After regaining consciousness, Zhi Li still felt somewhat dizzy, and the wound on his lower body, which had already healed, was now throbbing with faint pain.
His martial arts were formidable, yet he could still fall ill.
For in this world, martial arts drew upon the energy deep within one’s bloodline, and furthermore, the bones and meridians received certain strengthening.
But the internal organs of the body could still sicken, could still weaken.
“Gui Xingfu, damnnable old thief, old thief…”
Upon waking, Zhi Li roared with all his might, smashing everything around him to pieces.
His wife Fang Qingzhuo hurriedly embraced him, weeping as she comforted him, “Do not be like this, do not be like this.”
Li Chenglian, who had been standing throughout, now knelt upon the ground.
“Go, kill Ling Ao for me. Tear him limb from limb!” Zhi Li bellowed.
“Yes.” Li Chenglian rose and walked out.
But he had only just stepped out when Zhi Li’s voice came from behind, saying, “Ling Ao is in Tu Lingtuo’s camp. Forget it.”
“Yes!” Li Chenglian returned.
Zhi Li seemed to have calmed, lying upon the bed, staring blankly at the ornate ceiling.
Zhi Wei’s one hundred and fifty thousand troops completely annihilated, Zhi Wei himself beheaded.
Gui Xingfu surrendered to Sauron, driving a knife deep into Zhi Li’s back.
He had originally wished to use the young lord assassination case to pin the great crime of treason upon Sauron’s head, then dispatch troops to destroy the Sauron clan of Tianshui City.
In the end, Gui Xingfu voluntarily exposed the so-called truth of the young lord’s stabbing case, that Zhi Li had attempted to violate Gui Qinshao and was stabbed in return.
Scandal. A heaven-shaking scandal.
Of course, Zhi Li had always enjoyed sleeping with other men’s wives, so it was hardly shameful in itself. The key was that he had failed in his violation and was instead stabbed. That was the heaven-shaking scandal.
What tremendous damage this would do to Zhi Li’s image.
These three matters, each one extremely fatal, had all occurred simultaneously.
Zhi Wei was one of his left and right arms. Now broken.
Gui Xingfu was his foremost loyal vassal among the nobles. Now rebelled, driving a vicious knife into his back instead.
Most fatal of all, Zhi Wei’s army was completely annihilated, and he himself was publicly beheaded by Sauron.
Sauron was ruthless. Utterly ruthless.
This was the greatest blow Zhi Li had ever suffered.
How severe were the consequences of this blow? Zhi Li could guess even with his eyes closed.
“Lord Li, tell me, how does Sauron have such audacity? Uncle Zhi Wei was one of only two surviving royal dukes. Even Zhi Bian dared not kill him, yet he killed him as he pleased.” Zhi Li said, “Does he not fear arousing the suspicion of Zhi Ting and Zhi Yan? Does he not fear arousing public outrage across the realm?”
Li Chenglian said, “First, Sauron’s execution of Zhi Wei will indeed cause shock throughout the realm. However, at this moment, it is overshadowed by another great matter, so the people of the world will find it difficult to single out this matter to criticise Sauron.”
Li Chenglian spoke politely, saying the consequences of Zhi Wei’s death were overshadowed by another great matter. In truth, it could not be called a great matter, but rather a heaven-shaking scandal.
The young lord Zhi Li attempting to violate the newlywed Gui Qinshao and being stabbed in return was already unspeakably ugly. He had even turned the tables and pinned the crime of assassination upon Sauron’s head.
Such shameless and despicable conduct, occurring in the future king, could indeed overshadow the matter of Zhi Wei’s execution.
If the people of the world wished to pursue Sauron for killing Zhi Wei? Very well, then why did they not pursue the young lord Zhi Li for such base and shameless conduct?
Moreover, Duke Zhi Wei was not killed by Sauron, but by royal decree from the king himself. Properly justified, receiving his just deserts.
Li Chenglian said, “Second, Sauron’s execution of Zhi Wei is intended as a tremendous gift to Tu Lingtuo. After Zhi Wei’s death, Tu Lingtuo is Your Highness’s sole remaining pillar. No one remains to check and balance him. Now it is already a case of the servant bullying his master. If Tu Lingtuo withdraws without attacking Tianshui City, Your Highness will truly be powerless.”
Zhi Li closed his eyes in pain. He was intelligent, and even in his rage, he immediately saw through Sauron’s intentions behind killing Zhi Wei.
But seeing through was one thing; being completely powerless was another.
Li Chenglian said, “Sauron is playing a dangerous move, but if it succeeds, it will instantly turn the situation around. This person’s ruthlessness, decisiveness, and unmatched cunning, this old servant has truly never witnessed before.”
Zhi Li shook his head and said, “Zhi Wei was truly a waste. One hundred and fifty thousand troops, fully three times Sauron’s number, yet he was completely annihilated. And this man was so pedantic. Defeated is defeated. He should have fled early. What did it matter to lose one hundred and fifty thousand troops? Now he is cleanly dead. Where am I to find someone capable of standing against Tu Lingtuo as an equal?”
Li Chenglian said, “Your Highness, the present situation is difficult if you say it is difficult, easy if you say it is easy.”
Zhi Li nodded and said, “Yes. Go all in, kill Sauron, and all problems are solved.”
Li Chenglian said, “Before, in dealing with Sauron, we still had to consider our reputation, to be properly justified. But now the arrow is on the bowstring, it must be loosed. Although attacking Tianshui City at this time lacks proper justification, the victor becomes king and the loser a bandit. We can only pretend to know nothing, lower our heads and charge straight through, destroy Tianshui City, destroy the Sauron clan.”
“Yes!” Zhi Li said.
When he spoke these words, his heart was in truth filled with pain.
Previously, to destroy the Sauron clan, they had to use pirates as a pretext. This time, to destroy the Sauron clan, first Gui Xingfu opened the way under the pretext of reclaiming Chaos Rock Island, then the young lord assassination case was used to pin the great crime of treason upon Sauron’s head.
In short, the Sauron clan of Tianshui City was a royal vassal. To destroy them, proper justification was essential. Only thus would the kingdom’s institutions not be violated, and Zhi Li’s dignity not be harmed.
Now they had completely torn off the mask. Sauron could no longer be framed for treason, so they could only lower their heads, pretend to know nothing, and directly destroy Tianshui City.
In doing so, the damage to Zhi Li’s prestige, to the kingdom’s institutions, was without question tremendous.
How would the realm’s vassals and nobles view him, Zhi Li?
Even if Zhi Li destroyed Sauron and ascended the throne by doing so, the vassals and nobles below would secretly despise him. And Duke Tu Lingtuo, now unchecked, would become an overmighty minister impossible to control.
One could say that attacking Tianshui City without proper justification was a tremendous overdraft upon Zhi Li’s future, planting enormous hidden dangers for his future reign as king.
Knowing full well the many harms, yet still compelled to do it, because Zhi Li knew that Sauron could not be allowed to survive.
If Sauron was not destroyed, Zhi Li could not even become king. What talk then of the future?
It was still a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.
“Drink your medicine.” Fang Qingzhuo said softly.
Zhi Li took the medicinal draught and drank it in one gulp, saying, “Go ask, where has Tu Lingtuo’s two hundred thousand troops reached? Can they attack Heavenly Wolf Pass immediately? They cannot lose this time, can they?”
Li Chenglian said, “They cannot. Tu Lingtuo is ten times stronger than Zhi Wei. The Dragon Guard Army is also far superior to Zhi Wei’s Southeastern Army. Most crucially, in destroying Zhi Wei’s one hundred and fifty thousand troops, Sauron himself is utterly exhausted, without strength to fight Tu Lingtuo’s army again. If he could fight Tu Lingtuo, he would not have needed to kill Zhi Wei. The consequences of killing Zhi Wei, he understands even better than we do.”
Zhi Li said, “Yes, that makes sense. Sauron killed Zhi Wei precisely because he lacked the strength to fight Tu Lingtuo, forcing Tu Lingtuo to bully his master and have the confidence to withdraw. His killing of Zhi Wei today has planted a knot of resentment and hidden danger in the hearts of Zhi Ting and Zhi Yan.”
Li Chenglian said, “This man is truly loyal and righteous. For Zhi Yan, he will do anything to the extreme.”
Zhi Li said, “Send a falcon message to Tu Lingtuo, ordering him to accelerate his advance, attack Tianshui City, without delay.”
And at this moment, Li Zhu’s voice came from outside, saying, “Your Highness, there is an urgent secret letter.”
Zhi Li’s expression changed slightly, and he said, “Bring it in.”
Eunuch Li Zhu came forward with a secret letter, knelt, and handed it to Li Chenglian, who then handed it to Zhi Li.
Zhi Li opened the secret letter and looked.
Instantly…
Zhi Li’s entire body trembled once more, his complexion turning ashen, cold sweat bursting from his forehead.
Then, boundless fury erupted from within Zhi Li.
“Ah… ah… ah…”
Then, he let out a series of great roars.
“Damnable slave, damnable slave…”
“Tu Lingtuo, one day I shall tear you limb from limb, exterminate your nine clans!”
After his roar subsided, Zhi Li seized another bowl of medicine from his wife and smashed it fiercely upon the ground.
Then, he rose violently from the bed, raised his sword, and hacked everything in the room to pieces.
“Tu Lingtuo, Gui Xingfu, all damnable slaves. Not one can be trusted, not one can be spared!” he roared as he hacked.
Li Chenglian stepped forward and picked up the secret letter.
This falcon secret letter had come from Tu Lingtuo’s army, written by a trusted agent Zhi Li had planted within the troops.
It stated that Tu Lingtuo’s two hundred thousand troops were only three hundred li from Heavenly Wolf Pass of Tianshui City, yet had made camp on the spot and halted their advance.
Subordinate officers asked why they had stopped advancing. Tu Lingtuo said an epidemic had been discovered in the army, requiring urgent handling to prevent major chaos.
And the so-called epidemic was merely a few soldiers who had inexplicably developed fever and died. It was not worth making a fuss over at all.
Tu Lingtuo’s halt was entirely the ambition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
And he knew full well that Zhi Li would see through his intentions, yet still did so. How arrogant his heart must be.
After Zhi Wei’s death, his attitude towards Zhi Li had indeed immediately changed.
After venting his fury, Zhi Li quieted. Panting for breath, his complexion pale, he sat upon the bed and began to contemplate the present situation.
After a moment, he spoke, “Send a falcon message to Tu Lingtuo. I have heard he still has a daughter, named Tu Lingmo, gentle, virtuous, wise, and charming. I greatly favour her and wish to take her as a consort.”
At these words, Fang Qingzhuo beside him trembled slightly, her face turning deathly pale.
The kings of the Raging Wave Kingdom had taken but one wife throughout the generations. Though Zhi Li was dissolute and lustful, enjoying other men’s wives and having numerous paramours, the only woman he had truly married into his household was she, Fang Qingzhuo.
Now, he was actually going to marry Tu Lingtuo’s third daughter.
A consort was only half a rank below the principal wife, not some mere concubine or maidservant.
From now on, she, Fang Qingzhuo, would no longer be Zhi Li’s only wife. How could her heart not be filled with bitterness?
Li Chenglian bowed his head and did not speak. In his view, the condition Zhi Li offered could not satisfy Tu Lingtuo’s ambitions.
Zhi Li clearly knew this as well. He even fully knew what Duke Tu Lingtuo truly desired.
What he wanted was too great. Zhi Li truly did not wish to give it, nor dared to give it.
To give it would be yet another tremendous overdraft and harm to his future dignity as king.
But the present situation was that the arrow was on the bowstring, it must be loosed. If Sauron were allowed to digest the fruits of this great victory, he would instantly possess over one hundred thousand troops. By then, destroying him would be truly a thousand times more difficult.
Zhi Li’s face twisted, nearly biting blood from his teeth, saying word by word, “Furthermore, the late Duke Tu Lingfei, through toil and merit, rendered tremendous virtue to the royal house and the Raging Wave Kingdom. After I ascend the throne, I shall enfeoff Duke Tu Lingfei with the rank of prince of a commandery.”
At these words, Li Chenglian’s face trembled.
Tu Lingfei was Tu Lingtuo’s father, the previous generation’s foremost military commander of the Raging Wave Kingdom.
After Count Suolong’s death, he was promoted to marquis.
And after Tu Lingfei’s death, he remained a duke. For the Raging Wave Kingdom had never enfeoffed a non-royal as king, and even within the royal house, kings were rarely enfeoffed.
The brothers of successive kings were merely enfeoffed as dukes.
Zhi Li’s situation was special. In the future, to suppress Tu Lingtuo, he might have enfeoffed Zhi Wei as a prince.
Now Zhi Wei was dead. Zhi Li was compelled to act against Sauron, the arrow on the bowstring. For Tu Lingtuo, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He immediately seized the chance to extort, and Zhi Li was compelled to promise that upon ascending the throne, he would enfeoff a non-royal as king.
This was truly grinding his teeth to powder, swallowing blood and tears into his stomach.
…
Two days later.
Zhi Li’s falcon secret letter reached Duke Tu Lingtuo’s hands.
This was Zhi Li’s personal letter, its language warm to the extreme, filled with esteem and admiration for Tu Lingtuo, expressing utmost concern for Tu Lingtuo’s health and Tu Lingchen’s growth.
And within the letter, a marriage proposal, asking to take his third daughter as wife.
Of course, these were not what Tu Lingtuo cared about. What made his entire body tremble, his blood boil, was the final part of Zhi Li’s personal letter, promising to enfeoff his father Tu Lingfei with the rank of prince of a commandery.
A non-royal enfeoffed as king. A non-royal enfeoffed as king.
This was likely what Duke Tu Lingtuo had dreamt of most.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tu Lingtuo decisively moved to extort, and indeed reaped tremendous rewards.
Tu Lingchen said worriedly at his side, “Father, if we extort His Highness Zhi Li in this manner, will he settle accounts with us after ascending the throne?”
Tu Lingtuo smiled coldly, “Naive. If we continuously hold military power in our hands, he can only coax and flatter us. If we lose military power, even if we show him the utmost respect, he will only cast us into the abyss.”
Tu Lingchen bowed and said, “Yes.”
Tu Lingtuo said, “I have already arranged a marriage for you. After destroying Sauron, you shall wed immediately.”
Tu Lingchen could not help but start, saying, “Which family’s daughter?”
Duke Tu Lingtuo said, “The legitimate daughter of the Hai clan of Yingzhou Island, Hai Naer.”
Tu Lingchen’s expression changed. This woman had had an affair with Ashi Luo. And Ashi Luo was completely a beast. Hai Naer had likely had all three of her holes played with by him no less than a hundred times. She was utterly a worn-out shoe among worn-out shoes.
Now, his father Tu Lingtuo actually wanted him to marry this worn-out shoe?
Instantly, Tu Lingchen’s face turned ugly.
Tu Lingtuo said coldly, “You despise her for being a worn-out shoe? Noble women are all dissolute before marriage. Do you not know this? You are marrying into the Hai clan, which possesses a province and over one hundred thousand troops. Tu Lingduo could marry an ugly freak like Tu Liyang, yet you cannot marry a worn-out shoe? You find her unclean? Can you not find ten or eight clean women to be your concubines and paramours?”
Tu Lingchen knew he could not resist his father’s will, and immediately bowed, saying, “Yes, Father.”
That carefree and unrestrained Liu Chen of before had long since vanished into smoke.
Tu Lingtuo read Zhi Li’s secret letter once more, then rose and walked out of the camp, roaring, “The army shall immediately break camp and advance at full speed. Destroy Tianshui City. Execute Sauron!”
After more than half an hour.
Tu Lingtuo’s army, rested for four days, broke camp once more, marching in mighty force towards Heavenly Wolf Pass.
The situation at Tianshui City was once again on the verge of storm.
…
“Tu Lingtuo’s army has broken camp once more and is marching towards our Tianshui City. Now less than three hundred li away, they will arrive in two days.” Yan Yan reported.
Sauron smiled coldly, “It seems he extorted something good from Zhi Li, so he is willing to do Zhi Li’s dirty work with all his might.”
Tu Lingtuo’s army had rested on the spot for four days, also giving Sauron four days to catch his breath.
These four days, though brief, were extremely precious.
Now, another batch of gunpowder had arrived from the secret overseas island.
Sauron’s secret gunpowder manufacturing base had become completely independent, established on a secret island overseas.
That island, due to seabirds inhabiting it over long ages, had accumulated astronomical quantities of guano.
Over the long passage of time, this guano had transformed into massive nitrate deposits. According to estimates, the nitrate deposits on this island exceeded hundreds of millions of catties. For the present, they could be considered inexhaustible.
So the current difficulty in gunpowder manufacture lay in the scale of the secret manufacturing base.
Sauron had already transported nearly three thousand people to this secret island, specifically responsible for manufacturing gunpowder.
This time, the seagoing vessels had transported two hundred and thirty thousand catties of gunpowder.
This quantity of gunpowder was insufficient for a great battle. But to give Tu Lingtuo a beating, it was more than enough.
Sauron said, “The reason Tu Lingtuo attacks Tianshui City with such confidence is that he believes us weak and easily bullied, thinking that after our great battle with Zhi Wei we suffered heavy casualties and are utterly exhausted, so he can easily destroy us. Once he discovers we are extremely difficult to chew, that he has no certainty of destroying us, then he will retreat in the face of difficulty.”
Yan Yan nodded and said, “Yes. Destroying Tianshui City does not actually bring Tu Lingtuo much benefit. We are Zhi Li’s greatest enemy. Once we are destroyed, Tu Lingtuo must beware of Zhi Li destroying the bridge after crossing the river.”
Sauron said, “Since this is so, then go teach him a lesson. Still using aerial bombardment. All fourteen griffins shall depart, dropping one hundred thousand catties of gunpowder packs upon Tu Lingtuo’s head within a few days.”
“Yes!” Yan Yan said.
Half an hour later.
Fourteen griffins soared into the sky, each griffin dragging five hundred catties of gunpowder packs, flying towards Tu Lingtuo’s army three hundred li away.
This aerial bombardment did not expect to destroy many of Tu Lingtuo’s troops, but to slap his face fiercely, to make him retreat in the face of difficulty.
Many people in this world only respond to force, not to kindness.
If you are soft, they think you can be bullied.
If you resolutely slap them a few times, they compromise and retreat instead.