Xing Prefecture, within the palace city.
"State Chancellor, the fighting at the front has gone poorly. We have suffered defeat after defeat. That Wang Yan, the bandit from Yan Prefecture, is truly difficult to deal with. According to reports from the front, some of our Western Xia people have already joined Chong E's army. Over the past two months, we have repeatedly deployed troops and laid traps to surround and kill them, yet our plans have failed time and again. Whenever Chong E falls into a trap, he flees south, where Wang Yan has ten thousand troops ready to receive him, while the remaining forces cut off our retreat. We can neither advance nor withdraw.
"Now that Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing have arrived in Longyou, their forces have grown even stronger, reaching three hundred thousand men. We have heard they are still dispatching reinforcements. Moreover, rebellions have broken out throughout our country, likely because Wang Yan sent people to spread rumors. In the past two months alone, there have been no fewer than twenty incidents of officials being killed..."
"Yes, State Chancellor. We are beset by troubles within and without. We can scarcely hold on any longer..."
A group of ministers chimed in, all clearly anxious.
The State Chancellor they spoke of was none other than Mozang E Pang, who currently held overwhelming power in Western Xia. He was already past fifty, and after occupying high office for so many years and indulging in wealth and luxury, his whole body had grown fat.
Yet as he sat there, his bushy beard, broad shoulders, and savage gaze that seemed ready to devour a man all proclaimed that he had once been a strong man, was now a violent one, and was on the verge of an outburst.
He truly was