Chapter 903 A Great Victory and Triumphant Return (First Update)

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), it was still dark.

The capital of Zhao was shrouded in a shimmering, snowy glow.

Xiao Heng spent the entire night preparing for his father's funeral. First, he went to the palace to inform his great-aunt, uncle, and aunt. His aunt grabbed him and wept bitterly (mainly his aunt cried) for a long time. Afterward, he went to Bishui Hutong to inform his great-uncle and Yao Shi of his father's death.

Then came matters such as setting up a mourning hall.

Where should the funeral hall be set up? How can the necessary items for the funeral hall be collected as soon as possible? Although we were unable to retrieve my father's body, we still need a coffin.

Therefore, he finally went to a coffin shop and carefully selected a high-quality coffin.

Overwhelmed by grief, he was utterly exhausted, dragging his almost numb steps back home like a soulless puppet.

Aunt Yujin must have gone out too, right? She must have been busy all night, right? After all, the funeral of the First Martial Marquis of Zhao Kingdom is no small matter.

Meanwhile, the First Marquis of Zhao held the little one and waited until Princess Xinyang was helped back to her room by servants, and the mother and daughter were both asleep before he finally came out of the room.

All energy has been exhausted.

He truly couldn't take another step.

The father and son met unexpectedly, one standing under the eaves and the other in the courtyard, facing each other and gazing at each other from afar.

It was dark, and a white lantern under the eaves had not yet been taken down.

Marquis Xuanping stood under his own white lantern, covered in blood and pale-faced.

Xiao Heng stared blankly at his father, his face filled with disbelief: "...It's not even the seventh day after his death, and you've already come back to life?"

Marquis Xuanping: "...!!"

I'm not dead!

Marquis Xuanping suddenly went black and fell flat on his face, plunging into the snow.

He finally collapsed, whether from exhaustion or from anger caused by his son, it's unclear.

...

Xiao Heng eventually realized that it wasn't his father's ghost. After all, ghosts aren't that weak, and given his father's personality, even as a ghost, he would be a cool, handsome, domineering, and beautiful ghost.

That way, you won't end up in a sorry state.

He had no clue why his father was there.

His mother was asleep, his brother was still asleep and unaware of what had happened, and Zhang Mama and the others were even less aware of what had happened, only knowing that the Marquis had rushed back at nightfall.

Not long after they returned, the princess went into labor.

Granny Zhang added her own flattery and thoughts: "The young lady has been refusing to come out because she's waiting for her father."

Xiao Heng: "..."

Xiao Heng carried his father to his room, changed him into one of his own clothes, and then visited his brother, mother, and his newborn little sister in turn.

To be honest, Xiao Heng was also quite shocked.

In just one day and one night, he experienced the pain of losing his brother, the joy of finding him again, the pain of losing his father, and the joy of finding him again. The emotional ups and downs were so great that they almost drove him to the brink of collapse.

More importantly, his mother was about to give birth.

Just as he went to arrange his father's funeral.

In other words, as soon as he came back, he had a father and a sister.

"Is the range really that big?"

He looked at the baby girl sleeping soundly in her swaddling clothes, held his head in his hands, and suddenly began to question the meaning of life.

...

In the twelfth lunar month at the border, the war between the five states against the Jin state intensified... Even the Liang state was forced to join in, because if they did not help attack the Jin state, the Yan, Zhao, Zhao and Chen states would attack it as well.

Having lost Chu Feipeng, the Liang Kingdom lost its most powerful ally and had no choice but to accept cooperation with the four kingdoms.

As the undisputed hegemon among the six states, the State of Jin possessed unshakeable national strength and military power. It was arrogant, domineering, and invincible. In addition to winning over the State of Liang as its henchman, it caused a lot of trouble for the other states.

It still refuses to acknowledge the status of the Turks and continues to refer to them as a barbarian tribe.

Little did they know, the Turks didn't care about any status at all. Their attack on Jin was purely out of dislike for Jin, coupled with the shortage of supplies in winter, so they just wanted to take advantage of the situation.

The fact that the State of Jin could still put up a stubborn resistance for so long after losing Gongsun Yu speaks volumes about its strength.

However, even the strongest military force could not withstand the combined military might of six states.

Ironically, when they invaded the heartland of Jin, their vanguard was actually the army of Liang.

Seeing their former ally baring its fangs at them, the soldiers of Jin were so angry that their faces turned green.

The states of Jin, Yan, and Liang formed a pincer movement, and any alliance between the two states could deal a fatal blow to the other. Jin had carefully considered which states to choose as its allies.

The reason for choosing Liang was that Jin disliked Yan from the bottom of its heart, and the reason for this dislike was ultimately fear.

He tried his best to suppress the Yan state, but in the end, the nightmare still happened.

The State of Jin attempted to persuade the State of Liang, arguing that with the combined military strength of the two states, they might be able to defeat them.

Liang Guo was already terrified of the Black Wind Cavalry, so how could he dare to play dirty tricks behind the scenes?

As the Lunar New Year approached the border, this was their first New Year celebration there.

In the military camp, pigs and sheep were slaughtered, dumplings were made, and Shangguan Yan, Gu Jiao, and the soldiers spent New Year's Eve together amidst the flames of war.

"We'll be setting off in three days."

Outside the tent, Shangguan Yan, slightly tipsy and with flushed cheeks, stood in the cold wind after drinking some wine.

She was very clear-headed, and as she spoke, her gaze fell on the soldiers who were celebrating the New Year around the bonfire.

Gu Jiao came to her side, followed her gaze, and said, "Are you really going to go in person?"

Shangguan Yan said coldly, "I will avenge the blood feud of the Xuanyuan family with my own hands! I will personally storm the capital and drag the King of Jin off his throne!"

Gongsun Yu killed many of Xuanyuan's generals and soldiers, driven by his own selfish motives and desire for war, but also by the ambitions of the Jin royal family.

None of them are innocent.

She won't let a single one of them escape!

Three days later, Chang Wei received orders to return and defend Pucheng, and Gu Jiao switched posts with him.

Subsequently, Gu Jiao led 30,000 Black Wind Cavalry, who had just recovered from serious injuries, and rode the Black Wind King, who was recovering from his injuries, to the front line and invade the Jin Kingdom.

It is worth mentioning that on New Year's Eve, a palace coup occurred in the Jin Kingdom's palace, where the king's imperial guards clashed with the Liao King's army, which undoubtedly worsened the situation for the Jin Kingdom.

After the defeat of the Liao king, with the mindset of "if I can't have it, I'll destroy it", he opened up all kinds of passes along the way, making it easier for the troops of various countries to advance unimpeded.

At the end of February, the Black Wind Cavalry and the Gu Family Iron Cavalry stormed into the capital of Jin.

Black Wind King broke through the palace gates of the imperial city, carving a bloody path through the imperial guards.

Shangguan Yan, wielding a long sword, swiftly brought down her blade, her body splattered with the enemy's blood.

She fought her way to the Golden Palace.

They moved too quickly; the ministers attending the morning court session in the palace didn't have time to evacuate.

The gate was tightly shut, and the sounds of fighting, clashing weapons, and screams outside were incessant. Upon closer listening, most of them came from the Jin army in the imperial palace.

Inside the hall, all the civil and military officials began to tremble, and even the King of Jin on the dragon throne changed his expression.

With a loud bang, the gate of the Golden Palace was kicked open. The massive door panel could not withstand the pressure and crashed heavily to the ground, causing the entire Golden Palace to tremble three times.

The ministers were thrown into a panic and chaos.

Shangguan Yan held a blood-soaked longsword, its tip dripping blood all the way.

Her gaze was icy, filled with the resolve of revenge, as she swept over the assembled officials: "Those who surrender will not be killed."

A top-tier imperial guard leaped up from beside the king and suddenly attacked Shangguan Yan!

In the blink of an eye, a whooshing sound came from behind Shangguan Yan, and a gleaming red-tasseled spear came flying, striking the palace guard in the heart and sending him flying onto the steps at the foot of the king!

Gu Jiao walked over step by step.

There wasn't much coldness or hostility in her eyes; on the contrary, she was very calm.

It was as if she wasn't the one who had just made the move.

In the midst of war, heightened emotions are not frightening; it is the calm that is truly terrifying.

Another person rushed up, this time attacking Shangguan Yan from behind.

Gu Jiao turned around and kicked the man down the high steps!

"Anyone who harms the Crown Princess shall die!"

Outside the hall, more and more experts rushed up, but before they could even get close, they were blocked by four figures that descended from the sky.

On the left are Gu Changqing and the old Marquis, and on the right are Liao Chen and Daoist Qingfeng.

Tang Yueshan and Wang Xu, who had withdrawn his troops from Chishui Pass, also arrived.

The two men led hundreds of archers and completely surrounded the Golden Palace.

...

At the end of February, the King of Jin died, and the seventh prince of Consort Liu succeeded to the throne.

The new ruler handed over a letter of surrender to the Great Yan, and presented two mines, five cities, 100,000 taels of gold, and twenty beauties as a token of his sincerity.

The beauties were all men, mainly used to please Shangguan Yan and fill her harem.

The other states, of course, could not return empty-handed. However, they did not gain as much as Yan, since the main force in the campaign against Jin was the Yan army.

In addition, the Zhao Kingdom also contributed a lot and gained a great deal in return.

The State of Jin was almost completely depleted after this battle, and it took decades for it to recover.

In the warm spring of March, the army returned to the capital in triumph.

The Yan state won a brilliant victory, and the people along the way lined the road to welcome her, shouting "Long live the Crown Princess!"

"The Black Wind Cavalry and the Xuanyuan Army will follow me into the capital first," Shangguan Yan ordered in his camp after returning to Yan territory.

The Xuanyuan Army refers to the Shadow Division forces under Liao Chen's command.

Although Wang Xu and Wang Man did not know why the Crown Princess had to go ahead, they dared not disobey her order.

Moreover, since the Black Wind Cavalry and the Xuanyuan Army are mostly cavalry, it seems reasonable for them to return to the capital to report to the emperor first.

Shangguan Yan wasn't there to report back.

"Uncle." Outside the tent, Shangguan Yan stared intently at Xuan Yuanqi, who held a three-foot-long sword. "I'm ready."

Xuanyuan Qi looked at his little niece with satisfaction, patted her head as her uncle, and then knelt down on one knee as a subject, his three-foot-long sword heavily planted in the ground!

"Your humble servant swears to follow the Crown Princess to the death!"

...

On a large tree outside the camp, Liao Chen held a wine flask with his long, jade-like fingers, tilted his head back and lazily took a sip, then said with a faint smile, "You don't need to go. Go back to Shengdu with General Wang later."

Under the big tree, Master Qingfeng looked at him sternly: "You want to abandon me?"

(End of this chapter)