Chapter 847 - Consolidating Qixi! (II)
Chapter 847: Consolidating Qixi! (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“General Heba truly has managed to bring over a significant portion of the Hu soldiers, but there are still quite a few of them who continue to privately harbor grudges,” Xu Keyi said in a low voice.
“Heh!”
Wang Chong gave a light chuckle as he casually placed the little red flag in his hands onto a plain near Talas, and then turned to Xu Keyi.
“It’s probably for Fumeng Lingcha’s sake.”
“Yes!”
Xu Keyi lowered his head, his voice even softer. He had made a rather thorough investigation of the Hu rebellion and he knew that all the sticking points revolved around Wang Chong. Put more accurately, they revolved around Fumeng Lingcha. After operating in Qixi for so many years, Fumeng Lingcha had a prestige as high as the noon sun, and his roots had deeply burrowed into the heart of every Hu soldier.
This was what had driven Gudu Li’s mutiny as well as the disturbances of these Hu soldiers. Heba Ye alone could not resolve this matter. Xu Keyi had truthfully wanted to bring up this matter with Wang Chong, but Wang Chong had managed to bring it up first.
“Xu Keyi, you’re treating this matter too seriously. It’s just a few minor disturbances. They don’t have the great abilities you imagine them to have. In addition, I’ve already thought of a method to deal with those Hu soldiers who still privately hold grudges against me,” Wang Chong indifferently said, a relaxed look on his face.
“Ah?”
Xu Keyi finally raised his head, unable to suppress the surprise in his eyes. This problem had vexed him for a long time, but he had still not been able to think of a solution. Killing them was bad, and not killing them did nothing. It was like a fishbone in his throat. But Wang Chong had apparently already thought of a way to handle it.
“Take this letter and send it to Beiting Protector-General An Sishun. I’m confident that he will happily take care of this problem for us.”
As Xu Keyi watched on in disbelief, Wang Chong removed a prepared letter from his bosom.
“Milord…”
Xu Keyi’s eyes turned sluggish, his expression bewildered as he struggled to understand Wang Chong’s intentions. To have Beiting Protector-General An Sishun handle this problem and take these resentful Hu soldiers off their hands seemed a bit too much like wishful thinking.
“Will Lord An Sishun really be willing?” Xu Keyi anxiously said. If he remembered correctly, Wang Chong and the Beiting Protector-General had a very poor relationship, with Wang Chong even conflicting with him in that incident in the capital. Moreover, that individual in Beiting had also been strenuously opposed to Wang Chong’s becoming Qixi Protector-General.
That Wang Chong would ask for his help was simply beyond the bounds of Xu Keyi’s imagination.
“You don’t need to worry about that. No matter what quarrels I’ve had in the past with the Beiting Protector-General, he will definitely agree to this request,” Wang Chong unconcernedly said, his voice brimming with confidence.
“Yes, Lord Marquis!”
Although he was still lost, Xu Keyi assented and left to deliver the letter.
……
Flap flap!
Several days later, a black bird of prey carrying Wang Chong’s handwritten letter had finished crossing the steppe, traveling along the border of the Great Tang and the Western Turkic Khaganate to reach the illustrious center of Tang authority in the north, the Beiting Protectorate!
On this vast and boundless earth, a black colossus loomed. This was a massive war machine, playing host to an outer wall six to seven zhang tall, populated with all sorts of lookout posts, barracks, and towers, as well as an enormous hall made of metal. The thousands upon thousands of black-armored soldiers of the Beiting Protectorate could be seen amidst these lookout posts, barracks, and towers.
These people all had erect postures, like they had taken root in the earth. They exuded powerful auras as their eyes warily scanned the surroundings, ready at any time to enter battle.
In the Great Tang Empire, there was no one more vigilant than the warriors of the Beiting Protectorate. They needed to be ready at any moment to attack the Turkic army, which could be coming from any direction.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew by as the black bird flew through the main doors and landed in the gloomy hall. In the hall, a Hu of thirty-some years dressed in full armor was seated on a raised throne, the lines on his face hard and determined. He was holding a book bound in black, all his attention focused on reading it.
This middle-aged Hu appeared unaware that this black bird had entered his hall.
Beiting was a land scorched by the fires of war and embroiled in frequent battles, with the Beiting Protectorate itself being the center of most of these wars. It should have been a grim and somber place, but the presence of this thirty-some-year-old Hu made it so that the entire headquarters was suffused with an amiable and scholarly atmosphere. It could fool one into thinking that this was some estate in Jiangnan, not a fort on the chilly steppe.
Clang!
A cold light flashed in the hall as a stalwart figure strode forward, his sword unsheathing, its gleaming tip aimed at the black bird.
“Mm?”
This fierce general of Beiting with a scar on the left side of his face noticed something on the bird’s legs, and his eyes widened, a strange expression appearing on his face. After thinking for a moment, the general allowed the bird to perch on his sword, then strode over to the middle-aged Hu engrossed in his reading, and bowed.
“Milord, there’s a letter, but your subordinate does not dare to open it.”
The scar-faced general spoke very softly, his eyes focused on the tips of his feet. Only one person would make him express such sincere respect: Beiting Protector-General An Sishun.
“Why wouldn’t you dare to open it? Is there a letter that even you, the Beiting Vice Protector-General, do not dare to open?”
An Sishun grinned, but his head remained lowered. The book in his hand seemed to be the only thing that existed in his eyes.
The scar-faced Beiting Vice Protector-General lowered his head and replied, “Milord, I truly do not dare to open it, because the seal of Qixi was placed upon it.”
An Sishun gave a careless smile as he flipped to the next page, but he quickly noticed that something was wrong, his thick brows slowly creasing. “Oh.” His gaze finally began to look up from the book.
“Qixi?”
“Yes, Qixi,” the Beiting Vice Protector-General respectfully said, knowing that his superior had already realized what was going on.
In these last few months, the Great Tang Empire had experienced a massive earthquake, with the power structure that had lasted for several decades undergoing a major transformation. A prince had been toppled, bringing with him many important officials, and a Protector-General had been imprisoned. Moreover, the Sage Emperor’s rage had made all the Protector-Generals and Great Generals quiver in fear.
In the past, when Fumeng Lingcha still reigned in Qixi, An Sishun had ordered that the Qixi Protector-General could do as he wished without needing to ask permission. But right now, all the Protector-Generals and Great Generals of the empire knew that the land of Qixi had a new owner. His ascension had been as fierce as a storm and had been accompanied by the fall of an extremely senior Imperial Great General.
The current Qixi Protector-General was undoubtedly a special character in the minds of the other Protector-Generals and Great Generals. A newly appointed official, he was having his every move watched, but no one expected that his first action upon assuming his post would be to send a letter to the Beiting Protectorate.
If he remembered correctly, he was certainly not a good friend or ally of that Protector-General.
“Hand it over!”
An Sishun finally put down his book, a suspicious look in his eyes as he reached out his right hand. He was also puzzled, as there was no conceivable reason for this letter. Upon taking the letter from the black bird’s leg and glancing through it, An Sishun immediately began to laugh, his brow unfurling.
“Interesting, very interesting! I didn’t think that our new appointee would come asking for my help on his first day…”
“Ah?”
The Beiting Vice Protector-General trembled, clearly stunned by this revelation.
“Ask for help? Is Milord joking?”
If one examined the past conduct and actions of the newly-appointed Protector-General, one would find that this was an extremely tough and determined individual. Only someone this tough and unyielding would have been capable of unseating Fumeng Lingcha, but such an individual would never seek help from others, much less someone he had previous conflicts with.
Seeking help from a mortal foe was simply unheard of.
“Hahaha, I won’t keep you in suspense. Take a look for yourself.”
An Sishun fired Wang Chong’s letter on a puff of wind into the hands of the scar-faced general. A mere glance at the contents was enough to leave the Vice Protector-General stupefied.
“I didn’t think that he would so quickly pacify the Qixi Protectorate. He killed someone like Gudu Li without even thinking, and now he’s asking for our help in taking in nearly ten thousand Hu soldiers of the Qixi Protectorate!”
“It’s supposedly a request, but that’s simply too much. This person has never even thought about asking for help,” An Sishun indifferently said, flicking his fingernails as he slowly stood up from the throne. “He’s just proposing a deal to us, and he’s apparently certain that I will agree.”
An Sishun smirked. This letter was truly very interesting, perhaps the most interesting letter he had received this year. It was a letter seeking help, but the writer adopted none of the appropriate attitude. What letter could be more interesting than that?
The Vice Protector-General squinted and said in a huff, “This brat is a little too conceited. Just what makes him think we’ll agree? And besides, he’s been acting far too brashly lately. Milord, why don’t I just reject him? Let him hit a snag and learn a little lesson.”
That Young Marquis of the Qixi Protectorate was certainly not a welcomed guest in Beiting. It was best to just flatly reject such a rude request for help!
“Reject?”
A thoughtful look appeared in An Sishun’s eyes, but he smiled and shook his head.
“Why should we reject it?”
“Milord, you want to agree to this?!”
The scar-faced general froze, his face locked in disbelief. This answer was definitely not the one he had predicted. At this moment, even Ishbara Khagan of the Western Turks appearing in front of his face would have been less surprising.
“This brat is our enemy!”
It had to be said that the Protector-General’s answer had dealt his heart a thunderous blow. He had never imagined that his Protector-General, who had always been an enemy of that youngest son of the Wang Clan, would actually reverse course and agree to help out.