Chapter 136
"I'll listen to Brother Qi."
"As Your Highness wishes."
Zhou Yanqing and Zhou Junsong exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
Qi Rongyu got the answer he wanted and smiled slightly. "The mountains are high and the roads are long. I heard that both Lord Lanyu and King Sak are busy with their own affairs. Da Nan cannot be without a leader for a day. Why don't we make a decision?"
The two men standing beside him were also his uncles, and they seemed to agree with whatever he said.
After the soldiers cleaned up the mess, the palace returned to its peaceful and quiet state, as if nothing had happened, except for the change in the person sitting in the high position.
Qi Rongyu ordered Zhao Xiangxun to prepare according to the recorded method for electing the Southern Emperor.
This is the second time that an election has been held in this manner since the first emperor, Wu, ascended the throne.
If the first election was a genuine election of a leader, then this one is merely Qi Rongyu giving himself a legitimate formality; even the so-called grand ceremony preparations only took three days.
This was also the reason he kept Zhou Junsong.
With him representing Southern Metropolis Daily, it's enough whether Sak and Lanyu appear or not.
He had even prepared a sedan chair for himself.
The entire sedan chair was made of mahogany, and the curtains covering it were made of black and gold. When the sunlight shone on it, it shimmered with seven colors, and the decorations on the sides were inlaid with gemstones.
This level of grandeur is exactly what a Southern Emperor should have.
He made no attempt to appear respectable, even sitting on the way to the Digu Temple, creating a grand spectacle.
As dusk fell, the people on both sides peered curiously at the figure in the palanquin, already knowing in their hearts that this was their future Southern Emperor.
These poor people didn't even have a choice; they could only watch these important figures "play house."
The King of Qi's palanquin stopped in front of the Digu Temple. He slowly stepped down, and everyone then noticed that his clothes were also extremely luxurious, with auspicious patterns embroidered on them.
Those are patterns that only the Southern Emperor can use.
He walked in slowly, where Zhou Yanqing and Zhou Junsong had been waiting for a long time.
Zhao Xiangxun, dressed in sacrificial robes and wearing an ancient bronze mask, played the role of a diviner.
After the three arrived, they sang and danced as recorded, roasted the tortoise shell over a fire, and asked Digu for his opinion.
Crackling sounds soon came from the brazier, and upon closer inspection, cracks had appeared on the tortoise shell.
Zhao Xiangxun didn't look at it much; he knew it was just a formality. He directly invited the three men to come up and throw the divination blocks.
The first one is Zhou Junsong, who has only one Holy Grail.
Zhou Yanqing, there is no Holy Grail.
When Qi Rongyu arrived, three Holy Grails appeared in succession.
If they didn't know the intricacies of it, they would probably all think it was a miracle.
As Zhao Xiangxun sang a song to the gods, Qi Rongyu was draped in a black cloak symbolizing the throne, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
The next second, he raised his hand and said, "Guards, seize the traitors for me."
No sooner had they finished speaking than a group of soldiers appeared out of nowhere in the Digu Temple and surrounded Zhou Yanqing and Zhou Junsong.
One of them reported, "Report: The Qi army has attacked the northern part of Qin territory and won its first battle."
Two soldiers stepped forward and subdued the two men.
He stood in the middle, watching with amusement the expressions on Zhou Junsong and Zhou Yanqing's faces. "King Qin, King Qin, do you really think I don't know what you're plotting? Unfortunately, you've chosen the wrong person to use your scheme against."
Zhou Yanqing, however, remained completely unperturbed. He whistled and swung his hand to knock down the soldier who was pinning him down. "I think my plan worked very well."
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of men in black leaped down from the eaves of the Digu Temple, wielding large knives, and swiftly dispatched the surrounding soldiers with a single stroke.
Qi Rongyu then realized that he had been tricked.
——
Dark clouds covered the sky above Jinwu City, and coincidentally, ninety-nine auspicious crows circled overhead, forming a circle.
The last time such a sight appeared was before the Southern Emperor Wu threw the divination cups; just after three Holy Grails appeared in a row, the sky suddenly cleared.
These celestial phenomena have always been hailed as miracles.
However, Jinwu City is now filled with the clash of swords.
Old Zhang, who sells sesame cakes, hurriedly ran home with his load on his shoulder, only to find that his grandson was missing when he turned around.
The boy, unaware that swords have no eyes, thought he was watching a play and ran off laughing towards the direction of the battle.
He hurriedly tried to pull him away, but was blocked by the figures of the fighting men, and his heart jumped into his throat.
A Qi soldier was seen wielding his sword left and right, his eyes bloodshot with rage, completely oblivious to the child standing beside him.
"Rumor slave, come back quickly!"
Qi Jun's broadsword flashed, almost lifting him up by a hair's breadth, and Old Zhang screamed in agony.
At this moment, Yao Nu seemed to realize that this was not a play, and cried out that he wanted to run away.
Hearing the commotion, Qi Jun became agitated and, without caring what it was, turned around and slashed down with his sword.
Just as the blade was about to cleave Yao Nu in two, Old Zhang closed his eyes in despair. The next second, a crying little dumpling was stuffed into his arms.
He opened his eyes in a daze, and there was his rumor slave. When he looked up again, he couldn't see the person's face clearly in the backlight. He could only see the red-tasseled spear that was as tall as a person. The strong smell of blood rushed into his nostrils, which seemed to be mixed with the scent of jasmine and mugwort.
He heard the man shout to the Qin soldiers in battle: "Do not harm the innocent, only kill the Qi soldiers!"
"yes!"
The general closest to him responded swiftly, his longsword piercing the body of a Qi soldier.
The man rushed into the fighting, leaving only his back view.
The familiar yet unfamiliar dark hem of the robe made him realize that this person was the legendary "lone star"—the King of Qin.
Zhou Yanqing mounted his horse with a long spear, and tossed a sword to Zhou Junsong, who was not far away, saying, "You know what you should do."
Zhou Junsong didn't linger, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the palace.
In an instant, Jinwu City became a gladiatorial arena for the Qi and Qin armies.
Qi Rongyu was forced to stand on the city gate, still trying to provoke him, "Zhou Yanqing, even if you are prepared, what can you do? Qin is about to fall, your small force is no match for me!"
As he said, after entering the city, he was wary of Zhou Yanqing's move, which forced the Qin army to retreat to outside Wufeng Pass, so that even if they wanted to reinforce, they wouldn't be able to get in for a while.
Zhou Yanqing could only bring a very small number of men, which was no match for the ever-increasing Qi army, and he quickly found himself at a disadvantage.
Chen Wu, carrying a gun, approached Zhou Yanqing, clearly exhausted as well.
"Is there still no news from Sano?" Zhou Yanqing asked him.
"No."
"Then we'll have to rely on ourselves." He said, piercing the throat of the man before him.
Seeing that he was still putting up a stubborn resistance, Qi Rongyu on the city wall was filled with resentment. He snatched the large bow from the archer next to him, aimed, drew it fully, and shot an arrow that pierced his shoulder.
Zhou Yanqing grunted, looked up in the direction of the King of Qi, and directly reached out and pulled the arrow out, blood gushing out instantly.
He straightened up and shouted sarcastically, "Is that all Brother Qi has to offer?"
Qi Rongyu hated his arrogant demeanor the most and ordered the archers to fire.
Jinwu City has many watchtowers and hidden sentries, and archers are almost everywhere in the city.
At his command, arrows rained down on Zhou Yanqing from all directions.
At the same time, a sudden downpour obstructed the Qin army's vision, causing countless soldiers to fall to the ground.
Although Zhou Yanqing was wearing armor, he was still inevitably injured.
Already exhausted, he could only support himself with his spear, kneeling on one knee.
"Why isn't he here yet!" he muttered through gritted teeth, panting heavily.
Qi Rongyu burst into laughter at the sight before him, "Hahahaha, I knew you couldn't beat me!"
Just then, a series of clear bell sounds came from somewhere.
He looked back and saw something rolling towards him through the rain outside the city.
He hurriedly ordered the arrows to be fired, but nothing happened.
When he looked back, a group of women in blue suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wielding double-headed scimitars, and quickly killed the archers on both sides.
Seeing that the other party was already approaching him, Qi Rongyu picked up the long sword on the ground and hurriedly fled.
With a "bang," the city gate was blown open by gunpowder.
He was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, surrounded by the deafening shouts of the soldiers.
"How...how is this possible?" His voice trembled. He tried to run, but his legs felt weak, and he couldn't stand up even after struggling for a long time.
As the rain poured down, Zhou Yanqing realized that he had been shot in the abdomen without his knowledge.
No wonder it hurts so much!
He propped himself up, his hand gripping the spear trembling slightly, yet he continued fighting.
Raindrops pelted his eyelashes, blurring his vision, and he seemed to hear the series of bell sounds getting closer and closer.
Unlike Qi Rongyu, he found the direction of the sound, which was towards Yunji Temple—beneath the rain curtain, a figure in green rode in on horseback.
He vaguely heard his master's words again: "You survived a great calamity, and Yunji will protect you in the future."
Zhou Yanqing curled her lips into a smile, muttering as if in response, "She won't save me..."
But my wife will...
"Whoa!" The black hooves stopped in front of him, and the woman on horseback dismounted, casually slashing the neck of the man who was trying to attack him with a dagger.
She supported him, pressed the cloth against his wound, and said with concern, "You're hurt!"
"It's alright," he said, forcing a smile. He vaguely realized that he was covered in blood and shouldn't have soiled her. He missed her terribly, so he held her in his arms, his voice hoarse and weak. "Didn't I tell you to stay in Qin? It's too dangerous here!"
"You know it's dangerous!" Si Yanmo's eyes reddened. "How could I possibly leave you alone?"
Zhou Yanqing sensed the concern in her words, patted her hand, and picked up the spear.
Now is not the time to bicker.
"Do you remember what I taught you before?" He thrust the gun through the attacker's heart.
Si Yanmo also took out the dagger she had used for a long time, turned around, deflected the man's long sword, and cleanly pierced the man's throat.
"certainly."
The two exchanged a smile and then threw themselves into battle.
When reinforcements arrived, the Qi army was quickly overwhelmed. Some surrendered, while others resisted stubbornly until a woman's voice came from the city gate: "The King of Qi has surrendered. Why are you resisting?"
All eyes turned to the city gate, where King Qi was being held to the neck by a double-crescent blade, and a woman dressed in blue and silver armor stood beside him.
"Lanyu Master?" Zhou Yanqing looked at Si Yanmo, "How did you convince her?"
"I didn't persuade her; she wanted to come on her own."
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