Chapter 60: The rebel cavalry tramples the tyrant emperor, and the silver spear breaks the gate of heaven!
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and Zhao Huaixu was still sleeping.
Fang Yilan nearly fell down when she stood up. Her waist and abdomen were sore. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to practice martial arts.
The tip of the spear broke through the stone that suddenly flew towards him, and Fang Yilan retracted the spear with his backhand and slammed it heavily to the ground.
Glancing at the end of the corridor, the Qingya mask flashed a cold light, glanced at her and then left.
Seeing that he seemed to have something to say, Fang Yilan put the spear back on the weapon rack and moved to follow him.
"Brother, aren't you tired of talking to me as He Wei?"
The masked man stood with his back to the shadows of the bamboo forest, his black cloak blown by the morning breeze.
"Rui Ning demands that Nanzhao release the Seventh Prince and offer your head." The sword at his waist clanged softly as Fang Yicen turned. "Otherwise, three hundred thousand soldiers will arrive tomorrow."
Before Fang Yilan could reply, he continued, "Go ahead, change your identity, hide your real name, and live freely."
Fang Yilan asked in return, "Brother, why don't you change your identity and live freely? Why do you have to replace He Wei and get involved in this again?"
Fang Yicen's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something but was speechless. A deep frown formed between his brows as he said, "It's because I know the pros and cons of this that I'm trying to persuade you to leave!"
Fang Yilan crushed a gravel with the sole of his boot and said calmly, "I've suffered enough persecution. Yilan will avenge any grudge I have. I will make them pay for the crimes I've endured with blood!"
"You want..." Fang Yicen's face suddenly changed when he heard this: "Our Fang family has protected the country for generations. How can we bear the stigma of being a traitor!"
"So what if it's treason?" Fang Yilan's eyes grew sharp. "Is that why, brother, you'd rather live in Nanzhao under He Wei's guise than protect the Fang family's century-old reputation?"
Fang Yicen pounded the splintered bamboo fiercely: "No one in my Fang family has ever had a good ending."
"Over the years, we risked our lives for Ruining, fought bloody battles, and what did we get? Endless suspicion and frame-ups."
"Alan... do you know how much blood these two words cost..."
"Hasn't enough blood been shed? Those who shed blood and tears were all heroes who died for the people, and those who survived are all parasites sucking the blood and flesh of the people!" Fang Yilan interrupted him, "I don't care if people call me a traitor or a traitor. I only know that the people are living in dire straits and suffering unspeakably. This world has long been a mess because of that tyrant. We shouldn't fight for imperial power, but for the people of the world."
Fang Yicen glanced at the marks on her neck and his face darkened. "You can rebel if you want. But Zhao Huaixu is the emperor's biological son. Do you really think he can abandon his bloodline?" He suddenly approached. "He keeps you by his side only to save his own life, so he can use you to seize imperial power."
"Since I can see through my brother's disguise, how can I not discern his true feelings?" Fang Yilan chuckled and said, "If he ever betrays me, I will kill him."
"If you insist on having your own way, there's no need for us to talk anymore."
"Yilan's decision will not be easily changed." Fang Yilan said calmly, "Brother, why don't you think more about Sister Qingjun and stop thinking about running away. You should cherish the present and protect and love her."
Fang Yicen's back suddenly straightened, and his voice became hoarse: "She deserves better..."
"If you truly feel that you are not the best choice, then Sister Qingyun is indeed... better..."
Before he could finish his words, a Nanzhao soldier hurried over, knelt on one knee and said, "Generals, His Majesty invites you to come over."
The brother and sister looked at each other and immediately understood the intention of the King of Nanzhao to summon them. After following the soldiers away, a white figure appeared at the corner of the bamboo forest.
...
The King of Nanzhao stood in the main hall. Aruo changed into a brocade robe and stood guard beside the King of Nanzhao. His eyes no longer had the luster of the past.
"You are Fang Yilan." The king of Nanzhao walked up to Fang Yilan as his gold-embroidered brocade robe swept across the jade steps. "A bird has returned to its nest. I want to thank you."
"A dying Ruining man took my princess away. Although he didn't kill her, he didn't protect her well either. He drove all the Nanzhao people out of the city, calling them disgusting insects and threatening Nanzhao with their lives. In the end, my people of Nanzhao were slaughtered."
"Mother..." Aruo knelt on the jade bricks, her forehead touching the ground, tears streaming down her face. "It's Aruo's fault. It's Aruo who failed to protect the people of Nanzhao."
"I know what you're thinking. You thought that if you saved He Shou, they would regard the Nanzhao people as your benefactors, and the war between the two countries would not continue." She touched Aruo's head: "I don't think you did anything wrong. You must have suffered a lot in the past few years."
"Get up, you will always be the princess of Nanzhao and the future king of Nanzhao."
The King of Nanzhao looked at Fang Yilan again and said, "Nanzhao and Ruining have been friends for generations, but the Ruining of today is no longer the same as it was during the time of the previous emperor. The one sitting on the throne would rather join forces with Xiling to wipe us out."
Ruining and Xiling? Join forces?
Fang Yilan suddenly turned around and looked at Fang Yicen, but Fang Yicen had a gloomy look on his face and didn't say a word.
The King of Nanzhao said in a deep voice, "With three hundred thousand troops approaching, what conditions do you think Emperor Jingwen has offered me to withdraw?"
Seeing Fang Yilan's calm expression, the King of Nanzhao smiled and said, "Judging from your expression, it seems your brother has already informed you before me. Now that Nanzhao is weak, we cannot match the military strength of Ruining. I can only hand you over in exchange for the peace of my people."
Fang Yilan knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to lend me some troops."
"You are indeed courageous, but what makes you think you can win?" The King of Nanzhao raised an eyebrow and then asked, "With such a huge disparity in military strength, you can't win by just using tricks."
Fang Yilan raised his eyes, looked directly into the eyes of the King of Nanzhao, and said, "Your Majesty, even if you really handed over the Seventh Prince and me, how can you be sure that Emperor Jingwen would keep his promise and let Nanzhao go? The fact that Emperor Jingwen has mobilized an army to demand my head shows that he fears me and regards me as a serious threat."
"Besides, if Your Majesty really wanted to present my head, my head would have been hanging on the city gate by now. Why would you call me to the hall to see it?" Fang Yilan raised his lip and eyebrows, the vitality of weeds overflowing from his eyes.
The King of Nanzhao could hardly hide his admiration. He raised his head and laughed loudly, saying, "Alright, I will trust you this time and lend you my troops. I also want to see how the feared general of the Fang family fights one against a hundred."
...
The next day, the Fang brother and sister climbed up the city wall. Three hundred thousand troops were approaching and formed an iron curtain under the city.
Fang Yilan noticed Deputy General Lin and Lieutenant General Wang standing on their horses in front of the army, and the Linque Cavalry who were supposed to guard the border were also lined up among them.
Zhuang Gu's eyes were red. "General, they deliberately called in the Northwest Army! They just want to see us fighting and killing each other."
Fang Yicen sneered, "This is just a common tactic used by that dog emperor."
He Pingfei finally took off his black robe and stood in the sunlight, saying arrogantly: "Fang Yilan, He Wei, you have committed the unforgivable crime of treason. Today is the day you will die!"
Fang Yilan shook his gun and said calmly, "It's still uncertain who will die!"
"Open the city and fight!"
The war drums suddenly sounded, the city gates opened, and Fang Yilan, riding on Jiaoyue, took the lead and charged forward.
With the sound of flying horse hooves, Fang Yilan charged into the enemy formation, the silver spear in his hand flying up and down, causing two Ruining war horses to kneel to the ground, and he killed several enemy soldiers.
Seven steps away, Fang Yicen's blade collided with the enemy's longsword. Fang Yicen looked at the silver-armored figure tearing a hole in the enemy's formation. Fang Yilan's spearmanship was no less than his own in the past.
He shouted loudly, and the back of the black iron knife suddenly picked up the tip of the enemy's sword. Fang Yicen slashed it diagonally with his backhand. The three enemy soldiers were unable to dodge, and the blade instantly tore a bloody wound on their necks, and their bodies fell to the ground with a bang.
Fang Yicen wiped the blood off his face. He couldn't lose to his sister.
When an arrow shot towards Fang Yicen's back, Fang Yilan swung his spear in mid-air to cut off the arrow.
She stepped on the falling arrow shaft and jumped up. Fang Yicen's iron knife and silver spear attacked the shield formation in front, and the shield formation was instantly broken into pieces.
The brother and sister worked in perfect harmony, galloping through the enemy formation and interweaving their positions. The surrounding Ruining army was unable to resist and retreated in defeat.
"Brother!" Fang Yilan lifted up the half-broken Ruining military flag with the tip of his gun.
"Here it comes." Fang Yicen slammed the back of his knife on the end of the flagpole, and the blood-stained broken flag flew towards He Pingfei at a rapid speed.
He Pingfei was hit on the shoulder by a flying flagpole, and his anger intensified: "Kill him!"
A familiar vibration came from the gun barrel, and Fang Yilan's heart tightened. Lieutenant General Lin's knife seemed to be slashing towards her throat fiercely, but the blade suddenly lost its power the moment it touched the gun tassel.
She looked up and met the bloodshot eyes of Deputy General Lin. Although he was wielding his weapon with great vigor, he always kept a distance from her.
"Uncle Lin..." Fang Yilan noticed something was wrong and pretended to sweep the gun handle across the other person's knee.
Lieutenant General Lin stumbled and knelt, saying in a voice only the two of them could hear: "General, I have been a soldier of the Fang family army all my life. The emperor is incompetent, and our Northwest Army cannot be used to slaughter loyal and good people!"
"Clang!" The black sword was thrown heavily into the bloody ground by Deputy General Lin.
The Northwest Army, which was waving its weapons, finally received the signal. They stopped rushing towards the city gate, turned around and pointed at He Pingfei's troops.
Three thousand Lingque cavalry quickly gathered and formed a battle formation in front of Fang Yilan.
The sound of "General" reflected the faces that Fang Yilan was very familiar with.
A heat surged in Fang Yilan's throat. He pointed his silver spear at He Pingfei and shouted, "The Fang army's blades are only aimed at the real enemy! Northwest Army, listen to my order! The iron cavalry will crush the tyrant emperor, and the silver spear will break through the gate of heaven!"
The three thousand Riming Sparrow Riders reined in their horses and turned around almost simultaneously, roaring like wild beasts: "Kill!"
Wang Ren, one of He Shou's former subordinates, pushed aside three imperial guards and took advantage of the chaos to charge at Fang Yicen. "Young General! It's my incompetence that I failed to protect General He Shou!"
Fang Yicen cracked his knuckles until they cracked, and snatched a Southwest Army flag. "Soldiers of the Southwest Army, have you forgotten who killed General He Shou?"
The southwestern soldiers paused their attack and turned to look at him.
Fang Yicen continued to roar, "Do you want to be a dog of a tyrant emperor, or a bloodthirsty wolf?"
The Southwestern Army threw away the new badges on their waists and shouted, "We are the He family army. We would rather die than be dogs of a tyrant! Kill!"
Two completely different war cries tore through the battlefield, and the Ruining army suddenly split into two torrents, and 100,000 Ruining soldiers defected on the spot.
The Northwest Army's black-armored cavalry smashed the Ruining Imperial Guard's formation, and the Southwest Army madly attacked the surrounding Imperial Guards.
"There are still two hundred thousand left." Fang Yilan shook off the blood beads on the red tassel.
Fang Yicen stared at the scattered imperial guards, his teeth bared beneath his mask. "A mere two hundred thousand men, even if we fight till dawn, what's the harm?"
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