The Emperor glanced at the remaining palace maids and waved his hand, saying, "All of you, leave. Pretend you didn't hear anything I said."
"Yes, sir."
The palace maids prostrated themselves on the ground, their faces already pale with fright. The palace maid who had been dragged out and beaten to death for dropping her crown due to a trembling hand was actually being punished because they had overheard something they shouldn't have. That strategist named Zhuge Zhan had said so much in one breath, and these were things that absolutely could not be spread now. The Emperor killing one palace maid was simply a way of telling the others not to talk nonsense.
The palace maids quickly scrambled to their feet and retreated, not daring to even breathe.
The Emperor turned to Zhuge Zhan and asked, word by word, "Tell me the truth from beginning to end."
Zhuge Zhan straightened up slightly, his voice trembling as he spoke: "That night, I don't know how the Mongol cavalry appeared behind the Right Guard's defensive line, cutting in directly from the rear. How could a large army possibly defend its rear in the dead of night? The Right Guard's General, Yu Zhengdong, hastily assembled his troops to meet the attack, but at least two troop units of ten thousand enemy cavalry attacked from behind, and it was too late to stop them. Because the army had to deploy for hundreds of miles, news of the Right Guard's collapse didn't arrive until a day had passed."
"After General Pei learned of the Right Guard's defeat, he immediately dispatched several generals with 30,000 troops to its rescue. Before they even arrived, they encountered the routed central army. The 300,000-strong central army had also collapsed overnight… When asked what had happened, the routed central army soldiers said that the Mongol cavalry had also suddenly attacked from behind, and the army was caught completely off guard and their camps were breached." "Following closely behind, a massive Mongol army surged in like a tidal wave, numbering at least 200,000. Prince Xu and General Jin Shixiong led a counterattack, but due to the sudden night attack, the soldiers crumbled too quickly and ultimately failed to stop the enemy from breaching the camp."
"Prince Xu and General Jin Shixiong were also scattered. Prince Xu led a portion of his troops, running around trying to regroup the fleeing soldiers. But the Mongol cavalry was too fast; our...our infantry simply couldn't form ranks in time."
"Later, the 30,000 troops sent by General Pei didn't dare to advance rashly, but instead camped and sent someone back to consult the General. The General ordered a retreat to the main camp, then withdrew slowly to rescue Prince Xu. Just as the army set off, 60,000 Mongol cavalry from the Keqin Banner attacked. Most of our Left Guard troops were infantry, so we could only fight in formation. After holding out for a day, over 200,000 Mongol cavalry from the royal court arrived."
"By night, the western..." The border defenses were breached, and General Pei personally led his personal guards to charge. Later that night… I heard… I heard that General Pei was killed by a hail of arrows from enemy cavalry. The strategist Shi Le, seeing the situation was hopeless, refused to break through with his guards. He found me and asked me to lead troops to break through and return to Chang'an to report the news. The strategist himself organized the last men to investigate the general's fate… I tried to persuade him to go with me, but he said he had received the general's kindness and would live and die with him! When I led a few dozen riders out, the strategist and his men had also died in battle."
"My men and I dared not delay, riding eastward. I thought we would surely encounter the Sui army along the way. But all we saw were headless corpses, and every few miles we saw a pagoda made of the heads of Sui soldiers. My men and I traveled by night and hid by day, but we were still discovered by the Mongol cavalry. In the ensuing battle, only I escaped. Halfway there, I heard that Prince Xu was leading his remaining troops towards Qingxia." "After retreating, I hurried towards Qingxia to find Prince Xu… But when I arrived at Qingxia, I saw no troops of our Great Sui."
"Then I thought… Prince Xu's troops are mostly infantry, and the Manchu banners stretch for two thousand li. How could Prince Xu's troops possibly outrun the Mongol cavalry? Seven hundred thousand troops… All I saw along the way were headless corpses and towering pagodas of human heads."
"I waited in Qingxia for a day, but instead of seeing one of my own men, I saw the Mongol banners. I had no choice but to run back. When I passed Fangu, I intended to go in and warn the garrison to be on guard, but I was cautious and dared not approach easily. I secretly observed and discovered Mongol troops near Fangu. How could the Mongol troops have crossed Qingxia so quickly? I dared not linger, and remembering the strategist's instructions, I hurried eastward, arriving in Chang'an without delay."
After hearing this, the emperor's brows furrowed deeply. His face was pale; he clearly couldn't accept the news.
"Seven hundred thousand troops..."
He murmured, repeating, "My seven hundred thousand elite troops... just like that, gone?"
"What about Li Yuanshan?"
The Emperor suddenly asked, "Hearing all this, why didn't you mention General Li Yuanshan of the Right Valiant Guard! Is the Right Valiant Guard still around?"
Zhuge Zhan trembled slightly and kowtowed heavily: "Your Majesty... this is precisely why the strategist sent me back to Chang'an to report the news. Hasn't Your Majesty noticed the great defeat in the Northwest? Even if I rode back without delay, it would be far slower than sending a message by carrier pigeon... But Your Majesty doesn't know about the war in the Northwest... because someone has blocked the news. East of Langru Mountain, no one knows about the defeat. When I was in the Northwest, I didn't even dare go to the post stations! And the people are still talking about when we'll directly attack the Mongol Yuan court!"
"You..."
The Emperor swayed slightly, almost losing his balance. "Explain yourself!"
Zhuge Zhan raised his head, tears welling in his eyes: "The strategist suspects that the reason the Mongols were able to sneak up behind our army undetected is because Li Yuanshan colluded with the Mongol barbarians! Before our Left Guard relocated its troops, the strategist warned General Pei to be wary of the Right Valiant Guard. Unfortunately, the Right Valiant Guard's defense zone is furthest from our Left Guard's… The strategist and I have a good relationship, and he mentioned it several times… He said Li Yuanshan's Right Valiant Guard was acting strangely, but I didn't pay much attention at the time, thinking the strategist was just talking nonsense while drunk…"
"Li Yuanshan… Why!"
The emperor almost screamed, his voice filled with boundless anger and sorrow. In an instant, he suddenly understood why Zhuge Zhan said the people of the Northwest were unaware of the defeat, and why Zhuge Zhan didn't even dare to go to the post stations. The emperor's vision blurred, and he collapsed backward.
…
…
Less than fifty li from the capital region, there was a large mountain range. Beyond this mountain lies the jurisdiction of Gyeonggi Province. The dense forests within felt oppressive, the lack of green creating a bleak atmosphere. A group of raggedly dressed men in flying fish robes stumbled forward, clearly exhausted.
The last man in the flying fish robes collapsed, unable to rise again.
"The commander... he simply can't walk anymore. He was seriously injured last night,"
one of the men in flying fish robes said breathlessly to the one at the front.
The person at the front appeared petite, a woman. Her robes were tattered and stained with blood. Bandages were wrapped around her shoulders, indicating she too had been injured. Her face was filthy, devoid of its original color, and hadn't been washed in a long time.
This woman was Mu Xiaoyao.
Mu Xiaoyao walked back, examined the wounds of the fallen man in the flying fish robe, frowned slightly, and finally sighed, "Let him go; he can't be saved."
A centurion walked over with a pained expression, squatted down, and said, "Brother, I'm sorry." Then he plunged a knife into the flying fish robe's heart. The man stretched out his hand, swinging it back and forth as if trying to grab something. As the blade twisted in his heart, his hand fell limply to the ground.
"Thank you..."
The critically wounded flying fish robe murmured before dying, tears welling in his eyes.
"With him, we can't move fast. And leaving him behind would be even more painful if we fell into their hands."
As if to comfort the others, the centurion, his voice hoarse, said, "We're almost into the capital region. Once we're there, those chasing us won't dare to pursue us so closely. We can find the local officials, get the postal horses, and get back to Chang'an as quickly as possible. His Majesty doesn't know about the great defeat in the Northwest. If we don't get the news back soon, the three northwestern provinces... will all be lost."
Another man in a flying fish robe spat and cursed, "Li Yuanshan, Yuan Chongwu, Wu Peizhi, Yang Shanchen! I curse your ancestors! The thousands of miles of beautiful land of the Great Sui have been lost to these bastards! What benefits did the Mongols promise them? The governors of three provinces, a general, rebelling... The Great Sui has never suffered such humiliation in its hundred years of existence!"
"Some of them want to be emperor."
The centurion sighed. "When we first retreated from the Northwest, 700,000 troops and millions of laborers slaughtered across the land… When we reached the Fangu Pass, we saw that the defending forces were all Yuan Chongwu's county soldiers, blocking the roads and intercepting the army's supplies. At that time, Commander Qianhu said the Northwest was about to descend into chaos. Then we inadvertently stumbled upon Li Yuanshan's great secret… We thought we'd be safe once we reached the capital region, but who would have thought that most of our brothers wouldn't survive."
Mu Xiaoyao took a deep breath and glanced again at the already deceased Feiyupao: "Let's go, let's cross this mountain as soon as possible. Those pursuers are too close; we couldn't shake them off even when we tried to find post stations and government offices along the way. Yuan Chongwu's men have warhorses and have already set up positions outside the cities and post stations. It wasn't easy for us to escape here; we can't delay."
"Yes!"
The remaining six or seven Feiyupao soldiers responded, their eyes filled with respect as they looked at Mu Xiaoyao. Along the way, if Commander Qianhu hadn't foreseen so many ambushes, they might have been dead long ago.
As Mu Xiaoyao walked forward, she pondered the past.
Li Yuanshan and Yuan Chongwu's rebellion was based on that secret. They colluded with the Mongols to defeat the imperial army of 700,000, thus crippling the court's forces. Then, they would occupy thousands of miles of land in the Northwest, and the court, having lost its 700,000 troops, would be powerless to launch a counterattack!
The Northwest campaign was nothing more than a massive trap dug by Li Yuanshan and his associates because of the emperor's greed!
The imperial army marched into the Northwest, won a victory, and occupied Manduqi, causing jubilation throughout the Sui Dynasty. But this was all part of Li Yuanshan's plan. His goal was to destroy the Sui Dynasty's 700,000-strong army, allowing him to rebel in the Northwest without hindrance! Using the Mongols to eliminate the imperial forces—his calculations were too cunning. He had Yuan Chongwu and other governors as inside agents, but they couldn't handle the other garrisons stationed in the Northwest. And after this battle, the Northwest was left without soldiers! But without the emperor's greed, how could Li Yuanshan have succeeded?
Emperor…
You were so eager to expand your territory, yet you were unaware that you had been outmaneuvered by Li Yuanshan and his associates from the very beginning.
Mu Xiaoyao sighed softly. She had always thought the Sui Dynasty's rule was as solid as a mountain. She thought the Sui people were united, and the court was of one mind… Now it seemed she had been too naive. Men, driven by their dream of becoming emperor, would become as ferocious as wild beasts once the opportunity arose.
Li Yuanshan, in collusion with the Mongol cavalry, slaughtered the Sui forces in Manduqi, leaving corpses strewn across the battlefield. Almost no one escaped back to Wolf Milk Mountain.
The emperor's carefully woven dream had been shattered.
…
…
"Your Majesty…"
Su Buwei stepped forward to support the emperor, his heart tightening at the sight of the emperor's pale face. He could feel the emperor's emotions and understand his current pain.
"Adjust my crown."
The emperor pulled away from Su Buwei and pointed to the crown Su Buwei had picked up and placed aside: "I need to attend court."
At that moment, Su Buwei had a fleeting illusion that the emperor had aged decades in an instant.
Then he realized it wasn't an illusion.
The emperor's temples had turned white in an instant.