RPAGF Chapter 356 Princess Chang's Rebellion 17
Chapter 356 Princess Chang's Rebellion 17
Thunder roared outside the window, and a sudden downpour of early summer rain began.
The raindrops pattered on the glazed tiles, sounding like the footsteps of thousands of refugees.
Ji Xuanye turned around abruptly, and a string of blood droplets flew out from the hem of his dragon robe.
He kicked aside the prime minister's corpse, the blade scraping against the bone with a sickening sound.
The body finally fell, revealing the "Map of the Nine Provinces" hanging on the wall behind it.
The locations of the three northern cities have been marked with cinnabar crosses.
"Someone come here!" The palace door was pushed open a crack, and the newly appointed Minister of War scrambled to his knees at the door.
When he saw the scene inside, he collapsed to the ground.
"Drag him to feed the dogs."
Ji Xuanye pointed at the Prime Minister's corpse, his tone as calm as if he were discussing dinner dishes, "Issue another order to the military governor of Youzhou to open the northern border defense line and allow the Di cavalry to enter the country."
The Minister of War was struck dumb: "Your Majesty! Wherever the Di tribe goes, not a blade of grass grows..."
"I know."
Ji Xuanye bent down and drew the Emperor's Sword. A drop of blood traced a red line on the floor tile from the tip of the sword. "Tell the Di Khan that I only want Ji Xiaosong's head. The people of the seven northern prefectures are at their disposal."
As he spoke, he suddenly used the tip of his sword to pick up a secret letter from the table. The letter was imprinted with the wolf totem of the Western Yi tribe in wax: "As for the barbarians in the west... tell them that if they capture a city in Xinxia, they can plunder it for three days."
The Minister of War, his face ashen, repeatedly kowtowed, his forehead pressed against the blood-stained floor tiles: "Your Majesty, please reconsider! This is inviting a wolf into the house..."
"I am the wolf!"
Ji Xuanye shattered the table with a single sword strike, his eyes bloodshot amidst the flying wood chips. "Go and relay the order! Or perhaps..."
He stepped over the pool of blood and walked towards the Minister, lifting the man's chin with the tip of his sword. "You want to be dog food too?"
A wet patch spread between the minister's trousers, yet he dared not move an inch.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty will go immediately..."
As the palace doors closed again, Ji Xuanye suddenly collapsed onto the dragon throne, as if all his strength had left him.
His appearance at this moment was reflected in the bronze mirror:
Its crown was askew, and its face was ferocious, making it look like a demon crawling out of the underworld.
He reached out to straighten his clothes, only to find his hands covered in the Prime Minister's blood.
The reflection in the mirror suddenly turned into my childhood self.
He was only eight years old then, hiding behind the rockery in the Imperial Garden and crying. It was his elder sister who found him and wiped his face with a handkerchief...
"Snapped!"
The bronze mirror was smashed to pieces.
Ji Xuanye was panting heavily as he looked at the fragments that had split into countless versions of himself.
Every fragment speaks:
"Your Majesty also has a navy..."
"The border troops in southern Xinjiang have not yet made a statement..."
"The imperial tomb guards swear to be loyal to the death..."
He grabbed the largest fragment, oblivious to the sharp edges cutting his palm:
"Yes, I also have a navy... and the imperial mausoleum..."
He suddenly grinned maliciously, "Ji Xiaosong, you think you've won just by taking the Northern Border? I'll show you what it means to fight to the death!"
Amidst the torrential rain, the faint barking of wild dogs fighting for food could be heard.
The newly appointed young attendant trembled as he entered to change the tea. He saw the emperor drawing an attack route on a map of the northern border with his bloodied fingers. Outside the window, lightning illuminated the densely packed fresh heads hanging on the palace walls—those were the ministers who had tried to dissuade the alliance with the Di against attacking Xia that day.
*
New summer, the governor's residence.
The rain poured down, and the copper bells on the eaves jingled in the strong wind.
Ji Xiaosong stood in front of the sand table, her fingertips slowly moving along the northern border defense line.
Generals such as Tie Zhenshan and Zhao Wushang stood on both sides, and the atmosphere was solemn.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.
"Your Majesty! Urgent report!" A spy, soaking wet, rushed in, knelt on one knee, and presented a secret letter. "The Ying Kingdom's secret envoy has arrived at the Di tribe's royal court. Ji Xuan Ye has offered to cede seven northern prefectures as a condition for the Di tribe to march south!"
The whole hall was in an uproar.
Tie Zhenshan slammed his fist on the table in anger: "This madman! He's leading foreign tribes to slaughter his own people?!"
Ji Xiaosong unfolded the secret letter, her gaze growing cold.
The letter also mentioned that the Western Yi and Southern Man tribes had all received secret letters from the Ying Kingdom:
"If you attack a city called Xinxia, you can plunder it for three days."
"What a clever trick of using one tiger to devour another." She sneered and tossed the secret letter onto the candle flame. The parchment was curled and charred, making her sharp features appear even more piercing. "In that case, we need not guard it any longer."
The generals held their breath.
Ji Xiaosong suddenly drew his sword, the tip of which "clanged" and pierced the center of the sand table, which was the capital of Ying Kingdom.
"Order the three armies: complete assembly within three days. The First Army Corps will head north to intercept the Di tribes, the Second Army Corps will advance west to intimidate the Yi tribes, and the Third Army Corps will follow me directly to Yingjing."
She surveyed the crowd, her voice resolute, "This battle is not for secession, nor for revenge..."
With a flash of sword light, all the flags of the small countries on the sand table were cut off in unison.
"For the unification of the world."
*
Five days later, at the border of Xinxia.
An army of 100,000 men pressed in like a dark cloud.
Each of the light cavalrymen at the forefront had a lantern hanging beside their saddles. This was Ji Xiaosong's unique "Bright Fire Formation," which, when launched at night, would illuminate the enemy forces, leaving them nowhere to hide.
Zhao Wushang led the northern border troops as the vanguard.
He no longer wore the iron mask, and the scar on his forehead looked particularly ferocious in the firelight.
When the scouts reported that the Di tribe's vanguard had reached within a hundred miles, he suddenly ordered the entire army to dismount.
"Digging trenches?" The lieutenant looked at the soldiers frantically digging, completely bewildered. "The Di tribe is all cavalry; we can't stop them!"
Zhao Wushang took out a packet of powder from his pocket: "Go, mix it into the fodder."
At dawn, the Di cavalry indeed surged in like a tidal wave.
But when they charged ten miles into the front of the Xinxia army's formation, their warhorses suddenly collapsed one after another, foaming at the mouth.
Zhao Wushang had someone place slow-acting poison in the puddles along the way, which is why this happened.
"Fire arrows!"
The summer rain of arrows blots out the sky, aiming specifically at people's throats.
The Di Khan fled north in panic under the cover of his personal guards, only to be met by a troop of white-armored cavalry who cut off his retreat like ghosts.
The leading female general wielded a spear as swift as a dragon, and with a single thrust, she knocked his golden helmet away.
“Tell all the tribes of the grasslands,” Ji Xiaosong said, his spear tip dripping blood, “that they either submit to the new Xia or face extinction.”
*
Meanwhile, on the western front.
Tie Zhenshan frowned as he looked at the cliffs of the Yi ethnic village.
These barbarians held their ground in a strategic location, and their rolling stones and logs inflicted heavy casualties on the Xinxia army.
Just as he was preparing for a full-scale attack, a junior officer suddenly reported: "General! The barbarian tribes have sent an envoy to request an audience!"
The newcomer was a young girl from the Yi tribe, barely ten years old. She knelt down, holding a wooden box, and said, "My chieftain said... if Xinxia is willing to spare my tribe from death, he is willing to offer the original of Ji Xuan Ye's secret letter."
Tie Zhenshan opened the wooden box. Inside, besides the secret letter, was the head of a Qiang chieftain, a long-time enemy of the Western Barbarians.
“A wise man.” The old general grinned. “Issue the order that those Yi tribes who repent will not be killed. As for this Qiang chieftain…” He weighed his head in his hand, “Hang him in front of the battle lines so the other tribes can see him.”
Within three days, all thirty-six tribes in the western region surrendered.
*
When the news of the three victories reached the central army, Ji Xiaosong was standing on the ruins of the outer city of Yingjing.
This once bustling imperial city is now deserted, its shops closed, and only stray dogs grazing on the starving dead.
"Your Majesty!" A scout rushed in. "Ji Xuanye has summoned the imperial mausoleum guards into the palace! It's said... it's said he's filled the main hall with gunpowder, threatening to take everyone down with him!"
Ji Xiaosong narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "Who's guarding the south gate?"
"It is... Lu Fangzhou, former admiral of the Yingguo Navy."
She smiled and said, "Prepare the horses, I'm going to see him."
Tie Zhenshan was shocked: "No! Lu Fangzhou is a loyal follower of Ji Xuanye!"
“No,” Ji Xiaosong mounted his horse, “he is a governor who can’t even afford a doctor when his daughter is sick.”
These messages were unfamiliar to Ji Xiaosong, but were all too familiar to the original owner of this body.
The original owner of this body accompanied her younger brother to become emperor, and without understanding the affairs of the country, she would never have reached this point.
*
South Gate Tower.
Lu Fangzhou looked at Ji Xiaosong, who was riding alone, and raised and lowered his bow and arrow several times.
“General Lu,” Ji Xiaosong unsheathed his sword and threw it to the ground, “your daughter’s tuberculosis can be cured by the physicians of Xinxia.”
The veteran was trembling violently.
He didn't know how the other party found out about this family's scandal, nor did he know how to respond.
Just as the stalemate was at hand, a deafening explosion suddenly came from inside the city. It turned out that Ji Xuanye had indeed lit the gunpowder!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ji Xiaosong shouted: "The emperor you serve would rather blow up civilians than surrender, so why are you still guarding the city gate for him?!"
Lu Fangzhou finally broke down in tears and ordered the city gates to be opened.
When the New Xia army stormed into the palace, Ji Xuanye was sitting alone on the dragon throne, with the fuse of gunpowder burning beneath his feet.
"My elder sister is here?" He drunkenly raised his cup. "Have a drink with me..."
Ji Xiaosong severed the fuse with a single sword stroke and then knocked over the poisoned wine: "Take him away."