ALL NOVEL
Chapter 65: You Can’t Surrender
Constantinope’s nobles were panicking.
They had previously wanted to collude with the Venetians and the Patriarch to drag the Augustus down from his throne. Who could have thought that the Venetians would first meet their end?
Unreliable allies indeed!
To make things worse, the Ottomains had met their end too, or else they could have at least reached out to the Ottomains for help.
All of their cards had been depleted.
The Khitan Caesar had already slaughtered his way to Bursa, which was not far from Constantinope anymore. The nobles were afraid they were next on the Khitan Caesar’s list.
It was true they had wanted to topple the Augustus, but what if the Khitan Caesar thought that they had betrayed the empire?
They had already heard about how the Khitan Caesar had zero interest in gathering evidence and going through the litigation process. He would outright kill anyone whom he suspected of opposing the Eastern Romain Empire.
The nobles would usually vehemently protest against such unreasonable actions, but the Khitan Caesar couldn’t care less about that. If anything, it felt like he would have welcomed that since it would allow him to root all of them in a single swoop!
The situation was clear.
They were no match for the Khitan Caesar, and it was doubtful that they could escape from his clutches even if they tried to flee. Thus, all of the officials and nobles brainstormed together and thought of a plan…
Why don’t we eliminate the mercenaries lurking in the Golden Horn? Those people plundered the Khitan Caesar’s treasury and stole his spices, sugar, silk, porcelain, and other items. Those are definitely worth a huge fortune.
If they helped the Khitan Caesar recoup his fortune, the latter should at least spare them, right? Otherwise, who would dare surrender to him?
They immediately got to action.
In the first place, they were in cahoots with the Venetians and the mercenaries, so it didn’t take much effort for them to dupe the unguarded mercenaries to shore…
A bloodbath ensued.
Looking at the mercenaries lying in puddles of blood with eyes widened in indignation, a noble took out a handkerchief and wiped off his cold sweat. “We should be safe now.”
He turned to his subordinates and ordered, “Move the items back! I’ll take your life if there’s a single grain of black pepper missing!”
Then, he turned to his fellow nobles and said, “Let’s go. Let’s welcome our Caesar together.”
…
“Ey? Why are the red dots moving out of the city?”
Shu Yichao was surprised. This was the first time his enemies came out on their own volition to be slaughtered.
It would be rude of me to hesitate if you’re being this polite, right?
Thus, he ordered his troops to trample the red dots gathered outside the city. “Charge!”
Color flushed from the nobles’ faces when they saw the cavalrymen charging at them.
…
In Constantinope’s Church of God’s Holy Wisdom…
“Patriarch!”
A flustered clergyman rushed into the Patriarch’s room, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Bad news! Bad news!” he hollered.
The Patriarch, who was revising the bible together with the other clergymen, put down his quill and looked at the clergyman with raised eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”
The clergyman who barged into the room stuttered out of nervousness, but when he saw the dissatisfied looks on the surrounding faces, he tried his best to calm down before speaking with a quivering voice, “Dead. Dead! They are all dead!”
“Who’s dead?” the Patriarch asked.
“The ones who went to welcome the Caesar!” The clergyman gasped for air. “They were all killed by the Caesar! The Caesar’s cavalrymen trampled over them! So many people crushed into meat paste!”
The thought of that nearly made him vomit.
Fear seeped into the eyes of those in the room.
The Khitan Caesar has embarked on an indiscriminate massacre?!
This news didn’t surprise them as the Khitan Caesar had always acted like he had a loose screw. It wouldn’t be surprising if the screw fell out altogether. Besides, this was aligned with the image they had of the Khitans.
The problem was what they should do now!
Constantinope won’t stand a chance against the Khitan Caesar’s troops! If he manages to enter the city…
In contrast to the panicking crowd, the Patriarch calmly asked, “Where’s the Caesar now?”
The clergyman was momentarily stunned before replying in uncertainty, “He… didn’t enter the city, I think? He seems to have headed northward.”
The Patriarch looked at the clergyman with a frown as if he was causing a fuss out of nothing. He picked up his quill and said, “Let’s continue. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ah?” The clergymen who barged in stared at the Patriarch in disbelief. “So many nobles died, but you’re saying there’s nothing to worry about?”
“Hm, that’s true.” The Patriarch nodded after some thought. “Cleaning up would be a hassle. Send someone out to tidy things up.”
Then, the Patriarch beckoned the other clergymen over and resumed the revision, “I think we can change this line to…”
The clergyman left the room in a daze. It was only when a cold wind blew into his face did he finally jolt out of it.
That’s true. The nobles are the ones who courted their own death by betraying the empire. It’s not as if I’m the one who was killed by the Caesar. Why am I getting so agitated?
As expected of the Patriarch.
With such a thought in mind, the clergymen began gathering manpower to clean the nobles’ corpses. It was going to be a troublesome job that could take days.
…
“Didn’t we already issue a ceasefire to the Eastern Romain Empire?!”
When the blood twin-headed eagle flag appeared in the northern region of the Balkans, all of the affected countries howled in misery.
“Why are you attacking us?!”
I know we were at fault for trying to take advantage of your weakness, but didn’t we pull back our soldiers halfway through? It’s not as if we have brought a huge loss to the Eastern Romain Empire or anything!
Why is the Khitan Caesar so vindictive?!
From Shu Yichao’s perspective…
Ceasefire? What ceasefire?
Is that an option? Never heard of it before.
Once war is declared, shouldn’t we fight until one side is vanquished?
Putting aside the fact that those countries couldn’t speak Mandarin, even if communication was possible between both sides, Shu Yichao wouldn’t have agreed to the ceasefire either. After all, the game AI tended to make the most ridiculous demands.
I have already hit you till you’re on the verge of dissolution, and you’re still demanding that I give up my territory and compensate you in exchange for peace?
Whoever’s into that kind of agreement can sign it all they want. Just leave me out of it!
So, when Shu Yichao opened his map to check his diplomatic relations, it was red all the way to the borders…
“Caesar, I am overjoyed that you’re bringing me to burn down Venice,” Sophia covered her face, “but to slaughter our way there, don’t you think that’s a little…”
Sophia had never seen anyone as insane as Shu Yichao. He was so determined to make a beeline to Venice that he didn’t hesitate to beat up any country that stood in the way. She even wondered if he would dig through a mountain if one stood in his path.
Granted that those countries had previously declared war on them, was it really a good idea to thoroughly offend all of them?
What if these countries blocked their path of retreat?
“We’ll eventually have to deal with them; it’s only a matter of time,” Shu Yichao said as he took out a map. “See, we have already destroyed the Ottomains and dyed them purple. A large area of Venice has already been dyed purple. All that’s left is their capital. Don’t you think that’s an eyesore? The earlier we burn it down, the fewer the hassles, no?”
It would grate on the nerves of a coloring fanatic like Shu Yichao if he left a single block of different color lying around.
“…”
…
In Venice…
“Is that Khitan Caesar out of his mind?!” Governor-General Giraud was dumbstruck after going through her reports.