Chapter 836: Earthquake! Winds Stir, Clouds Gather! I (1/2)
Chapter 836: Earthquake! Winds Stir, Clouds Gather! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Gudu Li, what are you planning? Don't forget, that brat is a marquis of the Great Tang. Would you really dare to attack him?” a Hu commander in the crowd suddenly called out.
”Hey hey, all of you might be afraid of him, but I'm not!”
Gudu Li stood on the metal fretwork table, a fierce expression on his face and a savage light in his eyes.
”As long as all of you are willing to dare with me, I dare to make him pay attention. A mere teenager who hasn't even managed to grow some hair over his lip—do all of you really want to listen to the orders of someone like that? And don't forget, how did Lord Fumeng Lingcha treat us? If there was a good post, wouldn't he always give it to us? Now is the perfect time to take revenge for our lord, but are all of you getting cold feet now?”
”That's right! Our lord treated us with favor as weighty as the mountains. If we don't avenge our lord, won't be we be just like those timid Han?”
”Right on! Avenge our lord!”
”No matter what the Imperial Court decrees, we should submit a memorial asking for the release of our lord.”
The mention of Great General Fumeng Lingcha immediately had everyone following Gudu Li's tune.
”Hey hey! Good, as long as you follow me, we won't kill him just yet, but I'll at least make it impossible for him to stand firmly within the Qixi Protectorate so that he'll slink out of here in shame! The Hu should make the decisions in the territory of the Hu!” Gudu Li loudly declared, striking while the iron was hot.
”Good! Hear hear! We Hu should make the decisions in the territory of the Hu!”
The already riled-up crowd of Hu commanders immediately exploded into cheers.
The explosive cheers shook the roof of the hall and traveled far, very far. Several hundred meters from the main hall of the protectorate, several cavalrymen had gathered together. A young Hu amongst them turned his head in unease toward the Hu general behind him.
”Milord, what do we do?”
”This is quite the problem…”
Heba Ye appeared to not hear his subordinate's worried question, his eyes still fixed on the distant hall. Gudu Li was one of Fumeng Lingcha's trusted subordinates, but at the start, he had not wielded any actual power. However, by using his status as a trusted subordinate and his ability to rile up a crowd, Gudu Li had managed to raise his reputation in the Qixi Protectorate army until it had surpassed his own, even though he was the general overseeing the defenses on the Tibetan border.
As he and Gudu Li had a complete difference of opinion, he had not gone into the hall.
”Wang Chong…. is not as easy to deal with as you think he is!”
Heba Ye thought back to the triangular gap and the sight of Wang Chong leading his Wushang Cavalry sweeping unstoppably through the Tibetan force and ultimately even killing Dayan Mangban, and his heart went cold. That youth within the City of Steel was a most dreadful opponent on the battlefield. He would rather have him as a friend than foe.
”Let's go!”
Heba Ye turned his horse around and swiftly disappeared in the direction of the Tibetan Plateau.
……
Meanwhile, carrier pigeons were flying to the other border protectorates, delivering the news that Wang Chong had been made the new Qixi Protector-General. In contrast to the complicated effects this news had within the Qixi Protectorate, the reactions were much simpler.
”What? Wang Chong of the City of Steel was actually made Qixi Protector-General?”
Within the Anxi Protectorate, Gao Xianzhi's eyes flew open, and he didn't dare to believe his ears.
”How could that be? How could those old officials in the court agree to this? And putting aside everything else, his martial arts shouldn't be at the peak of the Saint Martial realm yet, right? And there are so many extremely experienced generals in the military with long records of service. Were they all rejected?”
”The old officials in the court truly did not agree. It was King Song who silenced them all and wholeheartedly recommended him. In addition, his martial arts truly are lacking, so he is only serving as temporary Protector-General, not as the true Protector-General. In addition, I've investigated this matter…”
Feng Changqing was standing near Gao Xianzhi, and he looked up at his commander in hesitation before continuing.
”Just before the Imperial Court issued its decree, he ambushed the Black Wolf Yabgu at Qixi Armory. Agudu Lan was killed and his five thousand Turkic elites were almost wiped out.”