EWRN - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Burning, Killing, and Looting

Although Hou Yuwen was the commander of the Northern Garrison Army, the military camp was still divided into different factions. Several of the vice generals had their own trusted subordinates; the Northern Garrison Army on the northwestern border was, in truth, a collection of its own small cliques.

And now, Second Prince Huo Jinye and Young General Hou planned to use the opportunity of their alliance with the Wu Clan to eliminate them all in one fell swoop.

Inside Vice General Zhang's tent.

"Young General Hou, you honor me with your visit. Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you," Vice General Zhang said with an amiable smile, quickly ushering Young General Hou Yuwen into the tent.

"Young General Hou, please have some tea. This is fine tea from Jiangnan, sent by a good friend of mine," Vice General Zhang said, pouring tea for Hou Yuwen with an obsequious smile.

"Vice General Zhang, this general has come today to discuss a matter of great importance." Hou Yuwen blew on the tea foam, took a light sip, and said, "Today, let's put our cards on the table. If you are willing to follow me and accomplish something great, this general will naturally not treat you poorly. I have only one request: be loyal to me. Or rather, be loyal to the Second Prince." After speaking, Hou Yuwen released his imposing aura, sitting firmly in the main seat as he watched Vice General Zhang.

Upon hearing this, Vice General Zhang's smile vanished, though his expression remained cordial, showing no hint of anger. "What is Young General Hou saying? Although our ranks are different, are we not all loyal to the Emperor? Young General Hou should not jest." As he finished, Vice General Zhang revealed his own aura as a vice general. After all, he had fought and killed on the battlefield. His presence was not the least bit inferior to Hou Yuwen's; in fact, it threatened to overwhelm it.

Hou Yuwen slammed the teacup down on the table with a thud. "Vice General Zhang, have you thought this through?" he demanded sharply.

Vice General Zhang was unafraid, still speaking in that same cordial tone. "Young General Hou exaggerates." He smiled with narrowed eyes, paying Hou Yuwen's words no mind at all.

Hou Yuwen's gaze darkened, but he said no more. He stood up, flicked non-existent dust from his sleeves, and walked toward the tent's entrance. "Vice General Zhang, I shall take my leave."

Vice General Zhang watched Hou Yuwen leave his tent, pursed his lips, and turned back inside. Outside, with his back to the tent, Young General Hou's face was twisted into a vicious expression. He muttered, "Damned old man. I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. Don't blame me for being ruthless! Hmph!"

Hou Yuwen had guaranteed to Huo Jinye that he would persuade these generals to submit to him, so he naturally had to make several personal visits.

He spent two full days visiting the tents of several generals. He had thought that a combination of threats and inducements would surely win some of them over, but to his surprise, only Vice General Wang expressed a willingness to submit. The other vice generals had all mercilessly rejected his offer.

Both Huo Jinye and Hou Yuwen were incensed. They were truly a bunch of stubborn old fools, so pedantic. All day long it was that bullshit Emperor. Wasn't it just because he himself lacked the title of a prince that others looked down on him everywhere he went?

Hmph, soon, all these people who looked down on him would be going to see King Yama! Huo Jinye thought, inwardly thrilled.

---

Two days later, at night.

Not far from the gates of Muxiu City, a thousand men in black camouflage, carrying weapons, cautiously approached the city walls.

The leader, the Wu Clan Chieftain, lit a small fire-starter. The faint glow illuminated a blueprint in his hand, yet it was not conspicuous in the vast darkness.

This was the very defensive map of the five cities that Huo Jinye had sent him two days prior!

A wide grin spread across the Wu Clan Chieftain's lips. He made a few hand signals to the men behind him, and the thousand-strong army split into several groups, advancing toward the city under the cover of night.

On the walls of Muxiu City, a few soldiers stood scattered about. Several corners of the wall were unlit by torches. In the pitch-black darkness, several scaling ladders were quietly placed against sections of the wall where no soldiers patrolled. Northern Kingdom soldiers clad in black swarmed up the walls. In the distance, a Muxiu City guard approached with a torch. Before he could get close, a Northern Kingdom soldier shot an arrow through his throat. He fell to the ground without even a cry. The clatter of the falling torch alerted the other guards, but it was too late.

Fighting erupted on the walls. The defending soldiers let out high-pitched, panicked screams, drawing the attention of the soldiers below. But several days earlier, Huo Jinye, using his authority as the Second Prince, had already transferred most of the soldiers away. He had also assigned one of the generals who refused to submit to Muxiu City, planning to use this opportunity to eliminate a future threat.

Due to the lack of troops, the city gate was quickly seized by the Northern Kingdom soldiers. The Great Yuan vice general heard the sounds of battle coming from the direction of the gate, the sky lit by flames. His heart sank. He hastily donned his armor, grabbed his long spear, and ran outside.

But it was too late. The city gate had been opened from the inside. Thousands of Northern Kingdom soldiers and commoners charged into the city, shouting and screaming. Behind them followed horse-drawn carts of all sizes, used for hauling goods, storming into Muxiu City in a mighty procession.

There was still a night market in the city. Upon hearing the sounds of battle, the people scattered like birds and beasts, rushing back to their homes and bolting their doors. The brightly lit streets now served to guide the invading Northern Kingdom forces.

As the Northern Kingdom soldiers poured into the city, their hearts leaped with joy. The Wu Clan Chieftain hadn't lied to them! To have breached the city so easily was something none of them had expected! It was as if the city had opened its arms to welcome them.

The people of Muxiu City, citizens of the Great Yuan Kingdom, shivered in their homes, praying that the defending soldiers could drive away the invaders. They never would have imagined that they had long been abandoned by Huo Jinye.

The vice general charged out of the government office with his spear, only to be met with the sight of a vast horde of Northern Kingdom soldiers rampaging through the city, their war cries echoing in the distance. He felt a mouthful of old blood rise in his throat, ready to be spat out. He tightened his grip on his long spear, resolving to lay down his life here tonight, to share the fate of Muxiu City.

Just as the vice general was about to charge forward, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. His vision went black, and he fainted.

The Northern Kingdom soldiers ran amok in the city, kicking down door after door and swarming inside. They snatched and grabbed, kicking aside or outright killing any Great Yuan citizens who tried to stop them. They were no different from bandits!

Some Northern Kingdom soldiers, their eyes red with greed, set fire to the houses of the Great Yuan citizens.

For a time, the city was filled with endless cries of grief and wails of agony.

The pillaging and slaughter lasted the entire night. Just as the sky began to lighten, the sound of hoofbeats, "da-da-da," echoed from outside the city gates. Dust billowed from the earth. Reinforcements had arrived, and leading them at the very front was none other than the Second Prince, Huo Jinye.

The Northern Kingdom forces outside the city sounded the retreat. The cargo carts, their wheels rumbling, emerged from the city laden with plundered goods and sped back toward the Northern Kingdom.

Huo Jinye led his men in a feigned attack. The two sides pretended to clash briefly, then the Northern Kingdom forces acted as if they were being defeated, fighting as they retreated, and finally "fled."

In this battle, Huo Jinye achieved a "great victory." He placed the blame for failing to defend the city on the newly transferred commanding general, while he himself earned immense military merit. He was exceedingly pleased.

Over the course of the next month, five sizable cities on the Great Yuan's northern border successively fell victim to the Wu Clan's vicious attacks. Every single defending general was charged with treason. Huo Jinye's reasoning was this: if the generals had not committed treason, how could the Northern Kingdom have known the defenses of the Great Yuan's border cities so clearly? It must be that the generals had colluded with the enemy.

During that month, the people in several cities along the northwestern border of the Great Yuan Kingdom lived in misery. The Northern Kingdom forces pillaged, burned, and slaughtered wantonly, staining the land red with blood.

The common people were foolish. They only knew that it was Huo Jinye who had led his troops to drive away the Northern Kingdom forces. They only believed that the defending generals had truly colluded with the enemy, betraying the citizens of Great Yuan. Miraculously, Huo Jinye's reputation on the border began to improve.

Two of the defending generals were dealt with by military law. The other three vanished without a trace, neither seen alive nor their bodies found. They were declared deserters, stripped of all official ranks, and branded as criminals.

While Huo Jinye was in the city, emotionally consoling the Great Yuan citizens who had suffered this unwarranted disaster because of him, in a room elsewhere, three generals, having shed their military armor, gathered with grim expressions.

When they awoke, they found themselves locked in this room. They had nothing on them but their plain clothes—no identity tokens, and none of the weapons and armor that a warrior never parts with.

They didn't know how many days they had been in the room. Someone brought them food and water every day, so their living conditions were tolerable, but they had no freedom. They assumed they had been placed under house arrest by Huo Jinye and Young General Hou. After waking up, they had talked and discovered that they had all met with Young General Hou and had all refused to follow him. They figured this was Young General Hou's revenge. Perhaps, after they were well-fed, what awaited them outside was execution on some pretext.

With the mindset of eating and drinking while waiting for death, the three of them passed an unknown number of days. Finally, they received their first visitor.

With a creak, the door opened from the outside, and a tall man in black walked in.

"The three generals must be getting impatient, I presume?" The newcomer stood backlit by the light from the door. "Today, I have come to let you out."

"Let us out? Is Young General Hou no longer pursuing matters with us?" Vice General Zhang was the first to speak. He didn't believe the vengeful Young General Hou would let them go so easily.

"Heh, Young General Hou? You mean Grand Commandant Hou? Saving you was the Emperor's decree. It has nothing to do with that rebellious Grand Commandant Hou," the man in black sneered, his voice dripping with contempt for Hou Yuwen.

"The Emperor's decree? Saving us? What do you mean?" another general asked, confused. Hadn't they been imprisoned by Hou Yuwen?

"Heh, did you really think Grand Commandant Hou would provide you with such good food and drink? Go out and see for yourselves. Find out what has really been happening outside. Of course, first you'll have to change your appearance. You're too conspicuous as you are." The man in black clapped his hands, and several guards in black entered, carrying piles of items.

After a thorough makeover—shaving their thick beards, trimming their eyebrows, washing their faces, and changing into brocade robes—the three men looked like handsome young masters! They concealed their sharp, martial auras, each selected a fan, and with a flick of their wrists, the fans opened. A gentle breeze stirred the strands of hair framing their faces, giving them an air of effortless grace.

The three men looked at each other, all astonished. They never knew they could have such a peerless, scholarly side to them.

"Taverns and brothels are excellent places to gather intelligence. I wish you a pleasant journey," the man in black said in a flippant tone. "As for why the Northern Kingdom attacked just as you were transferred to your posts, I trust the three of you are not fools and can figure it out. I hope we can meet here again in three days. The Emperor did not go to such great lengths to save you just for you to throw your lives away."

Seeing that the man in black had spoken so plainly and had done so much for them, the three generals were more or less convinced.

One by one, they walked out of the room and headed outside. Suddenly, Vice General Zhang remembered something and turned back. "Do you have anything to prove your identity…"

But in those few moments, the room behind him had become completely empty. Only the wind blew through the vacant space. A chill ran down Vice General Zhang's back, and he broke out in a cold sweat. These people possessed formidable martial arts skills!

With complicated feelings, the three generals left the courtyard and walked out onto the street.

Back in the courtyard, behind a rockery, the man in black clutched his chest and let out a long sigh of relief, cheering inwardly: Heh! Nailed the cool-guy act!

The crowd of black-clad guards: … Was it really necessary to use your lightness skill just to act cool?

The man in black turned his head, pretending not to see their stares, as if he wasn't the one who had almost fallen off the rockery just now.

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