Chapter 19

The Xiye Army was steadily retreating under the attack of the Qingyun Guard.

Seeing the overall situation was lost, Boda issued a command and led the remaining soldiers to retreat outside the pass.

Chang Heng clasped his fists and asked, “Your Highness, do you want to pursue the advantage?”

Xie Tingzhou stopped the boat and looked towards the direction where the Xiye people were retreating, calmly saying, “Let Ji Wu pursue them thirty li and force them across the Shima River.”

Chang Heng received the order and descended from the city wall.

Soon, the sound of footsteps echoed on the city wall again.

Xie Tingzhou tilted his head slightly and saw Xifeng, one of his guards, ascending the city wall with a sword at his waist, exuding a fierce aura.

“Your Highness,” Xifeng knelt down on one knee.

Xie Tingzhou lowered his head and adjusted his sleeves, asking, “Where is Liang Jianfang?”

Xifeng replied, “As soon as the Xiye people attacked, he fled with his men. We just caught him back and locked him in a prisoner wagon.”

“Bring him up.”

Liang Jianfang was brought up to the city wall, along with his two attendants.

The wind was strong on the city wall. Liang Jianfang was pressed down by Xie Tingzhou’s guard.

Before him were dark robes with dark cloud patterns, swaying gently in the wind.

Liang Jianfang trembled like a sieve, reaching out as if to grab Xie Tingzhou’s robes.

Before he could touch them, he was kicked by the guard next to him, falling to the ground with his face hitting the ground, blood flowing from his face.

“Y-Your Highness, I-I am an official appointed by the court,” Liang Jianfang stuttered.

“An official appointed by the court?”

Xie Tingzhou raised his arm and pointed outside the city wall, saying, “Let him see for himself.”

The guard dragged Liang Jianfang and pressed him against the parapet of the female wall, half of his body hanging outside the city wall.

The battle had long moved away, leaving behind a land soaked in blood. The blood had formed streams on the snow, and thousands of corpses were piled up in disarray, extending into the distance.

It was a scene of utter carnage!

If one were to see such a scene upon waking from a dream, they would doubt if they had entered hell.

But this was reality, a hell on earth created by Liang Jianfang’s actions!

The corpses below seemed to stare at him with unblinking eyes, as if seeking vengeance.

“Ahh—” Liang Jianfang let out a terrified scream, shaking his head and not wanting to look anymore, but the attendant behind him grabbed his hair firmly.

Xie Tingzhou raised his hand slowly, his flawless fingers emerging from his sleeve.

Clang—

The sound of a sword being unsheathed.

Xie Tingzhou pressed the sword against Liang Jianfang’s chin, forcing him to look into the distance.

He whispered, “Don’t look away. Take a good look. This hell on earth, all of it is the work of you, an official appointed by the court.”

Liang Jianfang pleaded, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, Your Highness, spare me, Your Highness.”

Xie Tingzhou chuckled lightly, then glanced at Liang Jianfang’s attendant kneeling beside him.

The attendant’s eyes were filled with fear, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “Your, Your Highness, we were just following orders. I have a family at home, I—”

The attendant suddenly widened his eyes, seeing the corpse of himself kneeling on the ground in his own line of sight. The head rolled on the city wall a few times before finally stopping.

Aside from the smell of blood in the wind, there was also a faint smell of urine.

The attendant let go, and Liang Jianfang slumped to the ground like a pile of mud.

Xie Tingzhou looked at Liang Jianfang with disgust. “Guess, do you think I dare to execute you on the spot?”

He tossed the sword to Xifeng and the attendant beside him handed over a clean cloth. “Your Highness.”

Xie Tingzhou took it, wiped his fingers, and instructed, “Keep an eye on him. There are many in Shengjing who want his life.”

…

Shen Yu searched through the sea of corpses, flipping over one body after another. Every moment was torture, fearing that the next moment she would see her father or brother’s face.

Among the bodies, she saw people she had once known: the delivery boy, the night patrol soldier, and the comrades who had raided the Xiye’s northern camp with her.

Some had limbs severed, some had their abdomens torn open, and some had their faces mangled by iron hooves.

Outside Yanliang Pass, the cold wind still howled. She gritted her teeth, holding back tears, her fingernails were already turned over, but she still hadn’t stopped searching.

Finally, after turning over a body pierced with arrows, she couldn’t suppress the sob in her throat any longer.

“Father…”

She tightly embraced the body, but it was riddled with arrows, not even a spot to hold onto.

Her father, the towering mountain in her heart, collapsed once again, this time in front of her.

“Ah—”

Shen Yu hugged Shen Zhong’an’s body tightly. The body was cold, and so was her heart.

She wanted to hug her father’s broad shoulders, but he was covered in arrows, turned into a human porcupine.

There was no blood left in the body to flow out. As she pulled out the arrows, there were only holes left one by one.

As the last arrow was pulled out, Shen Yu hugged Shen Zhong’an’s body tightly.

The grievances and unwillingness surged in her heart, overwhelming her instantly.

They risked their lives, but some saw them as nothing more than ants.

They charged into battle, risking their lives, only to end up not even having a decent meal before being sent to the execution ground by their own people for the Xiye.

Deceitful people were in power, harming the loyal. The core of the Great Zhou Dynasty had long rotted away!

The great vengeance was yet to be repaid. Anger, hatred, and unwillingness turned into threads tightly binding her, only sobs echoed in the wind.

Soldiers cleaned up the battlefield, bringing back the wounded who hadn’t breathed their last.

In the camp of Ganzhou, people came and went, with wounded soldiers being brought in from time to time, and those who couldn’t hold on being carried out.

Xie Tingzhou stood in front of the tent, listening to the reports of the battle from the generals beside him.

“We pursued thirty li as ordered by Your Highness. Along the way, thousands of casualties were inflicted upon the Xiye. Once they crossed the Shima River, it would be the territory of the Xiye. We guarded the riverbank for several hours, ensuring that the Xiye would not turn back before allowing the main army to retreat.”

General Han Jiwu had just returned from the battlefield, still wearing his armor, his body emitting a bloody smell.

Han Jiwu didn’t dare to get too close to Xie Tingzhou.

It was a well-known fact in the military that the Crown Prince had a bit of a germophobia.

“The defense forces in Ganzhou are all useless. In the past, it relied entirely on Shen Zhong’an to guard the banks of the Shima River. Now that Shen Zhong’an has almost been wiped out, if our Qingyun Guard were to withdraw, Ganzhou would be…”

Xie Tingzhou watched the passing soldiers and said, Xi Jue’s vitality has been greatly damaged. It’s probably difficult for them to regroup in the short term. They won’t launch another attack this winter. We’ve bought time for Shengjing, enough for them to rebuild their defenses.”

Thinking of the brutality of this battle, Han Jiwu couldn’t help but curse, “Those damn bastards who kill without mercy, they don’t see soldiers as human beings at all.”

Xie Tingzhou didn’t respond, and wounded soldiers were being brought in one after another.

“Hey, wait a moment, wait a moment.”

The speaker’s voice was too loud; it was Xie Tingzhou’s deputy, Chang Heng.

Chang Heng stopped two soldiers carrying stretchers, bent down to take a look at the person on the stretcher, and then probed with his fingers.

“He’s about to breathe his last. What’s going on here? Is this person seriously injured?”

---

Author’s note:

In this story, reincarnation doesn’t mean invincibility; it’s not a power fantasy.

Yu needs to grow through hardship time and time again. The story I want to unfold is far more than just saving her father and brother; Yu’s mission is much heavier than that. She will meet Xie Tingzhou, who walks alongside her, on her journey.

I suppose many readers would say, since she didn’t save her father, what’s the point of reincarnation? Because Yu’s mission is far more significant than that.

The plot of the previous chapters and the subsequent developments are definitely connected. There must be a reason for arranging General Shen’s death.

The plot may not satisfy all readers’ tastes. If you like it, it’s our fate; if this story doesn’t suit your taste, feel free to drop it.