In the Wuya Royal Palace, a handsome young man dressed in a black bird robe sat in the study, carefully examining the official documents in his hands.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. After he answered, two guards with swords led in a middle-aged man with white hair dressed as a grassland dweller.
"Your Majesty, King Wuya, the future emperor of the Shang Kingdom, it is an honor to meet you." This grassland man was unlike other grassland people who were barbaric; on the contrary, he was very smooth and spoke in a pleasing manner.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" The new King Wuya, Yin Henshui, couldn't help but laugh. He quite liked this kind of flattery, and his tone became more intimate as he spoke.
"We, the great leader chosen by the Eternal Heaven, King Lang Teng, have come to form an alliance with King Wuya to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Yin Que. If we succeed, King Lang Teng is willing to share the Shang Dynasty equally with you, King Wuya."
The white-haired middle-aged man chuckled a few times, his beard twitching with the movement of his muscles, painting a rosy picture for Yin Henshui.
"Impossible! You grassland people actually want to take over the land of my Great Shang? You're dreaming!" Yin Henshui's first reaction to this suggestion was to refuse. Although he wanted to overthrow Yin Que and become emperor himself, he never thought of letting the grassland people rule the Central Plains. After all, this would be considered treason, and he would be condemned by thousands and infamous for thousands of years to come.
Moreover, although the grassland people were brave and skilled in battle, in the eyes of the Shang people, these creatures were nothing more than wild beasts. For a hairy animal to dare to enter its master's country was simply a pipe dream.
Seeing the disdain in Yin Henshui's eyes, the middle-aged man felt a surge of anger, but he remained calm and said in a deep voice, "Right now, we've launched an attack in the east, tying down most of the Shang Kingdom's forces, which is why Yin Que hasn't immediately attacked you. If we withdraw our troops, Yin Que will concentrate its efforts on quelling the internal strife, and then..."
The white-haired middle-aged man chuckled twice, but did not reveal Yin Henshui's eventual fate.
"Are you threatening me?" Yin Henshui slammed his hand on the table, stood up and questioned the grassland man. The guards beside him also drew their long swords, ready to rush up and chop the grassland man into mincemeat at a single command.
The white-haired middle-aged man was not afraid at all and confidently said, "I am merely stating a fact. As for how to choose, it is up to you, King Wuya."
After saying this, the middle-aged man struck a pose as if he were ready to die, as if he had long been prepared to go to the underworld.
Yin Henshui's expression was uncertain. After all, what this guy said was the truth. If the grassland people were no longer able to restrain him, he would definitely not be a match for Yin Que with his strength. Once he was defeated, his entire family would be executed.
The study fell silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"I agree to your request. We will meet outside Shanhaiguan, break through Shanhaiguan, and take Chaoge directly."
Yin Henshui felt somewhat helpless, but since he had made a choice, he could only continue making the same mistake.
"Your Majesty, or rather, His Majesty is wise." The white-haired middle-aged man grinned upon seeing that his plan had succeeded, flattered Yin Henshui, and then left under the escort of his guards.
Yin Henshui sat in the study in silence for a long time. The faint light of the burning candle illuminated his face, revealing only a sense of loneliness.
"Do you think I did something wrong? Should I not have rebelled?"
Suddenly, his voice echoed in the small study.
A figure emerged from the darkness—a woman with a graceful figure. She opened her arms and gently embraced him, whispering, "Don't worry, you will definitely win. I will always be with you."
"Thank goodness I have you!" Yin Henshui's eyes became hazy, his sorrow dissipated, and he slowly fell asleep in the woman's arms, unaware of the purple glint that flashed in the woman's eyes.
……
After Yin Henshui allied with the grassland king, a large number of cities fell within a month. Unlike in the past, the grassland people did not burn down the towns after looting them, but instead sent troops to garrison them and began to manage the city's operations.
They seemed to regard these towns of the great Shang dynasty as their own territory and began to manage them in an orderly manner. It was precisely because of this that the resistance encountered by the steppe people weakened after the threat of massacring the cities was eliminated, and they were able to reach beyond Shanhaiguan within a month.
Although Yin Henshui's military talent was inferior to his father's, with the help of a group of generals and his own leadership skills, he swept through the area beyond Shanhaiguan with unstoppable momentum.
It was only then that Yin Que realized the extent of his country's corruption. A large city had surrendered without a fight, and there were no standards for the number of troops with fully-fledged weapons. As for the annual funding, he didn't know which scoundrels had embezzled it.
Yin Que wished he could exterminate these guys and their entire families, but he couldn't care less about that now. He directly mobilized all his forces and gathered them at Shanhaiguan.
Originally, Yin Que wanted Xu Le to quickly end the war, but he was repeatedly turned away and told that Xu Le was in seclusion and should not be disturbed. This made Yin Que want to curse and say "mmp" to Xu Le's face.
However, Yin Que only thought about it to himself and dared not show it, after all, this was his only savior. Helpless, Yin Que had no choice but to personally don his armor and rush to Shanhaiguan.
Although Yin Que was playful and lustful, he did everything a monarch should do, and he still had no intention of running away. He was quite like the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty in ancient China, who guarded the country's gates and died for their country.
……
Outside Shanhaiguan, countless soldiers stood ready, forming a sea of people. Every step forward was like a raging storm.
Yin Que stood on the watchtower, his heart turning cold. Looking at the nearly 100,000 cavalrymen of the grasslands, well-equipped and strong, they were clearly not just any soldiers; they looked like they had been training for a long time.
But he received no news at all, which shows how corrupt his country's intelligence agencies had become.
The cavalry slowly moved to the side, and a handsome young man wearing a wolf skin rode a Ferghana horse to the front of the formation. It was Lang Teng.
He looked at the towering city walls and the menacing Shang soldiers on them, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes, and shouted, "King of Shang, if you surrender now, I can guarantee with my own integrity that I will spare your life."
"I can also guarantee that as long as you give up resisting, I, Yin Henshui, will spare your life." Yin Henshui, dressed in golden armor, walked out arrogantly and shouted.
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Chapter 58: The Eternal Heaven? The City Falls
When Yin Que heard the enemy's offer of surrender, his face remained expressionless. He replied calmly, "Although I am not a wise ruler and have not expanded the territory, I am still an emperor. Even if I die, I will die on the battlefield and be buried with my soldiers on this land of the Great Shang. Enough of this nonsense, Yin Henshui. Don't assume that everyone is like you just because you lack backbone."
Yin Que was afraid of death, but he was even more afraid of failing his ancestors. Since he was the emperor of the Shang Dynasty, he could only die in battle, not surrender.
Yin Que's booming voice echoed across the battlefield, igniting fighting spirit in every Shang soldier. They stood tall and looked unanimously at their emperor, the emperor they swore to serve to the death.
These words brought tears to their eyes. They were soldiers of the Shang Kingdom, tasked with protecting their people. Now, their emperor would fight alongside them. How could they not be moved?
Yin Henshui's face darkened when he heard Yin Que's mockery, but he had no way to refute it. After all, it was a fact that he had allied with the grassland people. In everyone's eyes, he had betrayed the Shang Dynasty, and the nature of the conflict had changed from internal strife to external disaster.
Yin Henshui could clearly feel the change in the way the soldiers behind him were looking at him. If they weren't all in the same boat, they probably would have rebelled.
"Attack!" Yin Henshui, carrying his life's treasure, pointed his sword at the towering city wall that had stood for four hundred years and launched an attack. He had no way out; the only way was to storm Chaoge. If he succeeded, he could rest easy, for history is always written by the victors.
The soldiers behind them shouted and charged forward, and ladders were erected on the city walls.
Just as the rebels were about to climb up, hot oil rained down from the sky, pouring over their heads. Some of them were scalded to death and collapsed to the ground. The remaining soldiers began to blister and develop red spots all over their bodies, suffering from fever, swelling, and pain. In this ancient world with its poor medical conditions, such burns were practically a death sentence.