Chapter Thirteen: The Emperor's Conspiracy
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Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Great Qi Imperial Palace.
Minister of War Fan Jin held the urgent report just delivered by his subordinate and respectfully reported, “Your Majesty, fifty thousand troops from the Northwest Army are about to reach Qushui City. Additionally, one hundred thousand Qingyun Army soldiers will arrive at Wanlipu tomorrow. At the current marching speed, they will undoubtedly set up an ambush before the Divine Strategy Army reaches the northern border.”
Qushui City was only fifty li away from Tianshan City, while Wanlipu lay to the north of Tianshan City, roughly midway between Tianshan City and the northern border, about eighty li distant.
Wanlipu, especially, was situated within a mountain forest, flanked on both sides by elevated earthen slopes densely covered with trees—an ideal spot for an ambush.
“Is the Divine Strategy Army still outside Tianshan City?” The Great Qi Emperor’s eyes flashed with cruelty as he asked coldly.
“According to the scouts’ report, the Divine Strategy Army has been held outside Tianshan City for seven days and has yet to pass through.”
“Good. This time, I want to see just how capable you, Qin Xuan, truly are.”
Previously, the refugee matter had caused Qin Tian’s grand plan to collapse. But now, with a combined force of one hundred and fifty thousand setting the trap, even Qin Xuan, hailed as the military god of the age, could not possibly win.
Moreover, emissaries had secretly been sent to the Jurchen Kingdom to negotiate how to deal with Qin Xuan. If the Divine Strategy Army dared to appear at the northern border, they could join forces to annihilate it completely.
In fact, many ministers had opposed this alliance within the court. After all, Qin Xuan was a subject of Great Qi and bore royal blood. No matter how much the emperor suppressed him, it was still an internal matter.
But involving the Jurchen Kingdom was tantamount to treason and collusion with the enemy.
However, the current Great Qi Emperor was blinded by hatred, and those loyal ministers who had supported Qin Xuan had been dismissed or demoted.
Now, with corrupt officials in power, no one dared to stand in the way.
Inside Tianshan City, after two days of preparation, the Divine Strategy Army not only replenished a massive amount of supplies—eighty thousand shi of grain alone—but also confiscated vast quantities of gold and silver treasures.
Of course, all these came from the city’s wealthy merchants and high officials.
“Eighty thousand shi of grain—enough to feed my army for three months.” Watching the supplies being loaded onto carts, Qin Xuan finally smiled.
“Your Grace, the Monkey wants to see you.”
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At that moment, Guo Huan suddenly reported.
Qin Xuan immediately ordered Guo Huan to bring the Monkey in, only to see the small figure followed by a ragged man.
“Your Grace,” the Monkey bowed deeply. The man behind him hesitated briefly, then also bowed.
The Monkey was a master recruited by Guan Xingsheng after founding the Xingyuan Escort Agency, thus not belonging to the Divine Strategy Army, which was why he referred to himself humbly.
Qin Xuan waved his hand, “No need for formalities. What business do you have with me?”
“Your Grace, this man is Zhao Hai, a courier. He overheard the stationmaster at the relay post mention that a combined force of one hundred and fifty thousand is heading to Wanlipu to ambush the Divine Strategy Army. He risked his life to come here overnight to report this.”
The Monkey had served as a scout and intelligence officer in the Escort Agency. His beggar informants had found this courier collapsed on the official road and rescued him.
Though Zhao Hai wore civilian clothes, calluses on his thumb and webbing between thumb and index finger identified him as a soldier, so the Monkey asked further questions.
Unexpectedly, this inquiry uncovered such earth-shattering intelligence.
Because the matter was grave, the Monkey dared not trust it lightly and brought the man to Qin Xuan.
“If you are a courier, why would you leak information to me?”
Qin Xuan was inwardly shocked but betrayed no emotion.
Zhao Hai’s face was smeared with dirt, his breath weak, but his eyes were resolute.
“I used to serve in the frontier army but, out of fear of death, found connections to return home to Qushui. Later, because I was an excellent horseman, I became a courier.”
“But I have never forgotten that two years ago, it was Your Highness who led us wine-drinking buffoons to win our first victory against the Hangu tribe in the northwest border.”
“Though I am cowardly and cling to life, I cannot bear to see someone plot harm against Your Grace and the Divine Strategy Army, for I know only you, Prince Chu, can bring a good life to us common folk.”
Tears welled and fell from Zhao Hai’s eyes, perhaps regretting his past cowardice.
Hearing this, Qin Xuan was slightly moved.
He first told the Monkey to take Zhao Hai away to eat something, then went with Zhuge Xuan, Zhao Luoying, Guo Huan, and others to the government office.
“Everyone, how much truth do you think is in Zhao Hai’s story?”
As a military commander, Qin Xuan could not easily trust a stranger.
“I observed that Zhao Hai’s thumb and webbing have calluses, and his gait shows a distinct outward splay, consistent with cavalry characteristics,” Zhuge Xuan pondered, then added, “But in such matters, it is better to believe than to doubt. I had previously considered that if there truly was an ambush by allied forces, the only troops the Great Qi Emperor could quickly dispatch would be the Northwest Army and Qingyun Army.”
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“Exactly,” Qin Xuan nodded. “The Northwest Army is closest to Qushui City, and because they have to fight the Mongols year-round, they have the most cavalry.”
“As for the Qingyun Army, they likely received orders to rush to the capital on the day we staged the palace coup. If the Great Qi Emperor acted swiftly to reroute them to Wanlipu, the timing would be perfect.”
“So, the courier’s information is true?” Zhao Luoying asked, somewhat surprised.
She could hardly imagine an emperor conspiring with foreign tribes to harm his own son. Had she known this, she would have pushed to purge the court from the start.
“It should be true.”
Qin Xuan confirmed, then said, “We must depart immediately tonight. Otherwise, we may face not an ambush, but an encounter battle.”
Guo Huan nodded, sighing, “This is luck—Monkey happened upon that courier.”
“Not quite!” Zhuge Xuan shook his head with a smile. “What we should truly be grateful for is Your Grace’s prior arrangements. If you had not decisively controlled all of Tianshan City and left fifty thousand Divine Strategy Army troops outside to confuse any scouts sent by the emperor, even with the courier’s warning, it might already be too late.”
Hearing this, Guo Huan nodded vigorously.
Indeed, if it had been another commander, he might still be quarreling with the city’s defenders.
But Qin Xuan was exceptionally decisive.
After being refused on the first day, he implemented a coordinated internal and external plan that night, then captured the city the next day.
This required absolute courage and resolve.
After taking the city, Qin Xuan’s arrangements were even more admirable.
He quickly took control of Tianshan City while continuing to create the illusion that the Divine Strategy Army was still blocked outside—these two moves were both indispensable.
Zhuge Xuan looked at the composed Qin Xuan, occasionally wondering if his presence as strategist truly made any difference to the outcome.