After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 734 - 724: The Delegation

Liu Cong led his army all the way to the outskirts of Jinyang City, where the people outside Jinyang had fled into the city and Liu Kun was defending, refusing to go out. Liu Cong, for the moment, had no way to deal with him.

Liu Kun himself was not skilled in warfare, but he did have capable generals under his command. Linghu Sheng was one such general, and with him, Liu Cong temporarily couldn’t breach Jinyang.

However, they didn’t have spare troops to assist Liu Xi in Jizhou.

Edicts from Pingyang kept arriving one after another, and Liu Cong learned that Zhao Hanzhang had stationed troops outside Pingyang City. Even though he knew she was moving to encircle Wei to save Zhao, he had no choice but to lead his troops back for defense.

The infuriating thing was that Shangdang’s position was evidently more important, yet she bypassed Shangdang, only stationing her troops outside Pingyang City.

As for Shi Le, he was merely watching and would not send troops.

Liu Cong, like Liu Yuan, couldn’t afford to gamble. Once Pingyang was lost, the prestige of the Han Kingdom would be wiped clean.

Liu Cong left behind part of his troops and returned to the capital.

He hurried his army back to Pingyang only to find Liu Yi had gone to the Zhao Family Army Camp by himself, making it impossible to send troops, which nearly drove Liu Cong mad with rage.

Without concealing his wrath, he smashed everything in the room.

"Great General, the envoy has already departed. Did we return just for peace negotiations?"

"Indeed, Great General, this matter cannot just be left as it is."

"I say, whoever they are, capturing Zhao Hanzhang is most important. If we can defeat her here, we might seize Luoyang in the process."

"Such wild thoughts can be spoken among us but must not be uttered outside."

"Your Majesty is still covering for King of Beihai, claiming that the King went to resolve the crisis in Pingyang; otherwise, the Zhao Family Army would have launched a night raid before the Great General returned, but we went out for a round and found within twenty li outside the city there was no enemy army, no trace of stationed troops; whatever night raid, it’s all nonsense! We don’t know if Zhao Hanzhang deceived the Seventh Prince or if the Seventh Prince deceived Your Majesty!"

"Enough, whatever we say now is too late. Great General, are we just going to do nothing and be led by the nose by Zhao Hanzhang?"

Liu Cong’s eyes flashed with cold light, "Zhao Hanzhang has almost taken over the entire Si Province; the Central Plains have all fallen into her hands, yet Emperor Jin and Gou Xi have no reaction at all?"

He clenched his fist and coldly said, "Send someone with rich gifts to Yun City; since she can press straight to Pingyang County, we can certainly cause chaos in her rear."

"Yes!"

Other court ministers might tell Liu Yuan to abandon Liu Yi, but the Crown Prince could not, and Liu Cong also could not.

Liu Yi was not only Liu Yuan’s most beloved son but also Empress Shan’s son, the legitimate heir.

Liu Yuan advocated Han governance, and though the ministers in the court disliked Han governance, they did recognize one point: the legitimate heir inheritance system.

Thus, Liu He was the Crown Prince because he was born of Liu Yuan’s original wife, the legitimate heir.

After Liu He, Liu Yi was the second in line to inherit.

In truth, Liu Cong didn’t think much of Liu He as his elder brother; he believed his father didn’t think much of him either. If able to choose freely, Liu Yuan might choose Liu Yi.

Therefore, Liu Cong couldn’t target the Crown Prince or Liu Yi; Liu Yuan would be very displeased.

The emotional bond between them was not very deep. Liu Cong felt that his father would sacrifice him for the great cause, and he would sacrifice him for Liu Yi.

As Liu Cong was selecting a person to go to Yun City, Wei Jie and Zhao Xin had already entered Jizhou.

They carefully bypassed Shi Le’s sphere of influence, pretending to be traveling merchants. The Zhao Family Army escorting them hid their armor, but their posture was upright, and their conduct was disciplined, clearly not ordinary guards.

At a fork in the road, the group stopped, waiting for Wei Jie and Zhao Xin to choose the route.

Wei Jie unfolded a small map, carefully compared it, then pointed to a certain spot and said, "We should be here. If we head west, we can reach Zhongshan County in two days. Liu Xi is there, and Wang Jun’s army is outside Zhongshan County."

Zhao Xin said, "Then we have to cross Changshan County, most of which is occupied by the Xiongnu Khanate. Although Liu Cong has retreated, he left behind quite a few soldiers. It’s still wartime, so the route is heavily guarded, and we might have difficulty passing through."

Wei Jie nodded, "Therefore, taking this route requires more time, possibly four days."

Though it took some detours, it was safe. If the pace quickened slightly, it wasn’t impossible to complete in three days.

Wang Yu saw them gathered and discussing for a long time, so he joined them to look. Seeing the map was quite detailed, he asked, "I’ve wanted to ask for a while, where did this map come from?"

The half-grown youngster Zhao Shi joined instantly, proudly saying, "It was drawn by my third brother-in-law."

Wang Yu: "Who is your third brother-in-law?"

Zhao Shi: ...

Zhao Shi glanced at him sideways, "Fu Tinghan, my third brother-in-law!"

Beside them, Zhao Xin laughed and said, "Minister Fu is very talented. From ancient records and county annals, he found descriptions of mountains, rivers, and roads to draft a rough map."

Currently, the Imperial College is working on creating the atlas, led by him and Uncle Cheng. The map we have now is just a small excerpt.

Mentioning this, Zhao Xin couldn’t help but admire Fu Tinghan’s mind, able to draw a small map from memory without referencing the atlas.

On the way, he and Wei Jie compared notes, finding only a two-point discrepancy between reality and the map; he recorded the differences to report back to Fu Tinghan for correction.

Wei Jie put away the map and said, "Let’s take the eastern route then."

The group agreed, mounted their cars and horses, and turned toward the east.

Thinking the east might be safer, little did they know, they soon ran into a chaotic army.

Soldiers approached, helmetless, disheveled, lacking formation, clearly a routed army.

Zhao Xin was shocked and immediately ordered, "Quickly, retreat to the mountain!"

But the routed army was fast, quickly colliding with them, seeing Zhao Xin and others had cars and horses, and numerous boxes covered with oilcloth on the vehicles, clearly suggesting wealthy merchants.

The eyes of the routed soldiers brightened, rushing forth to rob them.

Wei Jie turned pale and said, "Cut the ropes, scatter the wealth from the cars; we must first safeguard the people!"

However, Zhao Shi was unwilling to abandon them, as the third sister was so poor; these were gifts meant for Wang Jun, if lost, where would they find treasures to bribe Wang Jun?

He grabbed his long spear from a trusted aide, directly pointing at twenty soldiers, loudly saying, "You follow me in battle, just some fleeing rabble, would the Zhao Family Army be afraid of them?"

The soldiers shouted, drawing their swords from the cars, swiftly forming ranks behind Zhao Shi.

Zhao Xin and his group fled toward the mountain, looking back as they ran.

Zhao Shi merely glanced back, loudly saying, "Cousin, go safely. I will hold the rear for you, you and Mr. Wei are envoys, nothing must happen!"

He called to Wang Yu, "Central Lang General, the envoy is entrusted to you!"

Wang Yu became serious, replying promptly, leading the team to escort the carriage and treasures up the mountain for refuge.

Zhao Shi led others blocking the ascending path, eyes sharp, fixed upon the approaching chaotic soldiers.