Chapter 496

Helian Chi’s ascension to the throne was anything but legitimate. Many within the Jin Kingdom’s royal family were deeply resentful of him. If they were to discover that Helian Chi was dead, not only would it be impossible for Su Yanran to become the empress dowager, but they might not even succeed in avenging his death.

Her gaze swept across the room, noting that all those present were loyal to Helian Chi. Tears welled up in her eyes once more as she cried out, “Quick, summon the imperial physician! The emperor still breathes. Hurry, someone, fetch the imperial physician for me!”

Some ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‍were still caught off guard, exchanging bewildered glances, but others reacted swiftly, blocking the gazes of the less perceptive and hastily lifting Helian Chi onto makeshift stretchers.

Explosions echoed in the distance as Su Yanran climbed into the carriage. The accompanying soldiers loaded Helian Chi’s body into the carriage as well. “Your Majesty, what should we do now?” one of them asked.

“We must keep the news of Chi’s demise a secret at all costs,” she replied. “If it were to spread, we’d be caught between internal strife and external threats. Without even needing Great Yan’s forces, our own people would be enough to drive us to our deaths.”

Take those regional kings, for instance… none of them were easy to deal with.

Su Yanran’s efforts to conceal Helian Chi’s death would not go unnoticed, especially by Shi Ruojun, who was determined to thwart their plans.

The Great Yan army crossed the Black Water, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Jin Kingdom forces.

While the adage “do not pursue the desperate” held true, Su Yanran and her companions were far from desperate—they were merely lambs without a shepherd, waiting to be slaughtered.

Empty Reverie Valley—

The must-pass route for the Jin Kingdom forces to return home.

The thunderous clatter of hooves reverberated through the valley, startling countless bats from the cliffs.

“Where is Hei Yun?” Su Yanran inquired, just as they had barely found their footing. “Didn’t Hei Yun receive orders to attack and burn the Great Yan army’s granary? How is it that Shi Ruojun is here? And how did she so easily locate our armory? And even… know the exact location of the royal tent? This is utterly unbelievable. If not…”

“Your Majesty, we suspect that Captain Hei Yun is a spy for Great Yan.”

“That’s impossible!” Su Yanran exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. “Hei Yun is utterly loyal to the Jin Kingdom. She was personally trained by Chi. There’s no way she could…”

“But Captain Hei Yun’s actions are highly suspicious. Both the emperor and Your Majesty trusted her implicitly, and we dared not speak out. But now…”

Now that the emperor was dead, and Hei Yun had vanished without a trace, they no longer felt constrained by fear.

“During patrols, soldiers have seen Captain Hei Yun returning from the direction of Great Yan’s camp on multiple occasions. Each time, she claimed to be scouting the terrain and gathering intelligence, but we found her behavior deeply unsettling.”

“When we launched an attack on Great Yan, I personally witnessed her gazing from the perimeter of their camp. Her demeanor was particularly odd. When I inquired about her actions, she refused to explain herself.”

Su Yanran’s expression wavered, her gaze drifting away from them. “So it seems… the emperor and I were indeed mistaken in our trust.”

Not so!

Hei Yun’s alleged “betrayal” was because she had been hypnotized. Su Yanran herself had been utterly convinced by the defense plans due to the same reason.

The Great Yan forces were truly the craftiest in the world.

They had not only uncovered Hei Yun’s hypnosis but had also swiftly counteracted it, reversing her hypnosis and creating illusions that convinced Su Yanran and Hei Yun that the Great Yan emperor had already fallen victim to their schemes.

Su Yanran’s hypnosis had only broken when she saw Helian Chi’s blood.

And so, she knew full well that Hei Yun had not betrayed them. Just like herself, Hei Yun had been hypnotized, delivering false information to Helian Chi and correct information to Great Yan, which led to Helian Chi’s demise and the Jin Kingdom’s utter defeat.

But these truths she could not reveal. She had no choice but to let Hei Yun shoulder the blame alone.

She wasn’t worried about being exposed, because Hei Yun was surely captured. Given Shi Ruojun’s ruthless nature, there was no way Hei Yun could have survived to escape Great Yan’s camp.

The dead could never speak to clear their name.

On the cliffs above the valley, Third Yan’s mantle billowed in the wind.

Dozens of massive catapults were neatly arranged, each loaded with massive boulders. As the Jin Kingdom forces marched into the valley, Third Yan’s fingers snapped forward—and the catapults began their deadly operation.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“What’s that sound?”

“It’s an avalanche! An avalanche! Watch out, run!”

It was already too late. The troops were packed tightly, their numbers obscuring any chance of escape, and the exit was already blocked by cascading boulders.

Bai Tingting clapped her hands with glee, laughing, “Master Strategist is truly thorough. No matter which route they take to cross the Black Water, they’ll have to pass through our traps. With so many boulders raining down, this place won’t be called Empty Reverie Valley anymore—it’ll be called Ghost Valley.”

Third Yan’s expression remained stoic. “I do not wish to take lives, but we fight for our respective sides. It is either them or us. I have no choice.”

As if to say: I did not seek this bloodshed, but they are my enemies, and so it must be.

The air was filled with screams and cries of agony.

Su Yanran had initially been protected, but as the boulders pounded down, even those loyal to her were forced to flee for their own survival.

After all, with so many soldiers crammed together, there was no place to dodge the crashing stones—only a path to being crushed into oblivion.

Shi Ruojun arrived with her troops. Outside the valley’s entrance, soldiers who surrendered were bound and taken away, while those who refused were slaughtered on the spot, without any hesitation.

Time passed uncertainly, and the echoes of screams within the valley grew quietly faint. Even the sound of falling stones ceased, for they were now buried beneath a heap of lifeless bodies.

Shi Ruojun lounged lazily on her horse, turning to Deputy General Hao beside her. “This Third Yan. I tasked him with setting traps within Empty Reverie Valley, but did he go so far as to hollow out the surrounding hills?”

Deputy General Hao chuckled. “Master Strategist wasn’t collecting these boulders after you issued the command, General. He had already been gathering them since before your recruitment began. He said it would come in handy one day.”

And indeed, it had.@@novelbin@@

No wonder the soldiers all praised Master Strategist for his foresight and proclaimed that the Great Yan army was unstoppable.

With General Shi, the war goddess, and Master Strategist Third Yan, the linchpin of their forces, the Great Yan army! Unstoppable!

In the deathly silence, Third Yan and Shi Ruojun locked eyes from afar, though the pitch-black night obscured their vision. Yet, both could not help but let slip a sigh of relief.

The emperor and empress of the Jin Kingdom had fallen beneath the iron hooves of the Great Yan army, and the Jin Kingdom would soon plunge into unprecedented chaos. It was the perfect opportunity for the Great Yan to seize control.

A black arrow shot from behind Third Yan, slicing through the air with a sharp hiss.

“Thwack!”

“Third Yan!”

“Master Strategist!”

As the horizon began to blush with the pale light of dawn, a thin fog lingering over the land, Third Yan was struck from behind and tumbled off his horse.

The archer thought he could flee under the cover of darkness, but someone grabbed his wrist. “Here! This is the one who fired the cold arrow. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Helian Ying’s eyes widened in shock, his face smacked by Bai Tingting, cracking the mask of his disguise.