Finding Richard was not difficult. Once the bounty of 100,000 guan was issued, Richard was tied up by his confidants and brought to the gate of the former military commander's mansion in Qingzhou City the next night.

Richard had considered disguising himself as a slain Song soldier, lying among piles of corpses, being carried to the outskirts of the city, and then taking the opportunity to slip away.

He had already planned his escape: he would head further northwest to the grasslands to find Yelü Dashi, a fellow sufferer in exile.

The Xia emperor knew that Richard had died in battle rather than fled, so at least his family wouldn't be harmed, and he had no more worries.

After making plans for himself, Richard did not expect that his confidant would betray him in the blink of an eye after offering a generous reward.

Richard was also a famous general of his time. When Liu Fa was in charge of the northwest, the Song army was defeating the Xia state. It was Richard who led the troops to turn the tide of the war and change the course of the Song-Xia war.

Coincidentally, the Song Dynasty allied with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty's target temporarily shifted from the Xia Dynasty to the Liao Dynasty.

Xia was finally able to catch her breath.

In just a few years, Richard reorganized the military in Xia, allowing the military, which had been defeated by the Song Dynasty, to gradually recover.

However, because he had held military power for many years, King Li Ganshun of Xia had long been wary of him.

The fact that Rendo Yasutada was released in his later years was also largely due to Richard.

Although he was his younger brother, Li Ganshun had too much military power, and he couldn't sleep well.

If he loses this battle and escapes back, he will surely lose his head, and his wife and children may also suffer the same fate.

But he died in battle, so Li Ganshun would never harm his wife and children; in fact, he would treat them well.

Richard looked up at the gloomy sky, and now he was finally certain that he had been tricked by his own brother.

His mission was to capture Huanqing Road and wait for the Song emperor to come and negotiate peace with the Great Xia, offering money in return.

But in reality, Li Ganshun knew all along that the shameless emperor of the Song Dynasty would never make peace, and neither side would give up until the very end.

Richard, who attacked Song's Huanqing Road as a striker, was essentially cannon fodder sent by King Li Ganshun of Xia.

Incidentally, Li Ganshun also sent away many able-bodied men from various tribes within the Xia Kingdom, weakening the power of the local tribes.

What Li Ganshun did not expect was that Renduo Baozhong and Zhao Renzhong both died in this battle.

The counterattack launched by the Song army far exceeded Li Ganshun's expectations.

That evening, a red sun hung in the western sky, dyeing the clouds blood red.

Richard was taken to the outskirts of Gyeongju City, along with his generals.

They knelt outside the city, were pressed onto stones, and with a snap, their heads were chopped off.

Zhao Huan used Richard's head as a sacrifice to the flag, then reorganized his troops and marched north towards Huanzhou.

Upon hearing that Qingzhou had been captured, Zhao Renli, who was guarding Huanzhou City, hurriedly led 10,000 troops to abandon the city and flee.

Before fleeing, Zhao Renli looted Huanzhou City for a day and a night, killing and stealing everything he could.

When Zhao Huan arrived in Huanzhou, the city was desolate, with countless people dead and corpses strewn everywhere along the roads.

There were elderly people, children, and women whose clothes were disheveled.

The middle-aged men were brutally murdered, and the blood on the streets froze, like a red carpet.

Zhao Huan was furious and immediately dispatched Han Shizhong to lead the vanguard army to pursue Zhao Renli.

Zhao Huan made a symbolic one-day stop in Huanzhou City before continuing his journey north.

If you advance further north, you will reach Shentangbao, which is the border.

The scouts reported that Li Liangfu, the commander of Richard's left flank army, had fought Yao Pingzhong three times. Upon hearing that Richard's main force in the central army had been completely wiped out, Li Liangfu immediately turned around and ran north as fast as he could.

Who is Li Liangfu?

He was a trusted and beloved general of King Li Ganshun of Xia.

When the Liao emperor was besieged by the Jin army, Li Ganshun sent someone to rescue him, and that person was Li Liangfu.

Li Liangfu was also quite capable in military affairs. He led 30,000 men and actually defeated the Jin army in his first battle.

However, he has a bad mentality. He gets arrogant and holds his head high when he wins.

According to his logic, since he defeated the Jin army and the Jin army swept across the Liao Kingdom, he could also sweep across the Liao Kingdom.

You see, when people become proud and arrogant, their logical thinking abilities deteriorate.

So, he quickly spent all 30,000 people on him, and then shamelessly ran back home.

Li Ganshun was furious. If he didn't need to use him to check Richard, he would have already killed him.

Who hasn't been young?

After that incident, Li Liangfu matured rapidly, quickly becoming a shrewd and experienced old fox.

For example, during this southward march, as the commander of the left wing army, he created the miracle of marching one kilometer a day.

While Richard's main force had already entered Song territory, he was still taking a leisurely stroll.

Richard angrily denounced his shameless behavior, but Li Liangfu replied to Richard, saying that he had encountered a large number of elite Song troops on the road and was fighting Wu Jie to the death.

The letter described the events vividly, and if it weren't for the information sent back by the spies that Wu Jie was still in Jingyuan Road, Richard would have actually believed it.

Richard wrote several letters urging him to hurry up, and emphasized the importance of the left flank army. He said that if the left flank was left undefended, Zhe Keqiu of Fuzhou might launch a large-scale westward advance and catch the central army off guard.

But Li Liangfu was the kind of person who could be touched by a thick layer of oil. He assured Richard that after the left wing army dealt with Wu Jie, they would head south at full speed, but that short distance took them more than half a month to cover.

So much so that when Yao Pingzhong's scouts went to the front lines to investigate, they discovered that the Xia army had just entered the border.

Then, the two sides fought three times, and Li Liangfu ran away three times. The fourth time, he simply disappeared without a trace.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!