Chapter 135

The clouds drifted across the sky, shadowing the buildings below it. A carriage moved in the distance, leaving behind trails of dust.

“Your Highness,” a man dressed in blue walked up the hill with a heavy expression. In a low voice, he said, “Something happened during the court session in the morning. Please go and take a look.”

Li Ce turned around, his expression no longer calm and warm. He frowned and replied, “What happened?”

Sun Di’s expression was serious too. Frowning tightly, he said, “Something happened to the princess of Xia.”

Many years later, there was a revelation in the historical records of West Meng. On the third day of the ninth month, the eighth princess of Xia, Zhao Chun, was raped outside the palace of Tang. The culprit, before he died, swore allegiance to Yan Bei’s Da Tong Guild, causing an uproar in the countries of Xia and Tang. In that instant, they were united for one cause—to destroy Yan Bei.

The Tang officials stood in the grand palace. The Tang Emperor, Li Yizhou, sat atop his golden throne. His actual age was about 50-years-old, but he appeared much older. His hair was white and he was full of wrinkles. His eyes no longer carried the aura of sharpness of hostility that it possessed during his younger days. Now, it was like a deep well, like a blank stare, reflecting the stares that flew toward him.

An official of over 70 years old knelt on the ground and declared, “How audacious of Yan Bei. They do not respect the Tang Empire and try to sow discord between us and the eastern regions. If we do not punish them harshly, where will our national pride be? How are we going to deter others with our military? How will we maintain our foothold over West Meng, over the three main empires?”

Upon hearing these words, the other officials agreed, except one young official who stepped up and said with sincerity, “The war between Xia and Yan Bei is imminent. I think that we should not interfere rashly.”

The elder official was enraged and said, “Xue Changling! You claim that it is not in our benefit! What motives do you have? Our empire has not suffered such great humiliation in thousands of years! Once the news circulates within the mainland, how will we maintain our foothold? You are favored towards Yan Bei. Do you have any illegal dealings with Yan Bei that you cannot reveal?”

“Your Majesty!” a loud cry echoed. Another white-bearded official shouted, “This is an unprecedented humiliation! When our ancestors built the empire thousands of years ago, they placed their emphasis on the values of law and order! Towards justice and equality! This has been the basis of leadership since we claimed to be the leader of the three countries! We have not been humiliated like this before! Once the news gets out, our dignity will be lost! It’s a disgrace to our empire!”

Xue Changling took a step forward and said with conviction, “Your Majesty, this issue regarding the princess of Xia is dubious. We cannot depend solely on the stories of the Xia officials and interfere in their internal conflicts!”

“How audacious! Traitor! How dare you spout nonsense in the royal palace! Do you know how important the status of a princess is? She has already been examined by the palace! The eighth princess of Xia has just formed a union of marriage with us! However, she has been humiliated on our territory, within the royal capital! We cannot deny these facts! If we do not answer to Xia properly, how will we resolve this issue? Based on your darned words? That the issue is dubious?”

“Elder Luo! I did not say that we should not look into this issue seriously. I’m just afraid that we will fall into a trap if we are too rash!”

“Trap?” General Qi sneered. “What trap? The trap is that Yan Bei fears the alliance between us and Xia! They want to break it up!”

“I don’t rule out this possibility, but we can’t discount other possibilities too. If it was really done by Yan Bei, why would he reveal their identity before he died? How would Yan Bei benefit from this by using such a tactic?”

Elder Luo sneered and retorted, “The people from Da Tong are lunatics. How could we treat them as rational?”

Another junior general beside General Qi echoed, “They want to deceive us and make us think that they are using a scapegoat. See, Elder Xue, aren’t you thinking too much?”

Xue Changling bellowed, “These are matters involving the state! We have to consider it thoroughly! How can we jump to conclusions based on irrational statements? I’m an official and I represent the court. I have to consider all matters thoroughly!”

“Is it? I feel that you have considered it thoroughly already. Any more and the troops of Xia will be invading us!”

“General Xu, you…”

“Your Majesty! 30,000 troops from the North Camp are waiting! We are willing to fight for our country!”

“Your Majesty! We need to kill them! Please give the order! My knife has become rusty from not fighting all these years!”

“Your Majesty! Please grant us permission to start this battle!”

The Tang officials knelt on the ground, leaving only Xue Changling standing alone. The young official was enraged but did not say anything.

At this instant, a sound of laughter erupted from outside the palace, causing everyone to turn back and look. Li Ce was dressed in a green outfit, wearing a crown on his head and a jade belt around his waist. His eyes looked like a fox. He laughed and walked up the palace, saying nonchalantly, “It’s crowded today. Even Elder Liu is here. Are there any new happenings? Did the western regions deliver a precious horse, or did the southern regions deliver a new beauty?”

The crowd parted into two like a body of water. Li Ce, escorted by Sun Di, made his way across the crowd and knelt on the ground. “I woke up late. My respects to Father.”

“Mmm,” the old voice boomed out. The Tang Emperor said, “Do you know what has happened here?”

“Here? Oh!” Li Ce realized the situation, becoming enraged. He stood up and shouted, “They are bullies! I’m here for this matter!”

The officials were initially fearful of the prince’s antics. However, hearing his words, they felt a surge of joy and added, “Yes! They are bullies! Crown Prince is right!”

Li Ce nodded his head in anger, saying, “The Xia Empire has delivered two princesses. Both are not faithful, making me a big cuckold! Ridiculous! Father, I think that Xia is not sincere towards the union by marriage. I think we should chase their princess away. I think the eldest princess of the Song Empire is not bad. I hear she has a sister, who is a beauty too…”

The crowd of officials were shocked. Elder Liu took a few steps forward, knelt on the ground and pleaded, “Your Highness, this is not feasible!”

Li Ce turned back and frowned, saying, “Oh? Why not?”

“The Xia Empire sent two princesses over, which shows their sincerity. However, the second one has been humiliated in our territory. If we do not hold Yan Bei responsible, fingers will be pointed at us. We will be scolded and despised. The real fault lies with the rebels of Yan Bei, not the princess of Xia. Your Highness, please look into this.”

Li Ce frowned lightly and replied, “Oh, you make sense too.”

Elder Liu wiped the cold sweat off his face, heaving a sigh of relief. “Your Highness is wise.”

Li Ce said, “Father, my future bride has been humiliated by the people of Yan Bei. Although I am incapable, I cannot sit back and watch my woman get bullied. Father, please dispatch troops towards Yan Bei. I am willing to lead them personally to exterminate Yan Bei!”

The entire court cheered upon hearing these words. The officials looked at each other in joy, unable to suppress their emotions. Although the prince had been playful all these years, he demonstrated the judgment of a leader at the critical moment. The Tang Empire should have been run this way!

“Also, Father, I have another small request.”

The Tang Emperor frowned, not saying a word, hinting for him to carry on.

Li Ce stood on the palace floor in his grand outfit. With a loud voice, he declared, “Since the eighth princess has been betrothed to me, she will be part of our empire. I hope that you can reject the Xia Empire’s gesture to deploy their troops jointly. Yan Bei is but a small, insignificant place. I just need 100,000 elite troops to capture Yan Xun alive and exterminate the entire Yan Bei!”

Everyone was shocked upon hearing Li Ce’s words. Before they had time to react, Li Ce continued his barrage of words.

“Also, we have to pass by Xia territory during our journey to Yan Bei. It is a long journey. I remember that the furthest our troops have been was to Zhen Huang. We mobilized 300,000 troops and 2,000,000 conscripts back then. However, the strength of our troops presently is less than half of what we had back then, but the journey is longer. Hence, I need the Military Department to gather an additional 3,000,000 conscripts, 200,000 warhorses, 200,000 sets of armor for them, and also winter wear, physicians, medicines and straw for the horses. As for the Rations Department, I need 15,000,000 kilograms to be distributed amongst the troops.”

The head scholar of the Military Department, Qiu Shihai, was dumbfounded. He jumped up and explained, “Your Highness, this is my opinion. Yan Bei is a traitor of the Xia Empire. The reason behind the war is the Xia princess. The Xia Empire should provide their own troops to help us, and they should form the main force. Although we are sending out troops too, we should only be their supporting force. The Xia Empire should provide us with rations and other military equipment.”

Li Ce smiled and turned around, saying, “Oh? Elder Qiu, didn’t you call out loud for national pride and the country’s harmony just now? I am the crown prince of Tang. I have been made a cuckold, but despite this, I still have to depend on other people to seek justice? Elder Liu is right. We have not been humiliated like this for thousands of years. Who cares about the past times where Xia defeated us and took our lands? Even the time when they took Hongchuan from us? The bandits in the north are too much. If we don’t teach them a lesson, they will not know who’s boss. I believe that the generals here think the same way I do, wanting to conquer Yan Bei but hiding behind the Xia troops like cowards. Also, the Xia Empire has just been through a period of conflict. It can barely support itself, having to buy rations from us. How would they provide us with rations then?”

Li Ce stood on the platform, smiling. The generals, who had been so boisterous earlier on, were dumbfounded. They looked at each other, not daring to speak up.

“I heard that Yan Bei has a big army. Yan Xun has experience too. Back then, he managed to win over the Southwest Emissary’s garrison all alone, claiming victory over Zhen Huang City, which we have not managed to do over hundreds of years, with 300,000 troops. He forced the Xia royals to flee the capital for the first time in 300 years and rampaged his way back to Yan Bei. The border troops in the northwest and the various feudal lords could not stop him, earning him the title of Yan Bei’s Lion King.

“We have not experienced war in many years, other than the troops at the border in the south. Majority of those troops who have seen blood are already over sixty years old. The army is in shambles right now. Many of their weapons are rusty. However, I believe that as long as we are united, we will traverse over the entire territory of Xia, killing anyone that gets in our way,” Li Ce said while walking along the platform, his mood becoming more joyful as he spoke. “After all, everybody has witnessed it. Our soldiers march in sync during our annual parades, giving off sharp war cries. Even though they have not killed anyone before, most of them have slaughtered chickens. Also, they are adept at starting fights out of jealousy in the brothel. Their combat experience is sufficient. The troops in Shang Wu Hall are mostly young and handsome. Most of the officials’ sons and grandsons are in there. These people are the assets of our empire!

“Although these lads have not been on the battlefield; they probably have not even killed a chicken before, but I feel that they are ready for battle. Their war cries are sharp. I feel that I can have them by my side. With some training on the battlefield, they will turn into an elite army! Also, we have a lot of treasures that Yan Bei doesn’t. Although I know that Bian Cang, Xi Rui and Wu Daoya from Yan Bei are adept in military warfare, often able to defeat larger armies while remaining unscathed. However, we, the Tang Empire, will not be scared of them. They are young. We have older generals like Old General Dou and Old General Bai, who are experienced. They have life experiences and strategic brains which are unrivaled. As long as they helm our troops, I guarantee that the enemy will be defeated in no time.

“Oh right, Old General Dou, I saw your dentures at the door when I came just now. I heard that you suffered a stroke a few days ago. Are your teeth okay? No worries, I will get someone to make you a new set.”