After Duan Yunfeng and his personal guards passed through the city gates, Xiao Heng immediately ordered the gates to be closed. Then, everyone quickly withdrew to the military camp.

Southern Suburbs Military Camp.

Hearing the sound of galloping hooves, the military strategist Zhou Ye ignored the torrential rain and rushed out of his tent without even opening his umbrella. Song Shiyu, who was patrolling the camp, also hurriedly ran towards the sound.

“Heaven protect us, heaven protect us…” Seeing that Duan Yunfeng was unharmed, Zhou Ye, who had been worried all afternoon and into the evening, finally relaxed. He almost cried out in joy, “Thank goodness, Zidan, you’re alright!”

Zhou Ye had been by the Northern King’s side for a long time and had seen Duan Yunfeng grow up. At this moment, he didn’t bother with formalities and directly called out Duan Yunfeng’s courtesy name.

Duan Yunfeng got off his horse, looking dazed. He didn’t respond to Zhou Ye and didn’t head into the camp. Instead, he walked aimlessly through the mud, letting the rain soak his face.

Eventually, he walked over to Xiao Heng and leaned his forehead against Xiao Heng’s shoulder, silent and not speaking.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Ye’s expression changed, and he became worried again, about to move closer to Duan Yunfeng. “Are you injured? Call for the military doctor!”

Xiao Heng lowered his gaze and looked at the person leaning against him. Although Duan Yunfeng was covered in the stench of blood, his breathing was steady, and there were no visible injuries on him. Most of the blood on his clothes didn’t seem to be his own. It seemed to be his emotions that were out of control.

Xiao Heng waved his hand to stop Zhou Ye, signaling that Duan Yunfeng was fine.

Zhou Ye was taken aback and stopped in his tracks. “Then, this…”

Duan Yunfeng’s guards shared with Zhou Ye the details of the brutal battle in Luoyang and the news of Gao Tai’s death.

Zhou Ye fell silent.

He raised his hand to wipe his eyes, sighing deeply in sorrow.

After a moment of quiet, Zhou Ye managed to steady himself and began to issue orders, directing the soldiers who had broken out of Luoyang to be brought back and settled into the camp.

In the torrential rain, only Xiao Heng and Duan Yunfeng remained.

Raindrops continued to slide down Duan Yunfeng’s face. Xiao Heng could feel his breathing becoming increasingly rapid. Duan Yunfeng’s chest heaved violently twice, and then, unable to hold it in any longer, he grabbed Xiao Heng’s collar and broke down in tears, crying uncontrollably in the downpour.

Feeling the tremors in Duan Yunfeng’s chest, Xiao Heng could almost feel his pain and resentment intertwining with the rhythm of his heartbeat, resonating and shaking as it was transmitted to Xiao Heng’s chest.

It was the first time Xiao Heng truly realized that, beyond the aura of a battle-hardened general, the person before him was just twenty years old, with only six months of leading troops into battle.

The separation between life and death was still difficult for him to adapt to.

Before this, Duan Yunfeng should have been well-protected by his family.

Perhaps, had Duan Yunfeng’s older brother, Duan Yunsheng, not gotten into trouble, he would never have stepped onto the battlefield.

Xiao Heng didn’t speak, allowing Duan Yunfeng to cry for a while, leaning on him.

But once they walked down this path, pain, love, hatred, and separation would all become inevitable. If one’s heart wasn’t hard enough, nothing would remain in the end but a handful of sand and white bones.

After a while, Duan Yunfeng composed himself. He wiped the rain and tears from his face. Except for his slightly reddened eyes, there was no trace of the emotions he had just expressed. He called over Zhou Ye and a few other generals, his voice a little hoarse, but his expression extremely solemn. “Issue the order—withdraw all troops from Luoyang, take enough rations for ten days of travel, and don’t worry about the remaining food and supplies. Send out scouts to open the way and head towards Jinzhou.”

Then, he turned to Song Shiyu and ordered, “You take three thousand heavy cavalry and cover the rear, protecting the entire army from Chu’s pursuit.”

“Understood!”

Song Shiyu received the order and immediately mounted his horse to gather the heavy cavalry.

Duan Yunfeng’s arrangements were meticulous, to the point that even Xiao Heng could find no fault.

If the 30,000 troops were to return directly to Taiyuan, where the Northern King himself was stationed, the consumption of supplies and equipment would be immense, severely delaying the army’s speed. The journey would be long, and the troops, exhausted, would be vulnerable to ambushes along the way by Li Jichang’s forces.

However, Jinzhou was part of Hedong’s command, with the governor Su Yue being a subordinate of the Northern King. Jinzhou was a stronghold that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. It was also the military gateway between Hedong and Henan, a critical strategic location. It allowed access southward to Fengxiang and northward retreat to Taiyuan. Moreover, the city had enough food supplies, located about 300 miles from Luoyang, requiring eight to ten days of marching. It was the best option for retreating from Luoyang at this time.

After a moment of thunder and lightning above Luoyang, the heavy rain that had washed over the city finally ceased.

Under the cover of night, the massive 30,000-strong army began to break camp and head northwest toward Jinzhou.

---

Year 4 of Jianning, Day Bingyin of the First Month:

The Duan-Chu Allied Forces broke through Luoyang, and the Imperial Guard’s lieutenant An Youliang fled to Fengxiang. Emperor Jianning disappeared, and Chu King Li Jichang declared himself as the Regent of Great Yan, taking control of the government and consolidating power.

In the following month, Li Jichang initiated a military coup in Jingzhao, launching an assault on the Northern King’s son, Duan Yunfeng. Duan Yunfeng, leading over a hundred of his personal guards, broke through the encirclement and led the 30,000-strong army in a night-long retreat to Jinzhou. The Duan-Chu alliance was officially dissolved.

In the same month, Li Jichang ordered the destruction of the Luoyang palace. The wooden structures and treasures were transported along the Luo River to Bianzhou, and nearly 10,000 women from the royal family and palace attendants were captured. Then, with a single blaze, the palace, which had stood for centuries, was completely consumed by fire. Former officials of the Yan Dynasty who could not escape Luoyang, along with their families, were executed in the Eastern Market, with over a thousand heads displayed. Their bones piled up like a high platform. Li Jichang, still unsatisfied, ordered that the corpses of the “clean stream” officials be ground into a slurry and thrown into pigpens.

After wiping out the remnants of the Yan Dynasty, Li Jichang ordered the capital to be moved to Bianzhou. During the retreat, Luoyang was looted extensively, and numerous atrocities were committed. Nine out of ten citizens were slaughtered. Luoyang became a deserted city, and this event was later known as the “Jianning Rebellion.”

Li Jichang soon proclaimed himself emperor in Bianzhou, taking the title “Emperor” and renaming the era to “Jianxing,” with the country now called “Great Chu.” With this, the nearly 200-year-old Yan Dynasty, which had unified China, was overthrown. The Confucian principles of the Three Principles and Five Relationships were gradually replaced by bloody and brutal militarism under Li Jichang’s rule.

All military leaders who held power now harbored ambitions of conquering the central plains. Sun Hao, the former governor of Yanzhou, declared himself emperor and named his country “Qin.” The former Yan governor of Jiangnan declared himself King of Wu, the bandit leader in Sichuan established the Shu Kingdom, and the tribes of the Khitan and Uighur in the northern steppes began to consider advancing southward.

The era of chaos began.

---

The day Luoyang was broken through and Duan Yunfeng’s group managed to escape, a son of the King Chu was shot dead by the Northern Army. Li Jichang, filled with anger, sought someone to blame. After learning about the situation on the city walls, he beheaded the military commander in charge of the South Bank, whose negligence had led to the loss of the South Gate. He then appointed his general Han Hu as the General of the Northern Campaign and personally led an army of tens of thousands to pursue the retreating Northern Army.

Han Hu sent a cavalry unit ahead as the vanguard and caught up with the retreating Northern Army along the Luo River. However, due to the strict discipline and order of the Northern Army during their retreat, and with General Song Shiyu personally covering the rear, the Chu army’s vanguard cavalry failed to make any successful strikes after three attempts, each time being repelled by Song Shiyu.

Seeing no success with the attacks, Han Hu ordered the vanguard to retreat and decided to wait for a better opportunity. The main Chu forces gradually fell behind, while the lightly equipped Northern Army increased the distance between them.

On the evening of the ninth day of the retreat, Duan Yunfeng’s army arrived at the outskirts of a town about thirty miles from Jinzhou and set up camp by the Zhuangtuo River.

Duan Yunfeng was preparing to write a letter himself, to be delivered into the city by his trusted officer, Zhou Ye, who was familiar with the Governor of Jinzhou, Su Yue, to explain the situation.

While he was in the process of writing the letter, one of his personal guards suddenly came in with a report. They had taken the horses to the Hejian pasture to wash and tend to them, when a thief had tried to steal a horse!

As luck would have it, the thief had chosen none other than Duan Yunfeng’s beloved horse, the prized blood-steed. They had immediately caught the thief alive, bound him tightly, and brought him back to the camp.

Normally, Duan Yunfeng wouldn’t have bothered with such matters as horse theft, but when he thought about his beloved steed nearly falling into the thief’s hands, he was immediately enraged. “Bring him to me!” he ordered.

The man was covered in dirt and blood, his hair stuck to his face as if he hadn’t bathed in days. He looked like a beggar, but was dressed in a scholar’s wide-sleeved robe. He was forced to kneel on the ground, but he raised his head proudly and said, “Since the pursuers are already here, just end it quickly!”

Xiao Heng, who had been silently reading a book on the side, raised his head at these words.

Duan Yunfeng furrowed his brow. “…What pursuers?”

The man widened his eyes. “You’re in cahoots with that scoundrel Qian Kan, plotting to assassinate the local officials. What else is there to say!”

Duan Yunfeng was utterly confused. “Assassinate the local officials? Who are you talking about? Speak clearly!”

This was the first time Duan Yunfeng had encountered a thief trying to steal from him, and instead of waiting for interrogation, the thief had the audacity to accuse him of something first. Filled with indignation, Duan Yunfeng looked at Xiao Heng as if to say, “Look at this guy!”

Xiao Heng: “…”

The man raised his head and said, “Naturally, it’s Su Yue, the Governor of Jinzhou!”

His words struck like a thunderbolt.

Duan Yunfeng was stunned. “Su Yue is dead?”

Seeing his reaction, the man seemed to genuinely be surprised. “Aren’t you one of Li Jichang’s people?”

Duan Yunfeng widened his eyes, slamming the table in anger. “Do I look like one of his people?”

This matter was of great importance, so Duan Yunfeng immediately summoned Zhou Ye and Song Shiyu.

“Lord Zhou!” When Zhou Ye appeared, the man became extremely agitated and immediately burst into tears. “I heard that the Northern King’s son was killed by Li Jichang in Luoyang! Is this true?”

Duan Yunfeng: “???”

His face was filled with disbelief, as if to say, “Then who the hell am I?”