too cunning, and they seemed to have known our actions in advance. They set an ambush, and everyone else is gone.” He thought that Duanmu Chen would be either dead or seriously injured when he escaped from the capital city with his injuries, but later he heard that Duanmu Chen was completely fine.

“How did you get injured like this?” Mo Yan helped He Wei up.

He Wei sighed deeply, “I was blown up.” He did not say that he was blown up by his own explosives but deliberately blurred the matter, letting Mo Yan assume that he was injured by Gu Ling and Su Liang.

As expected, Mo Yan did not inquire further, “How are Rou’er and the others?”

He Wei shook his head, “Rou’er was granted marriage, but at that time, I thought I was about to kill Duanmu Chen, so there would be no problem. I did not see them during that period to avoid any trouble.” Because his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter had contact with Su Liang, He Qianqian would recognize Su Liang’s appearance as similar to Mo Yan’s daughter, and He Wei had to deny that he had seen He Qianqian during that time. Moreover, he insisted that he had never seen Su Liang’s face firsthand to cover up the fact that he knew Su Liang was most likely Mo Yan’s granddaughter.

“I see. This time you go again, who do you think is the one I’m looking for between Gu Ling and Su Liang?” Mo Yan asked.

He Wei immediately replied, “It’s Gu Ling. Su Liang didn’t show up and stayed at home with the child. It was almost entirely Gu Ling who ruined our operation. If you want to get rid of Gu Ling, you must kill Su Liang. He is incredibly powerful and hard to deal with, but on my way back, I’ve been thinking that the only thing that can defeat him and let him collapse is Su Liang’s death!”

With He Wei’s declaration, Mo Yan nodded, “I have sent Yue Mei and Nangong Lin to the capital city to kill Su Liang, they should be almost there.”

He Wei felt a surge of joy within him but almost immediately noticed a problem. Yue Mei was very familiar with Shen Qingxue, and knew that Shen Qingxue had given birth to Mo Yan’s daughter. What if she sees Su Liang’s face and starts causing trouble?

However, soon, He Wei realized that Yue Mei, like him, would discover that Su Liang might be Shen Qingxue’s granddaughter and doubtlessly put Su Liang to death before Mo Yan found out! First, Yue Mei’s greatest hatred was towards Shen Qingxue, and second, Su Liang was her target anyway. If Mo Yan knew and Su Liang gained power, Yue Mei would undoubtedly die.

Thus, He Wei was slightly relieved.

“These useless soldiers from Liang Country can’t even capture a single city after such a long time.” He Wei talked about the current battle.

Mo Yan said coldly, “I’m almost ready. I’ll blow up Xuanbei City’s walls tomorrow.”