With Xiao Huayong in the Northwest and the royal city in chaos, the fact that he would chase after Shen Xihe showed his deep feelings for her – just like with Ye Wantang, he couldn’t let go.

If he captured Shen Xihe’s uncles one by one, Xiao Huayong would have no choice but to personally step in.

Geng Liangcheng indeed needed a victory to stabilize army morale. Shen Yueshan’s death had cast a pall over the entire Northwest. With the Tujue attacking fiercely and Tingzhou nearly falling, the soldiers had begun to grow weary and confused. If their hearts scattered and they lost confidence, facing the fierce Tujue would lead to irreversible defeat.

The next day, he hadn’t planned to deploy troops. As an old general, he had pieced together fragments of information about Tingzhou’s current crisis and analyzed the reasons for their continued retreat since the war began, though his understanding remained incomplete.

He had intended to use these two days to gain a thorough understanding, but the Tujue didn’t give him this time. Before dawn, horns sounded – the Tujue attacked in the dim light before dawn, when the guard was changing and the defenders were most exhausted.

Having taken command of Tingzhou’s forces from the Protector, he naturally couldn’t back down.

Rather than personally donning armor, he sent his bravest lieutenants to drive back the Tujue who had nearly reached the tower. But they didn’t give up, determined to take the city.

Standing on the tower, watching the armies clash, he suddenly noticed a weak point in the enemy lines. He immediately led a small force to counter-attack through this gap.

Everything went exactly as he had expected. He led his men right up to the Tujue vanguard. The two were old rivals and began fighting fiercely. After Geng Liangcheng drove back the Tujue below the tower, the city gates opened and thousands of troops poured out like a rainbow-hued tide, following Geng Liangcheng’s charge against the Tujue.

Below the tower, the killing was deafening, blood spraying everywhere.

Geng Liangcheng on horseback, sword in hand, repeatedly clashed with the enemy vanguard wielding an iron hammer. Soldiers from both sides trying to sneak attacks were quickly dodged and counter-killed by the vigilant pair. Soon corpses piled around them, the ground stained red with blood.

The two were evenly matched in skill. After several exchanges, both were wounded. At this point, an archer on the tower began helping Geng Liangcheng. This archer’s aim was excellent, targeting Geng Liangcheng’s opponent each time.

With the archer’s help, the enemy had to both dodge arrows and parry his attacks, growing strained. Soon Geng Liangcheng seized an opportunity, thrusting his sword at the enemy’s chest, though the enemy dodged just in time and was only wounded in the arm.

Before he could press his advantage, the enemy forces noticed their vanguard’s trouble and came to assist, even shooting arrows to prevent the tower archer from helping further. However, Geng Liangcheng still seized an opportunity, driving his sword into the enemy horse’s neck.

As he withdrew his blade, the horse’s warm blood sprayed both him and his enemy. The vanguard commander tumbled from his mount. Geng Liangcheng swung his sword at the falling commander, but a Tujue soldier blocked his blade. Another Tujue officer rode up, quickly pulled up the fallen commander, and galloped away.

The Tujue horn sounded retreat. Geng Liangcheng saw the rescued vanguard commander turn back with a provocative smile. Seeing his troops’ spirits surge, he hesitated briefly before leading the pursuit.

He rode at the front, mentally marking a distance – if they hadn’t caught up by that point, they would retreat.

Unknown to him, the soldiers trying to follow him were ambushed by hidden Tujue warriors barely a hundred meters from the city gate. These Tujue fought with complete disregard for their lives. Though only about a hundred strong, their reckless assault quickly cut off Geng Liangcheng from the main force.

When Geng Liangcheng reached his mental limit and turned back, realizing the main force hadn’t followed, he had only a few hundred men with him. He knew immediately things had gone wrong.

But it was too late.

After Geng Liangcheng was captured, he soon saw the masked Xiao Changtai, who came only to look at him without speaking a word.

The capture of the Northwest’s ever-victorious general, just one day after arriving in Tingzhou, threw the Northwest into panic. Fortunately, the Tingzhou Protector was no ordinary commander and held the city gates firm as he had before Geng Liangcheng’s arrival.

The Tujue’s brutality far exceeded their expectations. They flayed captured soldiers alive before the city walls in full view of the defenders, dealing a severe blow to the Tingzhou troops’ morale.

That night, in Geng Liangcheng’s prison, a Tujue soldier appeared. Beaten bloody and tied to a cross, Geng Liangcheng heard a familiar voice in Chinese: “Xiao Changtai is in the Tujue camp. Request to see him, and arrange a meeting between him and the Crown Prince.”

Geng Liangcheng, dazed and barely conscious, suddenly became alert. He tried to turn his head but couldn’t move. The voice seemed like it had been in a dream, making him doubt its reality.

His mind raced. The Fourth Prince, already stripped of his status – Xiao Changtai was actually with the Tujue, helping them attack the Northwest.

And Crown Prince Jia Chen wanted to meet Xiao Changtai – was he planning to collude with the Tujue?

Asking him to betray the Northwest, become a traitor who sold out his country?

This was too shocking for Geng Liangcheng. He envied Shen Yueshan’s power and prestige, his methods against the Shen family were extremely despicable, and he had even secretly rejoiced at the sudden outbreak of war as an opportunity to seize power.

He wanted power and position and wanted to become king of the Northwest, but he had never thought of betraying his country or allying with barbarians.

“Where is the Crown Prince? Why hasn’t he rescued me?” Geng Liangcheng asked weakly.

“The Crown Prince is rescuing you right now,” the person behind him answered.

Geng Liangcheng was momentarily speechless.

The cold night wind brought a chill that crept up his spine and invaded his whole body, making him shudder involuntarily.

If Xiao Juezong had already planted spies among the Tujue and even knew about Xiao Changtai’s alliance with the Tujue Khan, he must have anticipated all this long ago. If Shen Yueshan was killed by him, then was this battle engineered by Xiao Juezong, aiming to ally with the Tujue Khan to destroy the Northwest?

So he had boarded a pirate ship?

Geng Liangcheng gritted his teeth: “I must decline.”

“If the Crown Prince wanted to cooperate with the Tujue, he wouldn’t seek you out. The Northwest is what the Crown Prince wants – how could he let others interfere?” the person behind him said coldly.

Indeed, wouldn’t it be better for Xiao Juezong to control the Northwest himself? If he had wanted to cooperate with the Tujue all these years, he wouldn’t have waited until now. So this was a stratagem.