The eagle shook its wings and flew higher. It then fearfully discovered that a group of Qing Kingdom riders were quietly attacking from the northeast direction, the direction of the sea of gra.s.s. There were at least 4,000 men in this group. They silently moved deeper into the gra.s.slands, following the natural rise and falls of the sand dunes and gra.s.s.

The eagle gave a strange cry. It was as if it sensed the killing aura and horror of that group of riders. It flew toward the colder clouds. After an indeterminable amount of time, it finally broke through the cold clouds and swooped down toward a mountain by a lake.

There were thousands of western Hu warriors on this little mound. Among them were a group of Northern warriors that had been transferred from the snowfields. This group of soldiers was clearly those who had barely escaped from the battle at the entrance of Hong Mountain earlier. Their morale was low. Furthermore, many people were injured.

Chief Su Bida"s lips felt a little dry, but there was not much blood on his body. He looked coldly in the direction of the Hong Mountain and knew that the Dingzhou army must be tidying up and would be unable to rush over in a short amount of time. Presumably, those Qing people also did not dare to pursue deeply into the gra.s.slands.

He glanced at the warriors around him and looked at the injuries on their bodies. Thinking of the battle in front of Hong Mountain earlier, his eyes grew cold.

Once the gra.s.slands entered winter, soldiers were rarely used. This was a matter that western Hu and the Qing Kingdom had long grown used to. The biggest reason was that when the days were icy, the ground was frozen. So, there was a lack of food. The Hu people"s come like the wind and leave like lightning method was difficult to execute. However, this winter, this Chief had listened to the suggestion of Hu Ge"s group and gathered the most elite riders in his hands and carried out an attack on Xiliang Road. It truly looked like an unwise choice, particularly as the miserable scene in front of him seemed to prove this point.

But, who was Chief Su Bida? The gradually falling court 30 years ago produced a person like him. He was able to grow strong between the Left and Right Virtuous Princes. He even wisely accepted the Man riders from the icy and snowy North. He opened up his heart and absorbed the people of the middle-plains into his camp.

If it was not in such an age, if the mainland to the east did not have those incredible figures, Chief Su Bida would, without a doubt, have become a wise ruler on the gra.s.slands, a figure whose formidable renown would give him authority all over.

How could he have made such a low-level mistake? Su Bida"s gaze pierced through the mountain and landed on the Hu woman astride a horse at the summit of the mountain. His expression became complicated and depressed.

Chief Su Bida had his own way of thinking for deciding to risk attacking Xiliang Road during the winter. It was because he knew that the Qing court was facing internal unrest. The Emperor was carrying out a cold war against his favorite official, and Hu Ge…

The corners of the Chief"s eyes narrowed like an eagle. He looked in the direction of the distant Hong Mountain and thought that Hu Ge, who had dared to betray the gra.s.slands and collude with the Overwatch Council, should have died already. He was truly a stupid man. How many of those who worked with the Overwatch Council could successfully survive?

The Chief had already caught wind of what Hu Ge had been secretly relying on in his rise on the gra.s.slands this year. Thus, he could guess why Hu Ge had chosen such a winter to invade Xiliang Road. Chief Su Bida paid a great deal of attention to the political rumors in Jingdou. He only had to think slightly to determine it had something to do with a fallen Sir Fan junior.

Last time Fan Xian entered the gra.s.slands, he had purged a large number of secret agents and spies sent by the gra.s.slands from Xiliang Road. The strength of the gra.s.slands court had been heavily damaged. In the end, Fan Xian had escaped with a few hundred Black Knights from right under the Chief"s nose. This reality made Su Bida feel a boundless humiliation. Particularly whenever he looked at Songzhi Xianling, this feeling of humiliation would become even more difficult to endure.

Hu Ge"s attack on Xiliang Road was an opportunity for the Chief. After a long conversation with Songzhi Xianling, he rejected her suggestion for him to be cautious. Instead, he decided to take this opportunity to beat them at their own game. Using the momentum of Fan Xian wanting to use external soldiers to help the Dingzhou general"s position, he gathered the forces on the gra.s.slands and attacked Xiliang.

This had been a clever plan. Presumably, the Dingzhou general, Li Hongcheng, would have received Fan Xian"s message and would only think Hu Ge was pretending to invade. He would not expect the Chief to take advantage of it and launch a powerful attack. He would be unprepared.

Who would have thought that there would be over 100,000 Qing elites gathered around the entrance to Hong Mountain?

This was the most shameless ambush. In this one battle, Hu Ge was killed, the gra.s.slands court and Right Virtuous Prince suffered heavy casualties, and at least 20,000 gra.s.slands warriors lost their lives on the red dirt.

Thinking of his pain earlier, the Chief"s eyes narrowed further as his mood became colder. He squeezed the horse between his legs and came to Songzhi Xianling"s side. In an icy voice, he said, "You said that he was just borrowing the gra.s.slands" troops to help Li Hongcheng stabilize his position."

Haitang Doudou did not turn around. The jacket on her body fluttered in the wind. "As the Chief, you should not have taken such a risky gamble. I never truly believed him. However, I think this time it had nothing to do with him. He is just a pitiful p.a.w.n that was exploited by someone else."

The two of them fell silent at the same time. There was only one man in the Qing Kingdom who saw so far and had his eyes on the people of the world, could calculate with such clarity Fan Xian"s response and the Hu people"s plan to beat him at his own game, and have a plan in place to create a tragic defeat the gra.s.slands had not suffered in 30 years.

In front of the Qing Emperor, it seemed that all schemes and plots were nothing more than a prelude to the killing strike on his game board. The eagle finally descended and landed on the arm Su Bida extended. It was very cold. This animal had only flown through the icy clouds for a moment, but it was shivering with cold. The feathers on its body appeared particularly dim.

Su Bida"s eyes shrunk. He said in a low voice, "In the northeast, there are light riders coming this way undercover. The Qing people had great plans this time. I wonder which general it is that dares to lead another powerful army deep into the gra.s.slands after such a large battle. The weather is so cold, do the Qing people hope they will wipe us all out?"

Be that as it may, the Chief was still very shocked by the Qing army"s courage, as well as the determination they showed to destroy everything. Although there were still thousands of gra.s.slands men around the lakeside, they had just experienced a great battle and were tired and dispirited. If they had a head-on clash with the 4,000 light riders, who had stored their strength for a long time, the outcome was clear.

Su Bida cursed the Qing people viciously in his heart for being so despicable as to not give him a moment of rest. But, as a ruler, how could he allow his angry emotions to destroy his logic? At the first opportunity, he had already sent out a warning to the subordinates below the mountain. Immediately, the warriors around the lake began to move. Their movements were very quick. It was impossible to see the earlier injuries and low spirits.

"Coming with me?" The Chief pulled his horse"s head around and turned his head to glance at the Hu tribe girl on the slope.

"I"m going to the Qing Kingdom." Haitang Duoduo lowered her head slightly. Her eyes never left the direction of Hong Mountain. Her expression was calm, but her voice revealed a glimmer of self-condemnation and self-reflection.

She could see countless resentful spirits rising over there. Because of Hu Ge"s trust in someone, her trust in someone, and the Chief"s trust in her, tens of thousands of gra.s.slands soldiers were surrounded by the Qing Iron Riders, suffering heavy casualties. Broken limbs and severed heads covered the ground like weathered wood rotting in a swamp.

Even she couldn"t stop her heart swaying at this battlefield scene from h.e.l.l. At that moment, the present Master of Tianyi Dao realized that among tens of thousands of people, one person"s strength was truly very small and could not change anything.

"I want an explanation. If I can"t, I have to give you, and those who have died, an explanation." After Haitang finished speaking, she gently squeezed her horse. Dissolving into a streak of light smoke, she rode down the mountain in the opposite direction of the sun.

The words Fan Xian wanted Hong Yiqing to deliver had been brought to her. Because of the matter between Xiliang and the gra.s.slands, she could not leave at once. However, she had to go to Jingdou now.

Chief Su Bida did not turn around to glance at that streak of smoke again. With a loud cry, he led the remnants of his subordinates deeper into the gra.s.slands. He believed that as long as he returned to his true homeland, those Qing light riders riding behind him like wolf cubs would never be a threat against him again. To the west of the gra.s.slands, 7,000 of the 10,000 northern Man Iron Riders, who only obeyed Songzhi Xianling, were still alive and waiting for him.

Compared to the mysterious battle in the north of the mainland, the battle that happened in Xiliang this time with the Hu people had, without a doubt, a deeper and more important influence on and position in history. The start of the battle was actually just an order Fan Xian had the Qinian Unit send out in a random courtyard in Jingdou, which had sold for just over 100 liang.

Precisely because of these orders, Hu Ge had led the old subordinates of the Left Virtuous Prince and pretended to launch an attack against Xiliang Road. But, Chief Su Bida"s eagle-like eyes had seen the relationship between Hu Ge and Fan Xian of the Overwatch Council, so he had taken advantage of the situation. Unexpectedly, all of this had been within the expectations of the Dingzhou army.

The ma.s.sive trap at the opening of Hong Mountain had caught an innumerable amount of Hu lives. With this one battle, the Left Virtuous Prince"s forces all died, and the gra.s.slands court and Right Virtuous Prince both suffered heavy casualties and lost all their reputation. The various tribes on the gra.s.slands began to grow restless. Chief Su Bida"s ambition to establish a Kingdom, which had just begun to sprout under Songzhi Xianling and Northern Qi Tianyi Dao"s help, shattered. For the next few decades, the gra.s.slands would be in chaos. There would not be another opportunity to unite everyone.

This one battle was a great blow against western Hu. Its impact was felt deep and far. History called it the Great Battle of Qingzhou.

Other than the battle at Hong Mountain, another important reason for the endless instability on the gra.s.slands was the 4,000 light riders the eagle had discovered. A young general had fully planned out the Dingzhou army"s ambush of the western Hu elite troops. Furthermore, this general had abruptly left the battle at the initial success and, as the commander, led the 4,000 light riders hidden to the east toward what remained of the gra.s.slands" court soldiers and began a lengthy pursuit.

This pursuit was carried out in the ice and snow, across wild plains. Regardless of whether it was pursuing or escaping soldiers, they all lived unusually cruel lives. In the end, this pursuit broke Chief Su Bida"s spirit. It was impossible for him to make contact with the 7,000 northern Man Iron Riders scattered in the distant West.

Walking through winter, spring, wind, snow, and long gra.s.s, this astounding pursuit mission continued for five months. When the remnants of the Chief"s strength finally made contact with the last 7,000 Iron Riders Haitang Doudou had left on the gra.s.slands, the courageous and brave Qing light riders finally pulled out of the gra.s.slands.

During the five months in the gra.s.slands, this group of light riders, which only numbered 4,000, burned, killed, and plundered the entire way, destroying countless Hu tribes. They maintained their difficult pursuit on the gra.s.slands with b.l.o.o.d.y methods and discipline. By the time they retreated to Qingzhou in the spring of the next year, there were only 800 left.

It completely changed the situation for the Qing Kingdom in the West. The commander of the Iron Riders, who completely destroyed the western Hu"s thoughts of invading the central plains, was actually the commander of the Qingzhou battle. As a high-ranking general who should have stayed in the tent and pointed at the territory, he had instead bravely lowered his own status and entered the gra.s.slands in pursuit. In the Qingzhou battle, other than the Qing Emperor"s careful plan, this young general was a truly incredible character. There was no injustice for Chief Su Bida to have fallen to his hands.

This young general was Ye Wan. He was the eldest son of the Head of the Bureau of Military Affairs Commander Ye Zhong. He was the brother of the Second w.a.n.gfei Ye Ling"er. Je was the man who had left the Dingzhou army at 17 and went to the frontlines of Nanzhao. He was the man who had been gradually forgotten by the Jingdou people and Fan Xian.

…

…

While Ye Wan held the fort in Qingzhou and the battle he deployed at the entrance of Hong Mountain made the Hu people cry for heaven and earth as they died, the highest military officer of Xiliang Road in name, General Li Hongcheng, had been under house arrest in Dingzhou"s General"s manor.

Along with him in the manor was Gong Dian, who had left the position of Commander of the Imperial Army to come take over in Dingzhou. Battle reports from Qing Zhou flowed endlessly into the General"s manor. Gong Dian and Li Hongcheng sat on each side, silently reading the military reports and not saying a word.

The troops near Qingzhou that had entered the battle were essentially the local Xiliang Dingzhou army. They were all born and bred border soldiers. The Ye family had run things there for decades. Other than the Great Prince"s Western Expedition in the past, which left him some influence there, the Ye family was essentially the Emperor of the Dingzhou army. Presently, the Emperor has transferred the eldest son of the Ye family back to Dingzhou. Leading these old Dingzhou soldiers in a violent attack, they cooperated without any problems.

The half of the Nanzhao border soldiers Fan Xian had worried about did not actually surge into Dingzhou city as he imagined. Instead, they stopped west of Jingdou to the north of Cang Mountain. One subsection entered Dingzhou. There were not many people, but it was enough to control the General"s manor.

The exchange of military authority in Dingzhou was not actually an exchange of soldiers. Rather, it was just an exchange of generals. The eldest son of the Ye manor entered Dingzhou. With the cooperation of the imperial soldiers Gong Dian led, he easily stole the general"s authority from Li Hongcheng"s hands.

If everything had gone as Fan Xian had planned, if the young general Ye Wan, who commanded soldiers like a G.o.d and the Dingzhou army saw as one of theirs, had not abruptly appeared in this world, then when Hu Ge led his soldiers on a fake attack, Li Hongcheng would have been able to use the battle to extend his time in his position by a year or so.

The General"s manor was silent. After a long silence, Li Hongcheng calmly said, "I am not as good as Ye Wan when it comes to warfare."

Gong Dian raised his head and glanced at him. After a moment, he replied in a raspy voice, "Ye Wan grew up in the Dingzhou Army. From the age of 3, he began to learn martial arts on horseback and handle troops. However, he was young and impetuous, and unsatisfied with his father forcefully suppressing his merits. Thus, he abandoned Dingzhou and went to Nanzhao."

"No wonder there is little news of him in the capital." Li Hongcheng nodded.

Gong Dian sighed and said, "Commander Ye suppressed his military achievements because he thought he was too young and had achieved too much. He was worried it would draw people"s fear. After all, the old Qin master"s eldest son had died in a camp."

"Qin Heng was also not as good as him." Li Hongcheng looked at the military report in front of him and shook his head. "Commander Ye was well aware of how to go with the flow. No wonder he could hide such a talented son for so long."

"The dream of the Dingzhou army is to pacify western Hu." Gong Dian was also a general born of the Dingzhou army. He gazed at Li Hongcheng and said, "Loyalty to the Emperor is a matter of course. Regardless of what evaluation the world gives the Dingzhou army, we are willing to do anything for the interest of the Emperor and the Qing Kingdom."

Li Hongcheng laughed bitterly. He knew that these words were speaking of Ye Ling"er marrying the Second Prince. In the end, the Dingzhou army had changed sides right before the battle in the Jingdou rebellion, striking the heaviest blow against the Second Prince.

"I don"t know what Fan Xian has told you in private, but if drawing in outside forces to attack was just to preserve your position as general…" Gong Dian"s eyes narrowed. In an icy voice, he said, "I am disgraced by Fan Xian"s action."

Li Hongcheng raised his face and gazed calmly at Gong Dian. "What kind of person do you think I am? What kind of person do you think Fan Xian is? Since I dare to let Hu Ge come, then I have my ways. Even if Ye Wan did not come, do you think I would let the Hu people take even the slightest advantage?"

"In the end, it is something that didn"t happen. There is still time to turn back," Gong Dian said. "But, I think the Emperor is extremely disappointed in Sir Fan junior…"

He paused and then continued, "After you return to the capital, I must trouble you to bring my words to Sir Fan junior. I have always admired him, but I was disappointed this time. Men are born between heaven and earth. How could he used the blood of soldiers as a bargaining chip?"

Li Hongcheng took a deep breath and looked at Gong Dian with a not-quite-there smile. After a moment of silence, he said, "In the end, you still don"t understand Fan Xian. If he was a person who cared nothing for the lives of others, if he really did not have any consideration for the lives of the Qing soldiers, the Qing Kingdom would probably have long become a tattered robe. No matter how great the Emperor is, how could he stop him tearing this apart from the inside? You underestimated his power. You also underestimated his character."

Gong Dian was silent, but there was a chill in his heart. He didn"t know that Sir Fan junior had already suffered a great injury in front of the Emperor. Did he still have the power to strike back?

…

…

Although the battle at the entrance of Hong Mountain was an ambush, the opponent was still tens of thousands of gra.s.slands riders who were like wolves and tigers. The Qing Emperor had put in a great deal of effort for this. One secret edict removed Li Hongcheng"s military authority. Another secret edict bestowed full command on the eldest son of the Ye manor, Ye Wan. As they said, do not doubt those who are used and those who are doubted. The Emperor"s trust in, or perhaps gamble on, that young general won him a complete victory in the end.

Victory needed foundations and soldiers. In order to defeat the Hu people on the gra.s.slands, the soldiers in a number of military camps in and outside of Dingzhou had all been emptied out. All of the Dingzhou army had come out. With an additional group from Qingzhou, only then had they obtained such a result. Presently, order and peace were being maintained in Dingzhou by the troops Gong Dian had brought personally, as well as some Nanzhao border soldiers left by Ye Wan.

Li Hongcheng silently returned to the manor. He stared in a daze at the large map in the study. He then said to the guest who had stayed behind him the entire time, "I"m about to leave for Jingdou. I"ll see you out of Dingzhou. As for how to get away after, that"ll depend on your skills."

The guest was silent for a moment and then said, "On behalf of Sir Fan junior, I thank you for your great kindness." This man was Fan Xian"s trusted aide, Deng Zi Yue, who was fully responsible for all matters of the Fourth Bureau of the Overwatch Council stationed in Xiliang. However, after the fast change in situation in Jingdou, Deng Zi Yue became someone the court had to capture. No one expected that he would be so daring as to hide in the General"s manor.

"During the Qingzhou battle, other than the Emperor"s torch-like gaze and Commander Ye"s G.o.dlike command, the Overwatch Council was also out in force. Yan Bingyun has been in Dingzhou the entire time, presumably, Jingdou doesn"t even know." Deng Zi Yue sighed. "Sir Fan junior"s plan fell wholly within the Emperor"s calculations. With things as they were, I could not abandon the Qing Kingdom"s interest and inform the Hu people. I trust that Sir Fan junior and his subordinates would also think the same."

Li Hongcheng was silent for a moment. He then said, "I suddenly feel that Gong Dian"s words are very reasonable. No matter what Fan Xian does, he is, in the end, not a match for the Emperor and refuses to let the Qing people sink into a wretched situation. Since this is so, why do all this?"