In the Northwest, the Northwest King's city was in utter chaos. At such a time, Xiao Huayong's pursuit of Shen Xihe to the Northwest King's city was enough to reveal his feelings for her—just like his unresolved attachment to Ye Wantang.
If he were to capture Shen Xihe's uncles one by one, Xiao Huayong would have no choice but to take the field personally.
Geng Liangcheng indeed needed a victory to stabilize the army's morale. Shen Yueshan's death had cast a pall over the entire Northwest. The Turks were advancing fiercely, and Tingzhou had nearly fallen. The soldiers were already weary and disoriented; if their morale crumbled and they lost confidence, defeat against the fierce Turks would be inevitable.
The next day, he had no intention of launching an attack. As a seasoned general, he had pieced together the current crisis in Tingzhou through fragmented reports and had analyzed the reasons for the successive defeats since the start of the battle, though his understanding remained incomplete.
He planned to use these two days to gain a comprehensive grasp of the situation, but the Turks did not give him that time. Before dawn, as the sky was just beginning to lighten—precisely when the city guards were at their most exhausted during the shift change—the Turks sounded the horn and launched their assault.
Having already taken command of Tingzhou's forces from the Protector-General, he could not retreat now.
He did not don armor to join the fray himself but dispatched his most valiant right-hand man to repel the Turks, who had nearly breached the city walls. Yet the enemy did not give up, determined to take the city.
Standing atop the battlements, he watched the clash between the two armies. After a short while, he spotted a weak point in the enemy formation and immediately led a small squad to counterattack from that direction.
Everything unfolded exactly as he had anticipated. He and his men fought their way to the Turkish vanguard commander. The two were old adversaries and immediately engaged in fierce combat. After Geng Liangcheng repelled the Turks below the walls, the city gates swung open, and a mighty army surged out like a tidal wave, charging toward the Turks alongside Geng Liangcheng.
Below the city walls, the battle raged with deafening cries and splattering blood.
Mounted on his horse and gripping his longsword, Geng Liangcheng exchanged blows with the enemy vanguard, who wielded a heavy hammer. Both were alert, swiftly dodging and countering occasional sneak attacks from nearby soldiers. Soon, piles of corpses surrounded them, and the ground beneath was stained crimson.
Their skills were evenly matched, and after several exchanges, both bore wounds. At that moment, an archer on the battlements began assisting Geng Liangcheng. This archer's aim was impeccable, each arrow precisely targeting his opponent.
With the archer's support, the enemy struggled to evade the arrows while parrying his strikes. Seizing the opportunity, Geng Liangcheng thrust his sword toward the enemy's chest, but the latter dodged in time, sustaining only a wound to the arm.
Before he could press his advantage, the enemy noticed their vanguard was in peril and rushed to aid him, even firing arrows to suppress the archer on the walls. Nevertheless, Geng Liangcheng seized another chance, plunging his sword into the neck of the enemy's horse.
As he withdrew the blade, the horse's warm blood sprayed across both him and his foe. The mounted vanguard tumbled to the ground. Geng Liangcheng raised his sword to strike the fallen commander, but just then, a Turkish soldier intercepted his blow. Another Turkish officer galloped over, swiftly pulling the fallen vanguard onto his horse and galloping away to safety.The sound of horns signaling retreat echoed from the Turkic side. Geng Liangcheng saw the rescued vanguard turn back and flash him a provocative grin. Noting the surge in enemy morale, he hesitated briefly before leading his troops in pursuit.
He rode at the forefront, having mentally set a distance limit for himself—if they failed to catch up beyond that point, he would withdraw. Unbeknownst to him, the soldiers following him had barely chased beyond the city gates for less than a hundred meters when ambushing Turkic soldiers suddenly attacked. These Turkic fighters, fearless of death and numbering only about a hundred, employed suicidal tactics, swiftly cutting off Geng Liangcheng from the main force.
When Geng Liangcheng reached his predetermined distance and realized further pursuit would be futile, he reined in his horse to turn back. Only upon facing the rear did he discover the main army had not followed. With merely a few hundred men by his side, his heart sank with dread.
But it was already too late.
Geng Liangcheng was captured and soon encountered the masked Xiao Changtai, who had come only to inspect him without uttering a single word.
The ever-victorious general of the northwest, having just arrived in Tingzhou, was captured within a day, plunging the region into chaos. Fortunately, the protector of Tingzhou was no ordinary man and, as before Geng Liangcheng’s arrival, steadfastly defended the city gates.
The brutality of the Turks far exceeded their expectations. They publicly flayed the captured soldiers alive beneath the city walls in full view of the defending troops, dealing a severe blow to the morale of Tingzhou’s defenders.
That night, in the place where Geng Liangcheng was bound, an additional Turkic soldier appeared. Whipped until his flesh was torn and bloody, he was tied to a cross when a voice, speaking familiar Han language, reached his ears: "Xiao Changtai is in the Turkic camp. Request to see him and facilitate a meeting between him and the Crown Prince."
Dazed and nearly unconscious, Geng Liangcheng abruptly sobered up. He tried to turn his head to look but found himself immobile. The voice seemed like a dream, unreal and fleeting.
His mind raced: the Fourth Prince—already disowned by the clan—Xiao Changtai was actually among the Turks, aiding them in attacking the northwest. And now Jiachen Crown Prince wanted to meet Xiao Changtai? Was this collusion with the Turks?
Betray the northwest and become a traitor who consorts with the enemy?
This was an immense shock to Geng Liangcheng. He had envied Shen Yueshan’s power and prestige, employed despicable means against the Shen family, and even felt a secret thrill at the sudden outbreak of war, seeing it as an opportunity to seize authority. He desired power and status, longed to become the king of the northwest, but he had never contemplated treason or aligning with foreign barbarians.
"Where is the Crown Prince? Why doesn’t he rescue me?" Geng Liangcheng whispered weakly.
"This is the Crown Prince saving you," replied the voice behind him.
Geng Liangcheng fell silent, at a loss for words.
The cold night wind blew, sending a chill down his spine that seeped through his entire body, making him shiver uncontrollably.
If Xiao Juesong had already sent agents to infiltrate the Turks and knew of Xiao Changtai’s alliance with the Turkic king, he must have foreseen all this. Shen Yueshan had been harmed by him—was this battle orchestrated by Xiao Juesong to join forces with the Turkic king and destroy the northwest?
So, had he boarded a pirate ship?
Geng Liangcheng gritted his teeth. "I cannot comply.""If the Crown Prince truly wished to collaborate with the Turks, he wouldn't have come looking for you. The Northwest is territory the Crown Prince covets—how could he allow others to encroach upon it?" the person behind him said coldly.
Indeed, wouldn't it be better for Xiao Juesong to maintain control over the Northwest himself? Had he wanted to cooperate with the Turks all these years, he wouldn't have waited until now. Therefore, this was clearly a scheme.
OpenNovel