King Zi'ao and Prince Qiji knew that King Ling was somehow could not be underestimated. He still had at least more than fifty thousand with him. Therefore, they use a strategy to subdue his power. They sent messengers to pass King Zi'ao message to King Ling's officials in the frontline.
The message was clear: if King Ling's subordinates surrendered to the new king - King Zi'ao, their posts, and lands would remain as before. But if they didn't surrender, they would face severe penalties.
As soon as the message spread, most of the soldiers scattered and broke off the siege of Xu capital and fled to return home.
"Your Majesty, we can't wait any longer! We have to return to Ying City as soon as possible. We only have twenty thousand soldiers remain loyal to us! If we don't retreat from Xu, I'm afraid everything will be too late!" Mi Huan convinced the king.
"Only …only fifteen thousand remain?" King Ling disbelieved his ears. Just a few days ago, he still had more than fifty thousand soldiers.
"Those traitors, Zigan, and Qiji. They send their messengers to persuade our men to defect. If they surrender, then Zigan will let them keep their land and position. Otherwise, they would kill their families who are now in Ying City!" Mi Huan explained. "Your Majesty, don't hesitate! We should retreat!"
King Ling nodded his head without saying anything.
King Ling agreed to withdraw his troops from Xu and started to march back to Ying City.
Although he only had fifteen thousand soldiers, yet he still had his confidence that he could retrieve his throne back from his third brother.
While they were marching back on the way to Ying City, another messenger reported to him.
"Reporting, Your Majesty! Prince Zigan had killed all of your families. Male and females, old and young! They were all killed by swords! Prince Qiji led twenty thousand soldiers to stop us from entering Ying City. He left Ying City two days ago!"
King Ling was devastated. He could not say anything. His face turned pale, and he almost fainted.
"Your Majesty, please, take a rest first!" Mi Huan and Mi Yan said. The two of them were King Ling's cousins. No one in this world knew him better than the two men. They could tell that King Ling was shocked and didn't know what to do.
King Ling nodded, and he went back to his tent to take a rest.
He could not take a rest. He could only weep for his sons. Who would have thought a ruthless man like him could cry?
Stood near his bed was his faithful servant, who had been serving him for more than twenty years. The servant saw how grieved his master was. "Your Majesty, please don't be too sad for your children!" his servant tried to comfort the king. "The most important thing right now is for you to return to the capital and take back the throne!"
"If my sons are dead. What's the use of the throne for me?" King Ling said.
"Your Majesty, in the past, you also murdered too many sons of others!" his servant carefully said. "Does my king remember that day, when you killed the two sons of King Jia'ao in front of his eyes while he was lying ill on his bed?"
King Ling had never forgotten that day - that specific day eleven years ago.
King Jia'ao was his nephew, and he was King Jia'ao's prime minister. He rebelled and killed the young king to usurp his throne. Before he killed that young king, King Ling killed his two sons in front of the king. He would have never imagined that the same fate was happening to him. His younger brothers killed his sons, and his younger brother took his throne.
King Ling wiped his tears and stop weeping, "You are right!" He sighed, "You are right!" Suddenly, the memories of the scenes and the sound of King Jia'ao and his sons screamed when they were killed flashed in his mind. He truly deserved everything that happened.
Did he really deserve it? Or was it his destiny?
Almost two-third of King Ling's army deserted him. Meanwhile, the remaining loyal troops, led by Mi Huan and Mi Yan, retreated to go back to Chu State.
Chu State was a big powerful state. And in the past, it often offended many other states. King Ling was also known as a ruthless king. Therefore, when the news about the internal coup in Chu States reached the other states, many of them took the chance to launch an attack to revenge King Ling.
One of the states who wanted to get rid of King Ling was the Wu State.
The king of Wu learned that King Ling only had a few thousand soldiers left. They decided to lay a trap for King Ling while he's on the way back to Chu State.
Fifteen thousand troops were not a significant number compared to the original number of troops King Ling brought for his campaign against Xu and Wu. Yet, fifteen thousand soldiers were still a considerable number for them to be able to march secretly back to Ying City.
Everything seemed well until they reached Yuzhang - the border between the states of Chu and Wu.
As they were marching through a valley, suddenly, large rocks rolled down from the top of the hill towards them. Not a few of the unprepared soldiers were crushed to death by large stones.
The horse neighed, men screamed, weapons clattered. It was a total chaos in broad daylight.
Not long after, rolling rocks stops. And as the troops were about to regroup, a few thousands of Wu soldiers ambushed. The troops who had not relieved from their shock had to deal with the fierce Wu soldiers.
King Ling and his loyal troops were outnumbered. Fortunately, they managed to escape from the battle in Yuzhang. They secretly marched back to Ying City - the capital of Chu, with only three thousand soldiers left.
Three thousand! Only three thousand survived from fifteen thousand soldiers who were loyal to him. King Ling sighed. Even his trusted general, who was also his cousin - Mi Yan, died during the ambush.
Now, after they were beaten, they're no better than a group of disorganized militia. Many of them lost their weapon when they fled from Wu ambush.
For two days and two nights, they practically only stop at night to sleep with their weapons on their side for four hours. They were all exhausted.
On the third day, they had run out of ransom. Mi Huan sent his scout to get some food from the surrounding village. But Prince Qiji and his men had threatened all the people in the area and told them not to provide food or shelter to King Ling and his men. So the king and his men became very hungry.
While King Ling was trying to figure out what went wrong, a soldier rushed over. "Reporting, Your Majesty! Minister Zheng had fled and brought with him more than two thousand soldiers!"
King Ling desperately laughed when he heard the report. "Alas! A king who lost his battle is not even better than a stray dog!"
"Your Majesty, we're not lost yet! As soon as we return to Ying City, we shall be able to get our loyal ministers and military general to fight Zigan and Qiji!" Mi Huan said.
King Ling nodded his head. They continued their journey to reach a village nearby. Unexpectedly, a group of soldiers had been waiting for them and attacked them fiercely. Although they managed to kill all of the soldiers, Mi Huan was killed during the ambush. Only twenty soldiers remained with King Ling.
It's almost sunset, and finally, King Ling and his men reached a village nearby. Now, they're no more than ragtag farmers with weapons in their hands.
When he entered the village, a man in his forties rushed toward King Ling and kneeled in front of him and said, "Your Majesty, I'm Shen Hai, son of your loyal minister, Shen Wuyu. Please, come to my house and have a rest at my place. For the soldiers, I will also let my men prepare food for them!"
"Shen Wuyu?" King Ling nodded and sighed. "He was a loyal minister! I didn't expect that in a time like this, it is his son who is willing to help me!"
"Your Majesty had spared my father's life twice. Before he died, my father had told me many times to pay debt gratitude to you, my king!" Shen Hai said.
By the time Shen Hai welcomed King Ling, only twenty soldiers had remained loyal and stayed with him.
Shen Hai provided food for King Ling's men. He provided King Ling some meals, and he also gave his two virgin daughters to serve King Ling.
That night, King Ling was inside the room where Shen Hai provided for him. The two young virgins didn't know what to do and could only kneel near the king's bed.
King Ling, who was devastated, could only sit at his bed, pondering and recalling his past.
King Ling knew that if he insisted on returning to Ying City, then another bloodbath would happen. He knew that perhaps all of his circumstances came from his past deed. Indeed, he deserved all of it.
At midnight, the two girls who were supposed to accompany King Ling had fallen asleep. They were awakened with the sound of a clattering sword on the ground. When the girls opened up their eyes, they saw King Ling, who was still sitting on his bed, and blood spurting from his neck.
The once a king of Chu committed suicide in an unknown village.
Shen Hai buried King Ling secretly.
==========
The remaining loyal soldiers of King Ling knew that they should surrender. Therefore they went to the camp of Prince Qiji to surrender.
Hearing the report from those soldiers that King Ling had died, Qiji was very excited. But Qiji was a cruel man. Instead of thanking them and spared their lives, he killed all those twenty men.
Then Prince Qiji marched back to Ying. He already had a big plan in his mind.
When Prince Qiji arrived at Ying City, a few days later, Prince Qiji rushed to the palace to report to his third brother, the new King Zi'ao.
Prince Qiji deliberately tore his clothes and messed his hair.
"My good brother!" Prince Qiji kneeled with tears in his eyes. "We're doomed!"
King Zi'ao saw his torn clothes and messy hair. He knitted his eyebrows and asked, "Qiji, what happened? Don't tell me that you didn't manage to kill that bastard, King Ling!"
"Please forgive me, brother!" Prince Qiji sobbed. "He's indeed formidable and cunning. After King Ling heard about your coup, he left Xu State and return to Chu as soon as possible. On his way, he met some messengers of the Wu State. They talked and negotiated, and in the end, he agreed to make peace with the Wu State. As long Wu State was willing to lend him some troops to take revenge on us, then Chu and Wu will have a peace treaty for fifty years! Therefore the Wu is willing to help him. My troops had a clash with King Ling's troops and the Wu army, who assisted him! All of my soldiers.… were defeated."
King Zigan's face changed. "How come that be?" He turned his head to his fourth brother - Lord Ejun Zixi, and asked, "Brother Zixi, what do you think we should do now?"
"My brother, rather than panic, let's wait until King Ling arrives!" Zixi said. "We still have soldiers to deal with him!"
"Brother, I'm afraid it will be too late! We should think of an escape plan! King Ling brought a combined army from Wu. They are at least a hundred thousand soldiers!" Prince Qiji said in a panic tone. "You know how our brother King Ling is such a cruel man. He will not let us go! Also…the Wu army is ruthless. I don't think we could survive!"
"What shall we do….what shall we do?" King Zi'ao panicky said. "Alas…Qiji, this time, we're waking up a sleeping tiger!"
"Brother, I will check the condition outside!" Lord Ejun said. "I will coordinate with our military men on how to deal with King Ling!"
King Zi'ao nodded and said, "Lord Ejun, our lives are in your hand!"
Lord Ejun nodded and complied. He immediately left to check the condition as he could smell something fishy with all of these.
Not long after Lord Ejun left the room, a messenger came to report to the king.
"Reporting, Your Majesty!" the messenger said in a trembled voice, "King Ling and his hundred thousand soldiers are already outside of Ying City. They have vowed that they will eliminate all of us! With their speed, they should arrive at the city gate by midnight!"
"Brother, I have to go now and see if I could gather some troops to counter them!" Prince Qiji said.
King Zi'ao nodded, and he gave his army tally - a military token to move soldiers. "Take this one! Move the soldiers to protect the palace!"
Prince Qiji nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother! I will do my best! For the sake of our Chu State!" He left the room immediately.
=================
After Lord Ejun left the palace, he immediately called for a meeting with some civil officials and military officials.
Unexpectedly, only the civil officials were available to attend the meeting; all the military men were absent.
Just as Lord Ejun was still confused, a report came to him from Lang Tan - his trusted man.
Lord Ejun saw that Lang Tan was reluctant to report in front of the officials. Therefore he stood up and took Lang Tan to the anteroom.
"Lord Ejun, we're trapped!" Lang Tan said in a low voice. He looked a bit nervous and continued, "The soldiers who are arriving from outside the city are not the soldiers of King Ling! They are Prince Qiji's soldiers. King Ling had committed suicide around Yuzhang!"
Lord Ejun disbelieved what he heard. Although he knew something fishy was happening, he didn't expect the evil culprit was his own youngest brother - Prince Qiji.
"King Zi'ao, we have to save him from Qiji's trap!" Lord Ejun said.
"Too late, my lord!" Lang Tan said. "Prince Qiji had led his guards to kill King Zi'ao and all of his family members! Your former wife and also your sons, are also killed by Prince Qiji!"
King Zi'ao was not a smart man. That he agreed to make a coup, was because the old ministers and some officials from another country and Prince Qiji persuaded and agreed to support and reinforce him. Prince Qiji held a military power in Ying City, and King Zi'ao thought that was enough for him to launch a coup.
He didn't make a wrong calculation. Indeed, those reinforcements were enough for him to launch a coup and be a king. He just trusted the wrong person. Prince Qiji was a cunning insincere man. He backed up Prince Zigan since he only wanted to test the water. If the rebellion succeeded, and they managed to kill King Ling, then Prince Qiji would backstab Prince Zigan. But if the revolution failed, Prince Qiji could just blame Prince Zigan and Lord Ejun.
The newly enthroned King Zi'ao was panic and devastated. Yet he could do nothing but sit and wait for good news.
Not long after, a soldier came to report to him.
"Reporting, Your Majesty!" the soldier said in a panic voice. "King Ling's special guards had entered the palace. Lord Ejun, who gathered some troops and defending the eastern wall, was defeated. He was killed, and his body was hung on the city gate. Prince Qiji also was killed not long after he left the palace!"
King Zi'ao's face turned to pale, and his feet cold. He was terrified. There's no hope for him.
The soldiers continued and said, "The guards…they also killed all of Your Majesty's whole families - women, and children, old and young! They disemboweled all of the women in the rear palaces!"
King Zi'ao closed his eyes. He knew that he had to die.
King Zi'ao kneeled on the floor and said in a loud voice, "My brothers…Lord Ejun, Prince Qiji…Please forgive your stupid brother! I should not have underestimated King Ling's power. Now you both sacrificed your lives for me….this is an unredeemed sin!"
He tidied up his royal robes and his crown. He's a son of a king, and he was a king. If he had to die, at least he had to die in an honourable way.
Then he closed his eyes and took the sword that hung on his waist. That's the sword of the kings of Chu State.
King Zi'ao opened up the sword scabbard and slit his throat with it.
King Zi'ao committed suicide in his fear that King Ling would punish him severely. Zi'ao only reigned for eighteen days.
As his body fell on the ground, Prince Qiji, who had been peeping from outside, entered the room and looked at his brother's lifeless body. He sighed and said to his guards, "Somehow, he's a king, and he's my brother! He should be buried as a king!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" his guards said.
"Now, we have to deal with my fourth brother! He's not as stupid as my third brother!" Qiji said.