knife

Chapter 74 A Choice Only Once
Standing on the terrace, holding a glass of fine wine from Tai'an City, Tiele was already slightly tipsy.

Take a small sip, let the liquid roll around in your mouth, and let every taste bud on your tongue fully experience the stimulation before swallowing it.

"Good wine, it's a pity that our Great Yuan can't brew such good wine!" Tiele raised his cup to Luhe and Gro behind him, with no small amount of regret.

"I've heard that this nectar is extremely difficult to brew. It's made from pure grains through fermentation, requiring eight rounds of steaming and brewing. Ten catties of grain can only yield one ounce of liquor. It's incredibly grain-consuming!" Gro shook his head. "Tasting it occasionally won't hurt."

Tiele laughed heartily: "Geluo, you don't need to beat around the bush to advise me. You and I are nominally ruler and subject, but in reality, we are brothers. Just speak frankly."

Gro bowed slightly, neither explaining nor refuting.

Lu He tilted his head back and downed the wine in his cup, saying, "Your Highness, when the flags of Baoping Prefecture change hands next spring, Linghu Ye will probably be terrified. Besides fleeing south, what other options does he have?"

"Yes!" Tiele said earnestly, "He can submit to our Great Yuan!"

All three of them burst into laughter.

Linghuye would certainly not surrender to the Northern Yuan, and the Great Yuan did not need him to surrender. What the Tiele wanted to do was to force Linghuye to retreat back to the interior of the pass, adding a ladle of hot oil to the already boiling pot of the Great Qin.

At that point, what else could Linghu Ye do but rebel immediately?

It should be understood that his arrogance and domineering behavior over the years has become a well-known fact in the Qin Dynasty. Now that he has returned to the interior of the pass, he no longer has the base outside the pass and has lost a stable logistical supply. Why would the bigwigs in the Qin court not want to take this opportunity to deal with him?
Was Linghu Ye really that stupid to obediently let the Qin Dynasty strip him of his military power and send him home to retire?

Isn't this just handing your head over to someone else to chop off?
Therefore, rebellion became the inevitable choice.

This is what Tiele most wanted to achieve.

Want to surrender?
I don't want it!
You must rebel!

If you have any difficulties, I can help you!
"Come, let's drink to victory!" Tiele laughed and raised his cup. "Once we take over this land, Tai'an City will also be ours. We can just have them offer this fine wine as tribute then!"

"Your Highness, is Zhou Zhi stationed in Tai'an City?"

"So what?" Tiele sneered. "Human strength has its limits. I've seen many innate masters before. Others treat them like gods, but I know they're still just human. An innate master without any ties is certainly terrifying, but what's there to fear about an innate master with ties and burdens? It's just a matter of price. There's nothing to worry about."

Silent all night.

Dawn arrived with the melodious chimes of the City of Aquarius. As the first bell rang, the city gates opened wide, and processions poured out from within.

In the very center of the procession, Yan Sheng stood with Tie Le, chatting and laughing.

Baoping City is only about a hundred miles away from Mao'er Mountain. They set off at a fast pace, changing horses along the way, and arrived at noon.

Not only Tiele, but also Yan Sheng was extremely interested in this wild wolf.

The Wild Wolf has been harassing Aquarius State for several years, but no one has ever seen what this person actually looks like.

Today, Yan Sheng wanted to cut off the wolf's head to establish his authority, while Tiele was thinking about whether he could recruit the wolf and lay a piece in order to counterbalance Yan Sheng in Baoping Prefecture in the future.

Of course, Tiele hasn't let slip a single word about his plans, so Yan Sheng can secretly send someone to inform Yan Dong to launch an attack ahead of schedule. If all he sees when he gets to Mao'er Mountain is the head of a wild wolf, then there's no point in doing so.

Yan Xu was enveloped in steaming heat, making him appear hazy. He galloped all the way back to Bao Ping City, only to learn that Yan Sheng had already led his men to Mao'er Mountain. This made him even more anxious. He only gave instructions to immediately close the city gates and mobilize all forces to prepare for battle before changing horses and chasing after Yan Sheng.

The Yan family is facing a life-or-death crisis. The sooner the news is delivered to the elder brother, the greater the hope of turning the tide.

Hearing his warhorse panting, Yan Xu leaped up and jumped onto another empty horse to the side, mercilessly whipping it hard on the rump.

Faster, even faster.

Finally seeing the banners waving in the distance, Yan Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

When the Yan family's rear guard saw the Second Master running towards them in a disheveled state, they were all stunned.

Something really serious must have happened!

Everyone watched with some trepidation as Yan Xu's warhorse whipped up a snow dragon and charged toward the front ranks.

"Big brother!"

Yan Xu shouted loudly.

The warhorse beneath him finally gave way, its hooves buckling as it collapsed to the ground.

Yan Xu placed his hands on the horse's back, landing steadily, and then hurriedly galloped towards Yan Sheng.

Yan Sheng turned around, his brows furrowed deeply. His second brother, usually so composed, was now so distraught.
And it happened right in front of the Tiele.

"At your advanced age, you still can't keep your composure. Second Master Yan should have the composure to remain calm even if a mountain collapses before him!" Yan Sheng rebuked.

Hearing Yan Sheng's rebuke, Yan Xu's tears were about to fall: "Brother, Xiao Changche, Xiao Changche's army has appeared in Baoping Prefecture, and scouts have found out that they are advancing straight towards Mao'er Mountain!"

"What did you say?" Yan Sheng, who had just said he would remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, changed his expression in an instant, first turning white, then red, then black, and finally white again.

"Xiao Changche, General Xiao Changche's three thousand iron cavalry are advancing towards Mao'er Mountain. At this moment, at this moment, I'm afraid they'll be there soon!" Yan Xu's voice trembled slightly.

"Why did Xiao Changche appear?" Yan Sheng's voice was shrill. "What are our scouts and troops doing? Several thousand soldiers, and they only just received the news!"

"Brother, our entire army has been mobilized to surround the Wild Wolves. Xiao Changche's cavalry is incredibly fast, and after entering the territory, they didn't take any detours at all; they went straight for Mao'er Mountain!" Yan Xu said in a trembling voice, "Those of us who wanted to deliver the message were either killed by their scouts or fell behind them."

Tiele turned to look at Rukh and Gro, both of whom had solemn expressions.

Xiao Changche's entire army was mobilized, not to celebrate with Yan Sheng or to help him wipe out the stubborn bandits, Wild Wolves. Without a doubt, that guy had ill intentions and his plot to seize Baoping Prefecture was obvious.

And they headed straight for Mao'er Mountain!
This is interesting.

Xiao Changche wasn't a god who could predict the future and knew long ago that Yan's army was going to Mao'er Mountain to hunt down the wild wolves.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this wolf is inextricably linked to Xiao Changche. Perhaps Xiao Changche sent this wolf out for this very battle," Gro whispered.

"Impossible!" Yan Sheng exclaimed sharply, "Wild Wolves appeared five years ago, before Xiao Changche had even risen to prominence!"

Xiao Changche rose to prominence three years ago in a battle against Astu, the Left Wise King of the Northern Yuan. Before that, he was still considered a junior in front of Yan Sheng.

“If Wild Wolf wasn’t Xiao Changche’s subordinate, the situation would be even more serious!” Tiele took a deep breath: “That means there’s another force that has joined forces with Xiao Changche to deal with you.”

“Li Dachui!” Lu He suddenly said. “Among the bandits outside the pass, Li Dachui is the most powerful, and three years ago, he and Xiao Changche fought together.”

Upon hearing this, both Yan Sheng and Yan Xu turned pale.

Three years ago, Li Dachui had once stood up to Wutu's army and snatched tens of thousands of young men from Wutu's tiger.

Although Wutu was in a hurry to rescue the Left Wise King Astu, Li Dachui's strength should not be underestimated.

"The wolves are bait. Their goal is to gather your Yan family army together and then annihilate them in one fell swoop!" Tiele said, "What a brilliant plan."

"Right now, my Yan family army has over 20,000 men at Mao'er Mountain. Does Xiao Changche think he can swallow them up with just 3,000 cavalry? Doesn't he fear getting his teeth stuck in his throat?" Yan Sheng roared.

But no one around spoke.

Just as there are differences between people, there are naturally differences between armies.

Moreover, the gap between armies is much greater than the gap between individuals.

Could Xiao Changche's three thousand iron cavalry not defeat Yan's twenty thousand troops?

This is not necessarily the case.

"I'm afraid it's not just Xiao Changche's three thousand iron cavalry! What if that wolf is Li Dachui's subordinate? What if Li Dachui's three battalions of Heaven, Earth, and Man also appeared at Mao'er Mountain?" Yan Xu's voice trembled, and his body trembled as a sense of impending doom lingered in his heart.

"Your Highness, I must go to Mao'er Mountain to provide rescue!" Yan Sheng said, glancing at Tiele.

Yan Sheng brought a thousand cavalrymen with him on this trip, which was naturally his trump card.

“Governor Yan, forgive my bluntness, but I’m afraid it’s too late!” Tiele said, “In my opinion, Governor Yan should immediately return to Baoping City, prepare for battle and hold it, and send someone to ask Commander Linghu of Zhenwu City for help! In this way, there might still be a chance to salvage the situation.”

"If I don't go, I'm afraid that the sudden onslaught of the harsh winter at the foot of Mao'er Mountain could lead to its collapse!"

"If you go, it might be like a moth drawn to a flame," Tiele said bluntly. "As long as the green hills remain, there's always firewood to burn. Right now, I'm too far away to help you, but Linghu Ye can still save you, as long as you can defend Baoping City. Linghu Ye can't just watch Xiao Changche swallow up your Baoping Prefecture, and right now, his men might already be on their way to Baoping City. But if you don't defend Baoping City, even if they come, what can they do in the face of a fait accompli?"

Yan Sheng pondered for a moment, then shook his head resolutely: "If my army is truly defeated, I will not be able to defend Baoping Prefecture. Your Highness, at that time, I will be of no value to you, will I? I must go. I believe that my men can hold off the enemy!"

"Prefect Yan, you only have one chance to choose. If you choose wrong, you will lose everything!" Tiele still wanted to salvage the situation.

"There is only one option in front of me, there is no other!" Yan Sheng's attitude was extremely firm.

(End of this chapter)