Chapter 101 - 90: Secrets of the Battle of Yin Wu

Chapter 101: Chapter 90: Secrets of the Battle of Yin Wu

The Earl of Zhongyuan.

The husband of his older cousin.

He fought alongside King Jiang and Prince Qi in that war.

After returning from the battlefield, it was announced that his cousin’s husband had died in battle, and the Earl of Zhongyuan’s estate was raided and confiscated.

There had to be some hidden secret behind this.

Zeng Anmin’s thoughts were a bit tangled, but on the surface, he continued to look at the Little Fatty Crown Prince calmly.

The Little Fatty Crown Prince had already begun to slowly recount the tale of that great war.

"The Holy Dynasty and the Jiang Dynasty joined forces to attack the Bi Xuan tribe. The location was right in front of Jade Gate Pass, which borders the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. Speaking of Jade Gate Pass, it was built at the border by the order of Emperor Xin of Han, the father of Emperor Ai of Han of the previous dynasty, who was quite far-sighted before his son’s accession. And it is precisely this Jade Gate Pass that has protected our Great Saint Dynasty and Jiang Country from the Demon Race’s ravages for hundreds of years."

"Get to the point," Zeng Anmin reminded him, sensing that the Little Fatty Crown Prince was getting too carried away with his storytelling.

"Oh, right!" The Crown Prince coughed lightly, reorganized his thoughts, and then looked up earnestly. "Back then, our Great Saint Dynasty had Ji Qing holding down the fort with seventy thousand elite troops at his command, not to mention Prince Qi, a newly advanced Fourth Grade Martial Artist, by his side. There was also another person—a peerless genius who, despite only being in the Fifth Grade, wielding a three-foot sword, could hold his own against a Fourth Grade expert without losing. His name was Duan Yuheng!"

The Crown Prince paused, his expression returning to calmness as he added, "That is to say, the Earl of Zhongyuan. Back then, the Earl of Zhongyuan was known as the Capital’s Number One Sword."

"Isn’t the Capital’s Number One Sword Bai Ziqing?" Zeng Anmin paused in surprise. He hadn’t forgotten that back in Liangjiang Commandery, Bai Ziqing had told him that if he ever ran into trouble in the Capital City, he just needed to mention the title of the Capital’s Number One Sword. Speaking of him, Zeng Anmin wondered how his hair-dyeing skills were coming along nowadays.

"Hehe, Brother Quan Fu, there’s something you don’t know. Although Bai Ziqing is also a genius and even successfully advanced to the Fourth Grade the year before last, he once fought the Earl of Zhongyuan back in the day... Although only the two of them knew about that battle, from that point on, Bai Ziqing joined the Imperial City Department to become an ordinary Imperial Guard.

"Speaking of which, Bai Ziqing also participated in the Yin Wu Demon Eradication Campaign. He just followed closely behind Prince Qi and didn’t receive much of the credit.

"It was only after the Earl of Zhongyuan died that he dared to call himself the Capital’s Number One Sword."

The Crown Prince explained to Zeng Anmin with a chuckle, before emphasizing heavily, "His title of the Capital’s Number One Sword is self-proclaimed." ℯ

Understood.

So Bai Ziqing bestowed the title of the Capital’s Number One Sword upon himself.

Zeng Anmin couldn’t help but feel a bit amused inwardly. He thought, "Wait, why did the topic derail again? Weren’t we supposed to be talking about the war?"

Zeng Anmin couldn’t be bothered to correct the Crown Prince and directly asked, "How did the Earl of Zhongyuan die? Why was his estate confiscated by the Court?"

Hearing Zeng Anmin’s words, the Crown Prince’s expression cooled slightly. "The Earl of Zhongyuan defected to the Demon Race."

What?!!

Zeng Anmin froze completely!

Defected to the demons??

Those simple words carried an unprecedented amount of information that made his scalp tingle. Treason and defecting to the Demon Race. For such a crime, let alone confiscating an estate, executing nine generations of one’s family would be considered a light punishment. If the emperor had been any less open-minded, he would have directly executed ten generations.

He thought, "Wait... if that were the case, how did my cousin survive? She had already married into the Earl of Zhongyuan’s estate by then... Could it be that my old man pulled some strings to save her? No, I have to go back and ask him!"

His thoughts were in a chaotic mess. Zeng Anmin took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing these tangled thoughts, and looked at the Little Fatty Crown Prince with absolute seriousness.

Seeing that Zeng Anmin remained silent for a long time, the Little Fatty Crown Prince sighed. "To be honest, when this news first arrived, I didn’t believe it either. But the facts were laid bare...

"At that time, after several fierce battles, both the Demon Race and the Holy River joint army suffered heavy casualties. Prince Qi was even severely injured and immobilized. In the end, the Empress—who was still the Eldest Princess of Jiang Country back then—devised a plan to lure the enemy. The ambush location was set at the Baideng Path, not far outside Jade Gate Pass."

"Baideng Path..." Zeng Anmin’s gaze grew thoughtful.

"At that time, the joint army of the two countries moved all their troops near the Baideng Path," the Crown Prince continued. "Since Prince Qi was injured, the task of luring the enemy forces was handed over to the Earl of Zhongyuan, Duan Yuheng."

At this point, the Crown Prince’s gaze turned cold, and a hint of mockery entered his voice. "Only, no one expected that the joint army of the two countries would wait for nearly two days without Duan Yuheng luring the Demon Army over. After waiting for a few more days, Ji Qing sent troops out to investigate. All they found was a devastated battlefield. The Demon Soldiers had completely retreated..."

"Wait." Zeng Anmin noticed a detail and looked at the Crown Prince. "You mean to say, the Demon Race seemed to have received news of the ambush, so they didn’t enter the Baideng Path."

After Zeng Anmin said this, the Crown Prince’s face darkened slightly. He nodded and continued, "At that time, all the generals and soldiers of the two countries were lying in ambush at the Baideng Path. Only Duan Yuheng was leading troops outside. He received the order to lure the enemy, and no one knows what he did during those two days outside."

"But that isn’t enough to prove he defected to the Demon Race," Zeng Anmin said, feeling that pinning such a crime on his cousin’s husband so easily was too much of a joke.

The Crown Prince took a deep breath, his voice heavy. "When they found Duan Yuheng, they only found his corpse. And at the tailbone of his corpse... grew a green tail..."

Zeng Anmin shuddered all over. He thought, "Demon Blood Martial Dao?! No wonder he could fight head-on against a Fourth Grade despite only having Fifth Grade aptitude..."

"Brother Quan Fu, you might not be very familiar with the path of a Martial Artist. Besides cultivating one’s own Martial Pill, there is another way to advance in Martial Art—and that is to supplement it with the essence blood of the Demon Race."

The Crown Prince took another deep breath and said, "Therefore, there’s only one conclusion. When Duan Yuheng was ordered to lure the enemy out, he encountered Bi Xuan. He was tempted by the Bi Xuan Demon King’s essence blood and leaked the news of the ambush."