Chapter 1161 – When the General Is Abroad (1/2)

Chapter 1161 – When the General Is Abroad

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The Prince of Xiang had not betrayed the humans and entered Xuelao City.

Even if he did want to do this, none of his subordinates would follow them.

So to be more precise, he had not betrayed the humans, but rebelled.

He had taken twenty thousand prepared soldiers from Snowhold Pass and had led them back to the capital to request the emperor to abdicate.

This news sent the camp into chaos. Horses galloped across the plains, and many gazes were aimed at a certain tent in the Western Army.

Wasn't the Prince of Xiang recovering from his heavy injuries? How had he suddenly appeared tens of thousands of li away in the capital?

On the evening of the same day, all the commanders of the human armies, excluding the commander in charge of monitoring Xuelao City, the important figures of the Orthodoxy, and the representatives from the cultivation sects gathered in the main tent of the Central Army Camp.

Divine General He Ming stood in front of the sand table, the expression on his face mercurial in the light of the lanterns.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong silently sat behind him.

The tent was abnormally quiet, the mood growing more oppressive by the minute. Finally, a noise from outside broke the silence.

A hastily-dressed middle-aged man was escorted into the tent: the Prince of Xiang.

The assembled officers were stunned. Only after careful examination did they realize that though this person had a very similar face, figure and bearing to the Prince of Xiang, he was just a substitute.

The Prince of Xiang was an expert of the Divine Domain. Beneath his rather comical plumpness was the concealed bearing of an expert, but this substitute was lacking this.

”Deceiver!”

Someone in the crowd shouted a resentful curse.

The moment they realized that this was the Prince of Xiang's substitute, everyone knew that the news of the rebellion in the south was true.

At this moment, many people recalled that in a battle a few days ago to the north of Starstrewn Gorge, the Prince of Zhongshan bravely fought and unfortunately sustained wounds so heavy that he needed to be sent back to the south.

The people in the tent looked at each other, wanting to confirm just who else had left besides the Prince of Xiang and the Prince of Zhongshan, and who had remained.

There were three princes of the Chen clan in the tent. They had rather pale complexions, not because they were worried about being suspected, but because they were now sure that the Prince of Xiang had abandoned them.

Peng Shihai and his fellows had particularly nasty expressions. They had extremely close relationships with the Prince of Xiang, or even intimate ones. No one had expected the Prince of Xiang to deceive them as well.

While they were leading the troops in bloody battle, the Prince of Xiang had taken those other people with the intent of leading a rebellious army on the capital. How could anyone not be infuriated by this contrast?

”What do they want to do? Do they really think that changing regimes is so easy?”

Daoist Siyuan had a very dark and profound look in his eyes as he gave Peng Shihai a ghostly stare.

Peng Shihai coldly snorted, wanting to say something, but ultimately deciding to keep his mouth shut.

”Why wasn't there any message from Xunyang City?”

Another person suddenly thought of this problem.

Xunyang City was essentially the base camp for the northern expedition. All the supply convoys and reinforcements were sent out from there. It played an extremely important role, and negotiations between all the factions before the war ultimately led Cao Yunping, the Divine Domain expert most trusted by all sides, to supervise the city.

For the Prince of Xiang to fake his injuries and return to Snowhold Pass in secret so that he could organize a rebel army was not too difficult for him. However, if the rebel army wanted to reach the capital, it had to pass through Xunyang City. Given Cao Yunping's strength and the army defending Xunyang City, if they could not destroy the rebel army, they could at least delay them for a very long time. It was simply impossible for there to have been no warning.

Since the rebellion had already been taking place for some time, Xunyang City's silence could only stand for one extremely awful possibility.

”Someone personally saw Cao Yunping and the Prince of Xiang together.”

Divine General He Ming's head remained fixed on the sand table as he casually said, ”It was right outside the capital.”

The words caused the tent to descend into silence once more.

All the troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty were in front of Xuelao City, as were all its experts, and even Cao Yunping had cast his lot with the Prince of Xiang. There was no one left to stop the rebel army.

The capital had no walls.

If the goal was to end the rebellion and save the emperor, retreat was the only option. But Xuelao City was right in front of them, its city gate shattered, the demons on the verge of extinction. If the human armies were to retreat, the demons would get a chance to catch their breath, and who knew how the course of history would change?

Who would dare bear this responsibility?

It had to be said that the Prince of Xiang had chosen the ideal time to rebel, or perhaps the worst.

”Does he want to be condemned for the rest of time?”

The rolling of carriage wheels came from outside the tent, accompanied by an elderly voice.

The Tang Old Master entered the tent, aiming an indifferent gaze at the Prince of Xiang's substitute akin to the look he would give to a corpse.

Everyone knew that no matter how this matter ended, this person would not survive.