After the initial shock passed, the Grand Commander Luo’s eyes lit up: What his daughter said wasn’t without merit!

Several more feathered arrows sliced through the night sky, precisely embedding themselves in the hearts of several pursuers.

Thump, thump—several corpses fell in succession.

“Retreat!” the defending general shouted loudly.

The pursuers retreated again and again, looking around left and right in terror.

In this pitch-black night, hidden arrows flying from unknown locations were even more chilling than the enemies they faced.

“Wait a moment.” The Grand Commander Luo shouted loudly and strode past his subordinates.

The defending general saw the Grand Commander Luo’s face clearly by torchlight and was greatly shocked: “Grand Commander Luo, how could it be you?”

Had tonight been cursed? Grand Commander Lei led troops into the city, Grand Commander Luo deceived his way out of the city.

Could it be that the times were changing?

The defending general instinctively looked up.

Just at this moment, the dark clouds scattered, revealing the bright moon.

Under the moonlight, the Grand Commander Luo’s heavy expression was laid bare for all to see.

“General Wang, you’ve only brought two hundred men, while our side has a thousand. Do you really think you can keep us here?” the Grand Commander Luo asked pointedly.

General Wang frowned: “Does Grand Commander Luo intend to rebel?”

The Grand Commander Luo smiled bitterly: “I only want to keep my family alive.”

With these words, General Wang couldn’t help but sneer coldly: “Isn’t that rebellion then? Otherwise, why would you deceive your way out of the city?”

“Does General Wang know why I, Luo, have fallen to such circumstances?”

General Wang waited quietly for the Grand Commander Luo to continue.

Who didn’t have curiosity?

Moreover, with the enemy outnumbering them, delaying the battle was a good thing.

Facing countless curious gazes, the Grand Commander Luo said loudly: “Because His Majesty commanded me to kill all the young women in the capital!”

“What?”

“Impossible!”

With these words, not only the pursuers but even those among their own people who didn’t know the inside story were greatly shocked.

“General Wang doesn’t believe me?”

General Wang’s face was like ice: “Grand Commander Luo’s words are too absurd!”

“If they weren’t absurd, why would I, Luo, give up being the good Commander of the Jinlin Guard and flee desperately for my life?” The Grand Commander Luo had an appearance of being deeply pained, “Such cruel and brutal matters, I, Luo, truly cannot carry out, especially when it concerns my daughter’s life. Now does General Wang understand?”

General Wang recovered from his shock, his expression somewhat complex: “Regardless, this is rebellious behavior. If I don’t stop you all, I, Wang, cannot account for it.”

Frankly speaking, he somewhat believed the Grand Commander Luo’s words…

The Grand Commander Luo suddenly laughed.

“What is Grand Commander Luo laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at General Wang’s confusion. The disparity in numbers between our two sides is great. Even if we fight to the death, our side will surely win. It’s just a matter of losing some military strength.”

General Wang sneered coldly: “At least this way I would be remaining loyal to His Majesty. Does Grand Commander Luo think that if I, Wang, pretended not to discover you all, I could survive?”

The Grand Commander Luo chuckled: “Right, fighting means death, not fighting also means death.”

General Wang: “…” Then what was the point of all this talk?

“How about we all leave together?”

With the Grand Commander Luo’s words, General Wang was stunned.

Could they even do that?

The Grand Commander Luo struck while the iron was hot, pointing at the young guards beside General Wang: “Look at these young people. They originally had long lives ahead of them. Do you have the heart to send them to their deaths?”

Under the interplay of moonlight and firelight, the Grand Commander Luo clearly saw the stirring of emotion appearing on those guards’ faces.

General Wang still persisted: “If we commit such an act of betraying our sovereign, how could our families in the city survive?”

The Grand Commander Luo scoffed: “You speak as if you all dying here and letting me, Luo, escape would mean His Majesty would spare your relatives. Let me, Luo, tell everyone—don’t dream of it!”

Hearing these words, General Wang’s expression changed again and again.

That one’s way of doing things—he knew it too. He was considered a strict sovereign.

The Grand Commander Luo looked at everyone and said indifferently: “I, Luo, will give you all the time of one cup of tea to consider—whether to fight to the death and await your families in the underworld, or at least pass down your family’s incense and bloodline.”

The time of one cup of tea was very short, yet also very long.

After a suffocating silence, General Wang, who had been engaged in an internal struggle, stamped his foot and cupped his hands toward the Grand Commander Luo: “In the future, please take care of us, Grand Commander.”

The Grand Commander Luo secretly breathed a sigh of relief and curved his lips into a smile.

Even ants cling desperately to life, let alone humans.

Actually, from the beginning when General Wang was willing to listen to him speak, he knew there was an eighty to ninety percent chance of a good outcome.

If General Wang was truly blindly loyal, he would have already drawn his blade and charged over.

“Since we’re leaving together, then we’re brothers.” The Grand Commander Luo heavily patted General Wang’s shoulder.

General Wang hadn’t forgotten about the hidden arrows: “Grand Commander, we still have people?”

The Grand Commander Luo touched his nose.

Oh, this was asking about the reinforcements.

But he was confused about it too.

Looking at General Wang whose eyes harbored vigilance, the Grand Commander Luo revealed an unfathomably profound smile: “One must always keep a backup plan, wouldn’t you say, Brother Wang?”

General Wang was a clever person. Seeing he couldn’t get anything out of him, he stopped pursuing the matter.

The Grand Commander Luo was still curious himself.

He had observed that earlier rain of arrows—the number shot simultaneously wasn’t many, yet not a single arrow had missed.

This showed that the people hidden in the darkness couldn’t be numerous, but each one was elite.

After everyone finally boarded several large boats Yun Dong had prepared in advance and began crossing southward, the Grand Commander Luo finally found an opportunity to quietly ask Luo Sheng.

“Sheng’er, the people in hiding… did Prince Kaiyang give them to you?”

Having asked this question, the Grand Commander Luo was almost one hundred percent certain.

When Prince Kaiyang went on campaign, he left two personal guards for his daughter—he knew about this. Yet during this escape, he hadn’t seen those two personal guards.

Looking at it this way, the personal guards Prince Kaiyang left for Sheng’er definitely weren’t limited to just two, and at the critical moment they had played a role.

Thinking this way, the Grand Commander Luo’s resentment toward Wei Han dissipated considerably.

Forget it. Originally he had already started considering Grand Tutor Lin’s eldest grandson, but since Prince Kaiyang’s performance was good, then it would still be Prince Kaiyang.

Of course, there was another important reason: hadn’t he just rebelled? Grand Tutor Lin hadn’t rebelled along with him, so the eldest grandson definitely had no chance.

Prince Kaiyang’s personal guards at this time were standing on Sheng’er’s side.

The Grand Commander Luo’s tone was too certain, such that Luo Sheng hesitated for a moment before saying: “No.”

She didn’t mind giving credit to the personal guards Prince Kaiyang had left behind, but having reached this point, Luo Chen’s secret identity and the existence of the Vermilion Bird Guard should be discussed openly and frankly with the Grand Commander Luo.

“No?” The Grand Commander Luo was too surprised, his voice changed pitch, “Unrelated to Prince Kaiyang?”

Receiving his daughter’s affirmative answer, the Grand Commander Luo fell silent.

And to think he had assumed it was Prince Kaiyang helping Sheng’er. Turns out that boy had nothing at all to do with it.

No way, this son-in-law wouldn’t do.

The Grand Commander Luo angrily made his decision and pressed on about the origin of the reinforcements.

Luo Sheng considered for a moment and asked softly: “Father, have you heard of the Vermilion Bird Guard?”

The Grand Commander Luo’s gaze tightened: “How does Sheng’er know about this?”

Luo Sheng’s tone was subtle: “Father also knows?”

Father King had clearly told her the existence of the Vermilion Bird Guard was a secret, that even Mother Consort didn’t know.

Then why would the Grand Commander Luo, who was the Commander of the Jinlin Guard, know about it?