Lu Lingshuang Was Choked Until She Could Not Breathe.
Huangling Valley was steep and mountainous, the terrain jagged and broken, its great trees so dense they blotted out the sky and sun. The settlements hidden behind layer upon layer of mountain ranges, their traces hard to find.
Once past Huanglin Valley, another two hundred li ahead was Tianliang Jing.
On the walls of Tianliang Jing, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Yu sat cross-legged. Their battle robes were loosened to the waist, exposing sweat-slick chests. Before them sat two jugs of wine and several plates of food to accompany the drink.
“We are hiding here drinking. What if General Wan finds out...” One of them was timid, and looked at the three men before him as he spoke in a low voice.
Soldier Jia said, “If he finds out, then he finds out. General Wan himself is still in the city drinking flower wine.”
Soldier Yi said, “What is there to fear? General Wan said this place has never been breached. The army of the Kingdom of Lu must cross mountains and ridges to get here. In summer, the forests are full of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Hah, they will have suffering enough.”
“Still... the one leading the Kingdom of Lu is Prince Li. I heard he is formidable in war.”
“What is wrong with you? No matter how formidable Prince Li is, if he wants to lead an army out through Huanglin Valley, it will take at least half a month, at most one or two months. There is also the miasma Xiqiang laid there for us. Half the army of the Kingdom of Lu will be lost inside Huanglin Valley.”
Soldier Bing said, “Exactly. Huanglin Valley lies before us. It is still early before they can fight their way here. Come, come, let us drink.”
Hearing all three of them speak this way, that man also felt much more at ease. He raised his cup and drank with them.
After three rounds of wine, the summer heat rose. Several of them drank until their faces and necks were red, then leaned crookedly against the wall to catch the wind.
At that moment, a strange sound suddenly came from the distance.
It rumbled on and on, like muffled thunder rolling through thick clouds, wave after wave.
“Is it thunder?” Soldier Jia spoke with a thick tongue, his drunken eyes hazy.
Soldier Bing groggily climbed to his feet. He leaned over the battlements and stared at the clear sky for a long while. He then turned back and said slowly, “N-no thunder. There are no dark clouds in the sky.”
“That is not right. I... I clearly heard thunder just now.” Soldier Jia did not believe him. Still holding the wine jug in his left hand, he also stood up.
The two men stared blankly ahead. Their gaze shifted from the sky to the distant mountain forest.
The forest lay in shadow upon shadow, as if black mist were rolling within it.
Then suddenly...
“Not good, the enemy is attacking!” Soldier Bing roared. His legs nearly gave way beneath him, and he ran in panic toward the war drum on the other side.
With a smack, the wine jug in Soldier Jia’s hand fell to the ground. He stared blankly at the mountain forest, his feet seeming nailed to the spot.
On the other side.
“General, n-not good, Prince Li has attacked!” The soldier tumbled and crawled into the room, rolling all the way inside. He was so panicked that his voice shook.
The room was thick with the cloying scent of rouge and powder. Women’s laughter echoed through the air, drowning out the soldier’s voice. Wan Huang was sitting there with an arm around a courtesan’s waist, drinking wine. Irritated, he kicked the soldier in the shoulder.
“What nonsense are you bawling? Get out of here. Do not spoil my pleasure.”
The soldier bared his teeth in pain from the kick and rolled far away. He then crawled back to Wan Huang’s feet and said in a trembling voice, “G-General, Prince Li has brought troops and attacked. You had best return quickly!”
The laughter in the room stalled for an instant. Then the scantily dressed women all let out shrill cries and fled in disorder toward the outside.
“Shut your damned mouths. You are noisy enough to death.” Wan Huang kicked over the table before him, his face flushed pig-liver red. The women fleeing in panic were so frightened they instantly fell silent.
“Bring me my horse. I will go meet Prince Li myself.” Wan Huang’s thick, burly body rose to its feet, and he slammed the door as he strode out, his expression ugly.
On the streets, common people carrying bundles fled everywhere. They had heard that Prince Li had already arrived outside the city, that the great army was pressing upon the walls, and that Prince Li killed without blinking and employed ruthless methods. Fearing that one step too slow would cost them their lives, they fled in confusion. Amid the chaos there were even the shrill cries of children.
Wan Huang paid these ignorant commoners no heed.
Even now he still felt that the news must have been wrongly passed along. How could Prince Li possibly have crossed Huanglin Valley? One hundred fifty thousand troops had come from that direction, yet they had not received the slightest rumor of it.
Wan Huang hurried to the walls of Tianliang Jing.
Breathing heavily, he climbed up and shoved aside the soldiers blocking his way. He thrust his head out through the embrasure.
Wan Huang’s eyes flew wide. Not far outside the city, the great army of the Kingdom of Lu was quietly resting in place. At the sight of that dark mass of troops, his mind, swollen and clouded with wine, turned sober in an instant.
“How many troops do we have?”
“Including the soldiers patrolling the city, forty-five thousand in all.”
Wan Huang’s heart pounded like a drum. Sweat poured ceaselessly from his brow. “Quick! Send an urgent military report back to the capital. Request reinforcements from Puyang Jing!”
His deputy general ran over in haste, his face pale as a ghost. “General, I fear it is too late. A quarter of an hour ago, Prince Li sent word that he would attack the city in one shichen. He also... also...”
“Also what? Spit it out quickly!” Wan Huang cursed.
The deputy general’s face was white as paper. “He also executed General He, who was stationed at Huanglin Valley, on the spot. The head has been placed before our city gates.”
The intimidation worked at once. The soldiers upon the walls were all terrified. Several of them were frightened to the point of tears.
Wan Huang also saw the expressions on those soldiers’ faces, and cursed, “All of you are soft-shelled weaklings. Have you never seen a dead man? Worthless, disgraceful trash.”
No one dared speak, though inwardly they were indignant.
They truly had never gone to war nor had they ever killed anyone. Though they were soldiers stationed to guard the city, the Kingdom of Yu had been at peace for decades. Compared with the soldiers of the Kingdom of Lu opposite them, who were bristling all over with killing force, they were embroidered pillows.
This, however, also had to do with Wan Huang. As the commanding general of Tianliang Jing, he never trained his troops. Every day he spent his time in wine and pleasure, relying on his great clan background and thinking himself above others. His relationship with the soldiers under him was merely ordinary.
The deputy general said hesitantly, “General, what are we to do now?”
Wan Huang’s palms were slick with sweat. His eyes shifted. He put both hands behind his back, and at last managed to put on something of a steady bearing.
“Have everyone stand ready in strict array and prepare the bows and arrows. I will go change into armor, then prepare to leave the city and meet the enemy.”
“Yes.” The deputy general answered and turned to help on the other side.
Once Wan Huang left, he did not return again before Lu Ronghuai led troops to the city gates.
The commanding general of Tianliang Jing had fled.
With their pillar gone, the soldiers of Tianliang Jing instantly scattered into disorder. Their morale was all but shattered. At that moment, Lu Ronghuai ordered the attack to begin.
Faced with the powerful and orderly soldiers of the Kingdom of Lu, the soldiers of Tianliang Jing had no strength at all to strike back.
Very soon, Zhao Lu rode back in high spirits.
“Your Highness, Tianliang Jing has fallen!”
Lu Ronghuai and Bai Qingyu were in the rear, playing chess. They had only just sat down when Zhao Lu led troops to attack the city, and now the game was not yet finished, yet the gates of Tianliang Jing had already been completely opened.
Lu Ronghuai set down a black stone, feeling somewhat bored. “Once you enter the city, soothe the common people first and let them know they need not panic. Pass word to the men as well. Whoever dares bully the common people will be dealt with according to military law.”
Zhao Lu rubbed his hands in excitement. “Your Highness, I heard their commanding general fled. Then the wealth in his residence...”
“Take it and divide it among everyone.”
Zhao Lu left happily once more.
Bai Qingyu looked at the chessboard for a long while, then slowly raised his head and set down the white stone in his hand.
“I have lost.”
Lu Ronghuai smiled and rose to his feet. He tossed the defensive map from his bosom to him. “Good. A wager is a wager. You will lead the troops against the next city.”
Bai Qingyu put away the defensive map and nodded in answer.
Leading the great army, Lu Ronghuai spent only seven days breaking through layer upon layer of barriers at Huanglin Valley. Once that natural screen was gone, the great army captured cities and seized territory all along the way. First Tianliang Jing fell, then Puyang Jing and Qingjue Jing followed in succession.
The three western Jing were lost in only twenty-four short days.
When the news was sent back to the capital of the Kingdom of Yu, no one could remain seated.
When the ruler of the Kingdom of Yu learned that a general had fled, he flew into a thunderous rage in court.
None of them had expected that Lu Ronghuai would be able to come out of Huanglin Valley so easily. In such dense and deep forests, even people of the Kingdom of Yu themselves might not be able to come out within a short time, yet the great army of the Kingdom of Lu had not only swiftly left the forest, they had swept away the traps within Huanglin Valley and seized four passes in a single stroke.
Everyone in the Kingdom of Yu was in peril. At night they could not sleep.
With a dark face, Yu Kui strode into Lu Lingshuang’s palace. Raising his hand, he struck her across the face.
“Cheap woman. If you had not stirred up trouble, how would the Kingdom of Lu have attacked?”
“Ah!” Lu Lingshuang clutched her face and shrieked. Her cheek burned with pain. Covering her face, she cried out, “Back then it was you who saw that the ruler of the Kingdom of Chu was close with my father emperor, and feared they would join forces against you. So why are you blaming it on me now!”
“Now that the Kingdom of Shi refuses to help you any longer, you vent your anger on me. If you have the skill, then send troops and drive Lu Ronghuai back. You...”
Smack.
Another slap.
Yu Kui’s face was flushed red, rage flaring upward. His teeth ground against one another as he cast a gloomy glance around him. “All of you, withdraw!”
The eunuchs and maids lowered their heads and hurried out at a run.
Yu Kui stepped forward two paces. Lu Lingshuang retreated in fright. “What are you doing?”
Yu Kui seized her by the throat. His fingers tightened as he said in a sinister tone, “You had best pray he does not fight his way to the capital. Otherwise, this Ruler will be the first to hand you over.”
Lu Lingshuang was choked until she could not breathe. She struggled without cease, her ears ringing. When she heard those words, her whole body turned cold.
“You... you... cough, cough... let go...”
Lu Lingshuang’s eyes began to roll back. More air seemed to leave her than enter.
Yu Kui had never expected this foolish woman to be of any help. He had merely come here to vent his rage upon her.
He flung Lu Lingshuang aside. Without sparing so much as a glance for whether she lived or died, he hurried with quick steps to another palace hall.
There were no servants here. He walked to the door and knocked once. Very soon, footsteps sounded from within, and the door was gently opened.
“Ruler of the Kingdom of Yu.” From within the door stood a man wrapped from head to foot in a black robe.
Bloodshot threads streaked Yu Kui’s eyes. He stared at the man before him and drew in a deep breath.
“Did you not say you could help this Ruler hold the Kingdom of Yu?”
“That was before.”
Yu Kui: “You mean to go back on your word?”
“It is not that I wish to repent, but that Your Majesty did not inform me beforehand that the defensive map was in Lu Ronghuai’s hands.”
Yu Kui’s face instantly turned unsightly to the extreme.
He explained, “When the defensive map was stolen, this Ruler sent people to search for it for a long time, yet it was never found.”
Only after Lu Ronghuai swiftly broke Huanglin Valley and the three Jing did he realize that the defensive map should be in Lu Ronghuai’s possession.
The man in black robes let out a light laugh.
“Ruler of the Kingdom of Yu, if Lu Ronghuai did not possess that defensive map, I could still help you hold them off for a time.”
“But matters have come to this. I advise Your Majesty to flee early.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Guess who the man in black is.
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