Outside Yunzhou City, the battlefield was filled with flames of war. However, as the Yunzhou army grew stronger, the line of battle gradually moved northward.
Watching the Yunzhou army chase down the enemy, Ye Chen felt relieved and hurried to check on the condition of the soldiers from the Death Camp.
On the battlefield’s remains not far away, the originally 800 soldiers of the Death Camp had fewer than a hundred still standing.
Some were half-crouched, some were holding their wounds, and others were struggling to stand…
Despite the heavy casualties, their eyes were filled with unwavering determination, steadfastly looking ahead.
Even Ye Chen was deeply moved by their spirit. He approached Lao Huang and Zhang Zhi and patted their shoulders:
“Well done. When we return, I’ll make sure to commend you!”
At this moment, Ye Chen had already formulated some plans in his mind.
Soon, the Yunzhou army finished off the fleeing Tatar forces, and those they couldn’t catch were beyond their reach.
“Your Highness, we arrived too late to save you. Please forgive us!”
The five generals of the Yunzhou army had come before Ye Chen. Seeing him still on the battlefield, covered in blood, their view of him had completely changed.
In the past, they had seen royal family members as high and mighty, treating the lives of their soldiers as trivial.
But Ye Chen was different—he treated people with calmness, led by example, and most importantly, had exceptional skills!
Just look at this surprise attack on the Tatar main force with 800 brave warriors. Who among them had the courage to accept such an order?
Who could take the head of the Tatar commander under ten thousand Tatar troops?
Who could decapitate an enemy general in the midst of thousands of soldiers and hang the head from their waist?
Perhaps there would never be another such war god as the Seventh Prince of Chu in the entire Chu Kingdom.
Seeing the generals’ genuine submission, Ye Chen couldn’t help but smile:
“We don’t have too many rules here. As long as you fight hard, rewards will be plentiful!”
As the war gradually subsided, the Yunzhou soldiers began to clean the battlefield, while Ye Chen returned to Yunzhou City to attend to other matters.
In the Death Camp of Yunzhou City, although Ye Chen had led the entire camp to battle, there should have been no one left. However, there were two people present at this time.
One was Deputy General Guo Chengyun, who was now coldly watching An Lushui.
Yes, the other was An Lushui, who had been bound by Zhao Yun and Xu Da. If he hadn’t ordered the city to be abandoned and fled, Ye Chen and the Death Camp wouldn’t have been trapped in such a hard battle.
An Lushui was tied up tightly, unable to move, and his mouth was stuffed with muddy military boots, making it impossible for him to make any sound even if he opened his mouth.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!”
Cheers from Yunzhou soldiers came from outside the city, and Guo Chengyun knew that Ye Chen had won. He sneered:
“Didn’t expect this, An Lushui? Not only did the Seventh Prince not die as you wished, but he also led the Yunzhou army to counterattack and achieved a great victory!”
“By then, your plot against the Seventh Prince will be revealed, and you’ll have no way to survive in this army.”
An Lushui, bruised and battered, with a face so dirty it was unrecognizable, trembled uncontrollably at these words. His eyes were filled with fierce hatred as he looked at Guo Chengyun, wishing he could pounce on him and devour him immediately.
“The Seventh Prince is here!”
Outside the Death Camp, Ye Chen arrived. Having heard the explanations from the generals on the way, he understood the situation of the abandoned city and had a grand plan gradually taking shape.
“Haha, the Seventh Prince is here. An Lushui, wait for your death!”
Guo Chengyun quickly tidied himself up and went to greet Ye Chen. Just as he was about to kneel, Ye Chen stepped forward to help him up.
“Deputy General Guo, you’ve worked hard. I’ll handle An Lushui.”
Then, the soldiers took An Lushui away, leaving only Ye Chen and An Lushui in the Death Camp.
An Lushui’s gaze was erratic, unwilling to make eye contact with Ye Chen.
Ye Chen sat down calmly opposite An Lushui and smiled lightly: “They say the imperial family is the most ruthless. I think you understand this very well.”
Hearing this, An Lushui’s pupils trembled. Even though he could tolerate being beaten and scolded by Ye Chen, he could not accept Ye Chen’s words.
The most ruthless imperial family—did he know that the Third Prince wanted to kill him?
If so, how could An Lushui’s wife and children be saved!
Ye Chen removed the military boots from An Lushui’s mouth and slapped him on the face: “An Lushui, you wanted to abandon the city and cause your grandfather’s death. You’re not worthy of that!”
“Bah! A soldier can be killed but not humiliated. Ye Chen, just kill me!”
“Hahaha!” Ye Chen couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter.
“You dare to call yourself a soldier? You’re nothing more than a dog under the Third Prince!”
“A stupid, useless wild dog!”
Ye Chen then took out a letter from his bosom, opened it, and showed it to An Lushui.
“Do you recognize this?”
After looking at the contents of the letter, An Lushui was even more terrified: “What… what do you want to do?”
An Lushui didn’t finish reading the letter but had seen the words “Ye Chen is dead” and recognized the handwriting as his own.
Ye Chen took out some sealing wax and pressed An Lushui’s fingerprint onto the letter before handing it to Zhao Yun.
“If I died here in Yunzhou City, how many people would remember the useless Seventh Prince of Chu?”
An Lushui looked at Ye Chen with trembling eyes: “Madman… you’re a madman!”
Feigning death!
Once the news of Ye Chen’s death spread to the capital, everyone would assume he was dead. Then, no one would pay attention to Yunzhou, this remote border area.
What’s more frightening is that beyond Yunzhou is the vast grassland, and to the west of the grassland is the Western Regions, which nearly surpasses the entire Chu Kingdom in size.
Ye Chen thought of this too. By faking his death, he could escape and then march north to conquer the grassland and immediately head west to the Western Regions. Once his power was strong, he would seek revenge.
With Ye Chen’s current strength and military prestige, he could certainly achieve this!
An Lushui, realizing this, shook his head frantically, trying to escape, but the bindings prevented him from giving up that thought.
Despairing and unwilling to live, An Lushui pleaded: “Kill me, I cannot live in this world!”
Ye Chen shook his head: “How can I kill you? You are the appointed commander of Yunzhou by the court. If you die, where will I find such a useful messenger?”
Keeping An Lushui alive served one purpose only—to use his identity to continuously report Yunzhou’s situation to the court, merely reporting a state of calm and no enemy invasion.
Only in this way could the court ignore Yunzhou and let him roam the grassland!
“Send the order to tighten An Lushui’s bindings and keep a close watch on his actions. He must not have any chance to escape!”
After issuing the order, Ye Chen left the Death Camp without looking back. Unless needed for the identity of “Yunzhou Commander An Lushui,” it seemed that An Lushui would never see the light of day again.
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