Chapter 1922: 【Laughing to the End】(Upper)

Bei Jiang's six main generals all knelt on one knee before Huo Shengnan, shouting, "We are willing to obey General Huo's commands!" These six main generals were all Weichi Chong's trusted confidants and direct lineage; Weichi Chong had previously spoken with them alone in secret, and had not even hidden Huo Shengnan's identity from them.

Although Huo Shengnan's time in the army had been short, she existed there as a senior aide of Weichi Chong; most commanders did not know her true identity, but they also knew her relationship with Weichi Chong was not shallow. Huo Shengnan no longer concealed her identity at this moment; she turned and tore off her human-skin mask, revealing her true face.

Huo Shengnan had enjoyed extremely high prestige in the army before; although she was a wanted criminal of Da Yong, the charge the Da Yong government had originally placed on her was the assassination of the Black Hu Prince Wanyan Chixiong, which under Da Yong law was clearly high treason, a capital offense punishable by death without pardon, yet in the hearts of more than half the common people it was not seen that way; in private they even regarded Huo Shengnan as a national hero, and this was even more true in the army. It can be said that not only did this affair not diminish her standing among the Bei Jiang troops, her prestige actually increased considerably. Her public declaration of her identity was not only because of the bolstering of the Tiger Talisman seal, but also because at this moment someone needed to step forward to take responsibility, someone needed to step forward to guide the three armies.

Huo Shengnan actually also faced great risk, after all her current identity was still that of a wanted criminal of Da Yong.

As expected, just as Huo Shengnan had revealed her identity, someone accused her, saying, "Huo Shengnan, you are a Da Yong fugitive—have you not already surrendered to Hu Xiaotian? What right do you have to control the Tiger Talisman seal? And what right do you have to command the three armies?"

Huo Shengnan coldly glanced at that officer and loudly said, "It's true that I am a Da Yong fugitive, but who can prove that I have surrendered to Hu Xiaotian?"

All the officers simultaneously turned their gazes toward that officer, saying that Huo Shengnan had already become Hu Xiaotian's wife, but no one had ever actually seen it, and after following Huo Xiaotian Huo Shengnan had always concealed her name and rarely showed her true face, nor had she ever openly admitted her identity, so there was simply no evidence to be found.

Huo Shengnan said, "The former emperor believed that I killed Wanyan Chixiong and thus damaged the friendship between Da Yong and the Black Hu, and therefore wanted to eliminate me quickly; the Grand Marshal also suffered because of this matter, but the facts show that the Black Hu people have always harbored wolfish ambitions, they could never truly make peace with Da Yong, their goal is to annex the Central Plains, unless we offer them our land, our homes, our sisters, and everything we possess, to drive and enslave them will they be satisfied. I may not be qualified to lead you, but my adoptive father placed the Tiger Talisman in my hands; he intends for me to do my utmost to protect these brothers who have lived and died together, and he wants me to do my best to avoid dragging us into a meaningless internal conflict."

The scene fell silent, and someone shouted loudly, "General Huo, since the Grand Marshal has handed the Tiger Talisman seal to you, that proves his trust in you; the Grand Marshal trusts you, so we unconditionally trust you!"

"General Huo, as long as you say a word, we will go through fire and water, sparing no sacrifice of our lives."

Someone said, "It was that foolish emperor who forced the Grand Marshal to death; let's go find him!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately echoed in agreement.

The officer who had just questioned Huo Shengnan, seeing the situation turn unfavorable, took advantage of the crowd's inattention to slip away quietly. Just as he was about to leave the crowd, someone intercepted him and shouted angrily, "Where are you going? Do you intend to go give the foolish emperor a heads‑up?" Before he could finish speaking, a flash of cold light appeared, and the officer suddenly puff! —a knife stabbed into his abdomen; he then shoved the body aside, broke free, seized a fine horse at the training field gate, leapt onto it, cracked his whip, and rode off.

The officers all wanted to give chase, but Huo Shengnan pulled a longbow from her back, drew the arrow, aimed at the fleeing officer, and released—whoosh! —the arrow tore through the air, emitting a sharp hiss, piercing layer after layer of snow screen, connecting a straight line of snow amidst the falling flakes; the arrowhead entered the officer's helmet, pierced through it, and brought forth a trail of dark blood from his forehead; the officer uttered no sound, fell from his horse to the ground, and was already dead.

Everyone personally witnessed Huo Shengnan's almost divine arrow, and each felt admiration; Huo Shengnan had previously been renowned for her spear and archery skills, and it appears that her martial arts have made great progress during the years she concealed her identity, yet unknown to others, Huo Shengnan has not displayed her full strength; after she and Hu Xiaotian cultivated the Shooting Sun True Classic, not only has her internal energy increased enormously, but her archery has also reached the state of using qi as arrows; looking across the world, aside from Tang Jiucheng of the Falling Cherry Palace, there are probably few who can surpass her in archery.

General Dong Tian accompanied the shadow emperor as they had just left the camp and were heading toward the training field; because the wind and snow were too strong, the commotion over there had not reached them in time, General Dong Tian slowed his horse, approached the shadow emperor's carriage, and respectfully said, "Your Majesty!"

The shadow emperor lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a pale face; although he had practiced for seven years specifically to imitate Xue Daoming, some things can never be imitated; this night he tossed and turned unable to sleep, he was not afraid of Weichi Chong, but what worried him was General Dong Tian, who he felt might abandon him at any moment.

General Dong Tian seemed to have guessed his thoughts, smiling, "Your Majesty, we will reach the training field shortly; please be sure not to forget that matter."

The shadow emperor nodded, but his nose, unable to withstand the cold, involuntarily sneezed.

General Dong Tian immediately sat up straight, frowning slightly with disgust; at that moment he heard angry shouts, looked up, and saw in the wind and snow a unit advancing toward them; General Dong Tian blinked his eyes, waved his hand, signaling the nearby warriors to go scout, and then signaled the unit to temporarily halt its advance.

Not long after, he saw the two warriors sent out to keep watch rushing back here at full speed; General Dong Tian instantly realized something was wrong, and the furious, mournful cries grew clearer: "Kill that dog emperor, avenge the Grand Marshal!"

General Dong Tian was certain he had not misheard, yet his heart grew ever more bewildered—how? What had Weichi Chong done? Could he have died? General Dong Tian was one of Da Yong's top two fierce generals; he possessed an innate keen sense for danger, and upon sensing danger he quickly weighed it in his mind; the forces of the two sides were nowhere near equal; this expedition to Bei Jiang ****, using the shadow emperor as a pretext to force Weichi Chong to surrender military authority, was in fact an extremely risky undertaking; for this they had planned long, deliberated repeatedly, and had also reckoned that Weichi Chong's nature would absolutely never lead him to betray the court; this man placed great importance on his reputation, so even if the Da Yong court doubted him, his loyal garrisoning of Bei Jiang would show it.

Nevertheless, even if they believed in Weichi Chong's loyalty, their interest group was eager to wrest military authority from his hands; after all, long nights bring many dreams, and if they could not keep the initiative in their own hands, once they fell into a passive position regret would come too late; this operation was a two‑front campaign, General Dong Tian was responsible for Bei Jiang, while his father and the true Emperor Xue Daoming held Yongdu, and they had to attack from both sides to achieve victory swiftly.

General Dong Tian had not expected that Weichi Chong would use his death to perfect his own reputation, nor that he would use his death to free the soldiers under his command.

Weichi Chong's death had completely ignited the fury of the Bei Jiang troops; aside from their long‑standing dissatisfaction with the court over military supplies, having personally witnessed the Grand Marshal's miserable death, their anger spread like a wildfire, impossible to contain.

Although General Dong Tian was brave, facing the surging army he dared not meet it head‑on; at such a moment the first thought was to preserve his own life, he roared, "Guard the carriage!" turned the reins and fled desperately against the wind and snow; his flight made no one else dare to stay, not even General Dong Tian himself guarding the carriage—who would be foolish enough to throw away his life here? One after another they fled faster; the driver in charge of the carriage, disliking the carriage as excess baggage, unhitched a horse and escaped on his own; the shadow emperor, terrified, tried to climb out of the carriage, but the carriage's horses were frightened and bolted; because the turn was too sharp, the carriage tipped over, the horses dragged the carriage across the snow at a gallop. This made the speed even slower, and soon the Bei Jiang troops behind caught up, shot the horses, and dragged the trembling shadow emperor out of the carriage.

Upon hearing that the emperor had been captured, Huo Shengnan rushed to the scene at once; the shadow emperor, possibly overcome by fright, had actually wet his pants, shivering uncontrollably in the wind and snow, he trembled, "Don't kill me… I am not the emperor… I am not the emperor…"

Huo Shengnan dismounted, came before him, coldly gazed at his hateful face, then suddenly raised her fist and punched him into unconsciousness.

Li Chen Zhou, full of ambition, strode into Tianhe Dian wearing armor; the civil and military officials assembled there were each frightened pale; the situation had only just calmed for a few days, yet unexpectedly turmoil arose again—this time the emperor was not in the palace, Li Chen Zhou took the opportunity to stir up waves, and who knows how many will die?

Minister of Rites Sun Weiyuan mustered his courage and stepped forward to block Li Chen Zhou's path, saying, "Grand Commander, this is Tianhe Dian; according to Da Yong's regulations, one may not wear armor or bring weapons inside."

Li Chen Zhou looked at Sun Weiyuan and gave a hehe laugh, waved his hand, and immediately someone rushed out from behind to seize Sun Weiyuan, who shouted, "What are you doing? What crime have I committed? In the court you dare to use private punishment?"

Li Chen Zhou said, "Abusing private punishment? I am carrying out heaven's will! Sun Weiyuan, you have colluded with Xiang Liren to plot the overthrow of the court, to usurp the throne and rebel? If I do not punish you, heavenly principle will not allow it!"

Sun Weiyuan roared, "Li Chen Zhou, you are spouting nonsense! I, Sun Weiyuan, am loyal and devoted, serving the imperial court; you dare to accuse me of innocence? I will certainly make things clear with you before the emperor!"

Li Chen Zhou said, "Let me punish you—that is the emperor!"

"You're talking nonsense!" (To be continued~^~)