章節 447: Siege on the Quiton Gates (2)
"I've calmed the Jian Family's army for now, so could you care to explain what Her Highness meant, Unit Commander Haea?" General Tang asked.
The various officers and generals had returned to the meeting room with tense expressions. It had been three hours since Princess Ming's appearance and the Alzar Kingdom had yet to attack as she promised. However, the news of her survival and what she said brought great shock to the entire army. After all, the princess was publicly condemning the Imperial Council! The significance of this could not be understated. The Imperial Council was the second most powerful governing body in the Xingyuu Empire, right underneath the Imperial Family. The crimes that the princess claimed they committed would constitute treason of the highest order. It would be enough to put their nine generations to death! It would be the greatest scandal in history! General Tang and the other generals spent a lot of time and energy to placate their soldiers through lousy excuses, but their suspicions remained. Unit Commander Haea and the Imperial Council seemed to hide more than they let on.
"What do you want to know?"
"Is what Her Highness said true? That the Imperial Council did everything Her Highness said?"
"You're being fooled. They're clearly forcing Her Highness to sow discord between us."
"Except you didn't tell us the truth about the Featherwind Sect," General Songlin chimed in. "The destruction of Liguang wasn't caused by the Alzar Kingdom, was it? It was caused by the Featherwind Sect under the Imperial Council's orders."
"What nonsense!" Unit Commander Haea hissed. She never expected the truth could be exposed by this rascal!
"Prior to the Battle of Liguang, you deployed the Phoenix, Kun, and Qilin Divisions into the Samfeng Province and they never returned. Meanwhile, the Sword King appeared months later in the Yunyun Stronghold which leaves the Featherwind Sect. They're the only ones that could destroy Liguang."
"General Songlin, this is unlike you. We're currently working against the Alzar Kingdom, and you're trying to sow discord. Do you have an ulterior motive?" Unit Commander Duan replied. "Don't tell me you're working with our enemies?"
"Spare the thought. I was merely speaking without thinking. Please forgive me." He smiled ambiguously before returning to his usual carefree attitude.
Unit Commander Haea nodded. "Very well… For now, our priorities should be resolving the threat in front of us. We've confirmed the presence of three of the Ten Dawns: Ten Dawn Iris, Rosemary, and Yvonne. Ten Dawn Krogan is nowhere to be seen, so we can assume he perished in the Battle of Liguang. We couldn't spot the Sword King or his disciples either, but we cannot rule out their absence. They could be waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Princess Elizabeth and… Freon, was it? These two have shown powers equivalent to the Ten Dawns but although their side possesses considerable fighting strength, we still outnumber them. What Her Highness, Princess Ming, said… It was a bluff. They wanted to sow discord, create infighting, and potentially scare us into surrendering with their display of strength. That's why they gave us a day. It was to give us the false impression of an inferior position."
"However, it's not enough. They must be severely underestimating us if they think they can beat us like that. We're not going to fall to their cheap parlor tricks!"
"I agree with General Goumeng. Her Highness gave our armies quite the scare, but in the end, Her Highness stands on the kingdom's side. That diminishes the impact of Her Highness's words. Our soldiers won't turn with this alone," General Tang said in a rare show of agreement. Perhaps his recent reprimands corrected his attitude, but he was more amenable now.
"You two are right. This lacks the decisive power," Unit Commander Haea frowned. "What are they thinking?" While they contemplated, she let in a messenger who had been waiting outside.
"Reporting to the generals! Eight towns, two cities, and one capital city in the Wu-Lin Province are revolting!"
"Revolting?"
"What?"
"What's going on?"
"Explain!"
***
The Quiton Gates bordered the northern edge of the Wu-Lin Province, a particularly noteworthy province among the seventeen provinces in the Xingyuu Empire. It was unofficially a part of the Jun Family's territory which spanned the frontier provinces facing the brunt of war. However, due to its relative distance from the frontlines and abundant natural resources, it became somewhat of an industrial and economic hub. For instance, the Wu-Lin Province produced some of the best bamboo anywhere in the empire. This bamboo was not used for consumption, but construction and it was widely used. This industry formed one of the key cornerstones of the Jun Family's finances.
As for the provincial capital, it was Di Shenzhao, a city south of the Quiton Gates. It had a population of more than a million that stayed despite the nearby conflicts. There was no panic or alarm unlike Guanhuang or the Yunyun Stronghold. Part of the reason why was because the Imperial Council had not issued an evacuation order or even a heightened risk of danger to the province. A mass panic was the last thing the council wanted. They needed the economy to run for as long as possible. War was not easy to fund after all! Furthermore, from the news and updates the citizens were given, it seemed like the Imperial Council and the Li Family had the upper hand in this war. The thought of losing never crossed their minds. In this city though, dark undercurrents began to form. The kingdom's plan began to shape!
Sometime before the siege on the Quiton Gates, in a popular tavern loud with dance and drunkards, a man drank at the bar. This was his usual routine after a long day's hard work. As he sipped, he overheard an interesting conversation beside him.
One of them whispered, "I heard the Imperial Princesses survived Liguang. Is that true?"
The other replied, "I don't know about that, but I heard it from my brother-in-law's cousin who's an officer in the army. He said that they're still searching for Her Highnesses. They don't believe Her Highnesses died in that battle."
"But that's strange. We didn't hear anything about Her Highnesses."
"Shush! You didn't hear this from me, but there's some rumors the Imperial Council planned to… you know… off the princesses. That's why they're not revealing they survived."
"What rubbish!" the eavesdropping man snorted. "You'll get hanged for saying such things."
"I wouldn't know about that," a third voice introduced themselves. "To be honest, I heard the same things. There's a lot of rumors going around that the Imperial Council might have started the war for their own benefit."
"Really?" The man raised an eyebrow. He did grow a bit curious. Little did he know, these three people wore the emblem of the Yen Chai Merchant Alliance on their lapel!
Elsewhere, in a public bathhouse, a young woman entered the bath with a towel. Her shoulders drooped down as the hot water washed over her muscles. She felt at peace. And like what happened in the bar, she heard a strange conversation from over the walls.
"How long is this war going to last? I don't want to die before it ends…"
"You and me both… This wouldn't have happened if the Imperial Council did…"
"Keep it down! Are you trying to get killed? There's no telling who might be listening."
"My bad, my bad."
They quieted down, but thanks to the reflective material of the room, even a tiny whisper could be amplified many times over. The woman could still hear everything perfectly clearly. This made her curiosity grow. What might they be talking about?
"As I was saying, you know how the Imperial Council started the war by attacking the Li Family, right? I heard they had the confidence to do that because they had the help of a certain 'organization'. What's more… this organization might not be human!"
"Ha! I didn't take you for a kidder. You shouldn't joke like that."
"I didn't believe it either, but who could destroy Liguang and Guanhuang like that? They can't be human!"
"Human or not, it doesn't matter as long as we win the war. The sooner it ends, the better."
"You don't think this organization has their own plans? They're not going to let the Imperial Council command them forever. After all, they have enough power to destroy an entire city! The Imperial Council is crazy to trust them!"
"We should've just let the Imperial Princesses succeed the throne. Come to think of it, why didn't Her Highnesses do that immediately?"
"I don't remember anymore…"
Little did the eavesdropping woman know, these two outspoken individuals had spoke intentionally aloud so she could hear their conversations. She never would have thought they were spies from the Alzar Kingdom! The same scenes could be seen throughout Di Shenzhao. By themselves, they were merely disjointed rumors, a nonsensical story that one would soon forget about. However, as they spread by word of mouth, they propagated faster and faster like a wildfire out of control. The details became more distorted over time too. It did not take long before everyone heard the rumors! The seeds of discord were gradually bearing fruit! Soon, the people took to the streets to demand answers!
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票