Chapter 132: The Battle of Survival

"Reporting to Your Majesty, an envoy sent by the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu requests an audience!"

"Oh?"

The Emperor of Great Chu's eyes lit up, "Summon the Xiongnu envoy for an audience!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Not long after.

A man dressed as a grassland barbarian walked into the grand hall.

The various officials in the imperial court chose to step back one after another, wanting to keep some distance from the other party.

Because the stench on the other party's body was truly disgusting.

"Wakul pays respects to His Majesty, the Emperor of Great Chu!"

"Rise!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The Emperor of Great Chu looked at Wakul with a puzzled expression and said, "I wonder what business brings you here?"

"I have come specifically to defect to His Majesty, the Emperor of Great Chu!"

"What?"

Wakul's answer shocked the Emperor of Great Chu and everyone in the imperial court.

For a moment, the crowd was actually unable to respond.

The Xiongnu were defecting to them?

This was truly a rare occurrence!

"Heh, you Xiongnu have always held yourselves in high regard and looked down on everyone; furthermore, my Central Plains and you nomads have a deep-seated hatred. Do you think I would believe you?"

"Your Majesty, to tell you the truth, we have no way out, so we had to come to defect to Your Majesty. Moreover, my Right Wise King is willing to offer the Yushan Fortress of Great Wei as a gift!"

"The Yushan Fortress of Great Wei!"

This fortress was an important border fortress of Great Wei.

It bordered the Xiongnu's territory, and on the other side of the Xiongnu's territory was their Chongshan Fortress.

Some time ago.

Great Wei's Yushan Fortress was captured and occupied in one fell swoop by the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu.

At that time, Great Chu had even felt it was a pity.

They had intended to seize the Yushan Fortress while the two sides were both weakened.

Who would have thought that the defending general of Yushan Fortress would be so fragile, abandoning the city and fleeing without resisting for long, letting the Xiongnu pick up a huge bargain for nothing.

"Is the Right Wise King truly willing to offer up Great Wei's Yushan Fortress?"

"Exactly!"

"Then what exactly is this about you having no way out, as you just mentioned?"

"This..."

Wakul pondered for a moment.

Finally, he told the Emperor of Great Chu the news that the Wang Ting of the Xiongnu had been breached by Chu Feng.

Upon learning this news.

The imperial court of Great Chu was instantly struck by a massive earthquake.

Breaching the Xiongnu's Wang Ting.

This strength...

The imperial court became incomparably quiet in an instant; even if an embroidery needle were to fall, it would be heard with absolute clarity.

After a good while.

Someone finally broke the silence.

"Your Majesty, we should raise an army to attack Great Wei as soon as possible; we must not give them any chance to catch their breath."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we should raise an army to take down Great Wei early. If we do not plan early, after a long period of peace, Great Wei will surely send troops against our Great Chu."

"Father Emperor, attack Great Wei!"

"..."

The imperial court of Great Chu was rarely unified in their stance this time, with everyone supporting an early attack on Great Wei.

They also had not expected that Great Wei would actually produce such an extraordinary young general.

Leading an army of two hundred thousand to breach the Xiongnu's Wang Ting in one fell swoop.

Such strength forced them to take it seriously.

"Good, issue the order: the Great General is to raise an army of six hundred thousand to station at Yushan Fortress and attack Great Wei this very day!"

"As you command!"

Upon receiving the decree, the various departments of Great Chu immediately began to operate at high speed.

They began mobilization preparations for the war.

Great Wei had produced such a formidable young talent; in the future, he would surely pose a threat to Great Chu.

No, the other party had already posed a threat to Great Chu.

In the first battle, he breached the Xiongnu's Wang Ting; in the second battle, he killed the Duke of E, Cui Pi, and captured the Crown Prince.

Since this person cannot be recruited for one's own use, he must be eliminated.

To avoid future trouble.

At the same time.

The Capital of Great Wei.

"Victory report, victory report, an eight-hundred-li victory report!"

"Champion Marquis of Great Wei Chu Feng has led a great army to capture the Xiongnu Wang Ting in one fell swoop and has taken the Great Chanyu Touman prisoner!"

"Victory report, victory report, an eight-hundred-li victory report!"

"Champion Marquis of Great Wei Chu Feng has led a great army to capture the Xiongnu Wang Ting in one fell swoop and has taken the Great Chanyu Touman prisoner!"

A loud shout instantly ignited the entire Capital of Great Wei.

"My heavens, the Champion Marquis actually led troops to capture the Xiongnu Wang Ting? And even took their Great Chanyu prisoner!"

"My goodness, this is simply an unprecedented, top-tier military achievement! To actually capture the Xiongnu Wang Ting!"

"Our Great Wei's Champion Marquis is invincible under heaven!"

"One should be like the Champion Marquis, winning glory while still young; a single battle breaks the dawn and secures the Wang Ting, all to relieve the worries of the common people!"

"Damn, what a poem, what a poem! Brother, does this work have a title?"

"Hehe, I am but a humble man, this is a gift to the Champion Marquis!"

This exhilarating good news finally reached the Great Wei imperial court.

Upon learning the news that Chu Feng had captured the Xiongnu Wang Ting, everyone's reaction was the same as the commoners in the Capital.

The imperial court was as festive as if it were the New Year.

Especially among the military officials.

Each and every one of them stood as straight as a rooster, walking with a swagger.

This was an honor that belonged solely to them, the military officials.

It was their descendant who had established such a heaven-shattering merit.

It would not be an exaggeration to call it unprecedented and unrepeatable.

"Wahahaha, this grandson-in-law of mine has truly brought honor to this old man!"

Duke of Chen Lu Tianzong was grinning from ear to ear.

Capturing the Xiongnu Wang Ting in one fell swoop.

Such a great merit would be worthy of being enfeoffed as a Duke.

Chu Feng might even become the first person in the history of Great Chu to be enfeoffed as a Duke at such a young age.

"Damn it all, why didn't this brat die on the battlefield? Why did it have to be him who captured the Wang Ting? Are those Xiongnu fellows all idiots?"

Where there is joy, there is sorrow.

Right Chancellor Zhuang Hui was the one who was troubled.

He and Chu Feng already had irreconcilable conflicts.

Seeing him establish such great merit made him feel as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

For him.

The best news would be for Chu Feng to be killed and beheaded by the Xiongnu; only then could his hatred be resolved.

"He is indeed worthy of being the man I value; he is truly extraordinary!"

Shen Lingwei secretly rejoiced.

She had not expected that Chu Feng would actually create a miracle.

With two hundred thousand troops, he had annihilated the three hundred thousand-strong army of the Left Worthy King, and then captured the Xiongnu Wang Ting.

Such a heaven-shattering merit left her, the Emperor, not knowing how to reward him.

"What should I reward him with?"

Shen Lingwei pondered secretly and finally reached a conclusion: "I'll simply reward him with myself; since he captured the Xiongnu Wang Ting, it can be considered fulfilling the promise made at the time."

After making up her mind.

Shen Lingwei prepared to summon Chu Feng to the Capital to celebrate.

"Urgent report, urgent report, an eight-hundred-li urgent report!"

Before Shen Lingwei could prepare to commend Chu Feng, an urgent report was presented before her.

The eunuch before the hall hurriedly received the report and immediately reached Shen Lingwei.

"Your Majesty, there is an emergency at Yushan Fortress!"

Shen Lingwei took the report, read it carefully, and was instantly enraged.

"Damn it!"

Everyone was shocked.

No one knew exactly what had happened.

Until the news was read aloud, everyone was stunned.

It turned out that Great Chu had declared war on Great Wei, and the Xiongnu Right Wise King, in order to maneuver and survive, had actually handed over Yushan Fortress to Great Chu.

The two hundred thousand troops led by Liu General were unable to hold their ground alone and could not possibly resist the eight hundred thousand-strong joint army of Great Chu and the Xiongnu.

Upon learning the situation, Right Chancellor Zhuang Hui instantly seized the opportunity and immediately began to submit a memorial.

"Your Majesty, this matter all stems from the Champion Marquis. If he hadn't gone to Great Chu to stir up trouble, how would Great Chu have declared war on our Great Wei? Your subject believes we should immediately hand over the Champion Marquis and choose to reconcile with Great Chu!"

"Traitor to the country, you have the nerve to say such things!"

"What did you say!"

Zhuang Hui angrily rebuked the speaker, "How can this Chancellor be called a traitor?"

Lu Tianzong retorted: "The Champion Marquis has established such great merit and is the pillar of our Great Wei. You do not think to encourage him, but instead slander him here and speak for the enemy country; if you are not a traitor, then what are you?"

"Hmph, Duke of Chen, it is easy for you to talk while standing. Currently, the livelihood of our Great Wei is in decline, everything is waiting to be rebuilt, and there are even stronger enemies lurking in the shadows; we cannot afford to provoke any more powerful enemies.

As of now, the joint army of Great Chu and the Xiongnu has reached a massive eight hundred thousand; how are we to resist them? This Chancellor does this for the sake of Great Wei's safety."

"Hmph, stop putting on a high and mighty act here. Don't think this old man doesn't know that you are trying to settle a private grudge under the guise of public interest!"

"You..."

Zhuang Hui had his intentions seen through, his face flushing bright red, "Think what you will, my intention as Prime Minister is that we cannot stir up the flames of war again; our Great Wei needs to recuperate!"

The group of civil officials also expressed their support and approval for Zhuang Hui's stance.

The Great Wei of today truly cannot stir up the flames of war again, especially against Great Chu, the number one power in the Central Plains.

An army of eight hundred thousand marching forward is indeed a very difficult problem to solve.

"Your Majesty, this old subject is willing to lead troops to support Liu General; if I do not retake Yushan Fortress, I shall never return to the court!"

"Your Majesty, the Champion Marquis must not be lost; we petition to fight to the death!"

"Your Majesty, we petition to fight to the death!"

The imperial court was instantly divided into two factions.

One faction sought peace, while the other advocated for war.

It made Shen Lingwei's head ache.

With no other choice, she had to announce the end of the court session to deliberate further.

Qianqing Palace.

"Abominable, this is truly infuriating!"

"Your Majesty, what has caused your anger?"

Shen Lingwei recounted what had transpired in the imperial court.

Upon hearing this, Guo Xueping was also shocked beyond measure.

She had not expected Chu Feng to be so formidable, even kidnapping the Crown Prince of Great Chu.

"Your Majesty, Great Chu has long harbored the intention to annex our Great Wei; this matter is merely an excuse, whether we fight sooner or later, we must fight!"

"Sigh, how could I not know what you speak of!"

Shen Lingwei touched her smooth forehead; the immense pressure was making it hard for her to breathe.

Having just resolved the issue with the Xiongnu, the even more formidable enemy of Great Chu had turned around to cause trouble.

If not handled well, Great Wei would face the danger of annihilation.

"Why not dispatch the Champion Marquis to support Liu General?"

"He has just finished the battle at Wang Ting, and his subordinates have suffered heavy losses; to have him go on an expedition again, wouldn't that be..."

"But at present, we have no other options, except for the Champion Marquis!"

"This..."

Shen Lingwei bit her lower lip tightly and said helplessly, "Fine, order the Champion Marquis to go and support Liu General; I do not ask for the recapture of Yushan Fortress, only that he can hold off the Chu-Xiongnu allied forces."

"Yes, this subject will personally go to the Champion Marquis to report!"

After the court session began.

Shen Lingwei overruled the objections of the masses and chose to go to war with Great Chu.

After some deliberation.

Everyone finally agreed to the request for war.

They let the Champion Marquis, who had just finished the battle at Wang Ting, don his armor and set out on an expedition again to hold off the eight hundred thousand-strong army of the Chu-Xiongnu alliance.

Regarding this.

Duke of Chen Lu Tianzong, who had long been living in retirement, also picked up his blade, mounted his horse, and went to provide support.

At present, Great Wei could no longer produce any other troops.

They could only rely on the soldiers under Chu Feng and the two hundred thousand-strong army in the hands of Liu General.

This battle concerned the life and death of Great Wei.

If they do not win, Great Wei will surely perish!