Chapter 253: Chapter 172: Two Renowned Generals

"I’ve found out what happened. The entire Northern Border has completely fallen. King Bei You has led his army in rebellion. He’s rounded up Garrison Soldiers and commoners from all over, and adding his own elite troops, I hear he’s amassed an army of over a million men and is marching toward the Imperial City.

Anyone who refuses to surrender is executed. The various provinces of the Northern Lands are in chaos.

The Prince of Qin from Great Qin has taken Youzhou and Jizhou without shedding a drop of blood, and it’s said he will continue to press his advantage."

As the clan disciple finished speaking.

Zhang Hong’s expression turned extremely ugly. He truly hadn’t expected things to escalate to this point, much less that Lu Yuan possessed such strength.

After glancing at his younger brother Zhang He and his nephew Zhang Zhe, he continued, "What else?"

"The Zhou and Helian Families are on good terms with Lu Yuan. I heard they were the ones who opened the city gates. There are no fortresses left in the Northern Lands now," the disciple said cautiously, noticing the Patriarch’s grim expression.

Zhang Hong said in a deep voice, "Continue investigating. Find out what’s become of the Zhou and Helian Families. I heard back then that they were mixed up with Lu Yuan, ruining quite a few of my plans. As expected, they’ve thrown their lot in with him again."

"As you command!" The disciple acknowledged and withdrew.

When only the three of them remained in the living room, Zhang Zhe couldn’t help but ask, "Is the Crown Prince really finished?"

"He’s finished. In the face of such a massive shift in power, what’s a mere Crown Prince? Great Qin’s national strength grows by the day, and with their invasion of Dayong, the entire world order is about to change. Except for those few at the very pinnacle who can stir up the world, everyone else has to curry favor and watch their every step.

A Crown Prince might seem high and mighty on a normal day, but in the face of a war between nations like this, he’s not just at risk of being overthrown—he could be killed just like that.

’I completely misjudged him. I never, ever imagined that Yuan could come this far,’ Zhang Hong said, his expression complex.

Zhang He glanced at his son and sighed without speaking. Only Zhang Zhe seemed unconvinced, but he didn’t dare say more. After a moment, his face flushed as he finally blurted out, "Yes, I’m not as good as Zhang Yuan, but it’s too late to say anything now.

Besides, our Yunzhou is in the south, thousands of miles from the Northern Border. No matter how powerful the Prince of Qin is, it’s no use here.

And Prince Polu’s Mansion is still around.

He’s a relative of the imperial family, and the rebellion in the Northern Border doesn’t have much to do with him.

Once this storm blows over, he’ll definitely be fine.

The Brocade Robe Envoys have investigated our family so many times now, and hasn’t it all come to nothing?"

After Zhang Zhe finished speaking.

Neither Zhang Hong nor Zhang He spoke again.

The die had been cast; it was too late to say such things.

Besides, what Zhang Zhe said made some sense. No matter how strong Lu Yuan was, his reach didn’t extend to Yunzhou.

This place was near the Southern Border, and the Northern Border was simply too far away.

「Meanwhile」

In the imperial court of the Dayong Dynasty, things were in complete chaos. The Yong Emperor sat on his throne, an unprecedented fury raging in his heart.

Such a vast territory in the Northern Border had been seized in a matter of days.

The generals of the Border Army were falling over themselves to surrender.

And King Bei You had outright rebelled.

This was completely different from what he had predicted.

"What is the situation with King Bei You?" Although he was anxious, the Yong Emperor did his best to control his emotions.

’After all, what’s done is done.’

’The main culprits haven’t even returned to court yet. Venting my anger on these ministers below me would be pointless.’

"Your Majesty, after Grand Commandant Chang Dao was reinstated three days ago, he led elite troops from various regions yesterday to intercept King Bei You. They should engage him in Luzhou, and there should be no problem holding back King Bei You’s advance."

The Yong Emperor nodded. He wasn’t too worried about King Bei You; with his strength, he couldn’t overturn the heavens. The most important thing now was Great Qin.

If they didn’t drive Great Qin out of Dayong’s territory soon, the lands of the Northern Border would likely be lost for good.

This was something he could not accept. Not to mention, this was territory left behind by his ancestors.

More importantly, it was Dayong’s northern shield. If it all fell into Great Qin’s hands, then the enemy could attack Dayong at any time.

As an extremely ambitious ruler, the Yong Emperor would naturally not allow such a thing to happen.

Therefore, once he knew the situation with King Bei You was under control, he asked in a deep voice, "And Prince Ze? Where has his army reached?"

"They have reached the borders of Songzhou. We expect them to be in a standoff with the Great Qin army by tomorrow. However, Unparalleled Marquis, Xiao Heng, and the Seventh Prince, who broke out of Yellow Sand Pass, are estimated to reach Songzhou in three days at the earliest," Lv Ze reported softly.

"Then combine the armies before attacking," the Yong Emperor said gravely. "The Northern Border is already lost; a few more days don’t matter. With two Renowned Generals executing a pincer attack, even if they have a two-million-strong army, We do not believe Lu Yuan alone can withstand it."

Two Renowned Generals attacking in concert was a rare event in the history of the entire world.

And this time, they were to encircle Lu Yuan. He refused to believe that this Prince of Qin could hold them off.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Lv Ze said immediately.

"Enough. Since the arrangements are clear, dismiss the court. All of the court’s resources are to be prioritized for supplying the Imperial Guard on the battlefield."

"As you command!" the ministers replied in unison before withdrawing.

The Yong Emperor’s body then rippled like water and vanished from the spot.

「In a ravine in Youzhou」

Unparalleled Marquis, Xiao Heng, and the others were hiding, waiting for nightfall to continue their journey.

Ever since breaking out, they had been hiding by day and traveling by night.

They didn’t dare to relax for a moment.

’I can’t let myself be captured by Great Qin again.’

’I would rather die.’

After resting for a moment, he glanced around. Fewer than three thousand of the Imperial Guard had survived. Some had died during the breakout, and they had been ambushed several times by the forces of the Beiyou Royal Mansion within Youzhou’s borders.

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