Chapter 193: Pei Zhi, Who Are You Helping?

Outside Tongzhou City, Prince Rui still didn't know what had happened behind him; he personally faced off against "Xiao Jingyuan," his spear forcing the opponent into constant retreat.

The "Xiao Jingyuan" before him wore the signature qilin gold armor, half a mask covering his face, his build seven-tenths similar to Xiao Jingyuan's, yet under Prince Rui's fierce assault he seemed somewhat overmatched, only able to keep retreating.

This scene made Prince Rui ever more pleased; he spurred his horse forward, his spear sweeping horizontally again, his expression excited and fierce as he said, "I have an army of two hundred thousand, while Tongzhou has only a hundred thousand remnants—what do you have to fight me with?"

"Xiao Jingyuan" staggered, leaning on the nearby spear shaft before barely steadying himself: "Prince Rui, you rebel and plot chaos—sooner or later you will be despised by all under heaven!"

Prince Rui snorted: "History is written by the victors; once I kick the old emperor off the throne, who dares to say a single 'no'?"

He spoke while slowly raising his spear, the tip aimed at "Xiao Jingyuan's" throat, the killing intent in his eyes nearly spilling over.

"Xiao Jingyuan, aren't you good at fighting? Aren't you always opposing me? Today, before everyone, I will take your head and see who else dares to block me!"

"Xiao Jingyuan's" face grew ever paler, his steps still retreating, appearing to have no strength left to parry.

But no one noticed that, as he retreated, his left hand hung quietly at his side, facing the city gate, where he quickly made a gesture of clenching a fist then opening it.

Prince Rui noticed nothing amiss, feeling victory was right before his eyes.

He drew a deep breath, then spurred his horse forward, spear pointing straight at "Xiao Jingyuan's" throat, his voice filled with utmost excitement: "Die, Xiao Jingyuan!"

Just as the spear was about to strike, "Xiao Jingyuan" suddenly sidestepped and rolled; he ran extremely fast, not even bothering to pick up the sword he had dropped, and in an instant reached the city gate, where the soldiers stationed there grabbed him, and he stumbled into the city.

Prince Rui stared for a moment at the panicked fleeing "Xiao Jingyuan," then threw his head back and laughed loudly, mocking: "I thought you were a hero who would rather die than surrender, who would die on the battlefield—who would have thought you're just a cowardly bear clinging to life! You dropped your sword—do you even deserve the title of War God?"

Outside the city, the Tongzhou Army also retreated toward the gate like a tide.

Seeing this, Prince Rui's fervor deepened; he raised his spear high over his head and shouted to his troops: "Charge in!"

The soldiers of Prince Rui's Army, already dazed by consecutive victories, now seeing "Xiao Jingyuan" flee and the Tongzhou Army collapse, their morale soared, and they all rushed toward the gate.

Prince Rui led his troops into Tongzhou City.

After an unknown amount of time, a soldier under Prince Rui's Army outside the city seemed to sense something, and instinctively turned his head to look.

He saw a thick cloud of dust rising on the distant horizon.

That dust was not scattered but formed a continuous sheet, like a moving gray wall pressing toward Tongzhou City.

As the dust drew nearer, countless cavalry silhouettes gradually emerged, a black mass.

The sound of hooves striking the ground was uniform and heavy, like a clap of thunder, racing toward Tongzhou City!

The garrison commander on Tongzhou City's gate shouted upon seeing this: "Reinforcements have arrived! Pass the order: close all four city gates, cut off the rebels' retreat!"

The arriving reinforcements were not ordinary imperial troops, but the Profound Iron Army!

Inside the city, Prince Rui had just slain a Tongzhou officer when a personal guard rushed panic-stricken into the alleys.

"Your Highness! Something's wrong!"

Prince Rui, filled with murderous intent, turned his gaze; the guard immediately frightened, fell from his horse, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the gates are shut—we've walked into a trap; it seems the imperial reinforcements have arrived outside..."

Before the guard could finish speaking, Prince Rui cut him down with a single slash.

In the army, spreading rumors that undermine morale is the greatest taboo; the surrounding soldiers, frightened, lowered their heads, none daring to say another word.

"What's there to panic about!" Prince Rui pointed his blood‑stained sword toward the City Lord's Mansion, his voice tinged with mad excitement,

"They're just remnants of the imperial forces! I have two hundred thousand troops, while the defenders inside Tongzhou City number only a few tens of thousands—even if there are ambushes, what of it? In the face of absolute numbers, any trick is nothing but a dying struggle!"

"All troops, hear my orders!" Prince Rui bellowed, commanding: "Kill every Tongzhou soldier inside the city!"

With a single roar, Prince Rui instantly steadied his army's morale.

Indeed, they had two hundred thousand troops, with another hundred thousand outside the city; even if the imperial reinforcements arrived, they could not quickly become a threat.

At that moment, Prince Rui saw several masked men fleeing among the crowd, and he couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Was this them learning to use his decoys to confuse sight and sound?

Prince Rui found it laughable and immediately chased after one of them.

Night fell; inside and outside the city, killing sounds echoed everywhere, making it impossible to tell friend from foe.

This bitter battle lasted until dawn.

Prince Rui leaned on his spear, his whole body seeming to have been dragged out of blood, corpses piled around him—both Tongzhou soldiers and his own men.

He coldly eyed the fallen man before him, curled his lip and smiled: "Xiao Jingyuan, I have won......" Having taken Tongzhou, Jingcheng was already in his grasp.

Hardly had his words finished when a thunderous shout suddenly came from somewhere: "The Profound Iron Army is here—rebels, surrender at once!!!"

Prince Rui staggered at the words: "The Profound Iron Army?"

He instinctively looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting!

At some point, the city wall, previously empty, was now lined with soldiers clad in silver armor, the silver gleaming coldly in the morning light.

The tightly shut city gate had slowly opened; ranks of silver‑armored cavalry, holding bright spears, streamed into the city in orderly fashion, their hooves striking the blood‑stained stone slabs with a dull yet powerful sound.

Like an unstoppable flood, they carried a murderous aura!

And leading them was none other than Xiao Jingyuan!

Prince Rui stared at his face for a moment, then suddenly turned back to the fallen man, using his spear tip to lift the mask—what met his eyes was an unfamiliar, rugged face.

So, all the masked men inside the city were fakes—not a single one was the real Xiao Jingyuan!

The wind on the square suddenly turned biting, whipping up the bloody stench from the ground.

Prince Rui's rebel army, after a whole night of slaughter, had survivors either wounded all over or utterly exhausted, their faces devoid of any fighting spirit.

Prince Rui refused to believe he would lose, glaring ferociously at Xiao Jingyuan: "If you've got the guts, come out and duel me one‑on‑one!"

Xiao Jingyuan sat on his warhorse, his gaze icy and piercing, without moving.

Prince Rui taunted: "What, you don't dare?"

Xiao Jingyuan immediately leapt from his horse, his spear like a silver dragon bursting from the sea, landing steadily before Prince Rui, the motion so fast it left only an afterimage!

The surrounding soldiers held their breath, none daring to intervene.

Their figures crossed, moving so fast that their techniques were nearly impossible to follow.

After just a few exchanges, Prince Rui was kicked hard to the ground by his opponent; before he could rise, the icy spear tip was already pressed against his throat!

Prince Rui's eyelid twitched; his madness froze instantly, and he dared not move.

"You've never been able to beat me since you were little; do you submit now?" Xiao Jingyuan looked down at him from above and said in a cold voice.

Prince Rui turned his head and spat a mouthful of blood to the side, but suddenly licked the corner of his mouth and smiled: "Your woman is in my hands; if you kill me, she won't survive either."

Xiao Jingyuan tugged at the corner of his mouth and said nothing.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Prince Rui assumed his threat was working and grew even more brazen: "You've always been arrogant; I was originally curious what kind of woman could catch your eye. That Shen Shuangning is indeed a beauty, with a slender waist and soft lips......"

"You're asking for death!" The killing intent in Xiao Jingyuan's eyes surged instantly.

A flicker of dark light flashed in Prince Rui's eyes; he deliberately provoked Xiao Jingyuan just to wait for this opening!

At the instant Xiao Jingyuan lost control, Prince Rui rolled three times on the ground, dodging the spear's tip while snatching up the long sword from the ground, twisting his wrist to fiercely block the incoming spear shaft!

"Clang!"

The crisp clang of metal on metal shook people's eardrums painfully; Prince Rui felt his tiger's mouth go numb and his arm instantly lose strength.

He had thought he could turn the tide by exploiting Xiao Jingyuan's loss of control, but he hadn't expected that even in Xiao Jingyuan's fury, his strength would still be terrifyingly formidable!

That spear, bearing immense force, forced Prince Rui to retreat step by step until his back hit the wall, with no way to retreat further!

Suddenly, cracks spread across the sword in Prince Rui's hand, and after a moment it shattered completely like fragile porcelain—

"Sss—"

The spear tip pierced straight into Prince Rui's shoulder, pinning him firmly to the wall.

Although Prince Rui was already covered in blood, most of it was not his own; this blow was the first serious wound he had actually suffered today.

Prince Rui finally realized that Shen Shuangning was the reverse scale of the person before him, not to be offended in the slightest.

Xiao Jingyuan would really kill him.

Just then, urgent hoofbeats suddenly came from afar.

It was Pei Zhi leading a large army, galloping over from another direction!

The Black Iron Army stared at the fierce rebel army before them, and drew their swords, pointing them at the enemy!

The fighting spirit in the air instantly ignited!

Seeing that the leader was Pei Zhi, Prince Rui instantly rejoiced and proudly told Xiao Jingyuan: "My reinforcements have arrived!"

Pei Zhi didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on Xiao Jingyuan: "Young Master Xiao, show mercy!"

Prince Rui also said: "Shen Shuangning is still in my hands; dare to move against me and see what happens?! Strategist, quickly save your lord!"

Xiao Jingyuan also ignored him, turned his gaze to Pei Zhi, and shouted in a deep voice: "Pei Zhi, whose side are you on?"