Chapter 1414 - 1090: We Need Leverage!

"Shen... Assistant?"

Shen Tu Tai widened his eyes in astonishment, looking at this always elegant, graceful secretary, even on the battlefield. But now, he appeared rare and flustered, riding his horse towards him with an expression that seemed somewhat embarrassed.

Shen Tu Tai instinctively felt that something had happened!

He hurriedly tightened the reins, but before he could gallop over, Shen Wuzheng had already approached him on horseback. Seeing the other panting with a face as pale as death, Shen Tu Tai hurriedly asked, "Mr. Shen, has something happened?"

Shen Wuzheng, breathing heavily, lowered his voice and said, "General Shen Tu, Ru Yi—Princess has been captured!"

"What!?"

Shen Tu Tai was shocked, hardly able to believe his ears: "How could that be?"

Because Shen Wuzheng deliberately lowered his voice, the other soldiers did not hear their conversation. They were only puzzled as to why Shen Canjun, who was supposed to remain at Cijian, suddenly appeared here. Only Xue Lin, who was closely following Shen Tu Tai, heard him and also showed a stunned expression: "Hasn’t Prince Qin already sent troops to rescue the Princess?"

Shen Wuzheng glanced at him and immediately understood what happened here. He took a deep breath and said, "I waited at Cijian for a long time without any news of the Princess. Guessing she might have encountered some problem en route, I brought my men, and also deployed several units to search for her. My unit didn’t encounter her, but the team heading to Huai State reported back, saying she was attacked by Xiao Yuansui’s eighty thousand troops left in Hebei at Hu Yang Valley. After several days of battle, she was ultimately captured."

Shen Tu Tai’s heart sank, saying, "It seems that King Qin also arrived too late."

Shen Wuzheng waved his hand as if to dismiss the "ineffective" King Qin, and said to Shen Tu Tai, "After capturing her, the troops didn’t continue westward but turned to the south instead. I suspect they aim to use her to coerce King Qin, thus threatening Hulao Pass. If we don’t find a way—"

Before he could finish, Shen Tu Tai drew in a sharp breath.

He clearly understood Shen Wuzheng’s meaning.

After capturing Princess Qin, they did not continue advancing westward to attack Chang An but turned back towards Luoyang, clearly valuing the Princess Qin greatly.

This kind of captive situation, ideally would end with exchanging her intact and untainted, but across historical military conflicts, such precedence is virtually nonexistent. Previously, Princess Qin was captured by Ashina Zhuxie, and Prince Qin ventured deep into the grassland to rescue her, coincidentally amidst internal power shifts within the Western Turks, leaving Ashina Zhuxie unable to respond extensively. Otherwise, not even considering whether Princess Qin could return, Prince Qin’s safe retreat would have been uncertain.

Most of the time, these captives were subjected to maltreatment, slaughter, or even unable to rest in peace.

And the cause of such outcomes naturally arises from the coerced party being unable to forfeit acquired benefits over personal life or death. Such results are undeniably unacceptable for Shen Wuzheng, who cannot permit them to face such situations.

Of course, there is another outcome.

King Qin could once again abandon everything for Princess Qin, just like last time when he was a mere step away from capturing Taiyuan City, yet promptly turned towards the Western Turks.

But, last time, he lost the Crown Prince position, and this time, he would completely fall behind in his contention with the Crown Prince!

As a key supporter within King Qin’s camp, and as a cousin to Princess Qin, Shen Wuzheng cannot allow such outcomes, nor can he permit any harm to come to Princess Qin.

Shen Tu Tai immediately said, "Then we should—"

Before he could finish, Shen Wuzheng solemnly said, "We, need leverage!"

After saying this, his gaze instantly moved past Shen Tu Tai’s shoulder, looking behind him. Hearing his words, Shen Tu Tai also seemed to perceive something, turning his head following his gaze—

The battlefield that was treacherously perilous just moments ago had entirely cleared out. During his conversation with Shen Wuzheng, Shi Yutao had already led his men across the pontoon bridge over the Sishui River. Originally, he followed with a unit of personal soldiers at the rear as a common tactic during retreats after battles, aiming to prevent sudden pursuing attacks from enemy troops, which might disrupt formation, leading to chaos and damage among their ranks.

They have now crossed the river and widened the distance; even if Shen Tu Tai wished to pursue now, he would require time to deploy his army, freeing them from such concerns. Thus, the army had parted to open a path, allowing Shi Yutao to lead his unit of personal soldiers in galloping forward, quickly vanishing amid the troops.

Seeing this, Shen Wuzheng’s eyes, originally bloodshot from sleepless nights, dimmed suddenly.

Too late...

By this time, even if Shen Tu Tai led his troops in pursuit, accomplishing much was unlikely—the crossing of the Sishui River already approached Xiao Yuansui’s main camp on the other side. Also, they saw the dust rising across the river, likely indicating Xiao Yuansui’s troops noticed the battle here and dispatched a force to support.

Shen Wuzheng exhaled a deep sigh, his heart feeling as though it fell into an endless abyss.

But just then, Shen Tu Tai’s eyes brightened suddenly, he said: "You’re right, we need leverage."

Shen Wuzheng immediately looked up at him, seeing Shen Tu Tai gripping the reins tightly with one hand, holding a long spear invertedly with the other. Although he hadn’t done anything, nor posed in any position, Shen Wuzheng could clearly feel the immense force gathering within the man before him, a formless oppressive aura instantly emanated from Shen Tu Tai’s massive frame.

Shen Wuzheng said, "You—"

Shen Tu Tai didn’t say anything more to him but instead raised his hand to tug on the reins, the steed beneath him immediately wheeled around, and Xue Lin hurriedly followed suit, also turning his horse. Shen Tu Tai said in a deep voice, "Xue Lin, Li Xian, Liu Chengqi, Ma Sanchuan..."

He named twelve generals and soldiers in one breath, who replied, "Present!"

Shen Tu Tai said: "Follow me across the river, capture Shi Yutao alive!"

As his words fell, he shouted furiously, squeezing the horse’s belly, and the steed beneath shot out like an arrow off a bowstring. Without hesitation, Xue Lin and others, akin to his shadow forming two lines, followed behind him as they galloped forward together, kicking up dust in Shen Wuzheng’s view!

Meanwhile, in the midst of the dust, in merely a blink of an eye, the group had charged toward the Sishui River, taking advantage of the pontoon bridge not being dismantled yet, they whipped their horses directly across the river.

Simultaneously, the front line’s troop discovered them.

Immediately, someone among the army shouted, "Shen Tu Tai is attacking!"