novelraw Chapter 1616 - 1617: Entirely at His Whim
Chapter 1616 - 1617: Entirely at His Whim
Qi Gaoda and Qi Weimeng, as the sons of Qi Tengfei, were known for their capabilities, and among the generals chosen were these two sons.
Qi Weimeng and Shi Shi were already married, and Shi Shi was now Qi Weimeng’s wife. Qi Weimeng was heading to Beihe, and Shi Shi naturally knew the reason.
Qi Tengfei didn’t allow any female soldiers to go, so Shi Shi naturally couldn’t join the expedition.
Upon learning why Qi Tengfei and the others were going to Beihe, Shi Shi secretly informed Gong Juechen of the news.
As soon as Gong Juechen heard about it, he sneered, "Su Chengyu, oh Su Chengyu, do you really underestimate our Slayer Tower so much? Do you really think you can take over Beihe with just two hundred thousand troops? Or have you already decided that if Qi Tengfei fails, you’ll let your dear brother take over?"
The more he laughed, the colder Gong Juechen’s smile became.
He didn’t mind being an enemy of Su Chengyu, but he didn’t want to be an enemy of Xiao Changyi. If Xiao Changyi were to lead troops into battle...
And now An Jing was about to give birth at any moment...
These two people truly treated him as family and protected him...
Thinking of this, Gong Juechen immediately gave an order, "Withdraw all our people. We will no longer assist Dongqing."
"But we have taken Dongqing’s Gold..." The subordinate hesitated. Their tower had received a whole 95 million taels of Gold from Dongqing.
Gong Juechen laughed lightly, "Our tower going back on its word is not a first-time thing. Who told them to trust us?"
Slayer Tower always acted according to the mood of the current Building Master, and it had been so for hundreds of years.
On hearing this from Gong Juechen, the subordinate immediately agreed.
"Moreover," Gong Juechen added, "we have already helped them take over half of Beihe, so they haven’t really lost out."
"Yes, Building Master! I’ll get right on it!"
...
Eight days later.
This day was September 14.
The order from Building Master Gong Juechen finally reached the Slayer Tower people assisting Dongqing, and they immediately withdrew.
Slayer Tower went back on their word and left halfway while keeping the payment, which infuriated Dongfang Tianyang.
He had given almost half of Dongqing’s wealth to Slayer Tower, and they did this?!
How could he not be angry?
Slayer Tower had a terrible reputation, something he already knew before approaching them, but in order to incorporate Beihe into Dongqing, he convinced his father the emperor to take the risk and seek Slayer Tower’s help.
Although he had been made Crown Prince, many court officials were still not convinced of his position, so he needed military achievements to gain their respect and loyalty.
This was also why Dongqing’s Crown Prince personally led the troops into battle.
But now!
They had already conquered half of Beihe, which was a significant achievement, and his anger was not mainly because of Slayer Tower’s betrayal or the Gold given to them, but rather because of his unwillingness to accept the outcome.
If Slayer Tower continued to help, within half a year, the whole of Beihe would surely be Dongqing’s!
Now that Slayer Tower refused to assist, leaving Dongqing to face Beihe alone, Dongqing’s military strength was equivalent to Beihe’s, and Dongqing didn’t have enough financial resources for prolonged warfare. How could he incorporate all of Beihe into Dongqing?
This might be where it all stops. Truly unwilling!
When the Slayer Tower people withdrew, he even asked the reason for their sudden non-assistance.
One of the Slayer Tower members arrogantly said, "Our Building Master helps if he feels like it, and doesn’t if he doesn’t feel like it. It’s all up to his mood, no particular reason."