Chapter 83 Fate

Wuyuan Prefecture Yamen.

After being persuaded by Bo Yan, King Yunchang of Yue had not yet made up his mind whether to hand over Helu and other rebels and withdraw from Wu territory.

Soon after, Yunchang sent someone to summon Grand Marshal Shi Mai and Grand Minister of Justice Lu Ming to a study to discuss important matters.

"Now the Wu State, with Sun Wu as its general, has a large army approaching the border. It has sent an envoy, Bo Yun, to order our Yue army to withdraw from Wu and return Ji Guang, Wu Yuan and other traitors. Then we can return the nearly 6,000 captured soldiers to our Yue State, and the two countries will renew their alliance."

"Do you think this is feasible?"

When these words were spoken, Shi Mai and Lu Ming could not help but look at each other in shock.

They already knew the news that Wu was mobilizing troops and preparing to march south, but they could not guess Qingji's true intentions for a while.

Thirty thousand soldiers and horses is not a small number.

At least the entire Yue State’s army only had 30,000 soldiers!

By mobilizing such a large-scale Wu army, Qingji was afraid that his goal was more than just to recover lost territory.

"Your Majesty, does Wu really want to attack Yue?"

Lu Ming asked in confusion.

"It can't be fake."

Yun Chang shook his head and said, "I heard that Qingji is going to lead the army in person, with tens of thousands of troops. This shows that Qingji is planning something big!"

"This... Your Majesty, you must know that the Wu army still has at least tens of thousands of soldiers stationed in the Zhenzi line. Qingji's actions, such as the high-profile attack on Yue, may not be just a pretense, pretending to attack Yue but actually attacking Chu."

"If Qingji really wants to attack Yue, what should we do?"

“…”

Lu Ming could not help but remain silent and fell into deep thought.

If Qingji really led a large army to attack Yue, Yue would not be able to resist at all!

After all, even the 80,000-strong Chu army that attacked Wu was completely wiped out by the Wu army!

How could Yue State, with such a small number of troops, stop the highly motivated, well-trained and well-fed army of Wu State?

Isn't this like hitting a rock with an egg?

The Grand Marshal Shi Maijin said, "Your Majesty, I think the conditions proposed by Wu are not too harsh. The four cities of Wuyuan, Yuer, Lili and Xing, with a radius of 200 li, originally belonged to Wu."

"The local people are loyal to Wu. Once the Wu army arrives, they will definitely turn against them."

"Furthermore, Ji Guang is the Duke of Wu. He obeys orders from Yue State but not its decrees. Isn't he a traitor? These cities and lands only belong to Yue State in name, but in reality they are still under the rule of Ji Guang!"

"In that case, Your Majesty, why not return it to Wu?"

Hearing this, Yun Chang could not help but nod slightly and said, "What the Grand Marshal said is very true. However, Ji Guang is still my subject in name after all. If I hand them over under such pressure, won't I be laughed at by the world?"

"Who will dare to take the initiative to serve the Kingdom of Yue in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Mai laughed and said, "Your Majesty, why talk about the future? The Wu army's attack on Yue is already urgent. If Qingji is determined to destroy Yue, even if we fight to the death and fight the Wu army, how long can we hold out?"

"In Wu, there are nearly 6,000 surrendered soldiers from my Yue Kingdom! 6,000 people! Population is the foundation of a country! Please think twice, Your Majesty!"

"well!"

Yun Chang couldn't help but sigh, feeling helpless!

This is the tragedy of a weak country!

In the Battle of Li Ze, the terror of the Wu army had frightened Yun Chang and many Yue army soldiers.

If they were to fight again, the Vietnamese army, which was still regrouping at the moment, would not be able to withstand it.

Unless the Yue army escapes to the mountains and engages in guerrilla warfare with the Wu army, there is no possibility for the Yue army to defeat the Wu army!

Yun Chang slowly closed his eyes, his face full of pain, and said: "Well! Grand Marshal, you immediately lead a thousand soldiers to kill Ji Guang and Wu Yuan. If you can't capture them alive, you can kill them!"

"promise!"

Shi Mai immediately took the order and left.

Just when Yunchang was about to betray Helu and make peace with the State of Wu, Wu Zixu on the other side was persuading Helu to flee.

"My lord, Bo Yu has already met Yun Chang, and the two had a secret conversation in the study. Could it be that they were talking about the peace talks between Wu and Yue? I guess Qing Ji is very likely to use the captured Yue soldiers in the Battle of Li Ze as the price in exchange for the Yue army's withdrawal from Wu!"

"What's worse, Qingji may even force Yunchang to hand over the lord and us, eliminating his worries. Lord, you have to be on guard!"

Upon hearing this, Helu couldn't help but frown and was quite hesitant.

Helu didn't dare to gamble, nor could he afford to gamble, on whether Yunchang would hand them over because of the threat from Wu State!

"Zi Xu, according to your opinion, what should I do?"

"For now, please make a prompt decision, my lord, lead your troops to break away from the Yue army, take a boat to the east, and then go south. In the hope that you can conquer the Vietnamese barbarians in your lifetime and establish a new country to compete with Wu and Yue."

Establish another country to compete with Wu and Yue?

A bitter smile appeared on Helu's lips.

How easy would it be for him to start from scratch in the barbarian land south of Yue State and conquer a piece of land and establish a country like Wu Taibo did in the past?

And also compete with Wu Yue!

You know, it takes a long time to build a country from scratch and keep it developing.

It took the State of Wu a full six hundred years to become the military power that could compete with the State of Chu!

Even without counting the time that Wu State spent developing various places and conquering the barbarians, it has been more than seventy years since the people of Jin taught the Wu army the art of land chariot warfare.

How could Helu afford the waste?

"Zi Xu, if Yun Chang insists on making peace with Qing Ji and capturing us alive, do we have the strength to fight back?"

Helu smiled bitterly and said, "Besides, how many people can follow us if we cross the sea to the east and then go south to the barbarian land?"

“…”

Wu Zixu was silent.

In fact, Wu Zixu knew very well in his heart that Helü would never have the possibility of making a comeback in this life!

For Helu, being able to survive was already a luxury.

As for Wu Zixu himself, if he continued to follow Helu, he would have no choice but to go down this path to the end, and he would never be able to defeat Chu and avenge himself in his entire life!

Therefore, Wu Zixu showed his final loyalty to Helu.

He wanted Helu to escape, while he himself stayed in Yue, hoping to help Yue destroy Wu one day, and then lead an army to defeat Chu.

This was Wu Zixu’s only wish in his life!

revenge!

Wu Zixu was born for this!

"kill!"

At this moment, a loud sound of fighting suddenly broke out outside.

Helu couldn't help but change color with anger.

Wu Zixu sighed and said, "My lord, run away. What is coming will eventually come!"

Helu did not speak, but closed his eyes and fell into a deathly silence.

Soon, Fuchai came in holding a bloodstained bronze sword and shouted anxiously to Helu: "Father! The Yue barbarians are crazy!"

"Shi Mai is leading the Yue soldiers to attack us. Please leave as soon as possible, father! I am willing to lead the troops to cover your retreat!"