Translator: DragonRider
As though some kind of divine intervention was at work, the army of the Great Wen were traveling downwind when crossing the river, which was why their canoes were going faster than expected. Hard as Chen Jing’s men tried, stopping the enemy from crossing the river was now beyond their capabilities.
After encamping his men on the northern bank, Chen Jing had planned to build fortifications, and his men had indeed been executing that plan. They had worked quickly enough, but none of them had bargained on Yuwen Tong taking action so soon. All of them were caught flat-footed. Originally, Chen Jing and his lieutenants had thought that it would be at least half a month before Yuwen Tong’s army got what they needed to cross the river, because his men had burnt all the boats at the opposite bank, killed all the boat-makers in the city and destroyed the ferry crossing. If Yuwen Tong’s army were to cross the river, they would have to find some boat-makers to build them enough boats, and it would take Yuwen Tong at least half a month to make that happen, no matter how much effort he put into it. And Chen Jing had felt that he was overestimating Yuwen Tong by assuming that the latter would be able to get the job done in half a month. It had never crossed his mind that Yuwen Tong would be able to, within merely a couple of days, find so many battle canoes, chain nets and those weird tubes giving off smoke. Also, Yuwen Tong had some killers different from common soldiers under his command! It was utterly impossible for Yuwen Tong to get all these ready without making adequate preparations in advance. However, Yuwen Tong’s army had traveled very fast, and there was no way they could have brought those burdensome things with them. The only plausible explanation was that those things had been prepared and hidden somewhere near the Wan River beforehand…
As this thought crossed his mind, Chen Jing clenched his teeth, within an inch of vomiting blood from fury.
They had believed that their country was impregnable and were trying to annex the Great Wen, but now it turned out that some spies had infiltrated into their country some time ago!
Before this day, nobody had found out that Yuwen Tong had hidden something near the Wan River. How well concealed must Yuwen Tong’s spies have been?! And what about the northern bank? Had Yuwen Tong made some arrangements on the north bank as well?
Chen Jing was unable to keep from thinking more deeply about it, and cold sweat broke out increasingly fast over his back as he pondered on it.
Watching the soldiers of the Great Wen cross the Wan River one after another, he felt as though he were seeing the fate the Wan Kingdom would have to face soon. Considering even the Wan River, the most solid barrier in the north, had failed to serve its purpose, would anybody be able to stop Yuwen Tong?
…
In the royal palace of the Luohai Kingdom.
The moment Nian Feng whipped out his saber, the eunuch standing at Mu Hengtian’s bedside lunged at him. However, Nian Feng had been made General-in-chief for a reason. His arm strength was so amazing that gusts of wind were generated as he wielded his saber. The eunuch couldn’t even get close to him. Mu Hengtian, who was gripping Nian Feng’s wrist with all his might, was dragged out of bed by Nian Feng and heavily landed on the ground before Nian Feng gave him a hard kick which sent him flying as he involuntarily loosened his grip. He landed on the ground again, barely breathing.
“Your Majesty?!” screeched the eunuch. “Guards! Guards!”
Royal guards flooded in, filling half of the royal bedchamber, Mu Rongfeng standing at the front. At the sight of Mu Hengtian lying prone on the ground, Mu Rongfeng’s eyes widened drastically with shock. “FATHER!” he shouted.
“Nian Feng, you treasonous bastard! How dare you hurt my father! Today I’ll have you pay with your life for this! Guards, restrain this traitor!”
With an ugly look on his face, pointing his saber at Mu Rongfeng’s eyes, Nian Feng huffed, “Mu Rongfeng, you and your father set me up with the intention to trap me in this bedchamber so that you could accede to the throne. Unfortunately for you, you are too conceited to achieve any great things. Your efforts to take the throne are doomed to come to nought!”
Mu Rongfeng also had an extremely ugly look on his face. “You are now trapped in this place, yet you’re still bluffing. It surprises me a usurper like you dares to be so wildly arrogant. Today your life ends. Guards, kill Nian Feng! Whoever takes his life shall be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!”
No sooner had he stopped speaking than some royal guards charged at Nian Feng. Mu Rongfeng gave a sneer at the sight of this, expecting to see Nian Feng hacked to pieces.
However, at this moment, the situation took another drastic turn. The half of the royal guards charging at Nian Feng suddenly turned on their heels, facing off against Mu Rongfeng and the royal guards behind him, clustering around Nian Feng to protect him.
“You–! How dare you!” Mu Rongfeng’s face changed dramatically and with that he bellowed, “This is outrageous! Are you sure you want to commit treason with Nian Feng?!”
Nian Feng, standing amid the royal guards under his command who were protecting him, gave an evil grin and said to Mu Rongfeng, “You seriously expect me to follow the order and come here unprepared? I would never walk into the lion’s den without making adequate preparations.”
“Enough talking. Ki–Kill him,” said Mu Hengtian in a faint voice, who was still lying prostrate on the ground. His eyes were now unfocused, but he still reminded Mu Rongfeng to kill Nian Feng as soon as possible.
“Father!” Mu Rongfeng cried. “Kill them! Kill Nian Feng and all these treasonous bastards!”
The royal guards lunged forward and got into a close-quarters fight with their fellow royal guards who were now protecting Nian Feng. Nian Feng was not inclined to stay, because he knew that the longer he stayed, the more troublesome the situation would be. Therefore, he brandished his saber and joined the fight. As the General-in-chief, Nian Feng had been through many battles and was quite strong. Though old, he was still robust and a better fighter than many royal guards. Shortly after he joined the rough-and-tumble, he actually managed to breach the surrounding circle!
“Stop him! Don’t let him escape! Shut the doors!” Mu Rongfeng immediately gave the order to shut the front doors of the royal bedchamber.
But for some reason, sound of fighting also issued from the outer hall. The guards attempting to close the front doors of the royal bedchamber got into a fight with a couple of eunuchs, all of whom were holding weapons and appeared murderous. Surprisingly, the eunuchs managed to defend against the attack from the guards, keeping them from closing the front doors.
Nian Feng, leading some men, directly fought his way out of the encirclement. His fighting capabilities were so high that even Mu Rongfeng was astonished. Also, he had some royal guards protecting him. At the sight of Nian Feng forcing the enemies into backing off again and again, the royal guards’ morale was boosted, and they started attacking more boldly as though their sabers were sharper than the enemies’!
“Stop him! Stop him!” bellowed Mu Rongfeng. Looking at Nian Feng with fierce eyes, he whipped the saber out of the sheath fastened to the belt of the bodyguard beside him, intending to intercept Nian Feng by himself.
If he let Nian Feng escape, there would be endless trouble in the future!
Unfortunately for Mu Rongfeng, though he wanted to personally stop Nian Feng, Nian Feng had no intention to be mired in this melee any longer. He had already broken out of the surrounding circle and was now approaching the front doors of the royal bedchamber. Before Mu Rongfeng could get close to him, he had slashed his way out of the hall, into the open space outside and then immediately left, without even casting a glance at the ‘royal guards’ and eunuchs who were risking life and limb to hold back the real royal guards.
Mu Rongfeng, however, was stopped at the front doors of the royal bedchamber by those people, unable to get through. Consumed with fury, he ranted, “Someone stop Nian Feng! Someone stop Nian Feng!”
In order to kill Nian Feng, Mu Rongfeng, apart from stationing a lot of men inside the royal bedchamber, had also posted a lot more guards on the perimeter. He had originally thought that even if Nian Feng managed to fight his way out of the hall, those guards would still be able to prevent Nian Feng from escaping. Unfortunately for him, just like what the half of the royal guards had done inside the bedchamber, half of the guards outside had also suddenly turned against their companions.
A while ago, when Mu Rongfeng had led his men into the bedchamber, the guards outside had started fighting. Many soldiers had been caught unawares and stabbed to death by their companions. Right now all was confusion and chaos outside the compound, and hardly anybody could spare any time to intercept Nian Feng!
This scene almost drove Mu Rongfeng crazy. He had always believed that the Royal Guard was his trump card, but now it turned out that half of them had betrayed him and sided with Nian Feng!
Ever since Nian Feng had exited the bedchamber, he had been under the protection of some men all along, who had been fighting the royal guards while retreating. Nian Feng himself was also mercilessly slashing at every enemy in sight with his saber, hacking his way to the gateway of the palace, leaving a trail of blood and corpses behind him.
Originally there had been some royal guards on duty at the gateway, but now, just like the situation inside, they were now engaged in fratricidal fighting. The whole place was in disarray.
Taking advantage of such circumstances, Nian Feng managed to make good his escape from the gateway as Mu Rongfeng rushed through the doors of the royal bedchamber after killing all the traitors trying to hold him back!
“Tell them to shut the palace gates! Do not let Nian Feng escape from the palace!” railed Mu Rongfeng, his eyes red with rage.
He was just about to pursue Nian Feng when suddenly a deafening wail came from behind. “Your Majesty? Your Majesty?!” someone cried.
“His Majesty left us!”
“Your Majesty!”
A torrent of wails burst forth in the royal bedchamber. Mu Rongfeng felt as though something exploded in his head and he stopped dead in his tracks, staring in the direction of the palace gates. Then he swiveled his head to look at the royal bedchamber, his countenance suggesting that there was a painful internal struggle going on in his breast.
“Your Highness, we must not let Nian Feng escape!” said one of his bodyguards beside him through gritted teeth.
Mu Rongfeng’s fingers clenched around the hilt of his saber. Eventually, he rushed down the stairs in front of the royal bedchamber. “Come with me to pursue Nian Feng. We’ll kill him to avenge His Majesty’s murder!”
…
The royal palace of the Luohai Kingdom was thrown into chaos. Mu Hengtian and Mu Rongfeng had set a trap for Nian Feng with the intention to trap and kill him in the royal bedchamber, but unexpectedly, half of the royal guards had turned against the two of them, upsetting their plan and allowing Nian Feng to make good his escape. News instantly spread through the whole capital that Nian Feng had murdered the monarch by throwing him to the ground. Nian Feng the General-in-chief had become a regicide in the blink of an eye. Mu Rongfeng the crown prince had given the order to shut all city gates and conduct a citywide hunt for Nian Feng, but the soldiers had found nothing after searching the city for a whole day!
Worried that the situation might change again, Mu Rongfeng, after setting a mourning hall for his father in a great hurry, found the will that his father had long since made, and hastily acceded to the throne. Meanwhile, he ordered that everybody in the Abode of General-in-chief be executed, intending to force Nian Feng to show himself.
However, the brief enthronement ceremony had just been finished, and the officials hadn’t even paid their respects to the new monarch after kowtowing to Mu Hengtian’s memorial tablet, when urgent news came that Nian Feng the General-in-chief had had the city encircled by an army almost 100,000 strong, that the southern city gate was under their full-blown attack and wouldn’t hold for long!
An army 100,000 strong?!
It was a mystery to all the courtiers how Nian Feng had come to get an army 100,000 strong. Even Dugu Shan, who had made some other preparations, was taken aback. There had been so many soldiers hiding in that wood?!
To make things worse, they were soon informed that the Fourth Prince had gone missing. The Fourth Prince was the one having Nian Feng’s support. Mu Rongfeng had long since given the order for his some of his men to keep a close eye on the Fourth Prince, but now he had actually slipped away under their noses! Mu Rongfeng was immediately sent into intense anxiety. Unlike the Great Wen which had a garrison battalion stationed near each of the four pairs of city gates of the capital, the Luohai Kingdom had only two garrisons guarding its capital: the Southern City Garrison and the Western City Garrison. Given that the southern city gates were under attack from Nian Feng’s men, seeking help from the Southern City Garrison was clearly not an option. Therefore, Mu Rongfeng could only recall the Western City Garrison with the intention to have them defend against Nian Feng’s army who were attacking the city gates. The problem, however, was that the Western City Garrison was vastly outnumbered by Nian Feng’s army. There was no telling whether or not they would be able to hold the city gates.
Dugu Shan was somewhat scared. He did want Nian Feng to eliminate Mu Rongfeng, but he hadn’t bargained on Nian Feng having such a large army under his command. Fearing that Nian Feng would exterminate the Dugu family as well if his army really battered down the city gates, Dugu Shan hurriedly had Lian Hai brought to him and asked Lian Hai whether or not he could get in touch with any of the nearby garrisons and have them come to the capital city to help deal with Nian Feng’s army.
