Chapter 203: Untitled

The eunuch looked up, and he glanced at the dark and solemn room. The heavy breaths of the person on the deathbed marked the last of Heaven Demon’s Thousand Springs era. Further away, outside the city gates, young and brave generals were galloping with pride… a fated death and ending. Who else would want to sacrifice everything to retain a nation that was about to collapse?

He bowed respectfully.

Meng Fuyao smiled and pointed him the way out. “Congratulations on becoming the first batch of Prince Lie’s close attendants!”

His eyes gleamed, and he walked out briskly. As he left, Meng Fuyao smirked. People like eunuchs, because of the sufferings they faced when they grew up, were the most shameless and had no principles, as they prized personal gains above anything else. By threatening him, and then bribing him with glory and status, she could be sure that he would not dare to betray her.

After she strode out of the palace, she mounted her horse, and Tie Cheng and her guards brought two huge carriages. Meng Fuyao nodded in response and went straight to the Imperial Barracks. The Captain of the Flying Tiger camp, Jian Shuangjin, was so anxious that he came up to her once she arrived. “Boss! Have you received orders to mobilize the troops?”

Shaking her head, Meng Fuyao frowned and sighed. “The Emperor does not wish to see anyone. I wasn’t able to meet him.”

“Why is it so?” Jian Shuangjin rubbed his hands continuously. “The enemy is striking offensive attacks on our city, yet the hundred thousand soldiers in the Imperial Army are not allowed to strike back. This… Does this even make any sense!”

“Captain Jian, are you doubting the Emperor?” Meng Fuyao looked at him from the corner of her eye. “The Emperor is wise. What right do we have to question his wisdom?”

Jian Jinshuang was taken aback, and he quickly lowered his head and muttered, “I don’t dare to…” Meng Fuyao smirked and went inside the camp. As he tailed her, Jian Jinshuang added, “Sir, when a general is out at war, some exceptions can be made. Even if the Emperor hasn’t given his orders yet, we can still ask the three main Ministers to use each of their one-third of a stamp to deliver an order…”

The stamps of the three Ministers? A smile crept up Meng Fuyao’s lips… Yao Xun should have completed his mission by now? He had not done this for a while now, and he was itching to try again, so he must have been very happy to be assigned such a large target. Hopefully, the three Ministers would still have their underwear intact on them…

Just then, she stopped short in her tracks and glanced at this man who was famous in the Imperial Army for being rash and straightforward… It would be easy to kill him, but doing so might stir unnecessary alarm. Furthermore, he was pretty good at warfare, and he could be of use to Zhan Beiye in the future… In a split second, she turned and beamed. “Captain Jian, you’re right. Pandu is in a state of emergency, and we as defenders should not be afraid of the responsibilities that we have to shoulder. If there is no order from the Emperor, we’ll ask from the three Ministers. If they don’t agree, we’ll bring our forces to the city gates to attack! I’ll account for any blame!”

She said it in such a passionate and emotive manner that Jian Shuangjin was moved to tears. In a loud voice, he said, “I’ll definitely shoulder the blame with you!” Then, he spoke apologetically. “I… am guilty… of nearly doubting your loyalty just now…”

Meng Fuyao patted his shoulder, and she gazed deeply at the faraway Qiongcang. In an emotive voice, she responded, “The storm puts strong grass to the test; troubles times test a faithful official…”

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck out of nowhere, causing a huge tree to be burnt from inside out.

While Jian Shuangjin was still reprimanding himself, Meng Fuyao calmly said, “Alright now, the war is impending. Captain Jian, I’ll trouble you to organize the various Camps, and call the four Vice Captains over. I have a few details to discuss with them.”

Jian Shuangjin hurried off happily, and Meng Fuyao waited for the Vice Captains to arrive. These were people whom Meng Fuyao bonded over gambling, hence they were comfortable with each other and not very strict on formalities. They laughed when they walked in. “Sir, what instructions do you have for us?”

Meng Fuyao sat high and mighty on her seat, and she slowly drank her tea. With a wave of her hand, the front door to the room instantly closed.

The four of them were stunned, but Meng Fuyao waved her hand again. Immediately, her personal attendant brought two plates forward; one had a pearl that was the size of a thumb, the other contained a dagger.

The pearl shined radiantly in the dim room, catching the attention of all four Vice Captains. They had seen plenty of such goods, but they had never seen one of this size and quality, and the shine of the pearl illuminated their captivated expressions.

Satisfied with their reactions, Meng Fuyao calmly sipped on her tea… these few were the ones whom she carefully picked to befriend, who were also the ones who fought for every penny and cent. How would people like them have resilient mindsets and grounded principles?

Ever since she entered the Imperial Army, she had been gambling every day, but that was not without reason. It was minor to use money to buy the loyalty of others, and the main focus was to actually use gambling as an opportunity to decipher others’ personalities and rope in those who were promising.

As the saying goes, discreditable things are often done in the dark. As the four people sucked in their breaths while staring intensely at the beautiful treasure, Meng Fuyao put down her cup, and the thin porcelain made a sharp sound as it came into contact with the table, causing the four to jump.

“I’ll gift you a life of prosperity.” Meng Fuyao pointed at the pearl.

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Their expressions were a mix of joy and confusion. Meng Fuyao pointed again, but it was directed towards the dagger.

“Or a massacre.”

15 minutes later, the door to the room slowly opened. Meng Fuyao was still sitting on her seat in all smiles, but the pearls and dagger had disappeared. The four Vice Captains sat on her sides and smiled at her with a tinge of nervousness; their sleeves were all slightly heavy.

After a while, other Captains came forth after receiving the order. The Imperial Army was split into three camps that each had a Captain and two Vice Captains, but they were not all filled up. For example, Meng Fuyao was also the Captain of the Flying Fox Camp. Other than Meng Fuyao, Jian Shuangjin who was in charge of patrol duty, and the four Vice Captains, there were still the Vice Commander of the Imperial Army, Captain of the Flying Tiger Camp, and the other Vice Captains of the three camps.

The Vice Commander, Zhenghui, was a close confidante of former Commander Xie Yu. When Xie Yu was shifted to the Ministry of War, he thought that he would have a chance to be promoted, but little did he know that the Emperor would bestow the position upon a young and inexperienced lad like Meng Fuyao. Naturally, he did not accept the decision, and always paid lip service to Meng Fuyao while he opposed in secret.

After he sat down, he gave a supercilious look at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Meng Fuyao placed her hands on her knees and was not angered at all. As she beamed at him, she said, “Captains, I just received the Emperor’s decree from the palace. Our Imperial Army will bear the responsibility of protecting the palace. Later, we’ll swap out the palace guards.”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Flying Fox’s Vice Captain exclaimed, “Our Imperial Army has always been the main defense of the city. Now that the rebels are attacking, we should be immediately ordered to fend off the enemies on the city gates. Why would we swap out the palace guards?”

Meng Fuyao caressed her knees, and her eyebrows were locked in frustration. “I can’t oppose the Emperor’s decision as well.” Standing up, she announced, “Everyone, let’s get ready to do the swap.”

“Wait there.”

Slowly turning around, she saw that Zheng Hui was the one who spoke, just as she had expected. In a belittling manner, he glanced at Meng Fuyao and sniffed. “Sir, the Imperial Army is an army that fights, not the guards that watch the door for the concubines and princesses. You actually accepted such an order without speaking a word? Why didn’t you lay out reasons for the Emperor?”

“May I ask, Sir Zheng, how am I supposed to reason with His Majesty?” Meng Fuyao smiled affectionately as she asked. “Should I tell His Majesty that ‘Hey, Your Majesty, your guards are too weak and their weapons have long rusted from watching the palace gates. Why don’t we let our Imperial Army fight, while the watchdogs continue watching?’. Is that what you’re implying?”

Zheng Hui was at a loss for words. Moments later, he stood up and said, “If you’re not going to say it, I’ll go!”. Then, he started walking out.

“Stop there!”

The shout was as loud as thunder, causing the armored captains to jump in shock as their ears rang. A vase dropped from its rack, cracking into a near powder form; the turquoise porcelain pieces flew as the vase shattered, causing the Vice Captains to step back in fear.

Zheng Hui’s heart thumped when he heard the shout, and he momentarily realized that this famous yet foolish Captain was the Champion of the True Martial Arts Meet. He intended to leave but he didn’t dare to, so he stood rooted the ground. Just then, the teenage Captain who was usually calm and friendly suddenly released her fury, and her suffocating force instantly came down on him like a thunderstorm.

“Zheng Hui!”

In a towering rage, she said with a stern voice, “I must have to remind you that this is an order, not a discussion. If you think that you can’t execute my order, then we are no longer boss and subordinate – there are two ways to settle this. Either I stop being the Commander or you stop being the Vice, but right now, I do not have the first option in mind. So, if you continue to resist against my order, I can only give you two choices. One, you immediately

bring the Captains to carry out my command, or two, I’ll lead the fellow Captains to…”

As Zheng Hui was so bombarded by this string of words, he could feel himself becoming giddy and his heartbeat starting to quicken. Hence he stood dumbfounded in his spot. Instinctively, he was waiting for her last sentence, but Meng Fuyao suddenly pushed her robes to one side, stepped on the mess of broken porcelain pieces, and pounced on him like a furious dragon or demeaning eagle.

“Kill you!”

When she pounced, her raging inner energy swept up the porcelain pieces, causing them to fly in all directions. The Captains quickly raised their sleeves to protect their faces, and from the gaps of their sleeve, they could only see a pitch-black robe crossing the room, creating an arc that resembled the movement of a curved knife. In a split second, she had cut through the stagnant air and appeared in front of the stiff Zheng Hui. Using two fingers, she perched and pinched!

There was a very light sound of cracking, resembling the noise made when walnut was broken apart.

In an instant, everyone was so stunned that they seemed to have been pegged onto their seats.

The only person moving was Zheng Hui – his Adam’s apple on the broken neck wriggled weirdly, and strange sounds appeared in his throat. His neck slumped, but his body collapsed on the ground.

With a bang, he fell on the ground filled with the porcelain pieces, creating a very muffled echo. Gradually, thin streams of blood flowed out from under his body, slowly slithering on the floor like snakes until they reached the foot of the Captains.