Chapter 63: Where to Go and Where to Follow

  The letter originally written by Wanyan Zongwang after withdrawing to the capital reported to the emperor that the main reason for this defeat in Yanshan Prefecture was that Wanyan Zonghan did not listen to his suggestion to block the Western Army, which allowed the Song army's reinforcements to arrive at Yanshan Prefecture, resulting in this defeat. Wanyan Zonghan was furious and shifted all the blame onto him.

  The Western Army is 180,000 miles away from Yanshan Prefecture. How can they arrive in a very short period of time? They even dare to shift the responsibility for their defeat entirely onto themselves. Wanyan Zonghan knew that he needed to withdraw his troops immediately to prevent Wanyan Zongwang from pouring dirty water on himself. Wanyan Zonghan was not a hesitant person, and he tore up the letter and threw it into the fire pit nearby. The paper leaves were reduced to ashes in the flames.

  When Wanyan Zonghan returned to the big account, Wanyan Zongyang seemed to be angry and could not eliminate it. He scolded the generals under the account, as if he were an emperor. Wanyan Zonghan sneered in his heart, despising Wanyan Zongyang's behavior.

  As a superior, one should urge their subordinates to be vigilant in times of victory and encourage them to unite in times of defeat. But Wanyan Zongyao did the opposite, although his generals seemed to obey him with humility, they had already harbored resentment towards him in their hearts. These generals were not isolated individuals, many of them had deep backgrounds, offending one person might not be a big deal, but offending the powers that these people represented would eventually lead to the downfall of the Wanyan family, and those who came out to mingle would ultimately have to pay the price.

  Wanyan Zonghan stepped forward respectfully and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, I have just received a secret report that the Song army of 100,000 is on its way here. Our army needs to retreat immediately, otherwise there will be a danger of total annihilation."

  Wanyan Zongyao said: "General Zonghan, there is no need to speak alarmingly. Our army's combat power far surpasses that of the Song army. Moreover, the Song army has traveled a long distance and is exhausted. As long as our army regains its morale and launches a surprise attack on their way here, we will surely achieve great results." Wanyan Zongyao did not want to retreat now. Before going into battle, he had patted his chest and guaranteed that he would take down the land east of the Yellow River by force of arms, overpowering several other princes to seize the opportunity to go to war.

  If the defeated army returns, other princes will have the opportunity to take advantage of it. Not only will they be laughed at, but the emperor will also blame them. Moreover, Wanyan Zongyao did not completely believe in Wanyan Zonghan's news, and he had just asked for war, now suddenly changed his tone, how can people not suspect?

  Wanyan Zonghan said calmly, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, as the commander-in-chief of the army, I cannot sacrifice my soldiers for your unrealistic ideas. Tomorrow, I will lead the army back, and you should take care of yourself."

  Wanyan Zongyao was furious and rushed forward, Wanyan Zonghan didn't take him seriously at all. Wanyan Zongyao drew his long sword and charged forward, several of Wanyan Zonghan's personal guards drew their knives to protect Wanyan Zonghan. They didn't care who the other was, they had to step over the corpses of those who tried to kill their general. Wanyan Zongyao smiled coldly, his long sword moved like a fish in water, lightly touching the necks of the two soldiers at the front. Wanyan Zongyao dodged the soldiers and pointed his sword at Wanyan Zonghan. The two soldiers' bodies trembled violently, blood gushing out from their necks, forming a column of blood.

  Two soldiers fell to the ground, blood flowing all over, the soldiers around them were stunned and paused, at this moment Wanyan Zongyao's long sword was already pointing towards Wanyan Zonghan. Although Wanyan Zonghan was surprised by Wanyan Zongyao's improved martial arts skills, there was no fear in his eyes, he coldly stared at Wanyan Zongyao without saying a word.

  Wanyan Zongyao looked at Wanyan Zonghan with interest and said lightly, "I'll give you one more chance. Lead the army to counterattack the Song army, and I won't kill you."

  "I would rather die than use the blood of our soldiers to fight this meaningless battle." said Wanyan Zonghan in a low voice.

  The military camp was filled with righteous indignation, and everyone glared at Wanyan Zongyao in anger. Wanyan Zongyao secretly cursed his bad luck, as Wanyan Zonghan's martial arts skills were not completely inferior. However, the fact that Wanyan Zonghan didn't even react showed only one thing: from the very beginning, Wanyan Zong had arranged for his guards to come forward and let him kill the man, and then use a stirring speech to rouse the soldiers' emotions, setting up a trap that he himself had fallen into, making him completely passive.

  Wanyan Zongyao had the idea of killing Wanyan Zonghan several times, but he understood that although he was the crown prince, arbitrarily beheading the commander-in-chief would inevitably lead to a mutiny in the army. At that time, the Emperor of Jin would have to use his life to calm down the rebelling soldiers. Wanyan Zongyao's face was gloomy and uncertain, but Wanyan Zonghan was full of confidence at this moment, as if he was directing a play, with Wanyan Zongyao cooperating perfectly. Wanyan Zonghan was not afraid of being killed by Wanyan Zongyao, unless Wanyan Zongyao also wanted to die.

  Wanyan Zongyao reluctantly sheathed his long sword and said in a deep voice, "General Wanyan is indeed as firm as a boulder on a mountain. I won't make it difficult for you either. I will leave my personal guards to continue blocking the Song army. Even if we fail, I must kill the commander of the Song army who led this expedition. General Wanyan, please do as you wish." Although Wanyan Zongyao was a prince, apart from being able to mobilize nearly a hundred personal soldiers at will, he had no control over the rest of the troops, and couldn't even move a single soldier or guard.

  Wanyan Zonghan said: "Your bravery makes me admire, I will leave another hundred brave warriors plus your personal guards, a total of two hundred people, and I believe we can win a great victory."

  Wanyan Zongyao really wanted to curse loudly, this Wanyan Zonghan was not a good thing, and he actually left only 100 people behind. He said with his mouth that he would let himself achieve military exploits, but in his heart, he had probably cursed himself hundreds of times already, hating that he couldn't die early on the battlefield. Wanyan Zongyao thought to himself secretly, and soon understood what was in Wanyan Zonghan's mind. Now that Wanyan Zonghan was so eager to return, it was even more impossible to let him have his way.

  Wanyan Zongyao's face suddenly sank and he said: "Wanyan Zonghan offended me, considering his military achievements, I will spare his life, but although the death penalty can be spared, the living penalty cannot be escaped. Come and take Wanyan Zonghan down for me, flog him thirty times, and kill anyone who resists without exception."

  Wanyan Zonghan was furious in his heart, but he couldn't express it. Wanyan Zongyang retreated and advanced, this move was played beautifully. Wanyan Zonghan looked deeply at Wanyan Zongyang standing on the high platform, allowing two soldiers to take him away.

  On the second day at noon, although Wanyan Zonghan was seriously injured and had not recovered, he still ordered the whole army to set off back to the capital. Wanyan Zongyao led 200 elite soldiers and took a detour from the small road, directly threatening Bianjing. It has to be said that Wanyan Zongyao's courage is indeed very big, just like sending himself to death. However, he also had something to rely on - the chess pieces buried in Bianjing. Wanyan Zongyao's arrival would bring about how many twists and turns in Bianjing, no one knew.

  On the other hand, Zhao Jiong put aside the things in his mind and walked towards Tang Yuwei's camp. He was a little afraid to see Li Yue, so he chose a secluded corner to move forward. When he arrived at Tang Yuwei's room, the voices of two women talking came from inside. Only one woman's voice was heard, saying: "Sister is really not the prince's lover, but I misunderstood. No wonder the prince didn't explain it to me, but I was overthinking. I was rude to sister before, please forgive me."

  Another soft voice replied, "It doesn't matter, emotional things are selfish by nature, I can understand, and I won't mind. It's a pity that such a good girl like you is matched with him, because some people don't even have the guts to come in when standing at the door."

  Tang Yuwei had sensed Zhao Jin's arrival through the sound of his footsteps. Originally, when Zhao Jin heard Li Yue's voice, he wanted to leave, fearing an awkward encounter. At this moment, hearing Tang Yuwei say so, it was also not good to leave, and he pushed open the door and walked in. The two girls were chatting in the living room, and upon seeing Zhao Jin enter, Li Yue immediately stood up with a happy expression on her face, while Tang Yuwei did not stand up, looking at Zhao Jin with an ambiguous smile.

  Li Yue said: "Sister has something to say to Your Highness, then I'll go make tea for Your Highness."

  Tang Yuwei said, "Sister, there's no need to call him 'Your Highness', anyway he doesn't care about this title. Why not just call him 'Young Master' like I do? He has a reputation in the capital as the 'Gentle and Outstanding Young Master' after all."

  Li Yue looked at Zhao Jian and saw no objection, so he smiled and said: "Young master is good, otherwise it would be very stressful to call him 'Your Highness' every day."

  Li Yue left, Tang Yuwei smiled and said: "In a few days, the young master has already gotten into a romantic debt, let's see how you explain it to Zi Xuan later."

  Zhao Tan sighed and said: "The situation was very critical that day, if I didn't save Miss Li, she would have inhaled too much smoke and died. I really had no choice."

  "Then why do you have to save people in that way?" Tang Yuwei asked, her words somewhat stuttering, but her face seemed expressionless. Zhao Jing suddenly had a kind of illusion, Tang Yuwei's face seemed somewhat unreal.

  Zhao Yan reluctantly said: "There's no other way, we must introduce fresh air into the lungs to save him."

  "Would you have saved me like that if I were you?" Tang Yuwei whispered.

  "Miss Tang, what did you say?" Zhao Jian didn't hear what Tang Yuwei said for a moment because her voice was too soft.

  Tang Yuwei hastily said: "Nothing, I was asking what plans does the young master have for the future."

  "Return to Bianjing."

  Tang Yuwei was shocked, she really didn't expect Zhao Xun to make such a choice. Before coming, she had already made assumptions that Zhao Xun was intelligent and understood his current situation, especially since she had told him about the imperial warrant for his arrest.

  There are three strategies to take now. First, we can choose to rely on our own strength. Currently, Zhao Kuo's reputation is at its peak, and soon the anti-Jin forces from all over the country will either support or echo Zhao Kuo. At that time, with the people's hearts in mind, entering Bianjing (the capital) and becoming emperor would be a natural thing to do. As the eldest son of the emperor, if he becomes emperor, no one will oppose him. This is the best strategy.

  The second way is the middle strategy, Zhao Yi can hide among the people, live in a remote place, secretly gather strength and plan for the future. This plan requires patience and time, but Zhao Yi is very young and can wait for ten years of ups and downs, which is relatively stable.

  The third way, as a last resort, Zhao Jiong could directly lead his army to kill back to Bianjing. Although it would be effective quickly, it would also take great risks. But like returning alone to Bianjing to get killed, Tang Yuwei directly ruled out such things. Normal people wouldn't do this, but Tang Yuwei underestimated Zhao Jiong's determination.