Chapter 405

Gongsun Heng gripped the sword hilt with a blank expression.

"Why... why?" Bateer squeezed out a broken gasp from his throat, his eyes filled with endless confusion and shock.

Mr. Jiang?

You've always helped me, haven't you?

Didn't you just say you'd write a letter for help?

Gongsun Heng twisted his wrist and drew his long sword in one clean motion.

"Ah—!" Blood spurted out, Bateer let out a short scream, his legs gave way, he fell backward and hit the grass hard.

He twitched twice, then lay still.

His eyes stared wide open, dead without peace.

Gongsun Heng crouched, wiped the blood from his sword clean with Bateer's clothes.

He glanced at Bateer's wide-open eyes: "I chose you because you're stupid."

"You're really too stupid—His Majesty is already dead at Xiao Yuanhang's hands, what do I still need to manage you for?"

He stood up, a sturdy man came to his side, glanced at Bateer on the ground, and said, "Sir, should we head back now?"

Gongsun Heng snorted: "Go back? His Majesty has passed, I have no deep ties with the princes—returning might just make me someone's wedding dress one day."

"How many do we still have?"

"Over two thousand, all your trusted men."

Good! Give the order—take all the nine‑star repeating crossbows and disguise them in batches as merchant caravans.

We're heading to Fierce State Jingcheng.

Jingcheng?

Fierce State is now in chaos; the more chaotic, the more profit there is to be made.

The Supreme is there; these repeating crossbows are our letter of recommendation—once the great undertaking succeeds, we will have earned the merit of following the dragon.

By then, every brother will be promoted and made rich, ennobling their wives and offspring!

The man's eyes lit up: "Yes! Everything will follow the Sir's arrangements!"

Xiao Yuanhang led the great army forward, advancing into the heartland of Fierce State.

Fields along the official road were neat, distant villages had cooking smoke curling gently, but there were far fewer travelers on the road than usual.

Occasionally passersby hurried by, seeing them they kept their distance, looks suspicious, eyes darting.

"Something's off." Xiao Ningxun urged his horse closer to his father, lowering his voice: "The common folk shouldn't be like this."

Xiao Yuanhang frowned slightly, but did not speak.

After going another ten-plus li, a small town appeared ahead.

At the city gate, many people gathered, pointing at a newly posted notice.

Seeing the great army arrive, the crowd hurriedly retreated, but did not go far, stopping in the distance to watch.

Xiao Yuanhang reined in his horse and raised his hand; the whole army gradually halted.

"Xun Er."

"Here!"

"Go take a look."

Xiao Ningxun dismounted, hurried to the notice, examined it thoroughly, and his face instantly changed.

He turned and hurried back, lips pressed tight: "Father, it's a pacification notice."

"Speak."

Xiao Ningxun took a deep breath:

"Heaven‑mandated pacification, purging the court, a proclamation to all officials and subjects."

Just that sentence, Xiao Ningchen's fist clenched instantly.

"Emperor Xiao Jieyun, since ascending the throne, has been muddled and tyrannical, his crimes grave:"

"First, he wastes troops and indulges in war, bringing disaster to the country and harm to the people: for his own selfish desire, he forcibly conscripted three hundred thousand troops for a northern expedition. Countless soldiers died unjustly at the frontier, and families were torn apart."

"Now our army has suffered a crushing defeat; this is entirely the fruit of the emperor's obstinate self‑will and warmongering that ruined the state!"

"Second, he favors villains and harms the loyal: he indulges Prince Ning Xiao Yuanhang in holding troops and acting arrogantly, deceiving the sovereign."

"Xiao Yuanhang fled the battlefield, causing our army to suffer a massive defeat with countless casualties!"

"Therefore, strip him of all titles and offices, demote him to commoner, to uphold the law! Now he leads the remnants in flight; whoever captures or kills him will be rewarded ten thousand taels of silver!"

"Third, he is unfilial and rebellious, having confined the Empress Dowager, Lady Murong of the Mu clan, deep within the palace, unfilial and unmannerly, intolerable to heaven and earth!"

"Such a tyrant, how can he still occupy the throne?"

Now, following the Empress Dowager's edict, for the realm and the altars, we depose Xiao Jieyun's throne.

The twelfth imperial son, Xiao Jin, naturally benevolent and filial, shall ascend the throne today to pacify the realm.

The Prince of Chen and the Prince of Qing, loyal and brave in serving the state, are appointed Regent Kings to assist the young emperor and restore the realm.

All the soldiers, upon hearing it, immediately exploded in an uproar.

"Damn it!" a grizzled veteran whose face was Daoba shouted first, "My life was pulled from a pile of corpses by the Prince!"

He violently tore open the blood-stained bandage on his chest, revealing the gruesome new wound beneath: "Run? If the Prince flees, can I still live after being wounded like this?"

"Three hundred thousand? When have we ever had an army of three hundred thousand?"

"They call victories defeats, and heroes deserters! How dare they?"

Shouts of anger, roars, and the clashing of drawn swords mingled together.

These men, just crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, had bloodshot eyes, their chests heaving violently, like a pack of enraged beasts.

Xiao Ran stared dumbfounded: Father Emperor deposed? Twelfth brother ascended the throne?

We won only after such bitter fighting—how did we end up as a defeated army?

Xiao Ningxun and Xiao Ningchen stared together at their father.

Xiao Yuanhang sat upright on his horse, slowly raised his hand, and the army fell silent in an instant, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.

He urged his horse forward slowly, stopped before the notice, and glanced at it for a moment.

Then he turned his body to face the soldiers' eyes.

"They say we have lost."

"They say the Prince fled the battlefield."

He paused, then suddenly laughed: "Is that so?"

"No!" ten thousand voices roared in unison; the sound wave shook the birds on the roadside trees into startled flight.

Xiao Yuanhang pointed his whip at the onlookers and said: "But they will believe it."

The soldiers turned their heads to look at the distant onlookers.

Their faces showed curiosity, fear, and even more bewilderment.

Xiao Yuanhang's voice remained steady: "Because they have never seen a battlefield! They only hear what the authorities want them to hear."

He pointed his whip at the notice and proclaimed loudly: "This paper is meant to make the whole world believe that we are a defeated army, criminals, and traitors deserving of death by a thousand cuts."

"Your Highness!" a soldier shouted hoarsely, "We cannot accept this!"

"Right, we cannot accept it!"

"I am a meritorious officer! On what grounds am I made a criminal?!"

Xiao Yuanhang raised his hand to suppress the commotion: "The Prince will never accept this!"

He scanned the entire army: "But shouting alone won't help! Relying on the swords in our hands won't help either!"

"A sword can sever heads, but it cannot sever the doubts in people's hearts."

He turned his horse's head, looked at the civilians, and said: "Elders and villagers! The notice says our army suffered a great defeat—open your eyes wide and look!"

He raised his hand and pointed at his subordinates: "They! Do they show even a trace of a defeated army?"

The civilians looked at one another.

Though every soldier in this army is wounded, the ranks are orderly, their eyes fierce—where is there any sign of fleeing troops or defeated generals?

"The seal on this notice is the Empress Dowager's seal, and there is no Imperial Seal!"

"Where is the Imperial Seal? Without the Imperial Seal, how can there be a new emperor?"

"They say the Prince deserted the battlefield." Xiao Yuanhang's voice full of mockery: "If the Prince truly had fled, where would he be now? An overseas immortal mountain?"