Chapter 862

Yang Hong whipped Yang Jun to the ground with a single lash of his horsewhip, his face twisted with rage: "How dare you neglect your duty? I ordered you to guard the vital pass and support His Majesty's southern advance to Huailai—and yet you allowed so many Oirat troops to surge behind them..."

Yang Jun lowered his head and knelt on the ground, guilt-ridden.

Yang Hong kicked him hard in the shoulder; Yang Jun rolled backward but scrambled up instantly and knelt again, clutching Yang Hong's leg: "Father—save me!"

"Save you!" Yang Hong tugged his leg, but Yang Jun held on tightly, refusing to let go; so he swung the horsewhip again and again, lashing Yang Jun's back until blood welled across his skin: "Do you know what your failure has cost? Because you failed to block the Oirat troops, His Majesty was surrounded! Because you failed to reinforce him, Your Majesty now lies in Yeshi's hands!"

Yang Hong gripped Yang Jun's throat, teeth clenched: "Do you know this is a crime punishable by death? Your entire Yang family may be disgraced because of you—His Majesty is right outside the city, and he..."

"Report—General, Grand Secretary Cao Nai has arrived with the accompanying civil and military officials, and the imperial carriage is with them!"

Yang Hong froze, dropped Yang Jun, and turned to rush outside—then paused, glanced back at his son, and snarled: "Get out! Take your men to the Eastern Ten-Li Assembly Hall—and under no circumstances return without my order!"

Yang Jun knew his life was spared; he rose at once and limped away.

Yang Hong composed his expression once more and hurried to meet Cao Nai.

Cao Nai had already learned from the soldiers that His Majesty had fallen into Oirat hands—and that for two days straight, the emperor had been calling for gates to be opened at Xuanfu; so the moment he saw Yang Hong, his gaze burned into him, and his first words were: "General Yang, where is the Xuanfu Garrison Commander Yang Jun?"

Yang Hong's heart sank—he clearly knew what Yang Jun had done, and Cao Nai and the others were fully aware.

On the battlefield, circumstances shift in an instant; Cao Nai, a civilian official, had countless excuses to deflect blame and cover up Yang Jun's negligence—but this deception could fool Cao Nai and the other generals, but not the Duke of Ying, who had personally ordered Yang Hong to reinforce the position and specified the exact location.

And the Duke of Ying, who had spent his entire life fighting on battlefields—who could possibly deceive him?

Not only the Duke of Ying—his gaze swept across the room—he suspected even Liang Cheng and the others could not be fooled.

Yang Hong could only stall: "Since Yang Jun led the troops out to reinforce, we've received no further word. Grand Secretary Cao, how exactly did His Majesty fall into Yeshi's hands?"

How would Cao Nai know?

He had assumed the emperor would escape—never imagining he'd be captured by the Oirat troops.

And yet...

Cao Nai and the other ministers first climbed the city wall to see His Majesty; when they saw him standing by the moat, shouting at them to open the gates, Cao Nai nearly vomited blood.

All civil and military officials were wracked with anguish, eyes blazing as they stared at the emperor, flanked by two Oirat soldiers.

Far away, the emperor also spotted Cao Nai and the senior ministers; meeting their gazes, he fell silent.

Seeing the emperor still possessed a sense of shame, Cao Nai nearly leapt from the city tower.

Liang Cheng and the others grabbed him at once: "Grand Secretary, what are you doing?"

"A ruler's humiliation demands the death of his minister—how can we let His Majesty endure such disgrace? Yang Hong, give me troops—I'll go rescue His Majesty!"

Yang Hong cried urgently: "His Majesty is in Yeshi's hands—if we attack, what if he harms His Majesty?"

Cao Nai said nothing, only clutched at him, demanding troops.

Many civil and military officials shared Cao Nai's fury, and they too shouted for troops.

But Yang Hong refused absolutely: "We must not endanger His Majesty."

Cao Nai nearly vomited blood—but the words in his heart could not be spoken aloud.

His eyes red, he stared at the emperor being led away below the wall—and suddenly remembered Pan Yun.

He immediately seized Liang Cheng and rushed down the tower, whispering: "Send men at once to find Chen Huai—have him bring Pan Yun to Xuanfu. Hurry!"

Liang Cheng paused, then his eyes lit up: "You mean...?" Cao Nai's face darkened: "His Majesty must not be allowed to live in Yeshi's hands. Either Pan Yun rescues him—or we all ride out to rescue him, and die with him."

In other words: either Pan Yun uses her divine abilities to save the emperor—or Cao Nai would launch a campaign under the guise of rescue, taking the emperor to his death with them.

Liang Cheng's expression shifted; he fell silent, then finally said: "Yang Hong reported to Jingcheng two days ago—eight-hundred-li express. By now, Jingcheng should have received the news. Should we..."

"Yes!" Cao Nai said grimly. "Yang Hong clearly has his own agenda. We'll send another report to Jingcheng."

Chen Huai knew nothing; under Pan Yun's guidance, they moved locations daily, wiping out all Oirat troops lurking behind the lines, while also recruiting numerous scattered soldiers—all units that had broken apart during the chaos.

In addition, they discovered Chen Xun, rescued from a village.

Chen Huai was stunned—when he first met Chen Xun, Cao Nai had declared that Minister Chen had perished—how was he still alive?

He stepped forward to examine him—and Chen Xun's survival truly was miraculous.

He had been slashed from his horse, unconscious among corpses; when he finally stirred, the army had retreated, fighting as they went, vanished from sight.

Later, villagers came to scavenge the battlefield and found him still alive—they carried him back to the village.

Chen Xun himself felt lucky: "Fortunately, I wasn't trampled—if I had been, even the Immortals couldn't have saved me."

Only then did Chen Xun ask: "Have we received word of His Majesty? Has His Majesty and the Duke of Ying safely returned beyond the Inner Great Wall?"

Chen Huai fell silent.

Chen Xun pressed urgently: "Why won't you answer?"

Chen Huai spoke low and dejected: "The Duke of Ying died from exhaustion. His Majesty... is now missing."

No sooner had he spoken the words "missing" than he received Kuang Ye's order: the emperor had fallen into Yeshi's hands, and he was to immediately return to defend Datong.

Chen Huai stared at the order, eyes bulging; he cried out: "His Majesty has been captured by Yeshi!"

Pan Yun: "Didn't His Majesty commit suicide?"

Chen Huai's face darkened; though he too wanted to ask, this was clearly a forbidden question—he glared at Pan Yun and whispered: "Such disloyal words..."

Pan Yun cut him off: "Jingcheng will install a new emperor."

Chen Huai's heart pounded; he instinctively glanced at Chen Xun.

Chen Xun's face grew even paler—but he too felt that replacing the emperor now was the best course: Great Ming must never be held hostage by the Oirats.

Chen Huai abandoned all concern for Chen Xun and immediately led his troops back to defend Datong.

Pan Yun, by contrast, was considerate: she had Miao He stitch up Chen Xun's wounds, gave him two vials of medicine, and selected over a dozen soldiers to escort Chen Xun back to Jingcheng.

She was always so thoughtful—always sending those who knew the battlefield's truth back to Jingcheng, especially those who supported replacing the emperor.

Just as the news of the emperor's capture by Yeshi exploded across the battlefield, it also detonated in Jingcheng.

And Yeshi, seemingly provoked by the emperor's sudden silence, abandoned his fixation on Xuanfu; instead, he ordered men to parade the emperor from city to city, shouting demands for gates to open, and if refused, demanding tribute—while Yeshi himself vanished with his main force.

Unfortunately, all eyes were fixed on the emperor calling for gates to open—and no one noticed the Oirat central main force had vanished into the sea of chaos.