Chapter 288: Attacking Qinzhou

Chu Yungui’s entire worldview had been shattered.

He had read books on military strategy, the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry collections, and prose. The only thing he knew about punishment came from military regulations.

In the army, punishments involved caning, whipping, or grueling physical exercises. The ultimate penalty was simply execution. But this... this criminal code?

He’d never even heard of the various methods of torture detailed within. Looking at them, you’d doubt your own eyes, finding it impossible to believe such things could be codified into law.

This wasn’t a legal code; it was a catalog of the eighteen levels of hell.

He suddenly understood why the Empress had called him a Living King of Hell.

Truly, anyone sent there would be better off dead.

And what was even stranger was that after the shock of the criminal code wore off, when he looked at the evidence of certain criminals’ deeds, his mind was flooded with various methods of torture. ’For such monstrous villains,’ he thought, ’death is far too merciful.’

"..."

His worldview was being forcibly reshaped.

And when a weapon is sharpened, it must, of course, be put to good use.

Deploy the army! To Qinzhou!

Hilariously, however, Xiao Li received a message from a scout while en route.

Cen An had been captured by King Xian’s men. He was under heavy guard and couldn’t be rescued immediately.

Cen An had managed to throw out a crumpled ball of paper, which the scout picked up and delivered to Xiao Li. Four words were written on it: "Your Majesty, save me!"

Cen An’s frantic plea: ’Help me! Help me!!’

Xiao Li was speechless.

’That hapless fool. He’s always making trouble for me.’

They had known the Empress was coming for a long time. News of her executions had spread far and wide, and her reputation for cruelty was enough to make one’s blood run cold.

Now that the Empress was leading her army to attack Qinzhou, the other shoe had finally dropped.

It wasn’t that they didn’t dare to face the Empress head-on; it was that they knew they stood no chance of winning.

Of course, King Xian’s faction still had a bit of confidence. They set up their cannons and shouted a challenge to the Empress. "Don’t get too arrogant, you tyrant! We have cannons too!"

Xiao Li laughed in exasperation. "To steal my property and then dare to flaunt it in front of me... Truly shameless."

Xiao Li maintained strict control over her firearms. Her greatest fear was the day she would see those very guns and cannons turned against her.

And now, that day had come.

Every single one of her guns and cannons was numbered. She had already run the tallies: five of the ten cannons that had been with Prince Wei were missing, and ten of the twenty cannons from Duan Ji’s unit were gone. And here they were—fifteen cannons, set up on the city wall. The entire missing arsenal.

’Huh, what was that fleeting thought?’

"Have they found Prince Wei?"

Ziyue, surprised by the sudden question about Prince Wei, paused for a moment before answering, "Your Majesty, he has not. However, of all the Silver Armor Guards who were with him, only five remain unaccounted for. The rest have rejoined our ranks."

"Oh. Understood," Xiao Li said.

Then she dismissed the thought of Prince Wei and turned her attention back to the city wall.

"Shield Armor Soldiers, provide cover! Cannoneers, prepare! I can afford to lose those fifteen cannons, but they absolutely cannot remain in enemy hands. Destroy their cannons first!"

"Yes!"

A guard immediately took the order and went to relay it.

"First and Second Shield Armor Camps, prepare for cover! Cannon Camp, prepare to fire! Target their cannons!"

The Shield Armor Army was impeccably trained. In the blink of an eye, they formed two rows. The front row planted their Shields into the ground, while the row behind them opened massive, specially-made silver umbrellas, layering them over the top. The Empress herself was encircled by a seamless wall of silver umbrellas and tunnel armor, completely shielded from view.

From atop Qinzhou City’s walls, an ignorant soldier laughed loudly. "Haha, the Empress is scared!"

"What does a woman like the Empress know about war? The moment she saw our cannons, she went and hid like a turtle in its shell! Hahaha!"

"That’s right! We have cannons. Even if you gave her ten times the courage, she wouldn’t dare approach."

"Look at that coward! And they call her a tyrant? An Empress? Ptooey!"

Foul language and loud taunts echoed from the city wall.

Behind the tunnel armor, the Silver Armor Guards rapidly assembled their cannon mounts, taking aim through the gaps in their defenses.

Thirty cannons were calibrated and ready. The gunners’ faces were grim, their concentration absolute.

Hearing their Empress insulted by the enemy ignited a fire in the hearts of all her soldiers. Their desire to blast the enemy to smithereens had never been stronger.

When Ziyue finally received the command, he raised the command flag high and roared with furious excitement, "Fire!"

Those on the tower heard a distant shout. Before they could figure out what it was, they saw the enemy’s silver umbrellas retract in an instant. The next moment, a thunderous, perfectly synchronized roar erupted from the opposing line.

Thirty black specks soared toward them.

At first glance: ’What are those?’

At second glance: "Cannonballs!"

"It’s a cannonade! Run!"

But it was too late.

Thirty shells landed on the gatehouse, exploding in the blink of an eye. The crenellations of the wall were instantly pulverized, and all fifteen of their carefully positioned cannons were blasted from their ramparts.

But it wasn’t over. Thirty shells. Sixty. Ninety. One hundred twenty. One hundred fifty. One hundred eighty. Two hundred ten.

A deafening roar echoed again and again as volley after volley of explosions tore across the city walls.

By the time the bombardment ceased, the walls of Qinzhou City had been reduced to near-level rubble.

The heavy city gates below had been blown to splinters. As for the soldiers, few were left who could even utter a sound. Even those who hadn’t been killed outright were on the verge of death.

"Charge!"

After the barrage, the cavalry charged. A brilliant, piercing flash of silver—the death summons of King Yama himself.

’To disrespect the Empress was a crime punishable by a thousand deaths, a sin that could only be cleansed with blood.’

The cavalry surged through the wreckage of the gate, where an arrow tower still stood.

The archers, terrified by the onslaught, loosed a volley of arrows, but the ordinary shafts couldn’t pierce the silver armor. Without even slowing, the Silver Armor Guards tossed explosive charges at the base of the tower, blasting open the second gate.

The cavalry rode straight through, not sparing the men in the arrow tower a single glance.

The archers stood with bows drawn, confused about where to aim. In their moment of bewilderment, the Empress’s infantry had already flanked them.

They carried short-barreled repeating crossbows. A single magazine held twelve bolts, fired too quickly for anyone to react.

「Inside the Governor Mansion.」

The first soldier reported, "Report! The Empress is personally leading her troops to attack the city!"

Moments later, as the ground shook violently, a second soldier scrambled in. "Report! The outer wall has been destroyed! General Liu is dead!"

A third soldier followed close behind. "Report! The Silver Armored Cavalry have broken through the arrow tower and are riding straight for the mansion! General Zhao and General Lu fell trying to resist!"

King Xian’s two sons, Xiao Jinghe and Xiao Jingming, along with their advisors, were pacing anxiously.

"It’s happening too fast! It’s too fast!"

"How did they breach the city in less than fifteen minutes?"

Xiao Jinghe grabbed the sleeve of a white-robed advisor beside him like a drowning man clutching a straw. "Mr. Xu, what do we do now? What are we supposed to do?"

Xu Nianqing’s face was ashen. How was he supposed to know what to do?

He knew how powerful the cannons were. He’d heard the legendary tale of how Duan Ji had annihilated Yue Country in a mere two months.

He had assumed that victory was due to Duan Ji’s skill and the power of the cannons alone.

’When the Empress executed Duan Ji, I thought she was a fool to kill such a capable general. If it were me, I would have overlooked his moral failings. This is a time of crisis; I would have absolutely employed him first and allowed him to atone for his sins through meritorious service.’

’The loss of Changzhou was because of that formidable general, Rong Qing. But I knew something had happened to Rong Qing.’

’In my mind, no matter how cruel the Empress was, she was still just a malicious woman. Without a valiant commander to lead her armies, she wouldn’t dare attack Qinzhou. Who could have known she would strike with such terrifying speed?’

’I was just about to go to the gatehouse to meet her, and she’s already broken through the gates.’

’Now, it’s no longer a question of meeting her. I’m probably going to die under the hooves of her iron cavalry, and she won’t even know my name.’

"Report! The troops from Yue Country are retreating!"

"Report! The Beicang army is retreating!"

BOOM!

With a deafening blast, the main gate of the mansion was destroyed. The thunder of the iron cavalry’s charge was upon them.

"Retreat!"

"Run!"

All the advisors scattered, fleeing for their lives.

Xiao Jinghe cried out in a panic, "We have to flee! Father! We have to get Father!"

But no one paid him any mind. In his panic, he turned and fled with the rest.