Chapter 805 - 50: The Last Five Generations’ Reverberations, Kyushu Unites (Part 1)

Behind the bead curtain, Empress Dowager Liang’s body trembled violently, and she cried out in shock: "Emperor! You..."

Her words halted abruptly because the young Emperor had slowly risen, and at that moment, those youthful eyes burned with a resolution and desolation beyond his years.

He looked around at the faces inside the hall, which were either astonished, fearful, or ashamed, and though his voice was not loud, it resonated clearly in everyone’s hearts: "You all need not persuade me any further."

"I am the descendant of Emperor Jingzong, the heir of the Wei Ming family."

"Great Xia may perish, but the spine of the Wei Ming family cannot be broken!"

He lifted his head slightly, as if his gaze penetrated the palace dome, seemingly seeing the emperors of Western Xia who had passed away through the generations:

"I remember, Gu Rui once said in his ’Memorial to the Emperor’, ’Perhaps I may exhaust my limited skills, eliminating traitors and bring about the unification of the great cause’, his ambition was the unification of Kyushu, a shining royal path, and an overwhelming trend."

"Our Great Xia... cannot withstand it any longer."

Even though his voice was childish, it carried a heartbreaking clarity, and then his eyes suddenly turned sharp, sweeping over the clan members and ministers who wore struggling expressions: "However, even in the fall of a nation, there must be the demeanor of a fallen nation!"

"Gu Xiao, the ancestor of the Gu Clan, once said, ’If death it is, then death it shall be, why say more!’"

"—Today, I shall emulate this spirit!"

He suddenly drew the symbolic dagger from his waist and pressed it heavily on the imperial desk, producing a crisp sound: "My decision is made, I shall lead my army personally and live or die with Shizhou State!"

"If I die in battle, it may provoke the soldiers and officers to muster their last bit of courage, or perhaps... perhaps it may make Gu Lin, out of consideration for my sacrifice for the country, show mercy to my Wei Ming family, to the families of all present, leaving you a path to survival, sparing you from total annihilation!"

"Emperor—!" Empress Dowager Liang let out a mournful cry, the bead curtain trembled, almost breaking through the curtain.

The ministers inside the hall were shaking violently, with many already kneeling, unable to stop their tears, as Li Qianshun’s words tore away all false pretenses, laying bare the cruel and most realistic possibilities at the brink of national ruin.

Li Qianshun’s body was trembling as well.

Of course, he was afraid of death.

No one is unafraid.

Unfortunately, this is the responsibility the Emperor ought to bear.

Perhaps this is one of the greatest changes brought by the Gu Clan, a higher standard of moral values!

Even these foreign races, in many aspects, have now shown the demeanor of Kyushu heroes.

Even if he is just a boy!

...

Liao, Central Capital.

Emperor Tianzuo Yelv Yanxi shattered his beloved jade paperweight, the menacing veins on his forehead throbbed.

"Great Song... have they really mobilized their troops?"

"How dare they mobilize their troops?"

"On what basis do they mobilize their troops?"

He kept screaming angrily, his entire face twisted beyond recognition, no trace of his former composure, continually smashing the objects in front of him.

The eunuchs in the hall kowtowed on the floor, trembling, not daring to make a sound.

The Khitan nobles and Southern ministers stood with lowered heads, their faces ashen, the air filled with suffocating despair.

"Speak up! Have you all become dumb?!" Yelv Yanxi suddenly turned to the ministers, his voice sharp with anger, "Every day, you prattle on, claiming Gu Rui is dead, the Southern Dynasty is nothing to fear?"

"And now?"

"The Song people’s warships are already about to reach the gates of Liaoyang Prefecture!"

"Zhong E’s army is right across Yuan Yang Lake!"

"And... and those damn Jurchen savages!" When mentioning Wanyan Aguda, he almost squeezed the words out through clenched teeth, the veins on his forehead pounding even more fiercely.

Not pressured, Wanyan Aguda has already mobilized his troops.

Not just him.

But the entire Jurchen tribe.

Yelv Yanxi initially planned to secretly execute Wanyan Aguda, only to be met with this news immediately after.

This alone has already infuriated him to no end.

Coupled with the news of Great Song mobilizing troops, he could no longer contain himself.

"Calm down, Your Majesty!" The Director of the Northern Secretariat, Xiao Delidi, stepped forward with a dry voice, "The urgent task is to swiftly mobilize troops and stabilize the front lines."

"On Nanjing Road, there is Prince Yelv Chun to guard, perhaps able to resist Zhong E;"

"On Tokyo Road... perhaps we can order the generals to fortify and clear the land, delaying the Song naval forces; as for the Jurchen..." He paused, speaking with difficulty, "perhaps we can ease the campaign, offering positions and wealth, first to appease them, and after repelling the Song forces then... "

"Appease them? Hahahahaha!" Yelv Yanxi let out a shrill, maniacal laugh, interrupting him, "Xiao Shumi, have you gone senile?"

"Is Wanyan Aguda someone to be appeased with a few measures of rice or a nominal title?"

"He wants my empire!"

"Are you trying, like the Song people, to make my Great Liao suffer eternal damnation!"

He staggered down the imperial steps, grabbed the freshly delivered emergency military reports, and slammed them down in front of the ministers.

"Look, open your eyes and see!"

"The Song Army advances on four fronts, by sea and land, from the Western Regions to Liaodong, with flames of war everywhere!"

"They intend to swallow my Great Liao whole, without even spitting out the bones!"

"And there’s the Western Xia!"

"That brat Li Qianshun is even planning to lead the expedition himself!"

"What about us?"

"Are we less than even the Western Xia?!"

His voice carried a kind of madness of a roadblock, his gaze swept over the anxious faces, finally landing on the silent Southern Minister Zhang Lin.

"Minister Zhang! You’ve always been wise, tell me!"

"What should be done now?"

"Should I imitate that Western Xia brat, go to war myself, and die amidst the chaos?!"

Zhang Lin slowly raised his head, his face deeply weary and powerless. He opened his mouth but ultimately only sighed deeply: "Your Majesty... the Song people this time, not for land, not for tribute, their ambition... is in unification."

"Gu Lin’s proclamation has already made it known to the world."

"Coupled with the Jurchen uprising, it’s truly... truly a peril never seen in hundreds of years."

"Or... perhaps an envoy could be dispatched, attempt to..."

He couldn’t say the words "seek peace," but everyone present understood the unsaid meaning.

However, seeking peace?

When your opponent clearly wants to unify the world, what can peace bring?

Nothing but momentary humiliation.

Yelv Yanxi seemed drained of strength, staggered back a few steps, and collapsed onto the cold imperial seat.

After the fury, there was deeper cold and despair.

He stared blankly at the gray sky outside the hall, as if he already saw the dragon banner of Great Liao collapsing under the combined attack of the Song Army and the Jurchen.

The hall was dead silent, except for his heavy breathing and the faint sound of remaining porcelain shards being knocked.

This extreme silence, rather like a basin of cold water, awakened his mind clouded by anger and fear.

After a long time, he suddenly raised his head, in those originally alarmed eyes, there was a spark of almost maniacal determination.

He gradually stood up, though his figure still swayed, but his spine was straight.

He bent down, picked up the seabird jade paperweight with cracked wings, and stroked the fractures as if he was touching the scarred land of Great Liao.

"Even the Western Xia child knows how to sacrifice himself for his country. I, inheriting the work of Taizu and Taizong, bearing the incense of nine generations of Great Liao, how can I sit idly in this Central Capital, waiting for the Song people’s knife at my throat? Waiting for the Jurchen savages at the palace gates?"

He hurled the broken jade paperweight to the ground with a muffled thud, like a war drum pounding.

"Convey my decree!"

"Gather all the palace troops, conscript all tribes capable of fighting! Open the treasury, take all the money and silk to reward the soldiers!"

"I will personally lead the army to face Zhong E at Yuan Yang Lake!"

His gaze was like a wolf on the grassland forced to the edge of a cliff, sweeping across every minister’s face: "Either I return with the heads of Gu Lin and Wanyan Aguda! Or..."

He paused, his voice firm and resolute, carrying the same end-time grandeur as Li Qianshun’s: "Or, I will die with this Great Liao’s vast land!"

"To eradicate my Great Liao, they must step over my corpse!"

After speaking, he no longer looked at anyone’s response, flinging his sleeve, turning sharply to stride into the inner hall, his silhouette in the dim light gaining a few outlines of his ancestors’ fierce courage on the battlefield.

Either fight for survival or rest with the nation.

Watching Yelv Yanxi’s silhouette.

The expressions of all the Liao ministers were also increasingly complex at this time, but not as united as imagined, akin to those of the Western Xia ministers.

Who wouldn’t fear death?

These two ships about to sink carried too many lives.

For the sake of interests, indeed these people are willing to gamble once more.

But ultimately, it’s impossible to cut off all living paths...

...

(Ps: Pleading for monthly votes, asking brothers for support, Fish is deeply grateful.)