The first seven gates fell, and with them rose the Great Xia’s foremost killing array!

This was the killing array by which Great Xia’s True Person Taihua achieved the Dao: the Seven Absolutes Seven Killings Array!

On the night of the third day of the first month, the sky-rushing killing array at She Mountain roared into being, its terrifying power shaking the entirety of Hui Ming Prefecture!

Of the thirteen peaks of Great Xia’s Brocade and Splendor Hua Prefecture, one was now lost forever.

Great Xia’s Heaven’s Favorite, Tai Yin, had fallen in battle!

On the eve of the New Year in the thirty-third year of the Shenwu era of the Xia Calendar, Tai Yin had delivered a crushing defeat to Bao Bozhao at Wu Yang City, annihilating thirty thousand Qi soldiers.

On the third day of the first month in the thirty-third year of the Shenwu era, Tai Yin had ambushed Xie Baoshu and Ouyang Yong at She Mountain. In this battle, all ten thousand Xia soldiers perished. Under the might of the Seven Absolutes Seven Killings Array, Rong Country’s Prime Minister, Ouyang Yong, bore the brunt of its power and died on the spot! Xie Baoshu attempted to resist with a military formation, and nearly all thirty thousand Qi soldiers were wiped out, with only three hundred and seven surviving. Not a single corpse remained of the fallen; all the living were injured! The main general, Xie Baoshu, remained unconscious.

Of course, even if he were to never wake, he could not escape accountability after the war…

The sounds of killing retreated once more.

Was this the third time today?

Xi Mengfu sometimes felt a strange sense of disorientation, as if he were still living on the small boat of his childhood.

Listening to the restless sounds of the tide, he drifted through one dream after another in a rocking, unsteady existence.

Those sounds of killing, surging and receding, filled with blood and fire… they were like the ebb and flow of a river.

In the council hall at this moment, no one spoke.

The defense of Zhongyang City had now lasted for one month and thirteen days.

Even facing the relentless assault of Spring Die, Autumn Kill, and Chase Wind, the three most formidable armies in the world, Zhongyang City remained steadfast as a mountain.

But it couldn’t hold forever—if the battlefield remained solely within Zhongyang City, if the Cao family continued to be so cautious with their resources, if the national protective array could perpetually provide power…

With so many “ifs,” Xi Mengfu sat quietly. He knew Liu Xiyi had just glanced at him, likely hoping for him to speak, but he remained silent.

The main forces of Xia and Qi were locked in a stalemate at Zhongyang City, maintaining a fragile balance. This was why King Wu had firmly prevented Liu Xiyi from returning to Da Ye Prefecture alone in his earlier fit of anger. The withdrawal of a contemporary True Person would undoubtedly shatter this balance, with unimaginable consequences.

The war on the northern front belonged to the north, and the war on the eastern front belonged to the east. Their battlefield was at Zhongyang—

This was the principle they had adhered to thus far.

Using Great Xia’s vast territory to buy more time for the ‘Eagle’ strategy, dragging Qi Country into a protracted war, and slowly wearing down this rising hegemon—this was the grand strategy formulated by the Xia side’s high command.

Such a war was not exhilarating, but it was already the strategy most likely to lead to ultimate victory.

Regarding this war, these high officials and wealthy ministers, the most intelligent group of people in the entire Xia Country, had deduced it countless times… indeed, no other path to victory seemed to exist. But just as Jianfeng Mountain had fallen too early, and the national protective array had been forced out prematurely, the war situation on the northern and eastern fronts had indeed deteriorated too quickly…

At this very moment, a colossal celestial balance scale lay flat in the center of the hall.

This four-sided magic tool, like a sand tray, reflected the details of the entire national protective array.

The floating lights suspended above the celestial balance scale represented the nodes of the great array covering the entirety of Xia Country. Every city standing within the ten thousand li of mountains and rivers was a part of the national protective array.

When it first lit up, the floating lights on this celestial balance scale were as brilliant as a sea of stars.

Later, with the fall of Fengjie, Linwu, Youping, Fengli… the light points dimmed one by one. Today, the floating lights representing the various cities of Wu Xing Prefecture had all extinguished.

That large cluster of light points in Hui Luo Prefecture had also dimmed to a sparse few.

Wu Xing was lost, and Hui Ming would soon follow…

“It’s time,” Prime Minister Liu Xiyi couldn’t help but stand up and say.

Xi Mengfu lifted his eyes to the head position. King Wu, Si Jiao, sat quietly, letting the silence linger for a moment before finally speaking: “Wait a little longer.”

Thus, the civil and military officials in the hall could only wait a little longer.

Wait for what?

Naturally, they were waiting for the results of the first round of counterattacks.

Naturally, they wanted to see if the accumulated hatred and power of these past days could tear a bloody wound in Qi army’s colossal body, if it could force the Qi army to make its first move. Xi Mengfu was reluctant to admit it, but he had to face the fact that the Cao family’s current war strategy was almost impossible to crack.

Otherwise, why were so many of them pinned down in Zhongyang City, unable to organize a proper counterattack?

They didn’t fear the Qi army’s momentum, high spirits, or the ambition of their generals; they only feared their current steadiness and solidity, which gave them no opportunity.

Of course, while Liu Xiyi had a violent temper, he wasn’t the most anxious or impatient person. He merely used his temper to vent the uneasy emotions of the Zhongyang City garrison from time to time… and this was by no means a fundamental solution.

Clearly, Xia Country was the one that needed to drag out the war, and Qi Country should seek a quick victory to prevent interference from other hegemon countries.

Anyone with a slight understanding of the world situation could analyze this.

But the Cao family fought so steadily, showing no signs of anxiety. What was even more terrifying was Yi Jiang Shu’s public declaration of his willingness to support the Cao family for ten years!

Such words didn’t mean Qi Country actually intended to fight for ten years. Rather, Jiang Shu was expressing that even if the war with Jing ended early, even if Jing Country intervened, he was determined to annihilate Xia Country and its people!

That sentence conveyed such determination.

Jiang Shu, the Son of Heaven of a hegemon country, an emperor who had sworn to forge an unprecedented and eternal great cause for Qi Country—who could doubt his determination?

Xia Country’s only chance of victory lay in a protracted war, but now, it was Qi Country that was deliberately dragging the war into a slow rhythm!

Exactly who was the one who couldn’t wait?

Every single one of the dukes and ministers in Great Xia’s court could be said to have pinned their hopes of repelling Qi on the moment Jing Country withdrew. Especially after the national protective array was breached so quickly, and after they deeply understood the gap between Qi and Xia…

There was no need to mince words; including Xi Mengfu himself, they were all hoping for this. Because fundamentally, they saw no other opportunities.

And Jiang Shu had clearly told them not to delude themselves.

Of course, Jiang Shu’s words could be interpreted as a bluff, just as their welcome-to-battle slogan was also to break Linzi’s general.

But Chong Xuan Liang’s obedience to the Cao family was a fact, Jiang Mengxiong’s recognition of the Cao family was a fact, and Jiang Shu’s almost complete support for the Cao family was an even greater fact!

Xi Mengfu was not a person who would fear an opponent, but facing such a Qi army, such a Qi Country, he indeed felt powerless time and time again!

The morale within Zhongyang City grew more unsettled by the day.

This round of counterattack, which he had personally arranged, had to be advanced. Because enduring any longer might not even be necessary… Sitting there, Xi Mengfu suddenly thought of King Min.

King Min was not participating in the council today; he was still on the city wall. It was said he was inspecting the city defenses, and that everything was to be decided by King Wu. He thought of King Min not because he relied on King Min’s military strategy in any way, but because he recalled a poem that had reached his ears these past few days:

“Eldest son, second son die on the battlefield,
Grandson of fifteen bears a spear.
Where are A Lang and A Ge now?
Leaving home, severed like a paper kite.
The heavens above know not human affairs.
A blue luan has a letter to pass to the King!”

He didn’t know who had composed it, but it was a poem deserving of severe punishment!

He, on the other hand, didn’t believe what the poem said, or rather, those things weren’t important.

He was merely worried about the kind of influence this poem would cause after it spread…

The fact that this poem could spread so rapidly reflected the strength of the Qi people’s intelligence forces.

That such a targeted poem could be written was sufficient proof of the Qi people’s understanding of the Xia Court.

In the earlier war of public opinion, the Qi Country side had always merely reacted to moves, even forcing the Qi Son of Heaven to personally come out to address the uproar over changing generals.

Xi Mengfu had always felt that, at least on this battlefield, the Xia army held the advantage.

He just hadn’t expected the Qi people’s counterattack to be so swift, like a ferocious wolf.

This poem’s accusation was too severe. It began with the tone of an old man, saying his eldest and second sons had both died in battle, and his fifteen-year-old grandson had also been conscripted.

Then it shifted to the perspective of several women left at home, saying that those waiting for husbands and brothers had all waited in vain. Having left home for so long, they were like kites with severed strings, not even a single letter had been sent back.

Finally, it ended with an angry indictment, saying that the empress, high above, fundamentally knew nothing of the hardships of the common folk, and at such a time, was actually having a private meeting with the King in the Blue Luan Hall!

Had the empress met with King Min in the Blue Luan Hall?

Naturally, she had.

The Blue Luan Hall was originally where the empress conducted official business; going to the Blue Luan Hall was almost the same as attending court.

Was it a private meeting?

After the battle of Jianfeng Mountain, there had indeed been one instance where no other ministers were present.

But to therefore say there was something between the empress and King Min, Xi Mengfu absolutely did not believe.

However, he understood even more clearly… such things were impossible to explain away.

Biased people were keen to spread such topics, and spreading them widely and for a long time would indeed shake the army’s morale.

King Min had avoided suspicion today by going to inspect the city, handing over all authority to King Wu.

The empress, as the subject of the rumors, also found it difficult to handle this matter.

And the Son of Heaven…

Xi Mengfu was not afraid to admit that the current Xia Emperor was far inferior to the previous one. In this situation, what kind of incidents might arise?

He worried about this.

He glanced at King Wu, who had stopped speaking, and slowly calmed down.

To repel the Qi army was not a matter for one person or one family; it required the efforts of all the people of Xia Country. He could only do everything he could, and then with a clear conscience, await the outcome.

Jade mansions and porcelain vases were smashed to pieces.

The forty-two-year-old Xia Emperor was in his bedroom, smashing things with a loud clatter.

“Utter shame and humiliation!”

“Utter shame and humiliation!”

He cast off his dragon robe, his long hair disheveled, smashing everything he saw. He had been smashing for a full half hour.

Eunuchs and palace maids hid in the outer room, trembling with fear.

His face had swelled to a purple-red, his usual forced majesty now completely consumed by anger.

*Pa! Bang!*

He smashed a gold cup and pushed over a jade table.

He couldn’t help but roar in fury: “With hundreds of thousands of mighty troops, with a court full of dukes and ministers, with ten thousand li of rivers and mountains, I am actually made to suffer this humiliation!”

“Enough,” a voice suddenly echoed in the bedroom.

“How dare you speak to me like that! Who gave you the audacity! I’ll kill you—” The Xia Emperor’s chest heaved like a bellows, his eyes spitting fire as he turned back, seeing King Wu, Si Jiao.

He had originally thought it was one of the eunuchs placed here by the empress, because the voice truly lacked any discernable power. After turning, he discovered it was King Wu, Si Jiao, who had personally arrived with his dharma body.

“Imperial Uncle Ancestor!” He forcefully suppressed his anger: “Why have you come?”

“Indeed, this king is stationed at the front line and cannot move lightly, even descending a dharma body carries the risk of being glimpsed by the principles of the Dao,” Si Jiao said, then paused, and looked at him: “If this king hadn’t come, what were you planning? To demolish this bedroom? Or simply demolish Gui Yi City?”

“Imperial Uncle Ancestor!” The Xia Emperor, his tone filled with anger and humiliation, cried out again, then said: “They have insulted me too much!”

“They?” Si Jiao’s tone was calm: “Who are ‘they’?”

“Who else could it be!” The Xia Emperor was seething with anger, but again forced it down, saying hatefully: “It’s all spread outside!”

“You believe it?”

“I am unwilling to believe it!” The Xia Emperor pointed towards the direction outside the palace, veins bulging in his hand, his head shaking uncontrollably, his voice also shaking: “But they… they indeed had a private meeting in the Blue Luan Hall, without a single outsider present!”

The lord of a nation, driven to such a state by anger, was truly pitiful.

Responding to him was a slap from Si Jiao.

The palace maids and eunuchs in the hall felt as if struck by lightning, each wishing they could immediately gouge out their own eyes.

The slap was so heavy.

The Xia Son of Heaven rolled over ten times in the air, smashing directly into the gold dragon pillar in the bedroom before falling to the ground.

At the same time, the entire Great Xia imperial palace shook, and the brilliance of the national protective array also flickered for an instant.

The Son of Heaven suffered humiliation, and the momentum of the nation shook!

The Xia Son of Heaven covered his face, his eyes filled with disbelief, both shocked and angry.

Although he had been a powerless Son of Heaven for thirty-three years, he still enjoyed the orthodox majesty of Great Xia and had never been treated so disrespectfully before.

The taste of this slap was the first he had experienced in his forty-two years of life!

Si Jiao looked at his shocked and angry eyes, as well as the panic and fear hidden deep within, and couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

What kind of person was the previous emperor, to have given birth to a son like this?

If those princes and princesses from that year were still here… none of them would be like this!

Recalling the previous emperor, his tone softened slightly: “Yu Li Yang is a pillar of the nation. What do you think ‘pillar of the nation’ means?”

The Xia Son of Heaven slowly climbed up from the ground, gritting his teeth and not speaking.

Si Jiao looked at him: “‘Pillar of the nation’ simply means that this country relies on him to hold it up, not on you. Do you understand?”

The Xia Son of Heaven took several deep breaths, saying in a hateful voice: “I know his importance, and I have always respected him greatly. Glory and wealth, what has he lacked? I have given him everything I could, and even what I couldn’t. My only regret is that I cannot split this dragon throne in half for him! But he should never, ever—”

“Don’t talk about there being nothing between the King and the empress. Even if there was something, you would have to learn to turn a blind eye!” Si Jiao severely interrupted him: “Don’t talk about King Min wanting something with your mother. Even if he wanted something with you, you would have to pucker up your buttocks! This king has spoken, do you understand, you fool?!”

These words were truly like a clap of thunder.

The disheveled and embarrassed Xia Son of Heaven staggered, almost falling, then barely managed to stand firm.

Looking at King Wu again, his face was already ashen.

“Imperial Uncle Ancestor.”

Tears streaming down his face, he asked: “Since ancient times, has there ever been a Son of Heaven as humiliated as I?”

First set a small goal, for example, survive:

[To be continued]