20demayo Chapter 463
Chapter 463
"This is too much, absolutely too much!"
Goguryeo had played such a grand scheme, even dragging the Jin Kingdom into it, pretending to sever ties with Great Yan, but their true intention was actually to help Great Yan annihilate Fusang!
That scoundrel!
He had utterly ruined Fusang.
Meng Qingyu's army of five thousand had already reached the city gates, and the main gate had been blown to pieces. It was clear that the troops previously sent to aid Goguryeo had been quietly subdued by the joint forces of Great Yan and Goguryeo.
The enemy had already arrived at their doorstep, yet they had no idea.
The Fusang royal court was in complete chaos. The king had been assassinated and fallen into a coma, and the situation had unfolded so suddenly that there was no time to formulate a response.
The main issue was that the Fusang king was an extremely self-centered man. He had always centralized power in his own hands, leaving few of his court officials with any real authority.
Otherwise, when he hosted a banquet to welcome the "Fusang merchants" from Great Yan, someone would have surely warned him about the potential danger.
Now that Meng Qingyu had led his troops into Fusang's capital, there were still no orders from above.
Should they fight to the death or surrender? The higher-ups needed to issue commands so that those below would know what to do.
At this very moment, Shi Ruojun climbed onto the roof of a carriage and shouted to the soldiers on the city wall, "The King of Fusang is dead! If you lay down your weapons and surrender, we will spare your lives."
The Fusang general on the city wall frowned, "What is she saying?"
A soldier beside him replied, "I understand. She's speaking in Goguryeo's language. She's saying that the king has been killed by them, and if we surrender, they'll spare us."
"What? The king is dead..."
"Has the scout returned? What did he say?"
"Report—"
Just then, a soldier came scrambling up the city wall, "It's chaos! Everything is in disarray. The king is either in a coma or dead from the assassination. The royal court is in complete turmoil, and there's no one in charge."
The news had been suppressed, but it was impossible to keep it under wraps.
There had been too many people present at the time. When the assassins struck, many officials and their families had fled.
In the war between Great Yan, Fusang, and Goguryeo, Shi Ruojun and Meng Qingyu were the most celebrated heroes, followed by Third Yan, whose strategic brilliance as a military advisor had also earned him great acclaim.
The cavalry general, a seasoned veteran, winning battles was no longer surprising.
What mattered was that Great Yan needed fresh talent. When the cavalry general could no longer fight, someone would need to take his place.
Eldest Yan was a natural-born general, and it was widely accepted that he would succeed his father. But the people of Great Yan hoped for more such invincible generals to emerge.
Their peaceful lives were built by the hands of these warriors.
So what did it matter if General Shi was a woman?
It was the common people who ultimately reaped the benefits.
As they made their way to the palace to receive their rewards, the cavalry general and Eldest Yan stood at the forefront, handing over their swords to the palace attendants.
Meng Qingyu and Shi Ruojun followed closely behind, trailed by the officials who had come to welcome them.
Among the welcoming party were several senior officials who had previously accused Shi Ruojun and Meng Qingyu of eloping. They now realized what a ridiculous mistake they had made in front of the emperor and Jiang Xinyue.
While Shi Ruojun had been risking her life on the frontlines, assassinating the King of Fusang and fighting valiantly, they had been spreading rumors about her eloping with a man.
...
Lord Ren, in particular, was displeased. He gave a subtle signal to one of the attendants, who nodded and proceeded to pat Shi Ruojun's waist.
"What are you doing?"
Shi Ruojun slapped his hand away with a sharp "smack."
The attendant immediately knelt, "General, please spare me! It's customary to perform a search before an audience with the emperor. I momentarily forgot that you are a woman. Please forgive me."
This was clearly an attempt to humiliate Shi Ruojun.
They could have easily arranged for a female attendant to conduct the search.
Shi Ruojun was certain that Her Majesty the Empress had given specific instructions, but some people were determined to make a fool of her.
She smirked coldly and gave the attendant's backside a playful pat, adopting a flirtatious tone, "Well then, young eunuch, you'd better make sure to search thoroughly. Not just me, but the general and Deputy General Meng as well. If any hidden weapons are found on us later, you'll be in big trouble."
What a blatant threat!