Chapter 47: The Treasure Chest Opens! The Tartar Court!

"Open all treasure chests."

Zhu Ying immediately issued the command.

"Host command: Open all treasure chests."

"Opening common treasure chest."

"Obtained Yellow-grade Low-rank [Azure Rainbow Sword]."

"Opening Tier-1 treasure chest."

"Obtained Xuan-grade High-rank [Heart-Protecting Pill], one unit," the panel prompted.

"Azure Rainbow Sword? Is it Cao Cao's personal sword? It has entered the ranked items; this is good stuff."

"Xuan-grade High-rank... to think it reached such a high level. Entering the ranks starts at Yellow-grade, followed by Xuan, Earth, and then Heaven."

"I actually pulled a Xuan-grade High-rank pill."

"Heart-Protecting Pill? What is its use?"

Zhu Ying immediately became interested.

He extracted the pill instantly and checked its attributes.

Heart-Protecting Pill: [Can prevent the pulse of a dying person from ceasing and preserve their vital essence; the user will fall into a deep sleep and gradually recover their vitality.]

"This doesn't seem to have much use."

"But it could be a lifesaver in critical moments."

"A Xuan-grade High-rank pill... in this world without cultivation, this is absolutely a true immortal elixir," Zhu Ying thought privately as he looked at the attributes.

Although it didn't seem to have much use for him, given its high tier, it was bound to be beneficial if kept. He placed it directly into his storage space.

"Azure Rainbow Sword."

"A ranked weapon. I'll keep it for now; the two steel sabers I have are sufficient for the moment," Zhu Ying thought.

...

The Jianzhou Jurchen Clan Court!

"Agunu, is this the achievement you have brought to this Clan Chief?"

"Fifteen tribes, plus the previous ones, nearly twenty tribes have been bloodied by the Ming army."

"Countless clansmen have been killed or wounded, and their grain, their cattle, and their sheep have all been burned and slaughtered by the Ming. Even their water sources have been destroyed by the Ming."

"Now my entire clan is in peril. Tell me, Clan Chief, is this the achievement you have brought to our people?"

Aha-chu looked at Agunu, who was kneeling in the tent, with a face full of rage.

It wasn't just him.

Many Jurchen generals in the tent were also glaring at Agunu with fury.

"Please, Clan Chief, grant me punishment," Agunu said with a trembling voice, kneeling on the ground.

"You... how do you want this Clan Chief to deal with you?"

"I gave you sufficient troops. I originally gave you over thirty thousand soldiers to guard the Blue Banner tribe, yet with so many troops, you couldn't even defend a single tribe."

"When the Ming army attacked, your ten thousand cavalry pursued them only to be completely wiped out, leaving our clan with no cavalry to use. We could only watch helplessly as our clansmen were slaughtered by the Ming."

"Tell me, how should I deal with you?"

Aha-chu stood up, pointing angrily at Agunu.

"This subordinate... this subordinate deserves death," Agunu replied tremblingly.

"Yes, you indeed deserve to die."

"So many clansmen have died because of you."

"Your death is not enough to atone for your sins!" Aha-chu shouted, pointing at him.

"Clan Chief!"

"This subordinate deserves ten thousand deaths, but I beg the Clan Chief to give me one chance."

"If I do not tear that Zhu Ying and those Ming soldiers into ten thousand pieces, even if I die, I will have no face to meet our tragically deceased clansmen."

"Please give me a chance."

"Even if you sentence me to death, I must avenge our people!" Agunu's face was resolute, filled with a fierce desire for vengeance.

Hearing this, Aha-chu's brow relaxed slightly.

He then asked, "How will you deal with these Ming troops? Our clan has no cavalry left. Even if we did, we would only have the two thousand elite guards by my side."

"Please rest assured, Clan Chief."

"I have already deployed all our forces."

"Troops have been spread across every tribe, and forces have been stationed around the perimeter of the tribes. As long as they dare to attack a tribe, our clan's forty thousand troops can form an encirclement and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"Even if they are cavalry, they won't be able to break out," Agunu said with great confidence.

"Good."

Aha-chu nodded. "Then this Clan Chief will trust you one more time."

"Thank you, Clan Chief."

"This subordinate will never let you down."

"I will surely present Zhu Ying's head to the Clan Chief!" Agunu kowtowed, filled with excitement and a sense of having survived a catastrophe.

At least this disaster had passed.

"Zhu Ying."

"How can such a general exist within the Ming Kingdom?"

"How much information have you gathered regarding him?"

Aha-chu asked a subordinate in the tent.

"Clan Chief."

"This Zhu Ying is a general of the border army in the Ming Kingdom's Daning Prefecture, but he was not a general of Daning Prefecture before; he seems to have risen suddenly."

"Judging by his surname, Zhu, he might be a member of the Ming imperial family."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't be this formidable," the Jurchen general under Aha-chu's gaze replied immediately.

"Is this the extent of the intelligence you've gathered?" Aha-chu said coldly, clearly displeased.

"Clan Chief."

"The Ming army's defenses are strict, and it is difficult for our clan to infiltrate them."

"Most of our clansmen keep their braids but shave their heads, making infiltration even harder."

"This intelligence was all sent by the Great Yuan," the Jurchen general replied bitterly.

In this Jianzhou Jurchen group, there was a distinct difference between them and the Han people of the Central Plains. They kept hair braids rather than full hair; from the perspective of the Han people, it indeed looked quite ridiculous.

"The main Ming army has already entered Daning Prefecture and is about to attack Grand Marshal Nahachu," Aha-chu said with a look of concern. "I wonder how the Great Yuan will respond."

"Clan Chief," a general said, "Grand Marshal Nahachu has been constantly urging our clan to dispatch troops to reinforce him, but in our current situation, our clan seems powerless as well."

"Our clan is attached to the Great Yuan; we must not offend them."

"Pass my command to Grand Marshal Nahachu: tell him to wait. Once the Ming troops infiltrating our territory are dealt with, we will immediately dispatch troops to reinforce him."

"I, Aha-chu, will certainly not betray the Great Yuan," Aha-chu said with a serious expression.

"Yes, Clan Chief," a general responded immediately.

"Clan Chief," a slightly hesitant general stepped forward, "now that the Ming Kingdom is actively attacking the Great Yuan, perhaps... perhaps our clan should consider a second path."

Aha-chu's expression changed, and he barked, "What do you mean? Do you wish for this Clan Chief to submit to the Ming Kingdom?"

"This subordinate would not dare."

"But for the survival of our clan, I ask the Clan Chief to consider this carefully," the general said respectfully.

"Do not speak of such things again!"

"Our clan is already attached to the Great Yuan. You know how strong the Great Yuan is. If our clan betrays them, the Great Yuan will absolutely not let us go," Aha-chu said coldly, his eyes filled with deep fear of the Yuan Court.

Clearly, for a small clan like his, this was indeed the reality.

The Yuan Court had once been the true hegemon.

Although the Ming Kingdom had driven the Yuan out of the Central Plains, for the tribes of the Northern Frontier, the threat of the Yuan was still greater than that of the Ming. They had been completely suppressed by the Yuan.

Of course, perhaps there was also a sense of self-important pride. When the Yuan ruled the world, the Han were considered the lowest, and other tribes stood above them; the tribes of the Northern Frontier more or less thought this way.

This was why the Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuan璋, fought to reclaim Han dignity and reshape Han prestige!

...

PS: Please keep reading, much appreciated, muah.

(End of Chapter)