At Su Rong’s command, her soldiers tightly clashed with Nangong Yun’s soldiers, preventing them from retreating.
The death of the two elder sons, Nangong Le and Nangong Xi, terrified Nangong Yun’s soldiers. Upon receiving Nangong Yun’s withdrawal orders, their morale dropped drastically. With no way forward, they could only retreat.
Ten miles into their retreat, they lost even more soldiers, and Nangong Yun, along with his secret guards, were forced upfront, breaking through layers of defenses brought by Su Rong and Fen Ling.
With no other options, Nangong Zhuo braved death to protect Nangong Yun, but the prowess of Su Rong, Fen Ling, and their secret guards proved too much. In the end, Nangong Zhuo and Nangong Yun were captured alive.
With the capture of Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo, the soldiers were leaderless and quickly fell into defeat,
Fen Ling tied up Nangong Yun, gagged him, and tossed him to the secret agents to watch over. She then walked over to Su Rong and asked, "Sister, should we go save the master now or should we regroup first before saving Master Xie?"
Su Rong replied, "We go now."
She glanced at the sky. It was already dusk, and she wanted to free Xie Yuan as soon as possible for peace of mind.
Therefore, the two quickly incorporated the defeated soldiers and moved all troops toward the Seven Rings Mountain.
Right then, a scout came rushing to report, "Princess, something terrible has happened. About an hour ago, the Seven Rings Mountain was attacked by Dawei’s troops. Feng Sheng couldn’t hold them off, and Dawei’s secret agent, along with Master Xie, fell into Nangong Zheng’s hands."
Upon hearing the news, Su Rong’s face changed instantly, and she abruptly pulled on the horse’s reins.
Fen Ling was shocked too and immediately asked the scout, "How many troops did Nangong Zheng bring? What happened to Feng Sheng and his troops? Did they all fall into Nangong Zheng’s hands?"
The scout shook his head, "Nangong Zheng brought three hundred thousand troops. It’s still unclear whether or not Feng Sheng and his troops fell into his hands, but the gap at the Seven Rings Mountain is now open, and Nangong Zheng is moving this way with his troops."
Upon hearing this, Fen Ling turned to look at Su Rong, "Sister?"
Su Rong paled but said nothing, clutching the reins with a tense grip.
Fen Ling gritted her teeth and said, "Excluding the dead and injured, we have over eighty thousand soldiers. We can still put up a fight."
"How can we fight? Along the way, our troops are exhausted, and our headcount is almost four times less than Nangong Zheng’s. Moreover, we have just subdued Nangong’s soldiers, and their loyalty is wavering. If they rebel, we’re all finished." Su Rong’s gaze was cold and somber.
Fen Ling fell silent.
Su Rong continued, "Uncle Xie taught me many things, but he never taught me to risk everything all at once, to act impulsively, to do things which I know are impossible."
After her words, she took a deep breath, "Tie Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo securely, and retreat through the direction Nangong Yun’s troops originally came from."
Fen Ling snapped back to reality and decisively nodded. She shouted, "Retreat!"
Thus, the eighty thousand soldiers retreated in the direction Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo once came from.
Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo, tied and dragged behind the horses with their mouths gagged, were overwhelmed by anger but helpless trailing behind the horses.
After heading fifty miles out, the newly subjugated troops under Nangong Yun began to sense that something was off. Those who suspected that Nangong Zheng had come to their rescue and were unwilling to serve Su Rong started lagging behind, even drawing their swords in opposition.
Fen Ling’s face was steely. After killing a few dissenters and getting stopped by Su Rong, Fen Ling had no choice but to abandon them. "Forget them, let’s go."
The most urgent task was getting Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo away safely. As for the not entirely subdued soldiers, leaving them behind wouldn’t matter, lest they delay the retreat and result in being trapped by Nangong Zheng.
Understanding the situation, Fen Ling complied.
Nangong Zheng also traveled swiftly to enter Nanchu’s border, seizing the Seven Rings Mountain guarded by Feng Sheng. He protected Dawei’s secret agent and secured Xie Yuan. Although he initially wanted to kill Xie Yuan swiftly, he received news that Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo were captured by Su Rong. Grinding his teeth, he commanded Xie Yuan to be tied up, then lead his troops to catch up with Su Rong.
He wanted to kill Su Rong.
Su Rong, leading the troops, quickly travelled a hundred miles and ran into Wanniang and Cheng Yun who were bounding the people of the Nangong family.
The faces of the people from the Nangong family were pale and filled with panic. Since the moment they left the capital, they had never imagined that they would fall into Su Rong’s hands.
The old lady from the Marquis Wan’an Residence fainted upon seeing Su Rong and catching sight of Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo bound behind the horses. Lady Marquis Wan’an managed to stay conscious, but she was ashen. She thought, it’s over, we’re all done for.
Upon seeing the people from the Nangong family, Su Rong, who had been tense all the time, finally smiled. Could these people from the Nangong family be traded for a Xie Yuan? Would Nangong Zheng really choose to avenge Nangong Yin and ignore his own kinsfolk?
Su Rong felt a surge of confidence.
Wanniang joyfully dismounted and greeted her, "Master."
Su Rong nodded at her, smiling, "You did well."
Wanniang’s exhaustion vanished, and she beamed. She pointed at Cheng Yun and said, "This is Commander Cheng."
Cheng Yun looked at Su Rong, he had heard about the princess, but seeing her firsthand was a different story. The girl’s beauty was stunning, elegant and delicate like a peach blossom. She sat upright on her horse, appearing somewhat fragile, yet there was calmness in her gaze, devoid of harshness. Despite her radiant smile, no one dared to underestimate her.
He immediately dismounted and respectedly said, "I, Cheng Yun, pay my respects to the princess."
Su Rong also dismounted and lightly helped him up, "Commander Cheng, you’re dismissed. Working together with Wanniang to capture Nangong’s family was a wise move."
Cheng Yun shrugged off Su Rong’s compliment, "Princess, you give me too much credit. I regret not being able to coordinate with Wanniang to rescue Mr. Xie..."
Su Rong raised her hand to stop him, "I understand. Rescuing people is about outsmarting, not overpowering. You wanted to ensure a safe rescue."
She received a message from Wanniang before coming that Cheng Yun suggested not to confront them directly and wait for her instead, to avoid aggravating Dawei’s secret agent.
Cheng Yun breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, princess, for trusting me."
At this moment, Wanniang noticed that Xie Yuan wasn’t present. She only saw Nangong Yun and Nangong Zhuo being tied behind the horses. Sensing something was wrong and remembering how Su Rong and Fen Ling had hurriedly rushed in earlier, she immediately asked Su Rong, "Master, weren’t you able to save Mr. Xie? What happened?"
Su Rong nodded, "Nangong Zheng has borrowed three hundred thousand troops from Dawei and has entered the border of Nanchu. He broke the blockade of the Seven Rings Mountain and is currently about twenty miles behind us."
Wanniang was shocked, "How did he borrow so many troops from Dawei?"
"If I can borrow three hundred thousand troops from Daliang, it’s not surprising that he could borrow the same amount from Dawei", Su Rong said.
Cheng Yun went pale, "My troops..."
"We won’t have specifics until we face off with Nangong Zheng," Su Rong looked at him, "Your soldiers are familiar with the terrain of the Seven Rings Mountain. If they don’t fight directly, they might not all be slaughtered."
Because of the time constraints, it’s doubtful that Nangong Zheng would have had the time to instill his control over tens of thousands of troops.
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