Report, report...
On the capital's city wall, a messenger rushed over in a panic, reporting, D-Duke, the enemy... seems to have retreated.
What?
Ren Tianye was stunned. Retreated?
Why? Did they run out of cannonballs?
The messenger knew what Ren Tianye meant by cannonballs, as the term was vivid enough without needing much explanation. He immediately replied, Duke, it doesn't look like it. They still seem to have plenty of cannonballs...
It's just, I don't know what happened...
They retreated.
Now Ren Tianye was completely baffled.
He quickly rushed back to the edge of the capital's wall and looked down. Sure enough, he saw Lin Zixiao's two hundred thousand rebel troops retreating in a massive, sprawling formation. Then he looked at the city wall that had been bombarded by the Red Barbarian cannons...
The outer bricks and stones had peeled off, the wall was cracked, and the structure had been shaken loose.
Furthermore...
Because those twenty cannons had basically hit the exact same spot, the rammed earth beneath their feet was mostly pulverized, forming a massive crater with penetrating cracks.
This made Ren Tianye even more bewildered.
The capital's city wall was built with a rammed earth core wrapped in stone and brick, about twenty meters thick. It was a world-class fortress. Even Yunji City, where he had built his foundation, couldn't compare to the capital's defenses if not for its mountainous terrain.
Yet even such defenses were battered into this state.
The rebels hadn't run out of ammunition either. It was almost certain that with a few hundred more shots, they could absolutely blast open a breach wide enough for a charge.
And Lin Zixiao had twenty Red Barbarian cannons.
In an hour at most, this wall would collapse.
Under such excellent circumstances...
They retreated?
No, seriously, why retreat?
Ren Tianye had done detailed research and investigation on Lin Zixiao. This was a commander who had perfectly inherited the military capabilities of Lin Yi, the commander-in-chief of the Chifeng Army.
Among the widely recognized four schools of military commanders...
He absolutely belonged to the School of Military Strategy and Tactics.
He emphasized grand strategy, meticulous layout, strict military discipline, and achieving victory through overall superiority!
He was an opponent Ren Tianye had always deeply feared.
Therefore, Ren Tianye couldn't help but wonder.
Could this Lin Zixiao have some backup plan?
A grander scheme?
But he's already raised an army in rebellion; he has no righteous cause left. Taking the capital right now is his best chance. What kind of unpredictable, god-like plot could he possibly have?
Ren Tianye couldn't figure it out.
And it wasn't just him.
Wei Shuo, Shi Hu, and Wang Ming, who had just been issued military orders, couldn't figure it out either. As a result, they had already sent people to inquire.
Lin Zixiao retreated, so...
Should they still proceed according to the plan?
Ren Tianye thought for only a moment before making a decision.
Wei Shuo's mission is changed to stationing his troops outside the city, commanding the external army to form a pincer formation with the capital.
Shi Hu's mission remains unchanged. He must prepare for urban street combat.
Wang Ming, your mission is changed. Go notify and pacify the commoners and officials of the capital. Tell them street fighting might occur and to be prepared. At the same time, send patrols onto the streets to suppress anyone taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes!
After issuing these revised orders in one breath, Ren Tianye watched from the capital's walls for a while longer, continuously receiving reports from his scouts.
Report, Duke! The rebel army has retreated five miles away!
Report, Duke! The rebel army has retreated twenty miles away!
Report, Duke! The rebel army has retreated thirty miles away and set up camp in the exact same spot they were yesterday.
Ren Tianye: ...
So, what exactly did Lin Zixiao come here to fight today?
Did he fight to reverse time?
Going right back to where he came from?
As Ren Tianye pondered this, he felt slightly relieved. He was no longer needed on the wall for now. After arranging for people to repair the defenses, he returned to the Duke's estate.
He began running simulations on his sand table.
Regardless, Lin Zixiao's army was equipped with Red Barbarian cannons and flintlock muskets, a mighty power that didn't belong to this era. If Lin Zixiao launched another frontal assault, defending the capital would be utterly useless.
He had to launch a sneak attack.
It seems I still have to let Wei Shuo make a move. Even if it results in countless casualties, we must deal Lin Zixiao the heaviest blow possible before his army can form their ranks!
His decision was made.
Just as he was about to finalize the plan, a personal guard rushed in from outside.
Duke, a letter from Lin Zixiao has arrived.
It's explicitly addressed for the Empress to open personally!
Ren Tianye quickly took it. It was sealed with red wax, bearing Lin Zixiao's personal stamp.
This was a common method used by the ancients to prevent letters from being intercepted and read, but Ren Tianye merely glanced at it before tearing open the envelope without hesitation.
Inside was indeed the letter Lin Zixiao had written to the Empress.
Your subject, Lin Zixiao, marches his army upon the capital not for treason, but to cry out against the injustice suffered by his father!
My late father, Lin Yi, guarded the northern borders and commanded seventy thousand Chifeng elites. He spent his life defending the nation's gates and protecting the state, yet he was executed without crime. His loyal soul harbors grievances in the netherworld!
Today, my army has reached the city walls. Your subject dares not harbor the slightest intention to harm the imperial city or frighten Your Majesty. It is not that I lack the strength, but truly that it is not my ambition.
What your subject seeks is not power over this empire.
I only beg Your Majesty to issue an Edict of Self-Reproach, proclaiming clearly to the world: you wrongfully executed a loyal subject and falsely accused Lin Yi!
The moment the edict arrives, your subject will immediately withdraw his troops!
And submit to whatever punishment you deem fit!
Ren Tianye finished reading it in one glance, his eyes widening.
He read it carefully a second time, and his eyes widened even further.
Terrified that he had misread it, he had his guard read it aloud to him, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull.
He kicked the guard.
General, what are you doing?
Does it hurt?
A little.
Oh, good. So I'm not dreaming!
In a daze, Ren Tianye stumbled back behind his desk. He couldn't calm his racing heart, not out of fear or terror, but because it was just so... unimaginably absurd.
No, seriously, brother. You fought your way all the freaking way to the imperial city, your Red Barbarian cannons were on the verge of shattering the capital's walls, and you're saying you didn't come to seize the throne?
You just want Xiao Mingzhao's Edict of Self-Reproach?
If Xiao Mingzhao admits her mistake, you'll just surrender and accept punishment?
Holy shit!
Why the hell didn't you say so earlier!
You made me worry for so many days for nothing!
...
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
