Chapter 418
Chapter 418
After Yang Yingnian and Zheng Ta had left, Zhang Chong asked with a laugh.
“Isn't it amusing?”
Shen Lang replied.
“I'm beyond impressed. Someone always seems to be redefining the concept of shamelessness for me. It seems one cannot survive in official circles without being shameless.”
“Those two harbor malicious intent as well.”
“They intend to annihilate Su Nan and then use military force to threaten the King in place of the Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate!”
Zhang Chong nodded. Neither Yang Yingnian nor Zheng Ta intended to sit idly by and die. Since the King already bore a grudge against them, simply annihilating Su Nan wasn't enough to find a path to survival. There was only one way to make the King bow to them: to possess military power and a territorial base. Even as Su Nan's rebellion was on the verge of being crushed and peace was about to be restored to the western State of Yue, Zheng Ta and Yang Yingnian wished for the chaos to continue in order to save their own lives.
‘After we annihilate Su Nan, if we take possession of Marquis Zhenyuan's impregnable fortress and hint at establishing our own domain, won't the states of Wu and Chu think that the western part of Yue has yet to be pacified? Then we can continue to hold our ground here, biting at the enemy.’
In that way, Zheng Ta and Yang Yingnian could pledge their allegiance to whoever offered them better terms. Thus, one should never underestimate the avarice of a warlord. Faced with a crisis, Zheng Ta constantly sought a path to survival, and he now harbored the ambition to reverse the current situation and rise up in place of the Su Clan. However, looking at Zheng Ta brought to mind the saying that heaven first drives mad those it wishes to destroy.
Zhang Chong said.
“It's a good thing you drew a line with them, Young Master Shen. Otherwise, our small army would have been wiped out by them.”
“Those two madmen will surely race against time to attack Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate. We can enjoy the show and then go pick them off. I'm just worried it'll be hard to crack the shells of those turtles from the Marquis's Estate, hiding their heads as they are!”
“Even if their army is four or five times larger than Su Nan's, they will undoubtedly suffer heavy losses!”
* * *
Shen Lang and Zhang Chong's predictions were correct. Yang Yingnian and Zheng Ta, sensing a fatal crisis, sought a way to survive their predicament. The news that Shen Lang had won a great victory and annihilated Su Nan's main army had not yet spread, so there was still time to recover. They raced against time, trying to annihilate Su Nan and occupy Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate as quickly as possible. By doing so, they could find a path to survival and even have a chance to become warlords themselves.
If the news of Su Nan's main army's crushing defeat by Shen Lang were to spread, both the states of Chu and Wu would withdraw their troops, and they would face a conclusion too dreadful to imagine. Like a bolt from the blue, the King would unleash his furious wrath upon them, and they could truly face the extermination of their entire clans. To find a way out even when cornered—what a man of spirit was General Zheng Ta, Pacifier of the West!
Soon, they left White Night Commandery City, and Zheng Ta took every last one of the twenty thousand troops he had brought from White Night Pass. Yang Yingnian took his "five thousand" (though in reality, it was fewer than five thousand) troops with him. The two men's combined army of twenty-five thousand charged south at full speed, rushing madly toward Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate. They were now in a race against time.
* * *
Let us turn back time by one day. Su Nan was defending Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate. He was the first to receive the report after ten thousand cavalry from the State of Qiang entered Tianxi Province. The news was that King A'luotai of Qiang was still besieging the Great Calamity Palace to eliminate Shen Lang and A'luonana, and that Grand General Suo Botai was leading ten thousand troops to enter Tianxi Province first and join forces with the Su Clan. Upon hearing this news, Su Nan was overjoyed.
‘King A'luotai must have finally lost his patience, has he? He must have rushed here to seize a foothold, unable to bear the thought of the Su Clan occupying the southern part of Tianxi Province alone.’
So, Su Nan did not block the entry of the Qiang soldiers; instead, he sent men to deliver supplies and provisions to Suo Botai's army. But for some reason, Su Nan felt something was amiss afterward. He felt extremely uneasy but couldn't pinpoint the reason. Even though a personal letter from his son, Su Jianting, had arrived with the news, the feeling of unease persisted.
‘King A'luotai was obsessed with his military power and had always insisted on not dividing his forces, so why send a detachment now? Most importantly, for such a major event, why hasn't a single person from the Su Clan come to report it?’
Two days later.
Su Nan received a routine report from the border garrison. The news was that there seemed to have been an earthquake near the Great Snow Mountains. They had only felt the tremors and had not seen an avalanche. At that moment, the hair on Su Nan's neck stood on end, and he sensed that something was terribly wrong. He immediately ordered his men to intercept the Qiang cavalry led by Suo Botai. Not only that, he sent Su Yong with two thousand cavalry to pursue Suo Botai's troops. Su Nan couldn't be certain that a disaster had occurred in the State of Qiang, but he felt an instinctual sense of dread. And so he endured a long wait where each day felt like a year, praying incessantly in his heart.
‘No, it can't be! That must not happen! Heavenly spirits, protect our Su Clan! Please don't let the most dreadful scenario come to pass! Heavenly spirits, please protect us!’
Su Nan couldn't sleep the entire night, waiting for news with unparalleled anxiety. He was consumed by fear, yet he also hoped he was just frightening himself for no reason. However, contrary to his hopes, around midnight, Su Yong came galloping madly toward Marquis Zhenyuan's Estate with a dozen cavalrymen. Under the torchlight, Su Nan could see Su Yong's panicked face even from a distance. In an instant, Su Nan's scalp tingled, and his entire body turned ice-cold.
‘What has happened? It must not be bad news. If it is, it means the extermination of our Su Clan.’
At that moment, even the immensely proud Su Nan pleaded with the gods in his heart.
‘Heavenly spirits, protect the Su Clan. It absolutely must not be bad news!’
The panicked Su Yong leaped from his horse and fell straight to the ground.
“My lord, it's a disaster! A disaster! A cataclysm has occurred in the State of Qiang, and A'luonana has become its queen! The ten thousand cavalry that entered Tianxi Province are enemy troops brought by Shen Lang! Grand Marshal Su Jian's army was attacking the main city of White Night Commandery with all its might and was about to take it, but Shen Lang's ten thousand cavalry launched a surprise attack from the rear, and our forces were caught completely off guard! The main force of our Su Clan's allied army has been all but annihilated! Grand Marshal Su Jian has taken his own life! We have lost the battle for White Night Commandery!”
Su Yong's voice was nearly hoarse by the end of his report, and after finishing, he prostrated himself on the ground and wailed loudly. In that instant, it was as if a fierce bolt of lightning had struck Su Nan's head, and he was utterly stupefied by the blow. All warmth drained from his body, and his vision went black. The true energy in his chest and abdomen ran wild, tangling and colliding madly before he could suppress it, followed by a sharp pain as a mouthful of blood spurted from his lips. Su Nan's vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.
Only after an hour had passed did Su Nan quietly awaken. Everyone was kneeling before his bed, their faces filled with fear. In the hearts of everyone in the Su Clan, Su Nan was like a god, a man who never knew defeat. He had always held the upper hand in his many power struggles with the King. Especially recently, when the King of Qiang suddenly died, it was a major crisis for the Su Clan, but even then, Su Nan had turned the crisis into an opportunity. With just a few hundred men, he had turned the capital upside down and made a grand exit. What a magnificent man he was!
Su Nan had torn off the mask of a great power that the State of Yue wore, causing the states of Wu and Chu to tear into Yue like mad dogs. The situation where Yue faced crises from all sides, besieged by multiple nations, was created by Su Nan alone. Su Nan was the very soul of the Su Clan. So now, for such a man to spit blood and collapse—how could the people of the Su Clan not be terrified upon seeing it? Su Nan forcefully threw back the covers and rose from his bed.
“I am not yet dead. What are you all crying for?”
At his rebuke, everyone finally fell silent. It was as if their invincible patriarch had returned. They all looked at Su Nan with reverence, seeking hope from him.
‘The patriarch has led the Su Clan through many crises before; he can do it again this time.’
Su Nan said.
“All of you, leave. The Su Clan has not yet fallen, so go and do what you must. A few of you, follow me to the study.”
Everyone withdrew from the room. Su Nan entered the study, followed by a few members of the Su Clan's direct bloodline.
* * *
Inside the study, Su Nan stared blankly at a mirror. It was a mirror the Su Clan had spent a great sum to purchase at an auction held by the Celestial Path Society. A mirror that reflected every minute detail with perfect clarity.
“So even I have wrinkles now...”
Su Nan sighed. He had always taken good care of his body, so even at sixty, he looked like a middle-aged man of forty at most. Back in the capital, though sixty, he often disguised himself to look eighty. But looking now, he had truly aged. The hardships of rebellion must have taken their toll. He had been consumed by anxiety every day, and in just one or two months, he looked ten years older. As a result, all his grand plans and the hegemony he was to achieve had been swept away like a river. The Su Clan's main army was annihilated, and the State of Qiang had changed its stance.
“What of the situation with the State of Qiang?”
Su Yong answered Su Nan's question.
“There is still no news. However, someone reported seeing Su Xiao captured.”
Su Nan sighed and said.
“A'luotai was likely killed by that bastard Shen Lang. And what of the earthquake near the Great Snow Mountains?”
“It was an avalanche! Our warriors went to investigate and said that one side of the snow mountain avalanched, and it's likely that almost all of King A'luotai's tens of thousands of troops were buried in it.”
Su Nan gasped in astonishment.
‘That Shen Lang is vicious! An avalanche isn't something one can trigger so easily. How did he do it? To use the power of heaven and earth to annihilate an army... This man is truly fearsome! A'luonana has become the Queen, and even a great general like Suo Botai has surrendered to her. The State of Qiang is a lost cause, and our Su Clan's main army is gone.’
Su Nan asked.
“How many troops do we have left?”
Su Zan replied.
“Approximately five thousand.”
Only five thousand left. At the height of the Su Clan's power, including the mercenaries from the Western Regions and reinforcements from the Great Calamity Temple, they had over forty thousand men. But now, only five thousand remained. It was laughable to say, but the peak of the Su Clan's prosperity was just half a month ago. To fall from heaven to hell so quickly. All the grand plans and the hegemony he had sought to achieve had vanished. At that thought, another wrenching pain seized his chest and abdomen, and he felt as if he would spit blood again. Su Nan quickly suppressed it and took a long breath.