Chapter 134

The corpse of Shi Yuantang was placed on the commander's chariot, covered not with white cloth, but with a Chu army flag they'd managed to find.

The blind man was now on the chariot. His hair was a little disheveled, his face was full of fatigue, and he had many wounds on his body. In the chaos of the army, even with Liang Cheng protecting him, and with his own mental and psychic powers to rely on, it was still difficult for him to keep himself completely intact.

Indeed, even a Sword Saint would be covered in blood, so how could others hope to remain unscathed and composed?

Fortunately, from the beginning, the Chu had focused their attacks on Zheng Boye's chariot. In this area, the bodies of soldiers from both sides were piled high, especially during the back-and-forth fighting, when soldiers had to step on the corpses to fight.

Zheng Boye sat directly on the chariot's deck, occasionally glancing at the corpse of the Grand Chu Pillar of State, and sometimes frowning slightly.

"My lord, he did it on purpose," the blind man said consolingly. "From the beginning, he had no intention of begging for mercy for these defeated soldiers. He had already made plans to let us kill the defeated soldiers to eliminate any future Chu surrender."

As a Grand Chu Pillar of State, he naturally didn't want to be humiliated, just like Qu Tiannan before him. He didn't beg for mercy either. When the Prince of Jingnan ordered the prisoners to be killed, he committed suicide without hesitation.

The Chu still valued integrity.

Moreover, while the Grand Chu had a tradition of domestic noble warfare where nobles could be redeemed, they also had a custom of generals committing suicide after defeat.

Having already sought death after defeat, it was only natural for him to make one last contribution to Chu before dying.

Zheng Boye listened to the blind man's words and simply nodded, saying, "Of course I know this, but I just feel that his death was a little too simple, too straightforward."

He beckoned and tilted his head, signaling A'ming, who was standing beside him, to pour water from the water bag onto his face.

Then,

Zheng Boye rubbed his face a couple of times,

and said:

"He was still a Pillar of State, a prominent figure who shook one side of the country. I just feel that he should have said more, done more, at least, given me more page space."

Because of the drug, Zheng Boye's brain was increasingly trending towards crashing; he even used professional jargon from his previous life.

Death was deserved.

Although capturing a Pillar of State alive seemed like a great achievement, it depended on whether the person was willing to be captured alive. The Chu liked to raise demon beasts, and the more advanced ones could even control "spirits." People at this level had too many ways to die.

Since he was prepared to die, he could have at least talked more, even if he didn't talk to him, he could have talked to Liang Cheng, the blind man, or even Jin Shuke. He could have stretched the afterglow of his life as long as possible, and made it more fulfilling and complete.

But after just a few lines of dialogue, he smeared himself with filth and slit his throat. It was really too hasty and unsatisfying.

You are one of the Grand Chu's Four Pillars of State. You have to add some drama for yourself.

Others might not be able to guess that Zheng Boye's view of Shi Yuantang's death was actually like this;

It wasn't from a point of view of profit, nor from the overall situation of the war, but purely that the ending of his great victory felt incomplete because Shi Yuantang left so decisively.

However, the blind man could understand what his lord was thinking.

Although, the blind man also felt that his lord's emotions seemed a bit off now, and his facial expressions were a bit too rich.

You must know that in the past few years, his lord had been independently studying acting, and concealing his emotions was a basic lesson.

"My lord, that Grand Chu Pillar of State must have felt that the defeat was too sudden and too caught off guard, so he didn't prepare at all beforehand.

Well, not to mention beforehand, or even before the battle. Perhaps, he had never done any ideological construction that he would be defeated by a general from another country in his life.

So, whether in experience or mentality, he may not have made any preparations or expectations. As a result, when it really came to this, everything else was fake. Whatever he said or did, there was no need to take it seriously. They were all excuses for him to end his life with some dignity.

Dying sooner also saves him from continuing to face situations he is not familiar with. Naturally, he died too simply and straightforwardly.

Moreover, throughout history, those loyal and courageous people who really intend to die for righteousness probably wouldn't bother to play the game of the enemy trying to persuade them to surrender and then repeatedly refusing, right?"

Zheng Boye reached out and grabbed a handful of wet hair,

and said unhappily:

"How could he be so selfish."

The blind man quickly used his mental power to "knock" on A'ming,

and asked in his heart;

"Why does my lord seem a little off?"

"During the counterattack earlier, my lord was possessed by the Demonic Pill, which caused mental fatigue, so I gave him a pill that Xue San had refined."

"You are also too careless. Can you eat anything that San'er makes? That guy makes tiger and wolf medicine, and the side effects are unpredictable. What if my lord gets sick or his temperament changes drastically? How are we going to lick him in the future?"

It's already difficult enough to lick my lord now, but if you add a mental illness attribute to my lord, then...

"I don't think there's a big problem. My lord might be fine after a sleep."

Although he said that, A'ming was also a little scared, and he specially lowered his head to examine his lord.

Zheng Boye was still full of energy,

and continuously ordered:

"Order Jin Shuke to lead the army to continue pursuing the Chu who scattered on the periphery."

"Order A'cheng to lead a troop to help A'li and Gongsun Zhi clear out the remaining enemies in Dongshan Fort."

"Notify the friendly forces nearby, tell them that Dongshan Fort has been broken, and our army has suffered relatively heavy losses. Tell them to pay attention to covering our army's flanks."

"Notify the Prince of Jingnan, inform the Prince that I have achieved a great victory at Dongshan Fort and have beheaded a Chu Pillar of State. Ask the Prince to issue further instructions."

"Issue my order to properly arrange the remains of this Grand Chu Pillar of State. By the way, A'ming, contribute your coffin for him to lie in, and find some white cloth and white sails to build a funeral procession. I want a troop to go to the Chu military forts and camps to hold a funeral for the Grand Chu Pillar of State."

"In addition, pass..."

Speaking of this, Zheng Boye suddenly stopped, because he felt as if he had snot dripping from his nose.

"Why am I catching a cold..."

He reached out and wiped it, but saw a patch of bright red on the back of his hand;

He reached out and touched it again, and the nosebleed was so heavy it was frightening.

"Damn, this medicine is really..."

Zheng Boye only felt a rush of blood to his forehead, which then dissipated into nothingness. His consciousness was suddenly lifted up, and then released, and he passed out directly.

The blind man quickly used his psychic power to support Zheng Boye, allowing him to "sit" back on the commander's seat, posing as a sleeping Zheng Boye.

A'ming looked at this scene and said worriedly, "Is he okay?"

The blind man shook his head and said, "There's no big problem, he just fainted."

Then,

the blind man shouted:

"The Boye has ordered the chariot to enter the city!"

...

"This subordinate greets the Prince!"

Li Fusheng, covered in dust, knelt on one knee before Tian Wujing.

After he raised his head, it could be seen that he was not only covered in dust, but also had some scorched marks from being burned by fire.

Tian Wujing sat on the commander's seat that originally belonged to Li Fusheng, looked at Li Fusheng below, and said:

"You personally charged up?"

Li Fusheng liked to take the lead in battle. This habit existed when he was stationed in the Northern Sealing Prefecture, and he never changed it later.

Other generals longed for military merit to ennoble their wives and children, but Li Fusheng simply enjoyed the thrill of killing.

"Heh, Prince, this subordinate felt like there was a chance, and was thinking about whether to try to charge up. If I could have taken it, this battle would have been much easier."

"You took it?"

"No, I didn't..."

People say that the former Zhenbei Army's commanding officers were all arrogant.

This is really true. Back then, they unanimously encouraged the Marquis of Zhenbei to rebel and become emperor, and Li Liangsen even helped kill the princes like a prank after listening to the commandery princess.

But,

to put it bluntly,

the princes were only privileged because they had royal blood. If you really want to talk about any contributions, it's hard to say. This group of veterans who have fought on the battlefield for half their lives "disapproved" of it, which is quite normal.

But Tian Wujing's military achievements were here, his personal strength was here, and his prestige was also here, so it was difficult not to be convinced.

Not only Li Fusheng, but even Li Liangsen, one of the Four Great Swordsmen, had to kneel when facing Tian Wujing as long as he was wearing military armor.

Tian Wujing reached out and gently brushed off the dust on the armor of his arm, and said:

"When this Prince came, I took a glance at the scene of your troops attacking the city. You did a good job."

"Reporting to the Prince, this is because this subordinate and this subordinate's men practiced in the snowy plains. We practiced with the savages. Fortunately, that kid Zheng Fan thought it through. If it weren't for the foundation laid in the snowy plains last time, this subordinate would have been flustered this time."

"But the Chu are not savages." Tian Wujing said.

"Yes, this subordinate understands."

"The method of defending a city requires a balance of looseness and tightness. What seems to be merely a struggle for a city wall actually contains many tricks. The Chu's decline today makes you feel that there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, but that is also the Chu deliberately making you feel that way."

"Yes, this subordinate realized it after leading the men to charge the city."

After Li Fusheng led his men to charge the city, he discovered that the Chu on the city wall were already prepared. If he hadn't seen the opportunity and ordered a quick withdrawal, he would have suffered extremely heavy losses.

"This Prince knows your temperament, and this Prince doesn't intend to temper your temperament, but this Prince doesn't want you to die here like this, because it would be troublesome to promote another general who can convince the public."

"Yes, this subordinate understands."

"Time is plentiful. This Prince didn't order your departments to conquer the military forts and camps in front of you within a time limit. The intention was to give you a chance to practice calmly.

Build more siege equipment, wear down the Chu defenders' morale, don't expect to win with one battle, but weaken them layer by layer in order to achieve the final success."

"Yes, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that this subordinate feels that the craftsmen from Yingdu are not good enough."

"Not good enough?"

"Because this subordinate has seen the equipment used by Zheng Fan, my brother. Although the craftsmen from Yingdu can also build them, they only look similar, but there are actually big differences inside.

It is obvious that the craftsmen from Xuehaiguan are more skilled than these craftsmen from Yingdu."

"Alright, this Prince can send someone to transfer a batch of craftsmen from him to you."

"Absolutely not, absolutely not, Prince, that's really not allowed. This subordinate is attacking Xishan Fort, and Zheng, my brother, is attacking Dongshan Fort. This Xishan Fort has already made this subordinate suffer a few losses, and it is unlikely that Dongshan Fort is worse than here.

Zheng, my brother, must also be extremely strained. If this subordinate transfers manpower from him, wouldn't it... wouldn't it..."

Tian Wujing shook his head and said:

"With the national war in front of us, there is no distinction between you and me. Everything should be based on the national war."

"That's what I say, and this subordinate understands the reasoning, but Prince, if you transfer people like this, this subordinate will really be embarrassed to say hello to Zheng, my brother, in the future.

Now, there is only a shortage of manpower, where is there any surplus? Not to mention craftsmen."

"He is capable, so it should be fine."

"..." Li Fusheng.

What else could he say!

What else could he say!

He, Zheng Fan, is capable and has no problems, but I'm not capable and need help!

Although Li Fusheng and Zheng Boye have a very good relationship, it was really difficult to accept this when he heard it.

The most depressing thing is that everyone in the army knows that the Prince of Jingnan values that Pingye Boye the most?

But Li Fusheng still had some pride in his heart, and immediately said:

"Prince, this has nothing to do with whether the ability is high or low, a huge city is here, and today this subordinate almost broke my teeth, and I understand that the Chu are indeed good at defending.

Even if Zheng, my brother, is proficient in equipment and proficient in siege warfare, it is impossible for him to take down Dongshan Fort in just a few days.

If he really takes it down in a few days, then we can really cook these boots in a pot and eat them."

In fact, Tian Wujing meant that Zheng Fan originally had people who were proficient in equipment manufacturing, and he had also secretly sent people from the Tianji Pavilion to him. Moreover, Xuehaiguan itself also had a foundry, which could be said to have a deep foundation of artisans. Transferring some people to support Li Fusheng would not be a big problem.

But the matter of the Tianji Pavilion could not be brought out into the open.

Li Fusheng was obviously provoked, which is why he said the above words in a fit of pique.

Just then,

a long voice came:

"Report!!!!!!"

"Come in."

The messenger came in,

"Reporting that Pingye Boye sent someone to report that Dongshan Fort has been captured. Please give our department flank coverage."

"..." Li Fusheng.

The Prince of Jingnan, sitting on the commander's seat, shook his head when he heard this military report.

"Heh."

——————

Thanks to the students at the street corner, the students with the idela, and the unknown female students of dm48 for becoming the 134th, 135th, and 136th leaders of "The Descent of Magic"!

The cold hasn't left yet, and my brain is a mess. That's all for today. I really can't write anymore. Everyone's votes and rewards are very helpful. I will try to write more after the cold is gone. Sorry, bow.