The Fall of Su Li

Inside Duke Ren's estate.

The generals had gathered, all of them wearing expressions of joy and excitement.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! This Lin Zixiao is truly a talent. To be able to turn the tables in such a short amount of time after being betrayed by his own subordinates—he is simply too formidable."

"It feels like this man's strategic mind could rival even yours, Lord Duke."

"Lin Zixiao has the demeanor of his father. No wonder I lost to him. Judging by his current commanding tactics, even if he didn't use firearms, I still wouldn't be able to gain any advantage over him."

...

Ren Tianye's face was also full of smiles.

He nodded in agreement with what the crowd was saying.

Indeed, Lin Zixiao was perhaps the most capable person he had ever met. In just a single day, he had managed to turn a dire disadvantage into a massive advantage.

He was so powerful it was terrifying!

However, Ren Tianye knew even better that the more terrifying a person was, the more precautions had to be taken against them. He could not allow Lin Zixiao to gain power, otherwise, he himself would meet a bad end, and the plans he was currently pushing in the capital, and even across the whole world, would never come to fruition.

As they were chatting, Su Jin suddenly walked in.

Kneeling on one knee, he said, "Lord Duke, the task you assigned me... I have not entirely completed it yet. However, according to the scouts I sent out, we can basically confirm that my third sister, Su Li, is still in the vicinity of the capital."

"She is either inside the capital or not far outside of it."

"She certainly hasn't gone far."

"It is a pity that her subordinates are quite alert, otherwise, I would have brought her back."

Hearing this, Ren Tianye frowned slightly.

Two days ago, Su Jin had already reported everything to him in detail regarding Su Li's appearance in the capital. He had also read the letter written by Su Hong and clearly understood the attitude of the Northern Frontier's Su family.

Su Li no longer had any ties with the Northern Frontier's Su family.

Everything was left for Ren Tianye to handle!

Ren Tianye was never overly harsh with his subordinates. He knew very well the loyalty of Su Hong and Su Jin. But he had no choice. From various clues, he could deduce that Su Li had most likely come to seek revenge against him, Ren Tianye, for the sake of Ye Fan.

Because of this alone, Ren Tianye could not hand over significant authority to Su Jin.

Ren Tianye's subordinates, including Wang Ming, would not agree to it either.

After all, Ren Tianye's life was now tied to far too many people.

Therefore, the current Su Jin had been removed from the position of Deputy Demon Suppression Envoy and was specifically tasked with finding Su Li to cut off her delusions at the source, even if...

In reality, Ren Tianye did not care much about these delusions.

He had even met Su Li in person.

"Then continue the search. Su Li..."

"I want to see her alive, or see her corpse if she's dead."

Su Jin bowed and said, "Yes, Lord Duke."

"My Northern Frontier Su family will definitely find my third sister."

Su Jin turned and left, throwing himself back into the busy search.

Ren Tianye's good mood from earlier also dropped a few notches.

Because he was developing a certain premonition.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this Su Li was going to cause some trouble for him.

And this kind of premonition had clearly appeared in many people Ren Tianye had encountered before.

"Report, report..."

The voice of a messenger rang out loudly from outside the estate, filled with urgency and panic as he rushed in. "Lord Duke, Lin Zixiao has been defeated! Lin Zixiao was defeated by the Seven Heroes of Chifeng. Right now, he has fled towards the east of the capital."

"What?"

Deputy General Wang Ming jumped up first. "Hasn't Lin Zixiao almost taken control of the entire Lin Family Army? How could he be defeated?"

The rest of the people were also full of astonishment.

Even Ren Tianye was completely dumbfounded.

Seriously, could the battlefield situation change this quickly?

How did Lin Zixiao experience such drastic ups and downs in the blink of an eye?

Could it be that there were still exceptional figures among the Seven Heroes of Chifeng whose abilities were not far behind Lin Zixiao's?

Was that why this was the result?

The messenger continued, "A unit of troops suddenly arrived from the south. They were divided into front and rear squads, totaling ten thousand men. The front squad, each holding a firearm, rushed over and joined the Seven Heroes of Chifeng."

"The rear squad is also rapidly approaching."

"However, because they are carrying those red-barreled cannons, their speed is much slower."

"But just those firearm-wielding men in the front caught Lin Zixiao off guard. Not only did they defeat Lin Zixiao, but the vast majority of the men he had just gathered defected back to the Seven Heroes of Chifeng!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall was shocked.

Ren Tianye's face darkened.

Firearms?

Fucking firearms again?

He asked, "How many men are wielding flintlock muskets?"

"There are seven or eight thousand, and they are moving in disciplined formations."

Ren Tianye's mood worsened. He hurried out the door and up onto the capital's city walls. He could see the smoke of gunpowder in the distance, but he couldn't see the specific situation clearly. However, with wave after wave of scout reports, the picture became increasingly clear to him.

The ten thousand men who had arrived were all well-trained!

Commanded by the Seven Heroes of Chifeng to fight against Lin Zixiao, they engaged entirely in positional warfare!

Those men formed line formations and fired in volleys. Because their range was between one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy paces, Lin Zixiao and his men simply could not charge through.

They became living targets on their path of charge.

Even if there were scattered cavalrymen charging over, their flintlocks could be fitted with bayonets to deal with those who slipped through the net.

This meant that no matter how strong Lin Zixiao's strategies were, he could not resist this thermal weapon attack combining square formations and layered firepower!

In fact, let alone Lin Zixiao.

What if it were him, Ren Tianye?

The equipment of his subordinates was better than that of Lin Zixiao's army.

But these armaments, even the heavy armor worn by heavy cavalry or heavy infantry, were mostly made of wrought iron and low-carbon steel, which had limited hardness and toughness. At a relatively close distance, even if their flintlocks could not pierce the entire suit of armor, they could penetrate the gaps between armor plates and the edges of the breastplates. They could even shatter bones through sheer impact force, causing fatal injuries!

It could be said that a flintlock formation, coupled with well-trained soldiers, was invincible in this era.

As long as they didn't play tactical games and pushed forward steadily, no one could stop them!

Moreover...

There were also the red-barreled cannons!

In that case, even this capital could not stop them!

Ren Tianye's face looked increasingly grim.

"Report!"

Another scout came to report. "A letter has arrived from Lin Zixiao, asking to be forwarded to His Majesty. He asks His Majesty to rest assured. He brought the Lin Family Army here, and he caused this disaster, so he will definitely settle it. He asks His Majesty not to worry."

Ren Tianye didn't take Lin Zixiao's words seriously at all.

Although this Lin Zixiao possessed a certain number of firearms, he lacked a sufficient understanding of them.

Settle it?

Settle it with what?

Flesh and blood against flintlocks and red-barreled cannons?

Furthermore... the scout's report clearly stated that the Seven Heroes of Chifeng were not playing any tricks or schemes right now; they were simply leading their army and advancing slowly!

Once the red-barreled cannons arrived.

What could Lin Zixiao possibly do?

"Wei Shuo, you are to lead thirty thousand elite cavalry to support Lin Zixiao. Remember, do not clash head-on, only provide support."

"Shi Hu, I order you to lead thirty thousand troops and form a pincer movement with Wei Shuo, waiting for the situation to change."

"Wang Ming... remember what we discussed earlier about defending the capital? Go and start preparing now!"

...