Wu Sangui's arrogant grin filled the entire screen, zoomed in so close that even the pores on his face were painfully clear.
Zhu Youjian stared at the Immortal Mirror with a face darker than storm clouds. Around him, the civil and military officials looked just as grim, like a funeral procession that forgot who died.
But outside the city, the leaders of the Public Governance faction were all smiles, relaxed, even amused.
Zhu Yujian spoke first, tone calm but sharp. "I think it is time we deal with him."
Zhu Youzhong snorted. "A bastard pretending to be one of us just to muddy the waters should obviously be dealt with."
Zhu Cunji raised a brow. "Oh? And who is going to do the dealing? My Shaanxi army is quite strong, you know. It includes one of Gaojiacun's core elite units, Shi Jian's division."
Chen Qianhu immediately jumped in. "My Shanxi army is strong too."
"I will go!"
"No, I will go!"
"Enough talking. I am going."
And just like that, the scene collapsed into chaos.
Everyone present held equal standing. No one could override the others. Authority, that useful thing in most armies, suddenly became a missing luxury.
So now what?
Flat Rabbit crossed its tiny arms, looking far more composed than the humans. "In a situation like this, everyone wants to go, and no one can out-argue the others. So let us vote."
"That makes sense!"
"Vote!"
"Agreed, vote!"
Unanimous approval.
Chen Qianhu immediately declared, "I vote for myself."
Flat Rabbit tilted its head. "What a coincidence. I also vote for myself."
Zhu Yujian nodded. "Same. I vote for myself too."
A moment of silence.
Then someone finally said what everyone was thinking.
"If everyone votes for themselves, we will never get a result. This is just a waste of time."
Zhu Cunji, the so-called number one prince under heaven, stepped forward to restore order. "No one is allowed to vote for themselves. You may only vote for others."
"That makes sense!"
"Agreed!"
The rule passed instantly, and the vote restarted.
Now that self-interest was off the table, people actually began thinking. Real evaluation. Real judgment. Who could win this fight the fastest, the cleanest, the least troublesome?
When the results came in, the answer was overwhelming.
The Shaanxi army.
Zhu Cunji stood up, smug enough to make saints want to punch him. "Very well. I will go deal with Wu Sangui. Please await good news."
"We do not need to wait," someone said, pointing at the tablet device. "With the Immortal Mirror here, we can watch everything in real time."
Zhu Cunji froze for a second, then burst out laughing. "Right, right. That is even better. Then watch closely."
He spun around dramatically, then looked straight at Shi Jian.
Shi Jian spread his hands like a man who had already accepted his fate, then turned and began issuing orders with crisp precision.
"Yansui army, Yinchuan army, Guyuan army, Yan'an army, Xi'an army, and Gaojiacun's home militia. Move out with me."
That lineup alone was enough to make any enemy reconsider their life choices.
This was not just elite.
This was elite among elites.
The Shaanxi forces set off, circling along the capital walls and heading north.
Inside the capital, Zhu Youjian, the officials, and countless citizens crowded along the walls, watching as the army marched away. No one spoke. They just watched.
Soon, the troops disappeared beyond the horizon.
But almost immediately, they reappeared on the tablet device.
The Immortal Perspective had switched back, locking onto the marching army like an all-seeing eye.
Naturally, everyone's attention snapped back to the Immortal Mirror.
On screen, Zhu Cunji led the Shaanxi army forward at an easy pace. Their march looked effortless, almost leisurely, like a stroll rather than a campaign.
Before long, they reached the dense forest where Wu Sangui's forces were hiding.
Zhu Cunji pulled out a loudspeaker, his voice booming across the trees.
"Wu Sangui, stop hiding. Stop pretending. Everyone is watching you."
Inside the forest, Wu Sangui had already noticed the approaching army. He had stayed still, clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe, they had not spotted him.
That hope died instantly.
With no way left to hide, he led his troops out and formed ranks.
He smirked the moment he saw who it was.
"Oh, I was wondering who it might be. Turns out it is Zhu Cunji, the Prince of Qin's heir. A man who will spend his entire life as a mere heir, never inheriting the title. What, got desperate and decided to rebel?"
Once upon a time, those words would have hit Zhu Cunji right where it hurt.
Now?
Zhu Cunji just laughed, open and unbothered.
"Ah yes, my tragic life. Truly heartbreaking." He waved a hand casually. "But it does not matter anymore. I have no intention of becoming Prince of Qin. From now on, please address me as a wanderer of the four seas, Zhu Piaoling."
Wu Sangui blinked.
"…What?"
That was not a response he had prepared for.
He let out a cold snort instead. "Zhu Cunji, why are you even here? I, Wu Sangui, have no interest in fighting over the throne. Whoever becomes emperor, I will follow. You do not need to treat me as an enemy. Go back and discuss things with the other princes. That is the sensible move."
Zhu Cunji shook his head slowly, like a teacher correcting a particularly stubborn student.
"No, no, no. You want to compete very badly. You are just waiting for us to kill each other first. Then you step in and take the prize."
Wu Sangui fell silent.
Zhu Cunji smiled. "So I am here on behalf of everyone to beat you up. Surrender now, and you might live. Looting civilians is a serious crime, so you will face a military tribunal, but execution is unlikely. If you resist…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Bullets do not have eyes."
Wu Sangui glanced back at his army.
Fifty thousand troops.
The last true elite of the Ming court.
The Guanning Cavalry.
With this force behind him, why would he fear a useless prince?
He sneered. "Surrender? My ass. If you want to fight, then fight. I am tired of pretending anyway. I will wipe out all you little Public Governance faction fools, then go have a proper talk with Zhu Youjian."
Zhu Cunji's smile widened. "You said that yourself."
Wu Sangui lifted his chin. "So what if I did?"
Zhu Cunji turned around and shouted to his army.
"Did you all hear that?"
The soldiers roared back in unison, voices shaking the ground.
"We heard it!"
Zhu Cunji grinned. "Then tell Wu Sangui. What is our tactic?"
The answer came like thunder.
"When poor, maneuver. When rich, blow them up!"
Zhu Cunji raised his hand. "And right now, are we poor or rich?"
"Rich!"
"So what do we do?"
"Blow him up!"
"Blow him up!"
"Blow him up!"
Wu Sangui frowned, completely baffled. "What nonsense are these idiots—"
Before he could finish, the artillery behind Zhu Cunji's formation roared to life.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Back at the capital, the crowd was still glued to the tablet device.
On screen, the Public Governance forces and Wu Sangui's army faced each other from a distance. After a brief exchange of words, Zhu Cunji made the first move.
To be precise, he shouted one line.
"Blow him up."
And then… he did absolutely nothing else.
No tactics. No formations. No command finesse.
Everything else was left to the generals.
Because Gaojiacun's way of fighting resembled something far closer to a modern army. And modern armies had a very simple philosophy.
First, bombard.
After that, you could talk about formations.
Wu Sangui had lined up his troops neatly.
Which, unfortunately for him, made them perfect targets.
Shell after shell rained down into his ranks.
From the Immortal Perspective, it looked almost surreal. Like flowers blooming in a sea of people.
Except each "flower" was an explosion.
And each explosion erased an entire circle of men.
Back on the capital walls, the defenders' faces turned pale.
Zhu Youjian could not hold back anymore.
"What is going on?" he blurted out. "Is this how wars are fought now?"