She followed the snake back to the ground, and only after arriving at a place familiar to both Yun Wanwan and Rong Chengxuan did Yun Wanwan remove the curse from the snake.

Watching the snake burrow back into the grass, Yun Wanwan explained to Rong Chengxuan, "After my last fight with Jiang Wanwan, I was curious about how she did it, so I looked through the books I brought back from the ancient tomb and saw that spell. Today was the first time I used it, and I didn't expect it to actually work."

Rong Chengxuan suddenly realized something and decided that he should look through those ancient books when he had time. He scratched Yun Wanwan's nose and said affectionately, "Our Wanwan is really smart."

Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan hadn't taken a few steps when they ran into the Right Guard who had come looking for them. The Right Guard was no less loud and fussy than the Left Guard, but upon seeing Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan, he immediately reined in his horse, "Your Highness! Princess! We finally found you! You didn't even realize you were missing for a whole day and night. Even Xiaosong was almost losing his composure."

The Xiaosong mentioned by the Right Guard is the Left Guard. The Left Guard's real name is Xiaosong. Because Xiao and Xiao have similar pronunciations, after getting used to it in the military camp, people often call the Left Guard Xiaosong, although the Left Guard himself doesn't like this name very much.

The Right Guard paused, then continued, "And that pigeon? I suspect the sudden disappearance of the prince and princess is related to the Western Zhou people. If Xiaosong hadn't stopped me, I would have led my men to attack the Western Zhou army."

The "pigeon" mentioned by the Right Guard General refers to Du Yuhou. Du Yuhou's real name is Ge Zichen, and the first two characters sound like "pigeon" in Chinese. But usually they only dare to call him that in private and don't dare to call him that in front of Du Yuhou.

However, the Right Guard was clearly a rare exception among those who dared not to do so. He dared to directly call both the Left Guard and the Du Yuhou by their nicknames, which might be related to his name. The Right Guard's surname was Yong, and his given name was Gan, which sounds like "brave," so he was also unusually brave.

The Right Guard dismounted during the ceremony, so Rong Chengxuan, holding Yun Wanwan in his arms, quickly mounted the horse. He gave the horse a push to turn its head. Before leaving, he didn't forget to say hello to Yonggan, "The prince and the princess will be leaving first. Yonggan, you can go back later." As soon as he finished speaking, Rong Chengxuan shouted, "Fight!"

Yonggan watched as the horse he had ridden was taken away by Rong Chengxuan. He didn't dare to feel any resentment and could only watch the direction Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan rode away. He was so angry that his beard almost stood up, but the prerequisite was that he had a beard.

Yun Wanwan looked back at Yonggan, who had been flung so far by Rong Chengxuan. She belatedly realized that Rong Chengxuan had been a bit too mean, and her conscience pangs. "Rong Chengxuan, isn't it a bit unkind of you to treat the Right Guard like this?"

Rong Chengxuan was stunned for a moment, then asked a very realistic question: "If we don't steal his horse, are we supposed to walk back?"

Yun Wanwan thought about it seriously for a while and felt that what Rong Chengxuan said made sense. If they walked back, there would be two of them, but if only the right guard was allowed to walk back, it would only be one person.

On the way back to the city, Yun Wanwan found time to explain to Rong Chengxuan in detail how she fell into the trap. Although Rong Chengxuan didn't say anything after listening, his brows were frowning more and more tightly.

After returning to the city, Rong Chengxuan handed his horse to the left guard who had come out to greet them, and said, "Xiao Song, find some time these days to thoroughly investigate the army. I suspect there are members of the Queen's staff among them."

The left guard accepted the order, but he knew clearly in his heart that the suspicion Rong Chengxuan mentioned basically confirmed that there were people under Liu Xueyan in the army.

He even thought about the fact that Yun Wanwan suddenly left the city and disappeared, and Rong Chengxuan also disappeared for a day and a night when he went to look for Yun Wanwan. It was probably related to the Empress Dowager in the harem.

After Rong Chengxuan returned to the prefectural government, he asked Yun Wanwan to wash off her tiredness first, and then he went to the study first.

When Rong Chengxuan arrived, Du Yuhou and Zuo Hujun were already there. When Ge Zichen saw Rong Chengxuan come in, he immediately handed him a memorial about the day and night Rong Chengxuan had been missing. "Your Highness, after you stopped the Western Zhou army at the West Gate last time, the Second Prince of Western Zhou and the troops behind them also arrived yesterday. He has now taken over the Western Zhou army."

After Rong Chengxuan took a quick look at the memorial Ge Zichen handed over, he said, "There should be more activity from the Western Zhou side in the next few days. After all, they've lost two battles in a row, and they're definitely not going to be able to swallow that anger."

Xiao Song pondered for a moment and pointed to Rongcheng and Zhoucheng on the border. "Your Highness, these two cities were captured by the Second Prince of the Western Zhou Dynasty. When I arrived, I sent people to find the soldiers in Rongcheng and Zhoucheng and asked them about the situation. I asked several people and their answers were consistent—"

At this point, Xiao Song paused, weighing his words in his mind. "They only said that the Second Prince of the Western Zhou Dynasty led his army to set up an extremely terrifying formation that day, making them feel like they were in Asura Hell. Half of the soldiers defending the city were killed in an instant, and they escaped only at the cost of their lives..."

"An extremely terrifying formation..." Rong Chengxuan repeated Xiao Song's words, still not quite believing what he said. "Does the Second Prince of the Western Zhou Dynasty really have this ability?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, according to my speculation, the formation set up by the Western Zhou prince may be the invincible Dragon Swallowing Formation created by the ancestor emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty five hundred years ago!"

"Dragon Swallowing Formation?" Rong Chengxuan stood up and paced back and forth in front of the map. "Wasn't that formation long lost? How could the Western Zhou prince, who's only a teenager this year, even know how to use it?"

"This formation is complex and has many variations. No one has been able to set it since the ancestor emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty. But it is rumored that if you are trapped in this formation, once you are entangled by the swallowing dragon, you will fight to the death!" Xiao Song spoke cautiously. Although he had followed Rong Chengxuan in many battles over the years, he was obviously a little afraid of this formation. "Your Highness, the ancestor of the Western Zhou Dynasty once defeated our ancestor emperor of Beichen with this formation, annihilating 200,000 enemies in one fell swoop. It must not be underestimated!"

"Is he really that powerful?" Rong Chengxuan's expression changed upon hearing this, but he quickly suppressed the hint of surprise. "If he is truly as powerful as you say, I would like to have a serious duel with the Second Prince of the Western Zhou Dynasty who can set up the Dragon Swallowing Formation."

Xiao Song's face remained solemn. "Your Highness, this is absolutely not my own nonsense. The "Pocket Watch Military Manual" once said, 'When encountering a dragon, retreat.' When encountering a dragon-swallowing formation, flee!"