Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2631 War Preparation
On the same day the battle report from the Northern Wei arrived, the Ganlu Palace, which had been under construction, was also completed in a rush.

Although it is no longer as magnificent as before, it has barely recovered half of its original appearance.

At dawn, Gui Chen and Mu You arrived at the Ganlu Palace at the same time.

Both men were clad in armor. The old man and the young man exchanged a glance in the morning light, and both saw a solemn expression in each other's eyes.

They knew perfectly well what it meant that they had both been summoned by Ying Baoyue at the same time.

Without exchanging pleasantries, the two ascended the steps together and, upon being announced by palace servants, entered the inner hall of the Ganlu Hall.

This is the main hall of the Epang Palace, the place where three generations of Qin emperors held court, and also the place where Emperor Ying and Emperor Ying Han "died".

Ying Baoyue's decision to reactivate this place at this juncture gave both of them an ominous feeling.

The furnishings inside the Ganlu Hall were no longer as luxurious as before; everything was extremely simple.

The inner hall, after its renovation, was devoid of all the treasures and furnishings left behind by Ying Hanri. In the center, there was only a large table with only one item on it.

It was a huge sand table moved from the Ministry of Prayer, showing all the mountains, rivers, lakes, and important cities of the Mountain and Sea Continent.

Ying Baoyue was standing in front of the sand table, quietly gazing at the location of the Northern Wei.

"Your Majesty, we have come in response to your summons."

“You’ve come at the right time. This is a secret letter I received this morning,” Ying Baoyue handed Meng Shi’s letter to the two of them. “Take a look.”

"Ye City...has fallen?"

Mu You was startled after just one glance, and his white beard trembled.

Although Gui Chen had crammed, he was still unfamiliar with the cities in various parts of the Shan Hai Continent. He looked up in confusion, and Ying Baoyue glanced at him and pointed to the location of Ye City on the sand table.

Gui Chen took a closer look and suddenly realized what was going on.

"Your Majesty, what are your plans?" Mu You put down the letter and looked up abruptly. "This letter was sent three days ago. Luoyang is probably already under siege!"

Ying Baoyue nodded, "That's what I think too. The enemy's southward advance is too fast; they must be composed of cavalry and cultivators."

"At such a rapid pace, the capital of Northern Wei must not have been prepared."

"Then what should we do?" Gui Chen asked anxiously. "Will the Former Qin send troops to support us?"

“When I said we weren’t prepared, I didn’t mean we didn’t have enough troops,” Ying Baoyue glanced at Gui Chen, who clearly lacked war experience. “What Luoyang needs most right now is food and supplies.”

"forage?"

Gui Chen was stunned.

“Luoyang is the capital city with the largest troop deployment on the entire continent,” Ying Baoyue said. “However, the city’s food supplies are insufficient, and there are also rebels within the city, so the morale of the people in the city is bound to be unstable.”

So, this is to transport grain to the Northern Wei?

Gui Chen listened in a daze, while Mu You nodded in agreement, clearly agreeing with Ying Baoyue's statement.

"Your Majesty," the old man said, his shrewd eyes fixed on Ying Baoyue, "should we release the Northern Wei's battle report?"

Weren't we talking about supplies? How did we end up releasing information about them?
Gui Chen still didn't understand, but Ying Baoyue had already given the order.

"By my decree, send this letter with utmost speed to the rulers of the three kingdoms of Zhongtang, Nanchu, and Dongwu."

……

...When the battle report from the Northern Wei arrived, the atmosphere in the central and southern countries of the Shanhai Continent became extremely tense.

Internal battle reports were always top secret, but even the most obtuse civilians knew that there was a war in the north.

Although news traveled slowly from the border, as time went on, many people from the north began to flee south, including some cultivators of considerable skill. People continued to illegally cross the borders of inland states like the Former Qin and the Middle Tang, causing widespread panic in the central regions of the continent.

Just then, news of the incident at Jixia Academy spread, and many cultivators who had fled north began to raise the banner of going south to support Jixia Academy in order to save face.

However, Ji Mo, the Grand Preceptor of Southern Chu, in the name of Donghuang Taiyi, ordered the sealing of the Southern Chu border, forbidding any cultivators from entering. This suddenly put the situation of those cultivators who had fled south in an awkward position, with many stranded in the Former Qin and Middle Tang dynasties.

These past few days, Emperor Song Deming of the Middle Tang Dynasty has been extremely troubled by how to deal with the refugees and common people.

Early in the morning, as soon as Song Zhai entered Fengyu Tower, he saw his elder brother dressed in casual clothes, standing in front of his desk in his study.

His Majesty's incognito visit was not surprising to Song Zhai, who had been informed in advance by his secret guards.

"Is Your Majesty not attending the morning court session today? What brings you here?" Song Zhai walked up to Song Deming, who was looking up at the map of the Shanhai Continent hanging on the wall.

"The Prince of Yuyang has been on leave for half a month and hasn't been in office. How could I not come to see you?" Although he said he was there to visit Song Zhai, Song Deming didn't even glance at Song Zhai. He just stared at the huge map.

"Your study has always been decorated with landscape paintings and calligraphy. When did you change it to this map?"

“Just a month ago,” Song Zhai smiled, “the painters at Fengyulou had been surveying for ten years and had only just finished painting it.”

“That’s truly remarkable. No wonder it’s drawn in such detail,” Song Deming squinted at the place names on the map. “If I’m not mistaken, there should be another copy of this map that was sent to the Epang Palace, right?”

"Your Majesty, what exactly are you trying to say?" Song Zhai smiled. "In the Epang Palace, there is a sand table left by Emperor Taizu. It was made by the Grand Master of Fate himself and is much more useful than my map."

"Really? That sand table is still there?" Song Deming took a deep breath and stopped beating around the bush with Song Zhai.

Anyway, there's no way to escape it.

He looked at his exceptionally intelligent younger brother and said, "The court is in an uproar over whether or not to take in the refugees and cultivators who have fled from the north. What do you think?"

"They all fled to the mid-Tang Dynasty?" Song Zhai asked. "If they escaped from the Northern Wei, they should have gone to the Former Qin first, right?"

“Everyone knows that the Middle Tang Dynasty was richer than the Former Qin Dynasty and had not been affected by war,” Song Deming shook his head irritably. “Those northerners all thought that the King of Former Qin would definitely start a war, and on top of that, they were so poor that they couldn’t afford to eat, so they all crossed over from Former Qin to the Middle Tang Dynasty!”

"That Ying Baoyue guy, the border is like a sieve, he didn't even try to stop them!"

"Except for the capital, the territory of the Former Qin is now like flat land; anyone can swagger through!"

Song Zhai smiled wryly, "She probably doesn't have enough troops to guard the border, and stopping these people would be pointless for her."

"Baoyue must have transferred all the soldiers guarding the border to the vicinity of the capital."

"What a madwoman!" Song Deming said angrily. "She doesn't even protect the territory left by her ancestors? Does she even deserve to be the current King of Qin?"

“For her, the territory left by her ancestors is the entire continent of mountains and seas,” Song Zhai laughed. “The borders of the Former Qin Dynasty do not actually exist for her.”

"Isn't she afraid of having spies from the Western Rong infiltrate her ranks?!"

“Those who could get in have already done so; guarding the border is useless,” Song Zhai said. “She probably only intends to keep the Epang Palace and Guiyang City as impregnable as an iron barrel.”

As for the other countries in the south, they can only rely on themselves for protection.

“Ji Mo has already ordered martial law, so new spies can’t get into Southern Chu,” Song Zhai said, looking at the map on the wall. “I heard that a large army has been stationed along the coast of Lancang. Ji Mo has sent a large army to press on the border.”

“Southern Chu had the military strength to do this, but the Middle Tang did not!” Song Deming slammed his hand on the desk, his whole body pounding with frustration.