Chapter 258 (1/2)
Chapter 258
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the third of April, Zhao Che finally officially announced his plan to seize the traitor, Zhao Yang. On the evening of the same day, Zhuge Yue followed suit, and with his enormous army of over 200,000, he headed towards Zhen Huang City.
On the same day, Zhao Yang's personal army, the South West army, under the leadership of some high ranking officers, rushed back to Zhen Huang City via the South West Waterway. He managed to usurp power from the 17th prince, Zhao Yi. Therefore, another 150,000 strong army fell under the control of Zhao Yang.
With that, the struggle of the two dragons that had been brewing for a long time had finally sounded the drums of war.
Even at the very start, the cruelty of war had been put on full display. To avoid facing the same method that Chu Qiao had used to destroy the castle walls before, Zhao Yang gave up on defending castles. Instead, he sent out large forces over 15 kilometers away from the castle. He initiated direct battles with Zhao Che and Zhuge Yue, who, at this moment, outnumbered him. In reality, Chu Qiao had merely created a small number of explosives these past few years by herself without telling anyone else. This was to prevent the knowledge of modern weaponry from spreading and causing massive casualties.
In war, people fell like leaves, as swarm after swarm fell on the crisp green grass plains. The miserable bugle of war echoed in the heavens above the skies, and the soil reeked of a distinct iron smell. Every day after the crossing blades, the medical teams of each party would carry around stretchers to save the injured, but ultimately what they did the most of was not to save lives, but to give those grievously wounded one final lethal strike to put them out of their misery.
Even for Chu Qiao who had seen so much war, it was still a heart-shattering scene. She had privately asked Zhuge Yue before if it was really necessary to carry out such a bloody power struggle. Was it really necessary for the Xia soldiers to start killing each other?
Zhuge Yue looked at her with his firm and steady eyes, exuding attraction. He replied saying that it was impossible to avoid a civil war. After all, Zhao Yang had been in power for too long. He had groomed his own power in the court and had even gained control over so much of the army. With that, it was impossible for him to be subservient to Zhao Che. Not only that, but as Zhao Che and Zhuge Yue had only recently returned to the scene, it would be hardly feasible to slowly usurp power from Zhao Yang. The civil war was impossible to avoid, and at this juncture, with the death of the Xia Emperor blamed on Zhao Yang and the various nobles starting to chip away at his army, this was prime time for civil war.
Chu Qiao had been curious if the Xia Emperor had truly died. If so, who did it? Was it Zhao Yang, Zhao Che, or even Zhuge Yue? In the end, she did not have to ask, and instead, she was told the answer herself.
It was truly destiny. One of the junior doctors in the imperial pharmacy was bribed and brought in a batch of spoiled ingredients. Coincidentally, the few days the Emperor's condition worsened, he had secretly informed his trusted doctors to change the formula for his medicine. In addition, fearing that the court would know of his worsening condition, he instructed that no one was to know of his ailing health. What was even more coincidental was that one of the ingredients needed was in the batch of spoiled ingredients. This incident was first made known by Zhao Yang as he had long ago arranged some spies within the pharmacy. Yet, he had not known that there were some spies of Zhao Che's around him, so his intel was in turn made known to Zhao Che as well.
With that, the Xia Emperor started to eat the new medication, and his trusted doctor was the only one in charge of making the medicine. In addition, the eunuch in charge of trying the medicine was unaffected as he was healthy to begin with. As for the Emperor who was already in a weakened state, he finally left the world on the day of Zhuge Yue's marriage.
The Xia Emperor had been cautious all his life, but never would he have thought that he would die at the hands of a greedy junior doctor. Yet, even though two of his sons knew of this incident, none of them considered saving him.
As Chu Qiao listened to the entire story, she sunk into silence. At that moment she suddenly thought of Yan Xun and felt a sense of misery. All his life, Yan Xun's greatest wish was to kill the Xia Emperor to take revenge for his parents. Yet, when he finally gained huge authority, and with massive armies under his command, his archenemy had died quietly from the corrosion of the river of time. What would he think when he received this news? Would he laugh happily or would he cry out of frustration? Perhaps neither, perhaps he would merely sit quietly and suppress all his emotions in his heart. On the second day, he would continue to do what he was supposed to do.
The sounds of the war bugle had sounded off again. Zhao Yang had ordered three cavalry regiments to charge up the flanks. Zhuge Yue reacted by arranging four auxiliary regiments to intercept his forces. This battle had already lasted for over two days without any break in between. All kinds of tactics had been shown. As Zhao Yang and Zhuge Yue were both top-tier strategists, in this direct confrontation, neither side had a particular advantage.
Xiuli army had also taken part in the battle three times in a coordinated attack on the right flank of Zhao Yang's formation. He Xiao had twice torn apart the enemy formation, but both times the hole was quickly filled up by enemy reinforcements. All of the soldiers knew that this was a battle for ascension. The victor would rule over the world whereas the defeated would certainly die without a proper burial. As the followers of these leaders, they would face the same consequence. As such, no one would take any steps back. Even if they would bleed themselves dry, they would insist to fight to their last breath.
On the morning of the third day, Zhuge Yue sat on the platform facing the soldiers. He did not make any inspirational speech and merely pulled out his blade. With a loud voice, he shouted to his subordinates, ”This will be the last day. After this day, our names will be recorded in history!”
”Fight! Fight!” Tens of thousands of voices resounded out across the entire grass plains. Standing behind the crowd, Chu Qiao smiled as she looked at this man who was surrounded by this massive crowd, revealing a neat row of pristine white teeth.
Following the thunderous rolls of the marching, a light shadow appeared on the ends of the grass plains. In the seemingly endless grass plains, Zhuge Yue's forces had finally encountered the main bulk of Zhao Yang's forces. After the two days of battle, both sides had suffered great casualties, yet both parties stood there without any sign of retreating.
The shadow grew larger, like a patch of looming thunderclouds growing in the vast expanses of the heavens stretching into the horizon. Under the illumination of the rays of sunlight, one could see the large clouds of dust that followed behind the neat rows of formations of soldiers, looking into Zhuge Yue's armies.
600 meters, 400 meters, 200 meters… As the two armies inched closer to each other, the soldiers could almost feel the warm breath of the war horses. The scent of the reaper drew closer as vultures soared in the skies above in waiting for a feast.