CH 60.2

Chapter 60.2 – Ah Ning Is Still Sweet as Always

After the Third Prince left, things became quieter inside and outside the court. Nothing major happened, and time passed by regularly.

It was one month later when the court received news from the Third Prince again. Report of a massive attack from the Rong State came as expected, but the detail was something that was beyond the Emperor and the Crown Prince’s expectation.

It seemed that because of Xie Hongyi’s death, but the Rong Emperor and the new prime minister were equally outraged. On top of the soldiers from the various tribes, the Rong Emperor’s army also participated in the war.

Most of the Rong State people were strong, and good at riding and archery. They had always been a force that couldn’t be underestimated. The past few hundred years, the reason they coexisted peacefully with the Central Plains was because the forces in the North were complicated. There were many tribes that often fought each other, limiting the pressure from the North.

However, things were different now. The barbarians had been united. No matter how big the conflicts between tribes were, they had people to mediate. Plus, now there was the big fat target that was the Liang State. With all the tribes united against a common external enemy, the pressure at the northern border was easy to imagine.

The Emperor had already prepared for war, and Great General Ji guarding the northern border had heeded the warning sent by the royal court. Unfortunately, when war started, the scale still exceeded everyone’s imagination.

Rong State sent an army of 500,000. Although the northern border army were prepared, three cities were still captured within half a month. After entering the city, the Rong army burned, killed and looted. It could only be described as brutal!

When the news was sent to the capital, the whole court was shocked. No one expected that the newly established Rong State had such confidence and military strength.

Inside Xuanshi Hall, the Emperor angrily threw a war report to the ground. “What are these barbarians trying to do? Five hundred thousand troops? Even if we add up all the barbarians, I don’t know if there’s as much as a million of them. They dared to send five hundred thousand troops to the border?” The Emperor took two steps angrily and said, “Do these people even still want their newly established Rong State?”

As the person reigning over the world, the Emperor really couldn’t understand the thought process of the Rong Emperor and his officials. After all, the North was not as rich as the Central Plains. The environment was harsh, war occurred frequently, and the population was always limited. Which of the tribe leaders in the past didn’t cherish their people?

But now, the people of Rong State all came out to attack Liang as if they couldn’t wait to die.

People and land were the foundations of a country. If 500,000 troops were somehow lost, Rong State’s future could be easily imagined. Did the Emperor of Rong go crazy just because one Xie Hongyi died? Even if he indeed went crazy, weren’t there any officials who stopped him?

No matter how he thought about it, there was something weird with this incident, and it’s very confusing.

The Crown Prince silently picked up the war report that the Emperor threw down. Ignoring the words of the Third Prince panicking in the war report wanting to come back, the situation in the northern border really was not good.

The situation was so severe that the Crown Prince didn’t have the time to gloat at the Third Prince’s predicament. He finished reading the war report and frowned, immediately saying, “Royal Father, Great General Ji only has less than 200,000 troops. I’m afraid it would be difficult to fight the 500,000 army of Rong. This Child requests that you send more troops.”

The Ji family had guarded the northern border for decades, and almost single-handedly controlled the northern border. Although he didn’t openly show disobedience, how could the Emperor be comfortable sending him more troops? Even before the war started, the Emperor had vaguely hoped that the Rong State could dampen the Ji family’s spirit and eliminate their influence in the army.

That was why he had sent them the warning, and also prepared money and supplies, but didn’t send them more troops.

But right now, the situation in the northern border was critical, so how could they care about those things anymore?

The Emperor was so angry he had to raise his hand and slap his forehead to calm himself down. Then he sat down and personally wrote a decree, dispatching the troops guarding state capitals near the northern border to join the war as reinforcements.

But water still far away cannot extinguish a nearby fire. How many days would it take from when this decree was issued until the reinforcements could arrive at the northern border? In the meantime, would Great General Ji be able to defend the northern border? How many cities would be captured by Rong?

The Emperor was so angry his vision turned dark. He couldn’t help but say to the Crown Prince, “What do you think the Rong Emperor is thinking?” Even if he made this kind of decision, he was still a Founding Emperor. He couldn’t just be exhausting his troops arbitrarily, right?

The Crown Prince didn’t know what to think of it. After mulling for a long time, he said, “It might not be the Rong Emperor’s wish, but Xie Yuan’s anger.”

The Emperor fell into thought when he heard it, and felt that there was some truth in what the Crown Prince said. The father and son duo immediately discussed it.

The Crown Prince casually returned the war report to the table. If the Third Prince was feeling miserable and wanted to return to the capital, he could only accept that he was going to be ignored.

Author notes:

Qi Yang (beating heart): Ah Pei is so soft and easy to bully. I really want to tie her up and bring her back to the palace, and do this and that…

Lu Qipei (heartbroken): Ah Ning is very sweet. It makes me feel sad that the wedding date is still so far away…