Chapter 220: Northern Frontier Alarm

The purge operation inside Bianliangcheng was like a silent winter rain, cleansing hidden corruption, yet it also brought a biting chill.

However, before this chill could fully permeate every inch of the capital's flesh,

An urgent military report, wrapped in frontier wind and sand and the smell of blood, split the palace's tranquility like a thunderclap.

In the Hall of Reverent Governance, Chen Wen was discussing with Zhang Cheng and Wang Pu the first batch of grain distribution after the canal's clearance.

A dust‑and‑grime‑covered military officer, his armor caked with mud and dark‑brown stains, was led in by the palace guards.

He almost stumbled in, rolling and crawling, collapsed on the ground, his voice hoarse and distorted from extreme exhaustion and terror.

"Your Majesty! Urgent military situation! Northern Frontier… Northern Frontier emergency report!"

The officer, hands trembling, held aloft a military report scroll stained with three feathers, signifying the highest urgency.

"Khitan… Khitan Cavalry has launched a large‑scale southern invasion, raiding the border! Several villages and towns in Ying Prefecture and Mo Prefecture have been attacked; the garrison… the garrison suffered heavy losses!"

The hall fell silent in an instant.

Zhang Cheng's vermilion brush hovered in midair, and Wang Pu's finger, pinching his beard, also stopped.

Everyone's gaze focused on that dust‑stained military report.

Chen Wen's face remained calm, but his eyes sharpened like a hawk's.

"Present it."

His voice was steady, without a ripple.

The eunuch hurriedly took the report and quickly brought it to the imperial desk.

Chen Wen unfolded it, his eyes swiftly scanning the slightly messy yet heart‑stopping words.

The report detailed that three days prior, a force of about two thousand Khitan elite cavalry suddenly broke through the border outposts, splitting into several groups.

Like starving wolves, they surged toward the weakly defended border area between Ying Prefecture and Mo Prefecture.

They moved swiftly and cruelly, burning villages, looting grain and fodder, slaughtering any soldiers or civilians who dared resist.

The local garrison hastily engaged, but due to dispersed forces and slow reaction suffered successive defeats; several forts were overrun, casualties exceeded five hundred, and the number of civilians and livestock taken captive was countless.

Only a day earlier did this Khitan cavalry, as swiftly as they had come, retreat northward and vanish into the endless grass sea of the border.

"Two thousand elite cavalry… raiding the border…"

Chen Wen set the report down, his fingertips lightly stroking the cold paper.

He lifted his gaze to the officer still kneeling on the ground, trembling.

"Who commands them? Under what banner do they fight?"

"Re… reply, Your Majesty!"

The officer struggled to steady his mind and recalled.

"The scout saw from afar that it seemed… seemed to be the troops of the Khitan Southern Court Prince Yelu Talie! The banner… the banner is a wolf‑head standard!"

"Yelu Talie…"

Chen Wen softly repeated that name.

This man is a fierce general in the Khitan army, greedy and cruel, long responsible for harassing Zhongyuan.

Choosing to strike when the new dynasty had just been founded and its interior not yet fully consolidated, his intent is obvious—probe!

This is by no means a simple, isolated border skirmish.

This is a carefully planned probing attack.

Its purpose is to weigh how much weight this newly enthroned emperor carries;

to see whether the newly established Great Chen's frontier defenses are solid and its army fit for battle;

and moreover to test the attitudes of the various Zhongyuan powers toward this new dynasty when faced with foreign invasion.

If Chen Wen responds weakly, or if internal discord arises from this, then what awaits Great Chen next is likely far more than a small‑scale raid of two thousand cavalry.

Northern Han, the Khitan, and even other harboring ulterior motives military governors will swarm like sharks scenting blood.

"Your Majesty."

Wang Pu spoke first, brows furrowed.

"The Khitan's move is intended to probe.

our newly founded dynasty must not show weakness.

we must respond with decisive counter‑attack, otherwise the frontier will never know peace, and regional commanders will likewise grow contemptuous."

Zhang Cheng also showed a worried expression.

"What Premier Wang says is absolutely correct.

However, the treasury is still empty, the canal has just been reopened, and if a large army moves, the grain and money cost will be enormous.

Moreover, the interior has just undergone a purge; is it advisable to launch a major war at once?"

His concern is the practical financial and internal stability issues.

Chen Wen did not immediately state his position.

He rose, walked to the huge map hanging on the wall, and his eyes fell upon the winding northern border line.

Ying Prefecture, Mo Prefecture… that is the northern gateway of Zhongyuan, and also the defense line forged with the flesh and blood of countless soldiers.

Now, this defense line has been easily torn open by the Khitan, leaving behind blood and scorched earth.

"Lost five hundred soldiers—what about the civilians taken captive?"

Chen Wen, his back to the assembly, suddenly asked in a low voice.

The reporting officer staggered for a moment, then hurriedly kowtowed.

"The exact… exact numbers have not yet been fully tallied, but… according to villagers who fled back, at least… nearly a thousand heads, including able‑bodied men, women, and children…"

Nearly a thousand civilians.

This means over a thousand families shattered, meaning parents lost children and children lost parents.

In the hands of the Khitan, their fate is easy to imagine: either they become slaves, or they die miserably on the road north.

Silence fell once more in the hall, a suppressed anger spreading soundlessly.

"I know."

Chen Wen turned around, his face still showing no joy or anger, but deep in his eyes it seemed as if ice were condensing.

"You have worked hard along the way; first go down and rest properly, a reward of twenty taels of silver."

He said to that junior officer.

"Thank... thank Your Majesty for your grace!"

The junior officer, tears of gratitude flowing, kowtowed, and was helped down by the imperial guards.

"Convey my decree."

Chen Wen's gaze swept over Wang Pu and Zhang Cheng.

"Immediately summon Shi Dun, Han Tong, Zhang Yongde, Qian Gui, and... the relevant officials of the Ministry of War for a council before the throne."

"Order the provinces along the northern frontier to strengthen defenses, closely monitor the movements of the Khitan and Northern Han, and if there is any change, send an urgent report by eight-hundred-li express."

"Order Mo Prefecture and Ying Er Prefecture to properly settle the affected populace, comfort the families of fallen soldiers, tally the specific losses, and swiftly report to Bian Liang."

"We, your subjects, receive the decree!"

Wang Pu and Zhang Cheng replied in unison, knowing that the emperor had already made a decision in his heart.

When Shi Dun and the other military officers and Ministry of War officials hurried to Chongzheng Hall, the atmosphere inside had already grown heavy as a lead block.

Chen Wen, the general, passed along the report for reading; as expected, the military officers instantly became indignant.

"Your Majesty! The Khitan dogs bully people too much!"

Shi Dun was the first to leap out, his beard and hair bristling, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled.

"Let me, Old Stone, take the troops! If I don't cut off the dog's head of that scoundrel Yelü Talie, I won't come back!"

He had established his prestige at the drill field yesterday, his spirit was high, and now he was even more eager for battle.

Han Tong was relatively steady, but his face looked very grim.

"Lord Shi, please calm down."

"Khitan cavalry comes and goes like the wind; this time they have already withdrawn north, if our army rashly goes out of the frontier to pursue, we fear walking into an ambush."

"Moreover, mobilizing a great army is not a task of a single day."

He looked toward Chen Wen.

"Your Majesty, I believe the urgent priority is to strengthen border defenses, dispatch elite troops to garrison the passes, and prevent their renewed invasion."

"At the same time, we can send a capable cavalry unit to go out and patrol the borders, waiting for an opportunity to wipe out their small raiding parties, an eye for an eye!"

Zhang Yongde also added.

"General Han's words are reasonable."

"Furthermore, we must also guard against Northern Han."

"Liu Jun is deeply colluding with the Khitan; if the Khitan moves, Northern Han is very likely to take advantage and attack our flank."

The officials of the Ministry of War, focusing more on logistics and overall strategy, outlined the difficulties of large-scale troop deployment, advocated a cautious response, and emphasized defense and deterrence.

Qian Gui stood to one side, silent, until Chen Wen's gaze fell upon him, then he slowly spoke.

"Your Majesty, the scouts of the Inspection Bureau in the Northern Border also have a report."

"This time Yelü Talie's southern incursion appears to be an ordinary border raid, but his retreat route is rather suspicious."

"He did not directly return to his lair, but lingered in the border region for two days, seemingly to meet someone… or… to survey the terrain."

He paused.

"Moreover, there is an unverified report that mysterious persons not dressed in Khitan attire have been seen active within the Khitan army."

He did not say it outright, but everyone present understood his implication—the Iron Crow Army.

Chen Wen listened quietly to everyone's opinions, his fingers unconsciously moving across the imperial desk.

The military officers advocated war, the civil officials advocated stability, and the intelligence pointed toward a deeper conspiracy.

This is indeed a dilemma.

To fight might lead to a war of attrition, exposing the weakness of the new dynasty; not to fight would destroy prestige, leave the border forever unsettled, and cause inner hearts to waver.

Just as everyone was arguing without cease, hurried footsteps sounded again outside the hall.

Another messenger was led in, delivering a supplementary military report from the front lines of Mo Prefecture.

Chen Wen unfolded it and his gaze suddenly tightened.

The military report mentioned that, while cleaning up after a village attacked by Khitan cavalry,

they discovered several corpses that did not die from blades or arrows, but were stiff all over, with a strange bluish-black complexion, as if frozen to death by extreme cold.

And amidst the ruins of the village, someone found a small fragment of deep-blue crystal emitting a faint chill.

Nether Energy Crystal Ore!

Chen Wen slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall, finally fixing on the area marked as wasteland in the northern border on the map.

His last hint of hesitation vanished.

"Is Yelü Talie not trying to test me?"

Chen Wen's voice was not loud, yet it carried a metallic resonance of resolve, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Then let me let him have a good look!"

"Draft the decree!"

His gaze was like lightning, his voice shaking the hall.

"This is not a simple border raid."

"This is Khitan, together with the demons and monsters behind it, a provocation against my Great Chen!"

「I, have decided……」

Everyone's hearts were raised, they held their breath and focused, awaiting the emperor's final decision.

The frontier's warning was like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves on the court of this newly established dynasty.

And Chen Wen's choice will determine where this wave ultimately flows.