Chapter 467 The King of Chu's Nighttime Plot to Form an Alliance: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, the Sparrow Follows Behind

Yingdu, Chu.

Within the palace, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt as if it had frozen solid.

King Xiong Han of Chu, a man who once styled himself the "Heroic Lord of the South," paced back and forth in the great hall in agitation. The top-secret intelligence report from the north in his hand had been crumpled out of shape by his grip.

"Total annihilation... three rounds of bombardment... Edo opens its gates... ceding territory and paying indemnities... establishment of a Protectorate..."

Every word on the report was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely against his heart.

He knew exactly what kind of people the Wokou were. Those fierce thugs who ran rampant on the sea and often harassed the coasts of Chu—how could they not even hold out for an hour against the Dahan Navy? That island nation with a population of millions and hundreds of thousands of troops—how could they choose such a humiliating surrender without even putting up a decent fight?

An unprecedented fear gripped the heart of King Xiong Han of Chu.

He stopped abruptly and looked up at the map hanging on the wall. On the map, that behemoth in the north—the Great Han Empire—was like a giant beast awakening, eyeing the entire south with predatory intent. And his Chu, neither large nor small, happened to guard the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the necessary path for this giant beast to march south.

He recalled the changes that had taken place in his country over these years. Shops bearing the "Minister of War Jiang Hai Trading House" sign had opened in every city in Chu. What the people of Chu wore was Han cloth; what they ate was Han salt; what they used was Han iron. Even the most precious ornaments in his palace were glass mirrors and chiming clocks bought from merchants of the Great Han Empire.

To maintain this luxurious lifestyle, he had already mortgaged several important copper and iron mines in his country to the Four Seas Bank.

In the past, he felt this was nothing. Exchanging inexhaustible stones for real gold, silver, and enjoyment was a profitable deal.

But now, when he saw the fate of the island nation, he realized with horror that it was not a trade; it was poison! It was a noose around his own neck, one that was constantly tightening!

"I cannot sit and wait for death! Absolutely not!" A flash of madness and ruthlessness crossed the eyes of King Xiong Han of Chu. He did not want to be the next Shogun Tokugawa; he did not want to kneel before the envoys of the Great Han Empire and sign that humiliating treaty.

He summoned his most trusted ministers overnight.

"Gentlemen, the ambition of the Great Han Empire is already clear to all! The island nation is a warning! If they can destroy them today, they can march south and destroy Chu tomorrow! Surely you all understand the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold?" The voice of King Xiong Han of Chu trembled slightly with agitation.

An old minister said with deep concern, "Your Majesty, the strength of the Han Army is not something we can contend with! Our Chu currently has lax military preparations and an empty national treasury; how can we compete with that wolf-like army?"

"On our own, of course not!" King Xiong Han of Chu slammed his fist on the table. "But what if we could unite all the countries that do not wish to be swallowed by the Great Han Empire?"

His gaze swept over the crowd, and he said word by word, "Send out secret envoys immediately! To The West, contact Yarkand and the Dayuezhi Kingdom! To the south, contact the various Baiyue tribes and the nations of the Nanyang islands! Tell them the blade of the Great Han Empire will be pointed at them next! We must form an 'Anti-Han Alliance,' to live and die together, and resist the strong enemy together!"

"But Your Majesty, distant water cannot quench near thirst!" another minister said anxiously. "Even if they are willing to ally, by the time their armies arrive, I fear our Chu will have already..."

"That is why we need another preparation!" King Xiong Han of Chu lowered his voice, his eyes flashing with a strange light. "I have heard that beyond the South China Sea, there is a powerful nation from The West that calls itself the 'Sun Never Sets Empire.' Their ships and cannons are not inferior to those of the Great Han Empire. Moreover, they do not seem to be friends with the Great Han Empire."

He took a golden plaque from his robes and handed it to a trusted aide. "Take a large sum of money immediately, go to Yue Prefecture, and through the black market merchants there, find a way to contact the people of the 'Sun Never Sets Empire'! Tell them that as long as they are willing to sell us modern firearms and artillery, price is no object! I will use their weapons to deal with the Han Army!"

A grand and insane plan quietly took shape in the deep palace of Yingdu. King Xiong Han of Chu, like a gambler who had lost everything, wagered his own fate and the fate of the entire country.

He thought his plan was flawless, thinking he had grasped the last straw.

However, what he did not know was that the moment his secret envoy stepped out of the city gate of Yingdu, all the contents of this secret meeting had already become an encrypted telegram, sent to the Imperial Capital via a secret telegraph line that had just been laid to the border of Chu.

Imperial Capital, Western Depot.

In an inconspicuous room, a young operative skillfully translated the received code into Chinese characters. He looked at the content on the paper, and a cold sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He respectfully presented the translated telegram to his superior—the Commander of the Western Depot, Superintendent Yu Huatian.

Superintendent Yu Huatian took the telegram and read it carefully. No emotional fluctuations could be seen on his face, which always carried a gentle smile. He simply picked up a vermilion brush and wrote four characters at the end of the telegram:

"Clowns, wait quietly for the change."

At the same time, in the distant Nanyang, the Governor-General's Office of the Great Han Empire.

On the desk of Governor-General Zheng He also lay a similar report. The source of the intelligence was an informant planted in the black market of Guangzhou.

"Sun Never Sets Empire... King Xiong Han of Chu really dares to think." Governor-General Zheng He whispered to himself, a flash of disdain in his eyes. Those red-haired barbarian merchant ships now had to detour when they saw the Black Dragon flag of the Dahan Navy in Nanyang. King Xiong Han of Chu wanted to buy weapons from them to fight the Great Han Empire? It was simply a pipe dream.

He picked up his brush and wrote an order: "Order the Nanyang Fleet to strengthen patrols and the blockade of the waters outside Guangzhou. Any ship attempting to engage in smuggling trade with the inland feudal lords without permission, once discovered, is to be detained immediately. If they resist, sink them on the spot."

An invisible net had long been spread in the south. King Xiong Han of Chu and his so-called "Anti-Han Alliance" were prey in the net from the very beginning.

All their struggles, all their conspiracies, were under the watchful eye of the hunter. The hunter did not close the net immediately, only because he was waiting for the most suitable moment to catch all the prey in one fell swoop.

The wind in the south began to become noisy. A storm that would determine the fate of the continent was quietly brewing.