Chapter 534 (1/2)

Chapter 534: 534

“Your Lords.h.i.+p, the commander of the Yuexi garrison has been swayed . Given a little more time, I’ll be able to rope him in . If you give up at this point in time, all our efforts will come to nought . ” Lian Hai tried to dissuade Dugu Shan .

Dugu Shan paced up and down anxiously . Naturally he also wanted to buy himself more time, but the courtiers had already begun to put pressure on him, and the young prince had been casting uncharacteristic glances at him in the past few days too . On top of that, the army of the Great Wen had been advancing so quick – they were about to take the second prefecture!

“Your Lords.h.i.+p, you’re within an inch of taking the throne . If you let this opportunity slip away, it wouldn’t be easy to have the Seventh Prince abdicate in favor of you . Please think twice,” added Lian Hai .

“I see . I need some more time to think it through . You may leave . ” Dugu Shan came to a halt .

Lian Hai, knowing that Dugu Shan would become suspicious if pushed too hard, took his leave .

When Lian Hai had left the Dugu family, the look in his eyes changed .

Dugu Shan was hesitating again and would very likely choose to give up eventually . In fact, considering the current circ.u.mstances, even if the Seventh Prince acceded to the throne, it wouldn’t make much difference, but if by any chance Nian Feng was released at the request of some courtiers, the Great Wen would be faced with a formidable opponent .

Lian Hai hastened back to the chamber of commerce and immediately made arrangements for some men to perform a secret task .

That very night, Nian Feng died of poisoning in the prison .

Because Nian Feng had been a traitor, most people did not give much thought to his sudden death, speculating whether or not it had been Dugu Shan who had poisoned Nian Feng .

But there were also a small number of people who felt that Nian Feng had died in very suspicious circ.u.mstances, that something was not quite right .

Dugu Shan, after being informed of Nian Feng’s death, immediately summoned Dugu Miao and, believing that it had been Dugu Miao who had done it, asked him the reason .

“Father, it wasn’t me who did that . I didn’t have the time for that,” explained Dugu Miao .

Dugu Shan frowned . “Then who did it?”

Dugu Miao gave it some thought and then said, “There were a lot of courtiers holding grudges against Nian Feng . Mu Rongfeng’s supporters, for instance, hated his guts . It’s possible that one of them went to the Court Prison and killed him when no one was watching . ”

Dugu Shan did not rule out that possibility . By killing Mu Rongfeng, Nian Feng had destroyed the inexhaustible wealth and lifelong glory of his supporters, who did have a reason to kill Nian Feng out of hatred, but Dugu Shan still had a vague hunch that there was something fishy behind this matter .

“Father, I don’t see why we should be bothered by Nian Feng’s death . I mean, it won’t affect us in any way . Actually the murderer did us a favor by killing him . Right now our first priority is to convince the Yuexi garrison to help you accede to the throne! Didn’t Lian Hai say that the commander has been swayed? I think our next step is for you to pay a personal visit to the commander to show your sincerity,” said Dugu Miao .

Dugu Shan, however, made no immediate remarks, still wavering .

If he paid a personal visit to the Yuexi garrison, his intentions would be exposed thoroughly, and he would be past the point of no return . The current situation was urgent, and if by any chance the Yuexi garrison suddenly decided to support the Seventh Prince, then his plan to take the throne would undoubtedly be used against him and might even lead to his death .

“How far has Yuwen Tong’s army got?” inquired Dugu Shan .

Dugu Miao was surprised by the question . For the past few days he had been busy helping make preparations for his father’s plan to take the throne, and had not paid any attention to the movements of Yuwen Tong’s army .

At the sight of his son’s facial expression, Dugu Shan came to know that Dugu Miao had not bothered keeping abreast of enemy troop movements at all, knitting his brows .

Dugu Shan was now a de facto regent, and military reports were delivered to his desk on a daily basis, so he better than anybody knew how far the army of the Great Wen had got . He asked Dugu Miao that question only to calm him down, but it turned out that Dugu Miao knew nothing about it .

“Yuwen Tong has taken both of the border prefectures and reached Zizhu City . His army is pus.h.i.+ng towards this city as we speak . ”

Dugu Miao jerked out of his trance, looking shocked . “How did he take all those cities in such a short time?!”

…

The military reports were not up-to-date . The army of the Great Wen had some time ago past Zizhu City and had already taken Zhongjiang City, which was the nearest to Zizhu City .

Zhongjiang City was at the center of Zhongzhou, and Wanzhou was the only prefecture between it and the Luohai capital .

“Dugu Shan is on the verge of giving up . At this rate, the Yuexi garrison and the troops left by Nian Feng will soon join forces,” said Ling Zhang after reading an urgent letter from Lian Hai .

Yuwen Tong composedly inclined his head and, looking at the map on the desk, said, “Delaying them for this long const.i.tutes an achievement, I would say . Considering the Youzhou garrison has rendezvoused with us, even if we encounter the Luohai army, we’ll have a very good chance of winning . ”

Many of their troops had been garrisoned in the many cities of the Wan Kingdom which they had just taken . Also, there had been some casualties during the previous battles, so the army Yuwen Tong had led into the Luohai Kingdom was considerably smaller, with less than 100,000 troops .

They would never have taken the two border cities that easily if the Luohai Kingdom had tried to hold the cities with all its strength . However, at that time, the commanders of the Luohai troops stationed in the border cities had not been able to spare a thought for deploying defenses, which was why Yuwen Tong’s army had taken the cities quickly .

The Youzhou garrison, after defeating a Luohai army stationed outside Youzhou Pa.s.s which had had only one fourth of its original strength, had quickly marched north and taken three cities in a row before joining forces with the army led by Yuwen Tong eventually . The army, its strength quadrupled, was now so strong that the main force of the Luohai Kingdom didn’t stand a chance of winning .

How was the Luohai army, which on the surface had been reserving its strength all along but in fact had been slack in training, supposed to defeat the army of the Great Wen which enjoyed victorious and inexorable momentum, and which even the Wan cavalry had failed to hold back?

“I’ve told Lian Hai to figure out a way to get out of the Luohai capital . There’s a high chance Dugu Shan will become suspicious of him if he stays there,” said Ling Zhang .