Chapter 826: The Qixi Armory, the Ideal Opportunity!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The Black Wolf Yabgu’s desire for that ma.s.sive armory was not a one- or two-day affair, but during Fumeng Lingcha’s tenure, the armory had been tightly defended, with Fumeng Lingcha himself ready to set out at any moment, leaving the Yabgu with no opportunities to speak of. But now, with Fumeng Lingcha called back to the capital, and, according to the rumors, already in jail, the Western Turkic Khaganate had an incredibly rare chance.
“…You saw yourself how it was in the last war with Beiting.” The Black Wolf Yabgu suddenly broke the silence. “Their equipment was far too astonis.h.i.+ng. Rather than losing in a contest of skill, we lost to their ma.s.sive amount of equipment, and all of Beiting’s equipment came from this armory. Thus, I’m sure you understand how important this mission is.”
“Yabgu, be at ease. I will definitely handle this matter appropriately,” the thin Turkic youth said.
“Mm.”
The Black Wolf Yabgu nodded and sternly advised, “This matter is very important to you as well, so don’t mess it up. In addition, you can take all of Hulayeg’s wealth to bribe those Qixi Protectorate commanders. Have them move away the guards around the armory and let down their guard.”
“Understood!”
The Turkic youth excitedly left.
……
Wushang, the City of Steel.
w.a.n.g Chong was standing in front of a ma.s.sive model of Qixi. In the center of this model was a ma.s.sive hall, the Qixi Protectorate headquarters. But everyone’s gazes were not focused on the headquarters. Instead, they were looking at the nearby armory.
w.a.n.g Chong stretched out his right hand and pointed at the armory on the model. “Based on what we know, the Western Turkic Khaganate has always wanted to deal with this largest armory in the northwest. In truth, even Ü-Tsang has wanted to do something about it. In the past, the presence of Fumeng Lingcha had always made them too afraid to do anything, but with Fumeng Lingcha now gone, the Qixi Protectorate is leaderless and rife with internal discord. This is an extremely rare opportunity for these two countries, and they definitely won’t let it go.”
“Milord, how wise!” said Hulayeg from the side. Hulayeg already regarded w.a.n.g Chong as someone descended from the heavens. After all, he had experienced w.a.n.g Chong’s powerful predictive abilities several times. The attempted betrayal of his steward and that dangerous incident he had encountered in the Eastern Turkic Khaganate had made Hulayeg a wholehearted believer of w.a.n.g Chong.
“Lord Marquis, should we send troops and strengthen the defenses?” Li Siye said, a frown on his face as he gestured at the armory. Although he had no idea where w.a.n.g Chong had gotten this information, Li Siye had never doubted him.
“Haha, the exact opposite.”
w.a.n.g Chong shook his head and chuckled.
“To take, you have to give. Not only can we not strengthen the defenses, we want to weaken them. Only if we bait the potential attackers can we eliminate them and excise the hidden disease. If not, they will remain in the shadows, requiring us to guard against them at every moment and never get a good night’s sleep.”
“Lord Marquis means that we should withdraw the defenses around the armory? But that armory is actually the possession of the imperial clan. We don’t have the authority to do such a thing, and perhaps not even the Qixi Protectorate does either,” Cheng Sanyuan said, his brow creased.
“Haha, in the past, there was naturally no way, but there’s no guarantee now. The Qixi Protectorate is in chaos, dragons without a leader. This is the best moment for anyone who wants to try their hand.”
w.a.n.g Chong grinned, his careless and confident smile as persuasive as ever.
This truly was the case!
The Qixi Protectorate was currently splintered into all sorts of factions, allowing a possibility of success in any sort of venture.
“Xu Keyi, I leave this matter to you.”
After taking part in the operation to find Fumeng Lingcha’s trusted subordinate, Xu Keyi was slowly growing more impressive, increasingly capable of holding his own. Although the Qixi Protectorate was currently in the hands of those Hu commanders, it still had quite a few Han commanders as well. With the right methods, one could use these Han commanders to influence the Hu commanders to withdraw the guards around the armory without much difficulty.
“Yes, Lord Marquis! This officer will go!”
Xu Keyi bowed and left.
Flap flap!
Just when w.a.n.g Chong had finished handling everything and giving his orders, the flapping of wings alarmed the gathered officers. Turning their heads, they saw a black messenger bird flying into the room through the window.
“It’s a messenger bird from the capital!”
The sight of this bird made everyone slightly pale. News from the capital was delivered by special birds, and the color of the bird corresponded to the urgency of the message. Black was used for only the greatest of emergencies.
“What’s going on?”
w.a.n.g Chong’s brow creased, belying the ma.s.sive shock in his heart. At this moment, he truly couldn’t think of why a letter would be sent from the capital.
“Bring it over!”
A guard quickly took the letter from the messenger bird and respectfully placed it in w.a.n.g Chong’s hands.
w.a.n.g Chong opened the letter, and the moment his eyes set upon it, he paled.
“Li Siye, I leave this place to you. I need to return to the capital!”
w.a.n.g Chong got up and left, quickly rus.h.i.+ng past flabbergasted gazes and over the threshold. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
……
“What?! The Young Marquis of the Great Tang left his fief of Wushang and went to the capital?”
On the distant Turkic steppe, within the golden tent, the Black Wolf Yabgu Agudu Lan had just received the news, and his eyes flew open as he leapt to his feet in disbelief.
“Lord Yabgu, this news has been confirmed multiple times. The people we have tracking him followed him from Wushang all the way to Sand Pa.s.s and saw him leave in the direction of the capital,” a Turkic scout kneeling on the floor respectfully said.
The Western Regions was home to a variety of Hu, and a Turk mixing in with the crowd here would stand out far less than they would in the capital of the Great Tang.
The Black Wolf Yabgu leaned forward and sternly asked, “Have you found out the reason? Why would he choose to leave Qixi at a time like this?”
Too sudden!
The Black Wolf Yabgu was greatly astonished by w.a.n.g Chong’s departure, and his mind was in turmoil.
There were only two people in Qixi that he feared. One was the old Protector-General of Qixi, Great General Fumeng Lingcha. That man was a crafty fox that was very difficult to deal with, and he was also extremely strong. The other person was that Young Marquis w.a.n.g Chong, who everyone seemed to be constantly underestimating.
Unlike the people from other factions, Agudu Lan had met with the Ghost Eye Yabgu, and the information this Yabgu had brought back from the Mountain of G.o.d was different from the information brought back by any other party. That seventeen-year-old youth had displayed incredible talent on the southwestern battlefield. The Ghost Eye Yabgu had frankly stated that the number of people in both the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates that could compare to that youth in the art of war could be counted on one hand, maybe even just three fingers.
This a.s.sessment had led Ishbara Khagan to decree that this Great Tang youth had to die.
But though this youth was an incredible commander, his slightly weaker martial arts were his weak point, his fatal weakness. Agudu Lan had thought a few times about leading his forces down to the south, breaking past the defenses of the Qixi Protectorate and a.s.saulting Wushang’s City of Steel with the intent of killing the Great Tang youth in a surprise raid.
But Agudu Lan discovered that someone had come upon this idea and acted upon it even faster than he had. This man had been the Asura War G.o.d of Ü-Tsang, Dayan Mangban!
When Agudu Lan heard that Dayan Mangban had died at the battle of the triangular gap, he had received a ma.s.sive mental blow, and all the murderous intent had drained out of him. Although he had rarely met with this Asura War G.o.d, much less spoken with him, they were friends in spirit, both lions of the Qixi territory.
Agudu Lan knew that his strength was comparable to Dayan Mangban’s, both being Brigadier Generals.
If not even Dayan Mangban was a match for w.a.n.g Chong, Agudu Lan could never believe that he would have much of an advantage. At the very least, hoping to behead w.a.n.g Chong with a single lightning-strike blow was extremely implausible. This was why he had broken off the pursuit of Hulayeg when he heard that the merchant had fled to Wushang.
“Milord, we have learned that it apparently has something to do with the Young Marquis’s second brother. Based on what we’ve found out, his second brother committed a crime, killed someone, and it apparently involves a princess. This incident took place very suddenly, so he was forced to return.”
The scout continued to kneel as he subserviently gave the report.
The second brother? Isn’t that the fellow called w.a.n.g Bei?
Agudu Lan’s eyes widened in surprise as he began to think. He had long ago gathered all the available information on w.a.n.g Chong. Unlike the other factions, the Black Wolf Yabgu had been very thorough, so he even knew that w.a.n.g Chong’s second brother w.a.n.g Bei suffered from some sort of hereditary madness.
After suffering a bout of this madness many years ago, he had been locked up in the imperial prison. He hadn’t expected him to suddenly be released.
“Continue investigating! I need the veracity of this information confirmed as soon as possible!” the Black Wolf Yabgu immediately ordered. He was extremely cautious with regards to this operation, as he always was.
With Fumeng Lingcha gone, Agudu Lan only had w.a.n.g Chong left to fear. Wushang was neither close nor far to the Qixi Protectorate. At the very least, if anything happened at Qixi, w.a.n.g Chong could quickly arrive with reinforcements.
But if not even w.a.n.g Chong was there, then there was no one in all of Qixi that could give Agudu Lan pause.
This was the best chance to strike against the Qixi armory!