The number of Hidden Guards Su Rong brought was considerable, strangling the Great Wei Royal Family’s Hidden Guards to the last, leaving not a single survivor.
After killing the last person, Fen Ling cleaned his sword, sheathed it, and turned back to look at Qin Luan, who lay dead on the ground from suicide, cursing under his breath, "Disgusting trash!"
Zhou Gu strongly agreed.
Fen Ling asked, "Sis, just leave this madwoman’s body in the wilderness."
Su Rong shook her head, "Collect her remains and take them back to Qin Ruo."
Fen Ling sighed, "Sister, you are just too kind-hearted and forgiving. This madwoman almost killed your husband."
Su Rong shook her head, "It’s not about being kind-hearted and forgiving, it’s that the person is already dead, so there’s no need for Qin Ruo to come and collect her body again. Over the years, Qin Ruo has been devoted to the Imperial Court, and Qin Luan has done much for the female study, achieving quite a few solid performances. Her betrayal is true, but her accomplishments are also true. Let it be!"
Having said this, she turned to Zhou Gu, "What do you say?"
Zhou Gu did not hesitate, "I’ll listen to you, however you say we should handle it."
Even though he had earlier hated her enough to want to crush her bones and scatter her ashes, now that she was dead and Su Rong had saved him, he no longer cared.
Hearing this, Fen Ling could only order someone to collect Qin Luan’s corpse, placing it behind a horse, and take it back to the Military Camp.
The group quickly left Eight Wilderness Ridge, taking a detour back to the Military Camp.
Meanwhile, in the Military Camp, with Su Rong and Zhou Gu away, the Old Duke of Protectorate sat in command, discussing with Zhang Yun. After Zhou Gu had ordered the transportation of grains from two granaries, they drafted a new battle strategy and seized Eight Wilderness Ridge by attacking Dawei’s troops.
Nangong Zheng and Yuan Chen retreated step by step with their forces.
Yuan Chen, his face ashen, said, "What’s going on? How could our military strategy have been leaked? Is there an insider?"
Nangong Zheng, with a stern face, said, "It’s impossible for there to be a problem with the people around me, Prince, you should check your own people!"
Yuan Chen also said, "The people around me couldn’t possibly be the problem either."
"Then check the supervising officer; the supervising officer is none other than a person from Prince’s Yue Family," Nangong Zheng looked at him.
Yuan Chen’s expression changed, and in the end, he couldn’t say he wouldn’t check, mainly because he wasn’t certain. The Queen he had married was a daughter from a Daliang noble family, which controlled an army. His Imperial Brother had ordered the marriage, and he simply complied.
Thus, while Dawei retreated, they investigated for an insider, enduring Nanchu’s relentless attacks without being able to fight back, losing several cities in the process.
One day, Yuan Chen suddenly erupted in anger at Nangong Zheng, "Nangong Zheng, the supervising officer has been taken under control by my men, so why are we still losing this battle?"
Nangong Zheng’s expression was also extremely somber, "That is a question for the Prince. Are your people clean? In addition, the army’s morale is low. I heard that his Majesty also suffered several defeats against Daliang and lost a number of cities. As for us, we’ve been at a disadvantage from the start, the Empress was captured, and later you said that his Majesty’s hidden assets in Daliang had an effect, leading to problems with Nanchu’s supplies, but it has been over twenty days now, Nanchu is still advancing step by step, without any sign of supply shortages. What exactly is going on?"
Yuan Chen didn’t know, and he was nearly driven mad. Clenching his teeth, he said, "What now? If we keep retreating, we’ll end up in Capital City."
"Isn’t there still a last line of defense in Capital City? If we join forces with the Emperor’s retreating troops by then, perhaps we’ll still have the strength for one more fight," Nangong Zheng said.
Yuan Chen, feeling defeated, said, "I hope so!"
He had not doubted Nangong Zheng, after all, it was well known that Nangong Zheng had an unresolvable feud with Su Rong; he had renounced Nanchu and defected to Dawei—it was impossible for him to stab Dawei in the back.
The last line of defense for Dawei was called Fisher Barrier City.
When Nangong Zheng and Yuan Chen retreated to Fisher Barrier City with the Dawei soldiers, Yuan Zhao stubbornly held on and didn’t retreat to this final defensive line.
But Su Rong and Zhou Gu had returned to the Military Camp, leading the Nanchu army all the way to Fisher Barrier City.
Yuan Chen, pale-faced, said to Nangong Zheng, "We must defend Fisher Barrier City at all costs."
Nangong Zheng looked at Yuan Chen, "Prince, we won’t be able to hold it."
Yuan Chen asked, "Why? If we hold the city, we will surely be able to last until the Emperor arrives at Fisher Barrier City."
Nangong Zheng’s gaze held pity as he spoke frankly, "Because I’m going to open the City Gate."
"What? You..." Yuan Chen was momentarily speechless, staggering back a step and exclaiming in disbelief, "It’s you? You... you’ve betrayed Dawei? All this time, the one leaking military information was you?"
Nangong Zheng nodded, "The Prince is too slow to catch on."
Yuan Chen demanded angrily, "Why? Aren’t you and Su Rong..."
"Right, Su Rong and I are enemies, and I seek vengeance for the death of my grandfather and the downfall of the Nangong Family, which was forced to flee in disarray to Dawei," Nangong Zheng said, taking over the conversation. "But isn’t it more important that the surviving members of the Nangong Family live? Dawei has been showing signs of a crumbling nation for a while now. If I kept siding with Dawei, wouldn’t that be foolish?"
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