Chapter 517: The Wolf King and the Chen Huang

After the Turkic Great Khan led the Tie Futu to within thirty li, he advanced no further, only sending someone ahead to deliver a message to Chen Dingye, saying with a smile: "We have already shown our sincerity, traveling thousands of li to reach this place."

"Your Majesty, the Chen Huang, ought also to display Your Majesty's composure and grace; since we are sincere and have come to support Your Majesty, should it not be Your Majesty who steps forward to meet within my central army for a discussion?"

"Yet one cannot go into Beicheng."

The envoy who came to receive them forced a smile and said: "Our Chen country's Your Majesty has long been prepared within Beicheng, waiting for the Great Khan to come; this—now at this very moment, suddenly not going into Beicheng, would that not be somewhat wasteful?!"

The Great Khan sat astride his mount, a riding crop in hand, and said with an easy smile:

"Hahaha, wasteful?"

"After all, the name Chen Dingye is not entirely unfamiliar to me. Were it not for this, my Tie Futu going into your Beicheng—I would truly fear being dumpling-wrapped by you lot."

"Hahahaha."

The Great Khan's laughter was easy, but the Chen courtiers' expressions shifted slightly.

The Great Khan reined in his horse and said lightly:

"Come if you will; if not willing, then at worst it is nothing more than this old man leading his lads back again."

At this point, the Turkic Great Khan changed his mind at the last moment, demanding a change of venue for the alliance pact; the Tie Futu halted at this spot thirty li out and moved no further, and the Chen envoys opposite had no choice but to withdraw back.

An hour later, when they returned again, they said:

"Your Majesty has agreed to the Great Khan's wishes."

"However, the Great Khan does not dare to enter our Great Chen's Beicheng."

"A person of a thousand gold does not sit beneath the eaves; Your Majesty is likewise unwilling to enter the Great Khan's central army, for after all, the Tie Futu's fearsome name is known throughout the world—if you were to suddenly strike, would Your Majesty not be harmed by you?"

The two sides clashed on this point: the Great Khan was unwilling to enter Beicheng.

Chen Dingye was unwilling to enter his central army tent.

Both were people who had reached this point in these chaotic times; even if disheveled, even if they had known defeat, they were still full of wariness. After several days of standoff, they ultimately chose a compromise: a ruined mountain temple nearby.

A portion of the Tie Futu's personal guard followed, and a portion of Chen's Night-Rider cavalry followed; the main forces remained at the foot of the mountain not far off, which could be considered an equal footing between them.

Though it was a negotiation, there ought to be a banquet.

Chen Dingye had brought many delicacies, wine and meat.

They were laid out in this mountain god temple, a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate. The Great Khan looked at these Central Plains delicacies, lifted his wine cup, his wrist moved slightly, watching the wine inside ripple and shimmer, and said approvingly: "Truly fine wine, fine food."

"It nearly awakens my wine-bug, makes me want to swallow it down in one gulp."

"What a pity, what a pity."

The Great Khan smiled lightly, raised his hand and poured all the fine wine in his cup onto the ground, spilling a stretch of wine fragrance, then casually tossed the saber at his waist to the side, sat down with great casualness, and said: "What a pity!"

"Wine brought personally by the Chen Huang—even the bravest hero on the grasslands would likely not dare to drink it."

The Great Khan's words carried a slight teasing, then he clapped his hands; naturally, the personal guards who had followed him here brought out wine and meat. The Great Khan sat cross-legged there, holding wine and meat, and said with a smile: "Chen Huang, we are all people who have rolled around in these chaotic times."

"You and I both know, we cannot trust each other."

"But we still must cooperate for the sake of the world. Then in my view, let us each eat our own wine and meat, no need to be vague about it—let's speak plainly in the bright light of day."

Before Chen Dingye were, naturally, Central Plains delicacies appealing to eye, nose, and palate.

Before the Great Khan was set a plate of hand-torn lamb; he did not hold back either, simply drew a small knife, cut the meat and dipped it in leek sauce to eat, and while eating, said:

"That old dragon Jiang Wanxiang, even now is still conserving his strength—should know his own lifespan is insufficient, plans to make one great move before his end. That Li Guanyi with his Fire Qilin, on the other hand, is invincible wherever his army points."

"You killed his father, harmed his mother, issued warrants for him, drove him into becoming the leader of a great army in these chaotic times."

"You could be called his benefactor, Chen Dingye."

"But Li Guanyi certainly wants to kill you."

The Great Khan extended a finger, pointing at Chen Dingye, and said: "And you?"

"Your Chen country has only this much territory left, only this many troops left. They all say that one who would be king and hegemon must have a heroic spirit and depth beyond ordinary men—for the great righteousness in his heart, the slanders of others are not taken to heart."

"I have come here today to see whether you have such a foundation."

"Chen Dingye, if you still want the title of Chen Huang."

"Still want your ancestors' foundation, then cooperate with me. If you still insist on putting on your so-called Central Plains great kingdom, sovereign's bearing, and plan to persist in something, then this King will turn around and leave."

"Go face that flourishing Qin Wang yourself, go face that dormant Canglong yourself."

"And then just like that, die beneath these chaotic times!"

The Great Khan had no intention of saying much more to Chen Dingye, simply stating his purpose directly. The situation had already reached this point; any further hypocritical pretense was meaningless.

At this moment within the mountain god temple, the Great Khan's Wu Gong was unrivaled, his gaze calm.

Chen Tianqi held his long spear, eyes quietly closed.

Chen Dingye held his wine cup, looked at the wine within—amber in color—and smiled faintly: "Yes, a clever man, unwilling to enter my Beicheng—also worried I would close the city gates, yes?"

The Great Khan cut the lamb with his dagger and said lightly:

"A person of a thousand gold does not sit beneath the eaves; the world all thinks you, Chen Dingye, are already a dispirited man awaiting death, but I know you—like a wolf on the grasslands, the most dangerous moment is when its leg has been broken."

"Go to Beicheng?"

"Hahaha, I believe you, Chen Dingye, would set up an ambush of several thousand archers, give me a rain of arrows first, then talk of anything else."

Chen Dingye said: "If I were to enter your central army camp, I would also be seized by you directly."

"In any case, with the ruler of Chen in your hands, you would have gained a great name—a piece in hand. In any case, that is easier to control than a so-called ally, is it not?"

The Turkic Khan, the Central Plains Emperor—at this moment, within this broken-down mountain god temple, raised their wine cups and toasted each other from afar. Were it not for the Great Khan, they would long since have nursed their grievances within Beicheng.

If someone else had come, employing methods like those of the Tangut King, they would long since have fallen into the Tie Futu's central army and become a puppet.

Words and laughter pleasant, blades and swords grim.

The Great Khan's last-minute choice of this place was a compromise made upon discovering that both sides were wary of each other, barely able to maintain a peculiar balance.

The two great armies faced each other, while within this mountain god temple, the two sides confronted each other, with the martial strength at every level of each side reaching a delicate balance.

Beyond this mountain, the two hundred thousand troops of Beicheng.

And the grasslands' Tie Futu and light cavalry faced each other from afar.

Only when their strength and foundations are roughly comparable do they have the right to speak of negotiation and alliance. If the Great Khan of the grasslands were to cast all caution aside, he could naturally gather a massive army to attack Beicheng, but that would consume enormous time and effort, and the scale of it would be far too conspicuous.

Even at this point, the Great Khan still harbors wariness toward that young Qin Wang.

This year, that Qin Wang is twenty-one years old.

He is precisely at an age of vigor and strength, with abundant qi and blood, and at a stage where his power is formidable and still on the rise—if the Central Plains did not show faint signs of unification under one realm, the Great Khan would not have needed to take such a dangerous step at his age.

The Great Khan raised his hand, and an attendant behind him had already stepped forward to present a scroll of sheepskin parchment.

He glanced through it, then flicked his wrist.

That sheepskin scroll shot toward Chen Dingye like an arrow.

Chen Dingye was drinking wine, but Chen Tianqi, who had been holding his long spear with closed eyes in contemplation, suddenly snapped his eyes open. A ripple of qi seemed to spread through the void, and the arrow-like sheepskin scroll halted in midair, then landed steadily on the table.

Chen Dingye swept his sleeve aside and picked up the sheepskin scroll.

This truly was a very desolate mountain god temple. The head of the deity statue had long since vanished—no one knew where—as if sliced clean off by a sharp blade, leaving a neck severed with a clear, straight cut. The ground was carpeted with fallen leaves and dust, a scene of utter decay.

Just as with Chen at this moment, in utter silence, Chen Dingye finished reading the sheepskin scroll. He set the scroll down on the table, and the Great Khan said: "Well, Chen Dingye, do you have any objections?"

"You may speak them out one by one."

Chen Dingye said: "Great Khan, you show great sincerity."

"In this alliance, it can truly be said that 【each takes what he needs】."

Chen Tianqi extended his hand, his five fingers closing together. An invisible surge of qi drew the sheepskin scroll into his grasp. His gaze swept over it, reading the words above. Even this divine general of Chen from a hundred and eighty years ago could find no objection to raise against the terms of this alliance.

There were no tricks, no deliberate traps.

One might even call it fair.

Even the Tujue's own purpose was not concealed in the slightest.

It was simply to support Chen, to let Chen grow strong again, and then to keep the Central Plains in its current state of division, to prevent unification, in order to maintain a situation more favorable to the Tujue of the grasslands.

Chen Tianqi was the grandson of Chen Wu Di.

The world he was born into was one where the hegemony of the Red Emperor was gradually slipping away, where Chen and Ying contended for supremacy, in the era of Tuyuhun. The chaos of the realm was, to him, simply a state of normalcy.

It was something taken for granted.

Moreover, if Chen Tianqi viewed it purely from a strategic perspective, this alliance could be called generous.

Although its purpose was for the Tujue to interfere in the Central Plains and prevent unification,

for Great Chen, it was not a bad thing at all.

Relying on the terrain of Beicheng, the strength of the Tujue, and the current standoff among the various states, even if they could not return to their peak, at the very least they could stabilize their footing and re-establish the dynasty's mandate and orthodoxy—it was possible.

The Great Khan said coolly: "My terms are precisely these."

"Chen Dingye, you may choose: cooperate with me and preserve what little remains of your Chen dynasty's orthodoxy, or linger on here in Beicheng, and in the end be utterly annihilated beneath the blades of Qin Wang's army. The choice is yours."

Chen Dingye looked at the sheepskin scroll and did not engage in any polite pretense.

He simply calmly extended his hand; ripples spread, and qi swirled within his palm.

Blazing fire ignited upon the sheepskin scroll.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Just as, eight years ago, in the palace of Chen, when that sorcerer who had taken Hou Zhongyu's place claimed he could refine an elixir of immortality using the hearts and livers of young boys and girls, and he drew his sword to slay that sorcerer.

The Great Khan said: "You are actually not tempted."

Chen Dingye said: "Precisely because I am tempted, I must, while I still possess self-control, completely burn away that which tempts me." His eyes were dark and deep, reflecting the burning sheepskin scroll.

As if within his eyes, flames were reflected, and then he watched those flames die out.

The Great Khan said: "How utterly foolish."

Chen Dingye said: "Foolish? Whether good or evil, the bottom line lies right here."

The Great Khan looked at Chen Dingye and said: "I had thought that the Chen Huang who offered up his own wife for his hegemony, who brought about the death of a former friend, who imprisoned the pillars of his own nation, was a man who would stop at nothing for great causes."

"I did not expect that he was merely a fool bound and shackled by pedantic Confucian precepts!"

Chen Dingye held his wine, smiled faintly, and said: "You say I am foolish—I cannot refute that. But if you say I am a man constrained by so-called rules and conscience, then, Great Khan, you still underestimate me."

"What?!"

The Great Khan's expression shifted; he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

He actually felt a faint sluggishness creeping into his body, as if certain meridians were beginning to change, gradually turning to something like rusted iron or rotting wood. His expression changed drastically as he looked at the wine spilled on the ground, its fragrance rich and heavy.

"?!?!"

Chen Dingye said: "Fei poison—how about it? Even without needing to drink it, it can still take effect. At the place where Tantai Xianming died, there is a pool of blood, filled with ordinary-grade Fei poison, but I used secret methods to refine and condense it, to produce this single jug of wine."

The Great Khan roared furiously: "You drank it too!"

"You!!!"

The Great Khan's expression suddenly froze.

He realized something.

He himself had merely been nearby, smelling and sensing the poisonous blood of Fei, and already showed signs of poisoning. Then the man before him had truly, lucidly and indifferently, drunk cup after cup of that lethal poisonous blood.

On Chen Dingye's face, the marks of Fei poison spread outward; even his pupils had grown faintly turbid, but he still sat there, holding his wine, and said: "Were it not for this, how could you have fallen into the trap?"

"Cooperate? Alliance?"

"The Emperor of the Central Plains has the bearing of an Emperor of the Central Plains—how could he possibly act like some barbarian?"

"Ancestor!!!"

Chen Dingye suddenly roared. Chen Tianqi, who had been sitting with closed eyes, gripped the long spear in his hand—the divine weapon that had once made Chen Baxian unrivaled under heaven—and thrust it out violently, forcibly compelling the Great Khan to circulate his internal energy here and now.

Chen Dingye felt the petrification of his meridians. He held the cup of Fei-blood wine he had refined and condensed, gave it a gentle swirl, sat ramrod-straight, swept his sleeve, and the dust on the ground beneath the mountain god temple scattered away, revealing a series of hidden patterns that began to glow.

A formation.

And a killing formation at that—one prepared with superior methods, designed to draw upon subterranean fire, linking the terrain and the earth's qi. Once activated, it would erupt with the terrifying fury of a volcanic blast.

The target—

Everyone inside the Mountain God Temple.

The Great Khan had prided himself on seeing through Chen Dingye, which was why he was unwilling to go to Beicheng, but that very unwillingness to go to Beicheng was precisely falling into the second step—when Chen Dingye proposed that he himself was also unwilling to go to the other's central army, the places available to choose from were already few.

When facing Li Guanyi entering Saibei alone, the Great Khan had nearly capsized.

Therefore, this time he was much more cautious.

But this time, it was precisely because of his caution that he fell into the stratagem.

What a perfectly normal consideration—even from ancient times to the present, countless great strategists would have made the same judgment: when the rulers of both sides sit together and the strength of their armies is roughly equal, that itself is a balance.

Even if there are reasons for hostility and conflict between them, an unusual balance can be maintained; the rulers of both sides are absolutely safe.

But if—

One side never intended to survive in the first place?

Chen Dingye pinched his wine cup and murmured calmly:

"If I do not use myself as bait, how can I lure you into the game?"

The Great Khan's eyes nearly split with rage: "You!!!"

"Aren't you afraid that you'll also die beneath this great formation?!!!"

Chen Dingye said lightly: "So what if I do?"

The Great Khan felt killing intent boiling in his heart.

He wanted to strike and kill Chen Dingye, but Chen Tianqi—this old general whose own remaining vitality was not much—revealed at this moment all of his valor; wielding a long spear brimming with deadly intent, just like his ancestors, he held the Great Khan firmly in place.

Two of the world's top ten war generals clashed.

Chen Dingye merely sat at ease, his eyes calm.

The world underestimates me.

Chen Dingye was afflicted with the Fei poison; the great formation within the Mountain God Temple began to circulate and erupt, his sleeves billowing as he looked at this wine—the blood poison of the Fei, top-grade in quality. Such a deadly toxin should normally carry a foul stench.

But when the quality is refined to the utmost,

it carries instead a sweet, alluring clarity of wine fragrance.

If I merely eke out a living, if I merely exhaust those two hundred thousand troops here in Beicheng, in the standoff and slaughter against the Central Plains, and die in disgrace with my nation lost—such a death would truly be unworthy of men like us.

He merely calmly raised his wine cup slightly, as if there were still one person before his eyes.

Past debts of gratitude and enmity—he did not know how to speak of them.

In the end he only said:

"Li Wanli, have a drink."

Then he placed the wine cup to his lips and calmly drank it down.

A pain like a blade cutting swept through his whole body.

Chen Dingye said lightly:

"Fine wine."

………………

Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping led the Night Riders and the Zhou family's hooked-sickle spear cavalry, all stationed at the foot of the mountain, facing off against the enemy's Tie Futu army. On the faces of Zhou Xianping and Ye Chongdao was an indescribable look of dishevelment and exhaustion.

They exchanged a glance, their eyes bloodshot—clearly they had not been able to rest properly for several days.

On that day, after the Turkic envoy departed, the two of them finally could no longer contain the unwillingness in their hearts, thinking that even if Chen Dingye were furious, they had to ask for a clear answer.

So they went to the former City Lord's residence in Beicheng to ask Chen Dingye why he wanted to respond so greatly to the alliance with the grassland Turks.

Chen Dingye only said: "To give all of you a gift."

Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping did not know how to respond. Chen Dingye held his wine cup and said lightly: "The two of you are both loyal ministers and fine generals of my Great Chen. Your sons both serve under Qin Wang, holding important positions among the younger generation."

"But can the two of you still go to Li Guanyi's command?"

Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping did not know how to answer.

In the struggles of these chaotic times, they, as generals of Chen, had clashed with Qin Wang's army, had fought each other, had galloped through the turmoil, and held blood feuds with many generals of the Fire Qilin army.

On the other hand, their two families, being martial general houses of Chen, could say that their descendants surrendering to Li Guanyi was the choice of the younger generation; but if even the two of them surrendered, the reputations of the Ye and Zhou families would likely be hard to preserve.

Even if others did not care about this point, the two of them could not afford not to care.

A lifetime of loyalty to their lord, love for their country—at this final hour,

they could not turn back.

Therefore, even though their sons were under Li Guanyi, they themselves only stayed in Chen to serve with all their might. The younger generation had the passion and ambition of the younger generation, and their generation had their own choices and convictions.

Chen Dingye looked at the two great generals and said:

"What a pity, what a pity—you may have to fight alongside Chen all the way to the end… After all, I have left you many chances. If you had wanted to surrender to Li Guanyi, wanted to go seek out your sons, you would have gone long ago."

"If you stay here, when the final decisive battle of Beicheng comes and you face Qin Wang, you will likely have to fight your own sons."

"Such a way to die is truly too disheveled."

Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping did not answer.

They were loyal to Chen, and loyal to their sovereign unto the end.

Chen Dingye looked at them and said: "All of you are loyal ministers and fine generals. I have no other gift to give you."

"I can only give you all one thing—"

"A death recorded gloriously in the annals of history, a death satisfying and without regret."

Ye Chongdao muttered to himself: "A death satisfying and without regret? Yes, how could a death of father and son turning against each other compare to such a satisfying and thoroughly exhilarating end?"

Just as the Tie Futu generals and captains were observing their surroundings, from the mountain ridges there suddenly came a terrifying roar; the great formation linked to the earth's qi erupted, a blaze of fierce flame shooting skyward, as if it would punch a hole clean through the heavens.

Caught by this sudden change, the Tie Futu captains and generals were unprepared.

Their first reaction was to instinctively look toward where the Khan was seated.

Only then did they grip their blades.

Concern for the Great Khan King was their duty, and the second movement represented how elite they were, but just this single movement being slow, less than a single breath, was already too late.

Accompanied by the Dharma Aspect's roar.

Chen State's great army reacted in an instant. Ye Zhongdao and Zhou Xianping roared in unison, charging fiercely toward the Tie Futu ahead, the hooked-sickle spears and long swords in their hands stabbing simultaneously into the gaps of the armor.

Pierced into flesh and blood.

The roar of fury shot up to the heavens.

"Kill!!!!"

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