Chapter 102

Seeing that the enemy intended to retreat, the Great King knew the time for a desperate fight had come; he hurried down the city wall to meet Little Jujube at North Hua Gate.

Looking at the seven hundred cavalry already mounted, the Great King's heart raced.

Letting these wolf-hearted northern barbarians go, he is unwilling; he does not care about the goods on Vermilion Bird Avenue; he fears You Prefecture City. Who knows if the northern barbarians who suffered a great defeat at the Prince's Mansion will rush to You Prefecture City to slaughter civilians to vent their anger—those flimsy city gates are nothing compared to the Prince's Mansion; they are easy to attack.

If the enemy thinks the Personal Guard Battalion is all here defending Prince You's Mansion, and that You Prefecture is an ownerless empty city to be taken at will, the likelihood of them charging over is extremely high.

But these seven hundred men are the elite of his Personal Guard Battalion—seven hundred lives; if there is the slightest mishap, the Eagle Riders will be finished before they even begin.

And his cousin, who had already climbed onto his horse's back……

But the harsh reality allows no hesitation or retreat; hesitation means defeat.

The Great King gripped the Sun-shooting Bow, shouting, 'The enemy has suffered heavy losses; victory is mine! Follow me out—those who dare come to You Prefecture must leave their lives behind, charge!'

His words were overflowing with heroism; only the expert Ling Yin knew how fast his heartbeat was, knew how uneasy this child was.

He whispered beside him, 'My lord, rest assured; I and Zhu Ti are here.'

The Great King nodded.

As North Hua Gate opened, Little Jujube charged ahead first. Impressed by the Great King's tiger-like courage, Wei Shen hurriedly followed after him.

Lingyin had a sword, Zhuti came and went empty-handed every day, and now she finally got to use it; she casually grabbed a soldier, pulled him off his horse, and snatched his sabre, saying, "I'll go in your place—you guard the gate!"

That soldier was suddenly grabbed by the beautiful woman, and in a moment's daze, his horse and sword were gone…

As soon as they went out, they saw the remaining northern barbarians run north for a stretch, out of bow range, then head west—indeed, they were going to detour around the You Prince's manor and continue south.

No problem—it's out of ordinary bow range, but still within the Sun-shooting bow's range.

The King strained his feet in the stirrups, shot an arrow without slowing down, and an enemy cried out and fell; Weishen led the cheers.

The King's arrows never missed—Zhang Tu, who usually didn't give the King lessons, finally realized, "Your Highness is a divine archer!?"

The cavalry's morale soared, and the nervousness they felt at departure faded considerably.

The northern barbarians weren't anything special—just being taken down one by one with the King's arrows.

After four people fell in a row, Qiumuling finally came to a halt.

Seeing that the enemy numbered less than a thousand yet dared to pursue, and that the leader was actually a child—it was that You Prince!

"He's just a child, overestimating himself! If we can't handle the city walls, can't we handle the Jin people? Let's go meet this noble royal highness!"

The crowd burst into laughter, their numbers doubled, the situation took a turn, and capturing the You Prince suddenly seemed easy?

The situation took a sudden turn for the worse; the pursuing troops' unanimous action was judged as delivering vegetables (i. e., sending themselves to be slaughtered).

The King put away his quiver and Sun-shooting bow, as close combat was unsuitable—he feared hitting his own men.

The King drew a sword from Xiaozao's saddlebag; actually taken from the armory, it was the symbol of his status—the You Prince's ceremonial sword.

Although ceremonial swords are said to be impractical on the battlefield, merely symbolic, he had no choice—he never imagined having to go to war at this age, nor had he prepared a personal weapon for battle, so he took out the You Prince's ceremonial sword. It might not be useful, but its familiar feel is longer than a sabre, helping to compensate for his short stature.

He couldn't help but feel relieved; fortunately, he hadn't sold it while on duty.

The King raised the You Prince's ceremonial sword and shouted, "Spare their lives, and I will richly reward whoever does!"

Qiumuling sneered, "Ignorant child, unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth!"

As they neared the King, he still didn't slow down, leading the charge; Weishen finally couldn't bear it, "Baili Jing, you're crazy! Come back!"

The King glanced at him and said, "Cousin, will you stay by my side and protect me?" I'm afraid if you go far, Lingyin won't be able to look after you.

Weishen shouted irritably for him to slow down, "... Don't forget you're only seven!"

"When I'm seventeen, it won't be their turn to hit me—it'll be the tribes of the steppes who hear of me and tremble."

Weishen: "... Let's just think about how we brothers can survive today! This bull—better to wait till we win before bragging."

Soon he felt that surviving wasn't too hard.

In their unit, a few were unarmored; aside from the still-growing King and his cousins, the most eye-catching were Zhuti in all green and Lingyin in flowing white robes.

The enemy then noticed that among their pursuers was a peerless beauty, and they clamored to take her alive, for such a beauty would be a shame to kill.

Zhuti's keen hearing picked up those words—even more infuriating than the King's—so he spurred his horse forward and thrust his spear, killing the loudest laughing one.

The King and his brothers exclaimed together, "What a splendid start! What do we have to fear with such fierce fighters?"

Morale instantly surged, and the two sides clashed in an encounter battle northwest of the You Prince's manor.

The King drew his ceremonial sword, unwilling to lag behind, leading the troops.

The enemy thought he was a soft persimmon and were wrong; although the King wielded a sword and rode a tall horse ill-suited to his height, he was strong!

With one force overcoming ten, the King swung his sword fiercely at those trying to grab him, cleaving through the enemy's crude leather armor and cutting off his arm; the man screamed and fell from his horse, and Xiaozao, quick to notice, stepped on him.

Though the You Prince's sword is merely a ceremonial blade, its fittings were made of genuine fine materials and craftsmanship—it is truly sturdy.

Qiumuling narrowed his eyes; soon he had no spare attention to worry about the King, for the enemy had two formidable weapons hard to contend with!

Lingyin and Zhuti were simply unstoppable!

Lingyin swept with her sword; although it didn't clear a wide swath as the King had imagined, her strikes never missed, with no wasted motion—one strike, one foe, sometimes two, and those knocked down were split apart as well.

The King, on his first battlefield, had just been feeling his pulse race after personally cutting off an enemy's arm and seeing Xiaozao trample a foe; the next second, Lingyin beside him had already chopped off several heads, one of which rolled to his horse's front.

The King drew a deep breath and yelled, "I want to go home!"

Lingyin's appearance in this encounter was like a giant roc suddenly mixing into a flock of newly hatched ducklings… wait, there are two.

Zhuti, the chief manager of the Commerce Department, thrust his long spear with unerring accuracy—one thrust, one hit.

Weishen was practically beside himself with excitement, shouting loudly to the cavalry behind him, "Brothers, charge!"

Amid the battlefield chaos, the King again noticed Xiaozao's excellence—its evasion skills were superb, able to swiftly dodge blades aimed at him in the fray, hardly needing direction.

The King had given up communicating with his horse; wherever the horse carried him, he strove to slash at anyone there.

The initial panic had turned to numbness; he was no longer afraid. Truly in this setting, his mind held only one thought: I must win, I must survive.

What had been a one-versus-two situation turned one-sided thanks to the two formidable weapons, and Lingyin could even leap up to rescue endangered allies.

And that You Prince was slippery as a loach.