I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1003 The King Hangs on the City Wall, Su Yao Strikes Again (5K4)

"Welcome, General, into the city!"

The capital of Dayuan, Yucheng, a formidable city that once blocked the iron cavalry of Emperor Wu of Han, is now as fragile as paper in front of Su Yao.

The city gates were wide open, the guards knelt down, and the once invincible Kushan general was nailed to the city wall, heralding the arrival of a new era.

Su Yao rode on the back of the war elephant Baruch, slowly passing through the city gate. Sunlight shone through the shadows of the gate, gilding his body with a golden edge, making him look like a god descending from heaven.

On both sides of the street, the people of Dayuan knelt on the ground in fear, not even having the courage to look up.

"Your Highness is mighty!" Guo Jia bowed beside the elephant, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Our army captured Yucheng without shedding a drop of blood, truly thanks to Your Highness's divine might!"

Faced with such power, no one dared to harbor any thoughts of resistance.

Not only did the city's garrison commanders line up and kneel at the city gate, but the King of Dayuan also bound his own hands, knelt in the middle of the road, and personally carried thorns to plead guilty.
"This humble king respectfully welcomes the Great General of the Celestial Dynasty! I am willing to present the Imperial Seal and submit to you forever!"

"Um"

Su Yao, atop the war elephant, glanced at the seal, nodded slightly, and gestured for Lu Su to step forward and take it. His gaze then swept over the foreign city.
"Pass down the order: all generals shall take over the city in an orderly manner, and must not disturb the people. Anyone who violates this order will be punished according to military law!"

"promise!"

The generals responded in unison, and then each led their interpreters and the surrendered generals on horseback to take over the city from the granaries, warehouses, government offices, and other places.

Su Yao continued riding on his war elephant, passing through the city's main avenue and heading straight into the Dayuan royal palace.

Inside the hall, the princes and nobles of Dayuan were already kneeling and waiting. When Su Yao entered, they all kowtowed to the ground.

Su Yao sat imposingly on his throne, looking down at the kneeling ministers in the hall.

The surrendered generals stepped forward one by one, presenting household registers, keys to the national treasury, and other items.

"Your Highness, in this battle our army has captured another 13,000 Kushan soldiers, seized 67 war elephants, countless supplies and provisions, and 300 heavenly horses in the pen. Please take a look."

Lu Su respectfully presented the list, which Su Yao took, glanced at, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good. Issue the order to reward the three armies, and at the same time report to the court to request the establishment of a horse farm in Dayuan to be in charge of breeding heavenly horses.”

"Yes, sir!" Lu Su accepted the order and left.

At this moment, Guo Jia stepped forward and whispered, "Your Highness, although our army has won a great victory, the main force of the Kushan army still exists. According to the surrendered generals, Prince Bodiao has led 50,000 elite troops back from Kangju to reinforce us, and is expected to arrive within ten days."

Su Yao chuckled, "Perfect timing! Saves me the trouble of searching for him. Order the army to rest for a day, and we'll strike tomorrow. Follow me to capture this prince and sweep away the Kushan Empire!"

At this moment, Jia Xu spoke up, saying, "Your Highness's divine might is unparalleled, but the Kushan Empire is, after all, a great power, and has been managing Dayuan for a long time. We must not underestimate them. I suggest that we first stabilize Dayuan before making any further advances."

The strategists' meaning was clear: the victory was won so smoothly entirely because of the general's unparalleled skill.

However, as a result, neither the Kushan soldiers nor the surrendered generals of Dayuan suffered any serious losses.

The Kushans have been operating in this area for a long time. Once Su Yao leaves the city, the local ambitious people will inevitably start to stir up trouble and conspire to cause chaos.

Even if they suppress it, it will still cause them considerable trouble.

The most urgent task is to stabilize domestic affairs.

That makes sense.

Su Yao nodded, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling nobles and generals:

Where is the false king of Dayuan?

Su Yao said this directly in Dayuan language.

The officials of Dayuan were greatly surprised upon hearing this, never expecting that this Han Chinese could be so fluent in their language.
But then, upon further reflection, if he were truly a reincarnation of a god as rumored, then language would naturally not be a problem.

This deepened the ministers' awe, while the King of Dayuan, who had been named, trembled like a leaf and crawled forward on his knees.

"I, your humble servant, am here. Please, Heavenly Gods, forgive me!"

Su Yao stared at the puppet being supported by the Kushans, paused, and asked:
Do you know why I call you the false king?

The King of Dayuan broke out in a cold sweat: "Because this wicked minister ascended the throne illegitimately."

"Looks like you still have some self-awareness. Alright, then hurry up and tell us where the late king is and release the people immediately!"

"This this."

Upon hearing this, the King of Dayuan turned deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. His lips trembled, and after a long pause, he managed to utter a single sentence:

"Reporting to the heavenly deity, the late king has already been murdered by the Kushans."

"what?!"

A commotion erupted within the hall. Among the Dayuan nobles kneeling in the back row, an elderly man with white hair suddenly cried out in anguish, "My king!"

Su Yao's eyes flashed with a cold light as he looked at the King of Dayuan and asked, "When did this happen?"

“Just... just three days ago,” the King of Dayuan stammered. “The Kushans were afraid... afraid that there would be unrest in the city when the Han army attacked, so…”

"Just kill him?"

Su Yao snorted coldly and waved his hand, saying:
"Guards, drag this traitor who betrayed his master for personal gain away and execute him! Hang his head at the palace gate so everyone can see the fate of this traitor!"

"No, no!"

The King of Dayuan kowtowed desperately, repeatedly begging the gods to spare his life: "I was forced into this situation. It was all the work of the Kushans, it has nothing to do with me!"

Nobody would believe that.

Perhaps he was indeed forced to be installed by the Kushans, but since he chose to obey the Kushans' orders and participate in the murder of the former king, he must pay the price.

Su Yao waved his hand, and two personal guards immediately stepped forward and dragged the false king of Dayuan away. Soon, a scream came from outside the palace gate, followed by a bloody head being hung high.

The nobles of Dayuan inside the palace were terrified and dared not utter a sound.

"Gentlemen, there is no need to panic." Su Yao looked around at everyone, his tone softening slightly. "Our Great Han has always been known for its clear system of rewards and punishments. Rebellion is unforgivable, while loyalty and righteousness will surely be richly rewarded."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the weeping white-haired old man: "Old man, I saw you were crying very hard just now, are you a former official of the late king?"

The old man wiped away his tears and respectfully kowtowed: "Your humble servant is the late King's Grand Tutor, Seluoti. I have been deeply grateful to the late King for thirty years. Now, seeing the late King suffer such a calamity, I am truly heartbroken."

"Grand Tutor!"

Su Yao nodded slowly.

The Grand Tutor of Dayuan was similar to that of the Han Dynasty today; it was a nominal position with little real power.

"In that case, are you willing to assist the new king and revitalize Dayuan?"

Cerrotti was taken aback, then realized: "The gods mean..."

“Since the late King of Dayuan has been murdered, his son should be established as his successor,” Su Yao said, his gaze sweeping across the crowd in the hall. “Are there any descendants of the late King still alive?”

The old man kowtowed repeatedly with great emotion: "Yes! Yes! The late king's youngest son, only twelve years old, was hidden among the common people by this old minister and thus escaped disaster!"

“Very good.” Su Yao nodded in satisfaction. “Welcome the prince back immediately to inherit the throne.”

Having said that, Su Yao turned his gaze to the crowd and announced:
"The Grand Tutor has been loyal to the emperor and rendered meritorious service to the state. Effective immediately, he is promoted to Chancellor and will temporarily assume the administration of the state until the new king comes of age and assumes full power."

The old man, tears welling in his eyes, kowtowed deeply: "On behalf of the late king's spirit in heaven, this old minister thanks the gods for their grace!"

After this arrangement, the nobles of Dayuan were all completely convinced. They had originally worried that the Han people would interfere in their internal affairs as brutally as the Kushans had, but they did not expect that Su Yao would not only execute the rebels but also restore the legitimate royal family. This benevolence far exceeded their expectations.

After dealing with the internal affairs of Dayuan, Su Yao turned his gaze to the Kushan generals who had surrendered: "Now that you have submitted, you are subjects of my Great Han. You have rendered meritorious service in the pacification of Dayuan, and each of you shall be promoted one rank, with your salaries doubled."

The surrendered generals were overjoyed and kowtowed to express their gratitude. They had been worried that they would be purged after surrendering, but they did not only save their lives but also received rewards.

Finally, Su Yao looked at Jia Xu:

"Now that Dayuan has been pacified, Wenhe will temporarily take over the seal of the vassal state and work with this old tutor to stabilize the Dayuan government. He should put in a lot of effort to appease the people, strengthen defenses, and relieve our army of any worries about the rear."

Jia Xu cupped his hands in agreement, saying, "Your Highness, I will certainly not fail in your trust."

Once everything was arranged, Su Yao rose from his seat: "That's all for today. Everyone, please continue with your duties. We'll discuss the advance tomorrow."

Everyone responded in unison and respectfully saw Su Yao off as he left the main hall.

Stepping out of the palace, the setting sun cast its golden rays upon the streets of Yucheng City. Su Yao took a deep breath, feeling the surging power within him. Having broken through his limits, not only had his strength increased dramatically, but his thoughts and perception had also become much sharper.

In the distance, a troop of cavalry was escorting prisoners to the military camp; nearby, civilians peeked out from behind doors and windows, their eyes filled with both fear and curiosity.

"Your Highness," Lu Su followed and asked softly, "Do you really intend to send troops to pursue Prince Botiao tomorrow?"

Su Yao smiled slightly: "What, Zijing, do you find this inappropriate?"

Lu Su hesitated for a moment: "I am only worried that since Dayuan has just been pacified, if Your Highness leads the main force away, there may be unforeseen circumstances."

"No problem," Su Yao said confidently. "With Fengxiao and Wenhe here, Dayuan won't be in chaos. As for Prince Bodiao..."

He gazed westward, his eyes gleaming with fighting spirit: "This man is the pillar of the Kushan Empire. If we can defeat him in one fell swoop, the Kushan will surely fall into chaos. At that time, our army can advance westward in victory, achieving twice the result with half the effort." Lu Su nodded thoughtfully: "Your Highness is wise and far-sighted; I have been overthinking it."

Su Yao patted him on the shoulder: "Zijing is so meticulous, that's a good thing. Come on, let's go see those celestial horses."

The two arrived at the royal horse farm behind the palace, where they saw several magnificent Akhal-Teke horses grazing leisurely in their enclosure. These horses were long and slender, with beautifully defined muscles, and their coats gleamed with a metallic sheen in the setting sun.

"Truly living up to its reputation," Su Yao exclaimed. "No wonder Emperor Wu was willing to wage war for it back then."

Lu Su stared intently, "With such fine horses, our cavalry's fighting strength will surely be further enhanced."

"Yes, it's a pity that there are too few such fine horses. Strengthening horse breeding is an urgent task."

After saying this, Su Yao immediately ordered the horse farm to select several fine horses to reward the generals who had made outstanding contributions.

Soon, Zhang Liao and Yu Fuluo arrived with dark faces. From a distance, Su Yao could hear Yu Fuluo's loud voice:
"We've been tricked! General Tian, ​​we've been tricked!"

"Huh? What? You were tricked? What happened again?" Su Yao asked, puzzled.

“That’s how it is,” Zhang Liao explained.

It turned out that the two of them were ordered to take the best horse officers from the Xiongnu to the Dayuan horse farm to receive warhorses.

When they arrived there, they found that the four thousand fine horses and three hundred heavenly horses listed in the official register had long since disappeared, and only six hundred old, weak, sick, and disabled horses remained in the vast horse farm.

This really angered them!

Everyone knows that the General personally came to attack Dayuan, and Tianma was the primary target.

What will happen if we lose our horses?

The two men immediately arrested the stable manager and interrogated him.

"Where are the horses? Where have they all gone?!" Zhang Liao demanded sternly.

The steward replied tremblingly, "Reporting to the General, before Prince Bodiao departed, he ordered most of the fine horses to be driven to the Kushan Empire."

"What?!" Yufuluo roared, grabbing the steward by the collar. "You Dayuan people are so obedient? That's your national treasure!"

The steward, his face contorted with grief, cried out, "General, please understand! The Kushans are ruthless; who dares to disobey them? They not only took the horses, but also captured our best horse trainers and veterinarians!"

Zhang Liao frowned deeply: "Your Highness, it seems the Kushans were prepared. They know the importance of the Heavenly Horses to our army and deliberately undermined them."

After hearing the report, Su Yao laughed in anger: "You scoundrel, daring to steal my horse! You've added another capital offense to your list!"

"And that's not all!"

Huvro said angrily:
"Those damned Kushans even moved almost all the horse feed ahead of time! What a shameless, despicable scheme!"

Warhorses are precious, and the better the horse, the more fine fodder it needs to maintain its fighting strength.

The Kushans had clearly prepared in advance, even sending out the entire Han cavalry force, in an attempt to delay their advance.

Su Yao pondered for a moment, then slowly asked, "Which direction did those horses that were taken go?"

Zhang Liao replied, "Your Highness, according to the stable manager, they headed northwest, likely towards Beitian, the capital of Kangju."

“Beitian,” Su Yao muttered to himself, then sneered, “Very well, perfect for settling both old and new scores.”

He turned to Lu Su: "Pass down the order: the original plan remains unchanged. After a day of rest, I will personally go to Beitian and retrieve our horses!"

"Hahaha!"

"Is this the heavenly horse that the people of Dayuan cherish so much? It is truly wondrous!"

a few days later.

Dozens of miles east of the city of Beitian in Kangju, Prince Botiao was leading an army of 50,000 back to Dayuan when he was met by General Sulun, who brought him warhorses and fodder. The prince was overjoyed.

After all, although Dayuan was a vassal state, they kept a close watch on these heavenly horses, only sending one or two as tribute each year. They never expected that General Surun would confiscate all of them when he was there.

"But such actions are unethical and may provoke the anger of the people of Dayuan."

The prince's tutor, Fath, frowned and said:

"General Suren has always been a steady and cautious man, and rarely does such a short-sighted thing. Does his behavior mean that he has little confidence in resisting the Han people?"

Bettian is present-day Samarkand, more than 600 li from here. At this time, they were still unaware that their iron wall had fallen; the latest intelligence was only...
"Teacher, you are overthinking it. Although General Suren suffered a minor defeat, he is a resilient man. With him in charge of Yucheng and tens of thousands of soldiers holding firm, even if the Han army has 100,000 troops, it will be difficult for them to take it easily."

"Not to mention, the Han army is said to be attacking entirely on cavalry, and has no ability to besiege cities at all."

Prince Bo Diao stroked the mane of a magnificent Akhal-Teke horse beside him and said confidently:
"Our army has returned to reinforce in time, deploying all 50,000 elite troops. With the help of the Heavenly Horses, how can we not defeat the Han army?"

He mounted the horse, feeling the power of this divine steed, his eyes gleaming with ambition:
"Once we defeat the Han army this time, no one in the country will be my match, and my father will have to acknowledge my position."

"When I ascend the throne, I will marry Dina as my queen and appoint my teacher as my prime minister. I will surely restore the glory of the Kushan Empire!"

The prince's bold words immediately won the support of the surrounding generals.

They shouted slogans such as "Long live the prince!" and "Long live the Kushan Empire!"

Some people even started calling him "King" in advance.

However, compared to the soldiers who were shouting, the issues that the generals around the prince were concerned with were much more subtle.

"Our prince really can't forget Miss Dina!"

"That won't do, after all, Miss Dina is the most beautiful woman in our Kushan Empire!"

"However, her temper is also top-notch."

These generals, each speaking their own words, were all warriors who had followed Prince Bodiao in his campaigns from the very beginning. Many of them were the prince's childhood friends, and they had a close relationship with him, so they spoke quite freely.

"That was the ninth time she'd rejected our prince, wasn't it? If he becomes king this time, let's see if she still has the guts!"

Seeing that these people were talking more and more outrageously, the prince laughed and gave one of them a push:
"Go away, what nonsense are you spouting? Miss Dina is the daughter of a noble high priest; she has her own pride. Her rejection is surely a test of my sincerity. If I were to use my power to coerce her in the future, wouldn't I appear weak and incompetent?"

"Yes, yes, the prince is absolutely right!"

"So, have you decided what gift you want to give Miss Dina this time?"

"of course!"

Prince Bo Diao laughed heartily and pointed his sword eastward:
"I've heard that Miss Dina has always been fascinated by the study of Eastern and Western cultures. In that case, the head of that Han Chinese prince is the best gift I could receive!"

After speaking, Prince Bodiao immediately declared that all those who fought bravely against the Han army would be richly rewarded, and even gave reward quotas for heads of Han army servants and officers of different ranks.

"Anyone who can capture or kill the commander of the Han army will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold and granted a fief of ten thousand households. If he is unmarried, he may even marry a princess of my royal family!"

These words caused an uproar throughout the army. The Kushan soldiers were eager to fight and wanted nothing more than to engage the Han army in a decisive battle.

However, there was one that reacted the most strongly.

"what?!"

"You can even marry a princess?!"

The speaker was none other than Bahar, Prince Bodiao's childhood friend. He wielded a greatsword with unparalleled skill, slaying countless enemies on the battlefield and earning himself the title of "King of Swords." He was an invincible general under Prince Bodiao's command.

As is widely known, this person has always had a crush on the prince's sister.

However, unlike Prince Botiao's high-profile pursuit of Miss Dina, Bahar, despite his young age and mature-looking beard, never dared to openly express any affection for the princess.

Upon hearing this, he became agitated: "Could the prince really be telling the truth?"

Bo Diao laughed loudly upon hearing this: "When have I ever lied to you? However," he gave Bahar a meaningful look, "my sister is not so easy to marry. You'll have to prove you have the ability first."

Bahar's eyes reddened, and he patted his chest, snorting through his nostrils:
"Your Highness, rest assured, I will personally behead the King of Han!"

After saying that, he turned to face the crowd and said fiercely:
"You are welcome to try to take it, but on the battlefield, weapons have no eyes. If you lose your life, don't blame your brothers for being ruthless."

Bahar's appearance immediately caused the soldiers to burst into laughter, and some even joked:

"It seems Lord Sword King is going to fight to the death this time!"

Upon seeing this, Prince Bo Diao's eyes flashed with a cunning glint.

He knew very well how brave Bahar was, and this time, facing the main force of the Han army, he needed this fierce general to give his all.

Thus, encouraged by Prince Bodiao, the Kushan army was in high spirits and their determination to fight was particularly strong.

However, at that moment, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from afar.

A scout came galloping in, his face filled with panic, bringing the devastating news that Yucheng had fallen and "Iron Wall" had perished.
"what?!"

"This is impossible!!!"

(End of this chapter)