Chapter 465: Great Men’s Favors Are Uncertain
“Heaven and Earth Sages? The two of the three strongest Divine Dragons three hundred years ago? You’re not dead?” Zhuge Changfeng gasped, “I see it now, ha-ha-ha…”
The two’s eyes met and sorrow traced their faces.
“With Your Majesty’s boundless wisdom, you should’ve taken care of me by now. I can tell you have my two hundred thousand men surrounded. And there’s the hundred thousand Quanrong cavalry on their way, but they must’ve fallen in your trap. But for that, you need an army, and from what I know, only Dugu Zhantian can do it. But he is out dealing with Regent Estate and Zhuo Fan… “
Zhuge Changfeng moved his gaze from the sages to the emperor, “Your Majesty, do you have some other great force that I don’t know about?”
The emperor shook his head, “Prime Minister Zhuge, we’ve seen each other for years and with your ambition, there’s nothing you couldn’t find out. It’s not so easy for me to hide such a move from your piercing eyes.”
“I am in total agreement as well.” Zhuge Changfeng smiled, “And I am all the more astonished by how you got such a huge force. What did I miss?”
Crown Prince and fatty looked at the emperor with rapt attention.
His move was just too obscure for even the likes of Zhuge Changfeng to see it coming. To top it off, ever since the second prince’s rebellion, the emperor was having a hard time coping with Zhuge Changfeng.
Yet not once did he pull out this ace. The ingenious and cunning put into it made him a rare mind on this earth, so much so that it sent a chill down his son’s back.
The emperor loved watching Zhuge Changfeng squirm, “Ha-ha-ha, you want to know that much? But I do believe ignorance is bliss in this case, sparing you the vexation.”
“What could trouble a dying man? I only wish to part with a clear conscience.” Zhuge Changfeng spoke.
The emperor paused, “You are indeed my great minister helping me all these decades, a pillar of the nation. I admire your calm.”
The emperor clapped, “Men, grab them!”
“Ha-ha-ha, as Your Majesty commands!” A familiar shout came from the clouds. Zhuge Changfeng shuddered and his face fell.
The Quanrong warriors rode in on their roaring spiritual beasts, surrounding the rebels.
The ministers felt faint in front of their might.
[Wasn’t Quanrong on our side? What’s it doing pointing their pets at us?]
The Touba siblings and Imperial Tutor came out of the circle, “Everything went without a hitch, per sir’s decree!”
“Young master Touba…” One goatee old man cried at them.
Zhuge Changfeng gasped, having a self-deprecating smile, “Minister of Rites, it’s no use. They sold us out a long time ago. We are surrounded by their hundred thousand and His Majesty’s fifty thousand guards.”
“It’s three hundred thousand to be exact!” The emperor interjected, “Prime Minister Zhuge, you got a hundred thousand Quanrong cavalry sneaked in, can’t I do the same?”
Zhuge Changfeng sighed, “Young master Touba, would you help me understand something? What did His Majesty give you?”
“Prime Minister sir, to be honest, His Majesty promised us the land north of Suli River.” Tuoba Liufeng explained.
Zhuge Changfeng pondered with a frown, “It is a rich area in ore, a rare site and a tenth of Tianyu. While I promised you half. Is my word worth nothing?”
“Ha-ha-ha, Prime Minister Zhuge, sometimes cooperation isn’t based on interests, rather ability.” Tuoba Liufeng added, “His Majesty knew all about our discussions. You were just dancing to his tune, so how could you succeed?
“And even if you did, that would still leave dealing with unifying the land before you could give us our rightful claim. Would the empire’s three guardian sects even listen to you? It means wasted men and effort over nothing. While with His Majesty, who knows all, sees all, the sects had no way to deny his word.”
Zhuge Changfeng nodded, “You’ve thought long and hard I see. My slight, unfortunately. Humph, a true pity. Although Dugu Zhantian, despite being crude, is loyal to a fault. He’d never agree to it, unless over his dead body.”
Tuoba Liufeng snickered, glancing at the emperor.
His eyes released bloodl.u.s.t, “Everything has its opposite. It would seem Marshal Dugu has gone too long in years and needs proper, final rest.”
Zhuge Changfeng shuddered, pained with grief, “Your Majesty, he is stubborn but he’s been loyal to you all these years. How can you…”
“There’s no one more loyal than Marshal Dugu, my right and left arms put together. My heart is in pain for going with this strategy, but he wields 70% of the empire’s authority, his army unequaled.”
“A man with virtue sins the moment he stands out, ha-ha-ha…”
Chuckling, Zhuge Changfeng lamented, “All our efforts to make Tianyu prosper all these decades are repaid with a sordid end. I accept my fate, but for that old man… Like they say, great men’s favors are uncertain.”
Zhuge Changfeng struck a lonely figure gazing at the sky.
The emperor waved, “Take him to the Nine Frigid Prison. Make sure he’s under constant watch!”
“Understood!”
Two guards led Zhuge Changfeng away and the emperor turned his sharp eye to his mutinous seditionists.
They shivered to the bone and faltered back. Someone mustered up meager courage to say, “Y-Your Majesty, i-it’s all Zhuge Changfeng’s fault. He twisted words, forcing us on this path. I beg Your Majesty to recall all of our contributions in the court and spare our miserable lives.”
“We implore you, Your Majesty. We will be eternally grateful!” Another shivered out a plea.
The emperor mocked, “In all of Tianyu, only the Prime Minister and Marshal have truly strived for this nation. While you, pack of filthy mongrels, only look after your own a.s.s. And now ask for mercy? Execute them!”
“Understood!”
Bowing, the guards stepped forth to drag those great, now weeping and wailing, figures of court.
As for the rebel army, they were panicking with their leaders gone.
Just like a headless chicken.
The emperor spoke, “You all are their tools, imposing a lesser blame. I, a believer in the good of man, shall give you a chance. Swear your fealty and I shall make you imperial guards, serving me for all your lives!”
Everyone fell to their knees at the emperor’s boundless mercy.
The grand rebellion had collapsed on the spot.
The emperor nodded and Tuoba Liufeng smiled, “Congratulations Your Majesty, in quelling the rebellion.”
“It is by the grace of my Quanrong friends that I’ve succeeded.” The emperor smiled back.
Tuoba Liufeng nodded and pushed his sister forward, “Lian’er, now do you understand why I was so certain at the Beast King Mountain? In all of Tianyu, the one to offer us support is none other than the lord of the nation, the emperor!”
Touba Lian’er was still out of it, wrapping her head around this whole thing proved to be a tough one.
[How am I supposed to know the great leader would use us to clean his backyard?]
Tuoba Liufeng laughed.
Imperial Tutor Han Tiemo nodded, “This matter had a large impact making only our emperor, brother Tieshan, myself and Liufeng privy to it. You can’t fault her for being so lost.”
The others laughed as well.
The emperor turned stern, “Young master Touba, how is it going on the other end?”
“Your Majesty, learning that he would be facing his old rival Marshal Dugu, father was eager to begin.” Tuoba Liufeng spoke with confidence, “Commander Tuoba Liufeng of the Quanrong had faced Dugu Zhantian in twenty battles and a hundred skirmishes, yet all ended in draw. Perhaps this time will be different…”