Chapter 521: Your Majesty, Ahead Lies the Forest of Slaughtering the Hu

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How was this father-and-son game played?

Simple. Zhao Kuangzan had been recuperating from illness the whole time, and command of the army had been handed over to Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Kuangyin.

After all, he still couldn't bring himself to take up the Filial Son's Sword, and Zhao Yanshou hadn't left a throne for Zhao Kuangzan to inherit, so patricide hardly seemed worth it.

So once the battle began, Zhao Kuangzan suddenly came down with a vicious illness.

But the moment he saw several thousand Khitan cavalry charging toward him, Zhao Kuangzan's illness instantly cleared up — and he was terrified.

Terrified, indeed!

Because he thought these several thousand Khitan pishi guards cavalry had come to raid him.

In Zhao Kuangzan's view, this was entirely possible: if the Khitans won, they would naturally come raid him; if they lost, then to retreat smoothly they would certainly first have to smash his Yongliang Army nail at Xiaoyi Bridge.

Ah! Zhao Kuangzan hadn't expected that Yelu Deguang would actually abandon the main army and flee. After all, the Liao army was nearly twice the size of the Yongliang Army, and it had the fearsome reputation of the steppe iron cavalry.

Zhao Kuangzan's troops were all cavalry, and they had no defensive works of any kind around Xiaoyi Bridge. Caught completely off guard, their battle line was broken through at once.

At that moment, the Khitans inside Xiaoyi Bridge also surged out with a roar. Although Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Kuangyin fought desperately to hold them, they were not leading regular Yongliang iron cavalry after all, and they were beaten back step by step.

But Zhao Kuangzan, with his sharp eyes, suddenly noticed something wrong: in the distance, several dozen white-robed cavalrymen and a burly man who looked somewhat familiar seemed to be chasing the Khitans.

This Khitan iron cavalry seemed... possibly... to be fleeing for their lives!

And almost instantly, Zhao Kuangzan recognized him — that white helm, white armor, white horse, and silver spear — wasn't that Murong Xinzhang?

The one beside Murong Xinzhang looked like Gao Xingzhou's eldest son, Gao Huaide.

A jolt of electricity shot straight from Zhao Kuangzan's tailbone to the top of his head. He had bet right! The Khitans were defeated! This was a Khitan routed army!

With an "Aow!" the loyal servant Zhao Xian, cavalry lance in hand, was still guarding Zhao Kuangzan. In the blink of an eye, Zhao Kuangzan had already shot out on his horse.

So fast was his departure that by the time Zhao Xian reacted, he could barely even see the hindquarters of Zhao Kuangzan's horse!

"The... the eldest young lord is so valiant? Is he going to take on ten thousand riders alone?"

Zhao Siwan's mouth hung open. For the first time, he felt reverence for his master's martial prowess.

"You scoundrels of the Lulong Army! Follow and charge!" Zhao Xian howled shrilly.

For these Lulong Army soldiers who were unwilling to throw in with the Khitans, their only support was Zhao Kuangzan. If Zhao Kuangzan was gone, they would have no way to live — they could only follow and charge!

When it came to familiarity with Yelu Deguang, Zhao Kuangzan was probably the most familiar of anyone on Zhang Zhao's side.

Even on the Liao side, he was more familiar than ordinary Liao soldiers or even Liao nobles, because he could often stay close to Yelu Deguang.

At that moment, amid thousands upon thousands of troops, Zhao Kuangzan spotted at a glance that the one draped in a black robe was none other than Yelu Deguang!

Across a thousand, ten thousand li, I call out to you!

Zhao Kuangzan was so excited he wanted to burst into song. He knocked a nearby Khitan rider off his horse with one lance thrust, then shouted to Zhao Xian and Zhao Siwan, who had gathered around him, "Cover me!"

Zhao Xian and Zhao Siwan immediately led several dozen elite Lulong Army riders to shield Zhao Kuangzan.

Zhao Kuangzan spurred his warhorse and closed in on Yelu Deguang. In that instant, apart from Yelu Deguang, everything else vanished from his sight — even the rise and fall of his galloping horse seemed to disappear.

Heaven and earth fell silent. Zhao Kuangzan slowly drew his bow, and with a twang, an arrow shot forth!

The sharp whistle of the arrow's flight made Yelu Deguang's nerves go numb. Before he could react, he felt as if he had been dealt a heavy punch to the back.

Then something seemed to burrow into his body, followed by a waterfall-like warmth spreading across his entire back.

It didn't hurt all that much, but Yelu Deguang knew he had been shot. It didn't hurt enough to make him scream, but Brother Guang needed the people around him to know he'd been hit.

So Yelu Deguang let out an exaggerated shriek, and the cry duly drew the attention of the surrounding guards, who frantically adjusted their speed, shielded Yelu Deguang, and rushed toward the stockade by Xiaoyi Bridge.

A hit! Zhao Kuangzan was so thrilled he wanted to dance for joy — but the next second, his face darkened.

Because at that very instant, Yelu Deguang's personal guards had already shielded him with their bodies. Zhao Kuangzan couldn't be sure whether Yelu Deguang was wearing inner armor, so he couldn't determine the power of that arrow.

Why hadn't he shot a rapid volley just now?

But just as Zhao Kuangzan was wallowing in regret, he suddenly saw in the distance a white-robed Murong Xinzhang closing in like lightning.

The fine young man drew his bow to a full moon, borrowing the acceleration of his forward charge through the snow-dusted dust, and with a thunderous exhale, loosed his arrow like a shooting star — straight at Yelu Deguang.

By now Brother Guang had already taken one arrow. After the initial numbness passed, the searing pain in his back had made it impossible for him to straighten up. He could only lie flat on his horse's back, clenching his teeth.

So the most prominent part of him now exposed was his exceptionally plump rear end, grown fat from long lack of exercise.

Murong Xinzhang's shout and arrow arrived together — the arrow plunged straight into Yelu Deguang's left buttock!

"Aiya!"

The pain! Brother Guang could hold back no longer and let out a loud, agonized scream.

This one was not an act — it truly hurt him nearly to death.

But before that scream had even faded, a sharp pain struck his right buttock as well. It turned out that almost at the same instant, Gao Xingzhou's eldest son, Gao Huaide, had also arrived.

Gao Huaide hadn't actually recognized who the black-robed man on horseback was, but he had noticed that Zhao Kuangzan, who had long stayed close to the Khitan ruler, was willing to risk life and limb amid thousands of troops just to loose an arrow.

Who else could it be? There was no need to ask.

And so, almost at the very moment Murong Xinzhang loosed his arrow, Gao Huaide loosed one too.

And just after he too scored a hit, the Khitan main army finally managed to pour into the stockade at Xiaoyi Bridge.

So close! The chance had been fleeting! Had it not been for Zhao Kuangzan, Yelu Deguang would have gotten away.

Only Murong Xinzhang, Gao Huaide, and Yao Yuanfu with some thirty-odd riders had chased the Khitan cavalry here, because everyone else had been desperately held back by the frenzied Khitan horsemen.

"Zan, my boy! Is there any place to ford the river?" Murong Xinzhang, putting on the airs of an uncle-in-law, asked Zhao Kuangzan in a deep voice, patting him approvingly on the shoulder as he spoke.

"The peerless merit of capturing or killing the Son of Heaven of a great state lies within our very grasp."

Gao Huaide and Yao Yuanfu nodded like chicks pecking at grain. From their expressions, they were dying to charge into Xiaoyi Bridge right then and eat Yelu Deguang alive.

This was a chance to capture or kill the Khitans' brilliant ruler! In the current situation, no description could overstate its importance.

Zhao Kuangzan took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, then nodded vigorously.

"There is! Six or seven li downstream there's a river bend where the water is deep, but the channel is quite narrow. Our horses are all fine steeds — they'll surely be able to swim across."

This meant that the warhorses of ordinary soldiers might not necessarily be able to cross.

In fact, normal warhorses could all swim, but because of their body structure, they could not accurately keep their direction in the water, so water that was too deep or currents that were too swift would not do.

Moreover, making a horse overcome its fear of water was something warhorses of ordinary intelligence could not manage. Only a top-quality steed could achieve the trait of being a swimming dragon in the water.

Murong Xinzhang thought for only a few breaths, then said with certainty: "The Khitan ruler Yaogu was struck by three arrows. If he remained at Xiaoyi Bridge, never mind the danger of being surrounded by our great army — his wounds alone would kill him.

Only by venturing to Gong County might he possibly be cured. So the Khitans surely would not dare linger long, and would certainly set out as soon as possible.

But we must also press the attack on this stockade all the harder. In case the Khitan ruler remains within the stockade, he must absolutely not be let slip!"

Yet once these words were spoken, an awkward silence fell. Among those present, the only ones who could command an entire army were Murong Xinzhang, Zhao Kuangzan, Zhao Yanjin, and Zhao Kuangyin.

But what they faced was the peerless merit of capturing and killing the Khitan ruler! Who would want to stay behind and take charge of assaulting the stockade?

Gao Huaide and Yao Yuanfu were now surrendered soldiers and could not command these men, so the two of them circled the group in frantic anxiety, hoping they would immediately pick a suitable candidate to remain here.

Murong Xinzhang gritted his teeth. "I declare here and now: whoever stays behind, the great merit of capturing and killing the Khitan ruler will most certainly include his share."

So he said, yet his gaze turned toward Zhao Yanjin.

As things stood, Zhao Kuangyin had only ever commanded a few hundred men. Suddenly having him command several thousand troops to accomplish such a task was indeed somewhat inappropriate.

That left only himself, Zhao Kuangzan, and Zhao Yanjin.

But among the three, only Zhao Kuangzan had seen the Khitan ruler Yelu Deguang, so the one left behind to command could only be chosen between himself and Zhao Yanjin.

Zhao Yanjin looked at his good second brother's blazing, lightning-sharp gaze and sighed deeply in his heart.

This was Murong of the White Robe! The apple of his foster father the Great King's eye — how could he possibly compare?

So Zhao Yanjin gritted his teeth, clasped his hands, and said, "Elder Brother, let me supervise the army here!"

Murong Xinzhang was overjoyed, and clapped Zhao Yanjin approvingly on the shoulder. "Rest easy, Brother Jin. This merit will absolutely include your share!"

The discussion concluded, Murong Xinzhang immediately announced to the whole army that the Liao army had already been defeated, the Khitan ruler had been struck by three arrows and had already perished, and that as long as they broke the stockade and seized the chieftain, the man of first merit would be rewarded with five thousand strings of cash and enfeoffed with three thousand households.

The former Fengguo, Ningguo, and Lulong Army soldiers by Xiaoyi Bridge roared with joy at these words. Every man seemed like a machine wound to the fullest, filled with boundless drive, and the assault on the stockade began at once.

And within the stockade, just as Murong Xinzhang had expected, the Khitans did not dare linger at all.

They agreed that the dyed-in-the-wool traitor Geng Chongmei would stay behind with two thousand men to hold it to the death, while the rest escorted Yelu Deguang and fled wildly in the direction of Gong County.

Guang was still holding up fairly well. Although he wore no armor underneath, Zhao Kuangzan's arrow had not struck too squarely; it had not gone in very deep and had not injured his internal organs. The two arrows in his buttocks counted for even less.

When shot in the buttocks, with all that fat, it generally would not kill a man.

It was just that these three arrows had caused Yelu Deguang's blood to gush like a spring, and in this era there was no way to replenish blood, so the danger was still great.

Therefore, after the Khitan army's shaman-healers had barely managed to stop Yelu Deguang's bleeding and simply bandaged him, Yelu Wuzhi found a mule cart, laid Yelu Deguang on it over a bed of dry grass, and set out.

In a dazed stupor, after advancing four or five li, Guang felt the pain in his back and buttocks become unbearable.

In his haze, he saw that he was passing through a stretch of woods, where flocks of crows wheeled in flight, and there seemed to be foxes calling eerily, the sound exceptionally strange.

Several locals they had captured were driving the mule cart and leading the way. Yelu Deguang struggled to raise his head and asked in a low voice: "Hey, you thieving fellow, what place is this?"

The commoner forced at swordpoint to drive the cart still had tears on his face. Hearing Yelu Deguang ask in Chinese, he hurriedly wiped his tears in fright and answered: "Replying to the Great King, this place is called Shahu Forest."

"Shahu Forest?" Guang abruptly raised his head and let out a cry of utter terror.

"How could it bear such a name? Is this not the decree of fate?"

At exactly that moment, Murong Xinzhang arrived from ahead with several dozen riders, churning up dust that filled the sky, as if a host of thousands had come to cut them off.

In his fright, Yelu Deguang completely forgot that he was gravely wounded, and suddenly tried to scramble up and flee.

Unexpectedly, this caused the wounds on his back and buttocks to burst open, and blood poured out like a torrent.

Under the agony, Guang let out a miserable cry: "I regret not heeding my mother's words — now I have indeed died in the Southern Court!"

With those words, there upon the jolting mule cart, the Great Liao Emperor Yelu Deguang died of his burst wounds and massive hemorrhage.

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