บท 23: The sparks of defiance
Ei Sei and Shin both looked at Zhao Yun with surprise. Ei Sei was thinking why would someone who was the right hand man of KouRyo would just vanish after his lord's death, show up in the mountain kings court. By the looks of it, it seemed he was acquainted with the mountain folks.
Zhao Yun smiled and bowed towards Ei Sei and spoke," It has been a long time your majesty. You have grown up well. I wish we met under better circumstances."
He then looked at Shin and asked," What are doing here Shin?"
Shin started to describe his journey forgetting he was tied up and in hostile territory, which made Zhao Yun chuckle.
The mountain King coughed to gain their attention and spoke," We have been already integrating with the northern people of Qin. KouRyu allowed us to live together with others without any prejudice and we swore to honour him by defending Qin. Since the young king has promised us to build a better world where people of all nations might co exist, I would like to see him delivering on that promise."
The mountain King then took off his mask and Shin and the others were shocked again seeing a beautiful woman underneath the mask. The mountain King turned out to be a woman, and a beautiful one! Zhao Yun bowed to her and spoke," My lady, I would like to accompany you on this journey. Afterall, it is my duty to guard you."
Ei Sei was surprised and asked," General Zhao Yun, why did you stay here all these years and served her after your lord's death? And why do say it's your duty to protect her?"
Zhao Yun smiled and replied," Because it was what my lord asked me to do. The mountain Queen Yotanwa is his wife afterall."
Everyone had another shock going through their brains as they processed the information. Nobody knew about this for so long, so the Northern Qin must be properly managed during these years.
Shoubunkun yelled," How could it be! There is no information about him getting married. With his reputation, it would be known all over. Even I didn't know anything and I served under Lady Kyou of the 6 greats who considered him as her younger brother!"
Zhao Yun sighed and spoke," We had to hide it as everyone was out for his head at that time. They could have used this as a leverage to get him. "
Ei Sei asked Zhao Yun," Is any of your colleagues here?"
Zhao Yun shook his head and replied," I'm afraid not. We all have our own paths to follow. Zhang Liao went to the borders to destroy the Xiongnu. Zhuge Liang is busy managing everything with KaRin assisting him. Lu Meng guards the gate of North and Han Xin went on his own. I was asked to be with my lady and travel through the lands once in a while to observe the situation. "
Ei sei frowned and spoke," For the last few years, northern Qin has become a separate entity almost. When I checked the information, there was nothing going on. Why did you all remove yourself from the Qin army? I heard the north was plagued by the Xiongnu constantly and they increased the attack recently, but knowing your capabilities, it shouldn't be an issue to help the other fronts."
Zhao Yun shrugged helplessly and replied," We are acting on the instructions left by our lord. He also predicted you might face some hardship once you come into power. He told me to tell you this, ' As long as you overcome this obstacles and secure your throne, We should pass you the decree left by your father. If you are still interested your previous dream, You would get there someday."
Shin interrupted at this point and asked," Who are you guys talking about Sei? Who is this KouRyu guy?"
Ei Sei sighed and spoke," He is by far the greatest general from Qin, one who had a military career for about 5 years only but the feats he accomplished were all considered impossible. He never lost a single war and was considered to be as talented as Hakuki, the leader of the 6 greats.
He was even offered to be new leader of Qin 6 greats but refused as he said ge was bored with meaningless wars. Then, he was assassinated by Zhao and Chu due to his overwhelming threat. The last few years Qin was relatively peaceful as he was still alive. But with his death last year, they are coming out of their shell."
Shin was amazed and yelled," wow, he must have been a great general and crazy strong. So Zhao Yun bro, you should be strong too if you were his right hand man."
Zhao Yun gave an amused smile as Sei sighed in annoyance and spoke," He could flatten you with a single blow. Zhao Yun is considered to be one of the, if not the strongest of the 10 spears of China and his archery skills are also comparable to his prowess with the spear. His famous white horse cavalry is one of the strongest in China, same as his other colleague Zhang Liao's Wolf cavalry."
Yotanwa smiled and spoke," Zilong is very strong indeed. He can beat any of the Mountain tribe warriors. But that's not we are here for. We should start preparing immediately to go to Kanyou and put an end to the rebellion. I'll just check up on little KouHaku before we leave."
Shin asked," who is KouHaku?"
Zhao Yun replied," that is the son of Lord KouRyu and lady Yotanwa, future king of the mountains."
Ei Sei was shocked again and muttered under his breath," So he had a son before he died. Nobody even knew about it."
Shoubunkun heard it and replied," Probably for the same reason he hid his marriage. He wanted to protect them. He was the hero of Qin after all."
After their conservation, everyone started preparing for their journey. The planned to use Yotanwa as a delegation to the court to get inside Kanyou and strike with a surprise attack. With the addition of Zhao Yun, they were more confident now of their success.
Changan, Great city of Shangjun
KouRyu PoV
It has been a boring 6 years. Nothing eventful going on. First two years went quick as I went to annex Shuofang and Wuwei. I have pacified and rebuilt the entire north. I have also built my own great wall ! This wall was almost 20 metres high on average and spans across the entire northern Qin.
This all was possible due to our victory over the Xiongnu. We rescued about half a million people and after some rehabilitation, they were settled here. All of them consider me their hero as I freed them from slavery. There were also people from Zhao and Yan there, but they all became Qin citizens.
I hated slavery so My first action was to liberate them after I took charge of Shangjun. My territory had a population of over 2 million now and due my ongoing projects, work was never limited. I can dare say that this can be a whole separate kingdom and a strong one at that.
But I don't want to deal with the hassle, so I'll just meet Ei Sei as soon as the battle of Shangyong (Sanyou) happens. My plan is to destroy the other kingdoms during the Coalition war. I prefer to get them in one go.
It seems Ei Sei went to Yotanwa for help against Sei Kyo few days ago. Since they have left, I'll go visit my son. We had a secret wedding 4 years ago. He will be 3 years old soon and I can spend some time with him now when I'm still free as soon I'll have to be off to conquer these lands.
Kanyou - Royal Palace
Sei kyo was relaxing on the throne with Chancellor Jie Shi and Shi Shi by his side. At that moment, a palace aide came and reported," Your highness, there is an envoy of about 500 people from the mountain folks with their king leading them. They are requesting an audience with the king. Should we allow them?"
Sei kyo gave a sneer and said, " those barbarian monkeys showed up to see me? How presumptuous! Send them away!"
Chancellor Jie Shi intervened and spoke," I think it would be wise to see them your majesty. They could prove to be a valuable asset against RyoFui. We can just give them some food and supplies for supporting us."
Sei Kyo wasn't convinced but Shi Shi intervened and said," Your majesty, we can allow them to have an audience but we must make sure they don't have any ill will. Their timing is rather suspicious."
Jie Shi scoffed and spoke," Those barbarians aren't clever enough for something like that. Even if they were, we have over 100,000 soldiers in Kanyou. What can they do with a meagre 500?"
Sei Kyo waved and spoke," You will take care of that then Jie Shi. I am tired and in no mood to entertain those fools."
They both nodded and went out to receive the envoy.
Yotanwa PoV
The capital was not bad, but rather disappointing. It was big and grand, but It pales in comparison to my husbands castle. Shangjun was bigger and more beautiful. Nobody can breach it as long as there is atleast 20,000 troops to defend it.
We arrived at the inner gate and a fat man called Jie Shi came to meet us. He told us only 100 of us would be allowed to enter. That's no problem, as long as we get inside, we'll slaughter the guards and open the gate.
For some reason, my husband told me about the brat Shin and to send him with a detached force along the youlong corridor, and we the rest will hold the royal guards here. Something about for the sake of plot.
I don't get him sometimes, but that's the man I fell in love with and whatever his plan is, he will not be putting me in danger. I gave the command to fight as soon as we entered through the gates and the rest went according to our plan.
Shin PoV
Man, this was crazy! There were enemies everywhere and we had only 500 people. They sent me and Heki bro with Bajio and Tajifu and some others to go to the court room through the corridor. The others were guarding our backs.
We went into the corridor and there was some guards here along with a strong guy called Zuoci. That guy was crazy strong and knocked me out for a while. When I came to my senses, he slashed Heki bro and Bajio.
I rejoined the fight as I must face strong opponents like him and beat them to grow stronger. If I can't even beat him, how would I ever become a great general! That Zhao Yun guy, and his master KouRyu, I want to be strong like them.
We fought for a while and finally I managed to deliver the killing blow to that Zuoci guy. I gave a satisfied smile as the guy fell down and my body also gave up. I forced myself to stay awake as our job isn't finished yet.
We rushed to the throne room where Ei Sei's brother was sitting. He was guarded by a huge guy called Rankai who was absolutely a monster. Bajio and Tajifu both teamed up and took him down and captured Sei Kyo.
I also saw Yotanwa and Zhao Yun coming to the throne room at that moment and I realized, we have won! I finally allowed myself to fall down as my vision darkened and my body gave up.
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