Chapter 70: Defeat
“Hurry, carry him away, hurry!”
One of the soldiers, who was wearing armor and seemed to be of a high rank, urged from the side, “Faster, faster! You’re so slow. The enemy is almost at our doorstep!”
Qin Zhaohuang thought to himself, It’s just as I expected. It seemed that Bei Miao and Hong Xi had joined forces to attack the city, and the King of Youzhou was now eagerly using him as a hostage.
With a sigh, he shifted his body. The poison pill was hidden securely in his pocket and had not been found by the people of the You King’s residence. If it came to it, he would definitely not let Bei Miao and Wen Ning’an be put in a difficult position.
Qin Zhaohuang was carried onto a carriage, and a team of soldiers secretly escorted him to the military camp.
Moving from a relatively soft bed to a bumpy and dark carriage, he felt dizzy.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard a “boom” and, before he could react, he felt the scene before him turn upside down, the world spinning. His whole body felt as if it had been turned over.
“Thud!”
The carriage had overturned for some reason, and he rolled out of it, his head hitting the ground so hard that he saw countless stars.
He blinked, and after the dizziness had barely subsided, he saw that the surroundings were filled with dense withered branches and trees covered in white snow. The carriage had clearly gone deep into the forest. Not far away, there was firelight and smoke curling up. They would be able to reach the military camp in a little while, but at this moment, the surroundings were already in chaos. Men in black, who had come from nowhere, were fighting with the You King’s army that was escorting him, a scene of flashing blades and continuous sounds of killing.
The men in black outnumbered the You King’s army and had clearly come prepared. And the You King’s army had been caught off guard. They didn’t understand why the news had suddenly leaked and enemies had appeared, so it was clear that the men in black had the upper hand.
“National Preceptor Qin.” A man came before him and, without any concern for his illness, helped him up and onto a horse.
“Yu Qianshou?” Qin Zhaohuang blinked, a little unable to understand why he would be here at this moment. He was stunned for a moment before saying, “You… betrayed your own side and colluded with Bei Miao?”
The moves of these men in black were clearly Bei Miao’s martial arts. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Feng Jun’s Southwest Army.
Yu Qianshou smiled. “Betraying my own side was also to save you.”
At this moment, Qin Zhaohuang, who was being tormented by the plague, had his hair and clothes in disarray, dark circles under his eyes, and his face and lips were a ghastly pale. He had lost some of his charm.
Seeing his weak appearance, Yu Qianshou couldn’t help but sigh. “Why is it that every time I see you, you are sick?”
Qin Zhaohuang said, “The reason I’m sick this time is all thanks to you.”
Seeing him lean weakly against his front, his voice also weak and hoarse, Yu Qianshou said, “Leave this place to the Southwest Army. I’ll take you back to the military camp to be treated first.”
Qin Zhaohuang was stunned.
“The Southwest military camp?”
“Of course.”
Yu Qianshou whipped his horse, and the two of them rode away, leaving a trail of hoof prints on the snow.
The cold winter wind whistled past their ears, especially when riding a horse. The chilly wind easily seeped into their bodies. So, Yu Qianshou draped his coat over the still-sick Qin Zhaohuang and pulled him into his embrace.
Qin Zhaohuang, nestled in the coat, asked with some unease, “Are… are you alright?”
“You’ve openly colluded with the enemy and defied Duo Bo. Will he do anything to you?” During his days in the You King’s residence, he had the impression that not only was Duo Bo not very smart, but his temper was also particularly bad.
“No need to worry. Duo Bo’s power is already gone. He probably won’t live past today.”
Qin Zhaohuang was startled. He thought to himself that a lot must have happened during the time he was imprisoned.
Yu Qianshou explained, “Prince Jun and the King of Hong Xi are currently attacking the city. The Hong Xi army is advancing with a fierce and unstoppable momentum, completely gaining the upper hand. The You King’s army is just making a desperate struggle. This country ultimately belongs to the Feng clan. It’s not easy to rebel.”
“What about Ning’an? Is he in the capital?”
Yu Qianshou was very patient with him. He, who usually didn’t talk much, was now talking endlessly, slowly explaining, “General Wen is carrying the crown prince and has already returned to the capital to wait to be enfeoffed as the Regent. Tomorrow is the enfeoffment ceremony, and the Li family will also make a move tomorrow. If the King of Hong Xi’s side moves quickly and can rush back to the capital early, then there will be no suspense. But even if they can’t make it, the capital’s garrison will not let the Li family succeed too easily.”
“Everything depends on tomorrow.”
As Yu Qianshou had said, the You King’s army was indeed making a desperate struggle.
At this moment, Duo Bo was standing in the middle of the battlefield. The air was filled with a foul and nauseating smell of blood. Under the horses’ hooves was a river of blood and a field of corpses. Most of them were soldiers of the You King’s army.
There were not many left of the You King’s army.
What Duo Bo had never expected was that they had said they would be allies and help each other, but this “grasshopper on the same rope” had immediately retreated as soon as he was in trouble, so fast that not even a shadow was left.
So the Li family’s real ally was not him at all!
Duo Bo was completely baffled. Feng Jun was impossible to win over, and if he and himself were excluded, who was the Li family supporting?
“The Li family didn’t show up,” Feng Jun shook his head.
He stood on a high platform belonging to the Southwest and Hong Xi armies and heard the war drums beating in unison, and various musical instruments playing one after another of passionate and inspiring tunes to boost the morale of the soldiers below. He stood at the highest point, looking down on the battlefield, but there was only the You King’s army fighting with all its might, trying to turn the tide. But in the end, under the fierce attack of the Southwest and Hong Xi, they lost their fighting spirit and threw away their armor.
Feng Changhuan took the lead, his sword sharp and his moves ruthless, leading the elites to crush the You King’s army’s formation and soldiers.
After the war was almost over, he returned to the high platform and stood beside Feng Jun, looking down at the desolate land that had been swept by a storm.
The white snow was stained red, and the cold wind carried a sense of desolation.
Feng Jun smiled. “As expected, we won.”
Before Feng Changhuan could reply, he saw a tall figure behind Feng Jun rushing at him recklessly.
“Be careful!”
Feng Changhuan reacted extremely quickly and immediately pulled Feng Jun into his embrace, spinning around to dodge the surging attack from behind.
Feng Jun looked over his shoulder and saw that the ambusher was Duo Bo.
Duo Bo, who had broken through the encirclement and come to the high platform, was covered in blood. He held a long sword and walked towards them with heavy steps, his eyes filled with the desperation of someone burning his boats.
It seemed he was unwilling to die just like that and wanted to take someone with him.
Feng Jun said in a low voice, “Be careful, he’s crazy!”
The fearless Duo Bo’s moves were extremely sharp and difficult to deal with. On the contrary, Feng Changhuan, to protect the martial-arts-less Feng Jun, was a little constrained and slow in his movements.
The shadow guards immediately jumped out to share the burden for their master, and with the elites who had rushed up from below, Duo Bo was soon surrounded and held at bay by long spears. The elites beside Feng Changhuan were not kind people either. Seeing that Duo Bo was still struggling, a dozen or so spearheads plunged deep into his flesh.
“The situation is lost! The situation is lost!” Duo Bo couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. Finally, he drew his sword and slit his own throat. Fresh blood gushed out.
“Thud—”
When he fell, he was no longer a king or a hero, just a cold corpse.
Before Feng Jun could recover from Duo Bo’s sudden attack, he had thought it was all over, but to his surprise, he saw a cold arrow fly out from behind Feng Changhuan!
It was the last struggle of Duo Bo’s shadow guard!
Damn it!
Remembering how Feng Changhuan had protected him when Duo Bo had attacked, Feng Jun closed his eyes and, as if throwing caution to the wind, hugged him and turned around. Feng Changhuan was startled. Before he could react, he saw a sharp arrow pierce Feng Jun’s back shoulder. The arrowhead pierced the fabric and embedded itself in his flesh, and fresh blood stained his entire shoulder.
Feng Changhuan stared blankly at Feng Jun, who had lost consciousness in his arms, and finally, he came back to his senses with a start and roared, “Physician! Where is the physician!”
The night was deep. Fu Che draped a thick mink fur coat over Wen Ning’an’s shoulders.
“Your Highness, tomorrow is the enfeoffment ceremony. You should rest early and get enough sleep.”
Wen Ning’an glanced at the markings on the candle and put down his brush. “Put out the lights.”
Fu Che and the servants began to extinguish the candles. Wen Ning’an stood up and gently stretched his body and limbs.
“Your Highness, rest early. The servants will be waiting outside.” After Fu Che left, Wen Ning’an took a book from a bookshelf at the side, intending to take it back to the inner hall to read to help him sleep.
War strategies, ancient books, poetry…
Wen Ning’an’s fingers slid gently across the bookshelf and finally stopped on a collection of poems. He found it strange that Feng Qi’s bookshelf actually had a collection of poems and couldn’t help but smile faintly.
After taking out the collection of poems, he frowned slightly.
This bookshelf… seems to have a trick?
Wen Ning’an stood on his tiptoes and looked closely. He saw that the wall behind this collection of poems seemed to have a hidden compartment.
Driven by curiosity, he let go of the collection of poems in his hand and reached out to open the hidden compartment. He saw a tattered, yellowed, thin-skinned book lying quietly inside.
A book that needs to be hidden so securely?
Wen Ning’an frowned. After carefully taking out the tattered book, he saw a few large characters written on the cover: Annihilating Yang White Bone.
He was stunned, his heart as if it had been hit hard. He opened the first page of the book, trembling.
“Annihilating Yang White Bone, destroying heaven and earth. Unparalleled in the world, abandoned by all.”
He continued to read and saw that there were even Feng Qi’s notes inside.
…
…
Fu Che returned to his own room, thinking that he had to get up early tomorrow to help Wen Ning’an dress for the enfeoffment ceremony. After all, the ceremonial robes were very complicated. However, before he could go to sleep, his door was suddenly kicked open, and a young eunuch rushed in, flustered. “Eunuch Fu, something… something has happened!”
