Ye Guiyan angrily held a sword to his own neck.
He stared at Yin Yue intensely, "If you dare hurt me, I’ll die this instant."
Yin Yue immediately halted his actions.
Ye Guixue sighed helplessly. He had not expected his elder brother to threaten him with his own life, completely disregarding his daughter, as though wanting the entire family to die together.
He closed his eyes briefly, then looked at Yin Yue, who was helplessly caught between a rock and a hard place, and croaked out, "If my elder brother chooses not to move, then so be it."
As he spoke, the shadow guards around them gradually fell.
Ye Guiyan affirmed, "You have my word, brother, that in the next life we shall remain brothers."
Ye Guixue nodded with a smile. He no longer had the strength to fight the enemy. He dropped his sword. At this point, one more blow from anyone would certainly end his life.
The soldiers were also devoid of the will to continue the battle, only the shadow guards continued to protect their lord desperately, keeping the battle at bay.
It seemed that all the members of the Ye family were doomed to die in the mountain valley along with these soldiers. Hen Zhong and Han Yin revealed a satisfied grin.
Just as their grins had not yet faded, they heard the earth-shaking sound of hoofbeats from behind. Soon after, battle cries began to ring out.
Han Yin immediately asked, "Who goes there?"
Someone declared loudly, "General, there’s trouble! An enemy army has approached from the rear, every soldier is riding a warhorse and wielding a large blade. They are also accompanied by a large group of shadow guard assassins."
Han Yin’s face turned pale, "How many?"
"We do not know yet."
"Go find out."
"Yes, sir."
No one had expected that reinforcements had arrived to rescue the Ye family. The members of the Ye family, including Ye Guixue and Ye Guiyan, who had been prepared to die in the mountain valley, were shocked.
Ye Xiang, at a distance, was the first to respond, taken aback.
The lady of the Ye family exclaimed with joy, "Husband, someone has come to save us!"
Not one person wanted to die here. However, they had resigned themselves to death only because there was no other option left.
Yin Yue, who had the best vision among them, stepped onto someone’s shoulder to get a better view. He saw that indeed, the enemy’s rear echelon had been engaged in a skirmish. The enemy soldiers, who had once been hell-bent on finishing them off, were now forced to turn around and attend to their own rear.
He hopped off the shoulder, and said to the stunned Ye Guixue, "Young Master, we have reinforcements."
Ye Guixue picked up the treasured sword from the ground and struggled to get up. "Did you see them clearly? From where are these reinforcements?"
He wondered, could it be the King and Zhou Gu? But where could they have gotten troops from? If not them, then who else could it be? No matter how brilliant or prescient he might be, he could not think of anyone else. He certainly wouldn’t have suspected Su Rong, for no one would have ever imagined that she could have borrowed troops from Daliang to come to Nanchu.
"No matter who it is, reinforcements are here. Let’s fight back together, younger brother," Ye Guiyan said exuberantly.
Ye Guixue nodded and commanded loudly, "All soldiers, seize your swords! We are saved! Follow me and the eldest young master- let’s break out of this!"
"Yes!"
The demoralised soldiers swiftly regained their spirits. Each grasped their weapons and, led by Ye Guixue and Ye Guiyan, charged towards the valley’s exit.
Ye Xiang and the lady of the Ye family also moved forward, fighting as they retreated.
Han Yin and Hen Zhong did not expect to be attacked from both sides. In a moment, they had lost control over their soldiers, who were now in a state of chaos.
Han Yin’s scout quickly returned with information. "General, the reinforcements consist of fifty thousand cavalrymen, led by a woman. She is formidable; the moment she attacked, a large number of our soldiers fell. It seems like it is..."
"Who is it?"
"The drumbeats and shouts from the reinforcements suggest that it is...the princess..."
"Who?" Han Yin raised his voice.
"The Princess of Nunchu, Su Rong."
Han Yin’s face turned ashen.
"The reinforcements are very fierce. Everyone is equipped with big blades and bows. Our troops have been fighting for many days. Even though the reinforcements only number fifty thousand, I’m afraid we might be no match for them," the informant said.
Han Yin’s face was dreadful to behold.
The reporter urged, "General, do you want to continue the battle?"
The soldiers’ morale had been smashed. If they wished to continue the fight, they would quickly need to devise a strategy and re-deploy their troops. However, at the moment, their troops were in complete disarray, while the enemy was well organised and methodical in their attack, crushing his soldiers with overwhelming force.
Han Yin was resentful. He had been on the verge of killing the entire Ye Xiang Residence, but a sudden turn of events caused his plan to fall at the last hurdle. He cast his eye towards Hen Zhong, who was leading his soldiers in a bitter fight and still possessed the will to resist.
He recalled the Crown Prince Yuan Zhao’s instructions before setting off: the fifty thousand soldiers he brought were not meant to die in Nanchu, nor to pave the way for the Nangong family or to let the Nangong family trample over their corpses to achieve their goals.
Thus, even though the battle was lost, he couldn’t afford to lose all his soldiers here.
He immediately issued an order, "Issue a command, no falling in love with the battle, raise the star flag, all Han troops, follow me to break out."
Upon his command, everyone around immediately echoed his call. All the Dawei soldiers rallied around Han Yin and moved in one direction to break out of the encirclement.
Hen Zhong, who was engaged in fierce combat, looked over his shoulder in shock as he saw Han Yin leading the Dawei soldiers in a retreat. His face turned pale, and he quickly ordered, "All Jinglu troops, follow me to break through, retreat!"
The Jinglu troops, under Hen Zhong’s command, originally numbered one hundred thousand. After fighting with Ye Guixue’s troops for many days, their numbers had dwindled to sixty thousand. Han Yin’s Dawei soldiers, on the other hand, were a formidable force of fifty thousand. After many days of battles, they had suffered the least casualties, losing only five thousand soldiers.
Therefore, Hen Zhong presently had sixty thousand soldiers, while Han Yin had forty-five thousand soldiers.
These two forces, which had been cooperating against Ye Guixue’s troops for several days, still numbered about one hundred thousand combined. If they planned carefully, Su Rong’s fifty thousand soldiers would be no match for them. However, after fighting for numerous days and growing exhausted, coupled with the sudden, fierce attack of the reinforcements, they were thrown into chaos, and their will to fight diminished, leading to their collapse.
Out of Ye Guixue’s one hundred thousand soldiers, a little more than thirty thousand remained. However, they were all wounded and weary. Yet, knowing that help was on the way, they found their spirits reignited, and their morale soared. They once again possessed the vigor to take on the enemy.
Therefore, with Su Rong’s fifty thousand soldiers and Ye Guixue’s thirty thousand weary troops surrounding them, the enemies had no choice but to retreat.
When Su Rong saw that the enemy had immediately ordered a withdrawal after seeing the reinforcements, she knew that even her own fifty thousand soldiers were tired from marching all night, but she did not want to lose this opportunity, especially to kill the traitor, Hen Zhong, who had been given trust by the Nanchu King, who believed he was loyal, but turned out to be a traitor to him at a crucial moment, defecting to the Nangong Family.
And Han Yin, she wanted him dead too.
As a result, Su Rong shouted, "Fen Ling, we need to claim the lives of Hen Zhong and Han Yin."
Fen Ling had the same thoughts, "Alright, sister."
He immediately led the shadow guards into the fray.
Su Rong didn’t hesitate and charged alongside him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
