DLWAV CH105

After the Duke of Zhenguo captured thirteen of the Yang Army’s cities within three days, the Great Qian army encountered the Yang Army on the Jianghan Plain.

The Duke of Zhenguo, along with the 300,000-strong army he led, was entirely captured.

And the Yang Army, guided by the Duke of Zhenguo and the others, was already closing in on Luoyang.

Smack!

The battle report slipped from Emperor Zhangwu’s hand and fell to the floor.

“The Duke of Zhenguo was defeated?”

“A 300,000-strong army is just gone like that?”

At this point, Emperor Zhangwu violently swept his arm across the imperial desk, knocking all the memorials and teacups to the ground.

“Even if they were 300,000 pigs, it would still take ten days to half a month to slaughter them all!”

“Most importantly, after suffering such a massive defeat, how does the Duke of Zhenguo still have the face to live in this world… And, and he actually dared to lead the way for the Yang Army to counterattack Great Qian!”

“Rebellious traitors! Rebellious traitors!”

“Someone! Men!”

“Confiscate the Duke of Zhenguo’s estate! Drag all his family members to the execution ground at Caishikou and behead them as a public warning!”

With bloodshot eyes, he screamed hysterically.

He had completely forgotten that back at the Zhaoming Pass, he had caused the tragic deaths of 150,000 Great Qian soldiers in a single breath. Later, he had even proactively ordered the city gates opened for the Western Rong, leading them right to the foot of the capital’s walls.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A eunuch hastily accepted the order and ran off.

Then, as if remembering something, Emperor Zhangwu asked angrily, “Wait, didn’t they take over sixty Divine Maiden Cannons with them?”

“Why? Why did they still lose to the Yang rebels?!”

The squad commander who had fled back in tattered clothes answered in a pained voice: “Answering Your Majesty, that is because the Yang Army also has cannons.”

“What?!”

It wasn’t just Emperor Zhangwu who was shocked, but the entire court of civil and military officials as well.

“How could the Yang Army possibly have cannons?!”

“This humble general does not know.”

The squad commander continued: “This humble general only knows that the Divine Maiden Cannons have a range of no more than one or two miles, while the Yang Army’s cannons can actually fire as far as six or seven miles. So in just one exchange, our army… our army was defeated…”

It was Emperor Zhangwu who reacted first.

His eyes practically split open in rage: “Bring Song Qingying… drag Song Qingying here—”

Didn’t Song Qingying say she was the only person in all of Great Qian who knew how to manufacture cannons?

But why did the Yang rebels also have cannons in their hands?!

And they were even better than theirs!

But this time, the eunuch didn’t have time to reply.

Because right at that moment, an imperial guard stumbled and crawled in: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, terrible news! A scout from the Ruijian Camp has reported that traces of the rebel army have been discovered at the Eastern Mountain!”

Boom!

A bolt of lightning suddenly ripped across the sky, and torrential rain immediately poured down.

Luoyang fell into chaos.

Especially after learning that the moment the Yang Army arrived at Luoyang, they immediately began sieging the city.

After all, the military forces in Luoyang had long been hollowed out by the imperial court and sent to the Duke of Zhenguo.

So at this moment, the soldiers defending Luoyang didn’t even amount to ten thousand men.

Plus, since the Hua Nation government had already airdropped supplies to them, the middle-aged man didn’t even plan to repeat the same trick of using the surrendered troops to force the defenders to open the gates. Instead, he directly ordered a full-on assault.

Looking at the densely packed Yang Army charging toward them, and then looking at the commanding officer beside them who suddenly grew a bloody hole in his forehead and died with his eyes wide open, the defenders on the city wall were utterly terrified. So upon hearing the Yang Army’s slogan of “Surrender and you won’t be killed,” they unanimously threw down their weapons and crouched on the ground with their hands over their heads.

Just like that, Luoyang city was breached by the Yang Army.

One can imagine how hideous Song Qingying’s face was when the news reached the Third Prince’s manor.

She never expected that they would have to experience being driven out of the capital like pigs for a second time.

Most importantly, her beautiful dream of ascending the throne was only half-realized, and yet Great Qian was about to fall.

But obviously, this was not the time to think about these things. Because if she didn’t run now, she might even lose her life.

Thinking of this, she immediately shoved the people beside her away. Hugging the 2.4 million taels of silver from her dowry that she hadn’t even had time to spend, she rushed onto a carriage.

One can imagine how furious the Third Prince, whom she had shoved aside, was.

If it were in the past, he might have pretended nothing happened in order to secure Song Qingying’s support.

But now, Great Qian was falling. Even with Song Qingying’s support, it was impossible for him to become the emperor.

Most importantly, Song Qingying currently couldn’t even protect herself.

And thinking of how, after being conferred the title of State Preceptor, Song Qingying had begun blatantly flirting with the guards in the manor, the veins on the Third Prince’s forehead throbbed even more violently.

Then his attention fell on the box in Song Qingying’s arms.

He didn’t even need to guess to know what was inside.

If he had that much silver, even if Great Qian fell, he could still live a life of luxury—

Thinking of this, the Third Prince made a prompt decision: “Men! Seize the box from Song Qingying’s hands and throw her off the carriage for me!”

“Oh, and Song Jiyang’s family too.”

The surrounding guards couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.

But they quickly snapped back to reality.

They swarmed forward, dragged Song Qingying and her family off the carriage, and snatched the box from her hands.

Song Qingying and Song Jiyang were completely dumbfounded.

They looked up, just in time to see the Third Prince impatiently grabbing the box.

Song Qingying’s breathing hitched: “Zhou Hongyue, what are you trying to do?!”

“What am I trying to do?”

The Third Prince hugged the box tightly to his chest. He looked at Song Qingying and said angrily, “You slut, I’ve tolerated you for a long time.”

The Third Prince couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on her: “Didn’t you claim to be a Divine Maiden? Surely you can just wave your sleeves and whisk your family away to safety. Why would you need to fight us for a carriage?”

After saying that, he looked left and right: “Let’s go—”

Song Qingying and her family subconsciously wanted to chase after them, but the surrounding guards immediately drew their swords and pointed the blades at them.

Song Qingying and the others were forced to stop in their tracks.

Only then did they realize that the Third Prince was planning to abandon them.

And worst of all, he had robbed them of all their silver.

Song Qingying’s eyes practically split open in rage: “Zhou Hongyue, you are a complete animal!”

“The heavens will not let you off!”

But in just that brief moment, the Third Prince had already led his men far away.

The hearts of Song Jiyang’s family turned ice cold.

The Third Prince had taken the carriage and all the money. How were they supposed to escape?

No, they already had no chance of escaping.

Because right at that moment, dense, thundering footsteps echoed from the distance—the Yang Army had arrived…

But what the Third Prince and his group didn’t expect was that they couldn’t escape either.

To be precise, they had actually managed to flee out of Luoyang city, but ended up running head-on into Shandong’s King-Protecting Army.

Except the ‘King’ they were protecting was Zhou Ruize.

So even before the Yang Army captured Emperor Zhangwu, many people had already made the wise choice.

The result was that by the time Ao Ruize’s carriage arrived in Luoyang, the bloodstains on the city walls had already been washed clean.

“Thousand years to the King of Yang!”

The moment the carriage curtain was lifted, as far as the eye could see, countless officials and soldiers fell to their knees in unison.

Such a grand spectacle could usually only be seen on television.

The middle-aged man, who could be said to have single-handedly created the scene before him, was naturally extremely proud.

Ao Ruize immediately spotted Emperor Zhangwu and his cohort, tightly bound in chains, kneeling at the very front of the crowd.

“Rise.”

Saying that, he stepped toward Emperor Zhangwu.

Seeing his actions, as if remembering something, the middle-aged man laughed directly: “When he tried to run, we had already surrounded Luoyang so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through. Guess where we ended up catching him?”

“In a chamber pot in the Luoyang temporary palace.”

“I say we stop calling him Emperor Zhangwu, and rename him the Chamber Pot Emperor instead.”

“After all, back then in order to survive, he even drank the urine of the Western Rong chieftain.”

Hearing this, Ao Ruize also smiled.

Wasn’t this much more fitting for Emperor Zhangwu than his temple name ‘Ruizong’ (Wise Ancestor)?

Emperor Zhangwu’s face, however, turned black. He glared hatefully at Ao Ruize: “Zhou Ruize, if you have the guts, kill me directly—”

“You rebelled against your superior, you committed high treason! Even if I die, I will not let you off! The ancestors of the Zhou family will not let you off! The unerring brush of history will never let you off—”

However, before Ao Ruize could speak, the middle-aged man interjected directly: “Don’t listen to him.”

“Don’t be fooled by his seemingly unyielding act right now. Yesterday, after we caught him, he originally planned to commit suicide. We waited a whole night, and he still didn’t have the guts to put his neck into the noose.”

Ao Ruize couldn’t help but laugh again.

“How the unerring brush of history will evaluate me, I do not know. But I roughly know how later generations will evaluate you—the foolish and incompetent Final Emperor of Qian…”

Final Emperor of Qian?

If Emperor Zhangwu didn’t care about his face and reputation, he wouldn’t have slandered Zhou Ruize in every possible way after his restoration.

So hearing these words, his breath caught in his throat, and he actually passed out on the spot.

But was he allowed to pass out just because he wanted to?

The middle-aged man shot a glance at a nearby guard.

The guard immediately stepped back, fetched a bucket of water, and directly splashed Emperor Zhangwu awake.

Covered in a wretched mess, Emperor Zhangwu screamed hysterically: “Zhou Ruize, don’t get arrogant! Even if I die I won’t let you off, even if I die I won’t let you off…”

Seeing this scene, let alone speaking up for him, his loyal subjects practically wanted to bury their heads into the ground.

Ao Ruize ignored him. He suddenly stepped forward again, ultimately stopping in front of the First Prince, Zhou Hongyi.

Zhou Hongyi’s hair was a mess, and he was still wearing a prisoner’s uniform.

That’s right, he had been dragged out of the prison by the Yang Army.

Just three days ago, when the Minister of Justice accused him of plotting treason in court, Emperor Zhangwu directly ordered men to storm into his manor, searching his residence inside out.

Unexpectedly, they actually found a dragon robe and a gold crown in his study.

Then, Emperor Zhangwu didn’t give him any chance to explain, directly ordering him and his entire family to be thrown into the Heavenly Prison.

They were just waiting for the imperial court to pacify Yangzhou before exiling him to Yunnan.

He should have known.

His Imperial Father had always favored the Second Prince, Zhou Hongzhen, more. In his heart, Zhou Hongyi was never worthy of being the Crown Prince of Great Qian; the only one worthy was always Zhou Hongzhen.

Furthermore, he had completely angered his Imperial Father over the tomb-robbing incident.

So now that the Second Prince and the Third Prince had teamed up to deal with him, how could his Imperial Father possibly let him off?

It was just that he never expected that his imperial uncle would actually make a comeback, and in the blink of an eye, fight his way into Luoyang.

Great Qian was falling!

One must know that back then, he was the one who had personally let Ao Ruize escape.

So calculating it all, Great Qian actually fell by his hands.

He originally wanted to commit suicide to apologize to Great Qian, but the Yang Army was heavily guarded and gave him absolutely no opportunity to do so.

Thinking of this, Zhou Hongyi couldn’t help but reveal a tragic smile.

Right at this moment, Ao Ruize’s voice rang out above his head: “Do you think your ‘good’ Imperial Father is worthy of being the emperor?”

Only then did Zhou Hongyi notice Ao Ruize standing in front of him.

He raised his head.

Ao Ruize stated bluntly: “He is not worthy.”

“Eleven years ago, 150,000 imperial guards died tragically at Zhaoming Pass because of him. Because of him, 15 million commoners across the five provinces of the two Hes, the two Hus, and Shanxi suffered the devastation of the Western Rong cavalry.”

“Ten years later, he acted perversely and against the tides, nearly killing me—the sovereign who brought about the revival. He indulged court officials in corruption and increased taxes four times in a single year, ruining ten years of my painstaking efforts overnight.”

Zhou Hongyi didn’t understand why Ao Ruize was telling him all this.

Although it was indeed the truth.

So even if he wanted to argue a few words in defense of Emperor Zhangwu, he didn’t know where to start.

Ao Ruize suddenly bent down, helped him smooth out the messy hair on his forehead, pulled him to his feet, and ordered men to unlock his shackles.

Meeting Zhou Hongyi’s bewildered gaze, he said: “Since he thinks you are not worthy of being the Crown Prince of Great Qian, then you will be the Crown Prince of Great Yang!”

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