In Cao Renyi’s view, the Fourth Prince’s death at Qingxi Mountain pass was certainly the Jin army’s doing. As long as he could kill the Jin Kingdom’s God of War, Bai Qingyan, it would count as avenging the Fourth Prince!

Then the Fourth Prince could finally rest in peace!

·

The generals had already dispersed according to plan. Bai Qingyan instead relaxed, sitting in the main tent, gripping bamboo scrolls and reading through them, quietly waiting for scouts to return and report exactly how many troops Cao Renyi had brought, so she could make the next arrangements.

“Report…”

Soon, a scout rushed into the commander’s tent, clasping his fists toward Bai Qingyan: “Report, the approaching Liang army numbers approximately sixty thousand.”

Her fingers rubbed against the bamboo scroll. Sixty thousand men—it seemed Cao Renyi had come out in full force. In that case… Daming Prefecture would be empty.

Bai Qingyan raised her eyes, her voice calm and steady: “Pass the order to Zhao Sheng and Zhao Ran… after Cao Renyi enters the Jin camp, immediately lead troops to Daming Prefecture, raising Cao’s banners. Tonight we must capture Daming Prefecture without fail!”

Having the Jin army raise Cao Renyi’s banners would at least allow the forces led by Zhao Sheng and Zhao Ran to approach the city walls undetected, reducing Jin army casualties.

“Yes!” The scout received the order and immediately rushed to the locations where Zhao Sheng and Zhao Ran were hiding their troops to relay the command.

Xiao Rongyan looked at Bai Qingyan giving decisive orders, inevitably moved by how she seemed born for the battlefield. Her thinking in commanding troops was extremely clear, her reactions extremely fast and extremely detailed.

When Cao Renyi’s sixty thousand Liang troops, without lighting torches, rushed through the night to reach the Jin army camp, they suddenly heard the guards on the watchtower at the Jin army camp entrance shouting: “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

The Jin army’s war drums also began to sound.

Hearing this, Cao Renyi drew his sword and shouted: “Soldiers of Great Liang! In this battle, we must drive the Jin dogs out of our Liang Kingdom’s territory! Kill!”

In an instant, the Liang army’s battle cries shook the heavens. The Jin army soldiers guarding outside the camp put up token resistance according to plan, then retreated into the Jin camp. The sound of clashing weapons was quickly drowned out by the Liang army’s shouts and battle cries.

Inside the Jin camp, the soldiers tensed all their muscles, holding their breath as they hid in the darkened tents with conspicuous white cloth tied around their arms, gripping their sword hilts tightly, adjusting their grip, waiting only for the horn to sound before charging out according to plan.

Except for the fire braziers erected high around the main camp’s perimeter, where flames still danced wildly in the wind, the entire camp had extinguished its lights, with only the commander’s tent in the very center still lit…

Beasts fear fire, humans seek light—this is nature.

That brightly lit tent was meant to guide Cao Renyi and the Liang soldiers, directing them to come in this direction, luring them into the center of the military camp.

Some Liang soldiers charged into the pitch-black tents, but as soon as they entered… they were grabbed by Jin troops who had been lying in wait on both sides of the tents, their mouths covered, and their throats cleanly slit. The battle-hardened soldiers moved decisively and efficiently, without the slightest hesitation.

Bai Qingyan sat in the only lit commander’s tent, raising her eyes to look toward the direction of the main camp entrance that had suddenly become noisy, her expression calm.

Bai Qingyan was waiting…

Cao Renyi loved grand achievements. Based on the battles he had fought in the past, he would order his subordinates daily not to touch enemy generals, as he wanted to personally behead or capture them alive.

So this time, with Cao Renyi’s surprise attack, he would surely want to capture her, this undefeated general of the Jin Kingdom, alive to establish his authority in Great Liang and intimidate the Jin Kingdom.

Even if Cao Renyi hadn’t given advance instructions, the Liang army that had followed him for so long knew the rules and would guide Cao Renyi to her.

Cao Renyi indeed did not disappoint Bai Qingyan. Upon entering the military camp and learning the location of Bai Qingyan’s commander’s tent, he led his troops on horseback straight toward it.

Shen Qingzhu, dressed in black armor and standing atop the commander’s tent with a sword in his arms and a horn in his hand, saw Cao Renyi charging toward the commander’s tent after entering the camp, and immediately blew the horn.

Horn sounds immediately rose throughout the Jin camp. The Jin troops hidden in the tents roared as they rushed out from the tents, charging into the Liang army that had just entered the Jin camp…

The sounds of clashing weapons and slaughter shot straight to the ninth heaven.

Cao Renyi immediately reined in his horse. Looking around, he saw that those rushing out from the tents on all sides were all fully armored Jin troops.

“Not good! We’ve fallen into a trap!”

Just as Cao Renyi let out this cry of alarm, he saw torches suddenly light up around the Jin army camp, illuminating the area outside the camp like daylight, with battle cries coming from the distance.

“Hold steady! Retreat!” Cao Renyi turned his horse around and shouted with all his might, his cries almost drowned out by the Liang army’s screams and the clashing of weapons.

The Liang army, which had just charged into the Jin camp with such fierce momentum, ready to go on a killing spree, saw the great blaze of firelight around the military camp and the Jin army in full armor with murderous intent. Seeing their commander turn his horse around and shout to retreat, they immediately fell into complete chaos, becoming like cattle and sheep waiting for slaughter in the hands of the Jin army, being killed without leaving a single piece of armor.

“General! The Jin army has blocked our escape route from behind! We’ve fallen into a trap!” A Liang army general rushed quickly to Cao Renyi’s front, shouting for orders: “General! What should we do?!”

Just as that general finished speaking, an arrow shot from somewhere unknown, striking directly into the general’s chest. The force was so great that it knocked the Liang general off his horse. Before the Liang general could stand up, a Jin soldier who appeared from nowhere chopped off his head with one stroke.

Cao Renyi gritted his teeth, using his long spear to pierce through the Jin soldier who had beheaded the Liang general, and shouted again: “Retreat! Retreat quickly!”

He had thought he could fight a battle where few defeat many… a battle that would make his name, Cao Renyi, shake the various kingdoms!

But who knew where things went wrong—they had fallen into a trap!

Cao Renyi suspected there was a traitor in his army. Otherwise, how would the Jin army know he was coming to attack tonight and make such complete preparations?

“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!” Cao Renyi’s heart was filled with panic as he shouted, but on all four sides were Jin troops fighting desperately and Liang troops frantically defending. There was simply no room for his warhorse to gallop and charge…

Cao Renyi’s warhorse sensed the danger, shaking its head and rearing up, trampling down the Liang soldiers protecting Cao Renyi, charging outward like mad, throwing the momentarily unsteady Cao Renyi off its back.

“General!” The Liang army immediately protected Cao Renyi.

Cao Renyi, thrown disheveled and dusty, used his long spear to prop himself up, his face pale with pain. He saw his warhorse charging alone, but before it could exit the Jin camp, it was pierced by a long spear, letting out a neighing cry before falling motionless.

Liang army soldiers helped him up, with shield bearers protecting Cao Renyi in their midst as they struggled to retreat outward.

Cao Renyi had calmed down. He looked at the Jin troops constantly closing in from a distance, knowing he had been outmaneuvered by the Jin army’s coordinated inside and outside attack. Continuing to fight like this, he had no chance of victory and would only suffer heavy losses before suffering a crushing defeat. Now, even retreating might be impossible.

Since Princess Zhenguo had intentions of accepting surrender, and Yang Wuce had an extraordinary relationship with him.

At present, he had only two paths: either kill Princess Zhenguo and carry her head to make these soldiers who were originally from the Liang Kingdom return to Liang.

Or… surrender!

Which would bring greater merit—killing Princess Zhenguo to make one hundred fifty thousand troops return to the Liang Kingdom, or surrendering?