Instead, she should drive Dong Zhuo out of Luoyang, along with his puppet emperor!

In the end, this matter was costly.

If the King of Hongnong were still in the capital, especially under the protection of the Yuan family, it would be even better.

The Yuan family would not miss the opportunity to support the King of Hongnong to the throne and compete with Dong Zhuo.

Whether or not it benefits the Yuan family is hard to say, but it will definitely benefit her!

With one Han in the east and one in the west—

That would be a situation where she could truly unleash her potential!

However, her thoughts in that fleeting moment couldn’t be communicated to others for a judgment, nor could she directly tell her subordinate generals to show leniency towards Dong Zhuo.

After all, she had previously told her subordinates that whoever kills Dong Zhuo would get the steed, Red Hare.

Even Xu Rong, who had only recently joined her, was imbued with this idea.

If Dong Zhuo knew what this thoroughgoing subordinate was thinking, he would probably curse Xu Rong while fleeing for his life.

Yet, Qiao Yan had some of the same sentiments about “shooting oneself in the foot.”

Fortunately, as the commander of the campaign against Luoyang, controlling the pace of the pursuit of Dong Zhuo wasn’t too difficult.

Her contemplation of the current situation and decisions was made in a split second.

To the Bingzhou soldiers following her, when Dong Zhuo fled Luoyang’s northern palace with his forces, their young provincial governor looked coldly at the departing rebels and then, in the next moment, led the charge in pursuit.

“Chase them! Retrieve the Emperor! Wenxian and Fengxian stay behind to put out the fire.”

By the time Qiao Yan finished speaking, her steed, Zhu Tan, had already charged ahead.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao quickly followed with their cavalry.

Lu Bu, who had climbed the city walls first, found himself lagging behind.

He and Xu Rong, who stayed behind, exchanged glances for a while before confirming that although Lu Bu had gained credit for scaling the walls, he would not get credit for pursuing Dong Zhuo.

But since this was Qiao Yan’s command, he had no choice but to comply.

“Actually, you don’t need to be so downhearted,” Xu Rong consoled. “With your bow in the general’s hands and the general’s archery skills, it’s unlikely anyone else will steal the credit. In that case, the Red Hare might be decided in another way.”

“It could be the same as when General Qiao said that whoever kills the Xiu Tu King would get the reward,” Dian Wei added.

“Xiu Tu Wang died at Marquis Qiao’s hands, and the final messenger was a single person. Lord Qiao has always been very generous.”

Qu Yi, not having received any orders, remained in place and overheard this conversation, unable to suppress a roll of his eyes.

If a good horse like the Red Hare could be assigned to every person, he would resign from Han Fu’s service upon returning to Bingzhou and work under Qiao at Bingzhou.

“……” Lu Bu remained silent for a long time but decided to temporarily trust his colleagues’ friendly reassurances and go solve the fires in the Northern Palace.

At this moment, Qiao Yan had already followed Dong Zhuo’s group into Buguang Li and then turned into Buhe Li.

It must be said that Li Ru had chosen a fairly reliable escape route for Dong Zhuo.

Since there were many openings in the Luoyang city walls and the sour jujube allied forces had not yet arrived, Dong Zhuo could even head out through the eastern gate and straight into the horse market, creating enough chaos behind his escape route.

Alternatively, he could head directly south through the Kaiyang Gate, rush across the Luo River, and meet up with the defenders at the southern gate.

Moreover, the Xiliang soldiers accompanying Dong Zhuo had excellent horsemanship.

Even though a few were shot down by pursuing troops, they maintained their forward speed.

Not to mention, Dong Min stationed at the southern Guo would have undoubtedly received news of Dong Zhuo’s evacuation during the turmoil.

He would likely come to meet him.

It seemed that if Dong Zhuo successfully escaped, the blame should first be on the allied forces for not forming a siege, rather than on her, Qiao Yan, for lacking skill.

Very well!

But as Qiao Yan continued to pursue, she sensed something was off.

Although the streets were full of fleeing and hiding people due to the chaos in Luoyang, and the guards and northern troops were unsure whom to assist, the sounds from ahead did not seem to be the noise of people or cavalry turning sharply.

Instead—

The sound of clashing weapons.

As Qiao Yan had this thought, she saw a cavalry unit suddenly emerge from an alley, aiming to obstruct her pursuit.

She quickly retracted her assumptions about the situation ahead, drew her bow and prepared her spear.

But before she could act, Zhao Yun, who understood the duty of protecting the leader, had already ridden forward to confront the leading young general.

Seeing that the opponent was also using a spear, Qiao Yan had a suspicion and left the instruction “capture him alive” before continuing the chase, leaving Zhao Yun and his men to fight.

If her guess was correct, this person should be Zhang Xiu, the nephew of Zhang Ji, following Dong Zhuo’s orders to intercept her path.

The pursuing forces were momentarily held back.

But even if it wasn’t, with Qiao Yan’s current ability to judge martial talents, it was clear that the new arrivals were highly skilled with their spears.

Anyway, since Dong Zhuo was already fleeing, it was better to leave her some spoils!

Despite these thoughts, Qiao Yan dared not show any slack in her pursuit of Dong Zhuo.

Especially as they passed the public residence and charged into the east-west street before the South Palace, Qiao Yan was increasingly convinced that her earlier judgments were correct.

At this moment, it wasn’t just a two-way chase between her and Dong Zhuo, but a third force had mingled into the fray.

The newly arrived cavalry, coming from the Pingcheng Gate, had precisely blocked Dong Zhuo’s troops in the center, engaging in battle with Guo Si, who was protecting Dong Zhuo.

This created a chaotic melee in the area.

From the south?

Qiao Yan calculated in her mind.

If she wasn’t mistaken, these must be the Luyang allied forces charging in from Taigu Pass.

Given the simultaneous attack and no significant trouble during the breach, the journey from Taigu Pass to Luoyang was roughly ten miles and not mountainous terrain—

They should indeed have arrived by now!

Upon a closer look, the man in a red chef’s hat, fighting Guo Si, was none other than Sun Jian, whom she had encountered in the Changsha battle years ago.

But the cacophony of neighing horses and clashing metal had become so loud that Qiao Yan’s attempt to announce herself was drowned out.

Having emerged suddenly from the alleys in the front, leading a group of northern cavalry, it was momentarily unclear whether she was pursuing Dong Zhuo’s forces or coming to aid Guo Si.

Realizing this could cause confusion, a young commander in silver armor with a long spear led his men to attack.

His spear strikes were fierce, rivaling Sun Jian’s!

Behind him, an older general blocked Zhang Liao, who had rushed forward to fight, while the young commander’s attack remained relentless, aiming directly at Qiao Yan.

What he did not expect was that the seemingly youthful opponent, who appeared to be of a similar age, was actually a tough adversary!

The opponent’s spear was longer than usual, yet in her hands it moved with remarkable agility.

Moreover, he didn’t anticipate that, as he was defending against her spear’s sudden thrust, she unexpectedly pulled the rear half of her spear out, making an astonishingly swift turn.

The front end of her spear deflected his weapon while the rear end aimed straight at his throat.

Sun Ce, who was accompanying his father on the expedition, was still unfamiliar with strange weapons.

What he thought would be a sure victory was countered by the opponent’s tactics.

In an instant, the half-length spear that had been aimed at him was turned to face him, switching offense and defense.

Sun Ce, despite his battle experience, quickly judged that he could not catch the spear with one hand alone.

He immediately pulled his horse back and turned to avoid the attack.

Yet the spear’s owner seemed to anticipate his reaction, as the spearhead transformed into a dazzling display of weaponry, creating a blinding flash of light under the sun.

But more glaring than the cold light of the spear was the pair of eyes Sun Ce saw clearly as the combat slowed down between the two riders.

Having previously encountered Yuan Shu with his father, killed Dong Yue at Taigu Pass, and slain Dong Min during the recent attack on the southern Guo, only the stern gaze of this person made Sun Ce feel this was the true mark of a commander!

What a striking—

Young woman?

As he realized he had likely attacked the wrong target, suspecting this person was the rumored Bingzhou Governor rather than Dong Zhuo’s accomplice, the half-length spear struck him in the chest.

“Fool, can’t you tell friend from foe?” Qiao Yan said coldly. “Get out of the way!”

With Sun Ce’s obstruction, Dong Zhuo’s group had already advanced a considerable distance ahead.

Though she intended to let Dong Zhuo escape, Qiao Yan did not plan on letting him leave so easily.

The confusion caused by their mutual attacks had given him the chance to flee.

This would be quite laughable.

What made her need to quickly catch up was seeing that Dong Zhuo’s group had been cut off, and the person left behind clearly did not display the typical skills of Xiliang cavalry.

Qiao Yan had seen him with Dong Zhuo on the Northern Palace walls and confirmed his identity with Xu Rong.

That was indeed Dong Zhuo’s strategist, Li Ru!

How could she let such a prize escape?

Sun Ce, having been called a “fool” for the first time, had a flash of protest in his otherwise proud and fierce expression.

However, he only clutched his chest where the two-section spear had struck him and urged his horse to give chase.

He was indeed at fault for attacking first and accepted the scolding, but he needed to prove that he was no fool by pursuing Dong Zhuo.

Before he could catch up with Qiao Yan and ride alongside her, she gathered her two-section spear behind her and instead drew a stone crossbow.

It was indeed a stone crossbow!

The tautness of the bowstring as she drew it made Sun Ce certain of it.

He watched as the young woman lowered the arrow slowly, and despite the galloping speed, her hands remained steady and firm.

Only the fierce wind as she rode made her cloak flutter, showing she was in constant motion.

He instinctively looked in the direction she aimed and saw the arrow leave her hand, speeding forward and piercing the leg of the Xiliang horse.

The rider was immediately thrown from the horse.

Although the rider had experience falling from a horse and curled up quickly to protect himself, he could not stop his cry of pain upon hitting the ground.

Sun Ce found it a bit amusing.

And this was clearly not the end of the misfortune for that unlucky soul.

The two-section spear, which had been used earlier, was already back in its connected state.

As Qiao Yan’s horse stopped beside the fallen scholar, the long spear was in her hand, pointing directly at his head.

Qiao Yan asked unhurriedly, “Where does Mr. Wen You(Li Ru) wish to go?”