Chapter 991 – Battle at the Northern Border (Twenty-Eight)
“Master—Master—Disciple is unfilial—”
The Third Prince cried his heart out, his already weak body unable to bear the burden any longer, looking utterly disgraceful with not a hint of noble flair.
He was not just crying for Wu Libai; he was mourning the fate he was about to face and the dire predicament he was currently in.
Wu Libai led thousands of elite soldiers to cover the retreat of him and the Eldest Prince.
Though they had escaped smoothly, they carried little in the way of weapons, and—didn’t even have food or clean water.
Without supplies, they were starving, forced to eat forage and tree bark to fill their bellies.
Just months ago, the Northern Border had over 180,000 elite troops. Including the 30,000 brought by the Eldest Prince, that made 210,000!
Now, only fewer than 20,000 warriors remained—their ranks filled with injured and defeated soldiers.
The nightmare didn’t end there; the news of Wu Libai’s death struck them with another blow.
The Third Prince wailed while the Eldest Prince felt so irritable he could smash his brother to silence the bothersome crying.
“What’s the use of crying now? The urgent task at hand is to contact the major tribes of the Northern Border to unite against the Liu Thief; that would at least honor the General.”
The Eldest Prince was fidgeting; they hadn’t completely shaken off their pursuers and could run into Wu Libai at any moment.
“Is it not allowed for me to shed tears for a Master who treated me like a son?”
The Third Prince steadied his emotions, though his eyes remained terribly red.
But the Eldest Prince was right—preserving their lives was the top priority. As long as they had the green mountains, they wouldn’t need to worry about wood for fires.
He couldn’t help but think of the real culprit, grinding his teeth with rage, “If it weren’t for that useless Ninth Prince dragging us down, Master would not have passed so young—”
If it weren’t for the Ninth Prince being a pig teammate and ruining a good hand, the Northern Border wouldn’t have suffered such great losses.
The Eldest Prince remarked, “Him? Ha, he might already be fish food.”
So many intact lives were swept away by the flood; did he think the Ninth Prince could possibly be alive after such a stroke?
Hearing that from the Eldest Prince, the Third Prince felt slightly better.
Unbeknownst to them, the “fish food” they spoke of wasn’t dead at all; the Ninth Prince had survived against the odds.
Unfortunately, luck runs out, and the Ninth Prince was captured by soldiers searching for survivors.
When others saw him dressed luxuriously, they became wary.
As they escorted him back to the camp, they investigated his identity and discovered he was the former Dai Wang of the Northern Border.
Though he was just a Dai Wang, he was still a “king,” and the soldiers quickly reported this to Jiang Pengji.
Jiang Pengji had no intention of meeting him, but upon hearing this guy survived a stroke, she became curious to see what this lucky fellow looked like.
The Ninth Prince was brought into the main tent; having missed his medication, his stroke symptoms had slightly alleviated.
Before he could only move his eyes, but now he could twist his neck a little.
The Ninth Prince had mentally prepared to beg for mercy, only to be utterly shocked at seeing his heart’s white moonlight in the main tent!
Sun Wen: “…”
The Ninth Prince stared fixedly at Sun Wen, his eyes filled with the pain and accusation of betrayal.
His gaze was too heated for anyone to ignore.
“Do you know him?” Jiang Pengji asked Sun Wen with a smile. “Looks like you have an old acquaintance in the Northern Border.”
Sun Wen replied with a grin, “This is the Ninth Son of the Northern Border King, so foolish that he could be used as a pawn for others’ schemes.”
Upon hearing that, the Ninth Prince’s heart ached unbearably, his eyes bloodshot, as though he wanted to skewer Sun Wen a thousand times over.
He had trusted Sun Wen so much, even feeling concern and heartache over his disappearance, only to find out—
Sun Wen was actually an undercover agent sent by the Liu Thief!
Thinking of how Sun Wen had toyed with him, causing nine brothers to kill each other and the Northern Border tribes to fracture… the Ninth Prince’s expression darkened as he looked at Sun Wen, a gaze filled with a thousand knives—too bad those knives wouldn’t kill.
“So this person is a ‘meritorious minister’ then.”
Helping Jiang Pengji deal with the Northern Border, wasn’t the Ninth Prince just a hero?
Sun Wen teased him, “Given he has achieved such ‘great merit,’ the Lord shouldn’t let him off easily.”
Jiang Pengji said, “Rewards and punishments must be clear and fair… since he has ‘merit,’ we mustn’t treat him lightly.”
Listening to their conversation, the Ninth Prince’s eyes filled with fear. He tried to plead for mercy but ended up drooling all over himself.
Jiang Pengji ordered, “Drag him away, let him keep Wu Libai company.”
No matter how much the Ninth Prince struggled, he still met his end, his corpse hung beside Wu Libai, swaying in the wind.
As Jiang Pengji cleaned up the spoils of war, simultaneously advancing the front line into the Northern Border, the world’s situation also underwent many changes.
One of the most shocking news came from Zhong Zhao—
Tens of thousands of refugees broke through the palace defenses, storming in to pillage and slaughter; scarcely a soul in the royal family survived.
Men were smashed into meat paste by the enraged refugees, while women were humiliated to death; palace maids and noble women were all taken captive by the refugees.
Meanwhile, forces led by the Nie Clan took advantage of the chaos under the guise of “suppressing the rebels,” recruiting soldiers and carving out territories for themselves.
Seeing Zhong Zhao in such disarray, Beiyuan and Xichang also wanted a piece of the pie.
However, due to the numerous conflicts arising between the two countries over the years, various feudal lords were busy with their own schemes and couldn’t spare a hand.
Besides, Dongqing and Nan Sheng alike didn’t rest for a moment.
Jiang Pengji allied with Huang Song and Xu Pei. Though it was merely mutual support, they reaped considerable benefits from it.
The one responsible for the alliance with Xu Pei was Yang Si.
Yang Si currently governed Hujun, representing his Lord to ally with Xu Pei.
With Jiang Pengji’s tacit approval, Yang Si went to visit Xu Pei, offering some military support.
Originally, the brothers Xu Pei and Xu Fei were evenly matched; with Jiang Pengji’s influence entering the fray, the balance tipped in Xu Pei’s favor.
Xu Fei suffered repeated defeats, losing half of Zhejun, and was forced to retreat to Hujun, significantly reducing his power.
Compared to Xu Pei’s ease, Huang Song faced a much tougher opponent.
His rival was the Meng Clan, which controlled the whole of Cangzhou!
The pressure was immense.
Huang Song knew the gap between himself and the Meng Clan was too wide; he wouldn’t stand a chance in a head-on confrontation, as the losses from attacking would far exceed those from defending.
All he needed to do was hold the Meng Clan’s advance back, without needing to engage in a life-or-death struggle.
With this thought, Huang Song and his strategists chose the safest course of action—defend!
Hold the line without battle!
Huang Song turned himself into an iron turtle, arming every part of himself down to his teeth—ignoring the Meng Clan’s various provocations.
The Meng Clan initially had patience, but as time passed, with successive good news coming from the Northern Border about Jiang Pengji, they began to feel anxious. After several strong assaults, the Meng Clan found Huang Song always seemed to predict their moves, having gained little from their several clashes.
Both sides entered a state of stalemate, refusing to back down an inch.
In the Dongqing territory, the battle was stuck in place, while Yang Tao thrived in Nan Sheng.
Under the banner of suppressing the false emperor, he invaded Nan Sheng’s territory with great fervor, establishing a firm foothold within just half a year.
However, having divided up the spoils of Nan Sheng, the local lords were not pleased.
