Chapter 58: Confrontation (6)
Wu Yao's tent.
"You must report his every move to me truthfully, and it's best not to let him out of your sight."
"Yes, General."
Wu Yao is giving orders to his subordinates.
"Humph, I want to see what you are capable of. I will also use this opportunity to impress the Emperor and let him know that those who only talk big are completely useless."
From what he said, it seemed that Wu Yao was still brooding over Wang Ye.
At night, just after midnight, Zhao Ziheng and his party set out. Including Wu Yao, there were about a thousand people accompanying them. It was obvious that they were all carefully selected elites. The reason why there were only this many people was naturally arranged. Their destination was the royal city of Feiyan State. With a small number of people, it would be convenient for them to escape even if they encountered dangerous situations, and the death toll could be minimized. Originally, this kind of thing should only be done by subordinate generals, but Zhao Ziheng took the role of vanguard, which not only greatly boosted the morale of the army, but also demonstrated Zhao Ziheng's majesty.
The reason why they galloped so fast was because they chose to do so at night, which showed that they wanted to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and reduce the danger...
At dawn, Zhao Ziheng and his party had arrived at the foot of the city and met up with the spies who had infiltrated long ago. Not only was there no one standing guard on the city wall, there was no one guarding the city gates either. When they entered the city, it was silent. According to the spies, Feiyan's royal city was also affected by the plague, so there was a dead silent atmosphere. Perhaps it was due to the impression of the plague, but for Zhao Ziheng and his party of foreign troops entering the city, some of them had already lost the consciousness of escaping or resisting. Zhao Ziheng's target was not the royal city, but the palace, so he ran straight to the palace.
The situation in front of the palace gate was the same as that in front of the city gate, both were unguarded.
"What do you think we should do?"
"……emperor??"
Wu Yao was very shocked that Zhao Ziheng suddenly asked for his opinion. When Zhao Zixi was rebellious, Zhao Ziheng personally directed everything and never asked for anyone's opinion. What was going on this time? Was he testing himself?
"Yes, from the intelligence I have collected so far, I believe that Feiyan, which has been ravaged by the plague, is no longer a threat. Even the capital and the palace can be easily breached, so I suggest an attack."
"Oh? You just arrived at the royal city and you already think you can attack? Aren't you afraid that Feiyan's army will suddenly rush in from all around?"
"The civil officials believed that being too persistent would lead to missing the opportunity to attack. I think the emperor is worrying too much. We should take the palace first. Even if the enemy army attacks us, occupying the palace will be more advantageous for our defense. Then, when our army arrives, it will be easy to take them down."
"Are you referring to Wang Ye ?"
"I am just discussing the matter at hand."
"Are you prejudiced against him?"
"No."
"...Forget it. If you think we should attack, then let's attack."
Wu Yao knew that Zhao Ziheng had something to say, but since he hadn't said it, he couldn't ask any further questions, so he had to attack first.
It was effortless to capture the palace. There was no resistance at all. Compared with the royal city, there was not even a single person in the palace. If the palace was like this, did it prove that Feiyan State had been destroyed? Then what about the ruler of Feiyan State and his ministers? Where did those people who were originally in the palace go?
Just as Zhao Ziheng and his group were exploring separately, many secret passages in the palace opened up, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded Zhao Ziheng and his group. Dawn had passed, and the morning sun replaced it. The sun was hiding in the clouds and not fully visible. To be more precise, it was a cloudy morning...
"No wonder it disappeared suddenly. So this is what happened."
Zhao Ziheng was not shaken at all by the enemy's surprise attack. The royal palace was really a worrying place. There were more secret passages than anywhere else, and they were very complicated. The designs were different in different countries and places. The others who followed seemed a little panicked. Faced with the sudden appearance of tens of thousands of enemy troops, no matter how well trained they were, they would still be shaken.
"Young King Zhao, you seem to underestimate us."
"Who are you?"
Regardless of how the enemy knew his identity, it was actually not difficult. Zhao Ziheng was more interested in knowing who the other party was.
"I am Duanmu Chun, the general who protects the country of Feiyan."
"It turns out to be General Duanmu. I have heard of you for a long time."
"It is said that the King of Zhao is young and promising. First of all, we deeply admire the fact that the King of Zhao came to Feiyan, but I never thought that you, who are known as the 'wise general ghost god', would be so careless and set foot in my Feiyan capital with only a few thousand soldiers. It seems that the 'wise general ghost god' in the eyes of the outside world is just like this. I know you have backup, but by the time they arrive, I guess the King of Zhao will have already become a prisoner of my Feiyan, right?"
"Your Majesty, have the soldiers escort you first. I will lead a team of soldiers to cover your retreat."
Wu Yao, who had experienced many battles, was not shaken by the number of enemy troops, so he stepped forward and made the choice to sacrifice himself. However, Zhao Ziheng stretched out his hand to block his way...
"emperor?"
"General Duanmu, in my opinion, you should not have been affected by the plague at all. Why don't you lend a helping hand to those people in need?"
"I don't need to answer you on this. Simply put, sacrifice is inevitable for the sake of the country. As for the rest, wait until you defeat me before you tell me. Attack, and kill everyone except the King of Zhao."
“Go——”
Under Duanmu Chun's command, Feiyan's army surrounded Zhao Ziheng from all directions.
"I should have been damned if I hadn't considered that the enemy would be hiding in the secret passage . Your Majesty, please go first. I will buy you some time."
While fighting with the enemy, Wu Yao regretted the choice he made due to his ambition. Facing tens of thousands of enemies, even if the thousand cavalrymen he led were brave and fighting, it was only a matter of time before they were captured and killed. However, it was not impossible for him to escort Zhao Ziheng away.
"Wu Yao, do you think I will fight a battle that I am not sure of?"
Zhao Ziheng's sudden topic made Wu Yao at a loss for words. Or rather, he didn't know how to answer at this time. Just when Wu Yao didn't know how to answer, several plumes of smoke rose in front of him. In a moment, it became thick smoke. It was obvious that there was evidence of a large area of houses being burned...
