Naturally, there was one minor problem: they had no mounts.
Wherever the heroic spirits passed, aberrant creatures kept their distance. The Blackwater City troops could no longer hook sand monsters to use as mounts like before, leaving them no choice but to trudge forward step by step on foot.
They marched like this for more than ten days. By the time their water and provisions were virtually exhausted, the party finally endured until they reached the end of Red Cliff Road.
Once there, the Gale Army escorted them no further. They turned and departed decisively, showing not the slightest sentimentality over half a month of traveling side by side.
Throughout the journey, they had been silent companions. From their commanders down to the foot soldiers, He Lingchuan had not heard them utter a single word.
After taking a bath and changing into fresh clothes, He Lingchuan hurried to the dining hall.
The other three of the family were already seated. He Chunhua was recounting the expedition into the Panlong Desert to his younger son, while Madam Ying listened with a beam, eating heartily with great appetite.
The moment He Lingchuan sat down, he snatched a large white steamed bun. "Father, did you mention how I saved everyone?"
Madam Ying could not help chuckling. "Such thick skin!"
With her family having returned safe and sound, she was in high spirits. She personally picked up a large slice of braised pork belly—stewed until tender and melt-in-the-mouth—and gave it to He Lingchuan to sandwich inside his bun, adding two slices of perfectly pickled sour radish.
He Lingchuan ate until his mouth glistened with oil, mumbling indistinctly, "Out in the desert, this was the exact bite I dreamed of day and night!"
The He family was already accustomed to his starving-ghost eating habits. He Yue said, "Where's that broken saber? Let me see it."
He Lingchuan casually drew the saber and laid it across the table. "Watch out you don't cut yourself."
He Yue gingerly touched the blade. It felt icy cold, accompanied by a sharp sting, making him let out a soft "Ow" and pop his finger into his mouth to suck on it twice.
He Lingchuan glared at him. "Clumsy fool!"
He Yue looked innocent. "I didn't even touch the edge, yet it actually cut me."
He Lingchuan rubbed his finger back and forth against the blade and even flicked the edge, eliciting a crisp chime, yet his finger remained completely unscathed. "You're more delicate than a woman."
Over all these years, He Yue had long become immune to his sarcastic barbs, so he steered the topic away of his own accord: "Brother, Panlong City is so huge. How did you figure out that this saber was the black dragon's lifeline?"
That instantly fired He Lingchuan up. He bragged extravagantly about having a photographic memory and meticulous attention to detail while waving the saber around, casting flashes of chilly glints across the hall.
*Clatter!* A clay jar four feet away shattered at once, spilling clear water across the floor.
He Lingchuan hadn't used the slightest bit of true power.
Madam Ying's face paled. "Stop that! This is where we eat, not where you fool around with weapons!"
This saber was simply too fierce!
He Lingchuan sheepishly sheathed the blade and hurriedly asked his younger brother, "Right, you said the rebels at Woling Pass have already been suppressed?"
"Indeed." He Yue had already reported this to their father, but did not mind repeating it to his elder brother. "In truth, Nian Songyu and Sun Fuping were spouting nonsense. Before they even arrived in Blackwater City, the bandits at Woling Pass had already been wiped out by Generals Wu Di and Ke Jihai leading their troops. There was no way they could fell trees to build boats and advance east along the river!"
He Lingchuan froze. "Then what about 'Iron Barrel General' Zhao Ronglüe...?"
Precisely because Sun Fuping had falsified military intelligence, He Chunhua had resolved to follow them to Panlong City to seek the legendary victory-granting Dafang Pot to assist the imperial army in quelling the bandits and protecting the capital.
And now He Yue was telling him the rebels hadn't even managed to make it past Woling Pass?
Then what had the Governor of Xunzhou and Sun Fuping sought the Dafang Pot for?
"General Iron Barrel did indeed die in battle. When Generals Wu and Ke arrived with a hundred thousand elite troops, the rebels happened to be suffering internal strife, which weakened their forces. Even so, it took several fierce battles with heavy casualties on both sides; our victory was a narrow one." He Yue gave a wry smile. "Sun Fuping told only a fraction of the truth. It was precisely because truth and lies were mixed together that it was so hard to tell them apart, leading even Father to fall for it."
"No wonder!" He Lingchuan hissed softly. "No wonder Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu urged us to set out immediately the moment they arrived in Blackwater City. They were worried the eastern route would suddenly open up and real news would come through!"
"The situation was very disadvantageous for the Grand Marshal. If they wanted to exploit us, they had to take advantage of the time gap. Otherwise, as soon as word came from the capital, they would have turned from honored guests into wanted criminals."
"And what's this about the Grand Marshal?" He Lingchuan's intuition told him this was the main event.
"With the elite troops and capable generals dispatched to the south, the capital was left defenseless. Grand Marshal Dong Haoming thought an opportunity had presented itself, so he sent men into the palace to commit regicide, intending to rebel!" He Yue continued. "He had likely plotted this for a long time, hiding sixteen hundred elite soldiers across several manors in the city outskirts—some of which weren't even under Donglai Residence's name, thus drawing no attention. On the morning of the incident, the South City Guard threw open the gates to let the Donglai forces into the city, and insiders in the Praetorian Guard guided two ferocious generals under the Grand Marshal straight into the palace to assassinate the King!"
Going in that recklessly and hard? The Grand Marshal was quite the ruthless figure. He Lingchuan almost gave a thumbs-up, but caught himself, realizing how inappropriate the gesture would be.
He Chunhua nodded. "The Grand Marshal holds immense power and prestige, while the King is frail and sickly. If regicide had succeeded, he could have claimed His Majesty succumbed to illness, instructed several Grand Scribes to forge a testamentary edict, and had himself appointed to assist the new monarch and command all civil and military officials. Then, holding the young lord to command the realm once the dust settled, the generals might not have dared to make any rash moves."
The struggles of ambitious overlords came down to luck and momentum. Once the momentum was lost, the cause was doomed.
He Lingchuan asked whenever he didn't understand: "Why not poison him? White blade in, red blade out—that hardly looks like dying of an illness."
"The King is attended by apothecaries of profound mystical arts. Poisoning him wouldn't work."
"The sovereign is his son-in-law, so wouldn't the realm belong to his grandson eventually anyway? Why was the Grand Marshal in such a rush to usurp power himself?"
He Chunhua fell silent for a moment before saying, "I've heard the relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law was poor, no doubt for complicated reasons. There were clashes recently as well: the demon realm to the north repeatedly raided our borders, and the King insisted on retaliating decisively, while the Grand Marshal argued that national strength was depleted and rebellions raged everywhere, so it was unwise to wage more war, and suing for peace and appeasement was best. From the intelligence I received, the King and the Grand Marshal openly clashed over this in the royal court at least four times. Afterward, the King was so enraged he skipped meals, summoned Queen Dong for a harsh tongue-lashing, and punished her by making her kneel in the imperial garden for half the night."
*Unable to beat his father-in-law in an argument, he scolds his wife instead. Our King truly is a tyrant only in his own bedchamber.* He Lingchuan scratched his head. "Still, that doesn't seem like a big enough matter to drive the Grand Marshal to rebel."
He Yue shook his head. "The Grand Marshal is dissatisfied with the state of the country, believing the King's inept governance has bred countless ills, so he sought to replace him."
"Understood—he just didn't want to wait anymore." He Lingchuan sighed deeply. "When someone wants to rebel, any excuse will do. By the way, did he succeed?"
"No. By chance, the King happened to be away that day, staying overnight at Duke Puwen's residence without making it public. The Grand Marshal's insiders in the palace were unaware and led their men inside according to the original plan, only to come up empty-handed. Upon receiving word, the King fled overnight... ahem, withdrew from the capital, fell back to Mount Xiaoxi, and ordered all armies to return to the capital to protect the throne.
"And so, the Grand Marshal's treason was exposed. Wei Ao, Area Commander of Xuanzhou, arrived the fastest with reinforcements, repelling the Grand Marshal's attacks twice at Mount Xiaoxi and holding out until Ke Jihai arrived with his army. Seeing that success was hopeless, the Grand Marshal led his forces westward and retreated to hold Wuzhou."
Chapter 75