Chapter 299: Extremely worthy

What are you saying? The You King summons me to go pay respects?! His mother..." Chen Hou almost cursed; he wanted to say even the You King is worthy? But he swallowed it back.

Worthy, extremely worthy.

They bring a hundred thousand troops and are worthy.

He certainly wouldn't go, so he hurriedly sent men to verify if it truly was a hundred thousand; soon a scout reported that, judging from a high vantage point, the number was no fewer than that.

Chen Hou scratched his head completely, 'Isn't the You King supposed to be on the eastern coast? How did he end up in Liangzhou? Where did he get a hundred thousand troops?'

The scout replied, 'In the army there are banners with the character "You" and also the "Wei" banner of the Southwest Army; I'm afraid it's the forces of Youzhou together with Changzhou.'

'Is that possible! Not to mention the Wei army, Liangzhou, Bingzhou—this whole region including Youzhou has been given away; would the Xiongnu really let them march a hundred thousand troops straight over? Impossible!' Upon reflection, he felt utter dread; it's absolutely impossible!

Besides the Cui family, who in Great Jin could still talk to the Xiongnu? Impossible.

Chen Hou dares to lead fifty thousand troops to stir up trouble in Liangzhou, which was ceded to the Xiongnu; naturally he had greeted them beforehand, and he doesn't believe the Xiongnu would sell favors to both families.

But now a hundred thousand troops block the outside, while inside there are tens of thousands of Southwest Army; we're caught between forces… not good.

He hurriedly mustered his troops to go out and meet the enemy; he couldn't just sit and await death.

When he personally saw the Youzhou cavalry standing at the very front, his chest gave a sudden jolt.

Those horses, that armor—the You King had indeed prepared early with the Wei family! This You King truly is full of ambition.

Just as he took his place in the formation, the impatient Wei Shen shouted directly, 'Isn't that Chen Feng in the ranks? The You King summons you for an audience—why are you avoiding him?! Utterly insolent!'

Marquis Chen Feng gritted his teeth, 'Is this arrogant brat really the You King?'

His deputy beside him shook his head, 'Not likely. The You King isn't much older than the Jing King; this one, though his face is covered, clearly is a youth from his build.'

The situation allowed no mercy; Chen Feng could only grit his teeth and have someone reply.

'We are the Li Shui garrison, sent by imperial order to deal with the rebellious Southwest Army; we don't know what the Prince You means by this formation—have you also brought a new imperial edict?'

Wei Shen, upon hearing that, knew the other side was also timid, not daring to attack directly.

'Shut up! Stop pretending to be clueless! Also don't spout useless talk—you know yourself who sent you!'

'Now there are two choices: one, you surrender, and the Prince You will spare your lives—after all, we're all people of Great Jin; two, you collude with the enemy and harm the Southwest Army, and if you foolishly resist without knowing your limits, the reward will be the annihilation of the entire army.'

Those words are incredibly arrogant!

Chen Feng snapped, 'Your tone is not small! Is the other side really the You King? This general doesn't believe it! If the You King privately leaves his fief, that's outright rebellion—then he shouldn't be called a prince or marquis of Great Jin, but merely a rebel!'

The King raised the Sun-shooting Bow, originally aiming at Chen Feng; he had long observed who the commander was, and speaking made it even clearer.

But when it came to releasing the arrow, he hesitated again and aimed at the person beside him instead.

The splendid arrowhead of the Sun-shooting Bow flashed through the air; the instant after Chen Feng finished speaking came an anguished cry—his guards saw that half of the general's face was drenched in blood, and one ear was completely gone!

That, the opponent wasn't standing outside bow range, was he?!

What formidable archery!

At the same moment the King shook his head, 'Ah, off again! I even aimed at the person beside him, yet still missed that whatever Chen Hou—this Sun-shooting Bow is downright rebellious!'

Tang Qian: ……

The King had already raised his voice again, shouting angrily, 'This is a warning—I hate it most when others say I'm rebelling!'

Marquis Wei Ting whispered, 'Why is that again?'

Wei Shen: 'He can do it, but others cannot say it.'

Marquis Wei Ting: ……

Tang Qian: ……

Gee…… he's getting more and more of a kingly aura!

If Bai Yang were here, he'd probably comment that a sycophant is like this.

The filter is invincibly thick.

The King again shouted loudly, this time to paint a pie for the opposing soldiers, beginning to dispense his specialty brainwashing packet.

'Soldiers opposite, you are all troops of Great Jin; I don't want to kill any of you. But you shouldn't follow the Chen family in doing wicked deeds, turning your blades on your own comrades! The Southwest Army in Dun City is Great Jin's border force, and they too are your comrades!'

'The Chen family colludes with the enemy and rebels, seeking to gain merit from submitting to the dragon, achieving supreme ministerial status and rising to prominence—what could you gain? At best you'd just be a garrison somewhere.'

'With today's disgraceful act of luring and killing fellow border troops, your lifetime prospects are at an end. The elders certainly wouldn't want to see, before their eyes, people who know of their vile, dirty deeds.'

'If this gets out, you'll be spat upon by the whole world; can your conscience bear it? We should point our blades at the Xiongnu who invade us!'

'If you surrender, I can pardon today's guilt.'

Chen Feng had already been shouting abuse at the opposite side; the King's booming voice was unaffected by him.

The King saw that Chen Feng dared not strike first, his forces were few, and his bloody, half-face made him lose prestige.

The King rode to the front of the cavalry ranks, 'Look at my troops behind me—you have not a shred of chance to win. I have stood here treading on the corpses of Xiongnu cavalry; with just you, what could you possibly win this battle with?!'

The opposing soldiers' faces varied, not worth mentioning; Chen Feng had completely changed expression. Indeed, these commanderies were given to the Xiongnu, and the You King swaggered over like that… has the Xiongnu already been defeated?

Wei Shen laughed boastfully beside the King, 'Chen Feng, have you decided? You have only one chance to save your life!'

Chen Feng gritted his teeth, 'Don't listen to their deceit! Surrender is also a dead end! The You King has rebelled; he's a traitor king and won't let us return to Li Shui!' To send us back to further strengthen the Jing King's forces? How could that be!

Chen Feng would never indulge in such a dream.

The King obviously also knew he wouldn't readily surrender; he waved his hand backward, 'Load the fire-powder crossbows! Concentrate fire on the commander!'

Anyway Chen Feng must die; he's not Tang Qian, and the King doesn't want him.

All around Chen Feng are his close guards and confidants; blowing up any of them wouldn't be considered unjust.

Meanwhile Chen Feng opposite was still consulting his strategist; seeing the opposing cavalry move, they thought they were about to charge, but who knew they were merely shifting position, pushing forward some thing that looked like a weapon?

'What is that?'

'A weak bed?'

'Not really, it seems bigger than that.'

'I don't know…… could it be siege equipment?'

They soon found out.

The gunpowder crossbow let out a sharp cry, trailing a wisp of white smoke as it plunged into the Chen Family Army's ranks, then exploded with a boom not far from Chen Feng.

The opposing side fell into chaos at once, and the warhorses couldn't stand this fright.

The king still shook his head and sighed, "This aim isn't good enough— didn't blast Chen Feng!"

Wei Shen sneered, "There's more— I don't believe he can keep dodging! Where can he run? Behind him is the big pit he dug himself!" Serves him right.

In the time it took them to exchange two sentences, the prepared second and third blasts arrived.

The king's artillery corps might be mediocre, but this time he deliberately brought out a technical NPC, and soon the king saw Chen Feng collapse in the smoke, quickly waving his hand to call a halt.

Alright, alright, the opposing side is already scared stiff, the timing's about right. Our own people can't be as generous as when blasting the Xiongnu; the king feels sorry.

Not only the Li River Garrison brought by Chen Feng was terrified; even the Southwest Army had never seen such a thing.

"What is this?" Wei Tinghou stared blankly at the opposing side's chaotic scene of men and horses overturned, only after a long while did he utter a sound. Such a siege mega-weapon, even in the eyes of the well-informed Wei Tinghou, was too heaven-defying!

The king counted on his fingers: "Saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur."

Wei Tinghou: ……

What? Saltpeter? Charcoal?

I don't believe it.