Chapter 46: Night Raid!

  One hundred miles northwest of Xianyang City, a team was advancing slowly.

  Wolf head, fierce fire, black flag painted with the spiritual beliefs of Yiqiu country, the flying banner indicates that this team is a delegation affiliated to Yiqiu country.

  "Chancellor, just ahead is Qi County. Shall we continue on or rest here for the night?" a guard asked.

  "Do not stay. Today we will hurry another thirty miles, and tonight we will camp in the wilderness." a majestic voice said.

  Looking at the guards riding away, Yi Qu Hong shook his head. If it were forty or fifty years ago, no one would ask whether to set up camp and rest. At that time, the soldiers of Yi Qu would only march silently without the order of their superiors.

  Forty years had passed, and the Yi Qu had no war. The new generation of soldiers liked to live in comfortable rooms in the city, and compared with their parents, although they could still endure hardships as before, but between comfort and hardship, they began to have their own preferences.

  Yi Qu Hong firmly believed that the best soldiers were those without thoughts. For soldiers, unconditionally accepting the orders of their superiors was their mission. If soldiers had thoughts and began to understand how to advance their own interests and avoid harm, and had demands for living conditions, it would undoubtedly be terrifying. Because these factors were not within one's control.

  Therefore, Yi Quhong never stayed in the city during each military expedition. He had to temper his soldiers and keep them vigilant. The eagle still needs to soar high to get a day's food, and the wolf also needs to fight hard to multiply. A harsh environment can hone one's will, while a luxurious environment will only make people degenerate.

  When a country's military starts to decline, the country itself is not far from collapse. Yi Qu Hong did not want such a thing to happen to his own country.

  "Degeneration? Thinking of this word, Yi Quhong couldn't help but sigh. 'Alas! Why can't my own brother see things clearly?!'"

  He is Yi Qu Hong, the only younger brother of the current Yi Qu Wang and also the Grand Chancellor of Yi Qu. However, if possible, he would rather give up his current power and wealth to exchange for a vigorous and ambitious Yi Qu Wang.

  Yi Qu Hong still remembered that thirty-three years ago, his brother Wang had called him to his side before leaving for Xianyang and said with a heavy heart, "Now the King of Qin has just passed away, and the newly enthroned King of Qin is only a young boy who has not yet washed off the smell of his mother's milk. I will go to Xianyang to probe into the situation, if there is an opportunity, our Yi Qu army will set out for Xianyang and take back the honor that belongs to us Yi Qu people. Hong brother, I am about to leave, you must help me guard the family!"

  At that time, Yi Qu Hong was only twenty-five years old. From an early age, he regarded King Yi Qu as his role model, learning from his bravery, cunning and ambition.

  Yi Qu Hong will not forget that when he was young, he was just a playful child, but his brother Wang was already worried about the future of Yi Qu country. For this reason, his brother had been working hard to practice martial arts. At the coming-of-age ceremony, others generally hunted down a gray wolf, but he shot down a fierce tiger. He led the army on eastern and western campaigns, the most brilliant being when he was 21 years old, leading the army to defeat the Qin army, beheading 20,000 soldiers.

  Four years later, the Qin state's 300,000-strong army came to attack, and with a three-pronged pincer movement, the Yiqu were defeated. This made his young king brother feel disheartened and start thinking about how to defeat the Qin state, their greatest enemy. Brute force was not an option; this crushing defeat shattered his brother's idea of military supremacy. The advanced equipment of the Qin state, the unheard-of battle arrays, everything attracted his attention.

  Then there was the entry into Qin Dynasty, apart from probing Qin Guo, more is close-range observation and learning of Qin Guo. However, unexpectedly, Wang brother went and did not return.

  It's been thirty-three years, thirty-three years, and I've gone from a young man to an old one. My brother Wang's heroic heart is probably long dead! Now his heart only has room for that woman, Mi Rou. He says he's found true love, he says his indulgence in wine and women is just a way to numb the pain of Qin, he says the future of Yi Qu is all up to him!

  When he received such a letter from Wang, Yi Quhong was furious. He couldn't understand why his ambitious brother Wang had completely lost himself as soon as he saw Mei Baizi. Didn't he know that the state of Yi Qu needed him more than Mei Baizi? Didn't he know that what Yi Qu needed was a brave and fearless king, not someone like himself who only knew how to maintain the status quo?

  Every three years, Yi Qu Hong traveled back and forth between Xianyang and Qingyang with great difficulty. He hoped that one day his brother, the king, would suddenly come to his senses and return to the city of Yi Qu Wang. But each time, Yi Qu Hong returned in disappointment.

  Wang brother and that woman had children, not just one. He saw those two so-called "nephews", without blood ties, indulging in sensual pleasures, far inferior to Wang brother's eldest son in Qingyang. However, heaven is unfair, the nephew he valued most died of illness.

  "This is the last time I come to Xianyang." Yi Qu Hong secretly vowed.

  He decided to have a showdown with his own king brother, who was already old and should choose the successor. Whoever is chosen, he will assist as King Shu. The most important thing is that he wants to bring back the prince earlier. Maybe it's still possible now.

  The sun was getting lower and lower, stretching the team's shadow. Yiqi Hong finally gave the order to set up camp. A line of 800 people began to bustle.

  Smoke drifted, the moon climbed up to the treetops. Looking at the entourage singing and dancing beside him, eating a whole roasted sheep on the grassland, Yiqiu Hong's mood suddenly improved. This kind of life was what he had been yearning for, this kind of life should be the one that belonged to the Yiqiu people. Like the Central Plains people, kneeling and sitting respectfully, savoring slowly, Yiqiu Hong didn't care about it at all.

  A loud whistle pierced the air, shattering the lively atmosphere.

  "Protect the Chancellor!" Instantly several guards surrounded Yi Qu Hong, but a moment later, without any expected assassins appearing or a large army rushing into the camp, everything was unusually quiet.

  "Your Excellency, this is the arrow from just now. I have already sent someone to chase after the person who shot it." A personal attendant knelt down on one knee and respectfully presented the arrow with both hands.

  The whistling arrow is a northern dog Rong used to convey warnings, but tonight it appears in the heart of Xianyang, obviously not ordinary.

  "The Grand Minister has a poisonous heart. Let me dissect it for you!" The loyal attendant leader said kindly.

  Yi Qu Hong waved his hand and declined the good intentions of his personal attendant. "It doesn't matter, if they have malicious intentions, they definitely won't use a warning arrow."

  When they opened it, it was a small piece of silk with astonishing information: "King Yiqiu is dead, beware of night raids!" The nine short words changed the color of Yiqiu Hong's face in an instant. Looking at Yiqiu Hong's pale face, his personal guards panicked.

  He weakly lifted his head, and Yi Quhong gestured for the imperial guard to take a look at the silk handkerchief in his hand.

  "What? The king is dead! This can't be!"

  "Chancellor, this must be a malicious person trying to drive a wedge between us and the State of Qin. When we arrive in Xianyang tomorrow, the truth will naturally be revealed to all."

  "Chancellor, let us escort you back first! We will verify the news and then head to Xianyang, it won't be late!"

  At this moment, different people came up with strategies out of concern or interest. Yi Quhong also came back to his senses from the shock, waved his hand and said: "Now it is impossible to verify whether this news is slanderous or true, in any case we cannot be careless. Order the scouts to go out twenty miles ahead, and if there is any movement within a radius of twenty miles, I want to know clearly. Tonight's night watch personnel will be doubled, everyone must wear their armor and wait for dawn with their swords at the ready."

  "Yes!" The crowd responded in unison and left.

  At midnight, the night gradually deepened. Just as the envoys thought this was a farce and the atmosphere relaxed slightly, the scout who had gone ahead brought a shabbily dressed man before Yiqiu Hong.

  "The Prime Minister", the visitor sobbed and choked with emotion, unable to speak.

  "Who are you?" Listening to the familiar dialect of Yiqiu, Yiqiu Hong couldn't think of who this person was. The guard held the torch up close to the visitor, which finally allowed Yiqiu Hong to see clearly who it was.

  "What are you doing here! You shouldn't be serving in front of Wang brother and running around here... Could it be..."

  "Your Excellency, wail, the king is dead, two princes are dead, all dead, wail."

  "What did you say? Say it again!" Yi Quhong's mind was in a great turmoil as he grabbed the person's neck, his powerful hands revealing bulging veins, and the person's face turned blue due to lack of oxygen.

  "Cough, cough", Yi Quhong's hand suddenly went limp and let go. It was true, the news from just now was real. The person who had barely managed to breathe was greedily inhaling air.

  "Woe is me! The heads of our great king and two princes are now hanging in the marketplace. The King of Qin said this was just a lesson for us, and he will soon send troops to wipe out our Yiqu. I was sent by the great king on an errand to Xianyang yesterday, so I narrowly escaped disaster. People from Xianyang told me that all our people from Yiqu were killed in Ganquan Palace. Woe is me! All dead, only I am left!"

  "Within fifty miles of Xianyang, all are imperial guards. I barely managed to escape. Chancellor, you must avenge us! The king and the others are all dead. Alas, how tragic!"

  Listening to the nonsensical talk of the newcomer, Yiqiu Hong didn't come back to his senses until half a day later.

  "What did you say? The Qin army is fifty miles outside of Xianyang? Then wouldn't we have the Qin army twenty miles away from us?"

  The words had barely left his lips when everyone felt the earth shaking. The Qin army has arrived!

  (Finished eating, back to typing, one more update!)