Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

In the royal palace of Luchuan, the 27-year-old King Sihanfa of Luchuan sat solemnly on his throne, watching the dancers gracefully perform in the center of the hall.

The courtiers in the palace whispered among themselves, and many looked at the dancers with extreme greed in their eyes.

The climate in the central and southern regions is hot, with almost no winter and sweltering heat all year round.

This has resulted in the local people generally wearing very little clothing. Men mostly wear short shirts that expose their arms, while women wear even less, usually just a thin shirt and long skirt that exposes their midriffs year-round.

Sihanfa scanned the entire hall expressionlessly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

At that moment, he felt he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

That was indeed the peak.

His father, Sir Lunfa, began the expansionist campaign into the Indochina Peninsula.

After decades of conquest, he ascended the throne at the age of 13 and finally conquered all the tribes and vassal states of the Indochina Peninsula three years ago.

It can be said that the current Luchuan Dynasty is at its peak.

And Sihanfa was undoubtedly the sole overlord of the entire Luchuan Dynasty, and even the entire Indochina Peninsula region.

However, conquering the entire Indochina Peninsula did not satisfy Sihanfa, and he soon turned his attention to the behemoth in the north—the State of Chu.

Sihanfa's idea was to first seize Nanzhao, and then use Nanzhao as a base to develop and continue the northward advance, striving to reach the capital of the Chu Empire—Jinling—within ten years.

Finally, he ascended the throne in Jinling and established an unparalleled empire with a vast territory.

To achieve this dream, he defied public opinion, killed a group of ministers who opposed the Northern Expedition against the Chu Empire, expanded his army, and after three years of rigorous preparation, finally launched an offensive against the southern gateway of the Chu Empire and captured Laoshan Garrison in one fell swoop.

Upon hearing of the arrival of the Luchuan army, the soldiers and civilians of Nanzhao were like frightened birds, and could only do their best to fight.

Everything seemed to be proceeding as Sihanfa had predicted.

but……

"Defeat report~~"

Suddenly, a cry of alarm outside the palace shattered Sihanfa's reverie about the future and interrupted the licentious fantasies of the ministers present.

When Sihanfa heard the words "defeat report", his eyes instinctively sharpened.

The word was never heard again after he ascended the throne.

A messenger rushed into the hall and prostrated himself on the ground: "Your Majesty, General Mengdao has reported a defeat from the Laoshan garrison. The Chu army launched a sudden attack ten days ago..."

My army of 20,000 men from Luchuan was completely wiped out on the Laoshan Plain. General Mengdao is currently holding the Laoshan Garrison. I implore Your Majesty to send troops to our aid immediately!

The hall was deathly silent. The music stopped, and all the dancers were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.

The other ministers cautiously observed Sihanfa on the throne.

Sihanfa's face was ashen, his eyes like sharp knives, staring directly at the messenger kneeling on the ground.

After a long while, he suddenly chuckled softly.

“How could our Luchuan army possibly be defeated? This man must be spreading false rumors and spreading false battle reports. Guards, drag him out and execute him by dismemberment.”

The messenger was taken aback, then hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, it's absolutely true! Here is General Mengdao's handwritten letter!"

He took the bamboo tube containing the letters from his back, intending to hand it over.

But Sihanfa gave him no chance at all: "Take him away and execute him."

The tone left no room for doubt.

Soon, two burly guards, supporting the messenger on either side, led him out of the palace.

"My king! My king!"

The messenger cried out in despair, but Sihanfa remained unmoved.

Until the messenger's figure completely disappeared outside the palace gates.

"Guards, drag these servants away and behead them as well."

With another command, Sihanfa announced the end of these dancers' lives.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

The dancers and musicians kept begging for mercy, but Sihanfa's expression remained unchanged.

After they disappeared from the palace, everyone inside trembled with fear and dared not utter a single word.

Sihanfa coldly swept his gaze across the entire hall, then said, "Remember, forget everything you just heard as quickly as possible."

"Luchuan cannot fail, it never will. If I hear even a whisper of it, that messenger and that servant will suffer the same fate. Do you understand?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Sihanfa nodded in satisfaction.

He knew, of course, that what the messenger said was true, but he absolutely could not admit it. If he did, the already unstable situation in the Indochina Peninsula would immediately become turbulent again.

Therefore, the "decisive and ruthless" scene just now was a warning to the ministers in the hall.

After warning the ministers, Sihanfa finally spoke up: "General Mengdao is facing a strong enemy and the army is short of food supplies. Which general is willing to go to Laoshan to transport grain?"

Transporting grain is equated with providing aid; it's just a polite way of putting it, and almost everyone present understood it.

No sooner had the words been spoken than a general in his early thirties stepped forward: "This humble general is willing to go!"

"It is General Meng Maolong. I am at ease knowing that you are going in person. I will allocate 40,000 of your elite troops and another 30,000 from the border, making a total of 70,000 troops. Head to Laoshan Garrison at full speed to transport grain. Do not delay."

"Yes, the general will take your orders!"

"Report!"

The next second, another messenger arrived with the news.

Sihanfa frowned and watched quietly as the messenger rolled into the main hall.

"Your Majesty, the border is in dire need of help. Seven days ago, the Chu army suddenly launched an attack on our border, and within seven days, all thirteen fortresses and twenty-four settlements along the border have fallen."

The Chu army has now penetrated deep into our Luchuan territory. Three days ago, they sacked Mengliang City, slaughtering more than half of its 30,000 soldiers and civilians. Mengliang City was also completely burned to the ground!

This news struck like a thunderbolt, instantly shocking everyone in the hall.

Even the usually composed Sihanfa showed a hint of rage on his face at this moment.

"How dare the Chu army invade our borders? How many of them are there?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know. It could be ten thousand or it could be one hundred thousand!"

"Guards, drag him away and behead him!"

Upon hearing this, the messenger was instantly filled with despair: "Your Majesty, why is this? What wrong have I done?"

Sihanfa: "You don't even know how many men the Chu army has, shouldn't you die?"

"Your Majesty, I'm innocent! This Chu army is different from the ones we've faced before; we can't even tell their numbers!"

"What is the difference?"

"They are all cavalry!"

"cavalry?"

Upon hearing this, Sihanfa fell silent.

Luchuan is primarily an infantry-based region, and there is not a single organized cavalry corps within its borders, not even a thousand cavalrymen.

The only alternative to cavalry was the mammoth war elephant force.

However, war elephants are slow-moving and far less mobile than cavalry. Moreover, they are much more limited by terrain than cavalry, making it impossible for them to overwhelm cavalry.

After a brief moment of thought, Sihanfa immediately ordered: "Notify all counties and prefectures within Luchuan to be on high alert and not to give the Chu army any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

……

At the same time, in a small town in central Luchuan.

The Chu soldiers galloped on their horses, cutting down anyone they saw and looting anything they could find.

Several soldiers even committed atrocities against women and children in the street.

The entire town was shrouded in black smoke, and the sounds of wailing filled the air.

Everything that the Luchuan army did to the people and soldiers of Nanzhao back then has now come back to haunt them.

The cries of women and children, and the pleas of men, tore through the air like bullets.

The people and soldiers of Luchuan who lived on this land never expected that a cavalry Chu army would suddenly attack them.

Only Shen Lang and his five hundred guards stood outside the town, not participating in the celebration.

This was the fifth town that the Chu army had plundered after entering Luchuan territory, and it was also the fifth town that Shen Lang had promised the Chu army.

He watched all this expressionlessly, even witnessing a woman from Luchuan have her clothes torn to shreds by a Chu soldier right in front of him, yet he did not utter a word to stop it.

He would only severely punish the guards behind him if they did anything improper.

The atrocities committed by the thousands of Chu soldiers continued until dusk. Only after they regrouped and received the necessary provisions for their march did Shen Lang wave his hand and continue onward.

"Sir, where should we rob next?"

A cavalry guard asked excitedly.

This raid on Luchuan has been incredibly lucrative.

Shen Lang glanced at him and then said, "The food supplies are almost ready, right? Then the next target is Mengjiang, which is also the ultimate goal of our trip!"

Shen Lang's goal was set the moment he entered Luchuan territory.

If they occupy the upper reaches of the Mengjiang River, then chaos will inevitably ensue in Luchuan.

He wasn't naive enough to think he could take on the entire Luchuan Dynasty head-on with just a few thousand troops.

To strike a snake, you must strike its vital spot, and the Mengjiang River is the backbone of the entire Luchuan Dynasty!

……

Just as Shen Lang unleashed a lightning storm on Luchuan, Empress Jiang Mengxuan received an uninvited guest in the capital city of Jinling.

She was also an empress, but the legendary empress of the former Wu Kingdom, Wu Li.

Wu Li was also someone Jiang Mengxuan respected. He reigned for thirty-three years, during which the Wu Kingdom was peaceful and prosperous. Unfortunately, he was forced into exile due to a major upheaval in the palace.

After several twists and turns, Wu Li submitted an application for asylum to the State of Chu, and Jiang Mengxuan agreed without hesitation. Today is the day to welcome Wu Li to the capital.