Ji Xinhe coldly asked, "Is there any movement on the back of Mingyin Mountain?"
"Just as the princess predicted, there are indeed forces arriving, but..."
"But what?" Ji Xinhe asked coldly.
"But from what I can see, those banners look like Da Qian’s, could they be our reinforcements?" General Zheng said doubtingly.
Ji Xinhe chuckled, "The imperial court’s troops? They have finally arrived."
"The princess knew they would come?"
"Do you really think that the Rouyi Army alone can break Yu State with just fifty thousand troops? The Rouyi Army is merely the vanguard. Now that they’re about to exhaust their strength, it’s natural that the imperial court’s reinforcements would arrive," Ji Xinhe coldly stated. "But don’t panic, I’ve long had a plan to deal with these troops from the imperial court."
General Zheng looked at Ji Xinhe in awe, even he didn’t fully trust in her plans before, but now he was truly amazed.
"Order our troops to continue fighting the Rouyi Army with all our might. They are not to be underestimated. We must not be careless."
"Yes!"
Meanwhile...
Pei Yong, who was lying in ambush behind the back of Mingyin Mountain, was getting restless. Seeing the imperial court’s forces appear here, his urge to fight was uncontrollable. However, he didn’t dare act rashly without orders from Ji Xinhe, so he held himself back.
That was, until there was a sudden commotion amongst the imperial court’s forces. Pei Yong subtly observed from the bushes and saw that there were somehow "insiders" among them!
He didn’t recognize the person, but he recognized the camouflage uniform!
Wasn’t that the battle attire Ji Xinhe had specially prepared for the assault team of Yu State?!
Pei Yong was taken aback when he saw one of the bushes suddenly transform into an assault team member dressed in camouflage, decisively killing one of the imperial court’s officers with a swift, accurate, and ruthless flick of his dagger.
Unsuspecting, the officer had approached the bush and was ambushed!
Before the commotion amongst the imperial court’s forces could even erupt, the surrounding rocks, trees, and bushes "transformed" into people one after another. Almost all of them efficiently eliminated an officer with swift sword strokes.
Within a few seconds, over half of the officers amongst the imperial court’s forces were dead!
Truly, this was the work of the assault team trained by Ji Xinhe!
Also, the assault team was all equipped with daggers, not long swords or other visible weapons, which could give their positions away. The daggers were kept hidden in their sleeves, ready to be used at any time. After all, the assault team’s mission was close-quarter combat; using long swords would only hinder them and were not as efficient as daggers.
The imperial court’s forces finally realized what was happening, and immediately began yelling, "Who are they?! Kill them all!"
Just then, a soldier hastily ran to Pei Yong’s side and whispered, "Deputy General Pei, our orders from the princess are to attack now!"
Long since restless, Pei Yong leapt up, lead his team of five thousand men, and charged out whilst brandishing his sword, "Kill them all!"
Screams echoed throughout the forest as Pei Yong’s reinforcements arrived, allowing the assault team to withdraw successfully. Ji Xinhe’s orders for them was to strike, specifically, killing off the officers amongst the imperial court’s forces. Everything else, they did not need to worry about. Once the backup troops arrived, they were to immediately retreat.
When Xiaochaihuo returned, Ji Xinhe was already waiting.
"How is it?"
Xiaochaihuo:" Everything went as planned by the princess."
Only then did Ji Xinhe sighed in relief ,"That’s good. Any injuries?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
She looked him up and down, Xiaochaihuo shook his head, "No."
Ji Xinhe reached out and yanked his arm over. Seeing the deep cut that hadn’t been treated, she widened her eyes, "Do you not care about your arm?"
Xiaochaihuo lowered his head, "I’m sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to me? It’s your own body you should apologize to!" Ji Xinhe was truly angry, this child was just...
Xiaochaihuo muttered in a quiet voice, "I shouldn’t have lied to you."
But he just didn’t want to worry her.
She had already been bearing so much in these days, he didn’t want to add even a shred of worry onto her, not even a small worry.
Ji Xinhe poked him in the forehead, "Sometimes, I don’t understand what is in that head of yours!"
Ji Xinhe, visibly angered, lectured him, "What you should be thinking about now is how you injured your hand like this. If this affects your sword-wielding or writing, can you forgive yourself for it?"
"Yes," Xiaochaihuo replied with his head bowed.
Ji Xinhe, seeing him like this, couldn’t bear to scold him any more, and impatiently said, "Alright, go have someone treat your wound properly."
She then shouted, "Get a military doctor to tend to his injury!"
Quickly, a soldier answered, "Yes."
Xiaochaihuo knew that he was just a hindrance here, so he went to get his wound treated.
Ji Xinhe then made her way to the city wall to observe the battle. The Rouyi army was already at a disadvantage, and she knew that once the imperial court’s forces showed signs of a mishap, the Rouyi army would likely retreat. After all, they were hired by the imperial court; if their employer can’t look after themselves, why would the Rouyi army continue to serve them?
"How is the battle progressing?"
General Zheng excitedly replied, "The Rouyi Army already shows signs of defeat, they’ll probably retreat soon."
Ji Xinhe nodded but was interrupted before she could say anything by a soldier who ran up from below the city wall, knelt down and announced, "Your Highness, there’s a servant from the royal mansion seeking an audience. She says it’s urgent."
Ji Xinhe’s expression changed, "Send her in!"
Xiaoyu ran up, her expression frantic, "It’s terrible, Your Highness, Song Yalin has escaped!"
Ji Xinhe narrowed her eyes, "Escaped? How could she escape on her own?"
"We think she probably had someone outside to help her. We never expected that amidst this chaos she would take the opportunity to escape. We were focused on protecting the young princess and Young Master Xiaobei. Where can she go? What use is escaping?" Xiaoyu was anxious, but also confused.
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