Du Cheng'an was a master archer.
He will surely be of great use on the battlefield.
That would be a great achievement.
General Zhenyuan had only one son.
Du Cheng'an shot and killed the only son of the Zhenyuan General, which would surely enrage the Zhenyuan General. When people are angry, they are prone to making mistakes. Making mistakes in troop deployment on the battlefield can be fatal.
When this good news reached the capital, Princess Huyang was proud of her son. In the past six months, she had complained quite a bit about how her husband had agreed to let Du Cheng'an go to the battlefield.
The Emperor was overjoyed and bestowed gifts upon Princess Huyang and her husband, as well as Du Cheng'an's adoptive parents.
Du Cheng'an was left to wander outside after birth, yet his talent was not buried, which is truly remarkable.
However, the Emperor and Princess Huyang were unaware that while they were feeling proud of Du Cheng'an, Du Cheng'an, far away on the frontier battlefield, had lured the enemy with his own body and was almost beaten to death by General Zhenyuan.
Du Cheng'an was an exceptional archer and often used his bow and arrow to kill people under the cover of the Prince of Yanping and his accomplices.
That's how General Zhenyuan's son died from Du Cheng'an's arrow.
The General of Zhenyuan was enraged when his only son was killed by Du Cheng'an. He was determined to take Du Cheng'an's head at all costs to avenge his son.
From that day on, wherever Du Cheng'an went to the battlefield, Xi Liang would besiege him.
If it weren't for the desperate rescue by Prince Yanping and Tang Ze, Du Cheng'an probably wouldn't have had the chance to return from the battlefield the next day.
Du Cheng'an's life was now completely in the sights of General Zhenyuan. Xie Jingyan was even more afraid that there were still spies of Prince Cheng in the military camp who had not yet been exposed. If Prince Cheng used Du Cheng'an's life to appease General Zhenyuan, then it would be impossible to guard against.
A general suggested that Du Cheng'an return to the capital, but Du Cheng'an disagreed. He argued that the Western Liang army had not yet withdrawn, and if he went back like this, wouldn't it be as if he was afraid of the Western Liang?
He could accept losing face himself, but he absolutely could not lose face for his father and the emperor.
He was able to come to the border this time entirely because his father spoke up for him. If he really went back like this, his mother would definitely never let him go to the battlefield again.
He would rather die on the battlefield than do such a shameful thing.
Xie Jingyan admired Du Cheng'an's backbone and said, "Perhaps we can take advantage of General Zhenyuan's murderous intent towards you and capture him alive."
The Crown Prince of Yanping disagreed, saying, "This is too risky."
Du Cheng'an said, "I'm not afraid!"
Even Shen Jing disagreed with Xie Jingyan's actions. Du Cheng'an was the only son of Princess Huyang and her husband. If anything went wrong, Princess Huyang and the Emperor would not forgive him for using himself to lure the enemy.
Xie Jingyan knew this was a risky move, but since he made such a suggestion, he must have some confidence in it.
He made a detailed plan and, on the day the plan was implemented, gave Du Cheng'an the breastplate that the emperor had given him.
After arriving on the battlefield, the soldiers of Xiliang once again besieged Du Cheng'an. Du Cheng'an pretended to be outmatched and fled for his life under the cover of the Prince of Yanping and Tang Ze. In his panic, he fled to a place not far from the General of Zhenyuan.
Upon seeing General Zhenyuan, Du Cheng'an turned pale and fled.
He had the chance to avenge his son himself, and with neither the Prince of Yanping nor Tang Ze present, Du Cheng'an only had a few soldiers by his side. This was tantamount to suicide, and General Zhenyuan would not miss it.
As Xie Jingyan had predicted, General Zhenyuan personally killed Du Cheng'an. Du Cheng'an was good at archery, but his martial arts were no match for General Zhenyuan. Fortunately, he had a breastplate, which allowed him to withstand a kick from General Zhenyuan.
Well, Prince Yanping, Tang Ze, and Lu Cheng are not with Du Cheng'an, but those soldiers are not ordinary people; they are Chen Feng, Chen Yu, and Xie Jingyan in disguise.
Du Cheng'an was kicked by the Zhenyuan General and staggered a few steps. When the General tried to kill Du Cheng'an again, Xie Jingyan stopped him.
The moment General Zhenyuan recognized Xie Jingyan, he realized he had fallen into a trap, but it was too late. Prince Yanping and Tang Zechendu led their men to cut off General Zhenyuan's retreat and surrounded him and his dozen or so confidants.
General Zhenyuan was arrogant and confident that even with only himself and a dozen or so trusted men, he could fight his way out.
However, he underestimated Xie Jingyan's martial arts skills. In the eyes of General Zhenyuan, Xie Jingyan was just a prince who was demoted to guard the imperial tomb at the age of twelve, and who had been in a wheelchair for two years. He was also a prince who would suffer from acclimatization problems on the battlefield. He was no match for General Zhenyuan.
If you can't kill the Emperor of Great Chu's own nephew, then taking the life of the Emperor of Great Chu's own son to be buried with his son is just as good.
General Zhenyuan and Xie Jingyan clashed on the battlefield.
Xie Jingyan initially thought he was suffering from acclimatization issues, but later learned that it was actually his wife's pregnancy. Regardless of the cause, it was enough for the soldiers of Xiliang to disregard him. After recovering, Xie Jingyan personally led troops to fight the enemy, but he never used his full strength when fighting ordinary soldiers or even generals. General Zhenyuan truly did not know the depth of his martial arts skills.
Not to mention that General Zhenyuan didn't know, Xie Jingyan himself wasn't very clear either, otherwise he wouldn't have broken one of the ribs of the Marquis of Anding with a kick.
But based on Xie Jingyan's understanding of himself, he was 50% confident that he could capture the Zhenyuan General alive.
Even if he can't, he's confident he can get away unscathed.
There's no reason not to give it a try.
Then--
Just as planned.
General Zhenyuan, eager to avenge his son and underestimating his enemy, was captured alive by Xie Jingyan.
The general was captured alive, and the Western Liang army suffered a crushing defeat.
The Crown Prince of Xiliang wants to get rid of General Zhenyuan. General Zhenyuan's life is not worth much. Xie Jingyan wants Xiliang to exchange Prince Cheng for General Zhenyuan.
King Cheng was hiding in the Xiliang army camp. He knew that General Zhenyuan was eager to avenge his son, but he did not expect that Xie Jingyan would dare to use the son of Princess Huyang and the eldest son-in-law as bait to capture General Zhenyuan alive.
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