Chapter 194: I Refuse to Let Them Get Their Way

Xiao Hong and Ling Ji led their men to the rendezvous point but didn’t dare stop.

They’d already set off several explosions, and the enemy was now wary of gunpowder; they wouldn’t fall for the same trick so easily.

They could only press forward, but they didn’t expect another ambush waiting for them.

Several thousand soldiers charged down from a mountain pass, attempting to trap and slaughter them in a pincer attack.

"Protect His Majesty!"

With a great roar, the slaughter began.

Ling Ji and Xiao Hong were shielded in the center. They fought as they fell back, gradually being encircled.

Seeing the enemy troops drawing ever closer, Xiao Hong began to panic.

Even though Ling Ji wasn’t His Majesty, he subconsciously felt the need to protect her. But his martial arts were genuinely pathetic. He couldn’t understand why he’d been assigned to this suicide squad.

’Am I going to die here today?’

"Don’t move."

Ling Ji suddenly grabbed his arm. She plunged her longsword into the ground, flicked up a rope, and pulled it with all her might.

"BOOM!"

The deafening explosion erupted right beside them, making Xiao Hong’s head ring.

A momentary tinnitus left him deaf to all sound. With his hearing gone, his vision became infinitely sharper. In the towering blaze of the explosion, he clearly saw Ling Ji’s icy expression and her eyes, which were glowing with resolve.

Though surrounded by dust and debris, she was utterly dazzling; the swirling ash couldn’t conceal her radiance.

She was beautiful—and not just for her features. She possessed the indescribable charisma of the powerful.

The next moment, she shot forward like a streak of light.

All he could see was a shadow that seemed to dance. Everywhere it went, a dagger would slice through the air, and blood would splatter like petals scattering in the wind.

Xiao Hong never knew killing could be so beautiful.

What felt like an eternity, or perhaps just an instant, passed before he snapped out of it and grabbed his own sword. ’This is no time to be daydreaming.’

"Kill!"

Xiao Hong’s rare surge of battle-fervor was short-lived, because boulders began rolling down from the mountain above.

Ling Ji yanked Xiao Hong onto a horse. "Retreat!"

Massive boulders hurtled down with devastating force, snapping every tree in their path as if they were twigs.

Ling Ji and her group were prepared and fled quickly. But the rebels, still dazed from the explosions, had no idea another trap was coming. When the boulders descended, they had nowhere to run. Many were killed or maimed, and half of their remaining force was cut off on the other side of the rockslide.

As for the stragglers left on their side, Ling Ji reared her horse, spun around abruptly, her eyes churning with bloodlust. "Kill!"

-----

Meanwhile, Xiao Yang and her forces had fought their way into Luoyan City. The ground was littered with rubble, and blood flowed in rivers.

The saber in Xiao Yang’s hand faltered. She tossed it aside, kicked another blade up from the ground, caught it, and cut down an enemy with a backhand slash.

She pushed the Misty Illusion Step to its absolute limit, moving so fast that even Ye Shao couldn’t follow her movements. Only Mu Yunlian managed to keep pace, staying close to protect her.

Ye Shao cut down a rebel commander and looked up just in time to see the Emperor charge past, her casual slash sending a spray of blood across the ground.

Ye Shao’s lips twitched. ’The Emperor is absurd, yet absurdly powerful. Why does that give me such a strange sense of reassurance?’

’This is great. I can kill to my heart’s content without having to worry about her at all.’

"Brothers! Slay the traitors! Defend the crown and win your glory! Charge with me!"

"Kill!"

With the city walls breached, they coordinated with Prince Jing in a pincer attack, quickly routing the massive wave of rebel soldiers.

Control of Luoyan City was once again theirs, and most of the rebels who needed killing were dead.

When Rong Yin arrived with reinforcements, he was carrying the heads of Zhao Cheng’an and his son. He now hung them from the city wall.

"The traitors Zhao Cheng’an and his son have been executed! Lay down your arms! Surrender and you will be spared!"

"Surrender and you will be spared!"

When the remaining rebels in Yizhou saw this, they ceased all resistance and surrendered on the spot.

"Ow, easy, take it easy..."

"Hsss... Ha... Gently..."

Prince Jing had taken an arrow to the arm. The military medic was preparing to remove it, but the prince began howling before the man even touched him.

Xiao Yang glanced over. His yelling was so full of vigor, she was sure he’d be fine.

"What are you looking at, Your Majesty?"

Mu Yunlian had changed his sword and now stood once more at Xiao Yang’s side.

Xiao Yang stood atop a ruined section of the wall, gazing outward as if waiting for something.

Xiao Yang stared into the distant night. "This world doesn’t just contain you and me."

’She means we aren’t the only transmigrators here,’ Mu Yunlian understood at once.

"Su Wu?" As the one who controlled their intelligence network, he knew that Su Wu’s existence was indeed strange.

Xiao Yang: "Perhaps."

Su Wu hadn’t produced anything anachronistic yet, but Xiao Yang couldn’t shake her suspicion.

’Just because someone can’t build firearms doesn’t mean they aren’t a transmigrator. In our old world, plenty of ordinary people went their whole lives without ever touching one.’

’Having two transmigrators like me and Mu Yunlian is already breaking the rules. If a few more showed up, what kind of chaos would this world descend into?’

’Although, it’s already pretty chaotic as it is.’

Mu Yunlian noticed a smudge of blood on Xiao Yang’s cheek. He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped it clean.

Rong Yin was already walking over. He saw the gesture but didn’t break his stride, stopping before Xiao Yang. "Your Majesty, this subject was late in coming to your aid."

Xiao Yang raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Not late. Your timing was impeccable. You came like divine soldiers from the heavens."

’He returned at the perfect moment. Otherwise, this battle would have been far more difficult.’

Rong Yin reached out and took Xiao Yang’s hand. She didn’t pull away.

He looked up at Xiao Yang, his gaze flickering to the side to catch Mu Yunlian’s darkening expression.

"I sensed a strange development, so I killed Zhao Cheng’an’s son and rushed back to reinforce you. I left Yizhou in the hands of Wu Taimei and Prince Kang."

Xiao Yang gave him a look, and he knew her unspoken question. A faint smile touched his lips. "I had his two children seized and sent directly to the Capital City. He was left with no choice."

’Even if Prince Kang joined the rebellion, it’s not like he could ever become emperor. But if his two children were gone, they’d be gone for good.’

’At his age, having more children wouldn’t be easy, let alone having them with the woman he loved—that was even less of a certainty.’

’Prince Kang had cursed him viciously the entire way, spewing every poison-laced word he could think of. Rong Yin wasn’t one for verbal sparring, but he was a man of action.’

’For a father and son to end up like this was a tragedy in its own right, but he couldn’t bring himself to care in the slightest.’

’They hated each other. That, at least, was fair.’

Mu Yunlian’s knuckles turned white as he clenched the handkerchief, but he forced his voice to remain calm.

"What are Your Majesty’s plans now?"

Xiao Yang’s gaze turned cold and vicious. "King Huainan and King Guangchuan have made their move. I can’t spare them. They think I’m too preoccupied to deal with them, that they can just retreat and hide. I will not grant them that satisfaction."

"You will continue to manage the grain and fodder, ensuring our supply lines are secure. Rong Yin, Ye Shao, mobilize all available soldiers. Draw half the forces from Wumu City."

"Prince Jing, Xiao Hong, Xiao Lan," she continued, "the three of you will be responsible for organizing the citizens of Luoyan City. Any who are willing to relocate to Wumu City will be exempt from taxes for five years."

’When conquering an enemy’s city, military occupation alone isn’t enough. Only when your people put down roots does the land truly become yours.’

"We obey, Your Majesty!"