Royal Road

e destroyed in a day.
He’d simply send the militia to ambush those with ill intentions and blame it on the nearby bandits.
It was perfectly plausible, as the army was out at war. 

Was that to say that the Liang Estate’s militia would intervene if someone tried to mess with Gaodu? His declaration raised the hairs on Guo Jiao’s back.
No one knew better than him how powerful the Liang Estate’s forces were.
Killing a few unruly petty officials was all too easy.
But aside from fright, he felt genuinely grateful.

Now this was someone worth following! Someone who wouldn’t sit by whilst they suffered when things when awry, who would instead protect them at every turn, and weather the storm together with them.
Who wouldn’t brave strange dangers for a lord as good as he?! 

Gritting his teeth, Guo Jiao nodded, “I will prepare the provisions right away.
And as for those small neighboring counties, I will look after them and ensure their stability!”

Just what Liang Feng had been waiting to hear.
“Thank you, Dongye.
Hopefully, the Duke of Dongying will return in victory.” 

Truthfully, Liang Feng didn’t care one whit whether the Duke of Dongying won or not lost.
His army’s absence from Bing Province would lessen the pressure which kept the five divisions in check.
Would that old coot, Liu Xuan, rise up in arms?  It would mean disaster for Bing Province if the Xiongnu revolted! He needed two years’ time to gather his strength, but now he mightn’t have two months!

His heart pounding like drums, Liang Feng saw Guo Jiao away and immediately summoned Yi Yan, “Go to Taihang Pass with all haste, tell Wu Ling to be on his guard.
The two passes must not fail! And bring two teams with you as well, to help him train his soldiers, and assist in defending the passes!”

Realizing the seriousness of the situation from his lord’s severe countenance, Yi Yan replied immediately, “Understood!”

“Also, I want you to send some scouts to surveil the surrounding environs, especially in the areas nearest to Xiongnu territory.
Expect to commence battle the moment there is any sign of trouble! ” Liang Feng could only thank his lucky stars that the summer harvest had already finished.
If this had happened even half a month ago, they would’ve been forced to take a much more reactive stance. 

Presently, the Liang Estate had supplies and fighting strength, enough to protect its immediate environs.
If only Sima Teng’s army could return as soon as possible. 

    ※

“Commander Yi!” Catching sight of Yi Yan, Wu Ling rushed up to him, “Did Marquess Liang send you here?”

“Yes.
My lord has sent me to remind you to be vigilant in defending the two passes, and I brought a few soldiers to help you train the new recruits.” 

Wu Ling’s tension visibly eased, “Marquess Liang is as thorough as ever.
Luckily, at Marquess Liang’s advice, I built another city in the Taihang Pass.
When I sent my report, the Duke of Dongying was rather pleased, and even promised to allocate more provisions to my garrison.”

It was pure happenstance that the news of the coming battle had come just after the new, narrow, meters-wide city was built, and they began refilling their ranks with refugee recruits again.
Wu Ling had hurriedly reported the construction of the new city.
The army wouldn’t be marching through Taihang Pass, but this new fortification was greatly approved of by Sima Teng.
Thus, he hadn’t sent any generals to garrison the two passes, only ordering him to guard and protect these two vital passageways.  

Now, the Liang Estate had sent him soldiers, nominally for training purposes, but also to help him guard the city.
The more people, the better; not to mention soldiers from the Liang Estate’s powerful militia.
Wu Ling happily welcomed them, of course.

Acting on his lord’s orders, Yi Yan didn’t take the matter lightly, and continued, “I implore you, General Wu, to keep an eye on any movement around the two passes, and notify the Liang Estate at once if there is anything out of the ordinary.”  

“I thank the marquess for his concern.” This Jie person was cold and stern, but Wu Ling knew that he was Liang Feng’s trusted commander.
That he was sent here showed how concerned he was about the passes’ defenses.
In hindsight, paying allegiance to the Liang Estate was the best thing they could’ve done.
Still, they wouldn’t be in too much danger this time, would they?

Wu Ling hesitated, but said anyway, “This time, the emperor himself has gone to battle.
Marquess Liang doesn’t need to worry too much.
The Duke of Dongying will undoubtedly return victorious! ”

    ※

“The Prince of Chengdu has already fled.
Surely, we will win this battle!” 

Said Sima Yue, standing within the command tent, his face aglow with flushing red.
Two days ago, the imperial army had crossed the Yellow River and arrived at Tangyin County of the Wei Commandery.
Beyond the Tang River before them and five kilometers to the north stood Ye City!

The imperial army and progressed through Henei and Zhaoge without meeting any opposition from the Prince of Chengdu.
The great army was at the walls of his city already, and still, they hadn’t seen a shadow of the enemy.
What did that imply? Of course it meant that, for fear of the emperor, the Prince of Chengdu dared not battle!

This news was again confirmed by their spies within Ye City.
Chen Zhen’s two younger brothers,  Chen Kuang and Chen Gui, had been sending intel from Ye City for some time already.
Now, they reported that Ye City’s defensive forces were already scattering to the wind – it’d become an empty city! How could Sima Yue not be overjoyed at this news?!

All the officials within the tent were ecstatic over the news.  Most of them had been unwillingly dragged onto the battlefield.
Winning without a fight was absolutely the best outcome!  

Some toadied, “Such is the might of the emperor! It is all due to the efforts of the supreme regional commander that this treacherous villain was vanquished!   ” 

Some worried, “But what do we do now that the Prince of Chengdu has fled? We must capture that knave as soon as possible to restore order to the world….
  ” 

And some, delusionally overambitious, “We must reward the six armies and celebrate this victory!”

Rewarding the rank and file was only an afterthought; it was they, the officials who’d come with the army, who should be promoted and ennobled and greatly rewarded!  

Sima Yue’s smile became even brighter at all the discourse amongst the lower officials, “Then convey orders to the six armies to prepare a feast!” 

At this news, the soldiers’ morale soared.
They mighn’t even need to fight for Ye City.
Faced with a hundred thousand valiant soldiers, it would have no choice but to open its gates and surrender! Once his younger brothers came, there was no fear that, with such overwhelming forces, they couldn’t conquer Ye City.

The news spread like wildfire.
As expected, thousands erupted with cries of ‘long live the emperor!’ Was there an easier victory than one that hadn’t bloodied their blades? The whole army, from top to bottom, kindled fires and cooked food in anticipation of the celebrations.
There would be generous amounts of grain and titles just waiting to be claimed.

But before the ceremonial feast could even begin, they saw, on the far horizon, a cavalry troop galloping towards them at great speed.
It was more than a few people, a few dozen people, it was a roiling black wave that blotted out the sky, crashing towards their encampment.
The earth rumbled with the thundering of hooves, the sky trembled with roaring battle cries!  

“E – Enemy ambush!!”  someone yelled.
The great army, whose spirits had been soaring just a moment ago, instantly fell into disarray.
There was no one able to command this hastily-assembled, ragtag bunch of stray soldiers.
No one was able to stand up and order them to face the enemy. 

At the slightest touch, the six armies shattered!

The author has something to say:

It’s not that I don’t want to write the background, problem is, this stretch of history is really too complicated orz 

There’s a dozen Sima’s or so, and they’re mostly divided into four or five factions.
There’s over ten Lius, some are good, some are bad.
And between everyone’s cadres of advisors, there’s another seven or eight Wangs.
There are thirty other surnames, coming from many ethnicities.
Checking sources makes my head spin every time.
Writing any more would probably make things even more confusing .

So I won’t write about the unimportant stuff in too much detail,  and keep the focus on Liang Feng’s perspective.
Every character mentioned now will affect his circumstances in some way.
Once Liang Feng’s territory grows one step at a time and the Chaos of the Eight Princes is more or less at an end, the grand scheme of things will gradually come into view.

The translator has something to say:

Finals are nearly over now ＼(Ｔ∇Ｔ)／, so regular updates will be back on Thursdays and Sundays.
Sorry for the pause