HBBMAWH Chapter 114

A few days later, they finally received more detailed information about that day.

It turned out that on that day, the King of Beirong pondered over it, but in the end, he couldn’t let go of his grudge, especially with Qi Lan there to persuade him.

“General Xierli is highly respected in the country. If we take action against him, it will surely arouse criticism from the officials…”

Qi Lan said, “Your Majesty, as the ruler of a country, can’t you expect your officials to distinguish right from wrong and understand the gravity of the situation? You are the monarch, and he is your subject. Whatever the monarch commands, the subjects should not harbor complaints. If General Xierli truly offended Your Majesty’s dignity on the spot, then Your Majesty would have even more reason to punish him…”

General Xierli is one of Beirong’s renowned generals. He must not be treated disrespectfully,” the King of Beirong suddenly rebuked, and Qi Lan immediately fell silent.

“I just wanted to express my concern for his hard work and suggest he take a rest to avoid further strain,” the King added.

“Your Majesty is absolutely right. Since General Xierli is ill and needs to recuperate, it is better to choose a new person to replace him as soon as possible. We should not avoid relatives when promoting talent. I believe that my cousin, Qi Zhen,…” Qi Lan seized the opportunity to recommend his own cousin to the King of Beirong.

From Qi Lan’s point of view, victory in this battle is imminent. At this point, replacing Xierli with anyone else would yield the same result. Why not let the person he recommended take some credit?

Only Xierli would dawdle like this, afraid to respond to challenges from any direction.

The people of the Chen Dynasty had been flaunting their military prowess outside the city for a long time, but Xierli refused to engage in battle, taking advantage of the current advantageous position of the gate, keeping it tightly shut. No matter how much provocation there was from the outside, he remained as stable as Mount Tai.

Xierli’s plan was to deplete the Chen army’s resources; he relied on the fact that the Chen army was running out of food. In his opinion, although there are advantages, this battle is still not easy to win.

However, the King of Beirong couldn’t wait any longer.

The King of Beirong, who was much younger than Xierli, was even more willful. He wanted to see the results of victory more quickly, rather than relying on delaying tactics to wear down the enemy to death.

Winning like that would be unsightly. Isn’t it better to win beautifully? Even though the King of Beirong had repeatedly urged Xierli, Xierli still acted according to his own will, disregarding the King’s authority.

But Xierli held a high position of power and had never made any mistakes. The King of Beirong couldn’t simply remove him without cause. However, now he had caught Xierli’s handle.

Xierli’s dubious loyalty— and the fact that he had hidden the treasure—were enough for the King of Beirong to get a handle on him. Therefore, the King of Beirong immediately issued an imperial decree, ordering Xierli to hand over the command seal, transfer all duties to Qi Zhen – a cousin of Qi Lan, and immediately return to the court without delay.

Xierli’s face changed as soon as he received the imperial decree.

The imperial envoy was an old acquaintance of Xierli. When he saw Xierli, he first exchanged greetings but received a cold reception. Of course, this was normal. Although they were old acquaintances, to put it more carefully, they should be regarded as old enemies. It was Qi Lan’s idea that he came to issue the decree.

“General, why don’t you hand over the Tiger Talisman Commander Seal…”

“I don’t agree.” Xierli said coldly, pushing back the decree given to him by the imperial envoy. He was very angry, angrier than ever before. Perhaps it was the face in front of him that made him sick and magnified his anger. Xierli found his temper much shorter than usual.

The imperial envoy also furious, feeling that he had lost face. How could there be such a thing as pushing back the imperial decree on the spot?

“Resisting and disobeying the imperial decree, where will you place the King’s dignity? I advise General to restrain yourself a bit, it’s best to behave with caution. Do you know, the King no longer trusts you. Your visit might not yield favorable results. I advise you to be sensible, don’t act like a lord. Now you are this… I am that!”

The envoy gestured with his pinky finger towards Xierli, then with his thumb towards himself, giggling, completely unaware of how dark Xierli’s face had become, his hand already on the sword hilt.

“If you beg me for mercy, I can still help put in a good word for you to the King. But if you continue to be so rude, don’t blame me for being rude. Disobeying the decree, watch me report you to the King in person, who knows if you have rebellious intentions…”

However, the next moment, what greeted him was the snow-white blade and splattering blood drops. Xierli raised the sword in his hand and ended his life in one stroke, blood splattering on the golden decree, leaving an indelible mark, and everyone present fell silent immediately.

General Xierli actually killed the imperial envoy sent by the King to deliver the imperial decree… General Shirley, who impulsively killed someone, suddenly came to his senses. He had been calm all his life, but stumbled in this incident and impulsively took a life.

Killing someone is not a big deal; which noble doesn’t have a few lives in their hands? Killing an official of the court is also not a big deal, but the significance of killing the imperial envoy who issued the imperial decree on behalf of the King was different, not to mention that there were countless pairs of eyes staring at him at this time.

This is simply a message of his rebellion, there is no need to explain it – as long as he rebels, he will lose.

Upon hearing this, Qi Lan was also surprised. The envoy who delivered the decree was deliberately chosen to insult Xierli, but who would have thought that the stimulus to Xierli would be so great?

However, this idea did not originate from Qi Lan, but from Luzhu. He found it interesting and suggested the candidate to the King.

With Xierli’s rebellion, Beirong fell into chaos. Some supported Xierli, while others who once respected him now turned against him. After Xierli rebelled, many people changed their views on him, believing he was a shameless villain.

And the King of Beirong had every legitimate reason to arrest Xierli. Although Xierli was formidable, under the pressure of the masses, he could only hide and evade. Of course, there were also people who firmly believed in Xierli’s innocence.

Beirong’s situation was in utter chaos.

On the frontline battlefield, replacing Xierli was Qi Lan’s cousin, Qi Zhen. Xierli and Jiang Manyue were evenly matched, and Jiang Manyue couldn’t guarantee victory, let alone ensure a swift victory with food running out.

But Qi Zhen was just a fool – Qi Lan fully believed that victory was imminent, and there was no need to spend more time, as he could win by attacking directly.

But they didn’t expect the Chen army to suddenly become so fierce.

Clearly, before this, the Chen army had been maintaining a rogue-like attitude while fighting against the Beirong army led by General Xierli.

The so-called rogue-like tactic is to constantly provoke, drawing out the Beirong army to fight, enticing the enemy to advance deeply. If Beirong doesn’t take the bait, they can immediately cancel the lure without any burden, waiting for the next opportunity.

This tactic, taken to the extreme, was seen by many as low and dishonorable. But the Chen army executed this dishonorable tactic to the extreme.

Yan Cai also secretly acted with the army without Jiang Manyue’s knowledge. They took turns swearing under the city wall, insulting the ancestors of the Beirong people for eighteen generations…

Being stationed on the border, the Chen army would pick up a few words of Beirong language, and swear words were the easiest to learn. It can be said that if the Chen army curses in the Beirong dialect and the Beirong army can endure without reacting, then they are truly formidable.

It was also during that time that Yan Cai realized that they are right to change the enemy leader. If they couldn’t even defeat a Qi Zhen, Jiang Manyue might as well pack his bags and go home to farm.

In the chaos of battle, Qi Zhen abandoned his soldiers and fled first. After that, Beirong descended into further chaos and began to split apart.

There are countless people who are dissatisfied with the current the King of Beirong.

And the catalyst for this split – Xierli – appeared in a place where no one expected.

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