Chapter 73

Hearing Fan Fan Wencheng speak thus.

The smile on Huang Taiji's face could no longer be concealed.

"Master Fan, speak no more; I shall immediately lead the army in person."

"Do not let Dorgon, Dodo, and the others slaughter all the Zhu clan's princely vassals!"

Though Huang Taiji's face bore a slight smile.

His mind remained clear.

Huang Taiji did not head straight for the Liaoxi Corridor.

Instead, he turned toward the Xiaoling River.

Three days later.

The Qing scouts finally brought news.

At Huang Taiji's command.

A violent explosion suddenly erupted at the Xiaoling River embankment.

The water accumulated from the autumn floods instantly burst forth from the western side of the original Xiaoling River channel.

Watching this from the hillside, Huang Taiji finally felt a great weight lift from his heart.

Having grown up in Liaodong since childhood, Huang Taiji knew.

If they had delayed a few more days.

This river water would likely not have been able to flow out.

No matter how abnormal the climate, Liaodong was still Liaodong.

The river surface would freeze over...

The rushing waters roared downward, their echo forming a massive reverberation among the crisscrossing mountain foothills.

Zhu Zhu Yujian, the Prince of Tang, looked toward the sound with a face full of confusion.

He saw only dust swirling atop the distant peaks.

Flocks of birds were constantly startled into flight.

Until the soldiers at the very front let out a cry of alarm.

"Water! It's water!"

"Why is there water in Liaoxi at this season?!"

"..."

Lan Yu, seated on horseback, was the first to react.

He shouted sternly.

"Do not panic! Everyone board the nearest carts immediately! Do not create chaos!"

With several personal guards shouting loudly.

Only then did these imperial clansmen come to their senses, scrambling desperately onto the nearest large carts.

Fortunately, the Ming army was accustomed to bringing large carts for field battles.

There were just enough carts available.

Lan Yu knew the terrain of Liaodong well.

It was different from the Han lands of the Central Plains.

The north naturally had little water.

Furthermore, the Liaoxi Corridor bordered the sea.

No matter how they attacked with water, it could never achieve the terrifying effects seen in the Central Plains.

Soon, these river waters would rush into the sea.

As expected.

Just five or six hours after all the Ming soldiers had climbed onto the large carts.

The water at their feet began to show signs of receding.

Lan Yu knew.

In this season beyond the pass.

Water was never the most terrifying thing.

What was truly fearsome.

Was the biting wind!

Soon after the water receded.

Lan Yu immediately ordered each unit to gather firewood and build fires nearby.

When the great flood had struck, nearly everyone's clothes had been soaked through.

These imperial clansmen, accustomed to lives of luxury, soon began to shiver uncontrollably in the cold wind.

Yet this was not the most terrifying part.

After the flood, the entire Liaoxi Corridor sank into a quagmire.

Mud mixed with ice shards froze the Ming army's large carts firmly in place.

Not to mention the people.

Inside the camps, war horses froze to death almost every day!

Looking at the ice gradually thickening on the wheels.

Lan Yu knew.

The task Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian had entrusted to him was now complete.

This is a battle that cannot be won.

From the distant foothills, the shouts of the Jurchens driving their warhorses could already be heard.

They were waiting.

Waiting for the wind to come.

Waiting for the ice on the road to grow thicker.

So that their warhorses might run more freely...

And in another spacetime.

At this moment, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang, his hair standing on end in fury, was glaring at the assembled generals of Great Ming and unleashing his thunderous rage.

"Still no solution?!"

"What do I keep you all for?!"

"How can you not even devise a way to preserve the division?!"

In recent days, every time Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang read the summaries from Fu Kong Youde and the others, his blood pressure soared.

The only way to preserve the division was not to fight this battle at all.

The best possible outcome would be a few thousand returning alive, and that only if Lan Yu were possessed by the spirit of a god of war...

Seventy-four: If the Han do not know shame, they are invincible once they do!

Looking at the officials before him, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang felt a sense of powerlessness for the first time since Zhu Biao's death.

There was no fault to be found in the Zhu family protecting the Zhu family's realm.

But what Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang feared most was that his own children and grandchildren would fight until they nearly wiped out his entire lineage.

The morale of Great Ming's army had still collapsed.

The realm of Great Ming had still perished.

It was the futile death of the Zhu descendants that enraged Old Zhu the most!

Looking at these silent officials before him.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of Su Qiao.

And of the composure Su Qiao had displayed when being thrown into the Imperial Prison.

Did this lad truly not fear death?

Or did this lad know the method to defeat the enemy and was deliberately concealing it?

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang immediately grew suspicious.

Something was wrong with Su Qiao!

Because of this crime of Su Qiao's.

He admitted it far too readily!

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's face immediately darkened.

At this, the hearts of Fu Kong Youde and the others before him suddenly skipped a beat.

It was over.

Someone was about to suffer misfortune.

However, Fu Kong Youde and the others had clearly worried for nothing.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang merely summoned Commander Commander Jiang Huo into the rear hall.

After whispering a few words to Commander Commander Jiang Huo,

the ruler and his minister quietly left the Qianqing Palace.

Watching Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's retreating figure,

Fu Kong Youde and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the Imperial Prison.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang sat down on a wooden bench by himself.

"Commander Commander Jiang Huo, we know you have a good relationship with Su Qiao."

Commander Commander Jiang Huo looked at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang with a mournful expression and said,

"Your Majesty, you flatter me; this subject, this subject does not know him at all!"

What a joke.

Who would dare to be close to Su Qiao?

The last person who got that close to Su Qiao, Ru Taisu, had already been frightened into losing three sizes of clothing.

That little old man, who was already small, now looked as if he had just crawled out of a grave.

Where was there any semblance of a living person left in him!

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes bulged.

"Then why did you talk so much nonsense to him when you were at the Eastern Palace?!"

Commander Commander Jiang Huo smiled bitterly and said,

"Your Majesty, this subject was just making idle chatter; it's a professional habit!"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said,

"We don't care about any of that."

"Now, you will go on our behalf to test Su Qiao's words."

"We will be listening right beside you."

Upon hearing this, Commander Commander Jiang Huo could only shut his mouth and walk toward the cell where Su Qiao was imprisoned.

After all, inducing confessions was one of the essential skills of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Having walked halfway,

Commander Commander Jiang Huo suddenly remembered to order a table of wine and dishes to be prepared.

The guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard looked at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang.

Only after Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang nodded did Commander Commander Jiang Huo re-enter the prison cell.

Lying bored on the straw, Su Qiao lifted his head, looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huo with confusion, and asked,

"Director Commander Commander Jiang?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huo slapped a wine gourd down in front of Su Qiao.

"Lord Su, we are on duty in the Imperial Prison tonight; having nothing better to do, we came to chat with you for a bit."

Su Qiao paid it no mind whatsoever, not even lifting his eyelids.

"You came empty-handed?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huo's face instantly filled with black lines as he raised a hand.

The jailer behind him immediately brought over two roasted chickens and a plate of peanuts.

Smelling the aroma of the roasted chicken,

Su Qiao lazily climbed up from the ground.

Commander Commander Jiang Huo slapped a pair of chopsticks down in front of Su Qiao.

"Anyone who enters the Imperial Prison, whether they are founding generals or Grand Secretaries, shows us nothing but utmost respect."

"Yet you, Lord Su, show us no fear at all; you are even more arrogant here than you are outside."

Smelling the aroma of the roasted chicken, Su Qiao clicked his tongue disdainfully and said,

"I do not fear death; how can you threaten me with it?"

Hearing Su Qiao say this,

Commander Commander Jiang Huo could only grab a roasted chicken and start gnawing on it with a chagrined expression.

"That is true enough, but regarding that matter you mentioned earlier, Lord Su, is there really no solution?"

"Are those imperial clansmen of our Great Ming two hundred years from now truly so useless?"

Hearing this, Su Qiao immediately realized what was happening.

He looked at Commander Commander Jiang Huo with a bright smile and said,

"Trying to trick me into talking?"

"Did His Majesty send you?"

Commander Commander Jiang Huang never expected Su Qiao to expose his intentions the moment he arrived.

Instead, it left Commander Commander Jiang Huang at a loss for words.

But Su Qiao did not care in the least.

Tearing off a chicken leg, he said,

"Enough. For the sake of this roasted chicken, ask away. This official will tell you everything he knows."

Since they were already scheduled for execution after autumn,

Su Qiao had set his mind at ease.

Looking at Su Qiao with confusion, Commander Commander Jiang Huang asked,

"Lord Su, if the dragon sons and grandsons of our Great Ming truly... you know what happened."

"The people's hearts will surely be just as you anticipate."

"But what of the army's morale?"

"Do you truly know nothing about military strategy?"

"Even on the battlefield, the death of a Regional Commander can throw an entire army into chaos."

"Let alone thirty feudal princes!"

"What if the army's morale collapses?"

Without even lifting his eyelids, Su Qiao gnawed on the roasted chicken, his face shining with grease, and said,

"That collapse is exactly what we want. If their morale doesn't collapse, wouldn't these people have died in vain?"

The moment these words left his mouth, Commander Commander Jiang Huang instantly froze on the spot.

How was one supposed to respond to that?!

In the adjacent cell, the sound of Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang fiercely grinding his back teeth immediately rang out.

This brat has truly tricked Us!

Hearing that sound, Commander Commander Jiang Huang instantly grew tense.

He looked toward the adjacent cell with some disbelief.

Su Qiao, however, was completely unconcerned.

"Ah, Director Commander Commander Jiang, don't take it to heart; I'm used to it. Your Imperial Prison is fine in every way, except there are far too many rats."

With that, Su Qiao casually picked up a chicken bone and immediately threw it at the green brick wall in the distance.

"Scram quickly, and stop making such a racket here!"

"If you make any more noise, do you think Director Commander Commander Jiang won't stew you and peel your skins off?"

After speaking, Su Qiao did not forget to look at Commander Commander Jiang Huang and say,