"No! Impossible! It was that bitch Xin Jiuwei who framed me! I want to see the Emperor! I've been wronged!" Xue Mingyi screamed and struggled like a madwoman, but was dragged away without mercy by the fierce guards and shackled.

Xin Shouye watched Xue Mingyi being dragged away, and let out a long, long sigh of relief, as if a tremendous burden had been lifted. Looking towards the capital, his eyes were filled with relief and indescribable pride. His daughter had truly grown up! No longer a fledgling needing his protection, but an eagle capable of braving wind and rain and protecting her family!

News of the victory in the capital, like the strongest east wind, also reached the front lines of Tongguan, where war raged.

Beneath Tongguan Pass, the battle had entered its most brutal stalemate phase. The Rong and Di cavalry surged like a tidal wave, relentlessly assaulting the ancient walls, arrows raining down like locusts, and stones and logs falling like rain. Corpses littered the walls and ground beneath them, and blood stained the land before the pass a dark red.

Xin Yunzhou led from the front, his armor riddled with knife marks, arrow holes, and bloodstains. Like a tireless war god, he fought valiantly on the city walls, appearing wherever the danger was greatest. His long spear danced like a dragon, each thrust bringing a shower of enemy blood.

Xin Kui, carrying a heavy medicine chest, moved nimbly across the city walls amidst flying arrows. Her face was pale, her lips tightly pressed together, but her eyes were frighteningly calm. Ignoring her own safety, she bandaged and stopped the bleeding of wounded soldiers, her movements swift and precise. Several times, whistling arrows grazed her hair, yet she seemed oblivious.

"General! Watch out!" Xin Kui's scream suddenly rang out!

A skilled archer from the Rongdi tribes below the city seized the moment when Xin Yunzhou was exhausted from fighting several enemy generals and had not yet mustered any new strength. With a piercing sound, a poisoned wolf-tooth arrow shot straight into Xin Yunzhou's back!

Xin Yunzhou was doing his best to parry the curved blade coming at him when he heard the sound and couldn't dodge in time!

In a flash, a slender figure, like a moth drawn to a flame, suddenly crashed into Xin Yunzhou from the side! It was Xin Kui!

"Thud!" The poisoned wolf-tooth arrow pierced Xin Kui's left shoulder! The enormous impact caused her to stagger, and the excruciating pain made her vision go black, almost causing her to faint!

"Xin Kui!" Xin Yunzhou's eyes widened in fury! He swiftly thrust his spear, piercing the enemy general who had launched the sneak attack, and caught the limp Xin Kui in his arms. Warm liquid, carrying a sweet, metallic scent, instantly stained his arm armor red.

"You...!" Xin Yunzhou looked at the woman in his arms whose face had instantly lost all color, and at the hideous arrow on her shoulder. An unprecedented panic and rage swept over him! This woman, who was always taciturn, with complex eyes, ruthless methods, yet who had always been so... towards him, had actually taken this fatal arrow for him!

"Don't... don't worry about me... defend the city..." Xin Kui trembled all over in pain, her voice barely a whisper, yet she still struggled to push the medicine box towards him, "There's... an antidote inside... quick..." The arrow was poisoned! She felt the numbness and chill immediately!

Xin Yunzhou felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a terrifying, bloodthirsty killing intent! He roared fiercely, "Imperial Guard! Protect Physician Xin! Everyone else, follow me and kill—!!!"

He gently handed Xin Kui to the charging guards, not even having time to utter a word. Grabbing his blood-stained spear, he charged like a raging lion, filled with boundless fury, towards the surging enemy below the city! Wherever he went, none could stand in his way! He would use the enemy's blood to avenge the arrow wound inflicted upon Xin Kui!

Xin Kui was quickly carried off the city wall. The army medic, seeing the dark arrow wound, paled: "It's the Northern Rong's 'wolf poison'! Quick! Bring me my silver knife! We must immediately cut away the rotten flesh and bleed out the poison! It will be too late if we wait any longer!"

The cold silver knife sliced ​​through her flesh, the excruciating pain almost crushing Xin Kui's teeth. Cold sweat soaked her clothes. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms, but she didn't utter a sound. In her hazy consciousness, she seemed to return to that filthy brothel, to the abyss of despair where she was wantonly bullied and beaten. It was Xin Yunzhou, that young general who descended like a god, who pulled her from the mire, giving her a new life… Her life was originally his…

"General...don't die..." she murmured in her delirious state of excruciating pain.

Just as a fierce battle raged on the walls of Tongguan, and Xin Kui was on the verge of death, a swift horse broke through the thick smoke, carrying the royal banner of the Sixth Prince Xiao Xun, and headed straight for the central army tent!

"Report! Your Highness! Urgent dispatch from the capital! A great victory! Xue Chongyi and his daughter Xue Mingyi have been dismissed from their posts and imprisoned! The evidence against Prefect Xin for framing him, embezzling disaster relief funds, price gouging on medicine, and spreading rumors is irrefutable! The three judicial departments will conduct a joint trial! Miss Xin has turned the tide in the capital and purged the rear!"

The news spread like wildfire, instantly reaching the Tongguan garrison who were fighting a bloody battle!

"What?! The Xue family has fallen?!"

"It's Miss Xin! The Sixth Prince's Consort has brought down those parasites from the Xue family in the capital!"

"Great! We have no worries about the rear!"

"Brothers! A great victory in the capital! His Highness and Miss Xin have cleared away our worries! Kill! Drive those barbarian bastards back!"

The already exhausted and heavily wounded defenders were suddenly given a shot of adrenaline! Their morale soared to its peak! The battle cries shook the heavens and the earth!

Inside the central command tent, Xiao Xun was deep in thought, his brow furrowed as he faced the sand table. Days of fierce fighting had etched a weathered look onto his handsome face, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his spine remained as straight as a pine tree. Upon hearing the news of victory, he abruptly looked up, his deep eyes gleaming with a light as brilliant as stars!

"Excellent! Well done, Xin Jiuwei!" Xiao Xun slammed his hand on the table, causing the sand table to tremble slightly. An indescribable pride and exhilaration surged within him! His woman had not betrayed his trust! On the battlefield behind the lines, she had won a brilliant victory no less impressive than the one at Tongguan! She had purged the corrupt elements, stabilized morale, and provided the strongest support for his soldiers at the front!

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