Chapter 847: Consolidating Qixi! II (1/2)

Chapter 847: Consolidating Qixi! (II)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

”General Heba truly has managed to bring over a significant portion of the Hu soldiers, but there are still quite a few of them who continue to privately harbor grudges,” Xu Keyi said in a low voice.

”Heh!”

Wang Chong gave a light chuckle as he casually placed the little red flag in his hands onto a plain near Talas, and then turned to Xu Keyi.

”It's probably for Fumeng Lingcha's sake.”

”Yes!”

Xu Keyi lowered his head, his voice even softer. He had made a rather thorough investigation of the Hu rebellion and he knew that all the sticking points revolved around Wang Chong. Put more accurately, they revolved around Fumeng Lingcha. After operating in Qixi for so many years, Fumeng Lingcha had a prestige as high as the noon sun, and his roots had deeply burrowed into the heart of every Hu soldier.

This was what had driven Gudu Li's mutiny as well as the disturbances of these Hu soldiers. Heba Ye alone could not resolve this matter. Xu Keyi had truthfully wanted to bring up this matter with Wang Chong, but Wang Chong had managed to bring it up first.

”Xu Keyi, you're treating this matter too seriously. It's just a few minor disturbances. They don't have the great abilities you imagine them to have. In addition, I've already thought of a method to deal with those Hu soldiers who still privately hold grudges against me,” Wang Chong indifferently said, a relaxed look on his face.

”Ah?”

Xu Keyi finally raised his head, unable to suppress the surprise in his eyes. This problem had vexed him for a long time, but he had still not been able to think of a solution. Killing them was bad, and not killing them did nothing. It was like a fishbone in his throat. But Wang Chong had apparently already thought of a way to handle it.

”Take this letter and send it to Beiting Protector-General An Sishun. I'm confident that he will happily take care of this problem for us.”

As Xu Keyi watched on in disbelief, Wang Chong removed a prepared letter from his bosom.

”Milord…”

Xu Keyi's eyes turned sluggish, his expression bewildered as he struggled to understand Wang Chong's intentions. To have Beiting Protector-General An Sishun handle this problem and take these resentful Hu soldiers off their hands seemed a bit too much like wishful thinking.

”Will Lord An Sishun really be willing?” Xu Keyi anxiously said. If he remembered correctly, Wang Chong and the Beiting Protector-General had a very poor relationship, with Wang Chong even conflicting with him in that incident in the capital. Moreover, that individual in Beiting had also been strenuously opposed to Wang Chong's becoming Qixi Protector-General.

That Wang Chong would ask for his help was simply beyond the bounds of Xu Keyi's imagination.

”You don't need to worry about that. No matter what quarrels I've had in the past with the Beiting Protector-General, he will definitely agree to this request,” Wang Chong unconcernedly said, his voice brimming with confidence.

”Yes, Lord Marquis!”

Although he was still lost, Xu Keyi assented and left to deliver the letter.

……

Flap flap!

Several days later, a black bird of prey carrying Wang Chong's handwritten letter had finished crossing the steppe, traveling along the border of the Great Tang and the Western Turkic Khaganate to reach the illustrious center of Tang authority in the north, the Beiting Protectorate!

On this vast and boundless earth, a black colossus loomed. This was a massive war machine, playing host to an outer wall six to seven zhang tall, populated with all sorts of lookout posts, barracks, and towers, as well as an enormous hall made of metal. The thousands upon thousands of black-armored soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate could be seen amidst these lookout posts, barracks, and towers.

These people all had erect postures, like they had taken root in the earth. They exuded powerful auras as their eyes warily scanned the surroundings, ready at any time to enter battle.

In the Great Tang Empire, there was no one more vigilant than the warriors of the Beiting Protectorate. They needed to be ready at any moment to attack the Turkic army, which could be coming from any direction.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew by as the black bird flew through the main doors and landed in the gloomy hall. In the hall, a Hu of thirty-some years dressed in full armor was seated on a raised throne, the lines on his face hard and determined. He was holding a book bound in black, all his attention focused on reading it.

This middle-aged Hu appeared unaware that this black bird had entered his hall.

Beiting was a land scorched by the fires of war and embroiled in frequent battles, with the Beiting Protectorate itself being the center of most of these wars. It should have been a grim and somber place, but the presence of this thirty-some-year-old Hu made it so that the entire headquarters was suffused with an amiable and scholarly atmosphere. It could fool one into thinking that this was some estate in Jiangnan, not a fort on the chilly steppe.

Clang!

A cold light flashed in the hall as a stalwart figure strode forward, his sword unsheathing, its gleaming tip aimed at the black bird.

”Mm?”