Free Web NovelChapter 2206: Chapter 241: How Many Rise and Fall Through the Ages, Let Their Names Shine in History
"At the age of nine, I was ignorant."
Such a voice echoed within the Bao Hua Palace.
The voice descended from the Scarlet Steps, containing a sense of overlooking all beings.
"This year, I am forty-two, and I am still ignorant."
Sitting with grandeur and solitude on the Dragon Throne was the current Emperor of Summer Country.
His voice lowered, carrying some suppression, yet also a certain majesty—
"All my sons have come of age!"
The splendid and majestic Bao Hua Palace was empty today.
Not a single court official was present.
His voice echoed with increasing loneliness and authority.
From the perspective of the Xia Emperor Si Cheng, looking forward, it swept over the Scarlet Steps, jade pillars, corridors, and at the end of the palace, under the tall palace gate, a noble figure stood in the light.
The light was so dazzling that this person’s features could not be clearly seen.
Just as over the years, this person, this face, had become a symbol. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
He had been unable to see clearly, unable to recall for a long time!
The voice of the Summer Son of Heaven echoed for a long time.
Only then did the person standing in the light speak: "The State Preceptor has been loyal and devoted, sacrificing himself for the state, dedicating his entire life to national affairs! If you were sensible, how could you treat him this way?"
She stepped into the hall.
The footsteps reverberated loneliness in the palace.
Truly, it was a lonely imperial palace!
The Xia Emperor sat in his place, watching the Empress Dowager of Summer Country walk in full regalia, watching his mother.
It seemed he had never looked at this former ruler of Da Xia Empire from this angle during the past thirty-three years.
Although he was the Son of Heaven of Da Xia, it was the first time he had looked down upon this person.
"Oh?" His voice was indifferent: "Since he was determined to die, presumably he didn’t care how he died. If he dared to put me in peril, what’s the harm in bearing more infamy?"
The Empress Dowager Xia took a step and then stopped. She stood beneath, raising her eyes to gaze up the Scarlet Steps, hardly believing this was the little boy who trembled while hiding behind her.
After all, he was the descendant of the predecessor emperor.
No matter how incompetent, how mediocre, it was impossible not to possess any ambition.
It’s only a pity that over the past thirty-three years, she had exhausted her efforts, solely focusing on national affairs, rebuilding the once barren land of Summer Country into a splendid landscape of ten thousand miles... yet neglected how to educate a child, an emperor.
She was ultimately not the predecessor emperor, unable to internally cultivate virtuous governance and externally manage martial affairs with ease, while still frequently bringing the princes and princesses by her side for education, and even caring for the funerals and marriages of every minister...
Today, Summer Country is able to wage life-and-death battles with Qi Country, able to have so many civil servants and military commanders die heroically, all are the remnant virtue of the predecessor emperor years ago.
The predecessor emperor...
"Even the predecessor emperor never activated the Changluo Absolute Formation." The Empress Dowager Xia said, "How dare you..."
"Mother Empress!" The Summer Emperor interrupted her: "This year is already the thirty-third year of Shenwu!"
He did not say anything else.
But what more needs to be said?
What words could be more cold and cruel than this?
The Empress Dowager Xia originally had so much she wanted to say, but at this moment, she couldn’t utter a single word.
She stood calmly in the grand hall, and under the phoenix crown was a pair of eyes without any waves.
She only said: "The predecessor emperor died heroically and still had thirty-three years of reign. Let’s see how many years you can extend the life of the state with such grand actions?"
Separated at both ends of the palace.
She stood, the Son of Heaven sat.
They were mother and child.
They were ruler and subject.
The heavenly light outside Bao Hua Palace was unwilling to enter the palace gates.
...
...
The heavenly light is generous to all things unless you intentionally resist it.
The city named "Noble City" can be bright, so can Jiangyin Plains. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
The majestic Tong Yang City bathed in splendid heavenly light, possessing an epic grandeur. In the sky above this city, the dense Thorn Boats of Qi Country were equally clear and bright!
The thorn spears, falling like a torrential cascade, flowed in the sunlight, obscuring most of the sky.
Urgent military news spread suddenly at this moment—
Ren Qiuli, the True Man of Heavenly Mechanism from the Southern Dipper Palace, hiding heavenly intent and concealing motives, suddenly struck severely, inflicting heavy damage on Da Qi’s 300,000 County Soldiers’ Marshal Chen Fu!
While Tian Anping turned the tide, evidenced Dongzhen among ten thousand troops, at the cost of ninety thousand of his troops’ deaths, forced retreat of Ren Qiuli, and killed Chu Gongyi from the Touch Clan! Thus, the East Line Xia Army collapsed a thousand miles!
These two pieces of news from the North Line battlefield spread almost simultaneously, shocking both Qi and Xia!
Cao Jie naturally received more detailed reports—
Tian Anping’s victory could be entirely described as built upon the corpses of his soldiers.
It was said that on the battlefield, wielding the magic blade personally, he killed any who dared speak of retreat! Hesitant or stagnant forward was slain! Those who advanced but not swiftly were killed!
As the Marshal of the East Line’s left flank, the 100,000 County Soldiers of Qi Country under his command, ninety thousand died in this battle, among which he himself executed eight thousand!
By sacrificing ninety thousand County Soldiers’ lives, he shattered the Xia Army’s will and crushed the True Man of the Touch Clan, Chu Gongyi, from Da Xia.
After this battle, among the ten thousand surviving County Soldiers, over two thousand experienced mental breakdowns, and more than a thousand chose suicide.
Additionally, his own blood brother, Tian Antai, went mad during this war!
However, Cao Jie did not offer any commentary on this, instead, he casually placed the battle report aside and gazed into the distance—
The East Line battlefield had already achieved decisive victory.
In the North Line battlefield, Da Xia’s Duke of the State Zhou Ying, and Marquis Xuanping Fan Ao, both perished in battle, and the allied forces’ marshal of Eastern Region, Xie Huaian, had already advanced westward, their forces directly targeting the city named "Noble City".
At this moment, he stood on the tall Rongchong tower chariot, overlooking that seemingly impregnable Tong Yang City.
Between him and Tong Yang City, the vast rushing tide of Da Qi soldiers filled every corner within the visible distance.
