No, why are they leaving the city

Chen Xiong's expression changed drastically in an instant.

He suddenly realized who the newcomer was!

Xiao Che!

The biological brother of the former King of Yunjing, bestowed the title of Prince of Love of Yunjing by the current Empress, Xiao Mingzhao. However, this Prince of Love was just an empty title without any actual power.

But having no actual power was only relative to the Prince of Love of Yunjing himself. To a border-guarding General of the Household like him, this was a prince who held the power of life and death!

A lofty and supreme prince!

As he thought of this, various legends about this prince in Yunjing instantly surfaced in Chen Xiong's mind.

This prince loved to travel incognito the most, seeking true love in the guise of a commoner. While seeking true love as a commoner, he didn't even care about being punched, kicked, or humiliated, but...

There was never a single person who, after this Prince of Love revealed his true identity, could escape the prince's moment of showing off.

So...

Now it was his, Chen Xiong's, turn to run into it?

Chen Xiong was already trembling with fear. He quickly fell to his knees, Your, Your Highness, I, I failed to recognize your greatness. I truly did not do it on purpose. I beg Your Highness to spare my life, spare my life...

Chen Xiong's pleading appearance was extremely pitiful, but the sternness and coldness on the face of the Prince of Love of Yunjing did not fade in the slightest. Instead, a hint of excitement faintly showed in his eyes.

This was his signature routine; how could he let it go so easily?

Thus, he shouted again, Yu Chenglong, what are you standing there for?

First, chop his head off for me.

Then go and execute his nine generations of kin.

Chen Xiong was terrified out of his wits and cried out miserably, Your Highness, you can't, you can't! I am the defending general of Wusheng Pass. Right now, a great battle is imminent, and the imperial court's army is about to attack. Executing a general before the battle is a great taboo in military strategy!

Your Highness, if you spare this lowly one's life, I will definitely risk everything to defend Wusheng Pass, living and dying with it!

Chen Xiong shouted these words with an awe-inspiring presence. After all, this was his original plan: to use the geographical advantage of Wusheng Pass to make Ren Tianye return in defeat.

Therefore, the hot blood in his chest surged up.

But...

Xiao Che, the Prince of Love of Yunjing, didn't buy this at all and said directly, What imminent great battle?

Is an imminent great battle such a big deal?

In our Yunjing, what is the most important? Love is the most important!

Right now is the love that I have been desperately seeking, yet it was ruined by you, and you still want to escape with your life? Keep dreaming!

Yu Chenglong, are you deaf?

Yu Chenglong didn't dare to delay this time. He acknowledged the order, and the saber in his hand was unsheathed. In an instant, it flashed out like a cold light, and in that split second, a human head fell to the ground with a thud.

The defending general of Wusheng Pass, General of the Household of Yunjing, Chen Xiong, was dead!

However, surprisingly, after a moment of shock, most of the many soldiers following behind Chen Xiong actually showed expressions of joy on their faces.

The general, is dead?

The general is dead, does that mean we don't have to do our tasks anymore?

Old Man Li fell off a cliff and died for the task assigned by the general to collect night dew for his distant lover. If Old Li could have held on until today, he wouldn't have had to die!

The general is dead, so will the bi-weekly True Love Tabloid interviews be gone from now on?

...

Apart from Chen Xiong's personal guards, the rest of the soldiers discussed animatedly, all very happy.

After all, when Chen Xiong was around, in order to respond to Yunjing's call of love above all, he had caused them to suffer a lot.

Before distributing the military pay every month, they had to pass an emotional interrogation by Chen Xiong's trusted aides. If they were deemed not considerate enough to their lovers or if their love letters were perfunctory, their rations and pay would be deducted.

They also had to write love letters to their lovers every ten days according to Chen Xiong's requirements, and they had to be inspected. If the content was not poignant and moving enough, they had to rewrite it. But how could uneducated rough men like them write well?

Then they would either be whipped or have their pay deducted.

Not to mention the various bizarre and outrageous relationship rules that made them suffer unspeakably.

Therefore, now that Chen Xiong was dead, it was not necessarily a bad thing for the vast majority of them.

But this joy had not lasted for a moment before the voice of Xiao Che, the Prince of Love of Yunjing, rang out.

That stern and cold voice, with its aura fully unleashed, carried a heavy coercion: Right now, Chen Xiong is dead, but the sins he committed cannot be let go just like that.

I will exterminate his nine generations of kin.

And the tribulations he caused me cannot be dismissed so hastily.

I now order you to immediately drop everything in your hands, go, and line up to apologize to my woman.

Remember, everyone must apologize!

If anyone's attitude is not sincere, or if their posture is not respectful enough, then do not blame me for being ruthless.

Upon hearing this, all the soldiers went numb.

Chen Xiong had just left, and they thought good days had arrived. As a result, the Prince of Love of Yunjing came along, and how could his orders be even more outrageous than Chen Xiong's?

Go apologize to a woman?

At a time like this?

Wait, isn't the imperial court's grand army about to attack?

In their hearts, the soldiers were a thousand or ten thousand times unwilling, but no one dared to risk their heads against Xiao Che, the Prince of Love of Yunjing. They had no choice but to force themselves to pull it together and, following Xiao Che's orders, go search for Lu Shuang to apologize to her!

However...

The army searched everywhere for several days but simply could not find Lu Shuang.

Lu Shuang, hiding in the mountains and forests, was like a fish entering the sea, not stirring up the slightest ripple. No matter how much Xiao Che fussed, there was still no trace of her.

Just as Xiao Che was stomping his feet and cursing in anger, a messenger came to report.

Report! Your Highness, Ren Tianye's army is now less than twenty miles away.

Oh, quite fast! Xiao Che didn't show much fear; instead, he seemed somewhat excited and said, Perfect. I have long heard of Ren Tianye's reputation, saying he roams the Northern Frontier without a rival, and that he subdued nearly two hundred thousand troops in the Northern Frontier in less than a month. He can be considered a talent.

Hmph, I would like to meet him.

Let's see how long his little bit of talent can last in front of me.

Xiao Che waved his large hand and ordered, Generals, follow me, go down the pass and form up the ranks. This time, we will fight it out with Ren Tianye!

At the same time, Ren Tianye was setting up camp.

After the central command tent was set up, all the generals gathered.

Ren Tianye did not rashly order an attack. Instead, he waited for news from Zhang Shi: Where is Zhang Shi? What is the situation now?

News regarding Zhang Shi was basically reported immediately, so what the personal guards knew was actually synchronized with Ren Tianye. One replied, Duke, it is still yesterday's news. General Zhang Shi has already bypassed the front and infiltrated. It will still take some time before he can attack Wusheng Pass from behind.

Ren Tianye nodded.

With Zhang Shi's ambush force in place, he felt much more confident. But now that they had arrived, it was time to send a small force to scout out the enemy's true strength.

Wang Ming!

This subordinate is here!

Do you dare to lead the first vanguard?

This subordinate accepts the order.

Good. I order you to lead five thousand men to the front of Wusheng Pass. Remember, you may provoke them, but do not easily start a battle.

Wang Ming caught on immediately; this was a mission to probe the true strength and defenses of Wusheng Pass. He promptly replied, "Yes, My Lord Duke."

Without delay, Wang Ming rallied five thousand soldiers and marched straight for Wusheng Pass. It did not take long before the stronghold came into view. Built at the mouth of a gorge nestled between two mountains, the fortress walls towered dozens of feet high, stretching seamlessly into the ridges on either side.

Riding the natural contours of the mountains, it was truly a majestic and imposing stronghold.

Its strategic terrain was hardly inferior to that of Yunji City.

"If the soldiers of Wusheng Pass simply hide behind those walls, even if they are completely unprepared and lack defensive weapons like falling rocks and rolling logs, chewing through this defense will still cost us a tremendous amount of effort!"

As Wang Ming analyzed the situation, a trace of anxiety grew in his heart.

However, as he drew closer to the immediate vicinity of Wusheng Pass, Wang Ming froze in sheer disbelief.

Why had all the troops of Wusheng Pass marched out of the fortress?

And formed up in battle arrays?

No, seriously, what were they doing out here?

Offering themselves up as living targets?

...