Chapter 972: Dull War

Deep within the Zhao Guo palace, the Zhao Wang sat in his study. The light from above illuminated only a small circle around his desk, leaving the rest of the room hidden in shadows.

The Zhao Wang preferred to review memorials in such an environment. Occasionally, when tired, he would look around; the environment submerged in darkness gave him an unreal sense of being suspended in the void. When he was very, very young, the Immortal Ancestor had taken him on a journey through the void, showing him the magnificence of the myriad realms. From that moment on, the seed of immortal cultivation was planted in his young heart.

It was only later that his elder brother, who had inherited the throne, died unexpectedly, leaving not even an heir. At that time, he was still young and did not understand what had happened before he was pushed onto the throne of the Zhao Wang. Only after growing up did he gradually realize that his elder brother must have encountered the schemes of a hostile immortal, which was why he died so inexplicably.

After understanding this link, the Zhao Wang would think from time to time: why did that immortal hidden in the darkness want him to ascend to the position?

The more he grew, and the more the Zhao Wang knew, the more he realized the terror of that immortal. Even his own Immortal Ancestor could not find the immortal's origins and could only suppress this matter.

Why was he the one sitting in this position? Could it be that the immortal believed the thousand-year foundation of Zhao Guo would be ruined in his hands? With this thought, the Zhao Wang became extremely diligent in governance, sleeping only three hours a day, fearing that any small thing done poorly would be a disservice to his ancestors.

But after being stretched taut for decades, he suddenly felt a bit tired now.

The Zhao Wang rubbed his face and continued to look at the memorials. This memorial was marked with red on the side, meaning it was a major military situation.

The memorial came from the Bishui Domain. The content was that the Qingming army had crossed the border, and Li Chengfeng had led his troops in a bitter battle. After a bloody fight lasting all day, they were defeated. It was estimated that fifty thousand were captured, with total casualties nearing one hundred and fifty thousand. Li Chengfeng refused to retreat, fighting to the very last moment before being defeated and captured.

The Zhao Wang rarely did not fly into a rage. Instead, he stared at this memorial for a full quarter of an hour before gently striking a small bell and ordering, "Summon Cui Shutong."

A moment later, Cui Shutong, who had been promoted to Minister of War, walked into the study. It was nearly dawn, and Cui Shutong had only slept in his clothes, arriving as soon as he was summoned.

The Zhao Wang said, "Bishui has already fallen; the next is Yuyang Commandery. You return to your territory first and lead your main force to hold it. I will send another one hundred and fifty thousand infantry and one hundred thousand iron cavalry to assist you in defense, all under your command. In this battle, we will have a good clash with Little Wei Yuan to see if he is truly as formidable as the legends say."

Cui Shutong accepted the decree and left.

He had not yet left the palace when he saw the Sixth Princess walking quickly, as if she were about to leave the palace. Cui Shutong immediately stood by the side of the road to yield the way to the Sixth Princess. However, a woman in red beside the Sixth Princess suddenly stopped and said, "Commandant Cui?"

"That is indeed this subordinate." Cui Shutong bowed, displaying the etiquette for meeting a superior.

In fact, he had long been ennobled, and the Minister of War was a second-rank official, far higher in rank than this woman in red. But the woman in red had an extraordinary family background and was a close friend of the Sixth Princess, always being overbearing, so Cui Shutong dared not be negligent.

"Did Commandant Cui just receive a decree?"

Cui Shutong then vaguely explained the Zhao Wang's decree. Even if he didn't say it, with the Crown Prince and the Sixth Princess having eyes and ears in the army, they would find out in the blink of an eye; it was better to do a favor now.

Upon hearing the Zhao Wang's decree, the woman in red's eyes lit up, and she said to the Sixth Princess, "We can command the cavalry!"

The Sixth Princess nodded slowly, and Cui Shutong secretly thought, "Not good."

Little Wei Yuan did not just send one route of troops. Besides his main force, there were three other units pressing toward the Qing-Zhao border, pinning down the Zhao Guo border garrison so they could not move. At the same time, Little Wei Yuan used his authority as the Southern Military Commissioner to order the garrisons of the five southwestern commanderies of Xijin to move out, pressing toward the Zhao border to contain the Zhao Guo troops.

The Qingming march was extremely fast. Cui Shutong had only just returned to Yuyang Commandery when Little Wei Yuan's vanguard had already arrived, taking two outer county towns without a drop of blood shed.

Cui Shutong was seasoned in warfare; he chose the commandery city and a nearby county town as his base, setting up a large number of fortifications between the two cities and building a stockade to defend.

The terrain here was narrow, and the large army could not spread out. But the starting position was flat as a pancake; as long as Little Wei Yuan could not take Cui Shutong's defensive line, it would be easy for Zhao Guo's world-renowned iron cavalry to launch a surprise attack.

Little Wei Yuan only rested for one day before starting the attack the next day. Cui Shutong secretly groaned, not knowing if the iron cavalry led by the Sixth Princess and the red-clad female general could arrive in time.

The sky was bright. Standing on the commandery city wall, one could already see the rolling Qingming military Qi. The military Qi was extremely condensed, making one feel alarmed at the sight. ===== CHAPTER 973 =====