Chapter 472 - 391: Qin Jingsu! Peerless in Valor
Chapter 472: Chapter 391: Qin Jingsu! Peerless in Valor
「Inside the Qin Kingdom Royal Palace.」
Qin Siyao had come to the Imperial Palace today, spending the morning with her mother before visiting her father, the Sovereign.
As Qin Siyao was strolling through the palace grounds with her father,
Suddenly, the Sovereign of Qin seemed to sense something and looked toward the ancestral temple within the palace.
"Father, is something wrong?" Qin Siyao asked. A bad feeling had also begun to stir in her heart.
Just like that time with her second brother...
"Let’s go take a look!"
The Sovereign of Qin gave a commanding wave.
In an instant, Qin Siyao was following her father into the ancestral temple.
At the very front of the temple, among the Royal Family’s Life Lamps, the one symbolizing the Eldest Prince suddenly went out.
"Eldest Brother..."
Qin Siyao whispered, her mind going completely blank.
’How can this be?’
’Eldest Brother is with my husband. How could he...’
"Your Majesty!"
Just then, a Maid’s panicked cry came from the entrance of the ancestral temple.
Qin Siyao turned and saw her mother’s body go limp as she collapsed to the ground.
"Mother!"
Qin Siyao rushed forward and caught her mother in her arms.
"Jing Su... My child... Why is this happening? Why must heaven take both of my children from me? Why... why..."
"Mother!" Seeing her mother faint in her arms, Qin Siyao cried out in alarm, "Don’t frighten me... Mother..."
...
「Three days after the end of the Battle of Shuling,」
Xiao Mo finally broke into the Jin Kingdom’s Imperial City.
After entering the city, Xiao Mo’s troops did not harm a single one of the Imperial City’s common citizens.
The Jin Kingdom’s Royal Family, however, was not so fortunate.
Unlike the Sovereign of the Chu Kingdom, King Jin cherished his life.
The moment the Imperial City was breached, King Jin fled under the protection of the Jin Kingdom’s iron cavalry.
But Xiao Mo could not possibly allow such a major threat to remain.
Otherwise, the Jin Kingdom would retain its legitimate line of succession, which would cause immense trouble in the future.
Therefore, Xiao Mo personally led his cavalry in pursuit and, with his own hands, took the head of King Jin.
Aside from King Jin, the Crown Prince and all other Princes present in the Jin Imperial City were also killed by Xiao Mo’s hand.
Although the Jin Royal Family was not completely wiped out—there were still many Royal Family and Relatives outside the Imperial City—Xiao Mo was no longer concerned.
Those Dukes were not of one mind at all.
So what if they propped up a new representative for the Jin Royal Family?
How many people would even acknowledge them?
Why would the other Dukes accept it?
In the end, those Dukes would only support different Puppets for their own gain.
However, on the very day Xiao Mo conquered the Jin Imperial City, just as he was preparing to lead his army to Caiyun City to reinforce Crown Prince Qin Jingsu, a battle report delivered by Flying Sword arrived in his hands.
Gazing at the report, Xiao Mo stood frozen in place, unable to recover his senses for a long time.
"General, could it be that something happened at Caiyun City?"
Seeing Xiao Mo’s expression, Li Dadan and the others began to grow anxious.
Xiao Mo shook his head and passed the report to his Vice Generals. "Crown Prince Qin Jingsu... has been killed in battle."
"What?!" Li Jing couldn’t believe the news.
"General, what happened?" Zhao Guang asked in disbelief. "Weren’t things going smoothly with Caiyun City’s defense? With the army the Crown Prince led and the Caiyun City Grand Array, they should have been able to hold out for another month without any problems, right?"
In Zhao Guang’s eyes, he had held Yanmen Pass for so long back then, and the Caiyun City Defense Array was in no way inferior to the one at Yanmen Pass.
Not to mention, Caiyun City had ample supplies, and the Crown Prince was hardly an incompetent man. How could it have been breached so quickly?
"The problem was the Grand Array at Caiyun City," Xiao Mo said, shaking his head and steadying his nerves. "After the Crown Prince left Caiyun City, he was concerned the Jin Dukes would intercept us. He retreated while simultaneously trying to buy us more time. Ultimately, the Crown Prince failed to break through at Shuling... and he fell."
"..." The men fell silent, their eyes filled with grief and indignation.
Even though Qin Jingsu was the Crown Prince, he was extremely approachable and put on no airs.
Moreover, during these recent times, they had all fought and faced death together. Everyone had long since come to see Qin Jingsu as a brother.
"Li Jing, you will be the lead General. Xiao Yang and Xiao Gui, you two will serve as Vice Generals. Guard the Jin Imperial City. Our wounded will also be left here in the Imperial City under your care.
Yongsheng, you will act as the recruitment officer here. Just as in the Chu, Yan, and Wei Regions, only recruit willing individuals from the Jin Region.
If no one volunteers, so be it. Otherwise, they will not only be useless on the battlefield, but they will also undermine our military discipline, and could even become turncoats.
As for the Jin generals who surrendered to us, I will leave half of their forces to be integrated into your army. I’m taking the rest with me!
While I am away on campaign, you are to repair the Jin Imperial City’s Array with the utmost speed and be ready for orders at any time. Understood?"
Xiao Mo instructed.
"Yes, General!"
The men all clasped their fists in a salute and responded in unison.
Early the next morning, Xiao Mo led his grand army out of the Jin Imperial City.
The allied army of Jin Dukes, who had killed Qin Jingsu, thought they were in the clear and also hurried toward the Jin Imperial City.
However, when they soon heard the news that the Jin Imperial City had truly been conquered, they all stared at one another, at a loss for what to do.
"This must be false news spread by Xiao Mo! It’s just one of his schemes," one of the Jin Dukes said. "Everyone, we must not be swayed by him!"
The others nodded, also feeling that the Imperial City could not have been breached so easily.