In the firelight, General Wei’s features were hard as iron, yet he was drenched in cold sweat. Prince Sun had entered through the Chengtiamen, first killing the crown prince at the Eastern Palace, then heading for the Yangxin Hall. The Southern Garrison’s Ten Battalions had turned to the prince’s side, and the palace had received no warning. Wei Xushuo learned of this when they entered the Xuanfu Gate, hastily leading the Northern Garrison’s forbidden army to protect the emperor, barely intercepting the prince’s party.
The prince appeared confident. With the Southern Garrison’s defection, the Northern Garrison’s troops alone could not hold out for long. Although Wei Xushuo was not afraid of battle, he could see the prince’s rebellion was almost certain to succeed.
At the same time, the signal representing an enemy attack rose into the sky, bursting into a blood-colored firework in his gradually expanding pupils.
The Northern Yan soldier’s body trembled, eyes gazing skyward, exhaling the final cold breath of an unresolved death from his chest.
In the morning court of the 26th year of Yuantai, on April 30th, Emperor Yuantai’s son Sun Xun ordered a eunuch to publicly read the imperial decree, passing the throne to Prince Sun Yunchun. On the same day, the Zhe tribe’s Wuluo Guard launched a surprise attack on the Northern Yan garrison at Liangkou Pass. Shortly after, a large number of Zhe tribal troops moved south to attack, and the Northern Yan cavalry was urgently mobilized to provide reinforcements, recreating the danger of the Northern Frontier from seven years ago.
In the hundred-plus years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Sun Yunchun is undoubtedly the most unfortunate emperor in history. On the first day he became emperor, he received an urgent military report from the Northern Frontier. Immediately after, all the neighboring countries exploded. The Zhe tribe’s Wuluo Guard attacked Liangkou Pass, and the allied forces of the Hanhai Kingdom joined forces to attack Ping and Ji provinces.
The Datan tribe, having learned a lesson last year, returned to invade, attacking Tong and Yu regions, directly threatening the Northern Yan western defense line at Yuan Province. The Northern Yan cavalry was constrained on two fronts, and the situation was critical.
On May 3rd, Ji Province was in urgent danger.
