Chapter 1516: Chapter 1433: Someone Heard the Sound of Cannons

“How is His Majesty?” Ying Ke anxiously looked at Ying Duo’s personal doctor and asked.

Ying Duo lay quietly on the bed. The doctor had given him an injection to keep him in a decent state of sleep, as he would become extremely irritable if awake.

“The situation is not very good. If our medical means were more complete now, perhaps we could try something, but now…” The doctor looked around with difficulty, shrugged helplessly, and gave an answer that made Ying Ke somewhat dissatisfied.

The place they were currently in was an underground shelter built within the Imperial Palace. Although safety was highly assured, the equipment was rather rudimentary.

When this shelter was built, it was also modeled on some of the underground facilities of the Tang Country, placing the main parts 30 meters below ground level.

Even though the standards were not exaggerated to the point of resisting nuclear bombs, it was indeed a very solid underground shelter, though relatively small in scale. After all, at the time of excavation, no one could have imagined that this thing would really be used one day…

In fact, it was not yet fully completed, because when the Tang Army was approaching the former capital of Dahua, Ying Duo had secretly ordered the expansion of this underground shelter.

Some rooms were turned into corridors, one tunnel after another began to expand, preparing to add some entrances and exits and several new rooms for storing equipment.

The new sections included a massive grain warehouse, entirely new generator sets, concealed ventilation openings, and a large residential area for troop housing.

Unfortunately, the entire project had not been completed… or it had just started to be built, and the Tang Army was almost upon Qin Country.

The situation changed too quickly, and Qin Country was utterly unprepared — Wuyang didn’t even have a subway, so the construction of the bunker shelters had no reference projects at all, making construction extremely troublesome.

As of now, the large medical room designed within the shelter had not even started construction, so Ying Duo’s personal medical team could only use a temporarily arranged room as Ying Duo’s ward.

Many pieces of professional equipment had not yet been moved in, and even when moved in, the power was insufficient to maintain their operation, so these doctors dared not easily treat Ying Duo, His Majesty The Emperor.

“Can we wake His Majesty up? The situation is very critical now, and we need someone who can make decisions.” Ying Ke frowned and asked.

He was very worried about the Tang Army’s siege. Once a city of over a million people fell into the flames of war, it would almost be completely ruined.

How many things would be destroyed by war, how many people would lose their lives… The very last foundation of Qin Country was in Wuyang.

In reality, Ying Ke had already prepared to surrender. He did not want the flames of war to burn into Wuyang City because at this point, the outcome of the war was already extremely clear.

Rather than turning Qin Country into a wasteland, rather than letting everyone walk towards destruction, it would be better to honestly accept reality and admit defeat with dignity.

Making such a decision was also out of necessity for Ying Ke. He was not cowardly afraid of death but understood that death no longer held any meaning for the people of Qin Country.

In Ying Ke’s view, sacrificing before the outcome was determined was courageous; being buried with the defeat already determined could only be called reckless.

He was very clear that Qin Country had already failed, and Wuyang was wholly unprepared to resist to the end.

There were no air-raid shelters or similar safe zones to accommodate civilians here. The garrison here was pitifully small, and they lacked weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies.

New recruits and civilian armed forces filled the streets and alleys, having looted the wealth and food of the remaining civilians even before the Tang Army entered the city.

Everywhere were chaotic crowds and overbearing soldiers, scary barricades, and anti-aircraft guns pointing skyward… Such a city would push itself towards the abyss of collapse without the Tang Army’s attack.

“We also hope he can wake up, but his condition is really very poor. Once awake, he demands that Black Crow drug again. We don’t know what it is, but I think, whatever it is, he shouldn’t take it anymore.” The doctor said solemnly to Ying Ke.

Ying Ke nodded, aware that the Black Crow drug indeed had certain side effects, and these side effects had already turned the once wise Emperor Qin Ying Duo into his current state.

Looking at the somewhat thin Ying Duo lying in bed, Ying Ke turned his head to look at the officer standing beside him: “Have those nobles who presented Black Crow to His Majesty been controlled?”

“I sent someone to arrest them, but a few have already escaped, and some have euthanized themselves at home out of guilt. We are investigating the source of this drug.” The officer immediately replied: “Previously, they had His Majesty as a cover, using His Majesty’s private intelligence department’s line, and we had no way to intervene.”

“A bunch of national traitors.” Ying Ke angrily condemned these people, although his words were useless because if Ying Duo woke up, he might bestow them with the title of duke in order to get Black Crow again.

“The Tang Army could shell us at any time… Once shells land in the city, the situation will only become even more chaotic.” The officer spoke again: “General Zhang Xuan simply does not have enough troops to hold Wuyang, you must make a decision quickly.”

“The messengers sent out have not yet returned with any news. I’ve done my best.” Ying Ke sighed and said to his confidant: “I requested the Tang Army give us three days, during which time we could engage in some negotiations… But I don’t know if they want to talk to us.”

“They would be willing if we surrender. Then, they could save a lot of trouble and stand on the moral high ground… This is important for Tang Country. With our cooperation, they could quickly control Qin Country’s northwest…” The officer comforted Ying Ke.

“I hope you’re right.” Ying Ke worriedly looked again at Ying Duo on the sickbed, without many good ideas.

At this moment, a sudden slight tremor occurred. Ying Ke came to his senses, looked outside the door, and the officer also became tense, walking to the door, opening the thick door: “What happened?”

“Sir, we are not sure what happened… Although some have said they heard gunfire.” Several officers outside whispered to each other and stood at attention to salute and reply.