Chapter 137

Chapter 137

The battle flag of Dayuan charged through Tianqian Pass, and the imperial army bravely rode into the vast snowy fields. The soldiers of the Lu Family Army, who had been guarding Tianqian Pass for many days, felt their hearts swell. The massive army broke through the heavy snow that had shrouded Tianqian Pass for days, like a beam of dawn suddenly bursting through.

The Western Shu rebels, sensing the arrival of reinforcements at Tianqian Pass, instinctively fell back to defensive positions. However, the imperial army, having ridden fast and furiously all the way, had been cooped up on the road and were eager to fight. Upon seeing the reinforcements approaching, they attacked without hesitation.

Qi Hanzhou swept his long spear, knocking down enemy soldiers. He spun the spear around, targeted the enemy general in the distance. The opponent was an aging veteran. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Qi Hanzhou and, instead of retreating, turned to attack him.

On the battlefield, killing an enemy general crushes their morale, and both sides shared the same goal.

The heavy broadsword pressed down hard on Qi Hanzhou's long spear. Though it seemed a clumsy weapon, in the hands of this veteran, he wielded it with the dexterity of a single-edged sword. In the past few days of besieging Tianqian Pass, it was this veteran from Liangzhou who had devised the strategies. The Lu Family Army had clashed with him multiple times, only to have their plans seen through and thwarted repeatedly. Sensing the fatigue of the Lu Family Army, he had launched continuous assaults.

"Your moves are from the Pei family's style. What is your connection to the Pei family of Mobei?"

As the blade was about to strike his vital point, a cold glint appeared in the veteran's murky eyes.

At the mention of the Pei family, Qi Hanzhou's gaze flickered. Seizing that moment, he shifted his weight, using the momentum to spin the spear. The veteran's blade was knocked aside. The veteran seemed not to expect that this young man could unleash such immense strength. The reversing spear brought with it a tremendous force, numbing his hand as it was thrown off. In that brief lapse of concentration, Qi Hanzhou's spear swept past, finding the veteran's weakness just as he was about to counterattack, disarming him instantly.

The broadsword crashed heavily onto the snow, the spear tip pressing against the veteran's neck.

The veteran thought his end had come and was about to close his eyes, but the pain never came.

"Take him away." Qi Hanzhou didn't even look at him.

With the enemy general captured, the morale of the Western Shu rebels was broken. The arrival of the imperial army bolstered the spirits of the remaining troops, and they launched a counterattack, not giving the enemy a chance to rest until they recaptured the pass.

The Lu Family Army, who had endured the bitter defensive battle for days, finally held their heads high in triumph.

Cheers filled the camp, drowning out the howling wind.

Amid the heavy snowfall, Ying Fusheng rode to the edge of the camp, his eyes met those of the figure galloping toward him from afar.

Two months had passed, and Qi Hanzhou seemed no different from the day he left the Eastern Palace. But Ying Fusheng's tense heart relaxed in an instant. He gently pulled on the reins and moved forward, the strong smell of blood hit him.

Qi Hanzhou dismounted. Voices came from all around, but he walked straight toward him.

"Junior General!"

"Commander!"

Finally, he stopped before him.

People around hurried about—processing prisoners, clearing the battlefield. Amid the rush at Tianqian Pass, a rare sense of victory lingered. But for the entire southern border region, this joy was only the tip of the iceberg. Almost no one dared to stop, yet at that moment, Qi Hanzhou did not want to take another step.

The young man on the warhorse wore a padded armor, different from the fox-fur cloak he had in the capital. His long hair, usually loose, was tied high, making him look like a young, green general.

But Qi Hanzhou knew this was different.

In the plan, he was not supposed to come. He was meant to stay in the safe imperial city.

Ying Fusheng dismounted and walked to the edge of the camp, locking eyes with Qi Hanzhou.

Ye Xuanqi had already lifted the tent flap for them. "Junior General?"

Once inside the tent, the two faced each other in a long silence.

"You shouldn't have come," Qi Hanzhou said.

"I should have," Ying Fusheng replied. "How can warriors fight on the battlefield without an army?"

At first, when they were plotting against the Prince of Qin, in the face of Dayuan's greater cause, neither had much time to dwell on parting or longing.

Before this, the imperial army had prepared for the worst—the total annihilation at Tianqian Pass. It was possible that his journey would end with gathering the dead. But from the capital to this place, he had not allowed himself to think about it. Call him cold-hearted or whatever, but amid the vastness of Dayuan's roads, he had imagined countless scenarios.

But when they finally met, and that intangible worry was lifted, the long-suppressed, indescribable emotions and joy came rushing in a tidal wave.

Ying Fusheng couldn't describe how he felt. In fact, there had been longer separations between him and Qi Hanzhou, but never had he felt such urgency as now—a tangible craving to be faster, to reach him sooner.

"Didn't you come to welcome me?" Ying Fusheng asked again.

Qi Hanzhou slightly opened his arms, and Ying Fusheng stepped into his embrace.

The armor was stiff and cold, but Qi Hanzhou's movements were exceptionally gentle.

Holding him, Qi Hanzhou felt as if he were embracing a long-awaited comfort.

Ying Fusheng's gaze steadied. In the embrace, he felt the warmth of his breath on his neck. The familiar, long-missed scent greeted him. He looked up slightly and saw Qi Hanzhou's blood-stained profile. After days without rest, Qi Hanzhou looked older, just as Ying Fusheng remembered.

The smell of blood seemed to be diluted by the wind and snow. Held in Qi Hanzhou's arms, Ying Fusheng suddenly realized that Qi Hanzhou could still have such youthful energy. He reached out to return the hug. The cold armor was biting, yet he inexplicably felt a warmth.

At that moment, Ying Fusheng finally felt the exhaustion.

He had felt no fatigue during the days of travel, but once he was in Qi Hanzhou's embrace, that irrepressible weariness surged up. He suddenly didn't want to let go.

Outside the tent.

The Lu Family Army had grown familiar with the Qi contingent over the past days. Initially skeptical of the young General Qi, they were now thoroughly won over. Seeing the Ye brothers guarding the tent, they glanced inside and said, "Your young general seems quite close to the Crown Prince!"

Song An and Ye Xuanjiu were nearby and heard this. They were startled, first fearing that these rumors might reach the emperor in the capital.

The next moment, they saw the rugged soldiers turn and walk away, as if such behavior was normal among themselves.

"In the army, it's common for brothers to put an arm around each other's shoulders," Ye Xuanqi said, not understanding why they were so nervous. Looking at the two embracing inside, he added, "Don't worry, it won't reach His Majesty..."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Ye Xuanjiu coughed violently, pulling at the clueless Ye Xuanqi, gesturing frantically. "Why didn't you send word beforehand that His Highness was coming from the capital?"

Ye Xuanqi was speechless. "The messenger hawks couldn't get through. How could I send word ahead?"

He glared at his brother. "And you lot—under these circumstances, you only sent one scout to report? If we had arrived half a day later, we'd be gathering your corpses!"

Ye Xuanjiu thought to himself, "What a jinx," but seeing the entire camp full of troops, he did feel relieved. "Good thing you made it in time."

If they had arrived half a day later, it was uncertain whether Tianqian Pass could have been held, but the Lu Family Army and the remaining troops would likely have been completely wiped out.

Chen Xuqiu and Wu Lao accompanied the Crown Prince. Wu Lao saw the wounded soldiers taking shelter in snow caves. He had seen worse injuries before, but for some reason, standing at the entrance of the snow cave, he didn't dare to enter.

Chen Xuqiu saw him lingering behind. After a moment's hesitation, he reached out, grabbed the stubborn old man, and without a word, dragged him into the camp for the wounded.

The imperial army had come prepared, bringing emergency grain and supplies.

Weng Yanqing didn't have time to see Ying Fusheng. He threw himself back into organizing military affairs. Tianqian Pass had finally won a battle. The imperial army stood guard, while the Lu Family Army, exhausted from days of fighting, finally got a chance to rest. But the generals dared not relax.

Tianqian Pass had only just won a victory. This was the entrance to the interior of the southern border. The Western Shu rebels had been repelled, but that didn't mean they wouldn't attack again. The command tent was set up again. General Lu, who had been confined to his sickbed, upon hearing that the Crown Prince had personally arrived at Tianqian Pass, ignored his heavy injuries and insisted on coming to the command tent.

"Your Highness." General Lu bowed.

Ying Fusheng reached out and supported him. "General, your wounds are serious. You should rest properly."

General Lu's expression shifted slightly. Behind him stood several generals of the Lu family. Their demeanor toward Ying Fusheng had already shifted.

General Lu had previously criticized the Eastern Palace in the capital, and his subordinate generals were even more dissatisfied with the Crown Prince.

But from the start of the western Shu campaign until now, every sudden turn of events showed him that the Eastern Palace had prepared contingencies. Had they charged straight into Liangzhou City from the beginning, not only would they have been used by the Prince of Qin's Army, but given the current outcome, the most likely result was that all their provisions and the lives of their soldiers would have been lost inside Liangzhou City.

When that happened, the great battle on the southern front would not yet have fully erupted, and the imperial court would have already lost the Lu Family Army.

Every step was a result too horrifying to dwell on, yet now, everything still had a chance.

"This is not the time to discuss this. Tianqian Pass is the gateway to the southern front. With these twenty thousand troops arriving today, from now until the end of the southern war, this pass must be held at all costs." Ying Fusheng looked at the sand table. The sand table in the command tent had already marked many key points. From their retreat from Youzhou Plain to Tianqian Pass, neither the Light Garment Guard nor the Lu scouts had given up gathering intelligence on the western Shu battlefield.

As Ying Fusheng had expected, coming here allowed him to grasp the overall situation of the western Shu campaign.

"In terms of troop strength, the rebels' numbers were unknown. Apart from the Jiangnan garrison, the imperial court could only mobilize sixty thousand troops." General Lu pointed to three locations. Sixty thousand troops seemed like a lot, but they needed to be dispersed across three defensive points. Under such circumstances, if the rebels had overwhelming numbers, it would be easy for them to break through…

"They wouldn't attack Jiangling Pass," Ying Fusheng suddenly said.

The generals looked at the Crown Prince. Why wouldn't they? Now that Tianqian Pass was guarded by imperial troops, the rebels would find it hard to break through here, so they would have to head for Jiangling Pass. Wouldn't they want to seize the southern hinterland?

"Before coming, I wasn't certain, but we received an urgent report from Jiangnan." Ying Fusheng had the imperial troops bring out the secret report sent from Jin Wang's residence to the capital. He said, "The rebellion was started by the garrisons in the western and interior parts of western Shu. The Pingnan Prince's mansion in western Shu was also in the southern part, all in the southwest region. With such troop distribution, why did they first attack the Youzhou battlefield and break through Tianqian Pass? If they had gone directly through Jiangling, they could have joined forces more quickly with Marquis Cen'an."

Qi Hanzhou finished reading, pondered for a moment, and then added, "One reason was to severely damage the Lu Family Army; another reason was that they had to go through Tianqian Pass. They might have wanted to seal off all news from western Shu."

They had only thought that the Secret Faction's goal was to break through Tianqian Pass and enter the southern hinterland, but they had forgotten the reverse: once Tianqian Pass was sealed, the fastest route into western Shu's interior would be cut off. This would mean annihilating the Lu Family Army, completely eliminating the imperial court's eyes and ears in western Shu, and simultaneously gaining control over most of the situation there.

"How can you tell?" someone asked.

Ying Fusheng replied, "Because they didn't send many troops to Tianqian Pass. Did they send any reinforcements during this time?"

"No," Qi Hanzhou stated firmly.

The conversation between the two was cryptic. Several generals exchanged glances. Had they missed some intelligence?

Ying Fusheng couldn't go into too much detail with them. He and Qi Hanzhou had fought against the Secret Faction for years, and they understood the enemy better than any general present.

To outflank the southern hinterland, speed was essential—catch the imperial court off guard. But the Lu Family Army had held out at Tianqian Pass for so long, and the enemy still hadn't sent reinforcements. That confirmed Ying Fusheng's guess: "Then I'm right. The Secret Faction couldn't swallow the Prince of Qin's Army so quickly."

Even if the Prince of Qin's mansion had been eroded by the Secret Faction, the easiest entry point was the bandit troops Prince of Qin had raised over the years. Raising these bandits used much of the money embezzled from Jiangnan; the Secret Faction must have been involved… But the original Prince of Qin's mansion still had troops—tens of thousands of personal guards. It seemed that the Prince of Qin's Army and the western Shu rebels were besieging Youzhou battlefield together, but in reality, the two factions were still fighting among themselves.

The Secret Faction moved too fast, faster than Ying Fusheng could react.

But this speed couldn't annihilate the Prince of Qin's Army in one blow. If they had that capability, they would have laid their plans long ago and wouldn't need to take some detours. So the reason they desperately wanted to destroy the Lu Family Army was twofold: first, to inflict heavy losses and create a false impression of military imbalance; second, to block most of the imperial scouts.

During this time gap, the Secret Faction could completely devour the Prince of Qin's Army.

Under these circumstances, they absolutely should not advance through Jiangling ahead of time, because near Jiangling Pass were the four western Shu prefectures that had been receiving disaster relief. If they advanced in force, oppressed the local people, and the imperial army fought back, it would go against the original intentions of some within the western Shu rebels and would easily provoke misunderstandings among the people.

But by advancing through Tianqian Pass, turning the southern front into a war zone, and letting the people see the incompetence and corruption of the imperial army, no one would bother to consider these reasons.

The people of the southern front would believe that these conflicts were caused by the imperial court and the Prince of Qin's Army. When necessary, the western Shu rebels could position themselves as saviors. If the Secret Faction behind it were purely remnants of the former dynasty, they wouldn't need to go through so much trouble. But the key was that within the western Shu rebels, there were many people from the Dayuan dynasty who had been oppressed by conservatives.

The former dynasty remnants wanted troops—troops that would obey them. That required more schemes and plans.

Now this situation had come to pass, but to create it, the Secret Faction's forces had been split into three groups.

The generals in the tent felt overwhelmed after hearing all this. They knew very little about such matters; they had never even heard of them. Was the internal situation of western Shu really so complex?

"Gentlemen, if I hadn't brought up these hidden affairs, would you have known that the Pingnan Prince's mansion was involved, and that the Secret Faction acted through the Prince of Qin's Army?" Ying Fusheng asked.

Because in the eyes of the world, the Prince of Qin and the Liangzhou Army were one and the same.

These intricate twists and turns were hard even for the soldiers at the center of it all to sort out. How could the common people tell right from wrong—who was saving the world and who was causing calamity? In the end, everything was judged by the outcome.

Soldiers rarely thought about the schemes and intrigues of court factions. But when civil officials dominated and eroded the military, all that was left for the Lu family was to fight for results. So when the sixth prince was designated as Crown Prince, the Lu family had many misgivings, because the Crown Prince was backed mostly by civil officials, and they feared seeing another Xu Faction emerge.

But now they couldn't articulate the outcome. This Crown Prince, who had civil officials behind him, gave off an indescribable feeling. He was frail, without martial skills, yet standing before a tent full of military men, he showed no weakness. From the moment he spoke, the soldiers around involuntarily listened to his words.

"So if they wanted to come with full force, their top priority was to finish off the Prince of Qin's Army," a general said.

Qi Hanzhou pointed to Tianqian Pass: "Once they swallowed the Prince of Qin's Army, they could break through Tianqian Pass and drive south, forming a pincer movement with Marquis Cen'an in Jiangnan."

"But conversely, this period while they hadn't yet consumed the Prince of Qin's Army was our opportunity."

An old general from the imperial army said, "But Your Highness, were you sure about Jiangling Pass…"

If we launched a large-scale attack on western Shu at this time, the Secret Faction might become desperate and shift their attack to Jiangling Pass regardless! Jiangling Pass didn't have the natural defensive advantages of Tianqian Pass. If they launched an all-out assault on Jiangling, it might fall first!

"Gentlemen, I'm not as knowledgeable as you in military maneuvers, but as for schemes and conspiracies outside the battlefield…" Ying Fusheng looked at the vast territory of western Shu, "I know better than you what he wants."

Moreover, he had not neglected to guard against the Pingnan Prince's mansion.

Among the princes and marquises of the southern front back then, the three he most suspected included the Pingnan Prince. Ying Fusheng had not foreseen that the Pingnan Prince's mansion would concentrate forces from the western Shu garrisons and strike so quickly to catch the imperial court off guard… So during his year in Jiangnan, he had made preparations.

The Jiangling dam had been sabotaged by the Secret Faction before. Since then, Ying Fusheng had prepared thoroughly.

If the Secret Faction tried to use treacherous schemes against Jiangling Pass again, the tables would be turned, and they would reap what they had sown.

"We must wait for the right moment." Ying Fusheng looked at the southern corner of the sand table, which was the Jiangling he knew best. "There was a dam in Jiangling, built by countless people of Jiangling over many days."

Ying Fusheng had spent many days in Jiangnan and knew about the southern flood season. Now that spring was turning, the snow season at Tianqian Pass had eased, meaning Jiangling, on the southern side of the southern front, would soon face the spring flood.

In the southern Jiangling prefecture, Shen Yunfei traveled through the mountains and arrived at Jiangling on a swift horse.

As soon as he entered Jiangling, Wang Guanzhi was already waiting there. When he saw Shen Yunfei, he was taken aback, then immediately received the confidential letter handed over: "His Highness said the spring flood was coming."

Wang Guanzhi understood at once. Although that channel wasn't fully ready yet, if they opened only one side of the canal, it could be just in time to relieve the emergency in western Shu. "Find the craftsmen! That channel was ready!"

"After waiting an entire winter, spring has finally arrived," Vice Prefect Xu said. "Send urgent dispatches!"

The news from Jiangling spread rapidly, quickly reaching downstream and surrounding areas.

"Urgent dispatch!! Jiangling prefecture announced to the four prefectures that they were going to open the canal and release water!"

"It's the Jiangnan Ministry of Works. They are going to divert water flowing into Jiangling's territory and turn it toward western Shu… It's said to be for irrigating western Shu."

"Which channel?!"

"The dam that Jiangling repaired more than two years ago! Over the past few years, the craftsmen of Jiangling had never stopped building the dam!"

Originally built as a work-relief project, the dam, under the leadership of Wang Guanzhi of the Jiangnan Ministry of Works, had long become a ready-made waterway for future generations.

It was originally a flood-diversion route specially opened by Jiangling to resist floods, designed to handle the unending summer floods.

But if they diverted the flow at that time, the water from the spring flood would have formed a river ahead of time, becoming a dividing line between them. The specially channeled water would flow into the rivers of western Shu, expanding those rivers into vast watercourses, like a man-made riverbed that would irrigate the farmland on both sides while also forming a natural defensive moat.

In peacetime, it was a waterway for flood diversion to save people's livelihoods.

But in wartime, that waterway could temporarily separate Jiangling from the western Shu direction, creating a natural protective channel for Jiangling.

This was a lifeline built by countless craftsmen of Jiangling, working day and night, pouring endless effort into it for the people of the southern front.