At three o'clock in the morning, all the passages leading to the four directions of east, south, west and north in the capital were cleared. On each road, thousands of people on horseback quickly rushed out of the capital under the cover of moonlight and galloped towards the four directions of Western Chu.
On the road to the south, armored soldiers marched through the dense jungle. Silver moonlight, shaded by leaves, fell sporadically on the night travelers, illuminating the solemn expressions on their faces and the flickering murderous intent in their eyes...
In the silent woods, where only the chirping of cicadas remained, there was only the clanging of horses' hooves on the ground. The wild beasts hiding everywhere felt the murderous aura coming towards them, and hid in the dark, not daring to show themselves. They could only growl softly from time to time to express their unwillingness.
"Your Majesty, there seems to be something uneasy on this road." The moonlight faded and the sun rose. They unexpectedly left the capital safely. Ning Feng looked back at the jungle that was still shrouded in darkness by the shade of the trees, and an ominous premonition lingered in his heart.
"Hmph, they don't even dare to take action in the capital." Jiang Muchen is a very perceptive person. How could he not know what Ning Feng can sense?
Jiang Muchen knew how many pairs of eyes were staring at them along the way.
On his way to the imperial city, Qu Changqing was ambushed by the Dongyu army, leaving him alone in a group of hundreds. This showed that everyone was on high alert, with every move being watched. Now the competition was about who was faster.
This place is very close to the capital, and if they attack them rashly, they will probably alert the enemy, so they were able to pass through the woods smoothly.
I'm afraid the journey ahead won't be as peaceful as last night.
Ning Feng saw the understanding in Emperor Dexi's eyes and knew that Jiang Muchen had already understood the intentions of all parties before leaving the capital. He thought for a moment before speaking, "We will reach the post station ahead in half a day. Your Majesty has worked hard all night and can rest. I can also add more people to protect Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty has been wronged now..."
Ning Feng glanced sideways at Jiang Muchen's armor, which was that of an ordinary soldier, and felt uncomfortable.
Seeing that Ning Feng had prepared everything according to the pre-arranged plan, Jiang Muchen nodded sternly, and once again whipped the horse, the horse he was sitting on instantly broke into a gallop...
"Everyone rest for half an hour, and then get on the road immediately after replenishing the food and water needed for the journey." After arriving at the post station smoothly, Jiang Muchen and all the soldiers dismounted and entered the post station. After whispering instructions to Ning Feng, he led several lieutenant generals following behind him into the post station.
"Have the people leaving the city from the other three sides been attacked?" Jiang Muchen asked a lieutenant general while taking advantage of a short period of time for replenishment.
"Your Majesty, everything seems to be as normal as ours, and we haven't been attacked yet. Perhaps the Sea King and the Chu King are trying to determine which team is hiding the true Emperor, so they're not acting rashly." The lieutenant general immediately relayed the information he had to Jiang Muchen. Since leaving the city last night, no signals from the other three sides have been received, indicating that everyone is currently safe.
After hearing this, Jiang Muchen fell into silence. Chu Feiyang and Hai Quan were patient. They either didn't take action, or if they did, they would definitely kill their opponents.
"Let's go immediately!" Since Chu Feiyang and Hai Quan were still waiting and watching, he naturally had to reach the south before they came to their senses.
Jiang Muchen stood up without hesitation, led everyone out of the post station, and set out on the journey again...
Five days later, Jiang Muchen led everyone to stand on the plain and look down. The entire Tongzhou was in his sight. His eyes were as gloomy as the dark clouds in the sky...
"Your Majesty, we should reach the military camp by evening. With most of Jiangnan now in Bai Wuhen's hands, we should return to the camp and make further plans." Ning Feng saw Emperor Dexi's eyes fixed on Tongzhou City in the distance. He knew that the Sea King now controlled most of Jiangnan, angering the Emperor. To prevent Emperor Dexi from taking drastic action, Ning Feng could only do his best to dissuade him.
Jiang Muchen stared coldly at the heavily guarded Tongzhou City in the distance. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he gently pulled the reins with both hands, turned his horse's head, and was about to lead his troops towards the military camp when he suddenly heard a sound that resounded through the sky...
'Bang……'
Before everyone could react, a guard who was protecting Jiang Muchen fell off his horse and died without even struggling.
Everyone looked down and saw that the guard's chest was bleeding, with blood pouring out of his chest...
Seeing that even their sturdy armor couldn't withstand the attack of this unknown object, a commotion broke out among Emperor Dexi's troops. Everyone drew their swords and vowed to protect the emperor. However, they didn't understand where the hidden weapon came from. They looked up at the trees around them, trying to find the thief's hiding place...
'Bang, bang, bang...' Gunshots rang out one after another, and more and more guards fell down. The smell of gunpowder filled the air as the gunshots rang out. The pale yellow sulfur immediately blinded everyone's eyes, making it impossible to find the killer's exact hiding place.
"Don't panic, rush to the military camp as quickly as possible..." Jiang Muchen calmed down after his initial surprise. As he whipped his horse and galloped towards the military camp, he even turned back to look in the direction of Tongzhou. His eyes were filled with a murderous aura and an inextricable blood...
After receiving Jiang Muchen's order, everyone immediately put away their panic, protected Jiang Muchen, and tried their best to escape from here.
Just as he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out from the sky, brushing past Jiang Muchen's shoulder...
"Protect the emperor!" Seeing Jiang Muchen injured, the generals were shocked and surrounded Jiang Muchen in an instant, no longer daring to be careless.
Ning Feng quickly commanded hundreds of archers to form a formation behind Jiang Muchen, blocking the enemy's sneak attack...
'Swish, swish, swish...' All of a sudden, the sounds of gunfire and arrows broke through the air!
However, the arrows only hit the tree trunks, and the archers fell one after another...
"Boom..." A loud noise was heard from the sky. The dark clouds in the sky instantly gathered together, and heavy rain poured down from the sky like a bowl of water, soaking everyone's clothes in the blink of an eye...
"Retreat!" A deep and steady voice echoed amidst the pouring rain, and the tense atmosphere in the woods instantly vanished...
"Stop!" Ning Feng had been hiding behind the archer. When he saw the other party stopped attacking, he immediately appeared, his eyes fixed on the quiet woods in front of him. Seeing that the heavy rain had washed away the smoke-filled woods, making the vision in front of him clearer, Ning Feng's eyes seemed to be thinking about something, and then he asked about the casualties of the guards beside him.
"Five hundred men, ninety-three wounded, two hundred and sixty-eight dead." A guard stepped forward and reported the casualties to Ning Feng. He then squatted down to examine the wounds of the guards who had fallen to the ground. Frowning, he asked, "Sir Ning, what kind of weapon is this? Why have I never seen this before? And who dares to attack here?"
Hearing this, Ning Feng frowned, then stepped forward to check the wounds of the deceased. Seeing that all the guards who were injured in vital parts were killed, he realized how powerful this weapon was.
"Retreat to the barracks first, then send someone to collect the bodies." Ning Feng looked down at the bodies washed by the rain, each bleeding bright red, and his heart grew even more vigilant. This place was not a good place to stay for long. Ning Feng finally understood why the emperor turned his head to look towards Tongzhou before leaving. No wonder there had been no mishaps along the way; it turned out that Haiquan's men had been waiting here, intending to strike the emperor with a crushing blow, killing him.
However, what puzzled Ning Feng was why those killers stopped when they saw it was raining?
"Quick, call the military doctor!" The generals of a column protected Jiang Muchen and ran towards King Chen's military camp in the heavy rain. Before they approached the gate of the military camp, a general shouted to the soldiers on guard outside the gate.
For a moment, there was chaos in King Chen's military camp. All military doctors were summoned to the commander-in-chief's tent and took turns to take Jiang Muchen's pulse and treat his injuries.
However, none of the military doctors had ever encountered such a case. Everyone was dumbfounded and didn't know how to treat it. They stood in the tent and discussed for a long time but still couldn't come up with a plan.
"How is the emperor?" Ning Feng stepped into the tent with rain stains all over his body. Before he could wipe the rain off his body, he asked about Jiang Muchen's condition.
"I'm fine!" Unexpectedly, before the group of military doctors could speak, Jiang Muchen had already walked out of the inner tent.
He was only wearing a yellow satin inner garment, but there was a blood stain on his left shoulder, which was extremely conspicuous on the golden cloth. He was pressing the wound with his right hand, so that no one could see the extent of the injury.
"Have you caught those killers?" Jiang Muchen looked at Ning Feng coldly and asked, not caring about the wound on his shoulder at all.
Ning Feng knew his master's temper very well, so he could only quickly recount the situation and elaborate on his own deductions. Finally, he advised, "Your Majesty, please ask the military doctor to diagnose the case. What if they used poison..."
Unexpectedly, Jiang Muchen raised his hand to stop Ning Feng from speaking, and then said calmly: "You just said that the bloodstains on the ground washed away by the rain were all bright red, which means that the other party did not use poison. I only have a scratch on my shoulder, so don't worry too much."
After saying this, Jiang Muchen called over the military doctor beside him and asked him to stop the bleeding for him, while he focused his attention on the military affairs in front of him.
After listening in detail to the recent situation in the Jiangnan cities, Jiang Muchen spoke again, "Although the incident did happen in Jiangnan this time, Chu Feiyang has always been cunning, so there's no guarantee that this isn't a trick of his. Moreover, Dongyu is now frequently in trouble with the Chu King's army, so there's no guarantee that this isn't a means for him to protect himself. However, there's also no guarantee that this isn't Haiquan's deliberate conspiracy to make me think this is Chu Feiyang's trick. We must be quiet and everyone must not spread the news of my attack this time."
The generals understood the meaning of Jiang Muchen's words and did not dare to say anything more. They could only nod in agreement.
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