Chapter Forty-Four: The King of the Western Expedition Is Gone!
Page (1/3)
“How could this be? How could it come to this?”
Sun Ye stood utterly dumbfounded.
Yet years of military service had long taught him to conceal his thoughts from prying eyes.
Though his expression remained as still as an ancient well, he knew that the most brutal assault of the day was yet to come.
If they wished to win—if they wished to turn defeat into victory—they had to open the gates and launch an offensive themselves.
Only then could they secure a sliver of hope for the Western Expeditionary Army. At the very least, they would have one chance to fight to the bitter end!
Though the Kingdom of Baiyue was small, its king had staked everything on this campaign, sending a full one hundred and twenty thousand troops.
That was nearly the entire strength Baiyue possessed to sweep across the surrounding minor states. Now, it had been put to use against the suzerain state of Great Qian.
For a time, wave after wave of battle cries rang out.
The King of Baiyue even sent a man to stand beneath the fortress and call up to Sun Ye.
“Prince of the Western Expedition! I have always admired you! Today, I have brought this vast army together with the forces of Western Rong. If you come down from the fortress and surrender now, I will certainly spare your life. Even the Western Expeditionary Army behind you will be given a proper place!”
Sun Ye let out a cold laugh.
The King of Baiyue was a prince of a commandery, and so was the Prince of the Western Expedition. Both wore the blue brocade five-dragon robes bestowed by Great Qian’s emperor.
“Surrender to the ruler of some petty barbarian state? What kind of man do you take me for?”
“I, Sun Ye, have fought and bled on the battlefield all my life. I have never bowed my head to anyone. I doubt even you, King of Baiyue, possess the right to make me do so!”
The King of Baiyue sighed.
His eyes gleamed as he stared at Sun Ye. Then he slowly drew a pitch-black scroll case from within his robes.
The moment he opened it, the item he withdrew was all too familiar to Sun Ye.
It was an imperial edict from the Emperor of Great Qian.
“The Emperor of Great Qian gave me a secret edict, ordering me to lead my troops westward, join forces with the army of Western Rong, and surround Pine Forest Slope Fortress.”
“Prince of the Western Expedition, do you still not understand what this means?”
Sun Ye was utterly stunned, as though he could not believe what he had just heard.
“You… What did you say?”
“You said you came under imperial orders?”
Sun Ye stared in shock at the King of Baiyue standing beneath the fortress.
The King of Baiyue gave a bitter smile. “Who else could have made me bring my entire fortune and travel more than a thousand miles by forced marches to get here?”
“The Emperor of Great Qian’s secret edict makes it perfectly clear. He wants you to die at Pine Forest Slope. Once you are dead there, he can shift the blame onto Western Rong.”
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
“Western Rong is a barbarian realm. It has never feared infamy. As for me, on the surface I have come as reinforcements for your Western Expeditionary Prince’s army.”
“But in truth, I am here to join forces with Western Rong and leave you here forever!”
“My prince! Do you still not understand?”
The King of Baiyue’s roar struck Sun Ye like a blow to the head.
It jolted him awake from his daze.
For a century, the Western Expeditionary Prince’s household had been a line of loyal heroes. Never had Sun Ye imagined that the Great Qian court, for which he had given his entire life, would regard him as too powerful for the emperor’s comfort, believe that the Western Expeditionary Army had grown uncontrollable, and pay any price to wipe out these hundred thousand men…
“My prince, you now have only two choices. First, we attack the fortress at once. As for how the battle will ultimately unfold, even I cannot say!”
“Second, you leave the fortress and flee now. Great Qian has… no further need of you!”
“Flee as far away as you can. I will tell the Emperor of Great Qian that you died in battle at Pine Forest Slope!”
Sun Ye stood completely frozen. In disbelief, he turned to look at the soldiers behind him.
Their faces were filled with the same astonishment.
It was as though they were pawns abandoned by the entire world, cast aside forever in this place.
“Damn that dog of an emperor! I never thought he would treat us like this!”
“What did we ever do wrong for him to be so heartless?”
“My prince, let us rebel!”
“That’s right, my prince! We have a hundred thousand troops. We can fight our way back to the capital. With your military achievements and prestige, if that emperor of Great Qian can sit on the throne, then so can you!”
The soldiers were consumed by righteous fury, every face etched with resentment.
Sun Ye was even more shaken by what he heard.
As the saying went, when a ruler wished a minister dead, the minister had no choice but to die.
Yet now that the day had truly come, Sun Ye felt utterly despondent. It was not that he feared death—in fact, the opposite was true.
For a soldier, being wrapped in one’s armor and buried on the battlefield was the highest honor.
But…
How could he die without even knowing why? How could the emperor distrust him to such an extent? And what had the hundred thousand soldiers who followed him ever done wrong?
Were they truly not allowed to live?
At the thought, grief surged through Sun Ye’s heart.
Looking at the King of Baiyue beneath the fortress, he slowly asked, “May I ask, King of Baiyue—did His Majesty ever say who would take command of my troops?”
The King of Baiyue suddenly burst into laughter.
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
He could not understand how an outstanding military commander could be such an innocent child when it came to court politics.
“My prince, do you still remember the Prince of Northern Pacification?”
“You… What did you say?”
This time, Sun Ye was completely stunned.
So it was that everyone—everyone—wanted the Western Expeditionary Prince’s household to vanish entirely.
To lose the hundred thousand battle-hardened troops of the Western Expeditionary Army would be tantamount to cutting off one of Great Qian’s own arms.
Unfortunately, Emperor Baoqing had never cared about that.
He had even been eager to eliminate this festering nuisance as soon as possible.
“I fear the Prince of Northern Pacification’s army has already reached the rear of Pine Forest Slope Fortress by now.”
“You…”
Sun Ye’s pupils contracted sharply. At last, he understood everything.
Why had the Prince of Northern Pacification advanced so slowly? Why had not a single messenger sent to him ever returned?
While Sun Ye had been fighting desperately, the Prince of Northern Pacification had long since been resting and replenishing his strength. Though he had not yet appeared on the battlefield, anyone with eyes could see that he was waiting to reap the fruits of final victory.
“My prince, surrender. Stop fighting. It is pointless!”
The supposedly urgent military situation had been nothing more than the beginning of a vast conspiracy and an even greater trap.
Sun Ye now faced two former enemies, with an ally behind him watching like a tiger waiting to pounce.
“Someone, deliver an order to… to the Marquis of Southern Pacification. Tell him to reach Pine Forest Slope as quickly as possible. If anything happens to me, you—you may follow him. He will certainly lead you back to the capital!”
The soldiers behind Sun Ye instantly reddened around the eyes.
Who could have imagined that Great Qian’s finest fighting force would be stabbed in the back by its own comrades, betrayed by the very army that was supposed to be its ally?
“My prince, what are we to do?”
Sun Ye closed his eyes in profound anguish. Of course he knew what they had to do.
They had to get every one of his soldiers safely back to the capital.
“Looks like there is nothing left to discuss, is that it?”
“Then let us fight. Someone, beat the war drums! Attack the fortress!”
Just as the soldiers of Baiyue were preparing to storm the fortress, the gates of Pine Forest Slope Fortress suddenly opened.
Page (3/3)