"When the royal power lacks a successor, chaos is inevitable." Liang Chen took a deep breath, "To quell this storm, the eldest prince must reveal his identity!"
The weak rule and the strong ministers make it difficult to prevent someone from seizing the opportunity to cause trouble.
As the situation has come to this point, is there any other way but to do this?
"I agree," Cheng Chiren said, "Although there are misunderstandings between him and the emperor, he is nonetheless a prince. It’s an undeniable fact. Now he can no longer afford to remain idle outside. In other words, if the court is unstable, he will find it difficult to remain unaffected."
Pei Yu and his wife exchanged glances, then looked at Fu Zhen: "What do you think?"
Fu Zhen calculated the days by pinching his fingers: "I have no objections. But I want to ask, don’t you find the timing of this news rather intriguing?"
Everyone was stunned. Fu Zhen continued, "Logically, the matter of King Yan is inseparable from the eldest prince’s affair. The person who leaked the news knew King Yan’s identity and must have known about the firstborn prince. Why did he choose now to spread it?"
"Exactly!" Su Xinger exclaimed, looking around at everyone, "Something’s not right about this! Doesn’t it seem as if someone is intentionally stirring up trouble?"
Du Xun and the others, being old foxes, suddenly realized the truth. They stood up together, mouths agape, ready to speak out, yet even after several attempts they dared not utter a single word...
...
This battle was fought with great momentum, revealing its true nature by dawn.
On the other side of the pass, there was a path passable for warhorses. Pei Zhan ordered half of the troops to stay behind while the other half followed him in pursuit. Midway through the narrow path, they discovered the soldiers whom Luo Zhao had previously let go to follow them. These were the men Gao Changyuan had long arranged to trail them here. After informing Pei Zhan of Lian Yang’s whereabouts, they all caught up together.
The reason Gao Changyuan let Luo Zhao release Lian Yang was to obtain the half-piece of the Tiger Talisman in his possession. The split Tiger Talisman from Dongzi was the foundation that fueled the ambitions of Duan Ruo and his son Lian Yang. Lian Yang needed to be killed, and the Tiger Talisman needed to be retrieved for the mission to be considered complete!
Upon learning all this on the way, Pei Zhan’s rage dissipated, and he praised Gao Changyuan, saying "Well done," before reining in his horse.
To capture them all in one fell swoop would require allowing them time to gather.
It was only a few dozen miles of narrow path; it would be daylight by the time anyone arrived regardless.
Pei Zhan and his group charged out of the narrow pass gate at sunrise, catching Lian Yang and his men who had just rendezvoused with the Wu Army by surprise! Among them was a team of their own that had come to support Lian Yang.
A hundred thousand troops certainly weren’t of the timid sort.
Under the commands of Wu Chengping and his associates, the massive army pressed in from all sides.
But even half a mile apart, from behind the Wu Army came thunderous shouts of battle.
The war drums boomed like thunder through the valley, causing the dense ranks of the Wu Army to halt immediately.
Wu Chengping was shocked, angrily pointing his blade at Lian Yang: "Did you set a trap for me?!"
Lian Yang was equally startled, breaking out in a cold sweat, and he replied, "You and I have long been allies, advancing and retreating together. How could I harm you?!"
"Then how did Dongzi manage to dispatch troops so quickly? And how did they use the Great Zhou’s passage?!"
Lian Yang couldn’t answer. How could he possibly answer?
He had clearly secured Luo Zhao—if things went wrong, why did Luo Zhao let him leave? Why was the entire dozens-of-miles-long narrow path unobstructed? He could easily have made a move against me back at the encampment! Or had someone immediately pursue me after I crossed the checkpoint to intercept me!
If this was a trap, a pitfall, why was it not covered until now?
"There must be something wrong with Dongzi!" he insisted, pointing to the man on a large horse behind him, shouting hoarsely, "Look who that is?... That’s Yang Yi! That’s the firstborn prince of Great Zhou!"
With Lian Yang’s distressed cry, Wu Chengping turned and saw a dozen high-headed horses charging towards them along with an army. The foremost man was as strong as a tower, wielding a long spear, leading his troops as they thundered forward! And following behind his army was a vast expanse of the Dongzi Army galloping on horseback!
In the gradually brightening dawn light, the army wearing both Zhou Army and Dongzi Army uniforms swiftly dispersed into a crescent shape, flanking them from both the left and the right!
Wu Chengping had taken away ten thousand men from Dongzi, but Dongzi had more troops than that, and the rear from where Yang Yi and his forces were attacking was precisely the border between Dayue and Dongzi and Great Zhou!
Needless to say, this meant King Dongzi Jin Xu had already connected with Yang Yi!
Wu Chengping and his people chose this route to rendezvous with Lian Yang here due to its complex affiliations. If Jin Xu wanted to dispatch troops in pursuit, he would need approval from Great Zhou. But now that the Dongzi Army was led by Yang Yi, led personally by the firstborn prince of Great Zhou, didn’t this signify that the two countries had already joined hands?!
Before making this decision, they surely considered this possibility, but they didn’t expect it to happen so soon!
Nor did they expect that Yang Yi had already secretly connected with the inner court of Great Zhou and arrived here with Pei Zhan, quickly establishing contact with Jin Xu!
As a result, in this sandy terrain outside the gorge, there was no room to retreat!
"How did they manage to do this?" Wu Chengping shouted at Lian Yang.