Previously, when Liu Hong and Princess Zhenguo had taken separate routes to attack Great Liang’s Han City, he had found it strange that Princess Gaoyi, who was renowned for her valor, had remained so quiet in the subsequent campaigns after Princess Zhenguo arrived, never attacking any cities.

Looking at it now, they had been drawing Liang’s military forces away so that Princess Gaoyi could smoothly reach Han City and assault it!

The old Chancellor further realized that they had almost relocated the capital to Xiangliang. If they had truly left the city and headed east at that time, they would likely have encountered Princess Gaoyi, and Liang would have faced true total annihilation.

The old Chancellor even suspected that when Jin initially set such a route, they were deliberately planning to force Great Liang’s imperial family toward the east of Great Liang!

Jin intended to make them eagerly deliver themselves right into Princess Gaoyi’s mouth.

The old Chancellor felt utterly desolate and panicked. Jin had planned this battle so meticulously that Great Liang was doomed to defeat!

It seemed even the Ghost-Faced Prince of the Rong and Di tribes wouldn’t be able to arrive in time to save Han City!

If there was anyone to blame, it was their Emperor, who was single-mindedly focused on revenge and completely disregarded Liang.

Now, the old Chancellor and several other court ministers were also suffering from headaches caused by the officials’ quarreling, and could only wait for the Third Prince to make a decision.

The rotund Third Prince wiped the sweat from his head with a handkerchief and finally made up his mind, saying: “There’s no need… to let our soldiers sacrifice their lives in vain anymore! We… will leave the city and surrender!”

“Your Highness! Your Highness must not!” The court officials who advocated fighting to the death all knelt before the Third Prince.

“Whether we surrender or fight to the death, in the end, we cannot escape the fate of national destruction. Why make our soldiers throw away their lives for nothing?”

“We are willing to fight to the end. If we cannot win… we would rather die for our Kingdom!” A military general spoke through tears.

“What’s the point!” The Third Prince’s voice was extremely soft. “The hearts of our Liang people have already turned toward Jin. Don’t you understand? When the Liang court forcibly seized medicinal materials from the people’s hands, disregarding their lives, it was Jin’s Princess Zhenguo who brought medicinal materials to save those people! Those people saved by Jin are the popular support that Jin has won!”

“The Zhao family army has been loyal for generations. Why did Zhao Sheng specifically choose to join the enemy camp? Because… our Great Liang has lost the people’s hearts!” The Third Prince choked up. “Father Emperor is bedridden with illness. As an imperial prince, I represent Father Emperor and will carry the imperial seal out of the city to surrender.”

On the thirteenth day of the fourth month in the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, Jin’s Princess Gaoyi Bai Jinzhi destroyed Liang’s capital. Liang’s Third Prince led all officials wearing mourning cloths on their heads, carrying Liang’s national seal and a short sword, bare-chested and leading a sheep, kneeling before Princess Gaoyi’s horse.

Bai Jinzhi, covered in blood and killing intent, took Great Liang’s national seal and received the short sword, then handed them to Shen Qingzhu.

The kingdom of Liang, which had stood in the north for a hundred years, was declared extinct from this day. Liang’s fertile lands all belonged to Jin.

Bai Jinzhi leaped onto her horse and commanded loudly: “Immediately clear the battlefield! Welcome, Princess Zhenguo and General Liu, into the city!”

After Bai Jinzhi captured Han City, Cai Ziyuan, who entered the city with the follow-up main army, saw under the dazzling golden light Bai Jinzhi, covered entirely in blood, her bearing magnificent and heroic, and felt an irrepressible surge of excitement in his heart.

No wonder it was once said that the reason Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, a military family for a hundred years, had served as Jin’s backbone through generations was because they never produced worthless members.

She was merely a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, yet this aura of slaughter and decisive action made many men unable to match her.

“Master Cai!” Bai Jinzhi ordered Shen Qingzhu to give the jade seal and short sword to Cai Ziyuan. “Please, Master Cai, leave the city first and deliver the jade seal and short sword to my eldest sister!”

“Yes!” Cai Ziyuan nodded and accepted the order.

Inside Liang’s imperial palace, when Emperor Liang heard that the Third Prince had led officials out of the city to surrender, he was so enraged that he forced himself to hold his breath, supported himself on an old eunuch’s hand to stand up, and drew his precious sword. His furious appearance seemed as if he wanted to kill the Third Prince, but after taking just two steps, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. With his cloudy, bloodshot eyes wide open, he fell straight to the ground.

The eunuchs in the great hall panicked completely, scrambling to catch Emperor Liang. The imperial physician crawled forward on his knees, only to discover that Emperor Liang had stopped breathing—he had been angered to death.

Bai Jinzhi led troops to clear out the stubborn resisters in Liang’s imperial palace, imprisoning Emperor Liang’s consorts and the eunuchs and others who knelt begging for mercy.

Before Bai Jinzhi could properly organize the Liang court and welcome her eldest sister into the city, she received orders for Shen Yancong to take over Bai Jinzhi’s task of cleaning up Great Liang’s imperial palace, while Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu were to immediately ride swiftly out of the city, as there were important matters to discuss.

Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu accepted the order and rode swiftly out of the city.

Soon, Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu left the city and reached the camp outside. All the Jin army, including several Liang generals who had later surrendered to Jin, were gathered in Liu Hong’s large tent.

Cai Ziyuan had already delivered Great Liang’s jade seal and short sword to Bai Qingyan’s hands, and they were now placed on the desk where Bai Qingyan sat.

Liu Hong’s expression was grave. Seeing Bai Jinzhi enter, he gestured for her to take a seat. Bai Jinzhi then strode quickly toward Bai Qingyan, sat down beside her, and called out with barely contained excitement: “Eldest sister!”

Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Jinzhi, who had grown considerably taller, raised her hand to pat Bai Jinzhi’s head, then looked toward Shen Qingzhu, who knelt behind Bai Jinzhi with an unsmiling, serious expression, and nodded slightly, thanking Shen Qingzhu for protecting Xiao Si along the way.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Liu Hong turned to Bai Qingyan and said, “Since everyone is here, please have Princess Zhenguo make the arrangements!”

Bai Qingyan nodded and spoke: “Prince Liang has committed treason in the capital! General Liu and I will lead the main army to rush to the capital to rescue His Majesty! Bai Jinzhi and General Zhao Sheng will lead all Jin forces, along with the Anping army and the Zhao family army, to remain in Han City. Please ask Great Liang’s officials to assist in issuing documents announcing that Liang has been incorporated into Jin territory.”

Liu Hong’s palms tightened, and he almost couldn’t sit still. He hadn’t expected Bai Qingyan to tell even these surrendered generals about such matters as chaos in the capital. What if these surrendered generals developed other thoughts?

Liu Hong could understand that Bai Qingyan was leaving all Jin forces in Great Liang out of fear that after the two of them left, these surrendered generals might develop other intentions. But taking all these surrendered Liang generals and soldiers away—what if these people rebelled midway?

Liu Hong had always been cautious, but thinking it over, he had no comprehensive strategy. Regardless, Great Liang had been conquered at such great cost that it naturally couldn’t be lost!

If they were to take these surrendered generals and soldiers back to rescue His Majesty, so be it. When attacking Liang, Princess Zhenguo had brought all surrendered generals and soldiers, so presumably Princess Zhenguo had methods to control these surrendered generals and soldiers.

Seeing the surrendered generals looking at each other, Zhao Sheng understood in his heart that Bai Qingyan must be planning to rebel against Jin!

Zhao Sheng privately felt this was a good thing. What he had originally surrendered to was not Jin, but Bai Qingyan!

Now that the capital was in chaos, this was good. With everything in complete turmoil, it would accelerate Bai Qingyan’s steps to replace the current regime!

Without the Jin imperial family—those imperial relatives who lacked great ambitions and only sought self-preservation—surrounding and constraining her, it would surely accelerate Bai Qingyan’s pace toward unifying the realm!