Cultivation Simulator: Starting From The Empress' Palace

”I do not know. I just feel that if it’s only the rebel army, they wouldn’t have such immense power.

Orchestrating the Nanyang riots and plundering the entire Nanyang County’s treasures. Now arranging several Second-Grade Martial Artists to assassinate us, if the rebel army had such power, the Nanyang rebels wouldn’t be this defeated.”

Chen Mo was already sure that it was the Emperor who sent them.

Yet he didn’t know what Huangfu Hao’s attitude towards the Emperor was, so he couldn’t expose it openly.

With Chen Mo’s hint, Huangfu Hao also realized something was amiss.

If it were sent by the rebel army, then there wouldn’t even be a Second-Grade Martial Artist by Zhang Ping’s side.

But who would benefit from assassinating them?

The Nanyang riots affected the entire Nanyang County, angering not only the Imperial Court but also harming the interests of the gentry. The seven great noble families had many businesses in Nanyang, so they were eager for Nanyang to stabilize quickly and wouldn’t send assassins to kill him.

But being able to send multiple Second-Grade Martial Artists indicates tremendous power behind the scenes.

Apart from the gentry.

There are also remnants of former sects. After all, these forces experienced some development when the Great Song Dynasty was founded. Despite being harshly suppressed and even destructively crushed later, their legacy persists.

In hundreds of years, cultivating a few Second-Grade experts is not impossible.

And generally speaking, these people hold grudges against the Imperial Court, thus they should hope for Nanyang to become more chaotic, providing a motive for the assassination of Huangfu Hao.

Besides sect forces.

There are also some ambitious individuals.

After all, for a long time, rumors spread that the Great Song Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. Coupled with frequent disasters across the nation and the outbreak of the Southwest rebellion, it clearly shows signs of huge chaos, and such a time often gives rise to all kinds of demons and ambitious people.

They also wish for increased chaos in the situation.

Therefore, they do not want the Nanyang riots to end so soon, providing a possibility for assassinating Huangfu Hao and his people.

Huangfu Hao had many suspects in mind but no evidence, so the direction was still unclear. He said, ”Could it be sent by the Black Shadow?”

The Black Shadow is a renowned assassin organization and has collusion with the rebel army. The previous grand ceremony even had traces of the Black Shadow.”

”I do not know,” Chen Mo said.

Huangfu Hao let out a long sigh, patted Chen Mo on the shoulder, and laughed, ”Alright, let’s not think about it too much. When the time comes, we’ll face whatever comes our way. We are part of the military; they would not dare to be excessively audacious.”

Chen Mo chuckled lightly.

Looking into Chen Mo’s eyes, Huangfu Hao suddenly said, ”Chen Hong, have you had any conflicts with Wei Xian?”

Hearing this, Chen Mo was taken aback, ”Where does the general get this idea?”

”In principle, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you’ve been so good to me, so I’ll hint a little.

Chen Mo perked up his ears.

”Wei Xian has been investigating you, especially after you attempted to assassinate Zhang Ping that day. He almost questioned everyone who knew about the matter. To my knowledge, he has also reported this matter to His Majesty.” Huangfu Hao first stood up, listening carefully, ensuring no eavesdroppers were present, then quietly said.

Chen Mo frowned, then smiled and shook his head, ”Master Wei is one of His Majesty’s close confidants; I wouldn’t dare to offend him.”

”Glad to hear that. It should just be a routine task.

Well then, it’s getting late. Let’s rest early and ready ourselves for the tough battle tomorrow,” said Huangfu Hao.

”I take my leave.”

...

...

In the past few days, the army has restructured the remaining local armies of Nanyang, bringing the total number of troops to seventy thousand, surpassing the numbers of those who suppressed the Nanyang riots previously.

Moreover, occasionally, reinforcements arrive from neighboring commanderies.

Therefore, Huangfu Hao didn’t take this rebel counterattack seriously at all.

This was apparent as he sent Gao Fen to divide and deploy the troops.

However, what Huangfu Hao did not expect was that Gao Fen, being bullheaded, dared to lead his forces deep into Fu City.

...

Trumpets blared, and war drums pounded.

The Song Army launched a fierce assault, and with the aid of siege equipment, they advanced unyielding, reaching the gates of Fu City by the afternoon.

What Huangfu Hao didn’t expect was that the rebels drove the citizens out of Fu City, forcing them to charge ahead with the rebels following behind.

The citizens had no choice but to rush forward.

”Those bastards.”

On horseback, veins bulged on Huangfu Hao’s forehead.

With citizens at the forefront, the army was somewhat constrained, causing more casualties on their side.

Seeing this, Huangfu Hao had no choice but to suppress his anger and vow to avenge this blood feud on the rebels.

”Brothers, follow me in killing these bastards.” Huangfu Hao roared, rushing out from the Central Army, leading the charge.

”Kill, wipe out these heartless fiends.”

This act of forcing citizens to fight ignited the fury of the Song Army soldiers, prompting them to fight even more fiercely.

Chen Mo chose to keep a low profile, allowing the limelight to fall entirely on Huangfu Hao.

However, that wasn’t the most heinous act.

When both sides clashed together, a rain of arrows poured from the walls of Fu City.

The first to be hit were the citizens, unarmored, falling one after another into puddles of blood.

Soon, outskirts of Fu City were filled with corpses, rivers of blood flowed, and even the city gates were stained with thick layers of blood.

The shouts of killing shook the tiles of the city towers as waves of Song soldiers surged into Fu City.

It’s uncertain whether it was due to the news of Gao Fen’s death, with his two regiments entirely wiped out, or from the previous battle outside the city.

Nonetheless, Huangfu Hao was furious, and the entire army was enraged.

It was said not to pursue a desperate enemy.

But this time, Huangfu Hao led the cavalry in relentless pursuit, slaying anyone they caught under his blade.

Forcing all of them near Yellow Armor City before halting.

The Song Army set up camp ten miles outside Yellow Armor City.

But this wasn’t the end.

The rebels had barely been in the city for an hour before the earth quaked, and Song Army war drums echoed outside the city non-stop.

The Song Army attacked once more.

Not even having time for a warm meal, the rebels were dumbfounded.

”Is the Song Army crazy? They pursued us all night long and rested so little before attacking again?”

”I think so too, plus this Song Army fights too fiercely. That Huangfu Hao, he’s not a man, he’s a demon.”

The rebels were in heated discussion.

Then someone voiced, ”Where is the leader? Where are the others?”

Upon inquiry, they realized that Han Zhong, who was stationed in Yellow Armor City, was already gone.

”They’ve run, the leader and his men have already fled.”

”This is not good, we must run too. If we don’t leave now, we’ll become ghosts under the Song Army’s blades.”

”Run, run.”

Huangfu Hao didn’t even wait for the infantry to arrive and astonishingly captured Yellow Armor City.