Way of Choices

Chapter 1163 – The Troubles Encountered When Entering the City

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The tens of thousands of human soldiers began to advance toward Xuelao City. They walked silently, without much noise. Other than calm and composure, there was no emotion amongst their ranks.

They looked less like an army on the victory march and more like wanderers returning. It truly was a rather bizarre sight.

The great honor of being the first to enter Xuelao City was granted to Guan Feibai.

The Mount Li Sword Sect had played an extremely important role in this war, achieving all sorts of merits on the battlefield. At the same time, they had also suffered many casualties amongst their disciples.

Of course, this action was also very dangerous. Their might be an ambush waiting just behind the city gate, or wolf cavalry who had gone mad from bloodlust.

Wielding his sword, Guan Feibai walked past the city gate.

The city gate burned by the painting of the blazing Sangharama Temple now consisted of just the frame, which was even more tattered after the constant barrage of catapults and ballistae over the last few days.

Guan Feibai walked in.

Everything was done casually.

There was no sneak attack, no ambush, no battle.

He stood inside the empty city gate, his head tilted in surprise.

And then he turned around and waved at the plains to his rear.

The cheers soared straight into the sky.

Hooves thundered as the cavalry galloped into the city.

Flying carriages, under the protection of Red Falcons, slowly flew onto the city walls.

As they entered the city, many people, including Chen Changsheng, couldn’t help but turn to the south.

How was the capital doing right now?

……

“I’ve never met such a thick-skinned and shameless person!”

The Prince of Luling gazed at the distant square-faced and dignified man, and resentfully said, “He even wants to rebel against his own nephew. Just what’s going on in his head?”

The Prince of Cheng County followed his gaze and realized that he was looking at Tianhai Chenwu. Bitterly smiling, he replied, “That old fox is sharper than anyone. He would never choose the wrong side.”

When the Prince of Xiang raised the flag of rebellion, no one expected the Tianhai clan, cautious and low-key throughout the last ten-some years, to be the first to answer the call.

Just like the Prince of Luling, many people could not understand this. After all, the blood of the Tianhai clan flowed through the emperor’s body.

The Prince of Cheng County looked at the Prince of Luling’s expression and realized that he still did not understand. He patiently explained, “Last year, His Majesty visited the Hundred Herb Garden three times.”

The Prince of Luling blankly stared for a moment and then asked, “So what?”

The Prince of Cheng County whispered, “There’s always been a rumor that His Holiness buried the Divine Empress’s body in the Hundred Herb Garden.”

The Prince of Luling finally understood and took in a deep breath. “Is His Majesty really planning to reverse the verdict?”

The Prince of Cheng County shook his head. “His Majesty and the venerable Daoist have always had a deep relationship, so it won’t go that far. But in the end, he and the Empress are still son and mother. No one can say anything if he goes to the Hundred Herb Garden to pay respects, but there is a concern that as his affection for the Empress deepens, that matter will become a problem.”

The Tianhai Divine Empress had been deceased for ten-some years now, and Yuren had few memories regarding her, so there logically shouldn’t have been much affection. But affection had always been that strangest of things. Just a few words from a passerby and a few sights might cause it to start flooding back.

It was very natural for the Emperor to feel some affection for the Tianhai Divine Empress. No one would worry, except for the Tianhai clan.

At the time, the entire world was rebelling against Tianhai. The emperor could put aside his hatred for Shang Xingzhou, put aside his hatred for the princes of the Chen clan and the ministers of the court, but he would still hate the Tianhai clan and Xu Shiji.

The old fox that was Tianhai Chenwu could naturally see that the more the Emperor’s affection for the Tianhai Divine Empress deepened, the more he would hate the Tianhai clan, because they were traitors.

If one said that Xu Shiji could survive in the court through his relationship with Xu Yourong, where would the Tianhai clan go to seek shelter?

The Luo River in the early autumn was lined with green trees. The weather was clear and refreshing.

The army from the north and the experts raised by the Chen princes and the Tianhai clan stood on the dikes of the river in two tight rows.

If there were several thousand crossbows being fired at once here, this rebellion would come to a comical and bloody end.

But let alone the capital, even all the provinces and counties added together would not be able to gather so many crossbowmen.

It was precisely for this reason that the rebellious army would so sloppily arrange itself and that those princes and rebelling generals were still in the mind to chat.

The rebel army did not surround the city, as the capital had no walls to besiege.

In these last few days of silent waiting, the vast majority of the common people had fled. The capital was presumably deserted with not a soul to be spied on the streets.

This didn’t look at all like rebellion, but more like a spring outing. The rebel army seemed to be very relaxed, but certain details revealed that they were actually very nervous.

The inappropriate chatter was exactly proof of the tension.

If the Prince of Xiang did not win his bet, they would end dying without a place of burial.

At this moment, a Red Goose flew out of the sky.

The news from the front line had been sent to the capital.

The human armies had finally broken into Xuelao City.

Cheers broke out on the shores of the Luo River.

The princes and the rebellious soldiers all showed sincere smiles, though they quickly became awkward ones.

It now appeared that they did not need to worry about becoming the sinners of history or taking on an eternal infamy, but why did they feel like their faces had become even uglier?

“Your Highness, do you really not care about being scorned for the rest of time?”

In the carriage at the very front of the army, Cao Yunping rubbed his round face and gave the Prince of Xiang a beaming smile.

After stealthily returning from the front lines, the Prince of Xiang remained in Snowhold Pass for a time. He had clearly recovered from his heavy injuries, but he had clearly gotten much thinner.

“What about you?”

The Prince of Xiang indifferently glanced at Cao Yunping and said, “If the Elder of Heavenly Secrets were still alive, he would probably rip you apart.”

Cao Yunping laughed and said, “I certainly don’t care about eternal infamy, because I’m an imbecile.”

The Prince of Xiang smiled and returned, “Good reason. Then count me as a madman.”

After a while, his smile faded, and he gazed at the Imperial Palace looming in the distance and sighed. “In truth, it’s just that I’m unwilling.”

He had always believed that he was the best of Emperor Xian’s sons, the most outstanding, the most filial to the Divine Empress.

In every aspect, he was a suitable emperor, and he had an even more outstanding son.

If he did not seize the chance now, when the demons were exterminated and the humans united the continent, Yuren would gain unprecedented prestige while he would lose all his hope.

It was just that simple.

Cao Yunping sighed, “I don’t know if we’ll be able to win this gamble.”

The Prince of Xiang caressed the fat around his belt and said, “His Majesty wants to reverse the verdict on Imperial Mother. How can the venerable Daoist tolerate this?”

Cao Yunping shook his head. “In the end, that’s something that hasn’t happened. How can that be hidden from his esteemed self?”

The Prince of Xiang added, “Even if that is the case, the venerable Daoist is still not guaranteed to support His Majesty. In truth, many people have not thought about the fact that his attitude toward His Majesty is more like a projection of Emperor Taizong. To put it another way, what he likes about His Majesty is the side of His Majesty that is like the side of Emperor Taizong that loved the people of the world, the wise sovereign. So why wouldn’t he like me?”

Cao Yunping pointed at the Prince of Xiang’s round belly and asked, “Does your body have any of Emperor Taizong’s good points?”

The Prince of Xiang sternly said, “Of course. Is a daring and risk-taking villain like me, willing to go to extreme and shameless ends, not exactly like Emperor Taizong’s other side?”

Cao Yunping held his belly and laughed, but it wasn’t long before the laughter stopped.

He looked at the Prince of Xiang and said with all seriousness, “I suddenly feel like your words are very reasonable.”

……

The rebel army met no resistance as they entered the capital. There truly were no pedestrians on the deserted streets, only the occasional stray cat warily poking its head out of a pile of trash.

The capital had an extremely small garrison. The Imperial Guards and the Orthodoxy cavalry, around three thousand in total, had already retreated into the Imperial Palace and the Li Palace. The soldiers and generals taking part in this rebellion were naturally extremely loyal to the Prince of Xiang, so there were not too many of them. They only had thirteen thousand cavalry, and when fighting the Imperial Guard and the Orthodoxy cavalry, who had the geographic advantage, they would not have too much of an edge, and they certainly would not be able to control the entire capital.

The rebel army’s true winning stratagem was that they had two Divine Domain experts on their side: the Prince of Xiang and Cao Yunping.

The majestic Imperial City was right in front of them, and the ginkgo trees beginning to shed their leaves early were extremely striking on the flat ground of New North Bridge.

The Prince of Xiang and Cao Yunping stood on the ground covered in yellow leaves, gazing at the Imperial Palace, caring not about the mighty divine crossbows stationed on the walls.

Sensing a powerful Qi within the Imperial Palace, Cao Yunping slightly frowned. “This is the Imperial Design.”

The Prince of Xiang’s brow also creased as he said, “The Lingyan Pavilion has already been destroyed and I’m sure the White Sun Flame was sent to Xuelao City. This is probably only a part of the Imperial Design.”

Cao Yunping squinted his eyes, making his face look like a giant steamed bun with two cracks. “That’s a little troublesome.”

At this very moment, the rebel army reported on another piece of very troublesome news.

The Prince of Xiang’s face turned rather nasty, but Cao Yunping began to laugh.