Title: Infinite Power Over The World
Original title: 权倾天下[重生]
Author: 叶默凉(Ye Moliang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
Since Murong Yu would rather die than surrender, there was no need for Murong Heng to show mercy. After discussing with Fan Hu and others, he decided to attack the city directly in three days.
In the afternoon, Murong Heng came out of the discussion tent, headed into the commander’s tent, drew open the curtain, and saw his Ah Ci sitting at the desk playing chess with Feng Nan. When he heard Murong Heng’s footsteps, he turned his head. His face revealed a slightly happy expression.
“You’re back?” Upon seeing Murong Heng enter, the ever-perceptive Feng Nan withdrew outside. Shen Ci got up from the couch, made his way over to Murong Heng’s side, and listened to him patiently.
After listening to him, Shen Ci pondered for a moment and asked seriously, “If you carry out a direct attack, Murong Yu will definitely be prepared. Is there any way to increase the chances of success?” After all, this war concerned the imperial throne. It was impossible that Murong Yu didn’t have anything prepared. If they impetuously rushed to attack the city, they may not be able to capture it in one fell swoop.
Murong Heng had also been debating this problem, but he has yet to come up with the best approach. He urgently required a plan where he could seize the capital in one go and reduce casualties in the troops.
“There will be dense fog in a few days. The weather is so unpredictable. Be careful not to catch a cough.” Since Murong Heng couldn’t think of a way, he simply ceased trying. He embraced Shen Ci and sat down on the couch, his thoughts weighing down on him.
“Dense fog?” He asked subconsciously, and suddenly, a brilliant idea emerged in his mind. A smile appeared on his face. He turned his head and asked, “Murong, are there large kerosene barrels within the barracks?”
“You mean…” Murong Heng instantly understood what Shen Ci wanted to say, and he was stoked and spoke in unison with Shen Ci, “Use the kerosene and set fire to the city!”
The presence of dense fog meant that visibility would be very low. If they quietly transported kerosene over there and used it to set fire to the city, would there still be any uncertainty that this minor city gate wouldn’t be able to be captured?
Murong Heng was pleasantly surprised and kissed Shen Ci on the face. He said cheerfully, “Ah Ci, you’re just too smart!” When he recalled the past battles, Shen Ci helped him greatly. They discussed strategies together, mutually providing each other with inspiration, reciprocating support for one another, and making the war less tedious to deal with.
After the kiss, Murong Heng stood up and strode out. He needed to inform Fan Hu about this so that he could prepare enough kerosene in advance. Therefore, when they sent their troops out, the soldiers could bring along the kerosene and fire starter papers with them to burn the city!
Three days later, the army was ready to leave. Murong Heng bent down and kissed Shen Ci’s forehead, leapt onto his horse, gave a light shout, and led the troops to depart. The army approached the city gates and marched in the dense fog.
In the meantime, Zhao Chuhe, the newly-appointed general sent by Murong Yu, stood on top of the city walls, meticulously deploying the plan to defend the city. Murong Yu stood next to him, squinting his eyes to look down at the city, but because of the thick fog, he couldn’t see anything clearly.
“Here they come!” Zhao Chuhe called out all of a sudden. He could spot Murong Heng sitting on a tall horse, moving towards the city gate. When he noticed the things being transported by the soldiers behind him, his eyes instantly bulged. He said to Murong Yu beside him, “Your Majesty, it’s kerosene!”
What he caught sight of was the kerosene that Murong Heng instructed the soldiers to bring, and it was obviously to be used to burn the city. The army gradually approached the gate of the city. Murong Heng looked up at Murong Yu, who was standing on the city wall through the thick fog, and said in a cold voice, “Murong Yu, if you open the gates and surrender now, I will spare your life!”
“What a joke! I didn’t surrender that day; why would I surrender today because of those mere words of yours? Murong Heng, you should just obediently accept your death!” Murong Yu roared back, not to be outdone. He’d seized this throne with much difficulty and had played the good-for-nothing son for over twenty years. He’d only enjoyed the glory for a short while, and now they wanted him to abdicate the throne? Don’t even think about it!
When Murong Heng heard his response, he refused to continue with this nonsense. He raised the sword in his hand and shouted, “Brothers, charge!” As soon as the words fell, the brothers of the Iron Halberd Army behind him stormed ahead. Several of them carried heavy wooden logs to break open the gates, and the rest of the soldiers transported kerosene over, preparing to set fire to the city.
Of course, Zhao Chuhe wasn’t incompetent either. He ordered the archers to prepare. There were a few swishing sounds, and countless arrows shot downward from the city walls. At that moment, some soldiers of the Iron Halberd Army were injured by the arrows.
Murong Heng was also well prepared to face their archers. The crossbowmen rushed up, raised their specially-made bows, and fired at the soldiers on top of the city wall. It wasn’t long before nearly half of the archers were killed by arrows.
Zhao Chuhe stared fixedly at Murong Heng’s confident form through the dense fog. He swiftly stepped onto the city wall, dashed down, and landed in front of Murong Heng’s horse. He raised his sword and pointed it at Murong Heng. At the same time, the city wall was alight with flames. The city gate below was also smashed open, and the soldiers of both armies began fighting together.
Murong Heng met Zhao Chuhe’s attack. He didn’t dare be negligent in the slightest. However, out of the two of them, his martial arts were slightly better. With a well-placed sweeping of his legs, Murong Heng kicked Zhao Chuhe to the ground. He twisted and secured Zhai Chuhe’s arm behind his back before resting his sword at his neck.
Once their general had been captured, the morale of the soldiers immediately turned messy. Murong Heng took this opportunity to tighten his sword against Zhai Chuhe’s neck and watch the blood trickle down. He shouted loudly, “Hear me! Murong Yu is extremely cruel and savage. He is not a virtuous emperor. This Prince knows that some of you do not willingly follow him. Therefore, if you cast away your swords and surrender now, This Prince will spare you from death. If you refuse to surrender, you shall all be killed! Think for yourselves. Do you want to return home and be reunited with your wife? Or do you insist on dying here?”
As soon as these words came out, the morale of the enemy troops completely disintegrated. Some soldiers looked at each other. They truly didn’t wish to follow Murong Yu. He was inherently brutal and cruel. If there was anything not to his liking, he would immediately kill in cold blood. He definitely wasn’t a good emperor. They hesitated for a long time, then dropped the swords they were holding, and instinctively walked aside.
“What are you doing?!” Zhao Chuhe yelled, even though he was being subdued by others.
“Very good.” Seeing many soldiers abandon their swords and surrender, Murong Heng nodded in satisfaction. Then he looked down at Zhao Chuhe, whose face was filled with anger. He forced his blade down and slashed his neck. Zhao Chuhe collapsed limply to the ground; his breathing ceased.
“Murong Heng, take your life!” Just then, Murong Yu, who had been silent all this time, could no longer hold back the fury in his heart. He stared fiercely at Murong Heng and stabbed his sword in his direction.
One sword to the left and one sword to the right. Due to the rage in Murong Yu’s heart, his slashing movements appeared disorderly and even gave the impression that he was erratically hacking. Murong Heng wet his lips and displayed a leisurely smile, like a cat toying with a mouse. He dodged left and swerved right, not permitting his blows to land.
After a while, Murong Yu regained his composure, and his strikes became ruthless. Murong Heng cast aside his thoughts to deal with him. When both of them were fighting vehemently, Fan Hu’s roar came from behind Murong Heng: “Go to hell!”
Fan Hu’s sword could be seen slashing directly at Murong Yu’s arm, slicing open a large, bloody gash. Blood instantly flowed out, and Murong Yu fell to the ground in pain. Just as he was about to get up, Murong Heng stepped on him.
Murong Heng instructed a few soldiers to restrain Murong Yu’s hands and feet as he kneeled down. He met his resentful gaze and sneered: “Murong Yu, I told you to surrender long ago; you didn’t want to. Now that you’ve been captured by me, do you think you still have any chance of surviving?”
Murong Yu was covered in cold sweat from the pain and unable to speak. However, his eyes stared fixedly at Murong Heng, as though they could shoot flames from them. After a long time, he said in a hoarse voice, “Murong Heng, you’ll suffer a horrendous death!”
“It’s yet to be determined who will suffer a horrendous death.” Murong Heng threw him a cold look and ordered the brothers of the Iron Halberd Army to storm into the city and capture those soldiers who refused to surrender. Then he ordered Murong Yu to be tied up and placed in prison. The fires on the city wall were burning more and more intensely and were likely to engulf the city gates. Since the city gate had been captured, Murong Heng directly ordered for the fire to be extinguished. If the city gate was burned down, what was he going to use to defend the capital in the future?
“Wait.” Suddenly, he recalled what Shen Ci said. Murong Heng retrieved a medicine pill from his lapels, pinched Murong Yu’s mouth, stuffed it in, and made him swallow it forcefully.
Murong Yu swallowed the medicine unwillingly and immediately felt a pain in his stomach. His eyes widened, and he asked, “What did you give me?”
“Poison.” Murong Heng casually replied, and he struck the back of Murong Yu’s neck with his sword, directly knocking him out cold. What he gave Murong Yu was indeed a drug, but it was not poison; it was merely a medicine that caused him extreme pain.
Ah Ci had mentioned that Murong Yu was a very ambitious person, and he might not behave well in prison. As such, to be on the safe side, he told him to give Murong Yu a pill to ensure that he wouldn’t act alone and to deter him from escaping.
After the Iron Halberd Army entered the city, they quickly grasped the general situation. The soldiers in the city either surrendered or were killed. Murong Heng had ordered that the common people were not to be harmed. Therefore, there were no casualties among the commoners, and many came out to take a look.
When they saw Murong Yu being dragged away, many people cheered. This cruel emperor who’d oppressed them for so long has finally been brought down!
He instructed Fan Hu to lead the troops into the palace and to take control of all the palace staff, not permitting anyone to get away. After Murong Heng finished issuing his orders, he leapt onto his horse and rode it to the military camp outside the city to fetch Shen Ci.
When he arrived at the barracks, he brought the news of the victory. The soldiers who’d remained in the camp cheered and started packing their things one after another in preparation to break camp and enter the city. After fighting for so long, the war was finally over!
The first thing Murong Heng did upon entering the commander’s tent was to pull Shen Ci into his arms and tell him the good news of their victory. Then he led him outside, carried him to sit on the horse with him, and headed for the capital.
Upon their arrival at the imperial palace, Fan Hu sent someone to report that the empress had disappeared. When he thought of the woman who’d caused his mother’s death, Murong Heng’s heart was filled with hatred. He narrowed his eyes, scanned around with a chilly look, and said coldly, “Search!” She had to be found, even if they needed to dig three feet into the ground!
Want to flee? Not so easy!
After the soldiers left, Murong Heng held Shen Ci’s hand and led him somewhere. Although he’d grown up in this palace, Murong Heng had been bullied by others since he was a child, so he hadn’t been able to properly appreciate the scenery within the palace. Now that the war is over, his state of mind is different when he strolls through this resplendent palace.
If the heavens hadn’t allowed him to be reborn, he ought to be merely a wisp of a dead spirit wandering the underworld, right? He would not have met Ah Ci, and they wouldn’t be able to be together for the rest of their lives.
Silently tightening his hold on the other hand in his grasp, Murong Heng heaved a sigh of relief, having lamented for so long. He took Shen Ci to the imperial gardens and acquainted him with the surrounding scenery.
His biggest concern now is the issue with Ah Ci’s eyes. After all those who deserve death are gone, he will search for famous doctors all over the world. He must heal his eyes and show him all the wondrous beauty all throughout the realm!