Chapter 656 (1/2)
Chapter 656: 656
”His Majesty is far away in Chang'an City . It would take a long time to go there and back to ask for instructions and the black horse carriage is already at our gates . ” These words from General Han Qing seemed incredibly irresponsible, however, the people in the room didn't show such an expression but only shock .
The Tang Empire's army had three Fu character transmission arrays along the border that could transmit extremely short fragments of information . One of them was in Helan City and could reach the palace of Chang'an City directly .
The information that could be pa.s.sed by a transmission array was incredibly little . Activating it once would use up an unimaginable amount of energy . Especially the one in Helan City, as the transmitting distance was too far, the price to pay was much higher . According to the calculations of the designer, using it once would cost as much as 10 years of Helan City's supplies .
According to the Tang Empire's military regulations, unless it was an invasion by the Golden or a dangerous event where the Left King's Palace tried to threaten the Tang Empire from the Eastern Wilderness, the transmission array couldn't be activated .
Since a sage from the Academy had laid down this transmission array, for hundreds of years, it had only been activated twice . However, today, it was activated again because of a lone carriage .
There was silence in the towers . Besides the small buzzing sounds of Heaven and Earth's Qi condensing on the Fu array, there were no other sounds . General Han Qing and the other high-ranking officers stared silently at the pristine surface of the Fu array . They had no idea what reply they would see and were incredibly nervous .
After a long time .
A faint yellow light flashed past, revealing an extremely small piece of paper on the floor . The palace must have considered the amount of resources used up by the transmission array when replying and had reduced the weight as much as they could .
General Han Qing walked towards it and picked up the paper . He gave a solemn military salute and showed it to the crowd .
There was no seal on the paper, only three clear words . The handwriting wasn't scrawled and was serious but it wasn't outstanding . The various officers took a look and it was indeed His Majesty's writing .
”Let him go . ”
After a moment of silence, the officer who previously had strongly suggested starting an attack said, ”There is no imperial seal nor is there the seal of the Military Ministry . This paper is useless . ”
Han Qing looked at this man and said in a slightly cold voice, ”According to the military rule of Helan City, the paper transmitted by the palace through the Fu array is the calligraphy of His Majesty himself . It is the same as an imperial edict .
The lieutenant was a little nervous but insisted on his opinion . He said in a low voice, ”Ning Que is a Grand Cultivator of the Knowing Destiny State . He can still be dealt with outside of the city but once he is in, how many people will it take to suppress him if he brings trouble? By then, if something were to happen in Helan City, who will take responsibility?”
General Han Qing rebuked coldly, ”As a militant of the Tang Empire, military orders are sacred . The imperial edict of His Majesty is the highest order . If His Majesty says yes, then it means yes . As for responsibility, it is the responsibility of the entire country's military!”
The array was activated and the giant wooden plate started rotating . The twisted rope rubbed and squeezed at the tung oil and gave off a slight sound . The heavy castle gates started opening slowly .
The black horse carriage drove into Helan City . Following the narrow mountain path at the bottom of the cliff, it headed east . Both sides of the path were steep cliffs and at the top of it were dozens of strong mountain forts . There was a small camp in each fort with countless numbers of arms and weapons stored inside . It made one afraid .
There were numerous bows that were already strung between Helan City and the cliff . Dozens of crossbows were slowly adjusting their angle and started aiming towards the black horse carriage . Over ten trebuchets were wound even tighter under the command of the officer . This was to ensure that once fired, the giant rocks would be thrown out at the first moment and bury the horse carriage .
”Whoever dares to ignore the military order and moves first shall have his head cut off!”
General Han Qing said sternly as he commanded the lieutenant to bring his personal army to watch over the most powerful crossbows and trebuchets . Then, under the protection of the soldiers with s.h.i.+elds, he came to the wall on the Eastern City and looked at the black horse carriage . His eyes were slightly narrowed .
After a moment, the lieutenant came rus.h.i.+ng back . He said something in a low voice beside his ear . Han Qing's face turned ugly in an instant, as he didn't expect someone to really do anything .
”Where is he?” General Han Qing asked coldly .
The lieutenant replied in a low voice, ”Adjutant Xiao and his soldiers have been disarmed and locked up . ”
”Execute him . ” General Han Qing said with a deadpan expression .
The lieutenant's expression changed slightly . Even though a military order was too important not to follow, it was understandable that Adjutant Xiao wanted to kill the Daughter of Yama . Moreover, he was a close confidant of Her Majesty .
General Han Qing knew what he was thinking about as he said with a cold expression, ”I do not care if he is Her majesty's person or the Princess' . Anyone who dares to question or go against the orders of His Majesty does not have the right to continue living . Moreover, he was very clear that if the horse carriage was attacked, how many people in Helan City would have to die today . ”
. . .
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Thousands of Tang Army troops stood on the walls of Helan City, in the fortifications of the cliff and behind the barracks between the slopes . They stared quietly with complex emotions at the black horse carriage below them, almost as if they were sending it away .
The lieutenant returned to General Han Qing's side . There was a faint blood smell from the sword beside his waist . He followed the gaze of the general to the black carriage . His feelings were complex too .