Love Lock

Chapter 266 Emxixteen
Emperor Jing quickly grabbed the bright yellow dragon robe draped over the screen and put it on. His fingers trembled as he tied the ribbon, not from fear, but from a long-lost sense of tension.

He strode to the door, raised his hands, and let the chief eunuch Li Zhongxin straighten his clothes.

"Your Majesty, General Lu is already waiting outside the Imperial Study," Li Zhongxin reported in a low voice, his voice trembling slightly. "He looks to be in rather bad shape."

Emperor Jing's fingers tightened at the cuffs of his dragon robe, the gold-embroidered dragon pattern crumpled into a ball in his palm.

"Su Ce's deputy general? Didn't he go to attack Cangzhou together? Why is he in the capital?" His voice was low, as if squeezed from the depths of his chest.

"Yes! This old servant doesn't know either." Li Zhongxin dared not say more.

Emperor Jing said nothing more, striding through the long corridor toward the imperial study. The afternoon sun slanted in, making his bright yellow dragon robe shimmer.

Outside the imperial study, a dusty military officer knelt on the steps. His armor was covered in dust and dark red bloodstains.

"come in?"

Emperor Jing glanced at him and strode into the imperial study. A bad feeling was already in his heart.

Lu Heming hunched over and limped into the hall, then knelt down with a thud, his forehead hitting the gold bricks hard with a dull thud.

"This humble general, Lu Heming, pays his respects to Your Majesty!" His voice was hoarse and cracked, as if he hadn't drunk water in a long time.

In fact, Lu Heming's injuries were not caused by swords, but rather by some scrapes from falling. The fact that this deputy general of the imperial army was in such a sorry state shows how frightened he must have been.

"Rise." Emperor Jing walked around the desk, the hem of his dragon robe dragging slightly on the gold bricks. "Are you Su Ce's deputy general?"

Lu Heming dared not stand up, but bowed even lower: "This humble general is indeed the one in charge."

Emperor Jing sat down in his chair, staring intently at Lu Heming: "You've returned to the capital to meet the Emperor now, is there any progress in the war in Cangzhou?"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Heming knelt down again with a thud, his forehead touching the ground, his whole body trembling: "Your Majesty... Something terrible has happened! General Su, he..."

"What happened to Su Ce?" Emperor Jing immediately sensed something was wrong, and his voice suddenly rose, echoing in the empty hall.

Lu Heming raised his head, his eyes filled with bloodshot eyes and fear: "General Su... has fallen in battle!"

"What?!" Emperor Jing stood up abruptly, and as he walked around the desk, his dragon robe sash flipped over the memorials on it, sending them tumbling to the floor. "What happened? Tell me quickly!"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The army had just passed Jingzhou when it encountered the Cangzhou King's hundred-man force on the official road." Lu Heming's voice trailed off. "They...they said they were going to Jingzhou for disaster relief..."

Emperor Jing's lips twitched slightly: "Disaster relief?"

He felt he had heard a huge joke. "The news of my military campaign must have spread to all the states by now. Shouldn't Zhao Zun be on high alert, ready for battle? Instead of preparing for war, he's off to provide disaster relief?"

Lu Heming swallowed hard: "The King of Cangzhou said... said that the locust plague in Jingzhou is severe..."

"Absurd!" Emperor Jing slammed his hand on the table, causing the brushes on the brush holder to jump. He felt as if he had been ignored by the Prince of Cangzhou: "Continue! How did Su Ce die?"

Lu Heming's eyes suddenly became unfocused, as if he had returned to that nightmarish scene.

"That King of Cangzhou was far too arrogant; he actually demanded that the army make way for him... General Su naturally refused... and then... and then..."

"And then what?" Emperor Jing leaned forward and roared.

"General Su ordered the attack, but Zhao Zun used some kind of evil weapon. There was a loud 'bang'..." Lu Heming covered his head with his hands, trembling all over. "General Su's head... exploded like a water tank."

There was deathly silence in the hall.

Emperor Jing felt dizzy and had to hold onto his desk to keep his balance.

He stared at Lu Heming, hoping to see a trace of a lie on the other's face, but all he saw was the deep fear etched in his eyes.

"You mean," Emperor Jing said, emphasizing each word, "that Zhao Zun used a weapon you've never seen before to kill Su Ce from a distance?"

Lu Heming nodded frantically: "The weapon made a thunderous sound, and in an instant, the General... I saw with my own eyes that his skull flew off... his brains splattered all over my face..."

"Absurd!" Emperor Jing glared displeasedly at Lu Heming, who was kneeling on the ground. "How could such a wondrous thing exist in the world, except for a deity descending to earth?"

"Your Majesty, every word I have spoken is true." Lu Heming pressed himself to the ground. "Everyone in the army witnessed it!"

Emperor Jing experienced a spasm in his stomach.

He recalled that Wei Dabao and the secret guards who were chasing the King of Jingzhou had said that the fortress Zhao Zun built in Tuomugou was strange and unusual, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Where is the army? Did they just stand by and watch their commander be killed?" Emperor Jing's voice tightened.

Lu Heming looked ashamed: "That weapon was too terrifying... no one dared to touch it... and then the King of Cangzhou started to incite the army's morale..."

"Incite the army's morale?" After all that had been said, Emperor Jing remained unmoved, because he didn't believe it.

But the moment those words about inciting unrest were uttered, he instantly flew into a rage. "What has Zhao Zun done?"

"Zhao Zun said... that Jingzhou was hit by a locust plague, and that soldiers from Jingzhou should return to their hometowns to help with the disaster relief, since the starving people were their fellow villagers..."

Lu Heming's voice trailed off, "He also said... the imperial court doesn't care about the lives of the people, only about seizing power and profit..."

"Snapped!"

Emperor Jing slammed his hand on the desk, his face ashen: "So?"

Arrogant!

That's incredibly arrogant!

Emperor Jing gritted his teeth, wishing he could immediately capture Zhao Zun and tear him to pieces.

“So…” Lu Heming almost buried his head in the ground, “nearly half of the soldiers from Jingzhou… all ran away with Zhao Zun…”

"boom!"

A thunderbolt exploded in Emperor Jing's mind.

"You...you...useless!" Emperor Jing stood up, pointed at Lu Heming, and it took him a long time to utter a complete sentence.

Lu Heming and Li Zhongxin, who was standing next to him, were so frightened that they trembled and dared not breathe.

Emperor Jing was furious. He gasped for breath and then overturned the entire desk, scattering writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all over the floor.

"My 100,000-strong army... just like that, it was all dismantled by Zhao Zun's single sentence?"

"Your Majesty!" Lu Heming kowtowed, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! That weapon is just too terrifying. Anyone who touches it will die! The King of Cangzhou even... even threatened the army to make way for him."

"presumptuous!"

Emperor Jing's eyes were bloodshot, like a trapped wild beast. He wanted to grab something from the desk and throw it at Lu Heming, but when he raised his hand, he realized that the desk had already been overturned.

The emperor was furious!
Inside the imperial study, the scent of ambergris was shattered by a tense atmosphere.

Sweat dripped from Lu Heming's forehead, sliding down his cheeks and leaving dark dots on the floor tiles, a stark contrast to the winter chill. Lu Heming closed his eyes, as if summoning all his courage to continue his report: "With that evil weapon, the army dared not act rashly, and the soldiers made way for him."

"What? This is simply... simply... ah... outrageous!" Emperor Jing clenched his fists, nearly going mad.

The mighty imperial army, tasked with a campaign against the enemy, was easily swayed by a few words from Zhao Zun, the Prince of Cangzhou, and the remaining soldiers were forced to give way to him.

What... what the hell is going on?
If this gets out, what will become of the imperial court's reputation?
Lu Heming dared not raise his head and continued, "What's even more hateful is that... when Zhao Zun walked up to me, he actually... actually gave me two choices."

Emperor Jing's eyes flashed with a cold light: "Speak!"

“Firstly… let me lead the remaining army to continue the campaign against Cangzhou.” Lu Heming glanced at Emperor Jing and quickly lowered his head again. “Secondly… let us wait here until he returns from his disaster relief efforts… before launching our campaign against him.”

Should we wait for him to return before attacking him?

What an arrogant tone!

Did they think the imperial army was coming to play house with him?

The imperial study fell eerily silent; even breathing could be heard clearly. Li Zhongxin's whisk trembled incessantly, clearly terrified.

He had several encounters with Zhao Zun, the King of Cangzhou, who was a highly decorated general who had protected the Great Jing. Although he appeared aloof and exuded a murderous aura, he was unexpectedly formidable.

No wonder he could make the northern countries tremble with fear; it turns out that his arrogant demeanor alone is something that ordinary people cannot learn.

Emperor Jing's face turned from red to green, and finally to a terrifying paleness.

After a long while, Emperor Jing finally managed to suppress his anger and asked in a cold voice, "And then?"

Lu Heming took a deep breath: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty chooses to continue the advance. But upon reaching Tuomugou, we encountered an unprecedented bluish-gray fortress..."

His voice began to tremble, as if he had returned to that nightmarish battlefield.

"The fortress walls could... could spew fire like tongues. Continuous tongues of fire, like the breath of a fire dragon. As soon as our army attacked, flames erupted from the walls, and soldiers fell in droves... Those weapons had an extremely long range and incredible accuracy; our shields were like paper..."

Emperor Jing's gaze gradually turned serious: "Have any soldiers managed to scale the city walls?"

“Some of them rushed to the city wall,” Lu Heming said, a deep fear appearing in his eyes.

"But those soldiers who managed to get close fared even worse... A type of stone would be thrown from the city wall. It looked ordinary, but it would explode as soon as it hit the ground. Fragments would fly everywhere, and no one within a radius of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) would survive... Even the corpses would be scattered to pieces. Some stones would even explode in mid-air, like... like a celestial maiden scattering flowers..."

He raised his trembling hand and gestured: "A single stone can kill or injure more than ten people. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, our army has lost several thousand elite soldiers. The soldiers are so frightened that they abandon their armor and weapons, let alone fight."

Emperor Jing stood there with his mouth agape like a stranded fish. He suddenly felt dizzy and only managed to steady himself by grabbing the overturned desk.

He realized that the reason Zhao Zun dared to be so arrogant was because he possessed such a powerful weapon.

Such powerful weapons would undoubtedly pose a great threat to the imperial court.

"Do those stones... have names?" Emperor Jing asked, panting.

Lu Heming shook his head blankly: "I only heard people on the city wall shouting 'Throw grenades!' I suppose those stones were called grenades. As for the city wall that could breathe fire... Later, when we withdrew our troops and returned to the capital, we encountered Zhao Zun's disaster relief team on the official road. I finally saw the weapon that Zhao Zun was carrying on his shoulder."

Lu Heming tried hard to recall, "It seems to be called something like... 'Aim Sixteen'."

“Aim Sixteen?” Ripples appeared in Emperor Jing’s eyes. “What language is this?”

Li Zhongxin stared at Lu Heming with curiosity, but Lu Heming lowered his head in shame, saying, "This humble general does not know."

Emperor Jing suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Zhao Zun..." Emperor Jing murmured to himself, "Where exactly did you obtain these demonic creatures?"

Chief eunuch Li Zhongxin cautiously approached: "Your Majesty, shall we summon the imperial physician? You do not look well."

Emperor Jing ignored him, then suddenly turned around, his eyes burning with a dangerous glint.

"Issue an imperial decree summoning the ministers of the Six Ministries and the commanders of the Five Armies to the palace immediately for a meeting! Furthermore..."

He paused, his voice low and deep, like an echo from the underworld, "Summon the Director of the Imperial Observatory to come see me with the 'Exploitation of the Works of Nature' and the 'Treatise on Military Preparedness'."

Just as Li Zhongxin was about to leave, Emperor Jing stopped him again: "Wait! Send someone to the Hanlin Academy to find all the books on ancient divine weapons and artifacts... especially those related to the Mohist mechanical arts."

As Li Zhongxin's footsteps faded at the end of the corridor, Emperor Jing looked out the window again.

The warm sunshine outside the window had disappeared at some point, replaced by thick, dark clouds.

A biting wind howled as it swept past the shop entrance, as if even the heavens were weeping for this dynasty.

He knew that a storm far more terrifying than a natural disaster was brewing in the direction of Cangzhou.

“Zhao Zun…” Emperor Jing’s fingers dug deeply into the window frame. “I want to see whether your demonic weapon is more powerful or my empire is more secure!”

Muttering to himself, he suddenly took a few quick steps and grabbed Lu Heming by the collar of his armor. "Did you see clearly what that Aimu Sixteen really looks like?"

Lu Heming's face turned purple from being strangled, but he still tried his best to gesture and say, "It's about three feet long, shiny black all over, like it's made of iron, and there's a long cylindrical section at the front..."

He spread his arms wide, trembling, "and there's a curved handle at the end; it seems Zhao Zun could launch it by simply placing it against his shoulder."

As he listened, Emperor Jing's eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly hissed.

"hiss--!"

Lu Heming's description of "Aim Sixteen" seemed familiar to him.

He loosened Lu Heming's collar, stroked his chin, and paced back and forth, trying hard to recall.

Suddenly, he remembered—

A few days ago, when he went out of the palace to relax, he happened to run into Wei Chengchao, the owner of Jinxiufang, and his shop assistants unloading goods at the entrance of Jinxiufang on Zhuque Street. The dark goods seemed to be exactly the same as what Lu Heming had described.

At the time, Wei Chengchao and his shopkeeper said that it was just a tool for sewing clothes, and he didn't care. He just smiled and said that he didn't expect that tools could be used to sew clothes now.

A few days ago, news broke that Wei Chengchao had secretly sent grain and supplies to the Turks. Now that I think about it...

"Great! What a wonderful tool for sewing clothes!"

Emperor Jing, enraged, laughed instead. He ripped off the dragon-patterned jade pendant from his waist and smashed it against a palace pillar, shouting sharply, "Where is the commander of the secret guards?"

A figure in black robes suddenly emerged from the shadows, kneeling on one knee like a suddenly frozen patch of night.

"Immediately lead men to surround Jinxiufang." Emperor Jing spat out the words through gritted teeth, each syllable dripping with coldness.

This time, he will not hesitate to act against his relatives.

"Investigate thoroughly. If any ironware is found—have Wei Chengchao skinned alive!"

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