Chapter 310: Ye Jiu
310 Ye Jiu
Capital of Pan Kingdom
Hearing the news from the eunuch, the emperor frowned deeply internally, yet showed none of his feeling outside. How come he didn't realize that Ye Lei was not a match against that Soujin? The lost this time was really severe and the fact that Ye Jiu hadn't arrived at the capital made him felt grim.
The emperor still stayed calm throughout the report, but not a single official dared to raise their head. They kept their head low and prayed in their heart that the emperor wouldn't notice them. The emperor wouldn't go around pointing his finger, but in an instant, they might lose their head without knowing the reason.
The eyes filled with rage on the emperor calm face betrayed his real feeling. The officials knew that the emperor was angry because his plan failed miserably and the advance of Soujin was too fast to contend. They hoped from the bottom of their heart that the emperor would not blame them.
"Tell me, when Ye Jiu will arrive at the frontline?" the emperor asked.
"Answering the emperor, Prince Ye Jiu is estimated to arrive at the frontline in around another three weeks," one of the eunuchs said with weak voice.
"Three weeks?" the Emperor asked in unpleasant tone.
The eunuch felt that his knees have gone weak, and it took him everything just to keep standing here. He prayed that the emperor would ease his rage soon.
"Did Xuan Pei get captured?" he asked again.
"He did, Your Majesty," a different eunuch answered him because the previous one already got scared out of his wits even without the emperor do anything.
The Emperor's eyes glinted, but he didn't comment anything further, "Where is Ye Tian?"
Ye Tian was his only son, the famous useless crown prince of Pan Kingdom. Many people said that the father was extremely powerful, but the son was incredibly useless to the point that many people doubted that the two of them came from the same lineage.
"He's with the Crown Princess, Your Highness."
The emperor frowned, causing the temperature in the court fell a dozen degrees. The officials held their breath while the eunuch looked down and tried to hide as much as possible. If they could, they would surely bury themselves on the ground.
The only topic that could make the emperor change his expression was when it was regarding his son. No matter how the situation was dire or happy, the emperor rarely changed his expression and would keep his calm demeanor, making the people felt suffocate.
However, when it came to Ye Tian, even the emperor would feel troubled. When their father gave the throne to him, he didn't give him complete control and allowed his brothers to have some limited power. In the end, it was their descendant who has better ability compared to his son.
Many people claimed him as a wise emperor, but he was still biased towards his own son. Because of that, he tried his best to educate his son and make him a better person. Nevertheless, even until now, his effort was wasted.
The emperor only frowned for a moment before regaining his calm, "Tell him to finish his task by today."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As the Emperor tapped the chair lightly, he scanned the surrounding. Pan Kingdom was the biggest and strongest kingdom out of the five big kingdoms, there was no way he would let the kingdom fall just like that. The fight was not over yet.
…
Battlefield
Soujin led the soldiers to march even faster and swifter. Without Ye Lei blocking the way, most of the capable generals in Pan Kingdom couldn't match Soujin, and they lost one by one. Jun Hua helped with the strategy most of the time while Yan and Ming Hui watched on the sideline.
"The areas of Pan Kingdom are really big, it's almost thrice the Ming Kingdom," Yan admired the scenery with slight smile.
Ming Hui cleaned up his tools. Ever since Soujin kicked up the pace, the number of soldiers who got hurt increased by dozens. The usual doctors on the battlefield are not enough, so he had to help out whenever he's needed.
"Pan Kingdom is the biggest kingdom in this land," Ming Hui said, "That is limited to this area as we don't know what lies beyond the sea and mountains."
The east border of the Kai Kingdom was mountains. The mountain range was really big and far, which made it really hard to explore. Not even the Kai Kingdom people have ever explored them, so the areas beyond that place were still mysterious.
The Mountain Kingdom was the only kingdom that continued to explore the mountains. Even though so, they didn't venture too deeply as many tribes were living in the mountains and they needed to face them off if they wanted to go deeper.
The southwest border of Yuan Kingdom was a river. That river was really wide and violent. It was only for a couple of weeks each year that the current became calmer, making it possible for them to pass. Nevertheless, the journey on the water was still highly dangerous, so they didn't know much about the situation in the Yuan Kingdom.
The Pan Kingdom also has the border with the river on their southwest to the west. However, on the northwest was a mysterious tribe while on the north was the sea. From what they heard, the sea was an endless ocean without any limits.
"You can explore it if you want," Yan said with a grin.
Ming Hui shook his head, "Do you take me as an adventurer? I would prefer staying in the capital with Lanying."
"You're not 18 yet."
"I'm already 19!" Ming Hui berated Yan with fury. He gave Yan a sidelong glance before returning his gaze to the battlefield. Soujin has just finished this battle with a complete victory on their side.
Yan counted the time as he finally realized that they have been on the battlefield for nearly two years now, though there were some intervals between each battle.
Soujin and Jun Hua finished their talk and gathered with Yan and Ming Hui.
"That was an easy victory for you, Soujin," Yan grinned.
"That's only because Ye Jiu hadn't arrived yet," Soujin answered, "The tide may change in the next few days."
"You have to be careful," Ming Hui nodded.
"I have prepared several plans for when I meet with him," Soujin said. Although he had prepared them from a long time ago, he was still unconfident about his decision in this battle. After all, Ye Jiu was famous for reading the opponent's move and countered them easily.
Jun Hua moved her hand and hold Soujin hand, making the other party surprised.
"Don't worry, you're not alone," she said with a smiling face.
Soujin patted the other party head, "Yeah, I know. Thank you."
Yan turned his face away while Ming Hui smiled slightly. The real battle would start once Ye Jiu stepped into the battlefield.