Chapter 132: Opening the City Gates

As the first glow of dawn appeared in the east, a commotion began on the city walls as soldiers changed shifts. One group ascended the walls while another was relieved.

The tall and heavy city gates slowly opened, followed by rows of armored soldiers on either side, holding torches that illuminated the area inside and outside the gates as bright as day.

“Soldiers, follow me into battle, to defend the imperial city! To fight for our Emperor!” A woman in military attire and a cloak raised the tiger talisman in her hand and then galloped out on horseback, “Charge!”

“Charge!”

Soldiers on the city walls stood ready with bows and arrows, while those below followed the cavalry like a surging tide, their murderous aura suddenly breaking the early morning silence. The air was filled with an imminent sense of killing intent and unease.

The wide-open city gates were unexpected, and the nearby soldiers of the Yong Kingdom almost thought they had heard wrong. They hurriedly grabbed their shields and sharp weapons, stood up, and looked towards the direction of the city gates, only to see the soldiers rushing out as if seeking death.

The horns suddenly sounded!

“All troops, heed my command!” General Chu Yunxiao grasped his long spear and nimbly mounted his horse, “The enemy is launching a night attack, engage immediately!”

“Yes!”

“Vanguard camp, heed my command, the enemy is launching a night attack, engage immediately!”

“Yes!”

“Elite cavalry camp, heed my command, the enemy is launching a night attack, engage immediately!”

Orders were passed down one after another. The soldiers, who had rested for half the night, rose at the fastest speed, picked up their weapons, and lined up outside their camps, awaiting orders.

Shen Ning and Ji Yucang slowly walked out of the large tent, looking at the dust raised by the iron cavalry in the distance. After a moment, Shen Ning narrowed his eyes slightly, “Someone has opened the city gates for us.”

Chu Yunxiao raised the long lance in his hand high, “Attack the city!”

With those words, he charged forward at the forefront!

Behind him, the vanguard camp cavalry followed in unison, the well-trained iron cavalry moving in perfect harmony, their hooves thundering dully as the scene of clashing weapons unfolded before them.

However, the situation suddenly took a turn.

The enemy’s leader was unexpectedly a female general. When the distance between the two sides was only three zhang, she unexpectedly performed a spinning move, sweeping the general following on her left off his horse and directly piercing his chest with her lance.

This sudden scene was completely unexpected.

The Nan Dynasty soldiers who had followed her out of the city were momentarily stunned, and the formation seemed to fall into disarray. They looked at her in disbelief, “Consort… Consort Ying?!”

The person she had impaled was the city’s defending general, Han Wu, the cousin of Loyal and Brave Marquis Han Rong.

“This man is a traitor. His cousin’s expedition was unsuccessful, and he has become a prisoner of the Yong Kingdom!” Consort Ying straightened her back, sitting upright on her horse, and said coldly, “If the Yong Kingdom were to threaten him with his cousin’s life, no one can guarantee that he would not surrender. Therefore, His Majesty has ordered me to eliminate this person. There is no need for alarm!”

This reason sounded reasonable, but most of the generals behind her were followers of Han Wu and found it unacceptable.

However, the Yong Kingdom’s cavalry was swarming in, not giving them any time to continue questioning. Amidst the shouts of “Charge!” from the opposite side, they had no choice but to pick up their spears and fight fiercely.

At the moment of engagement, Consort Ying nimbly dodged the spear thrust by the opposing general and simultaneously struck one of her own men in the neck with her lance. She then raised her voice and asked, “Who fired the Cloud-Piercing Arrow just now? I want to see them!”

Chu Yunxiao was astonished by the sudden betrayal of this female general and was harboring suspicions when the Nan Dynasty soldiers in front of him angrily accused, “Consort Ying is the traitor! She is the traitor!”

A sudden sense of fear and unease arose within the army.

The few generals who had been by Consort Ying’s side quickly retreated several steps on horseback, fearing they might become her next innocent victims.

Consort Ying had actually turned against her own people? What exactly did she intend to do?

Where did she get the tiger talisman?

Opening the city gates and leading the troops out, was it to fight the enemy to the death, or to deliberately lure the enemy into the city?

At this moment, from behind the dark mass of the Yong army, a firm and powerful female voice pierced the entire scene: “The Cloud-Piercing Arrow was fired by me. May I speak with this female general in private?”