Chapter 194: Chapter 192: A Bane to Countries_1 Chapter 194: Chapter 192: A Bane to Countries_1 The guard who secretly sighed nodded: “I will send someone to bring the horse to Miss Bai. Do you have any words for Miss Bai?”

“Bring words?!”

Xiao Rongyan looked at the white steed with eyes washed clean by the rain, and after a moment of thought, he said: “Just tell her, thank you for taking care of me all this way!”

From Qufen he accompanied the Jin Kingdom’s expeditionary army until he parted from the Jin Army. Bai Qingyan never revealed his identity to the Crown Prince. Isn’t that considered looking after him all the way?

Even if Bai Qingyan had really exposed his identity to the Crown Prince, he would have had ways to deal with it. But Bai Qingyan never did such a thing.

“Besides this, is there anything else… you want to tell the fourth lady of the Bai family?” The guard cautiously tested his master’s intentions.

Xiao Rongyan glanced back at his guard with a meaningful expression and raised his brows: “Then kindly ask the fourth lady to take good care of Miss Bai.”

Guard: “…”

Were his master’s words said in reverse?!

Xiao Rongyan turned to look at the pure white steed, then said: “Forget it, have someone bring a letter to Miss Bai…”

*
The Xiliang army was crushed. Yun Poxing lost hundreds of thousands of troops in one night. Moreover, his son and grandson both died, angering him to spit blood and leaving him unconscious until now!

The Xiliang army didn’t even dare to stay in Fengcheng. They bypassed Fengcheng and retreated to Luofeng Canyon. Just as they were about to set up camp, they saw the black sail and white python banner of the Bai family army approaching and immediately retreated to the border.

The Nanyan army, which had been slowly retreating to Yao Pass, heard that the Xiliang army had tucked their tails between their legs and fled to the border between Xiliang and Jin. Nanyan’s Commander Zhang Tiansheng instead had the Nanyan army camp not far from Yao Pass at Fengming Mountain.

Zhang Tiansheng thought they couldn’t expend such national power and return without achieving something. He wanted to wait and see. When Jin’s army went to pursue the Xiliang army, he would seize Fengcheng and at least demand some compensation for their mobilization from the Jin Kingdom!

But just after nightfall, news came from Yao Pass. Provisions and supplies for the Nanyan army’s winter, escorted by Zhang Tiansheng’s son, were robbed by Bai family soldiers at Yao Pass!

Zhang Tiansheng’s face turned white instantly. He bit his lip, feeling both frightened… and resentful of the endless Bai family soldiers.

“Commander, this can’t go on! Without winter provisions and supplies, if we stay in the Jin Kingdom, we’ll end up like the Xiliang army and have our elite troops buried in flames!” The Vice Commander, recalling the battle in Wengshan Canyon, was terrified. “I heard this time the Jin Kingdom’s Crown Prince led the army. The one advising him was Bai Weiting’s eldest granddaughter, the same Bai Qingyan who once beheaded Pang Pingguo of the Shu Kingdom! This Bai Qingyan, though a woman, is ruthless and entirely different from Bai Weiting’s leadership. She is like the God of Slaughter incarnate, not to be trifled with!”

Zhang Tiansheng stroked his beard, sat in his command tent for a long time, and finally nodded in fear of the still-burning great fire in Wengshan Canyon: “I will write a memorial. Send someone on a fast horse back to the Capital to let His Majesty decide if we should withdraw!”

The vice commander, after a moment’s thought, nodded: “That sounds good!”

But before Zhang Tiansheng could send the memorial out, a scout suddenly came to report that the Bai family soldiers with the black sail and white python banner were heading to Fengming Mountain from Fengcheng.

Zhang Tiansheng stood up in shock, pacing back and forth in the tent, contemplating whether to fight or flee…

Thinking of battle, he envisioned the fire in Wengshan Canyon, still burning today, and felt a chill down his spine. The vice commander, also trembling with fear, cautiously advised Zhang Tiansheng from the side.

“It takes only four or five hours to march from Fengcheng to Fengming Mountain. Commander, make a quick decision! If you plan to fight, immediately summon the commanders to prepare for the enemy. If returning to Nanyan, we must break camp at once!” The vice commander cupped his fists and said.

Fight to the death?!

Zhang Tiansheng closed his eyes, recalling the Bai family soldiers, whose hundred men first charged into Huying Camp in Feng County, bravely fighting hundreds.

When their army set out, His Majesty had instructed Zhang Tiansheng. They joined Xiliang in the expedition mainly to bolster Xiliang’s momentum, not intending to expend their own troops. It was just to let these soldiers gain some battlefield experience.

Now that Xiliang had been defeated miserably, retreating to the border, was it worth staying here just to be beaten by the Bai family soldiers?!

Quickly, Zhang Tiansheng resolved: “As long as the green hills are left, one need not worry about firewood! Order the army to break camp and ride swiftly to Yao Pass, making sure to reach Yao Pass before darkness!”

Upon reaching Yao Pass, they would be at the border between Nanyan and Jin. They no longer feared the Bai family soldiers.

The grand coalition of Xiliang and Nanyan, after vowing to annihilate Bai Weiting’s descendants, retreated in disgrace after the Jin Crown Prince brought fifty thousand troops to reinforce the south.

This immediately drew the attention of the nations to the new Crown Prince of Jin. Although the battle at Wengshan Canyon was a great victory for Jin, burning and killing the surrendering prisoners provoked discontent among the nations. They believed this new Crown Prince was too brutal, not a benevolent ruler, and if he succeeded the Jin throne, he would bring disaster to other nations.

The Emperor of Daliang, who had feigned friendship with Jin for years, wrote a letter to the Jin Emperor, gently suggesting as a friend that the nations were concerned. He advised the Jin Emperor to punish the Crown Prince to ease international tensions.

The Emperor of Jin read the letter and remained silent for a long while. Then he ordered the letter to be sent to the Crown Prince eight hundred miles ahead with urgent dispatch.

When the letter reached the Crown Prince, he read it and collapsed into his chair, hurriedly summoning his three counselors.

Qin Shangzhi, Old Fang, and the ever-silent Ren Shijie reviewed the letter.

“What now? The infamy of burning and killing the surrendering prisoners has spread throughout the nations!” The Crown Prince’s face turned pale. He clutched the chair’s armrest, deeply regretting giving the Commander’s Seal to Bai Qingyan for unrestricted use of the Jin Army.

These past days, sitting in Wengcheng, every report from the front lines was Bai Qingyan’s decision, not a consultation.

For example, burning and killing the surrendering prisoners, relocating the Pingyang City garrison to Tianmen Pass, Feng County, and Fengcheng. Or even leading the Jin and Bai family soldiers to the Xiliang border. All these were beyond his control, leaving him anxious, unsure if he commanded the expedition or was just a figurehead.

“The burning and killing of the surrendering prisoners were ordered by Bai Weiting’s eldest granddaughter, Bai Qingyan, not by the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince could state the facts in a memorial to His Majesty, requesting an edict to execute Bai Qingyan to clear the Crown Prince’s name!” advised Old Fang.