Chapter 254: Chapter 172: Two Renowned Generals

It was a truly wretched sight.

Furthermore, the Beiyou Royal Mansion had dispatched many assassins from the Jianghu, and the Unparalleled Marquis and his men had already endured several attempts on their lives along the way.

One attempt had even come dangerously close to succeeding.

For them, it was an experience unlike any they had ever had.

Seeing the Unparalleled Marquis’s grim expression, Xiao Heng said slowly, "I just received word. Prince Ze has led his army to Songzhou. Once we rendezvous with them, we can counterattack Great Qin.

Starting tomorrow, we must quicken our pace."

A glimmer of light appeared on the Unparalleled Marquis’s previously somber face. He looked at Xiao Heng and said, "Master Xiao, I’ll leave the remaining Imperial Guard to you. I must go on ahead. This time, I will defeat Great Qin in open battle and show them the true might of a Renowned General."

His words made Xiao Heng’s expression darken. The Unparalleled Marquis was a Dharma Realm expert. With him present, their chances of breaking through to Songzhou would be much higher, and fending off Youzhou’s attacks would be far easier.

’If the Unparalleled Marquis leaves, I’ll be on my own. The road ahead will be perilous.’

The Marquis of Mucheng, standing nearby, sensed Xiao Heng’s unease. He looked at the Unparalleled Marquis and said, "We are already short on experts. If you leave now, my lord, our numbers will be insufficient. Then..."

"Do you have the right to speak here?"

The Unparalleled Marquis’s voice was cold.

Although they both held the rank of Marquis, the Unparalleled Marquis had grown up in the Imperial City and was an esteemed Renowned General. With just one more victory, a promotion was inevitable for him. He was nothing like the Marquis of Mucheng, an upstart from a common background who had only managed to become a City Marquis thanks to Xiao Heng’s patronage.

The Marquis of Mucheng’s expression faltered, but he said nothing more.

He lowered his head, his eyes filled with humiliation.

The Unparalleled Marquis then continued, "Master Xiao, I’m not leaving first to abandon you all. It’s to stop the Great Qin army from advancing any further. If they do, we’ll be in serious trouble."

"Since you’ve put it that way, my lord, I can hardly stop you. Do as you please," Xiao Heng said slowly.

"Farewell!" Without any hesitation, the Unparalleled Marquis spoke and then vanished in a flash.

In truth, if not for the three thousand Imperial Guard under his command, Xiao Heng could have easily escaped himself.

But he couldn’t do it.

These were his brothers-in-arms, men who had fought by his side all this way. If he couldn’t even save the last of them, what meaning would his title hold?

The Marquis of Mucheng looked at Xiao Heng and said through gritted teeth, "General, you should go. I swear I’ll get the men back safely."

"You?" Xiao Heng glanced at the Marquis of Mucheng’s injuries and gave a bitter smile. "Never mind. Since I led you all out here, I have to be the one to lead you all back. If we can’t make it back, then dying together here... at least it’ll mean you didn’t follow me in vain."

The marquis’s arm was broken, and a deep gash ran across his chest.

He was a wretched sight.

"Do you still resent me for pushing Lu Yuan out to be the scapegoat all those years ago?" Xiao Heng asked softly, his eyes closed.

"Master Xiao, it’s been so long. Why bring that up now?" The Marquis of Mucheng sheathed his gleaming saber and prepared to walk away.

"Back then, I pushed him forward to appease the wrath of the court nobles. Now, the Unparalleled Marquis has left me behind to cover the retreat. How ironic. I regret it. If I had properly cultivated Lu Yuan back then, perhaps things wouldn’t have come to this.

Or perhaps, if I’d just been more ruthless back then, there would be no Great Qin today. But it’s all too late now."

"Master Xiao, you don’t regret pushing Lu Yuan out. You’re afraid Dayong will truly be destroyed at his hands. Dayong is too prejudiced against generals from humble backgrounds. It lacks the magnanimity to embrace all the world’s talents.

Deep down, aren’t you the same? If it had been someone with the Unparalleled Marquis’s status back then, instead of Lu Yuan, would you have given up on him?"

After speaking, the Marquis of Mucheng turned and walked aside to tend to the wounded Warriors.

Xiao Heng opened his eyes, a look of resignation in their depths.

He lightly brushed a hand over his ribs, where blood was steadily seeping from a wound.

He had been struck there by an assassin’s hidden weapon the previous night. Normally, with his level of cultivation, the wound should have healed long ago. But now, it showed no signs of closing.

On the contrary, the wound was only growing larger.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop.

’With seventy to eighty percent of my cultivation gone... surviving this journey will be difficult.’

Lu Yuan, however, was entirely unaware of these events.

At that moment, he watched Mrs. Wang and Hong Xiu approach, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. ’I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before,’ he thought, ’but I can’t quite place her.’

The surrounding Great Qin dignitaries were also somewhat curious.

They wondered why a woman was approaching; it was normal for men to offer toasts, but quite rare for a woman to do the same.

Zhou Ren’s expression changed, and he cursed inwardly. ’How could I forget about Mrs. Wang and Hong Xiu? Those two are the best at stirring up trouble. Please don’t let them cause a scene today.’

At that thought, though he was inwardly annoyed, he couldn’t be impolite in front of so many dignitaries. He turned to Mrs. Wang and asked, "Sister-in-law, is there something you need?"

This time, Mrs. Wang dared not cause a commotion. She spoke respectfully, "Brother-in-law, it’s about Hong Xiu’s husband. He was a Captain in Jizhou’s Liyang Prefecture. When our Great Qin army arrived, he immediately ordered his men to disband without putting up any resistance.

Do you think you could speak to Prince Qin and ask him to spare his life? You watched Hong Xiu grow up, after all."

With that, she pulled her daughter down to her knees.

Instantly, all eyes at the table fell upon Lu Yuan.

Seeing this, Xiao Lie quickly interjected, "There’s no need to trouble the Prince with such a trivial matter. Since they’re relatives of Master Zhou, of course everything will be fine. I’ll have someone see to it immediately."

He then turned, gave a few quiet orders to a subordinate, and then said to Mrs. Wang with a smile, "It’s all taken care of. Rest assured, your son-in-law will be perfectly safe. In the future, you can just approach one of my subordinates for minor issues like this. There’s no need to bother the Prince."

Xiao Lie understood perfectly. ’They were aiming for the Prince,’ he thought, ’hoping to get a promise directly from him.’

Every family has its share of difficult relatives; he could certainly understand that.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, my lord!"

"Don’t mention it. It was a trivial matter. Please, go back to your meal." Xiao Lie’s voice was gentle. His actions had both given face to the Zhou Family and preserved Lu Yuan’s authority.

Only then did Mrs. Wang understand. The Lu Yuan of today could change the fates of countless people with a single word or gesture. Standing before him was like standing at the foot of an impossibly vast mountain.

She led her dazed daughter away.

She sighed to herself. ’It seems my daughter and I just weren’t blessed with good fortune.’ Her gaze fell upon Zhou Hongling, who sat beside Lu Yuan, placing food on his plate. She was surrounded by admirers, the clear center of attention.

Her heart ached with an even greater sense of loss.

Even an ordinary woman like Mrs. Wang understood that if not for Lu Yuan, Zhou Hongling would never have been made a princess.

It was Lu Yuan who had single-handedly changed the fate of the entire Zhou Family.

"Your Highness," a messenger reported, "we’ve just received a magical transmission. Prince Ze of Dayong is in a standoff with our Vanguard Army on the Songzhou border."

"Hm? He arrived quickly. This Prince Ze must be a formidable opponent," Lu Yuan mused, turning to his advisors. His chopsticks paused over his bowl.

"Indeed. He is said to be exceptionally talented, not just in cultivation, but also in his mastery of Military Arrays. He went into seclusion ten years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. For him to emerge now... I fear he must have achieved a significant breakthrough."

A worried expression crossed Xiao Lie’s face as he finished.

He had a nagging feeling that this Prince Ze might have also ascended to the rank of a Renowned General.

"I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry. Have the Military Array Maps all been distributed for practice?"

"The Beast Riders, Wolf Riders, and Blood Riders have all mastered them. The men from the Celestial King Stronghold were also given the Array Maps several days ago. They are currently drilling in Yan Province, and General Wu Han has sent word that they are battle-ready."

Lu Yuan nodded and chuckled. "In that case, there’s nothing to worry about. Order the armies to follow the routes I specified. Have them assume their formations and advance steadily toward Songzhou."

"My Prince, these armies aren’t in the same location. The farthest units are hundreds of miles apart, and even the closest are separated by dozens of miles. How can they form an array?"

"Gathering troops in one place to form an array is the tactic of an ordinary Renowned General," Lu Yuan said. "This time, I will show you a different kind of Array—a grand formation that can truly influence the celestial phenomena."

He then announced to everyone, "Eat up. We leave for the border in one hour."

"As you command!"

The assembled generals replied in unison.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.