The Great Battle of Haojing

The atmosphere in Haojing City had grown tense.

The King-Protecting Army had arrived several days sooner than Marquis Shen had expected. Counting from the lighting of the beacon fires, they could not possibly have come so quickly, even traveling day and night.

Neither Ji Yi nor Marquis Shen had expected that June Frostfall to have such a tremendous impact. Now, Haojing City seethed with hidden currents.

The High Minister advised Ji Yi, "Your Majesty, rumors are spreading throughout the city. They say the late king was not killed by villains, but that you murdered him, and that you are utterly unworthy to rule all under heaven."

Ji Yi was furious, because he knew in his heart that his maternal grandfather really had murdered the king. His throne was indeed stained with his father's blood, so he would not allow anyone to say it.

To stop the State People from speaking ill of him, he sent many men to patrol the streets. Whenever they heard someone criticizing him, they arrested that person immediately.

In just a few days, over a hundred people were arrested and thrown into prison. After that, no one really dared speak ill of him.

The High Minister had not expected Ji Yi to do this. He told Marquis Shen, "Duke of Shen, when floods struck during King Shun's reign, they first tried blocking the waters. Not only did this fail, it created an even greater danger.

"Only later, when they dredged the river channels, did they successfully resolve the flooding.

"Preventing the State People from speaking and criticizing is even more dangerous than the flooding caused by damming rivers.

"If speech is continually blocked rather than guided, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Marquis Shen knew this was no solution, but he could find no way to resolve it either.

With a great enemy at hand, he could only pin his hopes on defeating the King-Protecting Army, then slowly guiding public opinion within the city.

Though that heavy snowfall had vanished like smoke beneath the blazing sun, it had fallen into everyone's hearts like a seed. Ji Yi's brutality was the catalyst, and everyone believed he was not the true king.

Not only the ordinary State People, but even the ministers and nobles swept up in this affair were secretly preparing to abandon Ji Yi and Marquis Shen.

The moment Marquis Shen's side showed any sign of defeat in the coming decisive battle, they would turn against him.

Marquis Shen knew this too, so he had not allowed these Lords of the Royal Domain to lead troops into battle. Instead, he placed them under house arrest.

Countless armies had collapsed when their vanguards turned their weapons against them in battle. The most famous examples were the Battle of Muye, where King Wu overthrew the tyrant Zhou and settled the realm in a single battle, and the Battle of the Luo River during the Sage King's Eastern Campaign.

On the vast land outside Haojing City, more than two hundred thousand troops had gathered.

The Western Lords' Coalition faced the Rong King on the western flank, while Marquis Shen personally led most of his troops against the main force of the King-Protecting Army to the east.

Clad in armor, with a bow and arrows on his back and a Long Halberd planted beside him, Marquis Shen cut an imposing, martial figure. He drove his chariot forward and called loudly, "Is the Marquis of Luo here?"

Luo Cheng would certainly not meet him again. The ranks parted, revealing the Count of Zheng standing on a chariot, dressed almost identically to Marquis Shen.

Drawing his Long Halberd and pointing it at Marquis Shen, he cursed furiously, "Villain Shen! You murdered His Majesty and killed the queen as well. What viciousness! Even the jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards of the wilds are less cruel than you.

"Even if all the waters of the Jing-Wei Rivers were used to wash you, they could not cleanse the sin of royal blood from your body.

"The Duke of Luo is a descendant of the Sage King. How noble his status, how steadfast his loyalty to the Zhou State!

"Does a criminal like you still dream of meeting the Duke of Luo?"

These words struck Marquis Shen where it hurt. He retorted angrily, "Count of Zheng, you twist black into white and spit blood to slander others! Do you not fear punishment from the gods of mountains and rivers?

"My daughter by my principal wife was the queen, and my grandson was the Crown Prince. His Majesty was deceived by treacherous men into deposing his legitimate son in favor of a concubine's son. That trampled upon the Zhou State's Lineage System!

"I led the Shen State's army to Haojing to purge the traitors at the king's side. The Marquis of Luo refuses to believe my intentions and slanders me like this. How heartbreaking.

"When I meet the Marquis of Luo, I will explain everything to him properly. His Majesty was killed by traitors. It had nothing to do with me."

Neither man gained an advantage in their exchange. Both returned to their ranks, preparing to settle the matter on the battlefield.

The two armies began beating their drums to bolster morale. Following their orders, the generals led their troops crashing into the enemy.

On the western battlefield, the King-Protecting Army and the Rong People had even less to say to one another. They had long since begun fighting.

Across the vast Three Rivers Plain, more than two hundred thousand troops and several thousand chariots charged with thunderous roars.

Arrows flew, and battle cries filled the land. Soldiers on both sides were already locked in deadly combat. With the means of communication available, sending orders down to the lowest ranks was impossible. Only broad control was possible; the actual fighting depended entirely on the instincts of the frontline commanders.

The generals whose names survived in history were all extraordinary men capable of seizing opportunities on the battlefield. This was what it meant to engage with the orthodox and win with the unexpected.

The minor nobles whose families had served in the military for generations were the fiercest. Protected by personal guards who had been with them since childhood, they drove their chariots crisscrossing the battlefield.

Both sides had long since become deadlocked, their eyes red with bloodlust. Even if the gongs sounded a retreat now, some would likely be unable to stop swinging their weapons.

On this ferocious battlefield, stray arrows flew in volleys, blades flashed, and corpses littered the ground. Bronze weapons were ill-suited to prolonged fighting, and many soldiers' weapons had already curled at the edges.

Viewed from the sky, severed limbs lay everywhere. The scene was bloody and cruel beyond measure.

Of all the lords who had joined this alliance, the Count of Zheng alone had personally entered the fray. His bravery truly surpassed the three armies. He fired his powerful bow to either side, almost every arrow killing an enemy officer. He even loosed three arrows at once, killing three men in succession.

Crown Prince Ji Fu watched with shining eyes. Luo Cheng and the others could not help praising him. "The Count of Zheng has Xiong Dun's courage."

Xiong Dun's renown as the mortal lord of war was known to everyone, from the distant lands west of Haojing to the shores of the eastern sea.

That Luo Cheng now compared the Count of Zheng to Xiong Dun showed how highly he regarded his martial prowess.

The Count of Zheng felt this great battle had been tailor-made for him. The Zheng State was powerful among the Ji-Surname Feudal Lords, but it still could not compare with the Jin State.

If he wanted to claim the foremost merit, he had to make his mark in this great battle-and that happened to be his greatest strength.

Protected by the Zheng State's elite troops, the Count of Zheng charged back and forth through the enemy formations. He did not even need to swing the Long Halberd in his hand. As his speeding chariot rushed past, it simply left a bloody hole.

Marquis Shen was not to be outdone. Each led his finest troops in an attempt to tear through the other's defenses.

A whistling sound came through the air. The Count of Zheng felt his left arm go numb. Looking closely, he discovered an arrow lodged in his armor.

His skill gave him extraordinary courage. He felt no fear at all, only turning angrily toward the direction the arrow had come from. To his surprise, Marquis Shen himself had fired it.

"You strike with hidden arrows? Let me test what you're made of!"

The Count of Zheng likewise drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired at Marquis Shen. But Marquis Shen was already prepared, and his soldiers knocked the arrow aside before it could reach him.

"Hmph!"

The Count of Zheng snorted coldly, ordered his driver to turn the chariot around, and brandished his Long Halberd with a roar. "Follow me and kill the villain Shen!"

The two finest forces on the battlefield became locked in a brutal struggle. Both were among the realm's elite and wore thick armor. Neither could gain victory in any short span of time.

Luo Cheng and the others stood on high ground, watching the shifting battlefield from afar. After observing for a while, they realized the battle had become deadlocked.

In truth, a battle involving more than a hundred thousand men became exactly this when fought head-on. Victory could not possibly be decided quickly. It merely became a meat grinder.

Large-scale warfare ultimately tested both sides' logistics, their soldiers' psychological endurance, their commanders' ability to deploy troops, and their knowledge of the heavens and terrain.

"If this deadlock continues, we likely won't get a result today. Now we can only wait to see who reveals an opening first."

This great battle, made up of countless smaller battlefields, lasted from morning until evening. Even the reserves had been rotated several times, and everyone had grown numb.

As the sun gradually sank, the soldiers' strength ebbed away. Both sides knew it was time to withdraw.

Corpses lay strewn haphazardly all around Haojing City. Most were soldiers without armor, and countless bodies had lost hands or feet.

The lords protecting the king had anticipated this situation. They were stronger, and time was on their side. The longer the war dragged on, the further the scales of victory would tilt toward them.

Just then, astonishing cries suddenly erupted behind Marquis Shen's army. Great banners of the Ying Lineage fluttered in the wind. The man at their head flew a banner bearing the character for Qin and clutched the Rong King's head in his hand.

"The Rong King is dead!"

The Rong King had actually been slain in battle by this general of the Ying Lineage!

Marquis Shen felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar. The Rong King had weathered countless storms. How could he have fallen to an obscure minor noble?

Returning to the events just before this, Zao Fei had been born into the Zhao Clan of the Ying Lineage and enfeoffed in the Qin Fief. He was a minor noble outside the Five Ranks of Nobility.

But he was naturally brave and skilled in battle. Over the years, he had attacked in all directions, and many ruined members of the Ying Lineage had joined him. His strength could not be underestimated.

He had come to protect the king this time with the hope of astonishing everyone with a single brilliant feat.

From the moment the battle began, he had kept his eyes on the Rong King.

As he fought and shifted positions, his keen battlefield instincts finally allowed him to seize an opening. He charged straight toward the Rong King's chariot and great standard.

Only a thousand of the finest Rong warriors guarded that position!

This was already the Rong King at his weakest. Zao Fei committed almost everything he possessed, and amid flying flesh and blood, he finally tore open a gap.

At the most dangerous moment, a Long Halberd even thrust straight into his chest, but his breastplate stopped it.

For this opportunity, his personal guards had nearly all been killed or wounded.

He drew his bow and nocked an arrow. These were the three sharpest arrows in the entire Qin Fief, capable of piercing armor. At this point, Zao Fei could no longer begrudge using them. He fired all three in rapid succession.

The Rong King fell from his chariot.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Zao Fei shouted, "The Rong King is dead!"

Rumble!

Thunder suddenly roared through the space where Ji Zhao stood. He, who had remained in a muddled haze all this time, abruptly regained clarity.

The Mandate of Heaven is shifting? So soon?

His eyes opened, blazing with golden light that shot straight outward. Then he saw Purple Radiance spanning heaven and earth shine upon that valiant man!

As though stirred by Purple Radiance, two orbs of light emerged from Ji Zhao's body.

Within one orb, a flawless human figure rose and fell. Within the other was a structure resembling a heavenly palace.

They were the Heavenly Avatar and the Celestial Observatory Platform!

Ji Zhao reached out and clasped the two orbs in his hands. Gazing at that Mandate of Heaven's Purple Light, he felt an urge to act.

[Esteemed player, Heaven-Tier Items possess supreme power and play a crucial role in your completion of the game. Are you certain you wish to use them?]

Feeling his soul growing ever stronger, Ji Zhao ultimately withdrew the two Heaven-Tier Items into his body and closed his eyes again.

The nearby Rong soldiers looked over and saw that the king was indeed no longer on his chariot. Terror seized them, and they recalled the rumors that had circulated through their camp a few days earlier, claiming that the Zhou People had gods fighting in the war.

Now even their king, who rivaled the gods, was dead. They scattered and fled.

Delighted, Zao Fei immediately drove his chariot over the disordered Rong soldiers. He dragged up the Rong King's corpse and hoisted it directly onto his Long Halberd, then drove about shouting that the Rong King was dead.

In truth, it was not only the ordinary Rong soldiers who no longer wanted to fight. After looting Haojing and gaining immense wealth, many Rong nobles had already grown uneasy and wanted to leave, especially after such an uncanny event as June Frostfall.

Now that the Rong King was dead, they had no more scruples. They led their followers in a gradual withdrawal.

The western King-Protecting Army did not stop them, but let them leave outright. They knew their most important task now was to crush Marquis Shen.

Once the Rong forces withdrew, the Shen State would face enemies from both front and rear. Speed was the essence of war; the lords wasted not a moment and marched straight toward Marquis Shen.

Everyone, who had already been preparing to withdraw, was stunned by this sudden change. The deadlock before them had actually broken open because of a single lapse by the Rong King.

"Crown Prince, the King-Protecting Army is going to win!"

"Haojing is ours!"

The lords eagerly brought the good news to Ji Fu. Though he could not read the battle himself, he understood after listening to their explanations.

I'm about to win.

And after I win?

Ascend the throne as king!

Become the supreme Son of Heaven!

Ji Fu could not help trembling. He stared fixedly at that blood-soaked battlefield.

Seeing that the situation had turned against him, Marquis Shen wanted to flee into Haojing City and make a desperate last stand. But the State People of Haojing had joined forces with the ministers and nobles, stormed the Royal Palace, and killed Ji Yi outright. Then they closed every gate of Haojing City, cutting off Marquis Shen's retreat.

There was no road into heaven, no gate into the earth!

Caught between attacks from front and rear, the Shen State's army could neither advance nor retreat. Men fell in swathes, and their formation had utterly collapsed. More died trampling one another than fell directly to the King-Protecting Army's arrows and blades.

The Count of Zheng had already given up on killing Marquis Shen, only for the western lords to suddenly send word of this great victory. The entire Shen State army scattered and fled.

Only the most elite armored troops remained to protect Marquis Shen. The problem was that the Count of Zheng had armored troops too-as did the Jin State, the Zhou State, and the Luo State. There were many, many of them!

He gathered five or six officers to charge with him. Both sides' soldiers wore thick armor, against which ordinary arrows were useless.

The clash began with the bloodiest of chariot collisions. Horses wailed, and blood spurted as entrails, arms, and heads scattered across the ground.

The Count of Zheng charged left and right. With his tremendous martial prowess, he easily killed several armored soldiers who tried to block his path, then reached Marquis Shen with a loud laugh.

"Marquis Shen, look around you. Your defeat came precisely because you did something that made heaven reject you.

"How sacred the Sage King is! Yet you dared defy the divine decree he sent down.

"How could you possibly avoid defeat?"

Marquis Shen had expected the Count of Zheng to humiliate him, but he had not expected these words.

He could not help wondering what would have happened if he had withdrawn his troops when the Marquis of Luo came to persuade him.

"Sage King!

"I am one of your people who has rendered service to All Xia.

"Ji Nie was so benighted, deposing his legitimate son in favor of a concubine's son. Why did you not punish him?"

With that, he looked at the Count of Zheng before him and ceased fighting. He drew his sword and slit his own throat!

Li's crown prince was tyrannical, and the State People spoke against him.

Enraged, he appointed men to watch for criticism, and killed those who criticized him.

The State People dared not speak; Roads Filled with Watchful Eyes.

Stopping the people's mouths was more perilous than stopping a river, and the State People turned against him.-Discourses of the States, "Discourses of Zhou"

The Mandate of Heaven shone clear; Zhao was the Mandate of Heaven!