Chapter Sixteen The King of All People
“Don’t worry, there won’t be a war.”
When Gu Yu heard Gu Mengyao’s words, he finally snapped out of the shock of the Witch Priest’s death. He then smiled and shook his head at Gu Mengyao, confidently stating that the war would not continue.
As for the reason…
It was quite simple.
Gu Yu planned to stage a play, making it appear as if the explosives had “accidentally” run out, leaving them with insufficient ammunition to attack other countries. Bai Qian would then have no reason to demand a continuation of the conflict.
With the Witch Priest now dead, Bai Qian’s desire for Gu Mengyao to attack other countries was evident.
She wanted to unify all nations.
Her terrifying desire for control made her want everyone to submit to her and become the king of all people.
While this development was not entirely unacceptable, Gu Yu worried that Bai Qian’s ambition was too great and might eventually implicate his loyal subjects. The saying “when the cart is no longer needed, the oxen are slaughtered” was not uncommon throughout history.
Moreover, Bai Qian was not a good emperor. Her deep-seated schemes always made Gu Yu uneasy.
However, his foolish wife thought Bai Qian was good, forcing Gu Yu to take a roundabout approach, indirectly dismantling Bai Qian’s ambition to unify all countries.
At the very least, he didn’t want them to be drawn into the vortex of power.
Gu Yu simply desired a life of his wife, children, warm hearth, and plenty of money to spend… although this might sound like a lack of great ambition, what else was one truly pursuing in life?
He was not a person with excessive ambitions; he merely wished for a smooth life for the rest of his days, not wanting to have lived in vain!
However, no matter how he thought about it, he was curious… how exactly did the Witch Priest die!
It wasn’t that Gu Yu was bored; rather, when someone who had been secretly causing trouble suddenly died, wouldn’t anyone be curious?
If possible, Gu Yu even wanted to set off firecrackers to celebrate, thinking that finally, there would be no more eyesores to disrupt his normal life!
Therefore, he wanted to end this war quickly so he could return to the capital and gather information, learn about the process, and how the Witch Priest had died.
“Ah Yu, why do you say that?”
Although Gu Yu had already made up his mind to make all the explosives under his command “disappear,” Gu Mengyao clearly hadn’t expected this.
To be precise, she knew that Bai Qian’s ambition was enormous and that she would not give up easily.
Therefore, what kind of strategy would Gu Yu employ to make Bai Qian abandon her original plan?
“You don’t need to worry so much. I’ll resolve this little trouble quickly! When we return to the capital, there will be no more wars, and then the two of us can take the children to play everywhere. Just thinking about it makes me so happy.”
Gu Yu didn’t directly reveal his plan but quickly diverted Gu Mengyao’s attention.
Although he knew Gu Mengyao would not betray him, dealing with Bai Qian in secret was something he wanted to handle alone.
After all, Gu Yu was not an ancient person, and he was ruthless enough to not feel any guilt… If it were Gu Mengyao, their ways of thinking would still be somewhat different, and Gu Yu worried she would overthink things.
If it were his younger brother-in-law, Gu Qingheng, Gu Yu felt that their thoughts might be synchronized.
When he thought of Gu Qingheng, Gu Yu also missed his younger brother-in-law who had gone to the Tang Sect and hadn’t returned. He wondered if Gu Qingheng and Tang Lian would be back by the time they led their troops back to the capital.
He hoped the Tang Sect wouldn’t cause trouble for the two of them!
Thinking like this, Gu Yu was actually eager to rush back and handle various matters.
“I hope so!”
When Gu Mengyao heard Gu Yu say this, she knew he didn’t want to elaborate, so she didn’t press further.
After all, whatever her little husband did was for her own good.
There was no need to dwell on it too much.
Besides, Gu Mengyao also wanted to go home quickly and didn’t want to continue leading troops to attack other countries… Now that the Witch Priest was dead, no one would be able to stop Empress Bai Qian, which was Gu Mengyao’s greatest concern.
“When the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dogs are cooked.”
Gu Mengyao had been well aware of this from reading military books in the past.
Although Gu Mengyao didn’t quite believe Empress Bai Qian would do such a thing, being overly cautious was not a bad idea, especially since she had other people she cared about and couldn’t afford to gamble with their safety.
However, at this moment, even though Gu Mengyao held the position of general, she could not refuse Empress Bai Qian’s orders.
At most, she could only hold something back in subsequent wars.
Therefore, the outcome Gu Yu feared, where his little wife would be deceived by Bai Qian, was simply impossible.
Gu Mengyao had her own considerations and knew the dangers and helplessness she would face later on.
…
Just as Gu Yu was saying that there would be no more wars, the troops sent by Linfeng Kingdom to harass the enemy country returned one after another, bringing one piece of good news after another.
Because the Witch Priest was already dead, the enemy forces retreated further and further, with no one forcing them to stop.
This led to the enemy nearing the safe zone of the battlefield, and if they continued to retreat, they would likely return directly to their own country.
In this case, it would be a defeat without a fight???
Although this was a good way to end the war, Gu Yu would not let these people return easily. Instead, he planned to use their “help” to stage a play.
He couldn’t let Empress Bai Qian be at ease, so how could he let these “helpers” leave!
Therefore, Gu Yu quickly finalized his plan. On a night with a clear sky and sparse stars, after placing the enemy’s clothes and weapons near a certain tent, he detonated several explosives, creating a deafening sound that reverberated throughout the battlefield.
At the same time, the troops Gu Yu had dispatched in advance also caught the enemy’s military camp off guard by bombing it.
Unlike the minor skirmish on this side, Gu Yu made a ruthless move this time, directly blasting the enemy troops into bloody messes. The military camp was filled with cries of agony, creating a scene of hell on earth.
However, even though the enemy was miserable, Gu Yu had no qualms about kicking them while they were down.
After gathering the generals of Linfeng Kingdom, Gu Yu, with a feigned look of grief, deliberated for a long time before “reluctantly” stating that all the explosives had been destroyed by the enemy, leaving not a single trace.
This caused an uproar, directly enraging many of the generals.
A situation that could have been a guaranteed victory had become a predicament again due to the complete destruction of the explosives. How could anyone accept such a contrast?
The enemy was truly despicable!
Seeing the people’s righteous indignation, Gu Yu secretly smiled. Then, when the atmosphere became tense, he deliberately spoke to further stir their emotions.
“Although the enemy destroyed a large number of explosives and took some for research, they don’t know how to use them… So, now that the explosives should have detonated, we can take this opportunity to pursue them first, and perhaps we can even recover some explosives.”
At this moment, Gu Yu was like a devil tempting them to fall. His soft words startled Gu Mengyao, and she suddenly understood her little husband’s intention.
Seeing this, she thought, should she say it’s worthy of her little husband?
