New and dark light years

Chapter 510 To secure internal stability, one must first quell external aggression.
Huang Ling sat on the edge of the bed and sighed softly.

The window was half-closed, and the cool moonlight slanted in, bringing a faint glow to the dark house.

She had been waiting for her husband to return for an hour.

For the past six months, her husband has stopped wanting to spend the night at her place and instead rests in the rooms of his other concubines.

The sound of the night watchman's drum rang out outside; judging from the rhythm, it was past 9 PM.

Huang Ling was a little sleepy and in a bad mood, so she took off her outer garment and prepared to go to sleep.

But at that moment, an urgent bell rang from the east.

She frowned, finding the sound noisy, and was about to scold it when she heard a commotion and a commotion around her, which went from quiet to loud and from soft to loud... almost in an instant.

Countless lights lit up in the distance, and in no time, the entire capital city was brightly lit.

The Fang family is the same.

Amidst the clamor of voices, the maid Xiaojuan rushed in, urgently shouting, "Miss, the bandit army has invaded the city! Quickly, go to the back hall to assemble!"

The other servants all called her Madam, but only Xiaojuan would call her 'Miss'.

That's because Xiao Juan was a maid who accompanied the bride, and the two grew up together.

Huang Ling finally realized what was happening and immediately got up and dressed.

Xiao Juan stepped forward to help.

"How could that be? Didn't they say that our city walls are high and thick, and the Di people are all cavalry without siege equipment, so they can't get in?"

As the daughter of a prominent family, she had some knowledge in this area.

"Xiao Juan doesn't know either."

Huang Ling felt nervous. After getting dressed, she went out.

At this moment, the entire Fang family seemed to be in chaos. Servants were running around nervously, and the steward was shouting and yelling, but no one knew what he was doing.

It's just a mess.

Upon arriving at the back hall, she saw that the 'masters' of the house were already there; she was the last to arrive.

Sitting in the main seat was Old Master Fang. He said, "Now that everyone has arrived, all the women and children should go into the secret passage and lock it from the inside. No one is allowed to open it from the inside without my permission."

Huang Ling turned her gaze to her husband, Fang Fengyi.

But then he saw him standing next to a seductive woman, offering kind words of comfort.

That was Fang Fengyi's newly acquired concubine.

In terms of looks, she can't compare to Huang Ling, but she has a better figure.

She's similar to her older sister, only not as...gentle and dignified.

The concubine appeared extremely alluring and clearly restless.

At this moment, Madam Da stood up and said, "All women, follow me into the secret passage."

Huang Ling looked at her husband, then walked towards the direction of the eldest daughter-in-law.

At this moment, the concubine said, "Madam, I want to... stay by my husband's side and share his joys and sorrows."

Upon hearing this, Huang Ling inwardly sneered.

"Ha!" The old lady snorted, "When bandits enter the city, they will surely burn, kill, rape, and plunder. If you are defiled, you will have no choice but to commit suicide to protect the reputation of the Fang family. If you do not wish to commit suicide, I will have someone send you on your way."

Hearing these ominous words, the concubine dared not harbor any more ulterior motives and obediently walked behind the eldest mistress.

The Fang family's secret passage is located next to the artificial hill in the backyard, where there is a well-hidden door.

All twenty-odd female relatives, along with several young children from the Huang family's direct lineage, entered the secret passage. Huang Ling turned around and saw Xiao Juan being stopped outside the door.

"Madam, why can't Xiaojuan come in!" Huang Ling exclaimed in surprise.

"Just a maidservant who came with her dowry," the eldest mistress said coldly.

Huang Ling's eyes widened slightly.

More than half a year ago, although Xiao Juan could not say that she had a high status, she was at least treated as a concubine.

And now, are they just servants? They can't even enter the secret passage.

Huang Ling turned around and saw Xiao Juan's panicked and helpless expression.

“Madam, Xiaojuan is still a member of the Huang family…”

"The Huang family?" The eldest daughter-in-law's gaze swept over: "The Huang family in the capital has already fallen, and even your father will soon be gone! You need to be sensible, do you understand?"

The icy gaze made Huang Ling feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

The stone door to the secret passage closed slowly with a dull thud, cutting off Xiao Juan's view.

There is plenty of space inside the secret passage.

A fish oil lamp was lit, its pale blue flame casting an eerie glow over the place.

The ground was covered with a lot of fur, so even lying on the ground, you didn't feel cold.

“The toilet is on the east side, and the kitchen is on the west side.” The old lady sat on a high chair, the pale blue flames reflecting on her face: “She looked like a cold statue.”

Everyone who witnessed this scene subconsciously swallowed.

Huang Ling found a place to sit down. She kept feeling a piercing gaze sweeping over her from the side, but when she looked to the left and right, she didn't see anything.

It seemed that no one noticed her.

Huang Ling felt extremely uneasy.

She was worried about her husband, and also about Xiaojuan.

…………

"The Di people entered the outer city first, followed by the rebels." Li Lin placed the intelligence report on the table: "The capital is now in complete chaos."

The staff members looked at each other, but no one said anything.

Because this was the first time they had ever seen anything like it, they didn't know what to do for a moment.

Logically speaking, this is a good opportunity, but with tens of thousands of rebels and thousands of Di people fighting in the capital, it doesn't seem like a good idea for them to rush in.

Seeing that his staff remained silent, Li Lin smiled and pressed a point on the map with his finger.

"I plan to set up an ambush here."

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that it was a pass to the north.

"Does Your Excellency mean to cut off the Di people's retreat?"

Li Lin nodded: "The Di people have an advantage in going south because after crossing the Yellow River, the Central Plains are almost a smooth road for them. Also, because the terrain in the north is high, they have an advantage when riding downhill. But if they want to return from south to north, they have to climb a long 'slope,' which will take several days to get back to a relatively flat area. Their warhorses have already run so far, and climbing uphill for a long time will ruin them. At this time... a zigzag, relatively flat road is very suitable, which is this Yanxing Official Road."

One of the advisors asked, "But why do we have to ambush and kill the Di people? Wouldn't it be better to go to the capital while they are fighting each other?"

Li Lin shook his head and said, "This is bad. The Di people will always be a major enemy in the north. This group of Di people should be their elite. If we can defeat them, we can ensure the stability of our Great Qi's northern border for at least twenty years."

It generally takes about twenty years for a generation to grow up again and have sufficient fighting power.

"My lord, this is a rare opportunity," a staff member whispered. "Go to the capital and seize the divine artifact. If we miss this chance, we may never have another one."

Li Lin laughed and said, "There will be plenty of opportunities to ascend the throne in the future, but the chance to severely damage the Di people now is only once."

"I believe that we must first secure our internal stability before we can repel external threats."

Li Lin shook his head: "I have heard what you said before. In the education I received in my childhood, there was a record that a monarch once said something similar. Later... that monarch lost the hearts of the people and was driven to an island to live in seclusion. He eventually died in depression."

The staff members present were all educated and had some knowledge of history, but no matter how hard they thought, they couldn't find any such person or event in history.

Li Lin ignored them and said to the messenger, "Pass on my military order: Commander Xiao Chunzhu is to leave one-third of the troops to defend the city, and take two-thirds of the elite troops to march at night. They must reach Yanming Pass before dawn, set traps and barricades, and if the Di people retreat from here, they must stop them and fight to the death. Even if it means fighting to the last man, not a single Di person can escape." The messenger saluted and left immediately.

Li Lin looked at another messenger: "Order Commander Guo Yuan to leave one-third of his troops to defend the city, and take the rest of the elite troops to Rilan Pass..."

Then Li Lin looked at the man beside him and said, "Commander Tang, I'll leave you one-third of the troops. You guard this place well. The rest of the troops will come with me to Fengqiu Pass."

Tang Feng was taken aback for a moment, then clasped his hands and said, "My lord, do you intend to go to the front line in person? Absolutely not! I will guard Fengqiu myself!"

“You’re not up to the task,” Li Lin said calmly. “You’ve only recently assumed the position of temporary supervisor and you’re not yet able to fully command respect. You’re fine in normal times, but in a major battle, you’ll struggle to control your soldiers.”

Tang Feng was filled with shame.

"Get to work quickly, don't delay."

Tang Feng nodded: "Yes, sir."

Li Lin put on his leather armor, and then put on a thick, black cloak over it, which was very inconspicuous at night.

He came to the city wall and saw that the rebel army was heading towards the capital.

Upon hearing that the capital had fallen, almost all the rebels rushed in that direction, hoping to get a share of the spoils.

Therefore, leaving one-third of the troops to guard this place is a very reasonable decision.

Under the moonlight, Li Lin led his army on a gallop, encountering no enemies along the way, and arrived at Fengqiu Pass by following the official road.

The gate was open, and there seemed to be no one inside. But as they approached, they saw about a hundred soldiers in tattered clothes rush out, kneeling on the snow, not daring to look up at them.

Nearly ten thousand soldiers from Jin County arrived here; the sound of their footsteps alone was enough to terrify them.

These people were shivering, whether from fear or from the cold, it was hard to tell.

Li Lin, mounted on his tall horse, looked down at them: "Who is the local garrison commander?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Garrison Commander Wu has already died in battle." The one who answered was an old soldier with white hair and beard: "We, a thousand men, defended the city for two days, but we did not receive any reinforcements. The Di people broke through the city. When the city gates fell, we hid in the barracks. The Di people were in a hurry to go to the capital and did not care about us. So we were spared our dog lives."

These people do indeed have scars, large and small, on their bodies.

Moreover, their leather armor was marked with arrow marks, and some of them were even missing their arms.

Li Lin nodded: "Then you should go and rest first. This military town will be temporarily managed by our army."

"May I ask who you belong to, sir?"

“I am Li Lin, the military governor of Cangwu Road. Have you ever heard of him?”

"It's a name that's been heard of for a long time!" The old soldier looked up at Li Lin, his eyes shining with excitement: "My lord, you've brought a large army here, are you perhaps going to block the Di people?"

"You actually understand it?"

The old soldier's eyes reddened: "Please accept us, sir. We are willing to fight the Di people to the death."

"We are willing to fight the Di people to the death."

Behind the old soldier, more than a hundred remaining soldiers knelt down at the same time and shouted loudly.

Li Lin's gaze swept over them, then he said to the commander beside him, "Give them food, give them military equipment, arm them, and incorporate them into the riflemen battalion."

"Yes."

The old soldier prostrated himself on the ground: "Thank you, sir."

Li Lin nodded and said to the commanders behind him, "It's just dawn, and I know everyone is tired, but now is not the time to rest. Get everyone moving and dig horse traps, tie horse ropes, and build barricades in front of the military town. The more, the better."

"As ordered."

The commanders immediately dispersed and directed their subordinates to get to work.

Li Lin then entered the military town.

He spotted the altar in the military town immediately; it was shrouded in a bloody aura.

On the altar, a male True Lord with a human head and a leopard's body was leisurely attracting blood energy.

When he saw Li Lin, he nodded slightly and smiled to show his friendliness.

Li Lin cupped his hands in greeting to the other party.

The True Lord doesn't concern himself with worldly affairs. If he really wanted to kill people, those hundred-odd soldiers wouldn't have survived.

This thick scent of blood must have been left behind by the hundreds of guards who died not long ago.

The True Lord floated in front of Li Lin: "A general who comes from the Spirit Hunters? That's rare. Are you going to block the Di people's retreat? Kill more of them; their blood is actually quite delicious."

Li Lin laughed and said, "Don't worry, True Lord, I will definitely not let you go hungry."

"Hahaha." The True Lord laughed loudly, "You're quite interesting."

……

On the walls of the palace, Zhu Jing stood in front of the Meridian Gate, looking at the street ahead.

Standing high, one can see far, and being a cultivator, he could naturally see the Di people riding horses, hacking and slashing at fleeing civilians in the streets.

He saw these Di people rush into the house, kill the men, and steal their valuables, stuffing them into their pockets.

They then dragged the woman out and humiliated her in the street.

Screams rose and fell, one after another, without end.

Bloodstains were everywhere on the streets.

The imperial guards standing on the city wall all had veins popping out on their foreheads, but Zhu Jing's expression remained calm.

He even yawned.

"The Emperor doesn't seem nervous at all."

Zi Feng descended from the sky.

Zhu Jing smiled and asked, "Did Great-Grandmother enjoy herself?"

"Enjoyed?"

"Weren't these Di people let in by you?" Zhu Jing asked.

Zi Feng said sarcastically, "Your Majesty, I did have this idea, but before I could put it into practice, someone beat me to it and opened the city gates. Who could it be? It's hard to guess."

Zhu Jing narrowed his eyes slightly: "Great-grandmother, you can't deny this, you must have done it."

"The Zhu family members are indeed all cold-blooded. They even scheme against their own relatives."

Zi Feng looked up, and in her field of vision, the enormous golden-armored deity had already stood up.

Above the capital, the aura of blood was thickening and growing stronger.

The golden-armored deity opened its eyes and took a deep breath. The golden light on the surface of its body intensified, making its body appear even more solid.

Zhu Jing looked at the golden-armored deity and whispered, "Great-grandmother, would you be willing to cultivate the Great Dao with me?"

"Disgusting!" Zi Feng looked at him coldly: "Are you even human?"

Zhu Jing laughed and said, "Cultivators should sever all emotions and love, and not be bound by worldly ethics. I have cultivated for more than 20 years and only have this little power. It's because I'm too sentimental. There are not many women in this world who are worthy of being my furnace. Consort You Rong was originally my beloved consort. Since you have taken her body, you naturally have to fulfill your responsibilities to her."

Zi Feng snorted, and a blade of ice suddenly shot out, flying towards Zhu Jing's head.

But it was blocked by a thick golden shield.

Upon seeing this, Zi Feng vanished instantly.

Zhu Jing said with a relaxed expression, "Great-grandmother, I will come to see you again in three days."

(End of this chapter)