Above the Galaxy

Clang!

A beautiful Ru Kiln cup, depicting a clear sky after the rain, was shattered on the ground, its tea scent permeating widely.

Such a waste of the exquisite pre-Ming Dynasty Dragon Well tea.

Shen Wuxiang looked at Wang Bota standing before him with an extremely gloomy face.

Wang Bota received the military orders to lead reinforcements to Golden City. Just as he had assembled the troops and was ready to depart, Golden City had already surrendered.

Wasn't this surrendering speed a bit too fast?

Even the French before the Blue Star great catastrophe couldn't keep up.

Sun Shehu adjusted the glasses on his nose and asked, "Did the bandits not attack Golden City?"

"No." Wang Bota stood tall, his spine straight as a rod.

He knew the Military Minister was in a rage right now and did not want to be reprimanded for his military demeanor: "The bandits stopped fifty miles away from Golden City and didn't even cross the first line of defense."

"For fame and fortune." Sun Shehu sneered and continued asking, "Golden City gave no resistance either?"

"No..." Wang Bota avoided Shen Wuxiang's scrutinizing gaze and spoke up, "According to intelligence reports, Lu Siyu from the Lu Family quietly breached Golden City's internal encrypted network, allowing former Princess Zhong Yu Xiu Xue and the Golden City Lord Zhao Depu to reach communication online…"

"Lu Siyu? Where are our network security personnel? Couldn't they regain control?"

"They tried… but failed."

"A bunch of fools."

"..."

"What about Yuan Minghui? He's the City Defense General and bears the responsibility of protecting the land... If he wanted to resist, could Zhao Depu have stopped him?"

"Yuan Minghui killed the overseer Li Qingmiao... withdrew the defensive line, opened the city gates, and welcomed the bandits into the city..."

"..."

Silence.

A silence like death.

Zhao Depu surrendered, and so Yuan Minghui did too... What's the point of fighting, then?

Yuan Minghui, to prove his loyalty, even publicly killed the overseer Li Qingmiao.

Ha, really trying hard...

Is he intending to follow this path to the end?

After Wang Bota finished reporting, he fell silent.

Yet, the tense atmosphere in the office made his throat move, secretly swallowing.

He feared the Military Minister might any moment smash the tiger-head paperweight on the table into his head…

Though he was innocent.

After all, he had just got the troops ready but hadn't set off yet.

Hmm, thinking this way, he secretly felt fortunate...

If he had arrived as reinforcements and then Zhao Depu and Yuan Minghui surrendered, or if they waited for his arrival to trap him...

Phooey, phooey.

Trying to trap the enemy… hmm, not a good term either.

Then his fate would have been uncertain.

"Look, they're all well-trained servants of ours." Shen Wuxiang laughed in anger and said resentfully.

It's truly absurd.

Enemy invasion, not a shot fired, no bullet unleashed, defenses withdrawn, and city gates opened… welcoming the royal forces?

What kind of behavior is this?

This is treason!

Sun Shehu sighed heavily, saying, "The main issue is that the Military Minister has been in power for too short a time, and it's been too rushed. The past year, he's been busy with military affairs, unable to change all the military and political officials in various cities… That's why such situations occur."

"Give us another year or so to replace all the incompetent, inactive, and disloyal ones… The major cities will be secure, and today's pains will vanish."

"This is very concerning," Shen Wuxiang said in a deep voice, his tiger eyes gleaming with pent-up anger. "Golden City acted like this; will other cities follow suit?"

"Tang Fei used former Princess Zhong Yu Xiu Xue as a figure to lobby various sides, her unique status leaves some influence in the minds of many officials." Sun Shehu watched for any change in Shen Wuxiang's expressions while speaking.

Of course, they all understood the true reason Tang Fei easily knocked on Golden City's gate.

"We just need to dispatch elite soldiers to other major cities, one for supervision, two for support... If they want to take Golden City as a model, it's impossible."

"That's all we can do," Shen Wuxiang felt the exhaustion of emotional fatigue for the first time, realizing the struggle on all fronts yet still leaking everywhere.

All because of Tang Fei.

If, at the start, he hadn't exchanged Bo Yu's life for a deal but killed him decisively…

Hmm, such matters are only for pondering silently, never to be uttered.

Just because he hesitated slightly, some of Shen Family members talked behind his back.

It's truly hateful.

They should consider that when the nest is overturned, there are no intact eggs?

Everything ought to focus on the bigger picture.

Fixating on trivial matters right under the nose all day, what comes of it?

"Exactly, this way, the Mountain Qi Camp appears somewhat vulnerable… If the enemy launches a surprise attack..."

Sun Shehu shook his head and said, "How many forces do the Qin and Lu Families have? Although our troops are dispersed, Qin Jianyi is leading the main force in a charge… where's the strength left to launch a surprise attack?"

"Let's gather intelligence," Shen Wuxiang nodded and said, "once they enter the Empire's heartland, encircle them from all sides to wipe them out."

"Precisely."

Shen Wuxiang stood up, walked to the central multi-dimensional electronic sandtable in the office, stopped, looked at the sandtable terrain, and voiced, "Behind Golden City, is it Brocade City?"

"Yes," Sun Shehu replied, "but beside Brocade City are Red Moon City and Feng City..."

Shen Wuxiang pondered for a moment, then shouted, "Wang Bota."

"Present." Wang Bota responded loudly.

"I order you to take sufficient troops and assist the three cities... Form a trinity, with Brocade City, Red Moon City, and Feng City creating a natural barrier. Do you have the confidence to hold them?"