CHAPTER 1423: 1340 GOOD SON-IN-LAW

"Ring, ring, ring... ring, ring, ring..." The phone kept ringing in the empty office. Inside the Imperial Palace of Qin Country, a secretary who specialized in organizing materials and planning the Emperor’s schedule picked up the phone: "Hello? Hi."

His voice was very calm, without a hint of impatience. Despite his endless workload recently, he still maintained basic courtesy.

Because anyone who could call this number was either wealthy or influential, none of whom he was willing to offend. Although he was a close minister of the Emperor, no matter how promising his future was, he couldn’t easily offend those bigwigs.

"About an hour later, the ballistic missile from the Great Tang Empire will hit Wuyang... I’m calling you now to immediately get Ying Duo out of the Imperial Palace. Don’t doubt my words. If you can’t decide yourself, quickly find someone who can!" A deep voice came from the other end of the line.

"Who are you?" The secretary holding the phone frowned and asked vigilantly.

"Someone who’s here to help you, so you don’t die." The person on the other end sneered, then continued to emphasize: "Don’t waste our goodwill. Believe me, the last thing I want to see is Ying Duo being blown up by a missile!"

After saying that, the stranger hung up the phone, and the busy signal came through the receiver. The secretary hesitated for a moment but didn’t dare to delay and walked directly to the office’s side door, knocking on the heavy, intricately carved door.

"Come in." Ying Duo was also dealing with many documents, these files coming from all over Qin Country. The war had made him very busy, and the tense front lines only exacerbated the process.

"Your Majesty! There is something I don’t know how to handle... just now..." The secretary cautiously tried to probe.

Emperor Qin Ying Duo knew the level of his secretary. If he was always so hesitant, he wouldn’t deserve to be by Ying Duo’s side.

So, Ying Duo lifted his head, somewhat displeased, and reminded, "If you’re stalling, just get to the point, I have many things to handle! I don’t have time to waste on you."

"Yes! Your Majesty! Just, just now... there was a call from some unknown place, informing me that in an hour... in an hour, Tang country’s missiles will hit Wuyang City..." The secretary organized his words, somewhat nervous as he spoke.

"What did you say?" Ying Duo stood up in shock, staring at his secretary. He knew the other person couldn’t possibly lie, so this must be true.

And the caller’s purpose definitely wasn’t to intimidate, because anyone who could call his secretary’s direct line wouldn’t do something so brainless.

So... they really launched a missile! The reason for notifying him in advance was probably to ensure that he, the Emperor Qin, wouldn’t die in the Tang Empire’s "attack."

For a moment, Ying Duo even thought of the possibility of staying: if he died, the other side would surely be very disgusted.

But the next second, he denied that absurd thought: using his life to cause the other side some trouble was definitely not worth it.

"Prepare the car!" The Emperor Qin, after a brief minute of contemplation, considered his response: "Notify all ministers to evacuate from the city!"

Because Tang Army’s missiles often carried earth-penetrating warheads, underground shelters weren’t that safe. The Emperor didn’t want to risk his life, so he planned to leave the city for temporary shelter.

Very soon, the cars were ready, and their convoy quickly left Wuyang, headed to a villa in the suburbs where Ying Duo met the arriving Ying Ke and other officials and generals.

"Your Majesty!" Ying Ke apologized as soon as they met: "I am ashamed! I’ve startled Your Majesty so greatly..."

Several commanders of the capital’s garrison also bowed their heads to apologize: "We are incompetent! We startled Your Majesty!"

They indeed felt guilty because there were many radars along the way, yet there was no news of the enemy, and even the warning came from the enemy’s side, which naturally angered Emperor Qin Ying Duo.

Just as the atmosphere reached a new level of awkwardness, an air raid siren blared in the distance from Wuyang City, and explosions began to occur one after another.

One ballistic missile after another fell into Wuyang City, and these ballistic missiles were no longer the early "Dongfeng 3" models from the Tang Dynasty.

Brand new ballistic missiles with higher accuracy and longer range were now within the Wuyang city’s strike zone.

That day, to retaliate against Qin Country’s use of mines—an illegal weapon—on the front lines, the Tang Empire used ballistic missiles to attack Wuyang, the capital of Qin Country.

Thirty ballistic missiles with powerful warheads destroyed many facilities in Wuyang City.

Although the capital city Wuyang of Qin Country had undergone more than a decade of modernization, it still maintained a relatively primitive appearance.

Although many places had built wide roads, tall buildings, and even complex water supply and drainage systems with complete electrical supply, many suburban areas, including the original site of Wuyang City, were still filled with various earthen houses.

These houses, similar to clay-tile structures, were made of a local type of clay in Qin Country. Under the missile explosions’ shock, many of these houses collapsed, leaving tens of thousands homeless.

The massive explosions continued until evening, at which point the missile attacks from the Tang Army finally ceased. A total of 40 missile attacks were really too long for the civilians inside Wuyang City.

They hid in their homes, feeling the earth tremble, watching distant buildings collapse, and seeing smoke rise from even farther away...

For hundreds of years, since their ancestors’ time, this had been the King City of Qin Country. Over these centuries, no one had brought war to Wuyang City, no one!

But now, Wuyang City was attacked! Their home was hit by missiles!

Ying Duo’s face turned ashen, and the phone beside him rang once more. A servant left in the Imperial City called to tell Ying Duo a tragic piece of news: the palace of Qin Country... was hit by a missile!

Although it was just a corner, the missile’s distance from Ying Duo’s living quarters was less than 500 meters in a straight line!

The shock was immense for Ying Duo! At that moment, he truly felt an impulse to stop this war at all costs.

"Damn it! How do they have so many new weapons?" Prime Minister Ying Ke muttered beside him with a grim expression.

"My dear son-in-law..." Ying Duo couldn’t help but utter this sentiment softly.

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