Pingliang did not hold out for long. Seeing that defeat was inevitable, the defending general surrendered.

After taking Pingliang, Chen Yi was extremely proud. He pointed at the dilapidated and ruined city wall and said to Yan Sikong, "Sir, look, this is the Pingliang that Feng Ye wanted to exchange for you. It is so vulnerable and so easy to get. He is looking down on you and me. Why should I exchange it with him? What I want..." Chen Yi sneered, "I will take it from him one by one."

Yan Sikong glanced at Chen Yu and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness."

"Sir, you don't seem very happy?"

"Feng Ye has obviously given up Pingliang and Fengxiang and concentrated his forces on Qingyang. Although we won this battle, it is still difficult to advance."

"I can conquer Pingliang now, and I can conquer Taiyuan someday." Chen Yi straightened his chest and said proudly, "Sir, do you think I can do nothing about Fengye's military strength, which is three times that of mine? The imperial court is mobilizing troops to encircle me. Fengye has become a target and will definitely be defeated."

Yan Sikong was troubled because he was worried about Yuan Nanyu, but he still had to calm himself down and smiled lightly, "This is beyond doubt, but Your Highness must not underestimate the enemy, and don't rush into anything. You must proceed step by step."

"I understand." Chen Yu couldn't help but look southwest, "I wonder what the situation is at Dazipo."

Yan Sikong followed his gaze and looked into the distance. There was nothing but the endless gray winter scenery. His heart sank straight down, filled with ominous signs.

It was not until dusk fell that the messenger brought back the news - the news that Yan Sikong was most afraid of hearing.

The Feng family army suffered a crushing defeat at Dazipo, and Yuan Shaoxu and three thousand soldiers were captured. Yuan Nanyu led troops to rescue them, but now they are trapped on a high slope. Three attempts to break out have failed. The King of Chu's army is afraid that a strong attack will cause heavy losses, and the two armies are in a stalemate.

Yan Sikong felt a chill running from his feet straight to his forehead, his whole body suddenly fell into an ice cellar, and everything in front of his eyes went dark.

Chen Yu was overjoyed, clapped his hands vigorously, and said excitedly: "Good! Good!"

Shen Hexuan was also very happy: "Well done, I thought it would be worthwhile to ambush a few thousand of their soldiers, but in the end they surrounded Quewang. This person is more important than Pingliang City."

Chen Yu paced back and forth in the room excitedly: "God help me, God help me!" He turned around suddenly, "Mr.

Yan Sikong forced himself to pull back his chaotic thoughts, but he didn't have time to tidy up the expression on his face, and stared at Chen Yi in a daze.

Chen Yu seemed to have noticed something and frowned, "What are you thinking about, sir? Since the Feng family army was ambushed, you have been absent-minded."

Shen Hexuan looked at Yan Sikong coldly with unfriendly eyes.

Yan Sikong said: "Your Highness is the true dragon emperor, and God will help you. I just thought of Yuan Shaoxu... and I sighed in my heart."

"Why, I captured him alive for you, aren't you happy?"

"No." Yan Sikong smiled bitterly, "He and I are brothers. His biological father Yuan Mao has shown great kindness, and I would sacrifice my life to repay him. I thought that after I escaped, we would never see each other again in this life, but I never expected that it would happen so soon... Although I hate him, I don't know how to deal with him now."

"Sir, you are not such an indecisive person."

"Maybe not for others." Yan Sikong held his forehead and shook his head.

"Lord Yan, are you reluctant to kill him because of his father?" Shen Hexuan sneered, "It's better to keep him. He is not a loyal and brave man. If I persuade him to surrender, I may be able to use him."

"That makes sense." Chen Yu said, "Anyway, the person is in our hands. It's up to you to decide how to deal with him."

"In that case, Your Highness, please escort him to Pingliang." Yan Sikong's eyes flashed coldly, "I will interrogate him personally."

"This person is not worth mentioning." Shen Hexuan said, "The most important thing right now is Prince Que. What are your plans, Your Highness?"

"King Que is as close to Feng Ye as brothers, and he is also known for his loyalty and righteousness. I'm afraid he won't surrender. Maybe he wants to take Feng Ye with him?"

Yan Sikong shook his head: "He would rather commit suicide than drag Feng Ye down."

"It would be a pity to kill him like this. Even if I have to kill him, I should cut off his head and show it to the public, shocking the world."

Shen Hexuan said: "There are still several thousand soldiers trapped with him. They have already burned their boats and will definitely resist to the death. If I force an attack, even if I win, I will lose thousands of soldiers and horses. It's really not worth it."

"We only need to surround them for a few days, and they will starve to death," said Chen Yu.

"They know they are running low on food and grass, so they will definitely try to break out. Feng Ye will definitely send troops to rescue them. If we delay for too long, it may not be to our advantage."

"Then use fire." Chen Yu said coldly, "Burn them all with fire."

Yan Sikong shook his head: "It's early spring now, the snow has melted, the ground is wet, and the sun won't be out for a few days, which is not conducive to a fire attack. He won't surrender, but his soldiers may not be unwilling to surrender. Your Highness is short of troops at this time, and it would be a pity to burn thousands of elite soldiers to death, isn't it?"

Chen Yu stroked his chin and asked, "What should I do?"

"First set up an ambush on the way of the reinforcements to prevent Feng Ye's reinforcements from coming to rescue, and then send people to persuade them to surrender." Shen Hexuan looked at Yan Sikong.

Chen Yu also looked at Yan Sikong, his expression full of hesitation.

Yan Sikong was waiting for the two to come up with this plan. If he came up with it, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. He said, "Your Highness wants me to persuade them to surrender."

Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "No, what if he takes you as a prisoner and wants to take me away?"

“He doesn’t dare…”

"Take Quewang back to Pingliang." Shen Hexuan shouted.

Yan Sikong clenched his fists.

"Tell Quewang that if he surrenders, we will release his soldiers."

"What?" Chen Yu widened his eyes.

Yan Sikong wanted to strangle Shen Hexuan to death on the spot. He originally wanted to persuade him to surrender and help Yuan Nanyu break out, but it didn't work. If they exchanged identities, Yuan Nanyu could get out of the encirclement alive. Now he could only go along with Shen Hexuan and said, "For Feng Ye, Quewang, his right-hand man, is better than thousands of people. If he dies, it will only arouse the indignation of Feng's army. But if he is captured alive, it will severely hit the morale of Feng Ye and Feng's army."

"That's right. Quewang is a bargaining chip. If he dies, he will be useless except for increasing hatred." Shen Hexuan narrowed his eyes. "As long as he is alive, Feng Ye will always be wary of him. This person is very useful."

Chen Yu was silent for a moment: "Okay, forgive him for ending up like this, and he won't dare to do anything to you, sir."

Yan Sikong said in a deep voice: "I will live up to your highness's expectations and bring Quewang back to Pingliang."

It seems that the only opportunity to take action is on the way back.

——

Chen Yi sent his general Qu Jiao to escort Yan Sikong to Dazipo and then escort the captives back to Pingliang. Qu Jiao was both wise and brave, and was loyal to Chen Yi. Yan Sikong knew that it would be extremely difficult to let Yuan Nanyu escape on the way back.

When he arrived at Dazipo, he looked at the white smoke rising from the hillside from afar. Thinking that he was so close to Yuan Nanyu, but he could only watch him trapped in the siege and in danger of his death, his heart felt so heavy that he could hardly breathe.

"Lord Yan, I will send a few guards to escort you up the mountain. If you don't bring Quewang down the mountain before dark, we will attack you by force."

"Okay, thank you General Qu."

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and rode his horse up the hillside.

The main roads on the hillside were guarded by Yuan Nanyu's troops, who pointed their spears at them as soon as they saw them.

Yan Sikong said, "I come here in the name of the King of Chu to ask to see General Que. There are only a few of us here, please inform us."

After the guards discussed in low voices, one of them went to report.

After a while, the man came back and said, "You have to go alone."

"Okay." Yan Sikong left the guard there to wait and followed the guard up the mountain.

Climbing up the hillside, Yan Sikong saw a scene of defeated army. Thousands of soldiers were scattered on the hillside, all of them were covered in dust and looked depressed. Injuries could be seen everywhere. It was a devastating scene.

Many people recognized Yan Sikong. They stood up and looked at him with contempt, hatred and murderous eyes.

Being stared at by countless people with murderous eyes, Yan Sikong's hair stood on end. His Adam's apple rolled and he walked forward without looking around.

"Traitor." Someone among the soldiers shouted softly.

That sound was like a fire that spread all over the prairie, instantly igniting the emotions in the desperate situation. More and more people denounced Yan Sikong, and their voices became louder and louder. They walked towards Yan Sikong step by step, full of resentment, with bloodshot eyes, as if they wanted to tear him to pieces.

Yan Sikong clenched his fists, wondering if he could survive this disaster today.

Just as those people surrounded Yan Sikong, there was a loud "bang" and the loud sound of golden bells pierced everyone's ears, like the ringing of a midnight bell, instantly waking people up.

The crowd consciously made way for a passage, and a slender, familiar figure walked through the crowd. He still had the cold mask on his face, but seeing him standing alive in front of him, Yan Sikong felt a stream of warmth finally flowing into his frozen body.

"General," a general shouted, "I beg you to kill this shameless traitor!"

"Kill the traitor, kill the traitor!" the soldiers shouted loudly.

Yuan Nanyu raised one hand, and the surroundings suddenly became silent.

Yuan Nanyu looked at Yan Sikong deeply, his eyes were extremely complicated, and he whispered, "Follow me."

"General..."

"No need to say more."

Yuan Nanyu turned and left.

Yan Sikong followed with big strides.

Yuan Nanyu brought Yan Sikong into the crude military tent built with wood. He sat down on the stump, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice, "What are you doing here?"

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and asked, "Did you receive my letter?"

"……received."

"You don't believe it, do you?" Yan Sikong trembled, "Do you know why I went to find Chen Yu? For you."

Yuan Nanyu raised his head, looked at Yan Sikong blankly for a long while, and said harshly, "Really?"

Yan Sikong trembled and said, "Check your conscience and follow your intuition. Even if you don't remember anything, do you think in your deepest heart that I would harm you?"

Yuan Nanyu took a long breath, "I don't know, I really... I feel like a fool, just because I don't remember anything, I just let you guys manipulate me. Who is lying and who is sincere? You are all my brothers, how can I tell them apart?!"

Yan Sikong said hoarsely: "You can only tell for yourself."

Yuan Nanyu inserted his hand into Ling Luan's hair, looking extremely painful: "I dare not disbelieve your information, nor do I dare to believe it completely, but my eldest brother doesn't believe it. He thinks you are helping Chen Yu to cheat. You want to take Feng Xiang, and he wants to sneak through Dazipo to attack us from behind."

"Then you let him lead the troops to attack?" Yan Sikong gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe you are so stupid!"

"It's my fault... Out of brotherly love, I never refuted him in public, which allowed him to feel confident and even falsely pass on my military orders..."

"Yuan Nanyu!" Yan Sikong was so angry that his hands and feet were shaking. "You have followed Feng Ye for many years. You have strict military discipline and have never failed. Feng Ye let you lead the army because of this. He is not a nepotist. How can you tolerate your cronies?!"

Yuan Nanyu was filled with regret: "I... In my memory, I have never had any relatives, I..."

"Even so, you should never, ever, ever come to save him!"

Yuan Nanyu lowered his head, as if he was under a heavy pressure: "He and his soldiers were ambushed. As the commander-in-chief, I cannot deny the blame."

Yan Sikong was heartbroken and resentful. Everyone has weaknesses, and Yuan Nanyu's biggest weakness is that he is too sentimental. Before they appeared, Yuan Nanyu would not make mistakes because of this weakness, but the sudden appearance of the brothers was too important to his blank past, so he made a stupid mistake, and the consequences were irreversible.

Yuan Nanyu raised his head and slowly took off his mask. His eyes were red, tears welled up in his eyes, and he was full of self-blame.

Yan Sikong felt extremely uncomfortable. He squatted down, held Yuan Nanyu's face, and whispered, "Don't be afraid. My second brother is here. I will rescue you."

Yuan Nanyu shook his head: "I am unworthy of being the commander, I am unworthy of the Wolf King and the soldiers, I will live and die with them."

"Yu'er." Yan Sikong looked deeply into his eyes. "No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. But only if you are alive can you correct your mistakes, avenge the soldiers, and atone for your sins to the Wolf King, right?"

Yuan Nanyu stared at Yan Sikong in a daze.

"Listen to me." Yan Sikong whispered, "Chen Yi sent me here today to persuade you to surrender. He wants you to go to Pingliang alone, and he will let the soldiers go."

"Really?" Yuan Nanyu's eyes widened, "Will he really let the others go?"

Yan Sikong nodded: "I wanted to wait for an opportunity to let you escape halfway, but the one in charge of escorting you is a fierce general under Chen Yu's command, and he will not give us such an opportunity. You come with me to Pingliang, and I will try to help you escape. Otherwise, you will be trapped here and there is only one way to go."

"But..." Yuan Nanyu hesitated, "If he forces me to take off the mask."

"There's no point in worrying about that now. We can only adapt to the situation as it happens." Yan Sikong said in a deep voice, "If you don't come down soon, they will set fire to the mountain when the snow melts away."

Yuan Nanyu's stiff mouth twitched slightly: "...Okay, I surrender, as long as he lets the others go."

Yan Sikong said sternly, "Yu'er, you must not commit suicide. Yuan Shaoxu and three thousand soldiers have been escorted back to Pingliang. Chen Yu has many ways to capture you. You have to live. Do you understand? You must live. Second brother swears that he will help you escape at all costs."

Yuan Nanyu bit his lip and nodded heavily.