The letter was soon sent out, its destination: the imperial palace of Grand Xia. Just like that, it arrived within the hands of Zhang Sun within merely a day.
Throughout all that, Ning Chen waited with bated breath within the city’s manor. He had just exchanged blows not too long ago with a damned donkey from the Western Doya Temple so he knew exactly how hard these monks were to deal with. If the southwestern front had to deal with these monks, under the leadership of a Third-Calamity Xiantian no less, it simply couldn’t hold out.
On the second night his letter was sent out, in midst of his furrowed pacing, something completely unexpected happened. It wasn’t that the reply to his letter arrived, instead it was Zhang Sun herself who arrived.
Standing right beside her as always was Qing Ning, face slightly haggard from fatigue. Clearly the trip here had taken a toll on her; even a Peak Ninth-grade expert would find it hard to cover that distance while bringing another person after all.
As the pair pushed open the doors to Ning Chen’s room, his eyes flew wide open immediately as he sat there on his bed nursing a bowl of medicinal soup. Without wasting another second dallying, he hurried off the bed and saluted them.
“That’s enough, you’re still injured and shouldn’t needlessly move around.” As Zhang Sun said that, she raised her hand and motioned for the teen to desist.
“Your Majesty, why have you come?”
“There are some words that can’t be enunciated clearly in a letter,” was Zhang Sun’s cryptic reply. Sitting on down on his bedside, she turned her head slightly to gaze at little Ming Yue who was sound asleep at the moment. “You intend to lug him along throughout?”
“Mhm.” Ning Chen merely nodded his head.
At that, Zhang Sun asked no more and instead diverted the topic. “The matter regarding the southwest was a miscalculation on this Empress’s part. I’ve already read your letter, however electing a new emperor isn’t that simple, the situation within the Imperial City has gotten noticeably complicated.”
“How so?” Ning Chen’s eyebrows couldn’t help but jump as those words left his mouth. With three grand dukes and Zhang Sun holding down the fort there, was there even a matter they couldn’t decide?
However, what he received wasn’t the surety he expected but rather a look of helplessness that graced Zhang Sun’s creased eyebrows. “There’s a divide between the grand dukes. Duke Taishi doesn’t favor the Tenth Prince and yet Duke Xiyu won’t back down on this matter, further insisting on his candidate instead. As for Duke Qingwu, he’d rather the Third Prince ascend. With no consensus in sight between the grand dukes, this matter was put on hold.”
“What kind of situation do they think we are in right now and they still dally about like that…” Griped an irate Ning Chen. However, there was nothing he could do about this either. The choice of a new emperor truly wasn’t a trivial matter. Should Grand Xia be cursed with another despot like Xia Rui, it would be truly be the end of the road for Grand Xia then.
After a moment of contemplation, Ning Chen continued, “What about the Eldest Prince, has he said anything so far?”
With regards to this prince, he was probably the only person left in the Xia palace for whom he harbored feelings of guilt. The prince had saved him once and yet he made the suggestion to give up on him without a shred of hesitation.
Zhang Sun shook her head and sighed. “Ziyi hasn’t said much about this matter except that he will respect this Empress’s choice. Whomever ascends, he will do his best to support them.”
Hearing that, Ning Chen was suddenly struck with a complicated mix of feelings that he just couldn’t put to words. The Eldest Prince was truly a gentleman. Disposition brimming with righteousness, he was truly a person worth respecting.
Unfortunately, a man like him was born in the wrong household, imperial household.
“Regarding the matter of a new emperor, it has to be handled by your Majesty, Ning Chen can’t interfere in that. However, it mustn’t drag on any longer, the troops stationed at the Imperial City have to be deployed.” Having said that, his eyes went wide for a moment as if he had just thought of something. Staring right at Zhang Sun, he asked, “Your Majesty, how many Xiantian Pills are left in the palace?”
“Two, what’s the matter? Why bring this up now?”
Prior to this, the palace had three such pills. Mostly likely, one was bestowed upon Old Eunuch Pei by the Xia Emperor. That left the remaining two pills hidden deep within the secret halls behind Revelation Hall, guarded by traps which only the grand dukes and Zhang Sun knew the layout for.
“Sister Qing Ning, if you had a Xiantian Pill, how high are your chances of breaking through into the Xiantian realm?” Asked Ning Chen, eyes turning around.
“Less than 40%.”
“What if you were given two pills instead?” Eyes frowning, he pressed on with this idea of his.
“60%”
By now, Zhang Sun had gotten the basic gist of what he was planning. Still slightly leery of it, a look of apprehension couldn’t help but cross her eyes. Even though she was the Empress, there were only two such pills left in the entire Grand Xia; this matter wasn’t one she could make lightly.
“Sooner or later Your Majesty will have to bear some responsibility. Other than Sister Qing Ning, there’s truly no one else I can trust.”
“This Empress understands.” Zhang Sun nodded her head. She knew that she shouldn’t hesitate now. Even if it meant that some people will resent her for this decision, she had to bear this consequence.
With the way Grand Xia had its elite forces stretched thin on both sides, they truly needed a new Xiantian to appear.
“If it’s possible, Your Majesty should endeavor to bring Eunuch Pei out of seclusion as well. No matter what, an additional Xiantian is a plus for our forces.” He suggested, though with much thought put behind it. This eunuch had tried to kill him before but now wasn’t the time to harp on such matters. Grand Xia’s situation simply was too dire to consider such nonsense.
“This Empress will do her best but the chances are slim. Ever since his Majesty was interred in the Imperial Tomb, Eunuch Pei has been by his side ever since, guarding his spirit. It is highly likely that he will remain there for the rest of his life.”
Even so, there was nothing he could do about it either, he wasn’t omnipotent after all; there were still things he couldn’t do. The fact that Eunuch Pei was a lifelong servant to the Xia Emperor meant that other than the Xia Emperor, he would listen to no one’s commands, and that included Zhang Sun and the grand dukes as well.
“What if I were to dispatch you to handle that matter in the southwest?” She suddenly asked out of the blue.
At that, Ning Chen couldn’t help but grimace in pain. That’s just not right! He wasn’t some kind of emergency response team one threw at a problem somewhere.
“Then, what about this front?” He asked in a bid to reject her indirectly.
“This Empress will dispatch Marquis Taiping to handle the negotiations for now, with two military marquis in attendance, this front should be able to hold out in the interim.”
“How many troops can you give me then?” Ning Chen asked probingly after giving it some thought. Of all that was said just now, this had to be the matter he cared about the most: if she gave him a lot, he would go, otherwise, he would have to say bye bye.
“Five thousand forbidden guards.”
“Five thousand?” It took every ounce of willpower he had to stop himself from jumping when he said that. Why don’t you just ask me to go alone instead? Was the first thought that occurred to him. With numbers like that, he was basically cannon fodder.
Those were 10000 Buddhist disciples, don’t you know!? Not some bald kittens and puppies loitering around on the street! Plus, they still had a Third-Calamity monster leading them.
“Just five thousand,” was her solemn reply. Though the cities in the southwest had their own garrisons as well, the number of troops he had under his command, at the end of the day, was just five thousand.
“Not going!” Ning Chen immediately rejected her proposal firmly. He still hadn’t lived enough yet and definitely wasn’t in a hurry to die.
“Hmph. Even so, you’re going, do you think this Empress is negotiating with you here?!”
It was then that Ning Chen finally understood the reason why she had to come herself. She knew that he was going to defy her no matter what, a letter simply wouldn’t cut it!
“Your Majesty, there’s no way I can fight with five thousand men!”
Yes, he had gunpowder at his disposal but that thing wasn’t a weapon that was always effective. At the very least, that head abbot wasn’t a person to die from mere explosives.
“Just do your best to delay them, just a month will do, reinforcements will arrive by then.”
“Is that for real, does Grand Xia even have any troops to spare right now?” Written clearly on his face were a million doubts, bared for all to see.
“If this Empress says there is then there is, stop asking so many questions!”
Even so, Ning Chen just couldn’t bring himself to believe her this time. For the sake of his wretched life, he asked in a low voice, “You’re sure?”
“Definitely.”
“…I’m taking the little Emperor with me.” He declared after a pause.
“Alright.” She nodded her head. She knew that this was one thing he wouldn’t relent on easily. Besides, having the little Emperor follow him around wasn’t exactly a bad thing either.
“Then I’ll go.” Clearly, she had already made up her mind before coming here, telling him was just a matter of formality.
“You can set off tomorrow. Three days, within those three days, whether it is Qing Ning or someone else, this Empress will get you a Xiantian expert even if she has to discard this face of hers. However, you have to show some results as well. No matter what, you must stall till the reinforcements arrive.”
“Mhm.” As stated, he planned to put forth his best. Given how many times Zhang Sun had blocked the wind and rain for him, it was about time for him to repay the favor.
“Alright then, this Empress is off. Regarding the matter of the Imperial City, this Empress will do her best to resolve it so worry not.”
Having said that, she gave one last, hard stare at the teenager in front of her before turning around to leave.
“Be careful.” Qing Ning left him those two words and then left as well.
Now that the two of them were gone, Ning Chen laid back once more on the bed, eyes closed in a helpless grimace. He knew more than anyone else that Zhang Sun was at the end of her road as well. Had it not been for that, she wouldn’t have cornered him like that. Looks like Grand Xia was truly bereft of capable talents right now.
Truth be told, he was basically leading those five thousand forbidden troops on a suicide mission. As for whether or not they could make it back alive, no one knew.
It was worth saying however, that In this world, Zhang Sun was probably the only who would speak to him so discourteously, even when the intention was to send him to his death.
Honestly, he couldn’t say for certain whether or not he could even stall them for a month. The forbidden guards were martial practitioners, that much was certain, but the buddhist disciples weren’t people anyone, not even martial practitioners, could triumph over easily.
Besides, as the saying goes, soldier against soldier, general against general, how he was going to handle that head abbot was still a mystery.
His sword, as mighty as it was, was still a far cry away from being able to fight against a Third-Calamity expert.
While Zhang Sun did mention that she would send him a Xiantian, in actuality, that wasn’t going to be much of a help either. The Diamond Body of the buddhist nation could be said to be nigh impenetrable by normal swords and blades. In other words, it was impossible for some Xiantian in the realm of the five tribulations to injure the head abbot of the Western Doya Temple.
Unless, of course, that Five-Tribulation Xiantian was Prince Yan. Unfortunately for him, the senior was bogged down with the Imperial City. He had to ensure that they wouldn’t suffer a sneak attack from someone shameless like the Golden Staff Grand Preceptor.
Thus a night of silence passed by in the blink of an eye. As the crack of dawn rose over the horizon, Ning Chen led an unwitting Ming Yue out of the room towards the southern city gate.
By now, the five thousand forbidden guards had already lined up in impeccably neat ranks with the two heads of the forbidden guards standing at the front awaiting his command.
“Are the preparations complete?” Ning Chen stepped forth and asked.
“We stand ready for Sir Marquis’s command.”
“…we set off then.” He commanded after sighing deeply in his heart.
An instant later, the giant city gates creaked open and stampede of hooves and iron marched forth towards the south.
Standing by the side was Marquis Xueyi, solemnly sending them off in silence. He knew that after today, they would mostly likely never get to meet again.
“Where are we headed off to this time?” Ming Yue asked.
“The southwest of Grand Xia.”
“Are we off to war?” She continued asked.
“Mhm.”
“Our numbers seem a little lacking.” She half-declared, half-asked with a pout. Clearly, the problem was apparent to her with a single glance as well.
“Even so, we still have to fight. There’s no helping this matter.” He answered in a soft voice.
……
After marching for a hundred li, Fan Lingyue received word of Ning Chen’s departure as well. Giving it some thought, she decided not to dispatch anyone in the end.
She knew this adversary of hers very well thus she wasn’t the least bit worried about little Ming Yue’s safety. However, she had to admit that should Ming Yue ever fall into the hands of someone else, even she wouldn’t be able to predict the outcome.
Unless she had some foolproof plan to rescue Ming Yue, she didn’t dare to take this risk and rescue her.
Ning Chen had to die, that was much certain, but only after Ming Yue was saved. That order mustn’t be reversed.
