Du Hong expected to see a sorrowful and panicked expression on the other person's face after hearing this, but he was disappointed.
Whether it was the Crimson Soul Army soldiers or Luo Xi and his group, they all looked at him as if he were a clown.
Du Hong's heart skipped a beat. Just then, a yamen runner ran out of the city gate, looking flustered.
"My lord, something terrible has happened! The hostages have all been rescued by men in black who came from somewhere!" He finished speaking and lay trembling on the ground, not daring to lift his head.
Du Hong: "..."
I felt a sharp pain from the wound in my abdomen, then everything went black, and I instantly lost consciousness.
"grown ups--"
The soldier who was supporting him panicked and quickly pulled him up, but he pulled too hard and aggravated the wound, instantly soaking Du Hong's clothes with blood.
Loxi: "..."
She guessed that the soldier must have been bullied terribly by Du Hong, and this was a good opportunity for him to take revenge.
The commander-in-chief was already seriously injured and unconscious, the deputy commander had died in battle, and now even the only backbone had fallen. The remnants of the imperial army had no intention of confronting Luo Xi and the others. They carried Du Hong and ran wildly towards the prefectural city.
Seeing their disheveled state, Qi Lei felt extremely pleased: "Boss, what should we do? They've gone in. Should we attack the city?"
Luo Xi shook his head: "No need. The city is high and the walls are thick. It's also Du Hong's stronghold. With our small force, we can't take it down."
"They got off too easy," Xia Zhong said resentfully.
After talking with Qi Lei along the way, he was now certain that the defeat of the Crimson Soul Army and the betrayal of the Le Zheng family were most likely the work of the Left Prime Minister and Du Hong.
"Boss, are we just going to let them go like this?" Xia Zhong was very unwilling.
“Who said that?” Luo Xi smiled brightly: “The city of Fucheng has high walls and thick walls, but other places in Nanyue County are not like that.”
"In that case, why don't we take over the other places first? Then, with only one prefecture city left, I'll see what kind of trouble Du Hong can cause then?"
Qi Lei and Xia Zhong exchanged a glance and laughed: "Great idea, Boss."
"Let's go, find a place to cook a meal, and after we've eaten our fill, we'll attack Shihua County, the closest county to the prefectural city." Luo Xi said as he nimbly mounted his warhorse.
"Yes, Boss!"
When the magistrate of Shihua County heard his subordinates report that his county was completely surrounded, he was stunned.
Are you... sure?
"We're not on the border, nor are we a particularly wealthy county. We're right next to the prefectural city. Who would be so foolish as to attack us?"
The constable nodded repeatedly: "It's true, sir, how could I dare to lie to you?"
“They were all well-trained and well-equipped, with a force of at least 50,000. The leader was a woman who called herself the head of Chaoyang Manor, Luo Xi.”
"Hahaha, that's even more impossible." Magistrate Zhao clutched his stomach and laughed nonstop: "I'm telling you, kid, this isn't how you make your master laugh."
"Now everyone in Nanyue County knows that our Prefect Du and General Liu have led an army of 100,000 to wipe out Chaoyang Manor. How could they possibly be here?"
The yamen runner looked up at Magistrate Zhao with a mournful face and said, "Sir, news just came, but I haven't had a chance to tell you yet."
"Lord Du and General Liu were defeated in Tongning County three days ago. They are both seriously injured and unconscious, and are being treated in the prefectural city."
Magistrate Zhao stood up abruptly: "Just three days ago, didn't the army only arrive in Tongning County? And now... they've been defeated?"
He found it incredible.
That's a full 100,000 troops, some of whom are seasoned border troops—the Crimson Soul Army!
How could they have lost so quickly?
"We just arrived, that's true, but we've also been defeated." The constable was extremely worried: "Sir, what do we do now?"
Because it's a small county and not a strategic pass, Shihua County has virtually no troops stationed there, so it's impossible to win a battle.
Magistrate Zhao plopped down in his chair, his eyes blank: "Let me think about it. Yes, I need to think about it carefully."
He tapped his fingers incessantly on the table, and after a while, he suddenly stood up again: "Go, go and inform the madam to take some people and pack our valuables quickly. We'll escape Shihua County through the secret passage immediately."
bailiff: "..."
"My lord, what about the people of Shihua County?"
As the local official in charge of a county, he rushes off to help whenever something happens, that's just too much...
Magistrate Zhao understood what the constable meant, but what could he do? "I heard that this Luo Xi treats ordinary people very well, so they should be fine."
"But we're different. If we're talking about fighting, we only have some yamen runners who've never been on the battlefield. Wouldn't that just be handing over credit to the enemy?"
"If we're talking about holding the city gates and waiting for rescue, then Lord Du is already unconscious. We don't know when the court will send another large army."
"So, let's run."
Luo Xi waited and waited outside the city, but no one in charge of Shihua County came out.
"Didn't they say they were going to deliver a message to Magistrate Zhao? Why hasn't the messenger returned, and why is the magistrate nowhere to be seen?" she muttered in frustration.
Xia Zhong snorted coldly, "None of the officials in Tianqi are competent now; they always procrastinate."
"Could it be that the person isn't in the county town, which is why they haven't been found?" Xiao Yi wondered.
"Wait another quarter of an hour. If no one comes out, we'll attack the city," Luo Xi said finally.
However, at this moment, the city gate slowly creaked open. It was really slow, moving a little, stopping for a while, and then moving a little more, like a difficult childbirth.
Luo Xi and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What are they up to? Have they become so lazy that they can't even open the city gates anymore?" Qi Lei was utterly incredulous.
The group waited for quite a while before the city gate finally opened. But the person who came out of it made them stare in astonishment.
Because the people who came out were not government officials at all, but groups of ordinary people. They pushed and shoved each other as they slowly walked towards Luo Xi, and then stopped about fifty paces away, kneeling respectfully on both sides of the road.
"All the people of Shihua County respectfully welcome Chief Luo!"
Loxi: "..."
This seems so strange.
After a moment's thought, she dismounted and walked towards the group of people.
"Boss, you mustn't!" Xia Zhong quickly dismounted to stop him, "Be careful, it might be a trap."
Loxi waved his hand at him: "It's alright."
Seeing this, Xia Zhong gritted his teeth and had no choice but to lead Qi Lei and some soldiers to follow.
At this moment, Luo Xi stood in front of the people and said, "Who is in charge here? Come out and tell me what's going on."
A lean, middle-aged man on the right stood up, bowed, and said with a smile, "I am Dong Wen, the head of the four major families in Shihua County. If you have any questions, please ask me."
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