Chapter 840

Imagination is cruel, but reality is even crueler.

Whether it was setting fire to everything, turning the imperial capital into scorched earth, or harboring the wild ambition of mutual destruction, none of it came to pass.

After a few breaths of fleeting revival, Song Jiang died.

Still, Song Jiang managed to do one thing: he allowed some of the important figures among the 108 Stars to escape.

Like Lin Chong and Wu Song, who forcefully broke through the siege, as well as Bai Sheng, An Daoquan, Zhu Wu, and others—exactly who escaped cannot be properly tallied, since many of the original 108 Stars had already died.

Tang Luo and his men had no intention of pursuing them; if they left, they left—who cares?

Some died in battle, and many were captured alive.

By the time the sky gradually darkened, the imperial city, which had echoed with battle cries all day, had fallen completely silent.

Temporarily brought under Tang Luo's control.

What followed was no longer combat, but the takeover of the imperial city.

After the battle, various matters were handled: some of the defending soldiers fled, some died in battle, and some became prisoners.

Prisoners were naturally first locked away in the great prison, nearly filling all the cells in the imperial city.

Over the next few days, more and more were continuously imprisoned—over a hundred in total, all individuals suspected of causing trouble.

As for the universal conscription resistance, it did not appear.

Only hostility was unavoidable; occasionally, someone would leap from a high building, dying for their country.

A series of trivial matters, far more complex than pure combat, were handled by Zhu Bajie.

Tang Luo retained forty thousand soldiers within the imperial city, serving as a "peacekeeping force."

He formally occupied the entire magnificent and mighty city.

He also had no intention of summoning the original civil and military officials of the Great Yin court.

As for those who came forward voluntarily to surrender, they were pacified and then sent away.

It makes people very uneasy—could Jia Rong's actions not be those of extermination?

Actually, after Song Jiang rose to power and cleaned house once, the remaining people cannot be expected to have much integrity.

This, in fact, gave Tang Luo much help in occupying the imperial city.

The 120,000-strong army: forty thousand remained to occupy the imperial city, while the remaining eighty thousand were divided into four parts, each led by one of the Thirteen Taibao, marching to various regions to eliminate armed resistance forces.

Including but not limited to the loyalist troops from various regions dragging their feet, seeking to take advantage, and those who thought they had a chance and simply declared independence—some foolish lot.

The four armies swept across the borders of Great Yin like a raging wind.

At this time, on the border of Great Yin, where it meets Great Ding, three similarly sized forces, composed entirely of cavalry, were temporarily stationed.

The expressions of the commanders were somewhat strange.

The three cavalry units came respectively from Shu King Liu Bei, Wei King Cao Cao, and the already Wu King Sun Ce.

The three commanders were Zhao Yun Zilong, Zhang Liao Zhang Wenyuan, and the old general Huang Gai, who had once met Tang Luo.

All were relatively steady individuals; though the three would not unite, they still kept watch over each other, and their camps were not far apart.

If any situation arose, they might conduct a rescue—or……a backstab.

Indeed, Great Ding is just this complex and changeable, with no eternal allies.

Now, the three commanders chose to cooperate; they gathered together, integrating the intelligence gathered by their scouts, and one could see on each of their faces a slightly strange expression.

Especially the old general Huang Gai, who clearly remembered Jia Rong's words that day.

At the time, he only thought this person was arrogantly overconfident, never imagining that what he said was actually true!

They came too late.

Jia's army had already seized the central hub of the Great Yin imperial city; Song Jiang was defeated, and the surviving escapees among the 108 Stars numbered no more than twenty.

The various "resistance forces" across the regions were being systematically suppressed; Great Qian had thoroughly occupied and annexed Great Yin—it could be said that only time remained.

Whether long—three or four years—or short—just one year—Great Yin would cease to exist entirely, leaving only Great Qian and Great Ding!

Moreover, according to the messages sent back, Jia Rong appears to exist only in records as a Supreme Grandmaster.

Supreme Grandmaster!

These four words stood like a great mountain in the hearts of the three commanders.

Whether Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, or Huang Gai, they are all powerful martial artists at the Grandmaster level—strong ones, indeed.

But before a Supreme Grandmaster, they are not enough to even look at.

"Supreme Grandmaster—does such a realm truly exist?" Zhao Yun said.

"At least Jia Rong and Lü Bu are the two most likely to be Supreme Grandmasters in the present age." Huang Gai said, "That day I saw Jia Rong, and I still felt his bearing was lofty; now, thinking back……"

That was not arrogance, but confidence.

"Should we withdraw our troops?" Zhang Liao hesitated slightly before saying.

Not out of fear, but because the situation had reached this point—further entry into Great Yin would no longer hold much meaning.

If we were to provoke Jia Rong and get ourselves trapped inside, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Actually, I have already sent the message back." Zhao Yun said.

Zhang Liao and Huang Zhong glanced at Zhao Yun—this isn't nonsense, is it?

Who hasn't sent out the message?

"I sent it to two places." Zhao Yun coughed once, "Besides the lord, I also sent the message to the Marquis of Warmth."

Who is the Marquis of Warmth? Naturally, it is Lü Bu.

Great Ding has three kings and one marquis; the three kings have been mentioned many times already—no need to repeat.

The marquis refers to Lü Fengxian, Lü Marquis of Warmth.

Lü Fang's title of Little Marquis of Warmth exists because of Lü Bu's Marquis of Warmth position.

Just like the three kings, Lü Bu also has his own fief, though small in size. Great Ding is not without other princes and marquises, but only these four possess their own independent fiefdoms.

Together they occupied nine-tenths of the area of the great cauldron, and the remaining one-tenth belonged to the royal family of the great cauldron.

Oh, Zhang Jiao also had one before; he was also a marquis, the Marquis of Heaven.

He merely spent years talking about mysticism and Dao, saying things like "The azure heaven has perished, the yellow heaven shall rise; in the year of Jiazi, all under heaven will be great auspice," stirring up the Yellow Turban Army, founding the Way of Great Peace, and calling himself the Great Virtuous Teacher, hoping to sweep across the entire world.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion of the great cauldron was a major event in the rise of the Three Kings.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion ended, the tripartite standoff of the Three Kings was fully formed.

Zhang Jiao became their stepping stone; the Kaiyuan Emperor, who has always coveted such extraordinary people as Zhang Jiao, still from time to time "misses" Zhang Jiao to this day.

It's a pity I didn't seize power decades ago; otherwise, I would have long since acted to rescue this Great Virtuous Teacher.

As long as he no longer stirs up any Yellow Turban Army, everything can be discussed.

The topic returned to the discussion among the three chief commanders.

Upon hearing Zhao Yun say he had sent the news to Lü Bu, Zhang Liao and Huang Gai both burst out with expressions of "I never thought Zhao Yun, you with your thick brows and big eyes, would also play this trick."

"Don't you have any?" Zhao Yun looked at the two men's contemptuous expressions, somewhat strangely saying.

"Cough cough cough..."

Zhang Liao and Huang Gai both started coughing at the same time; well, they too had sent the news to Lü Bu.

The three exchanged glances and shared a hidden smile.

All are men who lead troops on marches and wage war; they all understand the principle that in warfare, deception is not despised.

Why would they give the news to Lü Bu?

Because Lü Bu is a martial Dao madman.

In Lü Bu's heart, power and status are important, but they do not come first; what comes first is martial Dao.

His fief thrives, but Lü Bu himself is merely a banner; in reality, he does not manage affairs, and the true manager is his subordinate Chen Gong.

This is something the Three Kings all regret; if Lü Bu wanted to personally manage affairs, it would be better.

In that case, within three months, Lü Bu would have no fief left; given his character and wisdom, he certainly could not manage his own fief well—even if it were not large.

In short, by sending the news to Lü Bu and telling him that a suspected supreme master has appeared, Lü Bu will certainly come.

Then the matter is settled.

With Lü Bu as a great mountain standing in the way, the Great Qian wanting to annex the Great Yin has become impossible.

Although Lü Bu cannot accomplish things, with his strength, wanting to sabotage others' success, frankly speaking, then truly no one can succeed.

Success!

Jia Rong did not succeed, but we did.

Next, we can calmly dispatch troops to invade the Great Yin, everyone sitting in a row dividing the spoils.

This piece of meat that is the Great Yin—how could you, Great Qian, devour it alone? Don't even think about it; we also want a few bites.

The reason the three of them are still gathered here discussing is that they feel having come all this way, simply leaving like this seems inappropriate.

Everyone needs to reach a consensus, return together, and let the most iron-headed Lü Wenhou go to confront Jia Rong.

That would be tactics.

If it were merely a single unit returning, that would be retreat.

Given the three men's strength and status, such a "withdrawal without battle" would not amount to much, but the other two sides would surely seize this opportunity to make a big fuss.

You fled! Oh, everyone retreating together? Then it's fine.

The three were about to reach a consensus when, at this moment, an outside soldier came to report: "Remnants of the Great Yin" have arrived here.

The three exchanged glances and walked out of the tent together, just to see Wu Song, Lin Chong, and over a hundred of the "orphans" of the 108 Stars, along with a weary troop of over a hundred people outside.

Zhu Wu, the Earthly Kui Star known as the Divine Machine Military Advisor, stood at the front, clasping his hands toward Zhao Yun and the two others and saying: "I have seen the three generals."

"I don't know why you have come; what advice do you offer?" Huang Gai, being the eldest, had Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao entrust him with the role of speaker.

Generally speaking, when those under the Three Kings gather externally, the spokesperson is the eldest—unless the status difference between them is too great, in which case that person lacks the qualification to speak.

"Revenge!" Zhu Wu's eyes flashed with fire, as an important military advisor under Lu Junyi.

In the battle where Lu Junyi suffered a great defeat, he did not participate, yet he did not expect to await the news of Lu Junyi's defeat and death.

He himself was even captured alive and hung on a pole as a "banner" to be humiliated to death.

This hatred, Zhu Wu will not forget; only by washing it away with blood can it be cleansed, but relying solely on their strength, revenge is impossible.

Only by relying on the power of the great cauldron, even if becoming a knife in the opponent's hand.

The remnants of the 108 Stars no longer care about life or death, only about whether death has value.

Time passed bit by bit, and another half month went by.

The beacon fires rising all over Great Yin slowly ceased, and the various troops were shattered by the Jia family army into fragments, unable to form a cohesive force.

At the same time, Jia Rong, who occupied the imperial city, proclaimed to the world that he would "return governance to Cheng."

This came as a great surprise.

This Cheng, naturally, is that Cheng of the former royal family of Great Yin.

The royal family of Great Yin, naturally, was not completely wiped out by Song Jiang; time was insufficient—he could not possibly directly raise the butcher's knife and massacre indiscriminately. Such a move would directly destabilize the throne, and surface propriety must be maintained.

Therefore, the Cheng family of the royal line, merely those in the imperial city and nearby, suffered various accidents, with seven or eight out of ten dead; not a few Cheng family members remain outside, now to be counted, and considered part of the royal family, there are also several dozen.

Among them, a portion still had some movement, raising troops to stir up trouble.

The result was being slapped by the Thirteen Guardians of the Jia family, strung up and beaten, and the remaining people instantly became obedient.

Now Jia Rong suddenly wants to return governance to Cheng—what kind of operation is this?

At the same time the news of returning governance to Cheng spread, a cavalry unit of a hundred riders, bearing an air of disdain for the world, moved in a straight line, heedless of trampling through Great Qian territory, breaking through the Great Qian border defenses, and entering Great Yin territory.

On the unit's banner, a large "Lü" character fluttered, like a ball of flame.

Martial Dao madman, Marquis Wenhou Lü Bu, sets out!