"Let go? Why should I let go?" Ling Ruiying didn't take Xiao Yujue seriously at all.
"Your purpose in colluding with foreign nations is nothing more than to usurp the throne. Now your conspiracy has been revealed to the world. If you wantonly kill innocent people, even if you ascend to the throne in the future, I'm afraid you will not be popular with the people."
Xiao Yujue secretly used his internal energy to heal his wounds and continued, "Since we can't kill them, we have to feed them. With so many people, even if you only eat one meal a day, you will waste a lot of food. Do you have the ability to feed so many people now?"
Xiao Yujue's words touched Ling Ruiying's heart.
The capital city had sufficient supplies, so it would be fine even if it was besieged for three months. But what about him?
What's more, a lot can happen in three months.
With the current strength of his army, he might not be able to capture the capital in a short time. He still needed to wait for the reinforcements from the Turks.
"Why don't you release those people and leave this town? I will be your hostage."
Ling Ruiying thought about Xiao Yujue's proposal again and again, and immediately called his subordinates to discuss it.
As no one was willing to retreat, Ling Ruiying tried to attack the capital twice, but under the leadership of Zheng Binghong, the city held out against their fierce attack with a small number of troops.
Ling Ruiying found that he had to wait for the main force to arrive.
Killing those civilians or not would not affect the overall situation, so he had to give up and retreat thirty miles with Xiao Yujue.
Ling Ruiying immediately sent someone to notify the Turks, asking them to enter the Central Plains as soon as possible, with one part of the troops to support him, and the other part to continue attacking cities and seizing territories in order to disperse the court's military strength.
Ling Ruiying's own trusted team was also rushing to the capital day and night.
The Turkic prince Dole was overjoyed when he received the news from Ling Ruiying. He seemed to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Central Plains waving to him.
He immediately ordered a full-scale attack and concentrated all his main forces.
During this period, Mu Jingrui's troops suffered successive defeats, which made him underestimate Mu Jingrui.
He originally thought that he could easily break through the city gate with unstoppable force, but the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse.
Every counterattack launched by Mu Jingrui resulted in heavy casualties. Nearly half of his 100,000 troops were lost in less than three days.
To his detriment, he received news that his logistical supplies had been cut off by Mu Jingrui.
Dole realized that the situation was not good, and he wanted to lead his troops back to the Turks. However, his retreat was blocked, and the cities he had captured began to fight back. He could not advance or retreat, and was blocked in the Central Plains.
Only at this time did Dole come to his senses and realize that he had fallen into Mu Jingrui's trap.
Once again facing each other on the battlefield, Dole looked at Mu Jingrui's young face and felt so angry that his teeth were itching.
"You Central Plains people are really too cunning."
"Haven't you ever heard that all is fair in war?"
Mu Jingrui fought with Dole for dozens of rounds and killed Dole.
As soon as Dole died, the Turkic troops were instantly thrown into chaos and their formation was in disarray.
In this battle, Mu Jingrui endured for many days and finally won completely.
When the news reached the capital, Ling Ruiying was horrified.
Without the 100,000-strong Turkic army, he was ultimately not strong enough to compete with the imperial court with only his own soldiers.
"My lord, this is bad."
The deputy general rushed into the military tent and reported: "I just received a report from the spies that the troops coming to support us were intercepted by the imperial army and were defeated."
"What?" Ling Ruiying's face suddenly changed. "How could this happen? How is this possible without anyone leading us?"
"I heard that someone used the military token of the Ministry of War to mobilize troops, and the deployment of troops was perfectly arranged."
"The military seal of the Ministry of War is in the hands of the Minister of War, Mu Jingrui. He is still at the border. This..." Ling Ruiying's mind flashed a stunningly beautiful face. "Shangguan Wanning."
Ling Ruiying punched the table heavily.
Just as he had guessed, Shangguan Wanning pretended to have a falling out with Mu Jingrui, and under Huo Gang's secret escort, she returned to the capital with the military command and alliance treaty.
They had planned all this long ago.
Mu Jingrui even arranged the deployment of troops in an orderly manner.
Ling Ruiying suddenly felt a chill on his back.
Mu Jingrui is so shrewd at such a young age. Most importantly, his control and accurate prediction in marching and fighting are simply unbelievable.
"Xiao Yujue." Ling Ruiying's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "Now, he is the only amulet in our hands, keep a close eye on him."
Ling Ruiying was thinking about how to use Xiao Yujue to negotiate terms with the court, but who knew that Xiao Yujue was rescued that night.
The person who rescued him was not someone from the imperial court, but Ling Ruiying's right-hand man.
Xiao Yujue analyzed the current situation with them, promised to save their lives, and allowed them to continue to serve the court.
People tend to seek good things and avoid danger. In order to protect their own interests, they chose to betray Ling Ruiying without much thought.
Ling Ruiying, who had lost his backup and part of his troops, was soon surrounded and suppressed by Zheng Binghong, who captured the father and son of the Ling family alive and brought them back to the capital.
Ling Yuwen was tortured to death in public, bringing justice to the dead girls.
Ling Ruiying once made great contributions to the court. The emperor, in consideration of his contributions to the country, gave him a cup of poisoned wine to end his life.
The Ling family was confiscated and exterminated, and even the queen was deposed and sent to the cold palace.
When everything was settled, Mu Jingrui returned to the court.
The emperor was very pleased and appointed Mu Jingrui as the Grand Marshal of the Army and gave him the title of second-class duke.
The threshold of the Mu Mansion was almost trampled by people coming to congratulate him. Mu Jingrui had no intention of socializing, but was overwhelmed.
"Sir, Miss Shangguan is here." The butler came over and whispered in Mu Jingrui's ear.
There was a ripple in Mu Jingrui's heart. He pushed away everyone else and ran towards the garden immediately.
"Ning'er."
When Shangguan Wanning heard the familiar voice, she immediately turned around and ran towards Mu Jingrui.
Mu Jingrui opened his arms, embraced her in his arms, lowered his head and kissed her lips.
This time, Shangguan Wanning did not resist at all. She hugged Mu Jingrui and responded to his kiss.
After a long time, Mu Jingrui felt that he had let go of all his longing for her, and he let her go reluctantly.
"Ning'er..." Mu Jingrui's fingers gently stroked Shangguan Wanning's face and closed his eyes sadly, "Fortunately, you are okay..."
As he said this, he increased the strength of his arms and hugged her tighter.
That day, Mu Jingrui and Shangguan Wanning staged a play in front of the singer sent by Ling Ruiying, allowing Shangguan Wanning to leave in anger in a natural way.
He knew that this plan was very risky. He was scared when he thought about it now.
"Brother Huo and so many secret guards are protecting me, how could anything happen to me? But you..." Shangguan Wanning wrapped her arms around Mu Jingrui's neck, "Fighting on the battlefield, you are always worried about your life..."
Mu Jingrui smiled softly. "Why? Are you afraid that you will become a widow before you even get married?"
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