Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 73
Chapter 73: Revealing Their Edge
“Young master, I didn’t know…” Panic flickered in Jade Fairy’s eyes, as she looked as if a child who had done wrong. She was worried that this situation had arisen due to her little tantrum.
“It has nothing to do with you. He would have made a move regardless as long as I got onto the boat. You were just an excuse for him,” Fang Chen said.
Yuan Zhuang and the others were dumbstruck. Did Fang Chen know Baron Xian’s true identity right from the start?
Ye Qinghe was stunned. He remembered how Baron Xian was the one who suggested letting other guests onto the boat to immerse in the festive atmosphere. These guests weren’t officials, but they had large businesses in the capital. It was the same for the other boats too.
If these important people died overnight, the capital would plunge into chaos for some time!
“This… is his true motive?” Ye Qinghe stared at Marquess Xianyu in disbelief, but he couldn’t figure out what the latter’s true goal was. Yes, Great Xia will suffer a heavy blow, but it won’t shake our foundation. It’s also unlikely that he’ll escape from our capital alive.
Marquess Xianyu noticed Ye Qinghe’s confusion and enlightened him with a smile, “We have secretly mobilized 100,000 cavalrymen, and they are currently in the vicinity of your capital.”
100,000 cavalrymen?!
The crowd was horrified. Even Xu Ge also looked at Fang Chen with uncertain eyes, as he had no idea what Fang Chen could do to resolve the current crisis.
If Marquess Xianyu wasn’t lying, Longdu could stomp their capital in a matter of hours.
“You’re the only one I fear in Great Xia, but… I have reached fourth stage Ki Manifestation five years ago. I even made another breakthrough within the last five years, whereas you remained stagnant. Your martial cultivation is beneath mine now, not to mention I have thirteen pinnacle Ki Control martial artists here. They are the elites under the other dukes. Fang Chen, how do you intend to deal with this?” Marquess Xianyu asked with a smile.
“Your goal is to kill me?” Fang Chen asked.
“It would be ideal if I can take your life, but even if I fail, I’ll destroy your foundation so that you’d have no chance of making a comeback.” Marquess Xianyu smirked. He put one finger on his lips and pointed at his ear. “Listen carefully…”
Tok tok tok tok tok…
Drumming could be heard from all four city gates. The drums were only struck when a city gate was under threat, and the fact that the drumming was coming from all four city gates meant that the enemy army had encircled them and was simultaneously attacking them from all directions!
The crowd was horrified.
Even Ye Qinghe also glared at Marquess Xianyu in anger. “Y-you never intended to negotiate. You have already made up your mind to invade us!”
“Your crown prince was naive. So was your emperor,” Marquess Xianyu sneered. “Zhou Xiu is an important person in our country, and he died on your Great Xia’s soil. You want to talk peace with us after killing him? You’re dreaming!”
“It’s over, it’s over!” some of the customers murmured with pale faces.
This was a surprise assault from Longdu, not to mention that they had hundreds of cavalrymen wreaking havoc in the city at the moment. It would be hard for Great Xia to defend against them under such circumstances.
It might still be possible to turn things around if Fang Chen made a move, but Longdu had sent a mid Ki Manifestation and thirteen pinnacle Ki Control martial artists to curb him. Fang Chen might be powerful, but there was only so much he could do against such a line-up…
…
“Bad news, General Fang! Longdu cavalrymen are attacking our city!”
At the eastern city gates, the hundred soldiers on duty anxiously reported to Fang Canghai.
A large group of Longdu cavalrymen had suddenly appeared outside the city. They had brought siege equipment with them, and they were using it to ram against their city gates. They had also shot metal hooks onto the top of their city walls, hoping to sneak in and weaken their defenses.
The hundreds of soldiers stationed at the eastern city gates stood no chance against the tens of thousands of Longdu’s cavalrymen. They were barely able to keep the enemies away from their city walls.
Fang Canghai’s face darkened. With a roar, he slew a couple of Longdu cavalrymen who managed to scale their city walls, as he shouted at his subordinates, “Guard the gates to your dying breath! Reinforcements will arrive soon!”
“Yes sir!” the guards roared with clenched jaws.
Fang Canghai vigilantly dodged the enemies’ arrows while making his round on the city walls, making sure to slay any Longdu cavalrymen who managed to climb up. And this is just a portion of the cavalrymen. How did such a large group of cavalrymen go unnoticed in our Great Xia?!
Fang Canghai was infuriated.
Great Xia operated an intricate intelligence network and had many sentry posts. They should have learned about it from the moment Longdu mobilized such a huge force at all. Even if not for that, they should have known as soon as this large army came close to their borders.
It was impossible for all of their security precautions to have failed. In other words, there was a spy in Great Xia!
“Send someone to inform Fang Chen!” Fang Canghai ordered.
“Yes sir!” A soldier quickly took his leave.
The other city gates were faring no better, being caught off guard by the Longdu cavalrymen. Luckily, the imperial court reacted fast and dispatched the warriors from the East Tiger Barracks and West Tiger Barracks over.
News quickly reached the officials, and many officials rushed into the imperial palace to consult the emperor.
In the Imperial Library, the emperor glared lividly at Prime Minister Li Guozhu, Minister of Military Personnel Ye Dongming, and the other officials.
“You bunch of good-for-nothings! How could Longdu cavalrymen reach our capital without anyone noticing? Even a pig can do your jobs better than you!” the emperor bellowed.
The officials had awful looks on their faces.
The emperor turned to Xiao Shence and asked, “Your Valiant Defenders didn’t notice a thing?”
“Your Majesty, please punish me for my incompetence!” Xiao Shence hurriedly kneeled down and begged for mercy.
“Oh, I’ll definitely punish you for your incompetence,” the emperor sneered. He turned to Ye Dongming and asked, “Minister Ye, what’s the current situation?”
Ye Dongming’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat. “I have sent my men to investigate the situation. The Longdu has over 100,000 cavalrymen stationed outside our capital…”
“100,000 cavalrymen?” an official cried in horror. “We only have 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers stationed in our capital…”
Their crushing defeat five years ago had greatly weakened Great Xia’s military, such that the East Tiger Barracks and the West Tiger Barracks only had around 70,000 soldiers. Even when factoring in the Valiant Defenders, the Court of Great Brilliance’s constables, and the martial artists in the capital, they could only put together an army of 80,000 soldiers at most.
In contrast, Longdu had clearly come prepared, and they might have reinforcements on the way. How were they supposed to defend against something like that?
“Where’s Baron Xian?” the emperor coldly asked. “Take him down.”
“Baron Xian is with my son on the Jade Fairy Boat…” Ye Dongming said with a bitter smile.
There was no way Baron Xian wouldn’t be aware of this invasion. There was a good chance he might have been targeting the Great Xia River from the very start, since many important people gathered there at night, which meant that his son was in danger too.
And Baron Xian has 300 cavalrymen with him…
“Take him down first. I want to know what Longdu means by this,” the emperor sneered.
“Urgent report!”
A Valiant Defender barged into the Imperial Library and reported, “Your Majesty, there has been an attack on the Great Xia River. Longdu’s envoy, Baron Xian, is Marquess Xianyu in disguise, and he is a Ki Manifestation martial artist. He has surrounded War God Fang with a group of pinnacle Ki Control martial artists!”
The crowd was horrified to hear that.
