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Chapter 226
Chapter 226 - This Ain't Part of the Plan
Like a stray sheep in a pack of wolves, the nobles and their families were captured and slaughtered, one family at a time.
However, many noble families managed to slip through the barricaded city by bribing the gatekeepers and the guards. Kong Zhou, Zhang Miao, and hundreds of nobles broke away from the Capital City before Liu Yu and Wang Yun reached them.
Liu Yu was vexed by the escapees, but his mood became better as he received the reports of the confiscated wealth, provisions, and the arrested mercenaries.
Wang Yun, on the other hand, did not feel so well. The private soldiers of the noble gathered their forces and fought back against the authority, resulting in casualties on both sides.
They managed to win and drove the crooked nobles away, but the arrested troops would only replace the lost soldiers.
...
...
November 17th.
Two days after the non-stop slaughtering and arresting, Wang Yun and Liu Yu Alliance finished cleaning the shameless nobles. From the initial number of 35, 000 soldiers, only 25, 000 survived after a series of battles.
In exchange for such sacrificed, they captured 25, 000 mercenaries from the nobles. These men would be deployed as garrison forces once Dong Zhuo arrived.
Although they managed to secure more soldiers, stress and anger still showed on Wang Yun and Liu Yu's faces as they imagined a different scenario.
Had all the officials contributed their soldiers from the start, they would have had at least 70, 000 to 80, 000 men to fight Dong Zhuo, which would be enough to defend the city against 100, 000 elites. Furthermore, they could have had enough fund to draft militias or hire blacksmiths to craft more weapons for the army. The excess gold could have been used to buy provisions from wandering merchants. Everything would have been better had they forgotten the differences and worked together as one.
"These fools. Just why?" Liu Yu muttered alone as the pain in his heart worsened.
Meanwhile, Wang Yun also looked at the corpses of his colleagues with sad eyes. Some of them were parts of the feint-death group which supported Liu Ping to the throne. A few of them were his friends who took the Imperial Examination together.
"In the end, it's about personal's interest."
Wang Yun gained enlightenment from this purge. His vision and believes about the Han Dynasty slowly tilted as his worldview widened.
'Every city is filled with these crooks. I have to get rid of them for the country and its people! I don't care what Diao Chan or Heaven is plotting, but I want these people dead!'
"Dong Zhuo... you and your goons as well."
Wang Yun's eyes flared with killing intents. He was ready for the life-and-death battle against Dong Zhuo Army.
...
Inner Palace, Diao Chan's courtyard.
Wang Yun returned to Diao Chan and reported everything to her, hoping to ask his daughter to contact the snake monster.
"So that's the ruckus was all about? I was thinking that someone tried to riot after you declared me the candidate for the next Empress."
"If it wasn't for Dong Zhuo, I think they would have rioted already. Thankfully, that fatty decided to invade Luo Yang, and those cowards tugged their tails and ran away."
"Have you burned or buried the dead bodies?"
"The soldiers are clearing them at the moment. Why do you care about the dead? Does it bother you?"
"Nothing. Just curious..."
"Anyway, can you contact the monster for me? I want to consult her about the incoming battle. I want to have her fight Dong Zhuo with us. You can ask her if she wants anything in return so we can tempt her to work for us permanently."
Diao Chan raised her eyebrows and shrugged, "Alright. I'll tell her. But father, I will have to change our plans since you and Liu Yu are allied now."
"Change of plans? How? We are doing very well right now. We have 50, 000 soldiers, and we can get more militias if we spend our gold supplies. Everything is perfectly fine!"
"No, father. You said that several nobles escaped the purge, correct? They will return to their hometown and gather armies to fight for the throne. Dong Zhuo will not be the only one we have to worry about anymore!"
Wang Yun gulped, "N-No, they won't dare. I think those cowards won't dare to harm us. We have the authority!"
"A temporary authority! In the end, what matters the most is our fists, the army. This is the mistake you and Liu Yu had made in the assembly for asking them to hand over their soldiers. You've made them run before I destroy all of them in the fight with Dong Zhuo!"
"Huh? Wait, you what?"
"No, never mind. We're going the change our plans. Father, once Dong Zhuo reached the Capital, do not fight him."
"WHAT!?"
"You heard me right. DO NOT FIGHT DONG ZHUO! Surrender the Capital to him along with Liu Yu!"
"NO! WHY DO WE HAVE TO SURRENDER THE CITY TO THAT BASTARD!?" Wang Yun's noise was getting louder as he was mad by Diao Chan's advice.
As the noise might attract unnecessary attention from spies, the little girl summoned her [Wrath Soul] and made it appeared before Wang Yun.
The heinous looking gorgon stared at Wang Yun, who looked back at the monster spirit in terror.
"M-M-MONSTER!!"
"Silence!" Diao Chan used her telepathy to shout into Wang Yun's mind.
The old man was stunned by the sudden mental communication. His black eyes rolled upward as he fainted from the shock. The body of Wang Yun collapsed on the floor.
Diao Chan stared at her foster father. Her eyes and her mind did not reveal the love of this man.
'Useless empty shell. I thought he would be smarter and calmer than this. I guess I have to do this myself. '
Wrath flew forward and entered Wang Yun's body. A reverse devil contract had been formed!
This contract was the opposite of what Tong and Friday had formed. Instead of granting the wish of a mortal with the devil's wing power, Medusa demanded the absolute submission from Wang Yun.
Once the contract is completed, Wang Yun would lose control of his body, his speech, his thought, and his everything to Medusa. In exchange for the loss of body control, Wang Yun would be compensated by getting extra lifespans from Medusa.
Because Wang Yun blacked out by fear, Medusa was free to set her compensation rate to one lifespan a year by default instead of allowing Wang Yun to adjust it himself.
It was a forceful contract which was illegal in the Netherworld and all other dimensions. Had Medusa done this in Hell or other places, the archangels and gods would have come to arrest her.
'I should have done this earlier. Entrusting him an important task is a mistake. '
Diao Chan stopped meddling with the unconscious body of her foster father and concentrated on reading his memories.
Ten minutes later, Diao Chan and Wang Yun opened their eyes. With her alternate conscience, she controlled Wang Yun's body back to his room.
As for herself, she left her room and headed toward the gathering ground where dead bodies were piled together. For her, throwing away life essence like this was a waste.
...
November 30th.
Dong Zhuo Army reached the gate of the Capital City along with siege engines and prepared troops. They came with all preparation for war with the Imperial Clans inside the walls.
The 100, 000 elite soldiers with the black "Dong" flags formed a hundred of square formations, getting ready to siege the wall. A hundred of trebuchets and fifty siege ladders were put in front of the formations, and archer towers were being pushed forward to line with the other siege weapons.
They did not bother hiding their hostile intention or their political stance about at all.
Liu Yu and 10, 000 garrison troops gathered on the wall while the other 40, 000 men formed similar square formations in front of the north gate, facing Dong Zhuo Army.
Though outnumbered, Liu Yu was confident that he could win. Behind the walls, Wang Yun and 20, 000 newly recruited militias stationed as their reserved troops, so they would not mind a prolonged siege battle.
As both sides got ready to engage in a battle, Diao Chan had snuck out of her palace and watched the stand-off from the sky. As she stood at the altitude of 1, 000 feet above the ground, and she had not transformed back to her original body, no one below had noticed her.
Diao Chan was using her alternate conscience to control Wang Yun to the gate, planning to order the gatekeeper to open the gate to negotiate with Dong Zhuo Army.
*RUMBLE*
*CRACK*
The sudden earthquake and the shattered sky caught the attention of all soldiers and Diao Chan, who also stared at the cracking sky in shock. She gazed toward the north as she sensed a trace of a grand battle between immortals where Lilim and the karma snake had crashed.
'Was that the new goddess of this dimension? What was the thing she fought?'
While Diao Chan's attention was on the irregularity, the mortals below were shocked by the phenomenon.
"This is ominous signs!" Liu Yu shouted as he looked at the cracked sky while he sat on the floor because of the earthquake.
Dong Zhuo and Li Ru also fell from their horses and panicked.
"Li Ru, do something!"
"M-My Lord, I can't. This is something beyond my power!"
The burly soldiers on both sides screamed and cried in chaos for a whole minute until everything returned to normal.
As they came back to their senses, the formations on Liu Yu and Dong Zhuo's were in a mess, but nobody could grasp this opportunity to exploit it. They were too shocked by the apocalypse event.
"Form ranks again! Hurry!" Liu Yu shouted.
"Get back in line, slaves!" Roared Dong Zhuo.
The two armies regrouped while they continued to sneak a glance at the sky to see if there would be more catastrophes or any sign from Heaven. As they kept looking at the sky, a dozen soldiers spotted Diao Chan, who was floating above them.
"What is that?"
"There's a shadow in the sky?"
"Is that a bird?"
"Is that a kite?"
(Author: No, it's a freaking loli, standing in the sky!)
Liu Yu also noticed Diao Chan and recognized her identity. He had seen this little girl many times with Wang Yun in the past and knew about her current status. A drop of sweat rolled down from his face to his chin as he recalled the content of the recent Emperor's decree.
"The chosen Empress... The child of Heaven!" Liu Yu shouted and kowtowed as his forehead slammed on the floor, "I, Liu Bo'an, greet Her Majesty!"
The sudden greeting shouted alerted all soldiers on both sides. Liu Yu's soldiers did not hesitate to kneel as they realized that Diao Chan was their Empress.
"Long Live Her Majesty!"
"Long Live Her Majesty!"
Superstitious as they were, everyone chanted and kowtowed because they mistook her as an immortal, chosen to be their Empress by the heaven.
Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo and Li Ru glared at Diao Chan with hatred and astonishment. They had never feared fellow humans, conspiracies, or armies. However, the supernatural beings were unknown to them. Thus, they could not help but be on guard against this little girl.
Diao Chan, on the other hand, had an ugly expression as she did not expect them to notice her or worship her at this moment.
"This is not part of the plan."
| ← Ch. 225 | Ch. 227 → |