Chapter 471 - 390: Those who want my head! Come
Chapter 471: Chapter 390: Those who want my head! Come
"What did you say? Who betrayed us?" Qin Jingsu stood there in a daze.
"Crown Prince! The Second Prince has committed treason! Luzhou has fallen!" the Guest Minister repeated.
...
「Outside Huai Mountain Pass」
After defending the city for four months, Qin Jingsu looked quite exhausted.
But the situation was turning for the better.
’If I can just hold on for another two months at most, the morale of the Jin army, unable to break through after such a long siege, will surely hit rock bottom.’
’Then, I can truly launch a counterattack!’
But just then, a letter arrived from the Imperial City for Qin Jingsu, along with several million Elixirs.
It contained only a few simple sentences:
"This Elixir can neutralize the miasma in the Black Beast Forest for ten hours. You are to set an ambush in the Black Beast Forest valley as soon as possible and await the Jin army. Jing Yuan will cut off their retreat! Remember! Do not let Jing Yuan’s painstaking plan go to waste!"
Reading the short letter, Qin Jingsu was overjoyed. Overjoyed that his younger brother had not betrayed him.
But Qin Jingsu also knew that for Jing Yuan to do this, he would be facing almost certain death.
...
After Xiao Mo, Qin Jingsu, and the others returned to the capital in a great victory, the Sovereign of Qin bestowed their rewards. However, Qin Jingsu did not leave the Imperial Palace immediately.
Suppressing the rage in his heart, he questioned his father, the Sovereign: "Father, did you already know about Jing Yuan?"
"I did," the Sovereign of Qin replied bluntly.
Qin Jingsu took a deep breath and said, "Could it be that in your heart, Father, anything can be sacrificed for the sake of the Qin Kingdom’s hegemony? Including your own son!"
"That’s right!"
The Sovereign of Qin looked his son directly in the eye.
"For the hegemony of my Great Qin, anything can be sacrificed!
The generals and soldiers on the battlefield can die, so why can’t Jing Yuan?!
Even I am not exempt from death!
Just because he is my son?!
No!
It is precisely because he is my son that his death must be of greater value!"
Qin Jingsu clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his flesh.
The Sovereign of Qin stood up, walked over to his son, and patted his shoulder. "Jing Su, you are too kind. But as a Monarch, you cannot afford to have a kind heart."
...
"Not bad. Third Sister, your cooking has improved again."
The day before setting out for war, the Eldest Prince came to Prince Shuang’s Mansion for a free meal.
However, Xiao Mo was out on business, so it was just the two siblings eating together.
"After cooking for so long, it’d be a problem if my skills didn’t improve."
Qin Siyao smiled faintly.
But soon, as if remembering something, the young woman lowered her head, a flash of sorrow in her eyes. "It’s a pity... Second Brother will never get to eat my cooking again."
"..." Hearing his sister’s words, Qin Jingsu lowered his head as well.
"What am I saying..." Realizing her slip of the tongue, Qin Siyao quickly looked up, raised her cup, and said with a smile, "I wish you victory, Eldest Brother! May you break their formations, slay the enemy, and return in triumph soon!"
"Then I’ll count on your auspicious words, Third Sister." Qin Jingsu raised his cup and clinked it against hers.
"Third Sister, I’m just saying, what if... what if I don’t come back..."
"There is no ’what if’..." Qin Siyao clutched her sleeves, looking at her eldest brother earnestly. "You will come back!"
Qin Jingsu’s expression faltered for a moment, then he smiled.
"Alright.
Then I...
will definitely come back..."
...
「On the small plain」
The slaughter continued.
As the soldiers around him fell one by one, Qin Jingsu’s men dwindled until he was the only one left.
The Immortal Realm Imperial Palace Honored Guest Elder assigned to protect Qin Jingsu had been ambushed by two Immortal Realm and three Jade Realm Cultivators, and had already been wounded and fled.
Qin Jingsu hadn’t placed much hope in that kind of Imperial Palace Honored Guest Elder to begin with.
Qin Jingsu didn’t know how many times he had swung his sword, nor how many men he had killed.
He only knew that his Spiritual Power was nearly depleted, the web between his thumb and forefinger was split open from gripping his sword, and his hands trembled uncontrollably from exhaustion.
The last soldier of the Qin Kingdom fell before Qin Jingsu. Like a tide, the soldiers of the Jin Kingdom closed in, weapons in hand, gradually surrounding him.
"Haaa..."
Qin Jingsu lifted his head, gazing at the white clouds drifting lazily across the sky.
In his vision, the figures of his father the Sovereign, his mother the Empress, his second brother, and his third sister couldn’t help but appear.
’Father, Mother, your son has been unfilial. You will have to see your black-haired child off to the grave.’
’Second Brother... Eldest Brother is coming to see you soon...’
’Third Sister, I’m sorry. I can’t keep my promise to you anymore. From now on, I can’t protect you. You’ll face many things and be forced to grow up. Life is going to be hard for you...
But don’t worry. Xiao Mo is a good man. He’ll be by your side.’
One word after another, it was as if Qin Jingsu was speaking his last words to his family, now worlds away.
"Eldest Prince, you truly won’t surrender?"
Marquis Qu and the other Dukes of the Jin Kingdom rode forward on horseback, frowning as they questioned Qin Jingsu.
Qin Jingsu lowered his gaze from the sky and just smiled. "Two hundred thousand of my Qin Kingdom’s sons died on this battlefield, and not one surrendered. What makes you think that I would?"
"Sigh..." Marquis Qu shook his head and gave the fine man before him a look of respect. "Eldest Prince, do you have any last words?"
"I do." The corner of Qin Jingsu’s mouth lifted. He pointed his sword at them and declared with a bold laugh, "Tell your King Jin! That I, the Crown Prince, will be waiting for him in the Netherland!"
Hearing this, the assembled Dukes of the Jin Kingdom frowned. Some even moved to step forward and cut him down on the spot but were stopped by Marquis Qu’s outstretched hand.
"What are you all standing around for? Is this battle over?"
Qin Jingsu stood his ground, planting a spear in the earth with one hand while holding a longsword ready with the other. Bolstered by his Spiritual Power, his voice echoed across the desolate fields!
"Sons of the Jin Kingdom!
You who would take the head of this Crown Prince!
Come!"