Sima Ping forcefully yanked the reins to control his startled warhorse, drew his sword, and shouted: “Ambush! Protect the provisions! Don’t enter the valley! Retreat! Fall back!”

If these had been ordinary soldiers, they would have panicked by now, but coincidentally, the troops escorting provisions this time were the Bai Family Army.

The Bai Family Army had survived adversity countless times, and being ambushed in battle was commonplace. After initially panicking upon discovering the ambush, they quickly recovered. Not only did they refuse to be driven into the valley by the ambushing enemy forces, but the brave ones were already charging up the mountainside, their killing intent boiling over.

However, the soldiers escorting provisions were outnumbered several times by the Ji’an army lying in ambush. In the short term, they fought with great momentum and satisfaction, but once time dragged on, the Great Zhou’s soldiers clearly couldn’t keep up physically.

Even Sima Ping’s warhorse was pierced through the abdomen by an enemy spear, throwing him from his mount to engage in bloody close combat with enemy forces. His entire arm ached and trembled from killing, his eyes splattered with thick, scalding blood as if glued shut.

Seeing this, Crown Prince Ji’an noticed that Great Zhou’s army had been forced to the entrance but refused to enter, still resisting stubbornly, even showing signs of becoming more courageous with each setback, preparing to fight their way out without sending for reinforcements.

Crown Prince Ji’an had originally wanted to have the archers release arrows, but with the Ji’an army and the Great Zhou army mixed, this arrow barrage would result in half losses on each side. With the Ji’an army having greater numbers, they would certainly suffer more deaths, not cost-effective.

Thinking of this, Crown Prince Ji’an gave an order for all soldiers to swarm down, vowing to kill these Great Zhou soldiers until they were terrified enough to call for aid.

Seeing more and more Ji’an soldiers leaping down from above, almost surrounding the Great Zhou provision escort, bone whistle sounds came from somewhere unknown…

The whistle sound was extremely penetrating, cutting through countless battle cries to reach Sima Ping’s ears.

Sima Ping, covered in blood from head to toe, twitched his ears and shouted: “Cut a bloody path, charge toward our military camp! Kill!”

As soon as Sima Ping finished speaking, the Bai Family Army soldiers immediately adjusted, killing their way into the mountain valley…

Hearing these men wanted to fight back to their military camp, Crown Prince Ji’an couldn’t let his bait escape. Looking at the Great Zhou army that was already at the end of its strength, he raised his bloodied long sword, pointed toward Sima Ping’s direction, and shouted: “Whoever takes the enemy general’s head will be rewarded with a hundred gold!”

The Bai Family Army soldiers protected Sima Ping as they cut a bloody path, charging into the valley in disheveled formation, killing while retreating. Crown Prince Ji’an led the Ji’an army killing spree while pursuing. Looking up again, he saw Great Zhou’s army had been forced into the valley, with most of his Ji’an army also inside. Crown Prince Ji’an shouted: “Archers charge up the high slopes!”

Just as Crown Prince Ji’an finished speaking, black banners with white python flags suddenly appeared on both high slopes.

Crown Prince Ji’an’s eyes widened, his heart sinking—this was the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

He watched as a silver-armored woman sat high on horseback, her long spear pointing into the valley: “Shoot!”

Sima Ping, holding his long sword and panting heavily, looked up to see Bai Jinzhi’s silver armor gleaming, her red cloak billowing like those black banners with white python flags.

This time… it was Bai Jinzhi who had come to rescue him.

“Retreat! Retreat! Get out of the mountain valley!” Crown Prince Ji’an shouted, then said to the deputy general beside him: “Quickly send someone to deliver a message to Father! Hurry!”

Arrow rain whistled, deeply embedding into the ground as screams filled the air.

“Aim carefully when shooting! Don’t hit our brothers! Don’t be polite with enemy troops—shoot to kill!” Bai Jinzhi shouted.

The force led by Crown Prince Ji’an suffered heavy losses as they protected Crown Prince Ji’an’s retreat from the mountain valley. Before they could escape, they were surrounded by the Great Zhou’s army.

The offense and defense had reversed…

One moment, the Ji’an army held complete advantage, surrounding Great Zhou’s army and slaughtering freely.

The next moment, the Ji’an army became trapped beasts, surrounded by the Great Zhou’s army for their slaughter.

“Crown Prince Ji’an, Prince Ji’an who was ambushing ten li ahead, has already been captured alive and surrendered. Does the Crown Prince still wish to resist to the death?”

Hearing Bai Jinzhi’s voice, Crown Prince Ji’an’s eyes widened. How could this be?

Could there have been a traitor among their Ji’an army? How else would Great Zhou know that his father was ambushing ten li ahead?

Crown Prince Ji’an gritted his teeth. He didn’t believe his father would surrender, nor did he believe his father would be discovered. His ambush here wasn’t a million miles from his father’s ambush location—if there had been any disturbance on his father’s side, someone should have come to report long ago!

He still hadn’t received any message from his father to retreat or provide reinforcement, so this Great Zhou Prince Gaoyi must be deceiving him.

Seeing Crown Prince Ji’an assume a posture of fighting to the death, Bai Jinzhi had someone throw Prince Ji’an’s bloodied precious sword to Crown Prince Ji’an. Crown Prince Ji’an looked up in disbelief toward the woman outside the encirclement, sitting high on horseback with heroic bearing, looking down at him from above.

It wasn’t that Bai Qingyu possessed divine foresight or supernatural calculation abilities—it was simply that this route only had two locations suitable for ambushes, and Bai Qingyu had sent people to watch them early on.

Originally intending to discover where Prince Ji’an would set his ambush, who knew they discovered that Prince Ji’an was ambushing at both locations.

If Bai Qingyu still couldn’t guess Prince Ji’an’s intentions after this, then all the years of teaching from his grandfather, father, and elder sister would have been wasted.

Year Three of Yuanhe, Third Month, Twenty-Third Day: Yan’s feudal Prince Ji’an ambushed Great Zhou’s provisions, was defeated by Great Zhou’s army, the Ji’an army suffered crushing defeat, and Prince Ji’an died from severe wounds.

Year Three of Yuanhe, Third Month, Twenty-Fourth Day.

Far away at Dengfeng military camp, Bai Qingyan and Bai Qingyu stood with hands clasped behind their backs before the royal tent, looking down at Prince Huangshan’s family members kneeling below the wooden steps.

Crown Prince Huangshan didn’t know what had gone wrong. Their departure today had been his father’s last-minute decision—how had they been surrounded by Great Zhou’s army without even one messenger managing to escape?

On both sides of the royal tent, flames danced wildly in the wind from the high-mounted fire braziers.

Crown Prince Huangshan saw Bai Qingyan’s shadow, elongated by the bright firelight from within the royal tent, swaying left and right on the ground. Gathering courage to raise his head slightly, the chaotically dancing firelight cast the slender, upright figure of Great Zhou’s Emperor before him in alternating light and shadow.

“You are Crown Prince Huangshan?”

Hearing Bai Qingyu’s questioning voice, Crown Prince Huangshan raised his gaze to the Great Zhou Emperor’s waist level, then lacked the courage to look higher, heavily bowing his head in kowtow: “Replying to Your Majesty and Your Highness, I am! Yan has already decided to submit to the Great Zhou, and my father is currently transferring military affairs with the general Your Majesty dispatched.”

“Then, what business does the Crown Prince have leaving the city at this time with the Princess Consort, Crown Prince Consort, and several young lords?” Bai Qingyan asked.

Crown Prince Huangshan quickly assumed a respectful posture, kowtowing to Bai Qingyan before replying: “Replying to Your Majesty, my mother consort’s health is poor. Father has all military transfer affairs completed within the royal residence, but Mother Consort cannot bear the disturbance and also… cannot endure the pain of losing our nation, unwilling to remain in the royal residence. I therefore begged Father to allow me to take Mother Consort and my siblings to our maternal relatives’ home.”