The Child Emperor-Chapter 266: Quagmire

As the morning sun rose, black banners appeared at the end of the road. Several soldiers excitedly alerted the Weary Marquis that the Northern Army’s main force had arrived to provide support.

Cui Teng had not failed them – he had returned in time. Han Ruzi was deeply grateful to him and mentally credited him with a great achievement before the battle’s outcome was even decided.

Behind the camp was a depression that gradually rose upward. Though the black banners appeared close, they were actually quite far away. However, Han Ruzi could not afford to wait any longer.

The battlefield was only a mile away, almost within sight. The chaos brought by night was dissipating. Despite lingering discord between them, the Palace Guards and Grand Tutor Cui’s Southern Army were gradually gaining the advantage. The Weary Marquis’s Southern Army was inferior both in numbers and morale.

To distinguish themselves from Grand Tutor Cui’s Southern Army, the Weary Marquis’s troops had black cloth tied around their arms. They were now retreating step by step. Han Ruzi could not blame these troops – they had only been under the Weary Marquis’s command for a few days. Their willingness to charge into battle already demonstrated remarkable loyalty.

Therefore, Han Ruzi could no longer remain outside the battlefield.

He could not wait also because he knew the black banners behind him were merely for show. To convince the various forces on the battlefield that this was truly the Northern Army’s main force, he first had to believe it himself and couldn’t give others too much time to observe and consider.

Han Ruzi ordered the final batch of troops in the camp to join the battle, including over two thousand Northern Army soldiers and an equal number from the Southern Army – less than five thousand in total – which he personally led.

The carefully prepared obstacles were useless now, having been pushed to the sides of the road.

Han Ruzi held the reins in one hand and raised his sword in the other, followed closely by dozens of flag-bearing soldiers and then the rest of the troops. His objective was straightforward – to charge toward the North Gate. He neither cared about nor considered whether this goal was achievable.

At first, he felt anxious and subconsciously wanted to speed up, even fixing his gaze on an enemy commander’s banner in the distance, wanting to charge over and engage in combat. However, the soldiers behind him had more experience than the young Weary Marquis. After running a short distance, more than ten flag bearers overtook him and ran ahead, deliberately maintaining a slower pace. As they got closer to the battlefield, more and more soldiers moved ahead of him.

This was not special treatment for the Weary Marquis. Both the Southern and Northern armies were strictly trained elite forces. Though the Northern Army had a poorer reputation, their fighting ability still exceeded that of ordinary Chu troops. Protecting the commander and the standard bearers was one of their most important training objectives.

This was Han Ruzi’s first participation in such a large-scale battle, and he was unfamiliar with many protocols. At one point, he tried to overtake the soldiers in front but was surrounded by his standard bearers, preventing him from accelerating.

After charging onto the battlefield, Han Ruzi understood why. From a distance, the entire battlefield had been visible, but once in the midst of it, people and warhorses were everywhere. Not only was it impossible to see targets, but even determining directions was difficult. At night, they could only fight in chaos. After daybreak, everyone looked for banners, and the more experienced soldiers approached them more quickly.

“The Northern Army has arrived! Take the city gate!” Han Ruzi shouted repeatedly, while the surrounding soldiers yelled even louder.

Besides the banners, Han Ruzi could see nothing. His horse moved forward as if swept along by the crowd, unable to speed up or stop. The sounds entering his ears grew increasingly loud, various noises merging together. He could only clearly make out the words “Northern Army.”

Unable to see the enemy, Han Ruzi suddenly had a thought: this battle would surely go down in history, though he didn’t know how the history books would record it. Troop numbers and outcomes were easy to write about, as were blood and screams, but this chaos, anxiety, and confusion – he had never read about these in history books.

Among all the emperors of Great Chu, only the Founding Emperor had personally experienced several defeats, and they were crushing ones where he often fled alone. But in the history books, all these defeats were justified: the Founding Emperor had used himself as bait to attract Zhao’s main forces, allowing his other generals to achieve victory after victory, gradually closing the net until finally forcing the previously undefeated King of Zhao into a desperate situation.

Han Ruzi had always doubted whether the Founding Emperor truly had such foresight or had simply stumbled into victory.

He pushed aside these useless thoughts. The soldiers ahead were blocked, and troops from other directions were also falling back. Countless horses were crowded together, raising their heads and neighing, their hooves stomping restlessly, unable to move a single step forward.

All he could see were banners. Though he held his sword aloft, he found no place to strike. It was like being trapped in quicksand – the more he struggled, the faster he sank.

Suddenly, the pressure from the right increased. Han Ruzi turned to look and, through gaps between their own banners, saw a truly terrifying figure.

Based on his uniform, he appeared to be a high-ranking Palace Guard commander. Both man and horse were impressively large, standing out amid the chaos. He had an unkempt beard that obscured his true features, and his entire body was covered in blood. Though he must have been fighting for a long time, he showed no signs of fatigue as he charged through the crowd.

His weapon differed from the ordinary soldiers’ – neither sword nor spear, but a long axe. Though stained red with blood, it remained incredibly sharp, unless it was simply the wielder’s immense strength that made it so effective. Wherever the axe swept, men and horses fell.

“Protect the Weary Marquis!” the soldiers shouted, rushing forward one after another to block the axe-wielding commander.

Han Ruzi had once been cornered by the Xiongnu, but that situation hadn’t been nearly as heart-stopping as this. The axe seemed to be right before his eyes, as if it would cleave his head in the next moment.

Instead of fear, Han Ruzi gripped his sword tighter and let out a roar from deep in his chest. Though he used all his strength, his voice was drowned out by the surrounding chaos.

Dozens of soldiers blocked the commander’s path at the cost of their lives, forcing him to change direction. He soon disappeared into the sea of people.

Han Ruzi felt a wave of disappointment.

His soldiers once again surrounded the Weary Marquis, but they still could neither advance nor retreat.

Han Ruzi couldn’t see how the battle was developing, nor could he predict what was about to happen.

The first to spot the Northern Army’s banners weren’t Han Ruzi’s soldiers, but the Palace Guard commanders overseeing the battle from the city walls. Everyone was shocked. The distant banners were densely packed, like a moving black flood, indicating the Northern Army’s main force had arrived – at least eighty thousand men, possibly more. Their arrival would completely change the battlefield situation.

“The Northern Army couldn’t have arrived so quickly.”

“I heard the Weary Marquis mobilized troops long ago. It’s not that quick.”

“Quickly inform General Shang-guan.”

“The palace hasn’t sent orders for a while…”

The Palace Guard commanders discussed anxiously. Seeing the Weary Marquis’s banners enter the battlefield made them increasingly uneasy. One by one, they made excuses to leave until finally they stopped bothering with excuses and simply ran.

With the commanders fled and the banners fallen, the city walls became empty. The Palace Guard soldiers outside the city remained unaware, continuing to fight.

Not all of Grand Tutor Cui’s Southern Army had joined the battle. A group of commanders were observing from a high ground outside the battlefield. Alerted by their guards, they too spotted the distant black banners.

The Southern Army commanders weren’t so easily frightened. They sent someone to inform Chancellor Cui and dispatched scouts to assess the enemy situation. They arranged their remaining reserve troops, planning to engage the Northern Army’s main force. Their strategy was to take advantage of the Northern Army’s fatigue from their long march and defeat them while fresh.

Had the Palace Guard commanders not vanished so completely from the city walls, the Southern Army commanders’ plan might have succeeded. But discovering their allies showing signs of collapse made them fearful.

The scouts quickly returned with news confirming it was indeed the Northern Army’s main force.

The black banners from the north drew ever closer, streaming endlessly along the official road. They would arrive to join the battle soon, but Grand Tutor Cui’s orders had not yet come. The Southern Army commanders had to make their own decision.

They chose to preserve their strength – the most prudent and reasonable choice without their commander present. At least it was more responsible than the Palace Guard commanders’ desertion.

Among the several commanding officers in this three-way battle, only Han Ruzi personally directed the fighting. Thus, he alone dared to stake everything on this gamble, refusing to retreat and even joining the battle himself.

Shangguan Sheng and Prince Donghai also wanted to stake everything on one throw, but they were throwing others while remaining safely in the rear as the throwers.

The Southern Army commanders sounded the gong to withdraw their troops. Their “reasonable decision” dealt a fatal blow to the battlefield.

Though the Palace Guard commanders had fled, they did so quietly. The soldiers on the battlefield hadn’t yet discovered their absence, and fighting continued normally. However, the Southern Army’s withdrawal order caught almost everyone’s attention.

The soldiers looked back, and this glance triggered even greater chaos.

The Palace Guard soldiers, who had been fighting fiercely, discovered their commanding officers and banners had completely vanished. Their fighting spirit instantly evaporated. They hadn’t noticed the approaching black banners and naturally assumed something major had happened in the city. Only one thought remained – to flee the battlefield, to run as far away as possible.

The Palace Guard soldiers didn’t flee toward the city but scattered east and west.

The Southern Army soldiers also panicked. Though they heard the gong signaling retreat and wanted to withdraw, they were blocked by the more desperate Palace Guard soldiers, finding themselves in an awkward situation of being unable to advance or retreat.

Trapped in the middle of the battlefield, Han Ruzi suddenly found he could move again. He heard the gong but didn’t understand its meaning, nor did he notice the enemy’s retreat. He continued shouting, “The Northern Army has arrived! Take the city gate!”

The stalled troops continued advancing, moving faster and faster, like a spear piercing through ice and meeting no resistance underwater.

Only after crossing the moat and passing through the city gate did Han Ruzi realize with amazement that he had actually broken through.

With nearly 100,000 men entangled in combat, separation wasn’t easy. Outside the city remained chaotic, even more so than at the start.

Han Ruzi hesitated briefly inside the city gate, then suddenly understood this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Having entered the city, they couldn’t leave.

He immediately called over two nearby commanders. He ordered one to guard the gate to prevent it from falling to the enemy, and the other to climb the city wall and quickly raise the banners of the Weary Marquis and Northern Army. He himself led the remaining soldiers straight toward the imperial palace.

The further from the outer chaos, the quieter it became. From officials to commoners, everyone hid obediently in their homes. The northern city, home to many nobles, was filled with large mansions with their gates especially tightly sealed.

Han Ruzi rode through familiar streets with only two or three thousand soldiers following.

The imperial palace lay ahead, its north gate unexpectedly wide open and unguarded. Han Ruzi’s first reaction wasn’t joy but alarm, and he spurred his horse faster into the palace.

Dozens of corpses lay on the ground, with blood staining a large area red.

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