Novel Full Chapter 411: You Clearly Promised Me, You Promised
Beneath the azure blue sky, spring had already arrived.
Winter had passed, and migrating birds flew back and forth throughout the city, landing on tree branches to chirp crisply.
The weather had warmed, and the shop attendants shouting at their doorways were a bit louder than before.
In the pleasure quarters, those women had once again returned to their cool, light clothing.
Carriages came and went, and many young noblewomen brought their children out for spring outings, planning to visit the countryside outside the city.
And just at this moment, small children ran through the streets while shouting, their expressions appearing extremely joyful:
“Victory report! Victory report!”
“At the Canghai Pass plains, the Qi army suffered a great defeat! The King of Qi is dead!”
“The Qin army achieved a great victory!!!”
“The Qin army achieved a great victory!!!”
These small children were called “announcement children” in the Qin Kingdom. Whenever there was any major joyous event, the court would have announcement children spread the word throughout the city to disseminate the news as quickly as possible.
However, the announcement children’s messages were all selected by the court.
They typically reported good news but not bad.
“Boy! What did you say?”
A burly man from a meat shop grabbed an announcement child by the wrist and said excitedly.
“The great battle at Canghai Pass, the Qin army achieved a great victory! The Qi Kingdom has fallen!”
“That whatever-it-was Zhao Kingdom is also gone. The King of Zhao is preparing to surrender.”
“Uncle, please let go quickly. I still need to continue spreading the word.”
After speaking, this announcement child shook off the burly man’s loosened grip and continued running forward, shouting loudly:
“The Qin army achieved a great victory! The Qi Kingdom has fallen! The Zhao Kingdom surrenders!”
“The Qin army achieved a great victory! The Qi Kingdom has fallen! The Zhao Kingdom surrenders!”
The burly man from the meat shop stared blankly ahead, unable to believe his own ears.
The Qi Kingdom…
The Zhao Kingdom…
Had they truly fallen?
The Ten Thousand Laws Realm… had it really been unified?
…
Lian Li, who commanded the imperial guards and served as prefect, was looking at the battle report in his hands.
The battle report described the course of the battle on the Canghai Pass plains.
In the battle at Canghai Pass, the casualties among the soldiers of both armies were extremely heavy.
There was even a momentum suggesting both sides would fight to mutual destruction.
Finally, as the King of Qi set up his formation array, the Frost Prince entered the array.
The King of Qi was beheaded.
The Qin Kingdom narrowly defeated the Qi Kingdom.
The Qin Kingdom’s great army broke through Canghai Pass, entered the palace directly, and the Qi army’s various generals and nobles knew the overall situation was lost and surrendered to the Qin Kingdom one after another.
From this point, the Qi Kingdom fell.
When the King of Zhao received the news, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
When the King of Zhao awakened, he knew his overall situation was lost. Further desperate resistance would have no great significance and would only add to the casualties needlessly.
However, the King of Zhao also knew that as a member of the human race, he had actually colluded with the demon race to interfere in the affairs of the Ten Thousand Laws Realm. This matter itself violated a great taboo and his crime deserved execution.
The King of Zhao wrote a letter of surrender, took all responsibility upon himself, then passed the throne to the Crown Prince, having the Crown Prince lead the Zhao Kingdom in surrender.
As for the King of Zhao himself, he slit his own throat upon the throne.
For the Qin Kingdom, this was a great victory.
The Ten Thousand Laws Realm, which had experienced thousands of years of chaotic times, was about to welcome unification!
However, looking at this victory report transmitted by flying sword from Huang Tower.
Lian Li couldn’t feel happy at all.
She stared blankly at the final six characters on the battle report, her mind completely blank.
She tried to stand up, but all the strength in her body seemed to have been completely drained away, and she suddenly collapsed back onto her seat.
Supporting herself on the table, Lian Li finally slowly stood up.
She walked step by step toward the door, finally leaning against the threshold before kneeling on the ground.
“How is this possible…”
“How could this be possible…”
At the same time, most of the officials in the court had learned of the battle situation outside Canghai Pass through their respective channels.
Unlike the announcement children who only conveyed good news.
What these officials received was the complete battle report but when they looked at the battle reports in their hands, they doubted the authenticity of these battle reports. However, after confirmation from multiple sources, they had to acknowledge that this battle report… was real.
“Teacher, what should we do now?”
An official named Zhang Qin came to Prime Minister Li’s manor, his mood very low.
Clearly the Qi Kingdom had fallen, only a broken Chu Kingdom remained, and the Chu Kingdom had already written a letter of surrender. At this time, the unification of the realm was already a foregone conclusion yet he couldn’t feel happy at all…
Li Ge shook his head, “There’s nothing to do, just wait for Her Majesty’s decree.”
“But can Her Majesty really withstand this?” Zhang Qin asked.
Li Ge didn’t answer, only looked in the direction of the imperial palace and sighed deeply, “Alas…”
…
The Qin Kingdom imperial palace.
A woman sat atop the Heaven-Gazing Tower. Beside her was the broken drumstick.
For four days now, the woman had been sitting in a daze atop the Heaven-Gazing Tower.
Her tears had long since dried, and she remained completely motionless, like a statue carved by heaven itself.
“Tap, tap, tap…”
At the stairway entrance of the Heaven-Gazing Tower, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Huasheng walked up the stairs and came to the woman’s side.
“Miss, this is the battle report sent from the front lines.” Huasheng looked at this girl she had watched grow up since childhood, her heart also unable to bear it. “Do you… want to take a look?”
After Huasheng’s words fell, Qin Siyao didn’t respond.
Atop the Heaven-Gazing Tower, there was only the sound of gusts of wind blowing.
After a long while, Qin Siyao’s lips parted slightly, the voice from her throat carrying a heart-wrenching hoarseness, “My husband… he’s gone, isn’t he?”
Hearing Qin Siyao’s question, Huasheng pressed her thin lips together, finally nodding:
“The Qin Kingdom’s great army and the Qi Kingdom’s great army fought a bloody battle for two days and two nights. Both sides suffered over half casualties.
The King of Qi personally transformed his body into an array, operating with the kingdom’s fortune and fate, making a final desperate struggle.
The young master led the great army into the array, broke the array, and attempted to slay the King of Qi.
The King of Qi was slain by the young master but the young master was also severely wounded, his life flame flickering.
Seeing the situation was lost, the Flowing Fire Kingdom and Valley Kingdom had their two Immortal realm cultivators sacrifice the immortal weapon Soul-Shattering Jade, attempting to use the battlefield’s bloody qi to create a formation array and bury our entire Qin Kingdom army to sever our Qin Kingdom’s fortune.
The young master led the Upper Three Realms cultivators to break the array once more. Finally, the array was broken.
The demon race cultivators were all slain, not one survived. Immortal realm retainers Bai Wei and Xing Can, Jade Simplicity realm retainers Tian Ya, Chen Yiran, and Wu Bowei all died in battle.
The young master… not even his bones remain.”
After Huasheng finished speaking, Qin Siyao gripped her skirt tightly, her face without the slightest trace of color.
After a long while, Qin Siyao slowly spoke, “I understand… Sister Huasheng, please go down first. I’ll sit here a while longer. This matter, don’t let my mother-in-law know.”
“Yes, Miss.” Huasheng bowed in courtesy and withdrew from the Heaven-Gazing Tower.
[Husband, promise me, don’t leave me, okay?]
[Husband, I’ll dance for you my entire life, you’re not allowed to get tired of it!]
[When husband returns, we’ll get married.]
[Husband, you’ll definitely come back, right?]
After Huasheng left, Qin Siyao curled up her legs, her lotus-root arms tightly hugging her knees.
Scene after scene replayed continuously in the woman’s mind.
The woman hugged her knees closer and closer, burying her face in her legs, her shoulders trembling continuously as she sobbed hoarsely:
“You clearly promised me.”
“You promised…”
“Liar…”
“Big liar…”