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The warm sea breeze howled, and the ground was still damp, as if it had just rained.
Under the guidance of Xia Chengmo, Yue Yun and Liu Chen quickly reached the royal city of the Sanmyo Kingdom.
After passing through the residential area, a stone-built city wall appeared before everyone. The city wall’s stones were cyan, and some green moss grew in the crevices.
The city wall was about five meters high, extending from north to south, protecting the royal city of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the middle.
“General, this is the main pass, Igusuku, that leads into the royal city,” Xia Chengmo said to Yue Yun.
At this time, before everyone was a very narrow pass. The city gate of the pass was only three meters high and two meters wide, and above the city gate was a small tower.
This kind of tower was common in the Great Yu Empire, similar to the structure of a pavilion.
The fully armed army arrived in front of the pass, and the hundreds of soldiers on the city wall immediately became nervous. A dozen archers aimed their bows at them.
“Who are you?” a trembling soldier on the city tower asked.
They had just heard the sounds of cannons and gunfire from the direction of the dock, so they were now extremely wary of these strangers.
Yue Yun glanced at these soldiers. According to the information provided by Xia Chengmo, the Sanmyo Kingdom’s military strength was limited, and most of it was in Hu Hai’s hands.
Now that Hu Hai had been driven away, there was basically no resistance left in the royal city, probably only the thousand or so people on the wall.
“We are soldiers of the Great Yu Empire. The Japanese pirates and Hu Hai have been driven away by us. Now quickly open the city gate, we want to see your king,” Yue Yun said coldly.
The soldiers on the wall were greatly alarmed by this news. With Japanese support, Hu Hai had become the Sanmyo Kingdom’s top powerful official. Both the common people and soldiers of the Sanmyo Kingdom feared him.
Now, suddenly, a group of people had come and driven Hu Hai away, making them feel uneasy and anxious.
“We have already notified the inner palace. Please wait outside the pass.” The soldiers on the city wall dared not offend them and said cautiously. These people, who could drive away Hu Hai, could easily take the castle.
Now they had no capital to be arrogant.
Yue Yun was not a warmonger. Upon hearing this, he nodded and waited for a reply.
While he was waiting, Liu Chen had already led soldiers to circle the castle and returned to Yue Yun’s side. He said, “General, this castle is not large, probably about six li in circumference. There are very few defenders on the city wall outside the pass. Taking this castle will be very simple.”
Yue Yun looked at some of the buildings inside from the top of the city wall. The exposed buildings had curved eaves like the roofs of Great Yu buildings, and they also had yellow tiles.
“Wait for now. If this King is unreasonable, then we might have to take action. Go and get the gunpowder barrels ready now, and we’ll blow up the city gate when the time comes,” Yue Yun said.
“Yes, General,” Liu Chen responded and went to prepare.
After giving the order, Yue Yun found a high ground and looked to the east. Through his telescope, he saw an ocean on the opposite side.
Then he looked south, and the territory of the Sanmyo Kingdom was clearly visible. As marked on the sea chart, the Sanmyo Kingdom’s territory was long and narrow. The narrowest part from east to west was only four or five li, and the widest part was no more than thirty li. Compared to its width, this island was very long and narrow, stretching for 200 li from south to north.
Their current location was the widest part, which was like a lump on a worm’s neck protruding westward.
The two docks just now were on the upper and lower sides of the semi-circular lump, and it was precisely for this reason that he could not discover the other dock.
After all, he had come from the southwest, directly facing the southern dock.
After waiting for a while, beads of sweat appeared on Yue Yun’s forehead. Qingzhou had already turned cool, but it was still very hot here.
Having learned geography at Bowen Academy, he knew that the Sanmyo Kingdom was subtropical, with a warm and rainy climate. It was precisely for this reason that the Sanmyo Kingdom was favored by Japan.
While he was observing the terrain, there was a sudden commotion on the city tower. Then, a figure who looked like a general appeared above. After surveying the two thousand soldiers below the city, the general’s face turned somewhat pale.
“Quickly open the city gate!” the general ordered.
Upon receiving the order, the gate of Igusuku slowly opened. Then the general came out from inside the pass and bowed respectfully, “Chaku, Imperial General of the Sanmyo Kingdom, greets the Celestial Envoy.”
“Dispense with the formalities,” Yue Yun said with a slight smile.
The Sanmyo Kingdom always referred to Great Yu Empire’s envoys as Celestial Envoys to show respect.
Chaku rose, cautiously scrutinizing Yue Yun and his group. Then he stood to one side, extending his hand and saying, “Celestial Envoy, please!”
Yue Yun nodded, preparing to enter the pass. At this moment, Liu Chen ran over from behind and stopped him, saying, “General, beware of trickery. Let me lead the soldiers to investigate first.”
Upon hearing this, Yue Yun immediately understood and nodded slightly.
Liu Chen glanced at Chaku, then led a thousand soldiers into the pass. After searching the entire castle and finding no ambush, he returned to inform Yue Yun that it was safe to enter.
Chaku had remained silent until now, and only then did he say, “The Celestial Envoy is overly cautious. Our King has always awaited Great Yu Empire’s assistance. Now that the Celestial Envoy has arrived with a great army, how dare we, your humble subjects, oppose the Celestial Envoy?”
“The Sanmyo Kingdom and the Great Yu Empire have been disconnected for some years. We have to be cautious,” Yue Yun said as he walked into the castle.
Upon entering the castle, a cluster of red buildings immediately appeared before everyone. These buildings were elaborately carved and painted, resembling a small imperial palace. The only difference was that these buildings were wooden, and they also had many small windows, giving them a delicate appearance.
Following Chaku, Yue Yun and his group walked towards the royal palace, the route already being monitored by the marines.
In front of the largest palace in the complex, Yue Yun saw a middle-aged man dressed in a red official robe with gold cloud patterns, surrounded by attendants, awaiting his arrival.
“Celestial Envoy’s esteemed presence honors this humble king,” the middle-aged man clasped his hands and bowed to Yue Yun.
Yue Yun scrutinized the middle-aged man. When the Sanmyo Kingdom was a vassal state of the Great Yu Empire, a prince of the Great Yu Empire had sent an envoy to bestow upon the Sanmyo Kingdom the title of Sanmyo King. Thus, it was not improper for the king to refer to himself as “humble king.”
However, seeing their hurried appearance, Yue Yun realized that they must have just changed into these clothes. He paid it no mind and spoke directly, “I have been sent by Prince Qi of the Great Yu Empire to expel the Japanese pirates and reincorporate the Sanmyo Kingdom as a vassal state of the Great Yu Empire. What does the King of Sanmyo think of this?”
Yue Yun’s words were somewhat forceful. The current world situation was one of the strong preying on the weak, and he disliked pretense, preferring to state his purpose directly.
The King of Sanmyo was startled upon hearing this and said, “Prince Qi? Is it not the Emperor of Great Yu Empire?”