Chapter 1166: The Choice of Prince Zhongshan
Like the other streets, Taiping Lane was also very quiet.
The experts from the Tianhai family and those princely mansions had already left the city to join the rebel forces, and were now outside the imperial palace.
At this moment, however, Prince Zhongshan left the rebels and returned to his mansion on Taiping Lane.
Among the military, the Chen family princes with the highest prestige were Prince Xiang and Prince Zhongshan.
His departure was a shocking event for the rebels, potentially enough to shake their morale.
Qin Chi was the chief strategist of the prince’s mansion. He had not followed the army north but had secretly remained in the capital to coordinate communications.
Upon receiving the news, he hurried back to the mansion. Seeing the prince sitting in the grand armchair, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.
Prince Zhongshan had been recuperating from his wounds at Yongguan Pass and only arrived in the capital today. After meeting Prince Xiang among the rebels and chatting for a while, he returned to his personal guard camp. No one expected him to come back to the capital on his own. After returning home, he took a bath, slept for a while, changed into a soft, thin silk robe, and was now slurping down a bowl of zhajiang noodles.
“My dear prince… what are you doing? Do you realize we are plotting rebellion? Committing treason?”
Qin Chi said with a look of absurdity. “You either follow the rebellion or make up your mind quickly. How can you just come home to sleep? Is that bowl of noodles really that good?”
Prince Zhongshan put down the noodle bowl and said expressionlessly, “Annoying. Just tell me what you want to say!”
Qin Chi’s eyes shifted slightly, and he lowered his voice. “Judging by the situation outside the imperial city, Prince Xiang seems very confident.”
Prince Zhongshan sneered. “Do you think my elder brother will let me become emperor?”
Qin Chi was momentarily stunned. “I suppose… probably not.”
Prince Zhongshan said, “In that case, whether he succeeds or not, what difference does it make to me now?”
Qin Chi smiled bitterly. “The problem is, if you don’t follow Prince Xiang, once he succeeds, he will surely kill you.”
Prince Zhongshan said, “That makes sense. Since His Majesty won’t kill me, I’d better support His Majesty instead.”
Qin Chi was stunned again, wondering where this reasoning came from.
Before he could offer any further persuasion, Prince Zhongshan’s hand landed on his throat.
—The prince’s fingers were like iron. He really shouldn’t have advised him to put down that bowl of zhajiang noodles.
These were the last two thoughts in Qin Chi’s life.
Even as his throat was crushed, he couldn’t understand how the prince knew about his secret dealings with Prince Xiang’s mansion, or why he would act this way.
Qin Chi’s body was dragged away. Prince Zhongshan still felt displeased. He loosened his robe and fanned himself vigorously.
A beautiful concubine entered. Seeing this, she quickly picked up a small fan to cool him down.
What the strategist couldn’t understand even in death, this concubine saw clearly.
Even if the prince hadn’t known about the strategist’s secret ties to Prince Xiang’s mansion, he wouldn’t have followed his advice, because the prince had never had faith in Prince Xiang.
Even though the rebels were in a favorable position now, and even though Prince Chenliu, after ten years as a hostage, had managed to persuade so many court officials—truly an impressive feat.
“I heard… some people in the palace have also been persuaded by Prince Chenliu.”
The concubine hesitated for a moment, glancing at Prince Zhongshan.
Prince Zhongshan said, “A tongue like a sword is still not a real sword. What use is it?”
The concubine sighed and refilled the wine cup in front of him.
Prince Xiang gazed at the autumn sky outside the window, a small wine cup in his hand. His mood was not as relaxed as his expression suggested.
The rebels had control of the capital, but it would still take time to breach the imperial palace.
Where did Prince Xiang’s confidence come from? Why did he seem so indifferent to Chen Changsheng?
Suddenly, Prince Zhongshan thought of something. He slammed the wine cup down on the table, shattering it, and roared, “The Pingbei Camp!”
…
…
As the name suggested, the Pingbei Camp was the strongest army of the demon race.
The Pingbei Camp was supposed to reinforce the human army and launch an attack on the demon race. But shortly after passing the Congzhou Military Prefecture, it stopped advancing north and began circling endlessly on that plain.
At first, many thought the demon race had betrayed their alliance. Later, when two demon reinforcements suddenly appeared beneath the Snow Old City, many assumed the Pingbei Camp’s actions were merely to cover those two forces. However, the truth proved all guesses wrong—or at least incomplete.
Before those two demon reinforcements crossed the mountains beside the Xiuling tribe’s grasslands toward the Snow Old City, the Pingbei Camp had already moved. A force of twenty thousand demon warriors, moving swiftly through the western highlands of Congzhou, slipped past the left flank of Tianliang Prefecture with the deliberate permission of the Yongxue Pass garrison, and finally arrived at the outskirts of the capital.
The Grinding Mountain had collapsed ten years ago, turning into over a dozen low hills covered with various wildflowers.
As they passed through the hills, many demon warriors found wildflowers stuck to their collars.
Along the way, many farmers noticed the presence of this demon army. The people of the Great Zhou often saw demons, but rarely so many towering demon warriors at once. Naturally, they felt uneasy, but remembering that the demons were allies of humanity, they refrained from panicked shouts.
The Pingbei Camp lived up to its reputation as the demon race’s elite force. Though demon warriors were naturally free-spirited and undisciplined, they maintained excellent military discipline throughout the long march. Even when they formally joined the rebels outside the capital, no problems arose, nor did the feared chaos erupt.
Twenty thousand fierce demon warriors joined the rebellion, completely tipping the balance of power. More importantly, the appearance of the Pingbei Camp at the capital represented the White Emperor’s stance. Only then did everyone realize that the White Emperor and Prince Xiang had long since formed an alliance.
After the northern campaign against the demon race ended, the Saint Domain powerhouses would surely need a long time to recuperate. Shang Xingzhou was old, and Wang Zhice would not involve himself in worldly affairs. With Prince Xiang and Cao Yunping as two Saint Domain powerhouses, plus the White Emperor as a Saint, they indeed had enough qualifications to determine the entire continent’s situation.
The rebels’ morale surged. But since the front lines were still locked in battle with the demon race, neither the princes, generals, nor soldiers could truly feel justified. Thus, they had yet to deploy large siege weapons like trebuchets. However, if the stalemate continued, bloodshed would inevitably come.
The imperial city gates remained tightly shut. The rebels and defenders kept hurling insults at each other. Perhaps because the rebels hadn’t used siege weapons, the divine crossbows atop the imperial city walls had also remained silent. But the foul language falling on their ears was hardly better than arrows whistling through the air.
Grand Tutor Bai Ying, supported by several civil officials, tremblingly approached the city wall. Looking down at the rebels below, he spoke for a while through a sound-amplifying artifact. Seeing that the rebels remained unmoved, anger grew within him. He directly began shouting at Prince Xiang, his words never straying from the phrase “eternal infamy.”
The rebels parted like a tide. Prince Xiang rode his horse to the front of the imperial city and said to Grand Tutor Bai Ying, “When a thousand fingers point at a man, he dies without illness. That’s for the weak, not for me.”
Grand Tutor Bai Ying, disappointed by this reply, clutched his chest and was helped down by the officials.