Chapter 846: Betrayal
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was rumored that the people of the Valley of Heavenly Secrets had the ability to assist the emperor. Their strategies and methods could not be underestimated. It was definitely not as simple as using poison. Unfortunately, they had learned about their true goal too late.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the palace.
When the urgent report from the border returned, Xuanyuan Qi immediately summoned the ministers of the imperial court to the imperial study for a meeting.
Seeing Song Jingchen enter, the atmosphere in the imperial study was a little strange.
“Greetings, Your Majesty of the Xuanyuan Kingdom.” Song Jingchen cupped his hands.
He called himself an external minister, which meant that he was standing here as an envoy of Great Xia and not as a prince consort from the Xuanyuan Imperial family.
“Rise.” Xuanyuan Qi waved his hand and looked at a minister kneeling below.
“Continue.”
The minister who was called out paused and glanced at Song Jingchen. He braced himself and said, ‘Your Majesty, the messenger said that the Wu Kingdom’s army has powerful weapons in their hands. Now that they’ve occupied Lin’an City, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, even if we snatch it back in the end, we’ll definitely suffer heavy casualties. I think the reason why the Wu Kingdom violated the border is because they don’t want us to participate in their matters with Great Xia. As long as we…” “Coward.” A general sneered.
The minister’s expression changed at the interruption. “You!”
The general interrupted him. “Lord Zeng, do you mean that our Xuanyuan
Kingdom is afraid of the Wu Kingdom?”
Lord Zeng blushed and said angrily, “General Ye, don’t slander me. When did I say such a thing?”
“Didn’t you just say that as long as we agree not to participate in their matters, the Wu Kingdom will retreat? According to you, if they’re not satisfied with this and want us to send troops to help them, we should just agree, right?” General Ye snorted. “They’ve already come knocking on our door, but you still want us to make peace. What’s the difference between this and admitting that our Xuanyuan Kingdom is inferior to the Wu Kingdom? Aren’t you ashamed?”
Lord Zeng was speechless, especially with Song Jingchen present. He felt like an ingrate.
“Your Majesty.” General Ye cupped his hands and said, “I’m willing to lead the troops to fight and definitely take back Lin’an City.”
“Permission granted.”
Lord Zeng wanted to persuade him again, but Xuanyuan Qi glanced at him coldly. “I’ve previously promised Lord Song that as long as he can resolve the plague in Phoenix City, I won’t abandon Great Xia. Do you want me to break my promise?”
Lord Zeng lowered his head. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Seeing that no one had any objections, Xuanyuan Qi appointed General Ye as the main general of the 200,000-strong imperial army to set off. He also appointed a few generals as deputy generals to assist him. They set off three days later.
After the ministers left, Xuanyuan Qi looked at the silent Song Jingchen. “I’m prepared to send a hundred thousand troops to Great Xia.”
“Your Majesty.” Song Jingchen suddenly said, “What was the weapon that that lord mentioned just now?”
Xuanyuan Ziming did not mention it when he came.
Xuanyuan QI paused and looked at Eunuch Wu. Eunuch Wu understood and picked up a piece of rice paper from the imperial table and handed it to Song Jingchen.
Song Jingchen took it and saw a circular object drawn on the rice paper.
“What is this?” Even though he was experienced and knowledgeable, he could not tell what was so powerful about this thing.
Eunuch Wu said with a heavy expression, “Lord Song, you might not know this, but this is a very powerful weapon. The people of the Wu Kingdom call it black gunpowder. Don’t think that it’s ordinary. Even a single one can blow up a huge pit that’s a foot deep.”
If it was thrown at someone…
Song Jingchen’s eyes narrowed. Was this the bargaining chip Shangguan Yu dared to use against both countries at the same time?
However, since the black gunpowder was so powerful, why did the Wu Kingdom’s army stop in Lin’an City just to stop the Xuanyuan Kingdom’s army from helping Great Xia?
It had to be known that with this thing, it was difficult for the soldiers to approach. They could completely annihilate Great Xia and the Xuanyuan Kingdom in one go.
Song Jingchen believed that Shangguan Yu had the ambition to unify the three countries. Even if he didn’t, what about Yan Guangmao and the people from the Valley of Heavenly Secrets?
There was only one reason why he didn’t do that. It was because there was a limit to the amount of black gunpowder.
He looked at Xuanyuan Qi. He had clearly guessed this.
“Your Majesty, are you preparing to send another 100,000 troops from Cangbei Mountain to Nanling Pass to meet up with Great Xia’s army?” Song Jingchen asked.
Wars not only consumed manpower, but also a large amount of food, medicinal herbs, weapons, and other material resources. No matter which country it was, it was a waste of money.
Neither of them knew how much black gunpowder the other party had.
At this moment, the Xuanyuan Kingdom could indeed choose to negotiate and draw a line with Great Xia to avoid a temporary war.
Not only did Xuanyuan Qi not do that, but he was also willing to send 100,000 troops to support Great Xia.
Anyone who saw this would praise him for being loyal, but Song Jingchen didn’t think so.
“I can send 100,000 at most.” Xuanyuan Ce thought that he thought it was too little.
Of course, there were more troops in the entire Xuanyuan Kingdom. However, the rest were guarding the various borders and different cities. The borders had to be guarded against outsiders, and the cities had to be guarded against internal strife. They could not be mobilized easily..
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