Chapter 58 - The War

No time for consulting and seeking opinions from the ministers, Yu Zhougong decides in haste. "Gather all of our soldiers and prepare for the battle!" He shouted while walking out of the main hall.

..............

All of the soldiers gather in front of the main hall. Yu Zhougong stands at the lowest step of the stairs. Infantries stand on the front and cavalries behind them.

"General, how many men we have right now?" Yu Zhougong asked the main general of the South Empire's army.

The general saluted, "We have about... 140,000 men."

Yu Zhougong's eyes widened. "Only 140,000?! Then, how many men Wu Empire has?"

The general lowers his head and hesitates to say. "A-About 150,000...or more..."

"Is this really all we have?! Where are the others?! We have more than 230,000 men how come we suddenly have 140,000 only?!"

The general once again hesitates to speak up. "Yes, we did have 230,000 men before but My Lord has sent 40,000 men to the State of Shu and they still haven't returned. Our 50,000 naval armies also have been defeated. So now, we're left with 140,000 men only."

Yu Zhougong was slightly flustered when the general mentioned his stupid act, which will affect their situation right now. But he won't admit his fault. "Why the troop from the State of Shu haven't returned yet?! How long they are going to take to defeat such a small country?! Didn't they report that they have managed to victory? Then, where are they now?!"

"They are on their way here but still it is going to take another day to reach here."

"Idiot! They thought they have won now they can be at ease, walk leisurely like they are going sightseeing?! All are useless!"

All the soldiers just lower their heads, listening to the regent's babbling. In their heart, all of them complaining that it was his fault for sending too many men to the State of Shu. They also didn't expect that whole naval forces were killed, leaving no one behind.

Yu Zhougong takes a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "Don't worry. We'll use the advantage of the surface of the mountain to attack them. We can sneak attack them at the cliff and kill as much as possible before they march further. General, send a carrier pigeon and ask those who went to the State of Shu to return as soon as possible if they don't want to die. And as for the Wu Empire, I hope you know what to do."

The general salutes, "Yes, My Lord!"

"Alright, now move."

After half of the soldiers have walked out of the palace main gate, Yu Zhougong turns around and went to the main hall. He tells all the ministers, including the young emperor of the current situation.

However, he didn't mention that the South Empire is currently at a disadvantage due to his mistake. He only mentioned that they'll launch a sneak attack on Wu Empire and soon soldiers from the State of Shu will join the battle.

But the young emperor doesn't think it will be that simple but he won't say it. Even if he told them, for sure those ministers won't believe him.

All the soldiers departed to the mountainous area. Yu Zhougong sent half of the remaining soldiers to the mountainous area, leaving around 70,000 soldiers and imperial guards to protect the palace.

The general has another opinion. Sneak attack at the mountainous area should be done by a few hundred soldiers only. They can just set a trap and let the nature do the work. Safety at the imperial palace and capital city is the most important, not preventing the enemy from approaching the palace, which the victory is still uncertain.

Yu Zhougong commanded all the soldiers left to surround the imperial palace and also at the main gate. The imperial guards were ordered to protect the young emperor, Empress Dowager and the ministers.

He stays at the main hall with some of the ministers to discuss about their next plan. The ministers who sided with him stay at the main hall, while the others who supported the young emperor return to their residence and be with their family.

The young emperor and the Empress Dowager stay in their own chamber with uneasy hearts. Both mother and son knew how ruthless and dangerous the Wu Empire's emperor in the battlefield. Not only that. The youngest Great General in history also added the possibility of the Wu Empire to win this battle.

But still, they hope, the Wu Empire's emperor will at least spared their lives. If they live, there might a chance for them to take back their country in the future.

Half-day passed and now it is wèi hours (1-2pm). As expected by the South Empire, Wu Empire has arrived at the mountainous area. If they walk past this area, they'll reach the border of the South Empire and in time they can attack the country.

Out of a sudden, Huang Fei Hong who leads the troop raises his right hand, commanded the troop to stop their tracks.

"What's wrong?" Wu Zhang Wei speaks almost like whispers.

"Seems like we have people welcoming our arrival," Huang Fei Hong smirks. He could feel the presence of thousands of men hiding behind the mountains and cliffs. Huang Fei Hong scans the area and he can predict what they are trying to do.

Huang Fei Hong whistles loudly two times. A group of archers immediately march to the front line.

"Aim to the cliff. Half on the left side and the others on the right side." All the archers load the arrows and pull their bows.

Huang Fei Hong whistles again and all of them remove their fingers from the strings and shoot the aimed area.

When the friable cliff is shot with thousands of arrows, the soil easily crumbles and caused landslides. The archers continue shooting until Huang Fei Hong whistles three times, meaning to wait for the next command and retrieve their arrows.

When the soil starts to crumble down, the people who hid behind the rocks at the cliff also accidentally fell down. Some of them tried to get away but the more they move, the faster the soil crumbles. Thus, even more of them died at the cliff.

The South Empire's general and the remaining soldiers who hid behind the mountain can only close their eyes and sigh in remorseful. The general didn't think the Wu Empire could detect their presence.

Now, he's full of admiration towards the Great General of Wu Empire.

Due to the landslide just now, the narrow way between two cliffs is now blocked. Wu Empire needs to take another route.

"Your Majesty, you want to attack them or wait for their attack?" Huang Fei Hong asked leisurely like they're choosing whether to choose meat dumpling or vegetable dumpling at the restaurant.

"Now Zhen is getting nearer to my wife, you think Zhen could wait for any more longer?" Wu Zhang Wei side glance at Huang Fei Hong.

The Great General faintly smiles. He also doesn't want to waste any more time and wished to return to his beloved and their baby as soon as possible.

Huang Fei Hong commanded Team 2, which consists of infantries and cavalries with spears to clear the way for them. The cavalries in Team 2 galloping their horses and take the lead followed by the infantries of Team 2.

As expected, as soon as they passed behind the mountain, the South Empire's soldiers have been waiting for them. Without any delay, Team 2 starts their attack.

South Empire currently has less than 140,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, Team 2 consists of 100,000 soldiers. But the smaller group of soldiers barely faced any difficulties to defeat the large group of soldiers who already have none of the spirits to fight left.

After a burn of two joss sticks (about 80 minutes), South Empire was left with a quarter of the original number of soldiers. Even the general and who were left behind are in bad conditions. However, Wu Empire also lost a lot of men but not as much as the opposite party.

Huang Fei Hong who watched them from afar raises his hand and motion it forward. Huang Fei Hong, Wu Zhang Wei and Team 1 approaching the battlefield.

South Empire's general who saw the incoming group, the hand that's holding the sword is slightly trembling. He could barely hold on. If more people joining, they're literally finished.

Even so, South Empire was surprised when the new group of the Wu Empire just marched past them without joining the battle. After a minute of shock, the general just realize that the other group is heading towards the capital city.

No matter how pitiful his condition is, he wanted to protect his country. The general immediately shouts, "Don't let them pass!"

The South Empire's soldiers obeyed the command. They hated the regent for making a stupid decision, thus causing their state to drop this low. But, they respect and admire their general who never knew the meaning of giving up.

The South Empire's soldiers run to block the passageway and prevent the Wu Empire from reaching the imperial palace.

Huang Fei Hong unsheathes his sword and holding it up with the tip facing downward. It means, do not kill, just injured them. Team 1 soldiers who understood the sign, avoided from hitting vital parts of the South Empire's soldiers who attacked them.

In a flash, Wu Zhang Wei, Huang Fei Hong and Team 1 passed the battlefield with no difficulties. The South Empire's general is having severe injuries. He slumps down and knelt on the ground. Piercing the sword into the soil to support his body.

The South Empire's soldiers saw this and their solely motivating force has broken down, they unwillingly put down their swords and kneel. This shows they are raising the white flag.

The leader of Team 2 raises his sword and the other soldiers followed. They have won. Now, they just need to wait for the good news from the other group.

.................

In the main hall of the South Empire imperial palace, Yu Zhougong's face turned grave. They have lost the naval army. The condition of troops from the State of Shu is still unknown. Even victory for the sneak attack plan cannot be promised.

Yu Zhougong suddenly remembered about Yu Chenyi. Yu Chenyi supposedly told him about Wu Empire's attack but why there is no news from him at all. And deep down in his heart, he felt that he was fooled by Yu Chenyi's letter.

Breaking the silence, the commander of imperial guards clears his throat. "My Lord, if I'm not mistaken, we still have the former empress of Wu Empire in our palace, am I right? Can't we use him as collateral?"

Yu Zhougong's eyes lit and he stares at the commander intently. "What do you mean? Do you want me to return MY FUTURE EMPRESS to them? Is that what you wanted to say?" Yu Zhougong stressed on the 'future empress' and his tone is not that friendly, showing he doesn't agree with the suggestion.

The commander immediately folds his hands to the front and bows, "Pardon, My Lord! T- This is just a suggestion. They might come to take their empress back. If we give them, they might retreat. In our current condition, it will be hard for us to win against them. We have lost- !"

"Silence!" Yu Zhougong slams the table using his fist.

All the ministers shut their mouths tightly. But they still feel dissatisfied with the regent's reaction. They are all worried about their safety but the old regent still cares about the ger.

Yu Zhougong's eunuch noticed the grim expressions of all ministers. He musters up his courage and tried to reason with his master. "My Lord, Lord Commander didn't mean it like that. What he meant was we only use the former empress to threaten Wu Empire and force them to halt their attack. If they didn't return to their country right away, we'll kill the former empress, BUT not for real. Just a pretend to buy us some time until the army from the State of Shu arrived. After they have arrived, we can think of a plan to counterattack them."

The commander who spoke his opinion just now meant differently. He wanted to get rid of the former empress as he thought that ger was the reason for the problem raised non-stop. But what the eunuch's said is acceptable. As long as they can get rid of Wu Empire, the intention to finish off the former empress can be held.

"Y- Yes... My Lord. That's what I meant. We just need to show them that we might really kill the former empress if they didn't pull their army. It's not like we'll hurt him for real." The commander added.

Yu Zhougong rubs his chin and hums.

"If we managed to hold their attack for another day, our current soldiers added up with the one who just came back, we'll at least have 110,000. That's enough to face them. Plus, that Wu bastard must be lost more people at the cliff." Yu Zhougong nods and hums in satisfaction.

"Alright. We'll do that. Commander, that's quite a brilliant idea!" Yu Zhougong smiles widely.

The commander's lips curved stiffly. He glanced at the eunuch and lightly nods, as a thank you. The eunuch returns the nod.

The meeting was dismissed and all the ministers return to their chamber to hide from the bloody war. Yu Zhougong immediately heads to the Daxing Palace.

Before he entered the chamber, he asked the servant to bring a lot of snacks and tea for two people. He at least needs to feed the person who is going to be a big help to him later on.

Yu Zhougong pushed open the door for the hidden chamber and saw Xiu Ying is walking back and forth inside the chamber. Xiu Ying jolted when the door was suddenly pulled open and the person behind the door is the smiling old geezer.

"Worried for that person?" He asked sarcastically.

"Then you think I'm gonna worried for you? Ha. Can't you see I was shocked to see you're still alive right now." Xiu Ying smirks.

Yu Zhougong's eye twitched. The smiles ceased but immediately to its previous state.

"Well, say what you want. For now, join me for a snack." Without waiting for an answer, Yu Zhougong pulls Xiu Ying's wrist and brings him to the dining table inside the chamber.

Two servants came with a tray of chamomile tea and another tray full of desserts. Xiu Ying looks between the dessert and the old geezer in front of him.

"What's the meaning of this? Are you that confident to win the battle until you have time for snacks?"

Yu Zhougong ignores Xiu Ying's question and continues pouring the tea for Xiu Ying and himself. He also picks each type of dessert and puts it on Xiu Ying's plate. But Xiu Ying won't drink or eat.

"Eat up. You might need a lot of energy later on."

Xiu Ying squints. "What do you mean?"

"Who knows, South Empire might win this battle. And to commemorate our victory, we could stay up all night...till the dawn...just the two of us..."

Xiu Ying grips his robe tightly until his hand trembles under the table. He staring dagger at the old man.

"Don't look at me like that. It only turns me on more."

Xiu Ying immediately throws his face to another side. After a while, Xiu Ying takes a deep breath. He secretly slips his right hand into his left sleeves. Then, he picks up the mung bean cake and brings it to his lips.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Yu Zhougong flinched. Xiu Ying suddenly choked and coughed. Yu Zhougong rise from his seat and taps on Xiu Ying's back.

Xiu Ying puts back the mung bean cake into the plate. "Did your kitchen people lost their taste buds? How can they make a salty cake?!"

Yu Zhougong picks up the cake and tastes it. "It tastes...fine."

Xiu Ying shoves the cake he ate, "Then, why would this one tastes so salty?"

Yu Zhougong tried to taste it and his face scrunched up and frowns. "Anyone out there?!" He shouted. One of the servants who sent the meal entered the room.

"Yes, My Lord."

Yu Zhougong shoves the cake in his hand into the servant's mouth. "Taste this! Does this taste good to you?!"

The servant wants to get rid of the salty cake in his mouth but she can only swallow it in front of the regent. She trembles and slowly shakes her head.

"Take all these back and bring me new ones!" Without wasting time, the servant did as she was told.

Yu Zhougong returns to his seat and pours himself a full cup of tea. He gulps down in an instant and pours another cup to soothe his thirst. He didn't know when he handled the servant just now, Xiu Ying slipped something in his cup.

Without being noticed, Xiu Ying's lips curved slightly.