Chapter 256: She Knew She Could No Longer Attack...
The city walls erupted in chaos instantly, all Western Mausoleum soldiers staring in stunned disbelief.
He Yi was also taken aback for a moment before striding forward, grabbing the guard who had tumbled from his horse and knelt to deliver the report. Her eyes burned with murderous intensity: "What did you say?"
The guard, aware that the burning of provisions was a catastrophic matter, repeated mournfully: "The Liang army raided our camp... burned the granaries..."
He Yi's grip loosened, letting the guard collapse back to the ground.
The tripod-mounted braziers at the city gate crackled and popped in the night air.
A junior officer nearby, observing He Yi's expression, cautiously called out: "Your Highness?"
"A diversion tactic?" He Yi laughed coldly, her eyes bloodshot. As fury churned in her chest, she tasted iron in her throat.
She had thought Han Yang was attempting to force her retreat by besieging the royal city, hence her plan to seize Gole City under cover of darkness. Never did she expect this was also part of Han Yang's scheme!
The enemy intended to draw out her entire force, then cut off her retreat!
With the royal city besieged, supply routes already severed, and now the granaries destroyed, her remaining fifty thousand troops were instantly trapped like cornered beasts!
That Han Yang—what meticulous planning!
Forcing down the metallic taste in her throat, He Yi gritted her teeth and spat out each word: "This is... an utter humiliation!"
Now only two paths lay before her: either tighten their belts and retreat disgracefully to Western Mausoleum alongside the forty thousand troops returning to reinforce the royal city, or... stake everything on one throw—pursue Han Yang's retreating forces from Gole City with her fifty thousand troops and wash away this shame!
He Yi made her decision almost immediately. Gripping her Curved Blades, she mounted her horse and issued a frosty command: "After them! Whoever captures Han Yang alive will receive ten thousand gold and be crowned King of Ten Thousand! Whoever brings me her head will also receive ten thousand gold and be appointed Grand General!"
The Western Mausoleum troops roared in response, their fighting spirit soaring.
The crescent moon hanging in the night sky shone with startling brilliance in the utterly silent autumn night.
The gently undulating sand dunes of the desert appeared like faint creases in raised silk under this moonlight.
The army and carriages raced along the white sand official road.
Zhao Bai galloped from the front, urgently calling out: "Your Highness!"
The desert winds were strong, so the carriage curtains were heavier than usual.
Wen Yu lifted the curtain, the dark satin fabric pooling in her hand like layered clouds.
Zhao Bai turned his horse to ride alongside the carriage, drawing closer to the window: "He Yi is pursuing us. General Mu is engaging them with the cavalry that raided their camp."
Clad in a heavy cloak, Wen Yu's eyes held profound calm. Her long lashes cast fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyelids in the warm glow of the octagonal colored-glass lamp inside the carriage: "He Yi intends to burn her boats and stake everything on this final desperate gamble."
Zhao Bai, full of concern, was about to speak when Wen Yu continued asking: "How are the preparations at Panshi City? Have Xiyun and the others entered the city?"
Zhao Bai reported: "The Scouts from Panshi City just delivered word—ambushes have been set at all entry points into the city. General Gu and Deputy General Mu have already arrived in the city with the wounded soldiers."
Panshi City lay beyond Gole City, the nearest major settlement. Previously serving only as a supply hub for frontline cities during wartime, its defenses had been hastily reinforced after Western Mausoleum forces advanced to Gole City's walls.
The journey from Gole City to Panshi City required half a day.
When Western Mausoleum forces withdrew at dusk, Wen Yu had already arranged for Gu Xiyun and the others to evacuate first to Panshi City with the wounded soldiers.She herself only withdrew with the main army after seeing the beacon fire lit on the high slope of the desert.
This was the signal agreed upon when she formed an alliance with the various desert tribes at the royal court—if they successfully besieged the Western Mausoleum royal city, they would immediately send someone back to light a beacon fire on a high hill visible from Gole City.
Holding Gole City for twenty days was Wen Yu's estimate of the fastest time for the desert tribes to return with news after besieging the Western Mausoleum royal city.
If the beacon fire had not been sighted, she would have continued defending the city with the soldiers.
This was an open stratagem.
By placing herself as bait in Gole City, she aimed to restrain Western Mausoleum from sending more troops to Tiger Gorge Pass and to force He Yi into this gamble—to capture her at the smallest cost to conquer Liang and Chen, thus recklessly transferring the garrison from the Western Mausoleum royal city and creating an opportunity for the desert tribes.
With the royal city besieged, Western Mausoleum would certainly not send more troops to Tiger Gorge Pass. Their morale damaged, the stalemate with Chen would show signs of collapse.
This was their moment to counterattack.
She guessed that given He Yi's caution, she would take action upon seeing the beacon fire. If she received urgent news from Western Mausoleum, she would be even more unwilling to swallow this insult and would surely make Wen Yu pay.
So after evacuating Gole City, she sent Mu Youliang with cavalry to the Western Mausoleum camp first, waiting for He Yi to attack Gole City before having Mu Youliang raid the camp and burn the supplies.
With her last reliance cut off, He Yi's reaction was exactly as Wen Yu predicted.
Her opponent wanted to fight to the death with her.
Only now, the roles of attacker and defender had reversed.
The cold desert night wind made the tassels under the carriage eaves sway gently. Wen Yu covered her mouth with a light cough, her profile pale as porcelain under the silvery moonlight.
"Princess?" Zhao Bai called out worriedly and turned to order the carriage to stop for a rest, but was stopped by Wen Yu's gesture.
She was coughing quite severely, her calm eyes tinged with physiological redness from the strain, making Zhao Bai's heart ache. He knew it was due to her exhausting herself day and night since Western Mausoleum's invasion, but there was nothing to be done now.
After the coughing subsided, Wen Yu finally said, "Then we shall... lure the enemy into a trap."
Her eyes remained profoundly clear and calm, reflecting the moonlight as if a heavy snow had begun to fall.
The night concealed many traces, making it easy to crudely fabricate movement trails.
He Yi followed the footprints left in the desert, pursuing for nearly half the night with several clashes against the cavalry led by Mu Youliang. Though outnumbered, the enemy used the cover of night for ambushes without engaging in prolonged battles, withdrawing before her forces could fully mobilize—truly infuriating.
The initially high morale of her troops gradually dissipated through these repeated assaults.
After circling for half a day, He Yi finally realized they were being led by the nose—the troop movements discovered by Scouts were all deliberately fabricated by that cavalry unit!
Suppressing her anger, knowing Wen Yu could only retreat to Panshi City now, she divided her troops into several units and ordered them to pursue along various key routes from Gole City to Panshi City. If Wen Yu's traces were found, Scouts would be sent to inform the other routes.
This method proved effective. Soon, pathfinding Scouts reported discovering the army escorting Wen Yu's escape ahead.He Yi, who had been suppressing her fury all night, finally found an outlet and immediately ordered, "Quickly dispatch messengers to recall the other troops!"
Several scouts promptly galloped away on their horses.
He Yi then drew the war blade at her waist, rallying morale as she declared, "Warriors! Tonight, we capture Han Yang, and the vast territories of Liang and Chen will belong to our Western Mausoleum! Every one of you shall become heroes praised along the shores of Lake Yisong!"
The Western Mausoleum soldiers, who had also endured a night of humiliation, raised their weapons and roared in response to this encouragement.
Ambition and battle fervor rekindled in He Yi’s eyes as she led her personal cavalry guard, charging ahead at the forefront in pursuit.
When they were still several li away from the Liang army, the enemy scouts seemed to have detected their pursuit. Recognizing the disparity in numbers, the Liang forces abandoned the official road, diverting troops to escort a carriage onto a narrow path instead.
Upon hearing the scout’s report, He Yi nearly laughed coldly on the spot. "Does Han Yang truly believe she can escape? Continue the pursuit!"
Upon reaching the fork in the road with her main force, He Yi left a small contingent to handle the desperate resistance of the remaining Liang troops, while she led her elite cavalry without hesitation down the narrow path where Wen Yu had fled.
As they advanced deeper into a narrow pass flanked by hills on both sides, He Yi grew suspicious of a trap.
Though the terrain favored an ambush, she reasoned that her forces vastly outnumbered the enemy. Liang’s reinforcements couldn’t possibly traverse the thousand-li desert beyond Hundred Blades Pass so quickly, and what remained of Gole City’s defenders—even if they charged down from the high slopes—would barely scratch her forces.
The more He Yi thought, the fiercer her gaze became. She pressed forward with the resolve to capture Wen Yu, even at the cost of heavier casualties.
Cracking her whip fiercely, she urged her warhorse onward, but its front hooves suddenly plunged into emptiness as the sandy path ahead collapsed into a pit over two zhang long, lined with sharp spears at the bottom.
He Yi yanked the reins hard just in time, forcing the horse to rear and neigh sideways, narrowly avoiding the pit.
At that moment, a series of deafening explosions erupted from behind, sending sand and stones flying across the narrow pass and throwing both men and horses into chaos.
Explosives had been planted in advance along the official road!
With the fuses ignited, the rear cavalry, unaware of the situation ahead and panicked by the blasts, surged forward uncontrollably.
The elite riders at the front, who had barely managed to rein in their horses, were shoved into the spear-filled pit amid the turmoil, instantly impaled in a gruesome spectacle.
He Yi herself was nearly pushed into the pit, but her loyal guards, seeing the situation spiral out of control, drew their blades and cut down anyone—ally or foe—who charged toward them. This created enough space to shield He Yi as they turned her horse toward a sandy slope on one side of the narrow pass.
Trapped cavalry in front of the pit shouted desperately, "Don’t charge forward! There’s a trap ahead!"
But their cries were lost in the distance and the chaos. After the explosions, the rear cavalry, terrified and disoriented in the darkness, stampeded blindly, unable to hear the warnings.
In the ensuing bedlam, soldiers were not only shoved into the spear-lined pit but also trampled to death in great numbers.
He Yi, mounted on the gentle slope, watched the turmoil below with a mix of fury and desperation. She shouted in the Western Mausoleum tongue at the top of her lungs, "Retreat to the sand dunes on both sides!"
Yet her voice, too, was swallowed by the fear and confusion of the night.After trampling countless people to death, the soldiers below finally realized they should flee toward the sand dunes on either side. But before they could reach the midpoint of the dunes, a hail of arrows rained down from above.
The soldiers at the front immediately fell in rows.
Those behind crowded onto the gentle slopes, blocking the retreat path. In an instant, the outer layers of soldiers became living targets.
He Yi had not anticipated that her miscalculation would lead to such devastating consequences. Watching her soldiers flee in disarray only to be slaughtered by the relentless arrows, she burned with fury, yet a bleak sense of powerlessness—which she refused to acknowledge—coiled within her. She screamed hoarsely, "Warriors! Charge forward! Follow me and fight our way out!"
The rear of the narrow path was surely blocked by Liang forces. The enemy's arrows were meant to drive them back, trapping and annihilating them in this confined passage between the dunes.
Their only hope lay in breaking through the flanks of the sand dunes!
But the terror of being ambushed at every turn tonight had shattered the Western Mausoleum Army's will to fight. The soldiers below had no idea how many more traps lay ahead.
When He Yi roared the order to charge, only a handful of troops followed her, pushing upward against the arrow storm. The majority, driven by instinct, shoved through the crowd in a panicked retreat down the narrow path.
In the chaotic shoving and trampling, countless more Western Mausoleum soldiers were crushed to death.
Arrows fell like torrential rain upon the dunes, claiming many lives amid the frantic escape.
The elites fighting alongside He Yi used round shields for cover where possible; those without shields wielded corpses as barriers. They finally managed to fight their way up the dunes through the arrow barrage.
Yet, after successive defeats and with morale in tatters, they had no idea how many enemy troops lay in ambush. A shadow of dread and fear clung to those who made it up the dunes. Without lingering to fight, they focused on protecting He Yi as they desperately hacked their way through the encirclement.
The moon had sunk westward. A squad of Liang cavalry escorted a carriage racing swiftly along the White Sand Official Road.
Wen Yu listened to the distant explosions and earth-shaking battle cries from the desert, lifting the carriage curtain to peer into the deep night outside.
Zhao Bai, riding guard beside the carriage, also glanced toward the source of the noise and said, "It seems the plan proceeds smoothly."
Wen Yu covered her mouth with a light cough and lowered the curtain. "My final gift to He Yi is called 'Frightening the Already Timid.'"
After a brutal struggle, He Yi finally broke through the encirclement with the remnants who had fought their way up the dunes.
Of the original twenty-thousand strong army, only half remained after this ambush.
As they retreated to reunite with the other divided troops, dawn had not yet broken, and the twilight was profound. In the distance, they spotted an army rushing toward them. Though their uniforms were unclear, they flew the Western Mausoleum banner. Someone in the ranks shouted frantically in the Western Mausoleum tongue, "Princess!"—appearing to have suffered a surprise attack and now hastily seeking refuge upon hearing the fighting here.
Exhausted and battered from the recent slaughter, He Yi and her breakthrough troops let their guard down, assuming these were allies.
To their shock, once the cavalry closed within arrow range, they unleashed a dense volley from their mechanized crossbows directly at He Yi's group, charging forward with battle cries.
"Capture that Western Mausoleum savage alive! There will be a heavy reward!" Mu Youliang shouted, cracking his whip.
It was him leading troops disguised as the Western Mausoleum Army!
He Yi and her soldiers felt as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.To evade the barrage of arrows, He Yi was forced to abandon her horse, tumbling awkwardly to the roadside.
Fortunately, though her troops had lost their fighting spirit, they still held a numerical advantage. After a frantic struggle, they managed to fight their way out of the encirclement and protect her.
The ambush had dealt a heavy blow to everyone. Morale had plummeted to its lowest point as the disheveled group trudged onward. Unfortunately, another army bearing the Western Mausoleum banner charged toward them, shouting "Princess" in the Western Mausoleum language with equal urgency and panic.
He Yi's personal guards, still shaken, all turned to look at her.
Suppressing her own fury, He Yi coldly ordered, "Ask for their unit designation and password."
The guards immediately shouted the challenge to the rapidly approaching army, who quickly responded.
A guard breathed a sigh of relief and reported to He Yi, "Princess, they are General Hati's subordinates."
Only then did everyone lower their guard. As the army drew near, the guards prepared to inquire about their situation, but instead, another wave of chaotic arrows rained down upon them.
"It's a trap! Enemy attack!"
The remnants of the Western Mausoleum forces were thrown into disarray, scrambling to dodge and flee.
Having been toyed with repeatedly, He Yi was so enraged that she tasted blood from biting down too hard. With a furious roar, she charged forward instead of retreating, spurring her horse directly toward the enemy cavalry. Her guards had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.
Fortunately, the cavalry was small in number. Seeing their counterattack, they quickly withdrew.
A shred of remaining rationality held He Yi back from ordering a pursuit. After having the wounded hastily bandaged, she forced down her simmering anger and continued the retreat.
When yet another army bearing the Western Mausoleum banner emerged from the darkness ahead, spotting them and rushing forward with cries of "Princess" filled with both relief and panic,
He Yi nearly laughed coldly on the spot. "Daring to come again? Attack!"
The Western Mausoleum soldiers, equally incensed by the repeated ambushes, assumed it was another trick. Following He Yi's order, they loosed their arrows before the approaching force could get close.
The soldiers at the front of the opposing group tumbled from their horses, seemingly revealing their true colors, and immediately returned fire with their own arrows.
The two sides exchanged a volley of arrows before clashing together with furious roars, all shouting in the Western Mausoleum language.
He Yi instantly realized something was wrong. As her warblade met the weapon of the enemy leader, she saw by the moonlight that the commander was indeed another trusted general under her command!
Furious, she exclaimed, "Balu? How is it you?"
The Western Mausoleum general hurriedly sheathed his blade, equally shocked and bewildered. He quickly ordered a ceasefire and knelt before He Yi, pleading for forgiveness. "It is I, your subordinate..."
He lamented, "I saw your banner earlier and thought it was you, Princess. But when we approached, we were met with hidden arrows. Assuming it was a Liang Camp disguise, I ordered a counterattack. I never imagined it was truly you, Princess... I... I deserve death for my crime!"
Throughout the night, He Yi had lost count of how many times she had fallen for Liang Camp's schemes. Now, she felt a surge of rage and blood churning in her chest, the metallic taste of blood nearly overwhelming her.
She forced it down and observed that the troops led by this Western Mausoleum general were also disheveled, clearly having endured a fierce battle before arriving. Her voice icy, she demanded, "What happened to you?"Mentioning this, the expressions on everyone's faces grew even more sorrowful and fearful: "After receiving the scout's orders, this general led troops to reinforce you, Princess. Unexpectedly, the road ahead had been pre-laid with explosives, and further ahead, pit traps with spike beds had been dug. When this general and the soldiers passed through, countless men and horses below suffered casualties!"
Knowing it was the same kind of ambush she had experienced, He Yi naturally understood how brutal it had been.
She had thought splitting the army was to facilitate the pursuit of Wen Yu, but she never expected it would instead make it easier for the enemy to defeat them one by one!
An overwhelming sense of humiliation seized He Yi's entire being. Clenching the war blade in her hand, she raised her eyes toward the direction of Panshi City: "Han Yang! If I, He Yi, do not kill you, I swear I will no longer be human!"
At daybreak, the first light of dawn emerged in the east.
The several troops that He Yi had dispersed to pursue Wen Yu finally all converged outside Panshi City.
Excluding deserters and death soldiers, the original fifty thousand troops now numbered only thirty thousand at most. Moreover, after a night of relentless marching and fierce battles, every soldier was utterly exhausted.
He Yi ordered the army to rest on the spot outside the city and dispatched troops to nearby villages to scavenge for food, planning to launch an attack on the city after a full meal.
However, the commoners from Gole City to the territory of Panshi City had long been evacuated under Wen Yu's orders. This year, with the severe drought, the fields had yielded almost no harvest.
The Western Mausoleum soldiers dug three feet into the ground but still could not find half a bag of grain.
When the personal guard reported all this to He Yi, she was studying the map in a makeshift tree shelter. Lifting her head at the news, her eyes were filled with ferocity and determination: "Then slaughter the warhorses to feed the soldiers! What does it matter if we only have thirty thousand troops left? My thirty thousand Western Mausoleum warriors will still trample her Panshi City today!"
The personal guard knew that He Yi's temper was flaring due to the unfavorable turn of the war and dared not say more, retreating only to convey the orders.
Inside Panshi City, Wen Yu had entered at dawn. After drinking a bowl of hot broth, she immediately began discussing the subsequent city defense matters with the garrison commanders. From the entire night until now, she had not closed her eyes once.
When Zhao Bai brought the nourishing medicinal broth prescribed by the imperial physician into the council hall, the discussions inside had not yet concluded.
"...That barbarian woman remains unyielding in her wicked intentions. She now stations thirty thousand troops outside Panshi City, felling trees on nearby mountains to build siege engines, and slaughtering warhorses for food. Once they have recuperated their energy, Panshi City is likely to face another fierce battle!"
"Why not take advantage of their mealtime? I could lead a cavalry unit out of the city for a surprise attack and further dampen their morale?" Mu Youliang stood before the sand table and proposed.
Some agreed with this method, while others felt it was unwise: "No, no! With thirty thousand Western Mausoleum troops stationed outside the city, this is nothing like last night's pre-laid ambush that leveraged terrain advantages and the cover of darkness. We must not rashly send out troops. If we fail, it would only boost the Western Mausoleum's morale before the battle and disrupt our own army's spirit! It's better to be cautious... holding firm in defense is the wiser choice!"
As these words were spoken, many officials felt this reasoning was sound, though some radicals still objected: "Last night, we already severely dampened the Western Mausoleum's morale and inflicted nearly twenty thousand casualties. Now, the Western Mausoleum is at the end of its strength, while our city's soldiers are at the peak of their morale. Why should we continue to hesitate and hold back?"
This argument also seemed reasonable, leaving everyone momentarily unable to decide, and they all turned their eyes to Wen Yu.
After placing the medicinal broth by Wen Yu's side, Zhao Bai retreated to stand behind her.
Wen Yu gazed at the sand table below, having listened to the officials' debates. Frowning slightly, she pressed her fingers against her temple, which ached from lack of proper rest, yet her eyes remained calm and clear."Last night's several defeats must have exhausted He Yi's arrogance. Since she has ordered the slaughter of warhorses for food, it indicates she is prepared for a last-ditch stand. If we send troops to provoke them now, we might indeed outsmart ourselves. The best strategy is to fortify the city and hold our ground."
After some discussion among the ministers, they all agreed.
Wen Yu continued, "Western Mausoleum has exhausted its provisions. If they fail in today's siege attempt, the war with Western Mausoleum can be completely concluded."
As she spoke, Wen Yu lifted her gaze to look out the window.
The ministers were momentarily stunned, then felt a surge of complex emotions.
There was a time when the 120,000-strong Western Mausoleum Army pressing on the border was like a mountain weighing heavily on everyone's minds.
The people in both regions lived in constant fear.
But now, that suffocating mountain was about to dissipate like clouds!
—He Yi had run out of provisions. If he couldn't capture Panshi City and didn't retreat to Western Mausoleum, his troops would be worn down to death.
Having been shrouded too long by the terror of powerful enemies and potential loss of their homeland, all ministers now felt joy mixed with surreal disbelief, as if in a dream.
Only after a long silence following Wen Yu's words did a square-faced general wipe his eyes, speaking with embarrassed tenderness: "When this war ends, I must return home to see my wife and child. My wife was still pregnant when I left, all these years I've wondered how they've managed... I thought I'd never have the chance to see them again..."
Though he spoke with a smile, his voice nearly broke with emotion by the end.
Chen Kingdom's borders had never been truly peaceful. The royal court conscripted soldiers yearly, and frontier guards rarely returned home even after eight or ten years.
This nearly catastrophic war had made lower-ranking soldiers abandon all hope of surviving to return home.
Yet now, the dawn of victory was finally within sight.
When horns sounded through the Western Mausoleum ranks and newly-built siege engines advanced toward Panshi City's gates like tidal waves, thunderous war drums rolled from the city walls where countless archers positioned their bows along the battlements.
Both attackers and defenders glared with ferocious determination.
As opposing commanders, Wen Yu and He Yi faced each other from the city wall and his warhorse respectively, mirroring their earlier confrontation during He Yi's assault on Gole City.
The elevated city walls provided longer arrow range. When Western Mausoleum's vanguard entered shooting distance, arrows woven into a celestial net descended upon them.
Western Mausoleum soldiers raised round shields overhead, advancing steadily while leaving numerous Death Soldiers behind on the battlefield—casualties nobody noticed in this place where human life was cheaper than grass.
Only upon reaching their own shooting range did Western Mausoleum archers return fire through shield gaps, immediately felling another wave of defenders on the walls.
From the outset, this siege was destined to become a protracted battle of attrition.
...
After three days and two nights of relentless war drums, blood had soaked the sand beneath Panshi City several inches deep when Western Mausoleum forces finally retreated again.
During these three days, Western Mausoleum had launched full-scale attacks initially. When prolonged assault failed and troops weakened from starvation, He Yi switched to attrition warfare.
While one wave of soldiers stormed the walls, another retreated to gnaw foul-smelling horse meat boiled in plain water before napping weapon-in-hand where they stood.
Having left their camp to raid Gole City, then pursuing Wen Yu's convoy overnight to Panshi City, they carried neither conventional military supplies nor even military tents.
They slept on open ground behind battle lines, rotating whenever the attacking wave grew exhausted.
Fortunately, the city's defenders had already experienced Western Mausoleum's rotation tactics during Gole City's defense. Under Mu Youliang's command and Wen Yu's personal supervision boosting morale, they ultimately withstood wave after wave of Western Mausoleum's desperate, savage assaults.By the third day, whether it was because the Western Mausoleum soldiers' bodies could no longer endure the harsh conditions of camping in the open and attacking the city day and night, or because they had realized the futility of capturing Pan-Shi City, the momentum of their assault suddenly waned.
Mu Youliang stood atop the city wall, observing the weakening offensive of the Western Mausoleum Army below, and requested orders from Wen Yu, who was also watching the battle from the ramparts: "Your Highness?"
Wen Yu gazed down at He Yi, who was personally leading the charge in the fray, and simply said, "Go."
Mu Youliang clasped his hands in a salute to Wen Yu, then immediately turned and descended the city wall.
Moments later, the long-sealed gates of Pan-Shi City swung open, and Mu Youliang led a troop of elite cavalry charging out from within.
He Yi's war blade was already notched from use, and the fine braids in her hair were stained with dried, brownish blood.
Lifting her head, she saw the general from Pan-Shi City emerging to engage in battle. Her hand, gripping the war blade, trembled slightly after the prolonged fighting, yet with a fierce glint in her eyes, she dug her heels into her horse's flank and charged forward with a roar, brandishing her weapon.
In this battle, He Yi suffered a crushing defeat.
Though she managed to escape with her life thanks to the aid of her personal guards and even managed to slash Mu Youliang across the waist in retaliation, the Western Mausoleum Army's rout was irreversible.
As her guards forcibly pulled her onto a horse and held her by the waist to prevent her from charging back to fight Mu Youliang in a suicidal frenzy, He Yi struggled, screaming and cursing, while looking up at the city gates of Pan-Shi City. In her daze, a wetness welled up in her eyes and quickly rolled down her cheeks.
She knew she would never breach those city gates again.
The Princess of Da-Liang remained standing calmly atop the city wall, and in her haze, she seemed to be watching He Yi as well. Her slender shoulders bore the weight of her lavish robes, becoming an insurmountable mountain in He Yi's eyes.
Due to Mu Youliang's severe injury and the Western Mausoleum remnants fleeing with He Yi, the junior officers, fearing a counterattack if the enemy escaped too far, did not dare to pursue deeply on their own authority. Instead, they brought Mu Youliang back into the city first.
Though they had failed to capture the enemy leader, forcing the Western Mausoleum Army to retreat was already a great victory.
On the city wall, the soldiers cheered thunderously, and some strategists even wept with joy: "We've won! We've won!"
The wind stirred the loose strands of hair at Wen Yu's temples. Her lips were pale, and she silently watched the fading shadow of the Western Mausoleum Army in the distance.
Only when Zhao Bai, unable to contain his joy, said to her with red-rimmed eyes, "Your Highness, we've won," did she give a slight nod and reply, "Yes, we've won."
As her long eyelashes lowered, her entire body swayed backward, her face as pale as paper.
After this battle, He Yi had no hope of making a comeback, and the tension that had been gripping Wen Yu for days finally released at this moment.
"Your Highness!"
Zhao Bai panicked instantly, and the officials, who had been reveling in triumph moments before, hurriedly crowded around, urgently calling out, "Your Highness!"
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