Chapter 456. - Recapture of Jiangzhou (1/2)
Translator: DragonRider
After the apprehension of w.a.n.g Xiangxin, the rebel army were terribly demoralized and soon routed utterly. Some started fleeing towards the checkpoint in confusion, and some were captured on the spot.
Hai Mu, taking advantage of the victory, led the Haizhou garrison into Jiangzhou and at the same time had copies of the latest battlefield report quickly delivered to Xiao Jiangyue, the General Zhongwu (AKA the General of Loyalty and Valor), as well as the generals in charge of other checkpoints, telling them to join hands to attack Jiangzhou from all sides.
As regards Haizhou, the Haizhou governor and the commander of the Haizhou navy were responsible for the clean-up. Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang moved into Pingtao City. w.a.n.g Xiangxin had been marched into Pingtao City for interrogation.
Tied with Qiu Bing’s whip, he didn’t dare move for fear of the poison on the whip, but his eyes were staring at Qiu Bing resentfully. During the journey, Qiu Bing had said a lot of provocative words to w.a.n.g Xiangxin, because he’d enjoyed very much the sight of w.a.n.g Xiangxin being consumed with fury but powerless to do anything about it.
“That’s enough. Take him there right away. Our masters will be there soon,” said Yao Yi, walking over.
“It’s your lucky day,” observed Qiu Bing, marching w.a.n.g Xiangxin into a room.
“Kneel!” Qiu Bing gave the hollows of w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s knees a kick, which instantly sent w.a.n.g Xiangxin slumping to his knees.
w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s face twisted in anger. “You–!”
Qiu Bing snorted flintily, “Be a peach and stay on your knees. If you dare play any tricks, I’ll kill you.”
The moment Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong arrived, they caught sight of w.a.n.g Xiangxin obediently kneeling on the ground, Qiu Bing standing guard on the side, looking as ferocious as a warden.
“I’m honored to kneel before you, Your Majesty, Your Highness,” said Qiu Bing at the sight of them, replacing his fierce look with a deferential one, paying his respects to them with due formality.
“You may rise,” said Ling Zhang, looking at him. “There’s no need to stand guard here for the moment. Go and check if Dashan or any of the others is hurt.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Qiu Bing rose to his feet, withdraw the whip coiling around w.a.n.g Xiangxin and gave him a dirty look before leaving.
…
It’d never crossed w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s mind that Yuwen Tong would really grant him an audience. His face grew quite sullen at the sight of Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang entering, but he had to hold back all his bitter words despite the fact that he was quite unreconciled to the current situation.
He’d demanded an audience with Yuwen Tong solely because he wanted to live. He knew very well that it was impossible for him to save his hide by ratting on his subordinates in Jiangzhou and Zhu You and some others, so what he was going to betray was the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom, both of which had offered to a.s.sist him.
The Wan Kingdom had been the first to contact w.a.n.g Xiangxin, and w.a.n.g Xiangxin still had a letter from the Wan Kingdom in hand, which was a key piece of evidence. It was these letters that w.a.n.g Xiangxin intended to offer in exchange for his life.
Unfortunately for him, in Yuwen Tong’s eyes, he was the kingpin of the rebel army and must die, for Yuwen Tong didn’t want there to be any loose ends. A key letter from the Wan Kingdom was of little significance, because the Wan Kingdom, after paying large amounts of war reparations twice in a row, was now terribly impoverished and unable to pay any more compensation. If pushed too hard, they might well put up a desperate fight. Currently, both the Wan Kingdom and the Great Wen were in dire need of a period of peace to recover and rebuild, and neither of them would wage a war in the next few years. After the two countries’ armies returned to full strength, there would definitely be another war, even if none of these things had ever happened.
“I’m not interested in that thing,” said Yuwen Tong flatly.
w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s heart sank. This was the only thing he had in hand that he believed of some value to Yuwen Tong. Now that Yuwen Tong had become the ruler of this country, his men would sooner or later conduct an intensive search of Jiangzhou, which meant that it was only a matter of time before some of the facts came to Yuwen Tong’s knowledge, no matter whether he told Yuwen Tong about them or not. If he was to survive, he must offer something Yuwen Tong couldn’t say no to!
“What about the Luohai Kingdom?! Mu Rongfeng also played a part in this. Do you not want to–”
“I’ve captured Mu Rongfeng already. What else do you think I need to get to negotiate with the Luohai Kingdom?”
What? w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s face went ghastly white. Mu Rongfeng had been captured? Didn’t that mean his last hope was gone?
The reason why Yuwen Tong had come to see w.a.n.g Xiangxin was merely because he’d wanted to find out what w.a.n.g Xiangxin would use as a bargaining chip to save his neck, but now it turned out that none of the things w.a.n.g Xiangxin could offer was of any use, so he naturally had no reason to keep sitting in this room.
He and Ling Zhang stood up and left.
w.a.n.g Xiangxin didn’t utter another word till the end, because there was no word he could say that would do any good.
w.a.n.g Xiangxin was executed right in the interrogation room. His body was burnt with those of the other rebels. After the news of his death spread to Jiangzhou, almost all the surviving rebels’ spirits were broken. One of w.a.n.g Xiangxin’s lieutenants had died with him in Haizhou, and the rest of them were disunited, unable to do anything to save the situation, powerless to defend against the attacks from the army of the imperial court who vastly outnumbered them.
Half a month later, surviving rebels in various areas were all disposed of. The officials that had colluded with w.a.n.g Xiangxin, and who were led by Zhu You, were all apprehended. Thus, the Jiangzhou rebellion was brought to an end.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong set off to return to the capital city via Jiangzhou. They stayed in downtown Jiangzhou for two days, intending to find Zhu You’s a.s.sets which Ling Zhaowu had once mentioned to them, the large sum of unaccountable money.
As a result, Ling Zhang was very excited when the soldiers started searching Zhu You’s residence. He was eager to see how much money would be found in there.
In order to see it with his own eyes, Ling Zhang stealthily followed the soldiers into the residence. Yuwen Tong didn’t mind, but as Ling Zhang went there, he naturally went with him.
Because of this, Yao Yi didn’t let the soldiers do it. He personally took some men to conduct the search. w.a.n.g Dashan and some others came to his help.