When the Hewu had gone three days without attacking, Li Chi and the others had no choice but to wonder whether their scheme — a plan they had never held much hope for in the first place — had actually worked.
But on the fourth day, the Hewu forces came on in a great, sweeping advance — which forced Li Chi and the others to reassess. The plan had, it seemed, failed after all.
Li Chi stood on the city wall watching the Hewu formations bear down in perfect order, and raised his spyglass toward the small village about twenty li out.
Even with the glass, he could only make out vague shapes on the rise — someone in armor that appeared to be the Southern Court Grand General’s war-plate. The figure sat upon the rise, a cluster of attendants behind him, and the commander’s main banner still flew.
He lowered his gaze back to the formation’s front, to the battlefield commander leading the advance. Recognizable — the same Hewu general from three days ago.
Everything appeared unchanged. What had to come had come. Yu Jiuling’s curse had not taken hold.
“Two possibilities,” Li Chi said to Xiahou Zuo. “Either it genuinely didn’t work — or it did, and someone in the Hewu command with enough authority stepped in to replace Chizhu Liuli immediately.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “If it’s the latter, only someone from the Azure Bureau could manage that. Any one of Chizhu Liuli’s generals stepping forward would be challenged by all the others — they’re all rivals and none would accept the others’ authority. Only an Azure Bureau figure could silence them.”
Li Chi gave a nod: “Against Western Regions forces, if the main commander falls, their army’s spirit collapses — they’re barely worth fighting. But we’re facing the Hewu.”
He turned and called out: “Ready for battle!”
The soldiers on the wall responded in unison, adjusted the crossbow wagons, and prepared to meet the Hewu assault.
One day. Two days. Three days…
The Hewu had planned to take Beishan Pass within ten days. Their plan dissolved against the Central Plains border defenders as if it had never existed.
Backed by what Li Chi had spent years preparing for the border army, the defenders turned back wave after wave of Hewu assault.
Ten days. Fifteen. Twenty. A month. Two months…
Eight hundred thousand Hewu troops were held at bay beyond the frontier gate by thirty thousand border soldiers. For nearly two months, the Hewu assaults came a hundred times over — and not once did a single Hewu soldier set foot on top of the wall at Beishan Pass.
—
The northwest. Liangzhou City.
The kings of those smaller kingdoms gathered once more. Their previous meeting had produced nothing of substance. Some felt that inaction guaranteed Hewu retaliation. Others felt Hewu was too far away — if the attack failed, Dantai Qi’s retaliation was certain.
The back-and-forth had dragged their so-called plans out for nearly two months.
And in those two months, they had missed their best opportunity. Because the messenger Li Chi had sent to Dantai Qi had arrived — and Dantai Qi had already put Liangzhou City’s defenses in order.
At the same time, Dantai Qi had deployed large numbers of scouts to move west and gather intelligence on the surrounding kingdoms.
In all honesty, not one of the kingdoms gathering now had dealt directly with Liangzhou before. A few years back, when the Liangzhou army moved west, it hadn’t actually deployed many troops — yet young General Dantai Qi had commanded the combined Western Regions forces and wiped out several small kingdoms in succession.
After that, the Western Regions kingdoms feared Liangzhou to their bones. Even a few of the kingdoms that had once contemplated moving against Dantai Qi had not joined this gathering.
Only those who had never been truly hurt could manage not to truly fear. Those who had been hurt had only to call it to mind, and a cold feeling settled in the spine.
This gathering was larger than the last — seven kingdoms had sent rulers the first time; this time there were thirteen.
Presiding over the meeting was the emperor of Anran Kingdom, Deshike. He swept the room with a glance, then let his gaze settle on the emperor of Lingyuan Kingdom, Biebu Ketuo.
“King of Lingyuan,” Deshike said. “The matter you raised last time — why not present it again before everyone.”
The Lingyuan emperor, Biebu Ketuo, gave a short sound of displeasure: “You’re the one who called this meeting. If you’re not saying it, neither am I.”
For safety reasons, this gathering had been held outside any of their individual territories. These small kingdoms were already suspicious and hostile toward one another — without Hewu pressure, they would never have sat down together. None of them dared hold the meeting within any single kingdom: being seized and held hostage there was a real prospect, with no means of rescue.
The meeting site had been chosen at Gula Mountain — a distinctive location at the junction of four kingdoms’ borders.
They were assembled at the Bakumeng grassland below Gula Mountain, one of the rare fertile grasslands of the Western Regions, not especially large but sustaining close to a hundred thousand people across more than a hundred scattered tribal clans.
The largest clan numbered over ten thousand; the smallest had only a few dozen.
Among those present was also Bayin Ke, chief of the Bakumeng. But his expression was miserable — this had nothing to do with him. The Bakumeng had never wanted to be at odds with the Liangzhou army. Yet the assembled kingdoms had pressured him, and the location was in his territory — he appeared to have had no choice.
When a nation is weak, you lose even the right to speak. Let alone a tribal confederation.
“If everyone is going to keep up this attitude, you may as well all go back and each prepare for your own defense,” Deshike said coldly. “The Hewu expeditionary army will arrive soon. You’ll either get beaten into the dirt by the Liangzhou army while crying for your parents, or get shattered to pieces by the Hewu expedition force.”
Biebu Ketuo smiled: “You called this meeting — just say what you need to say directly. We’re listening.”
Deshike said: “Fine. I’ll say it plainly. Everyone here had better make their position clear. You should all be well aware of Dantai Qi’s temperament — whether you declare yourselves or not, simply being here today, if he learns of it — who among you is going to come out of this well?”
The assembled rulers exchanged looks.
Deshike had received a generous gift from the Hewu envoy, which was why he was pressing hardest for an attack on Liangzhou City. The Hewu had also told him their expeditionary force was already partway there — it would arrive within half a month.
That was the source of his confidence. Once the Hewu arrived, these timid, hesitant figures would be frightened into line. And if he had been the one leading the charge — after the Hewu expedition took Liangzhou City and drove on into the Central Plains — his own reward would naturally be the largest.
For the Western Regions kingdoms, the Liangzhou army was a mountain blocking the road. They couldn’t fight their way past it, but that didn’t stop them from coveting the wealth of the Central Plains.
Deshike swept the room one more time and asked with a smile: “Since all of you are so well acquainted with Dantai Qi’s temperament — then…”
At that moment, someone strode in through the entrance — gold armor, crimson cape, one long step inside the tent.
“Since you all know my temperament so well…”
The general who had just walked in looked across the assembled faces, his voice carrying a faint chill: “How do you dare gather here?”
The temperature in the room dropped at those words, as if everyone had been submerged in ice at the same instant.
Bayin Ke of the Bakumeng immediately rose from his seat and bowed deep: “Greetings, Grand General!”
Dantai Qi gave him a nod.
It was Bayin Ke who, after being pressured by the surrounding kingdoms, had weighed his options — and ultimately chosen to send word to Dantai Qi.
Bayin Ke asked: “Grand General — did you bring a great army? These men attempted to plot against you. Not one of them should be left alive!”
Having already made his choice, he naturally hoped Dantai Qi would cut it all out by the root. Otherwise, the Bakumeng would face the combined wrath of these kingdoms — much better if all of them died here, with no one alive to say what had happened. If the other kingdoms demanded answers later, he could simply say Dantai Qi had arrived with troops. And who could prove otherwise?
“I did not bring a great army,” Dantai Qi said, walking further into the tent. “I brought eighty veteran soldiers.”
“Eighty men…”
Bayin Ke heard this and went still for a moment. He had not imagined, in any version of his thinking, that the Grand General of the Liangzhou army had left Liangzhou City with eighty men and come here to a place more than a thousand li away.
Eighty men. What could eighty men do?
Dantai Qi walked to the center of the tent and swept the room: “Are you here deliberating on how to kill me?”
Everyone he looked at dropped their eyes. Even Deshike’s first instinct was to lower his head.
But after a moment, Deshike raised it again. He stood, looked at Dantai Qi, and said: “You really do have guts — coming here with only a few dozen men. Well, here we are. We’ve been wondering how to get into Liangzhou City to kill you, and you’ve walked in and delivered yourself.”
He raised a hand and pointed: “Kill him!”
His personal guards moved to act. But Dantai Qi laughed: “I didn’t bring a great army because my generals have already led the Liangzhou cavalry into your territory. If nothing’s gone wrong, they’ve already taken your royal court. Your wives, children, kin, and clanspeople are all in my cavalry’s hands.”
He stepped forward — straight toward Deshike — and stopped with barely a breath between them, looking directly into Deshike’s eyes: “I brought only eighty men because if I had brought more, there wouldn’t be enough heads to go around.”
Deshike’s color drained. His eyes flickered visibly. He raised his voice quickly: “Don’t believe him — he’s talking nonsense trying to frighten you. The Liangzhou army couldn’t possibly have left the city to attack us…”
Dantai Qi said with a cold smile: “Still trying to rally your allies? My Liangzhou cavalry is in fact attacking only your kingdom — not these others. But!”
Dantai Qi swept the room: “I wouldn’t mind if the next kingdom I struck were any one of yours. I could point to any one of you at random. Can any of you point to Liangzhou City at random?”
Every gaze in the room dropped again.
Dantai Qi walked over to Bayin Ke’s place and sat down. He glanced at the cup on the table; Bayin Ke quickly bowed and poured him a cup of wine.
Dantai Qi raised it and drank it in one swallow, then exhaled slowly.
“You make your own decision. If you want to kill me — go ahead and try.”
No one dared speak. Not even Deshike, not at first.
After a silence, Lingyuan’s emperor Biebu Ketuo was the first to bow: “Lingyuan Kingdom will always be the Grand General’s friend. We were deceived into coming here by Deshike.”
“Yes, yes, yes…”
Once he spoke, everyone else — everyone except Deshike — began immediately echoing the sentiment.
“You idiots!” Deshike roared. “You’ve all fallen for his trick — he’s dividing and isolating us!”
Dantai Qi let out a short sound of contempt: “Dividing you? Do I need to? Without Hewu to give you courage, would you even dare raise your voice at me?”
He drew his long blade and sent it flying forward. It drove into the ground with a sharp thud, hilt quivering.
“I’ve thrown my blade at your feet,” Dantai Qi said, watching Deshike. “Do you dare pick it up?”
Dantai Qi lifted the wine jar and poured himself another cup. He raised it, but did not bring it to his lips — hand paused in mid-air.
He raised his head and asked: “Wasn’t he just now pressuring all of you to declare yourselves?”
Lingyuan’s emperor Biebu Ketuo’s expression shifted through several changes. He hesitated — then grasped Dantai Qi’s long blade with both hands, drew it from the earth, and drove it into Deshike’s belly.
The corner of Dantai Qi’s mouth curved.
A rabble, every last one of them.