“Yun Wenfang, have your men retreat, or I’ll kill her as a sacrifice to the battle flag.” Xiao Heng had the Old Princess Consort brought forward, blocking her in front of him.
The Old Princess Consort’s hair was disheveled, and the pearl hairpins from her head had long since scattered to unknown places. Where was there even half a trace of nobility left? She looked like nothing more than an ordinary old woman. Being pushed into the midst of flashing swords and blades, she couldn’t help crying out in alarm.
Although Xiao Heng had previously reassured her that taking her hostage was merely for show and wouldn’t truly harm her, the Old Princess Consort no longer dared trust Xiao Heng’s words.
Yun Wenfang narrowed his eyes and raised his hand. The warring sides instantly stopped their weapons.
Seeing that his threat was effective, Xiao Heng couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Using a condescending tone, he said to Yun Wenfang: “Yun Wenfang, no matter what, your Yun family is just a dog of Yanbei Prince’s residence. Rather than getting involved in the Prince’s residence’s power struggle, you’d be better off remaining neutral and watching how things develop. Smart people live longer. Otherwise, if something happens to Yanbei Prince’s residence’s Old Princess Consort, ask yourself whether Xiao Yan would spare you! Now, take your troops and retreat!”
Yun Wenfang quietly watched Xiao Heng, his pair of pitch-black eyes showing no emotion. After listening to Xiao Heng finish speaking, he suddenly smiled. Then, under Xiao Heng’s shocked gaze, Yun Wenfang took a bow and arrow from a subordinate beside him, drew the bow like a full moon, with the arrowhead pointing toward Xiao Heng.
Yun Wenfang’s arrogant attitude left Xiao Heng both shocked and furious. He grabbed the Old Princess Consort and blocked her in front of himself: “Yun Wenfang, you dare! Look clearly at who’s in front of me!”
Yun Wenfang’s response was to release the bowstring with lightning speed. The arrow that left the string instantly shattered the stagnant atmosphere on the field, carrying the sound of breaking wind as it struck directly at the target’s throat. The sound of the arrowhead piercing flesh made everyone present shudder.
Xiao Heng was knocked off his horse by the arrow’s force, his back slamming hard against the ground with a muffled grunt. Warm, viscous liquid sprayed all over Xiao Heng’s face, and beside his ear, he heard sounds like a broken bellows making “heh—heh” noises.
For a moment, Xiao Heng thought he had been struck by the arrow and was about to die. Terror made his entire body tremble uncontrollably. But when the guards beside him pulled him up from the ground, he finally saw clearly that it wasn’t he who had been struck by the arrow, but the Old Princess Consort he had pulled in as a shield, pierced through the throat by a single arrow.
The Old Princess Consort raised her hand wanting to touch her own throat, but before her hand could touch the arrow, she had already died. Her wide-open eyes held no life, yet her pupils still retained the emotion of terror.
Xiao Heng swallowed and looked at Yun Wenfang in disbelief: “You… you… you…”
Yun Wenfang’s eyes held no emotion, but the corners of his mouth curved upward. He said calmly, “The Old Princess Consort has been killed by Xiao Heng. All officers and men, listen to my command—capture the traitor Xiao Heng’s head to comfort the Old Princess Consort’s spirit in heaven!—Charge!”
With that cry of “Charge!” from Yun Wenfang, his hundred-plus men surged forward without hesitation, cutting down Xiao Heng’s guards like chopping vegetables. The air filled with a thick smell of blood.
Xiao Heng’s men couldn’t withstand the hundred-odd elite soldiers under Yun Wenfang, who had been battle-tested on the battlefield, and were forced to retreat while fighting.
Xiao Heng gritted his teeth and shouted: “Yun Wenfang, you killed the Old Princess Consort! Yanbei Prince’s residence won’t spare you.”
Yun Wenfang laughed: “The Old Princess Consort wasn’t taken hostage from the residence by me. If I kill you, I can avenge her.”
“You—”
Xiao Heng couldn’t finish his words because Yun Wenfang’s men had already reached him. He was slashed on the shoulder, blood flowing like a stream. If not for someone beside him blocking the blow, his head would probably have already fallen to the ground.
A quiet young man beside Yun Wenfang approached him and whispered: “General, that was after all Yanbei Prince’s residence’s Old Princess Consort. You shot her dead with one arrow just like that. If the Prince settles accounts later…”
Yun Wenfang said quietly, “She had to die! Otherwise, if Xiao Heng could threaten me to give way today, tomorrow, he could also use her to threaten others to open the city gates. With so many people in Yunyang City, should they all die for her sake? Is she worth it?”
The quiet young man opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.
What Yun Wenfang said wasn’t without reason. If the Old Princess Consort didn’t die, Xiao Heng could use her to threaten Yanbei Prince’s residence. What if he demanded that Yanbei Prince’s residence open the city to let the court’s army in? Would Yanbei Prince’s residence agree or not? You must know that the reason Xiao Heng had been able to escape from Yunyang City unharmed was precisely because he had the Old Princess Consort as a shield.
Now that Yun Wenfang had shot Xiao Heng’s shield with one arrow, Yanbei Prince’s residence could have fewer concerns.
Yun Wenfang glanced at the young man and smiled: “I killed the person. If Yanbei Prince’s residence investigates later, I’ll bear all responsibility alone. Don’t be afraid.”
The young man quickly said, “General, that’s not what I meant. I just… Generally, history has always been written by victors. I just meant to say that since it’s done, don’t leave any survivors.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Wenfang couldn’t help but laugh heartily. He patted the young man’s shoulder: “That makes sense.” Then he again led the charge, with the young man immediately following to cover him.
This battle didn’t take too long. Seeing that only dozens of his men still had fighting capability, Xiao Heng wanted to have those men block the offensive while he escaped.
Yun Wenfang glimpsed his intention from afar, curved his lips slightly, then nocked his bow and shot an arrow. Despite so many human walls blocking the way, Yun Wenfang’s arrow still found its way through the gaps to strike directly at Xiao Heng’s back. Hearing the sound of breaking wind, Xiao Heng’s heart jumped in alarm. He bent down, trying to dodge, but just as he bent his waist, two more arrows came from behind; these two aimed respectively at his buttocks and his horse’s hindquarters. Xiao Heng and his horse couldn’t dodge in time, and both were struck. The horse went mad from pain, and Xiao Heng, unable to sit steady, was thrown off.
After being thrown down, Xiao Heng still wanted to get up and flee, but when he tried to move his legs, he found he had no strength. He couldn’t get up.
Yun Wenfang leisurely rode his horse to Xiao Heng, looking down at him from above, sneering: “Aren’t you of noble bloodline? How can you not even defeat a lowly dog? Doesn’t that make you worse than a dog!” Second Young Master Yun had always been one to repay every slight.
Xiao Heng looked up at this lofty, handsome young man, meeting his emotionless eyes, and felt a chill in his heart. Only now did Xiao Heng realize he was afraid of death.
“You can’t kill me!” he mumbled.
Yun Wenfang raised an eyebrow and said leisurely, “Oh? Why can’t I kill you?”
Xiao Heng supported himself with his hands while retreating backward: “Because I’m surnamed Xiao! Even if I made mistakes, I should be dealt with by Yanbei Prince’s residence. You can’t casually kill me, or you’d be showing contempt for the Xiao family!”
Yun Wenfang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out low laughter. This laughter made Xiao Heng’s skin crawl, and fear surged from the depths of his heart.
Yun Wenfang’s voice, tinged with amusement, rang out above Xiao Heng’s head: “Do you know? Someone once said the same thing to me. He said I should be grateful for my surname, Yun, otherwise I couldn’t have lived to this day. When I heard those words, I was still young and hot-blooded, so I scoffed at them. But now I somewhat agree with what he said. Same people, different fates—that’s what this means.”
Xiao Heng couldn’t help but breathe a slight sigh of relief, thinking he had escaped death.
But then Yun Wenfang said, “Too bad you still have to die.”
Xiao Heng looked up in terror. Yun Wenfang had already swung his sword down, cleanly severing Xiao Heng’s head. Xiao Heng didn’t even have time to cry out before his life ended.
Yun Wenfang expressionlessly picked up Xiao Heng’s head with his sword, tore off his cloak to wrap it, and hung it from his horse’s head.
He twisted the corners of his mouth and said quietly: “Because the person who said those words is someone I hate most. Because of his surname, the same as yours, I lost the most important person in my life.”
After Yun Wenfang dealt with Xiao Heng, his subordinates also successfully ended the battle. Though the troops Xiao Heng brought weren’t a rabble, they still met the fate of complete annihilation. While Yun Wenfang’s men weren’t entirely unscathed, this battle record was worth their pride.
When Yun Wenfang returned with Xiao Heng’s head, the quiet young man gave some instructions to those below, then those elite soldiers began to scatter and finish off the enemies already fallen on the ground.
Yun Wenfang said indifferently: “Don’t bother with these wastes. There are more important things to do.” He then turned his horse around, heading toward where the court’s army was lying in ambush.
Seeing this, the young man quickly gave a few instructions, leaving behind over ten men to clean up the battlefield and having someone send the Old Princess Consort’s body back to the city. He followed Yun Wenfang.
Over a hundred troops against several thousand was like throwing eggs against rocks—a completely futile effort. But Yun Wenfang wasn’t afraid. He led his elite soldiers charging through the court’s army. No one had expected that the surprise attackers wouldn’t come at night but would come at dawn instead. They were eating breakfast at the time, so they were caught completely off guard.
Most of these soldiers, pampered by the court with generous conditions, had never truly experienced war. In recent years, the northern and western borders of the Great Zhou had been guarded by Yanbei troops, so when Yun Wenfang’s hundred-plus men entered the enemy camp, it was like passing through an uninhabited land.
After Yun Wenfang scattered their formation, he didn’t linger in battle but charged out from another direction. The court’s troops also reacted, organizing four to five hundred men to pursue. Unfortunately, their war horses couldn’t compare to the fine steeds of the northwest. In the end, Yun Wenfang used his advantage of knowing the terrain to lead them into a canyon.
The canyon was narrow and long—no matter how many people there were, they couldn’t gain an advantage. In the end, those four to five hundred troops could only be passively slaughtered by Yun Wenfang’s men.
Yun Wenfang had never planned to face those thousands of troops directly. He only engaged in surprise attacks and guerrilla warfare, leading the opposing forces around in circles.
But one method, if used once or twice, was fine—if used too often, it became useless.