Chapter 1835 – Stain
Another month passed, and good news frequently arrived from Xichang.
Fu Wang was leading his troops, and it was utterly boring, really boring.
It felt like Dongqing, Zhong Zhao, and Nansheng were all putting in effort to create a chaotic hunting ground, while Xichang felt more like a child’s game. When he first received the order to march, Fu Wang was quite excited, believing he would showcase his skills, achieve countless merits, and leave the enemy in disarray.
And the result?
Well…
Xichang’s antics exceeded his imagination.
The army conquered the borders of Xichang, wiped out a den of bandits, and took down a couple of villages. When they questioned the captured prisoners, they claimed to be the Emperor—huh? The Emperor? Fu Wang was left bewildered, staring at the scruffy-looking Emperor dressed in coarse linen.
He grabbed another guy for questioning, who claimed to be the Chancellor…
Chancellor?
“Pfft, there are two hundred people in this bandit den, and half of them hold official titles. Why don’t you all just ascend to heaven?”
When Fu Wang heard that this so-called “Emperor” had crowned a foul-mouthed woman as Empress and a widow in her forties as a favored concubine, his expression was beyond words. Even a child playing house wouldn’t be this casual! Aren’t you all ashamed, you adults?
But that wasn’t the most despairing part for Fu Wang.
Not long after the army entered Xichang’s territory, they received several “messengers” from various factions.
Upon careful inquiry, the larger factions had only about half a county’s worth of troops, while the smaller ones had a couple thousand.
Not many in numbers but quite ambitious, some claimed to be lords, while others had set themselves up as emperors, urging Fu Wang to leave their territory in the name of national importance. If he didn’t, the conflict between the two nations could bring serious consequences. Fu Wang was merely a commander; how could he bear such a responsibility?
Fu Wang: “…”
Couldn’t these people live in their own world and stop rambling on endlessly?
What could he possibly not handle?
His lord had entrusted him with over two hundred thousand elite troops to handle the war here, and capturing their Emperor was certainly within his right!
His lord was delegating authority like there was no tomorrow; how did Fu Wang lack the qualifications or ability to bear this?
“Utter nonsense, just flatten them!”
One word—beat them up!
In war, why talk about anything else? Just charge ahead!
Once Fu Wang spoke, the previously blustering guys scattered like birds and beasts.
To resist Fu Wang’s might, it was said that Xichang even organized a grand rally of hundreds of lords to resist him.
“Hundreds of lords… rally?”
Hold on, when his lord participated in the Kuangshui conference with about twenty lords, it was already quite a gathering.
Xichang, huh? Hundreds of lords…
The title sounds impressive, and for a moment, Fu Wang was genuinely excited, but once the fighting started, he realized the other side was nothing more than paper tigers.
It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough troops; indeed, the hundred lords mustered forty thousand soldiers to face off against Fu Wang across the river.
However, in battle, mere numbers don’t guarantee victory.
The forty thousand soldiers were more like a scattered mob; various lords were ineffectively aligned, each playing their own little games, fighting their own wars. As soon as Fu Wang led his men against them, they were quickly crushed, and the enemy started to flee in panic…
Honestly, even background actors wouldn’t be this half-hearted!
This battle set a world record for the future—44 heads of lords slain in a single battle.
Fu Wang individually secured 44 kills.
_(:з)∠)_
So-called hundreds of lords? He wiped out 44 heads in one go.
It sounded like a prestigious title, but Fu Wang couldn’t feel happy at all; he felt like his intelligence and military talent were being trampled into the ground by these enemies. With every confrontation, his IQ seemed to drop a notch—after this fight, would he end up becoming an idiot?
The coalition of hundreds of lords in Xichang, which took two months to assemble, crumbled in just two hours.
After diving deeper, Fu Wang finally understood just how outrageous his lord was.
He would have preferred to lead an attack on Beiyuan; at least the enemies there wouldn’t be this incompetent, right?
Of course, Jiang Pengji had a different take.
The intelligence in Beiyuan wasn’t much higher; she simply had to watch the enemies self-destruct and gather the corpses.
In truth, there hadn’t been many real battles.
Fu Wang, at the very least, had snagged the title of 44 kills; meanwhile, what was Jiang Pengji up to?
Snow. Endless snow, cold enough to freeze someone to death_(:з)∠)_
“Report—”
Fu Wang rubbed his temples and asked, “What now?”
The reporting soldier said the scouts had caught a suspicious group claiming to be the Emperor of Xichang…
Fu Wang: “…”
Um…
You might not believe this, but Fu Wang had recently completed his “Six Flavor Imperial Pill” quest; was this another one aiming for summoning a dragon?
“… Just more bluffers; take them away and kill them.”
What kind of trash claims to be Emperor? Is the title so cheap?
Fu Wang was also hoping for his lord to ascend, but if the title of Emperor was this worthless, he couldn’t help but feel suffocated.
However, this time, the Emperor was different.
“What is this?”
Fu Wang opened what the soldier presented, only to find a jade seal!!
Interesting!
The previous emperors’ “jade seals” were either wooden, granite, or cheap, substandard jade stones.
“This jade seal looks quite decent.”
As a “brute,” Fu Wang was oblivious to much besides battles.
When choosing spoils, he typically only looked for the biggest, shiniest, and prettiest items or simply went for the most straightforward treasures like gold and silver.
He didn’t know much about jade but felt this seal had good material; he just couldn’t put his finger on why it was good.
So—
When the person next to him informed him that this jade might actually be a genuine imperial seal, he was stunned.
“Drag the person up for questioning! Where did they steal such a jade seal?”
Asking one question shattered all perspectives.
The captured individuals were indeed the Emperor of Xichang—a bona fide Emperor of Xichang, along with his Empress and ministers…
Fu Wang stared at them for a long time, yet failed to discern the so-called “noble bloodline” aura.
Left and right, didn’t they just look like farmers working the fields?
The Empress beside him was also aged and weathered, with hands chapped from frostbite, cracked fingertips, and callouses from hard labor.
If this was truly “royalty,” Fu Wang could understand why Xichang had over a hundred lords bouncing around.
For many, royalty represented faith; how could order not fall apart when faith crumbles this badly?
The Emperor was farming for wealth, the palace was weaving for pocket money, and the concubines were sold off for flesh trades in shady places.
The so-called ministers were just being petty in a village with hardly a hundred households, involved in trivial matters.
“Wait, what’s the deal with the jade seal?”
In such a pathetic state, Fu Wang refused to believe they wouldn’t pawn the jade seal for cash.
The Emperor of Xichang stammered out an explanation.
They had sent “guards” to retrieve it while Fu Wang was busy gathering heads.
The jade seal symbolized the Son of Heaven; obtaining the seal might coax some people to align with him…
Fu Wang: “…”
The war in Xichang might become an indelible stain on his lifetime of battles.
