Chapter 73: Unveiling the Plot
Seeing how the situation had escalated because of her, Fairy Yu's eyes flickered with a hint of panic, resembling a child who had done something wrong. "My lord, I-I didn't know..."
"This has nothing to do with you. He made me his target the moment I boarded the boat. All he was just looking for was some random excuse to make a move,” Fang Chen said with a faint smile. Hearing that, Yuan Zhuang and the others were somewhat shocked; did Fang Chen know the real identity of the baron from the start?
Ye Qinghe took a deep breath. It suddenly hit him that it was the marquis who had mentioned that he wanted to have some fun together, and he was the one who had requested for them to go to the Jade Immortal Boat. He even refused him when Ye Qinghe asked to book the whole place for themselves, and had told him that it would be no fun if the guests weren’t on. Even though these guests were not officials, they had considerable influence in the capital, and coupled with other guests on the other ships, chaos would ensue in the capital if they were all killed in one fell swoop!
When it all fell into place, Ye Qinghe looked incredulously at Marquis Xian. Are... are these his true intentions?
But what he truly couldn't understand was why would Marquis Xian do such a thing. While it may severely damage Grand Xia, it would in no way shake its foundations. Not to mention that it would be hard for him to leave the capital after such an act.
As if sensing his confusion, Marquis Xian smiled faintly. "A hundred thousand Longdu’s cavalry has already scattered around the vicinity of the capital. Deception is the true art of warfare. Only a fool would leave the war token behind and openly declare war.”
A hundred thousand Longdu’s cavalry scattered around the city?!
Everyone took a sharp breath collectively. Even Xu Ge looked at Fang Chen with uncertainty, clueless if Fang Chen was even prepared to deal with the current situation. If Marquis Xian wasn’t lying, Grand Xia would truly be facing a terrible crisis. If they were not careful, the enemy might even be able to breach the capital.
Marquis Xian smiled. “You were the only person in Grand Xia that I was wary of. However, I advanced to the Qi Core Stage five years ago, like you did. And in the past five years, I've broken through once again—while you remained stagnant. Your cultivation falls short of mine. Not to mention that we have ten elites in the peak of the Qi Manipulation Stage under our grand dukes. Tell me, Fang Chen, how will you deal with this situation?"
"Is your goal to kill me?" Fang Chen asked with a smile.
"Killing you would naturally be the best outcome. However, if that’s not possible, we can at least keep you occupied.” Marquis Xian chuckled and pointed to his ear. “Listen carefully...”
Dong. Dong.
Drums echoed simultaneously from the four major capital gates: north, south, east, west; indicating that an enemy had surrounded the capital, assaulting it from all sides simultaneously!
The expressions of everyone changed drastically, and even Ye Qinghe looked at Marquis Xian with a mix of shock and anger. "Y-you, had no intention of negotiating from the beginning. You've long been prepared to attack Grand Xia!"
Marquis Xian chuckled. “Your crown prince and emperor are way too naive. Zhou Xiu's status was extraordinary, but he died on your land. You still want to negotiate with us? Dream on!”
"We’re doomed!"
Some of the guests' expressions turned pale as they muttered to themselves. The chances of Grand Xia withstanding this onslaught on its capitals gate was low unless Fang Chen personally intervened. However, there were now ten martial artists in the peak Qi Manipulation Stage and one in the mid Qi Core Stage tying him down. Even if he had three heads and six arms, he couldn’t possibly split himself up to help the capital gates.
...
At the eastern capital gate, hundreds of soldiers on duty rushed to report to Fang Canghai, panicked. "General Fang, things aren’t looking good. The Longdu Cavalry are attacking the capital!"
Under them, before the gate, was a sea of Longdu Cavalry, wielding siege equipment and bombarding the capital gate relentlessly.
Hooks were thrown onto the city walls, and soldiers climbed up in an attempt to bypass the gate.
Facing the countless cavalry, the hundreds of soldiers on duty at the eastern capital gate felt completely powerless. The only thing they could do was knock the soldiers who were climbing up the ropes back down.
Seeing what was happening, Fang Canghai's face darkened, and he roared in rage. He swung his sword at the cavalrymen who had just jumped onto the city wall, killing several of them. Then, he then shouted to his subordinates. “Defend at all costs! Reinforcements will arrive soon."
"Yes!" The soldiers rallied, determined to hold their ground until their last breath.
Dodging the incoming arrows, Fang Canghai swept his eyes over the city wall. Whenever he saw any cavalry that managed to climb up, he would rush over and kill them. Nonetheless, a surge of anger rose in his heart. “Only a part of their calvary is here. With these numbers, how did they manage to infiltrate Grand Xia without anyone noticing?”
Fang Canghai found it hard to believe that the Longdu Cavalry had managed to infiltrate all the way through to the capital unnoticed. This wasn’t simply someone neglecting their duties anymore; there was definitely a traitor in Grand Xia!
"Go; find someone to inform my son," Fang Canghai suddenly commanded.
"Yes!" A soldier immediately turned around and bolted away.
The other gates were caught in a similar situation to the eastern gate, but fortunately, the response in the capital was quick, and soldiers from the East Tiger Battalion and West Tiger Battalion rushed towards their respective capital gates.
News soon reached the palace, and numerous civil and military officials were in a hurry to enter the palace and report to the emperor.
In the Imperial Study.
The emperor’s face was dark as he looked at Prime Minister Li Guozhu, Minister of War Ye Dongming, and other high-ranking officials present.
"All of you are a bunch of useless trash. How did the calvary of Longdu arrive at the gates of the capital without any of you noticing? What are you guys doing? Is the annual salary from the court used to feed pigs?” the emperor scolded with a cold tone.
Shame appeared on the faces of the officials.
The emperor turned to Xiao Shence, "Your Valiant Saber Guards failed to notice this?”
Xiao Shence immediately knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, this official is guilty."
"You are indeed guilty, but I will deal with you later.” The emperor coldly snorted, then looked at Ye Dongming, "Minister Ye, what is the current situation?"
Cold sweat dripped from Ye Dongming's forehead. He wiped it away and hurriedly said, "I have already ordered an investigation. There are as many as a hundred thousand cavalry from Longdu attacking the capital.”
"A hundred thousand!?" One of the ministers couldn’t help but exclaim. "We only have about seventy to eighty thousand troops in the entire capital!”
After their defeat five years ago, there was a severe reduction in the Grand Xia military strength. Adding the East and West Tiger Battalion in the capital, there were only around seventy thousand soldiers. Even taking into account the Valiant Saber Guards, the constables from Grand Brilliance Bureau, and some other martial artists, it would be hard to gather eighty thousand soldiers. The enemy was really well informed to come prepared with a hundred thousand troops. Moreover, they might have a continuous influx of reinforcements. How could Grand Xia possibly snatch victory?
"Where is Baron Xian?" the emperor said in a stern voice. "Go apprehend him now."
Ye Dongming sighed. "Baron Xian is currently on the Jade Immortal Boat, accompanied by my son..."
The fact that Longdu had such an arrangement indicated that his son, Ye Qinghe, had fallen into the trap. Moreover, it was currently evening, which meant that there would be a high number of officials and influential individuals along the Grand Xia River. The three hundred riders of the envoy were also there...
The emperor sneered. “Go; take him down! I want to ask him what his intentions are.”
"Report!" Suddenly, a Valiant Saber Guard stormed into the imperial study without so much as a knock or a bow. He hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty, the Grand Xia River is under attack. Baron Xian, the envoy from Longdu, is none other than Marquis Xian Yu in disguise. He is a Qi Core martial artist, and is now cooperating with his subordinates, peak Qi Manipulation Stage martial artists, to trap Fang Chen!"
The color drained from the faces of everyone present.
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