Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 1594 - 1589: Turmoil Boiling Over

King of Huangshan personally welcomed the envoy sent by Murong Li, who declared Murong Li’s decision to surrender to Zhou and conveyed the demand from the Emperor of Zhou to dismantle the vassal states. He instructed King of Huangshan to prepare and bring his entire family to the capital of Yan, relinquishing his military power to the trusted representative sent by Murong Li.

Remarkably, King of Huangshan’s response was identical to that of King of Jian, claiming that he was willing to follow the Emperor’s desires, but that the military handover would take some time, pleading for the Emperor’s patience.

However, King of Huangshan did not send his old wife to the capital of Yan with the envoy. He merely stated that once everything was settled, he would bring his whole family to Yan.

In recent days, King of Huangshan had been anxious, deliberating with his counselors but reaching no conclusion, realizing that the Young Emperor’s move was ruthless.

If they defied the Young Emperor’s order to dismantle the vassals, it would mean going to war with Zhou, while the Young Emperor watched from behind. If the vassal kings had a chance to win, they would send troops; if not, it would be said that they refused to dismantle their states, leading to their own death. More importantly, it would endanger their wives, daughters, and fellow soldiers who fought alongside King of Huangshan.

On the other hand, if they complied with the Young Emperor’s order and handed over military power to Yan now, they would be surrendering their arms to slaughter. In future historical records, they would be branded as cowards and enablers of the fall of the kingdom under the Young Emperor.

Moreover, King of Huangshan, already in his sixties, was unwilling to see the legacy of the Murong family vanish like this.

Rather than resigning to fate, it was better to take a risky bet, for there might still be a chance of success.

Hence, upon receiving King of Jian’s letter, the typically cautious King of Huangshan seemed to find an ally, immediately deciding to prepare, selecting personnel... to assassinate the Emperor of Zhou.

"Assassinating the Emperor of Zhou is one thing, but don’t forget... there remains the formidable King Gaoyi and several capable generals on the Emperor of Zhou’s side! To avoid massive retaliation after assassinating the Emperor of Zhou, I suggest, My Lord, that you make arrangements in advance. Once the Emperor is killed, lure the furious Zhou army into a trap. At the very least, eliminate the Emperor’s entire force so they can no longer challenge you!" said a counselor to King of Huangshan.

"Yes, you’re right!" the ever-cautious King of Huangshan nodded, "Once we decide to act against the Emperor of Zhou, whether successful or not, Zhou will retaliate! Just like what happened to the King of Xiping..."

King of Huangshan didn’t want to end up like the King of Xiping.

Other counselors in the study nodded, recalling the fate of the King of Xiping, and they couldn’t help but sigh.

The Crown Prince of Xiping had a chance to kill the Emperor of Zhou, but his reluctance to sacrifice his son let the Emperor escape.

This not only startled the snake but eventually led to their entire family being captured by the Emperor of Zhou.

Although he did not know whether the Crown Prince of Xiping’s family was still alive, he imagined that the dishonored Emperor of Zhou would not spare their lives.

King of Huangshan pondered and decided to kill the Emperor of Zhou. On that day, he sent his Crown Prince, along with the Princess and Crown Princess Consort, his siblings, and the children at home, to travel to Yaodu, where the Princess of Huangshan’s eldest sister resided, to avoid their capture by Zhou.

·

On the third year of Yuanhe, March 23rd, at the Hour of the Ox, the Crown Prince of Jian and King of Jian led troops out from the west gate in the dead of night, attempting to bypass Zhou’s scouts. They circled around a great distance. The Crown Prince of Jian ambushed in the mountains 30 li away from the Zhou army camp, while King of Jian, with heavy troops, lay in ambush at a location agreed with the Crown Prince, 20 li from the Zhou camp.

King of Jian suspected that the information about Zhou’s grain supply was probably a setup, baiting them by Zhou under the guise of allowing or releasing information. They suspected this because the commander of Zhou’s troops was the Emperor’s own brother.

Contemplating and consulting with his counselors, King of Jian devised a plan to ambush from two locations. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The Crown Prince of Jian would ambush along the Zhou grain route. If the grain was just a lure, the King of Zhen would undoubtedly lead troops to attack the Jian army. If so, the Crown Prince of Jian would retreat his army towards King of Jian’s encirclement to lure the Zhou army in.

If they were heavily surrounded by Zhou’s forces and couldn’t reach the encirclement, King of Jian, with heavy troops not far from the Crown Prince’s ambush site, could counterattack, encircling the Zhou army and joining forces with the Crown Prince of Jian to attack them.

If it wasn’t a ploy by Zhou, the Crown Prince of Jian, in ambush on the grain route, would purposely let Zhou’s people return to report. Upon hearing the news, Commander Bai Qingyu of Zhen would undoubtedly rush with troops to save the grain. The distance of 30 li... even with fast horses, from sending a report to dispatching troops, would take at most two hours!

Zhou, eager to protect the grain, would make a swift advance.

And at this time, thinking the Jian army was lying in wait on the grain route, Zhou troops would not likely check for ambushes in the mountains. When they passed the ambush site of the Crown Prince of Jian, King of Jian would lead his soldiers to decimate the Zhou troops.

King of Jian rehearsed this plan repeatedly until all counselors deemed it sound, then set out under the cover of darkness, providing soldiers with dry rations.

·

The person responsible for escorting the supplies was Sima Ping.

In full military gear, Sima Ping rode on horseback, observing the mountain terrain ahead. He raised a hand to signal the supply convoy to halt, retrieved a sheepskin map from his chest, glanced at it, and then ordered: "Two teams, check the heights on both sides!"

Sima Ping, accompanying the supply convoy, exercised great caution. Whenever encountering terrain suitable for an ambush, he would send scouts to ensure it’s clear before proceeding, and fortunately, the journey had been uneventful so far.

This area was particularly suitable for ambush. Even though they were less than 30 li from the Zhen King’s camp, Sima Ping dared not be negligent in the slightest.

From his high vantage point, the Crown Prince of Jian saw the supply convoy halt, feeling tense. Watching as the leading general dispatched two small squads to check the high slopes on both sides, he realized they could no longer hide.

The Crown Prince of Jian gritted his teeth and ordered, "We can’t hide anymore... Tell the soldiers to attack!"

His forces were not the main Jian army. Their ambush was mainly to lure Zhou’s King of Zhen into a fight; his father’s ambush site was the decisive point.

Thinking of this, the Crown Prince of Jian jumped up, drew his sword, and shouted, "Attack!"

Upon hearing the echoing cries of attack, Sima Ping looked up, seeing startled birds taking flight. The continuous battle cries resonated, growing louder.

The Jian forces initially guarding the entrance to block the Zhou supply convoy’s retreat also emerged, intending to drive Zhou’s supply unit into the mountain pass.