Feng Yu Jiu Tian vol. 23 ch. 5/3

Translator: churnie

Zhuang Pu seems to understand what he’s going to say, and glances at him quietly, “Do you think it’s strange that I am a general who supports the royal family the most and values the royal family’s bloodline the most in the Tong kingdom, but why do i secretly disdain people who become officials by bloodline and background?”

Wu Qian nods frankly.

“This is probably the contradiction of being a human being.” Zhuang Pu smiles bitterly, “As a general, I pay attention to practical ability, because no matter how noble the bloodline is, it is useless on the battlefield where swords have no eyes. But as a subject…… The great king graced me greatly, by bestowing me the title of the imperial general and gave me the important task of protecting the royal family, which I can never repay for the rest of my life. I just didn’t expect that I would be so useless, not only the great king was killed, but also watched the imperial uncle being killed in front of me, and the prince and his wife were both killed, and the stupid person like me unexpectedly let go of their killer.”

After speaking, the tone is getting more and more serious.

In a moment he’s stirred up, and his chest panting rapidly.

Seeing him like this, Wu Qian realizes that He Yan is right, Zhuang Pu is really angry quickly and heart attacked, he’s seriously ill and so he quickly helps him to caress him. “General, the war is imminent, you must take care of your health, as for this conversation about the great king’s benevolence towards us, we will speak slowly after we avenge them. How about i’m going to call He Yan and the others, and continue to discuss the war situation.” He gets up and goes to call someone.

“No no, I must say it now,” Zhuang Pu grabs Wu Qian’s sleeve, pulls him down again, and whispers in a hoarse voice, “Do you know why I told you this? Because the Prince and Imperial Uncle were gone, you are the royal family closest to the great king by bloodline, as long as I am, Zhuang Pu, still breathing, I will send you to the Tong kingdom’s throne. You can think about this in your heart, but when you say it, it will be much more serious”.

It’s not that Wu Qian doesn’t think about this possibility, but he’s still very shocked when he heard it in person, his face changes color, and he says, “What did you say? The great revenge has not yet been avenged, now is not the time to talk about this…”

“Now is the time to talk about this.” Zhuang Pu shows his doughty character as a veteran of the battlefield, resolutely cut off Wu Qian’s words, and says sternly: “Yes, I, Zhuang Pu, is just a mere warrior, but I also know that the royal court fighting for the throne is the most dangerous battlefield, and now you are involved in this battlefield. The reason why I fully support you is not because we are friends, but because the Tong kingdom is already rotten, the superiors do nothing, and the national strength is declining day by day. In order for the Tong kingdom to be strong again, we must have a new king with courage and vision.”

He grabs Wu Qian’s wrist, and squeezes it hard, “That’s you, Wu Qian. Only with your brand-new ideas, selecting talents, strengthening the army, and protecting the people, can the Tong kingdom continue to exist in this world!” His bright and full of expression eyes staring at him, full of expectation.

Wu Qian is stunned, his head is exploded, his blood is boiled, and his moving nose is slightly sour, “These days the general has been trying his best to express his support for me in all aspects, including giving me the power to command other generals and issuing official document to report the Xirei people to the whole country in my name. At first I thought it was just because of my blood, but I didn’t expect that the general’s ideas were more lofty than I thought. But Wu Qian is just an ordinary person, and afraid he won’t live up to the general’s high expectation.”

Zhuang Pu waves his hand, “Stop talking about these condition. Looking from a broad point of view, there are still a few people with abilities and talents like you in the Tong royal family, but I can’t find them at the least.”

After a pause, his face becomes a little heavy, he sighs and says, “But do you understand that even if you naturally have bloodline to support you, it is not without resistance if you want to become a country’s monarch.”

Wu Qian nods, “This little kid understand about all of this, other royal families may not be so happy to see me become the new king.”

Zhuang Pu clasps his palms heavily in the air, saying, “So, let’s get to the point.”

He leans forward a little and says to Wu Qian one word at a time: “This is why I have repeatedly discouraged you from launching an immediate attack, because in this battle to avenge the royal family, we can only win, we – can’t – lose! And can only a complete victory, a big victory, not even a small victory!”

He must point to the crucial point, Wu Qian is also a smart person, and he immediately understands, “I understand. This is a battle of revenge related to the bloodline of the royal family, once the battle is defeated, or even if the enemy is not completely wiped out, I will also make those dissident royal families in the capital to find an excuse to attack me.”

“Yes, and when we lead the troops back, a new war will be waiting for us in the capital. After going through all this, Tong kingdom’s strength has been severely damaged, and it can no longer afford to go through even a little trouble.” Zhuang Pu looks at Wu Qian’s young but haggard face, he earnestly speaks: “Wu Qian, I know that Hong Yu’s death has made you very sad. But for the future of the Tong kingdom, you must be calm, only when you ascend the throne can you protect the Tong kingdom. And to smoothly ascend the throne, you need a complete victory that will leave everyone in the Tong kingdom speechless and greatly increase your prestige. Nothing can better prove your qualifications to become a new king than thoroughly revenge for the great king and them, do you understand?”

On the other hand, don’t need to say it directly, he also understands, even if he thought about it using his knees — there was nothing better to show Wu Qian’s incompetence than letting the culprit who murdered the great king and the others to escape.

In case, just in case. If Feng Ming, the little evil, or Luo Yun, the Xiao family killer who killed Imperial Uncle, escaped in the chaos, it would not only be a matter of continuing to hunt down.

This will become an excuse to attack Wu Qian, and become the fuse for the struggle between the two factions of the Tong kingdom over the candidate for the new king.

Zhuang Pu is right.

Tong kingdom seems huge, but in fact it is on the verge of collapse. After the great king disappeared, Imperial uncle and the prince fought openly and maneuvered covertly for a long time and died at the same time, Tong kingdom could no longer afford any internal fighting.

“What we want is not only an ordinary victory, but a perfect victory with great prestige, we will destroy Duke Ming, who is most valued by King of Xirei, the most outstanding imperial bodyguard of Xirei, and the elite of the most famous assassin group of the Xiao family. Therefore, we must ensure that there will be no mistake, and we will attack only when we have the greatest advantage and the most powerful troops. Don’t worry, the enemy is already trapped on the Jingsun Island, so why not let them live for two more days.”

Wu Qian nods in agreement.

Zhuang Pu’s perfunctory attitude of ordering the fleet to moor on the water, holding still, and waiting for the arrival of the three-masted ship before launching an attack over the past few days is finally explained.

Wu Qian even blames himself for the little dissatisfaction with Zhuang Pu in his heart not long ago.

Zhuang Pu is not afraid of death, nor does he ignore major events because he’s too busy taking care of his sick body.

He is the one who loves the Tong kingdom the most and has the most far-sighted vision.

No matter how many flaws the late King Qing Ding had, at least he had the right insight on this point, and absolutely chose the most worthy of entrusting military power — the imperial general Zhuang Pu.

“Wu Qian, wait a few more days, our Tong kingdom’s unparalleled maritime magic weapon three-masted ship is coming soon. I will immediately write a letter to be sent to promote Zhao Wei, Qing Xian’s lieutenant general as the captain of the fleet, and order him to lead the fleet immediately.”

Wu Qian remembers something and asks, “Speaking of this, how will the general deal with people like Qing Xian who disobeyed the general’s orders? If he’s not severely punished, everyone will ignore the military’s order in the future, and the order will be difficult to flow, which may endanger the overall situation.”

Zhuang Pu sighs, feeling a little helpless, “Of course I know that Qing Xian is hateful, and there may be that old fool Qing An’s deed, but what can i do? At most, i can replace Qing Xian’s post, but i can’t really follow the rules of the military to behead him. After all, he is a royal family, killing him will not only cause dissatisfaction with other royal families in Tongze, but i myself also…”

He’s stunned for a moment, then shakes his head with a wry smile, “The great king ordered me to defend the royal family, but now I have lost imperial uncle, the prince, imperial consort, and the little imperial grandson, do I still have to raise a butcher knife and kill the remaining royal family? Let’s just forget it.”

Wu Qian also knows that it’s difficult for him to do so, and he nods in agreement, “I understand. Oh, let me call He Yan and the others in, they are probably also waiting for the news from us.”

Not long after, He Yan and other generals return to the room.

After the conversation with Zhuang Pu, Wu Qian still hates Feng Ming, but he’s more calm, seeing He Cheng Long and others look strangely at him, he also knows that what he had said just then was not pleasant, so he simply grits his teeth, stands up and bows with clasping his hands to them, apologizes, “I wrongly blamed the generals just now, Wu Qian apologized to the generals. Lieutenant General He, please don’t mind what i just said.”

Everyone is surprised when he admitted his mistake so calmly.

Looking at his expression, he’s genuine and sincere.

Everyone is outspoken warrior on the battlefield, and there are not many fuss as the civilian court official, seeing Wu Qian admitting his mistake like this, they feel embarrassed and even say, “I don’t dare to do it, I can’t blame Lord Wu Qian for this, in fact, we are eager to kill the evils to avenge the great king.”

The little grudge is immediately uncovered, and the atmosphere is suddenly getting much more harmonious than before.

Although Zhuang Pu is sick, he doesn’t want his subordinates to see his weak appearance, and despite everyone’s stopping, he forces himself to sit up straight for the meeting.

He explains clearly his decision to continue waiting for the opportunity in the battle and let the three-masted ship join the battle, he tells someone on the spot to write a letter and send him to deliver it.

The next step is to listen to everyone’s preparations before the battle, as well as the situation of the enemy detected.

“What’s the news on Jingsun Island?”

“The enemy has built an arrow tower on the shore, and it seems that there are other fortifications, as for the specific…” He Yan awkwardly says: “There is no cover on the water, and once we approached, we would be detected by the enemy. This situation in Jingsun Island is even more prominent, which is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, now we can only observe the other’s movements from the distance. It’s all this subordinate’s incompetence, please the general punish me.”

Zhuang Pu objectively says: “It’s not your fault, the situation is unusual, such a long distance, and a water battle confrontation, it is indeed difficult to have information before the battle.”

He smiles and continues: “He Yan, there is no need to be frustrated. With such a large distance between the two sides, we can’t investigate them, nor they can approach us in any way.”

He Cheng Long smiles and says, “Don’t take this kind of trivial matter to heart. Besides, as soon as the three-masted fleet arrives, they will only be slaughtered. The only thing they can do now is to watch our fleet trembling from the distance, hahaha.”

“Yes, just let them tremble for a few more days, and face the fear before their courage is shattered.”

“Watching more and more warships and doing nothing, the Xiao family’s scoundrels must be so scared that they only tremble!”

Boom!!

When the generals were full of fighting spirit and confidence, and imagining the ridiculous appearance of the enemy’s trembling, there was a sudden shock from the top of the cabin.

As if something had fallen on it.

Everyone is suddenly stunned.

Boom! Boom!

When the cabin quieted down, the following sounds are louder, one after another.

Seems like small stones hit the roof or deck.

He Yan is the first to react, brushes open the door, and shouts, “What’s going on outside?”

One of his confidant guards runs over quickly, his face full of horror, out of breath, points to the deck and reports, “General, deck… on the deck… out…outside…”

He Yan glares, “What happened on the deck? Say it!”

“De..dec…on the deck, stones… it’s stone rain!”

He Yan is stunned for a moment, then immediately becomes furious, “What stone rain, noble kid He! Did you steal wine on the ship again? It’s outrageous, somebody!”

Just as he’s about to pull the imperial guard down, another guard rushes over and shouts all the way, “General, it’s not good! The enemy suddenly launch an attack! They smash our warship with stones! They smash several times!”

“Feng Wan Cai, you haven’t woken up, have you? We are so far away from the island, how can any stones get to us…”

Suddenly, He Yan lost his voice like a mute, and snatches the ‘enemy weapon’ that the imperial guard has handed over to bring under his own nose — an ordinary stone with a small silver bottle with a sealed lid is tied with a rope.

“This…this this…” He Yan is shocked and taking a few deep breaths before bursting into an almost high pitch tone, “This is what the enemy shot from the island! They…. what the hell do they shoot with! How do they shoot so far!”

He suddenly turns around and rushes into the cabin holding the terrifying stone in his arms, his face changes color, and he says, “General, it’s really bad! That Xiao family evil, don’t know what terrifying weapon he makes, our fleet is within their range, our army must retreat immediately!”

All the generals in the cabin are taken aback.

“What’s within the range?” Zhuang Pu is also shock that he stands up, and shouts, “Pass my order, the entire fleet will immediately retreat 100 meters!”

Immediately, someone runs out to handle it.

Then Zhuang Pu turns around and asks He Yan, “What’s going on?”

“The enemy threw a stone, and a bottle was attached,” He Yan hears the movement of sailors hurriedly running on the deck from outside, takes out a dagger, pries open the mouth of the sealed bottle, probes inside with his fingers, and says in surprise: “General, there is a letter in it.” He takes out the letter that’s rolled up and unfolds it.

So all the people gather around to see.

Immediately, Xirei’s Duke Ming calligraphy, which is underwhelmed yet full of enthusiasm, appear under more than a dozen pairs of eyes.

The writing has the consistent style of Feng Ming ── Wu Qian, you and Hong Yu will always be my friends, why don’t we all sit down and talk calmly.

Everyone looks at each other.

This evil has killed our great king, imperial uncle, prince, imperial consort, the future grandson… He thought he could sit down and talk calmly!

When Wu Qian saw the word ‘Hong Yu’, his heart ached, he gritted his teeth and said, “How dare you have the nerve to mention Hong Yu to me, despicable, vicious, and treacherous villain! Do you think I will be fooled by you?”

He snatches the letter from He Yan’s hand, bits his finger, and blood spurt out.

On the back of Feng Ming’s letter, there’s a line of bloody words written in full force – Feng Ming evil, don’t even think about peace talks! If i didn’t kill you, I wouldn’t be a human!

All hatred is pinned on the war letter written by blood.

After signing the signature at the bottom, Wu Qian put the blood letter back into the bottle, and throws it to the imperial guard beside him, “Seal it! Ask those who are familiar with the current to find a place to put the bottle down in the water and make sure it floats to the west coast of Jingsun Island!”

Traitor! Murderer!

The day the three-masted fleet arrives is your death!