L'hibiscus comme peinture

Chapitre 21

The Cangliao Army was truly trapped with nowhere to retreat. The natural gaps in the road, which stretched out in seven horizontal and eight vertical directions, had been firmly controlled by the Longxuan Army. Even though Tuoba Lu had more than twice the number of troops, it was to no avail. No matter how he tried to break out, it was all in vain.

The setting sun cast its last rays on the faces of the soldiers who had been locked in fierce combat, reflecting the blood on their own faces and that of their enemies, creating a horrifying sight. Tuoba Lu's troops were reduced to a mere handful, surrounded by the Longxuan army, and could only glare hatefully at the heavily besieged Longxuan forces.

"Tuoba Lu, surrender! You have nowhere to retreat." Zhao Zhiyang, his face covered in blood, shouted at Tuoba Lu, who was still struggling in his death throes, as he gripped his broadsword.

"Surrender? Haha... The word 'surrender' doesn't exist in Tuoba Lu's dictionary. Zhao Zhiyang, I was too careless this time, causing many brothers to die on the battlefield. I would rather die a thousand deaths than repay my guilt. But don't be too smug. My Cangliao army has another 40,000 troops on their way. You won't be able to escape then either, haha..." Tuoba Lu wiped the blood from his face and roared at Zhao Zhiyang with red eyes.

"I'm afraid your 40,000 troops won't be coming." A gentle voice, completely out of place with the scene of carnage, rang out from behind Zhao Zhiyang. Though the voice wasn't loud, everyone present could hear it clearly.

"Ziqi? What brings you here?" Zhao Zhiyang looked at Wei Ziqi, who was riding slowly toward him on horseback, with surprise and asked with a face full of doubt.

"I've come to help you on the orders of the strategist!" Wei Ziqi said with a gentle smile. As expected, Zhao Zhiyang stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes after hearing his words, clearly indicating: It really was she who sent you to help.

Wei Ziqi smiled and turned his head to look at Tuoba Lu, who had been staring at him ever since he appeared. His refined voice rang out clearly: "General Tuoba, I am Wei Ziqi. I have long admired your name."

"Stop talking nonsense, what did you mean by what you just said?" Tuoba Lu only wanted to know how his 40,000 brothers were doing.

"Hehe... It's nothing much. It's just that, due to our surprise attack, nearly ten thousand were killed in battle, and the rest surrendered. So, General, you don't need to wait for them any longer." Wei Ziqi calmly stated the facts that made Tuoba Lu so angry he wanted to vomit blood. As expected of someone who had been through many battles, even the mild-mannered Wei Ziqi could speak of so many lives with such nonchalance.

“‘Spit…’, Wh…what?” Tuoba Lu really did spit out a mouthful of blood.

"General." The remaining deputy general rushed forward to support Tuoba Lu when he saw him spitting blood.

"Hahaha... I, Tuoba Lu, have spent my life on the battlefield, fighting countless battles, yet I have suffered such a crushing defeat in this final battle? Hahaha... I have failed the 50,000 brothers who have risked their lives with me, hahaha..." Tuoba Lu wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed wildly, looking up at the sky.

Just when everyone thought he had gone mad, he suddenly stopped laughing and stared at Wei Ziqi, saying, "I want to know, who exactly did I lose to? It can't be Zhao Zhiyang, could it be Ouyang Jinxuan?" If it was Ouyang Jinxuan, he would die without regret.

"It is our army's strategist, Mo Jun." Wei Ziqi softly uttered the name of the 'genius' who orchestrated this battle.

"Mo Jun, Mo Jun... Haha... It's a pity that I, Tuoba Lu, cannot see with my own eyes what kind of person possesses such wisdom. Haha..." Tuoba Lu laughed loudly again, and before anyone could react, he drew his sword and committed suicide.

"General, your subordinates have come with you." The remaining Cangliao soldiers, seeing their general commit suicide, also followed suit.

The Strategist and the Princess: Battlefield Chapter 21 - Rise to Fame

"Alas, what a pity for such a great general!" Wei Ziqi sighed, and seeing that Zhao Zhiyang hadn't quite grasped the situation, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Come to your senses, Zhiyang."

"Huh? Zi... Ziqi, we won a great victory?" Zhao Zhiyang was still a little incredulous. He had thought they were bound to lose, but they had won so well.

"Yes, we won! We won a great victory!" Wei Ziqi repeated with a smile, raising his hand and shouting to the entire army, "We won! We won a great victory!"

"Oh... We've won! We've won! Long live the Longxuan Dynasty! Long live the Prince! Long live Military Advisor Mo!..." As soon as Wei Ziqi finished speaking, the entire army erupted in cheers.

"We won...we won..." Zhao Zhiyang murmured to himself, glancing at his cheering soldiers. As if waking from a dream, he grabbed Wei Ziqi and asked, "Ziqi, what happened? Did Cang Liao's 40,000 troops really...?"

"Yes, as ordered by Military Advisor Mo, I led 5,000 men to ambush on Wuyun Slope. Once the 40,000 infantrymen from Cangliao arrived, we launched a surprise attack. Although the Cangliao army had many men, they were leaderless and completely routed. Therefore, they were quickly subdued by our army," Wei Ziqi said with great pleasure.

"Oh, but how did Mo Jun know... about that...?" Zhao Zhiyang had too many questions, making him unsure where to begin.

"Hehe... I know what you want to ask, but I'm not entirely sure myself. I was just following the strategist's orders. Winning so decisively was really beyond my expectations. Actually, I have many questions too. It seems we should go back and consult the strategist!" Wei Ziqi chuckled, equally puzzled.

"You didn't know either? How could that be...?" Zhao Zhiyang said incredulously. Everyone knew that Ziqi and Mo Jun were the closest in the entire camp. How could Ziqi not know about this plan? But Ziqi had no reason to lie to him, right? This is so confusing! Zhao Zhiyang hates thinking about these complicated things the most.

"Alright, stop asking questions. When did you become so long-winded? Let's go back to camp!" Wei Ziqi interrupted. Turning to the entire army, he ordered, "Return to camp."

"Understood!" The resounding echo reverberated through the sky as nearly ten thousand Longxuan soldiers orderly assembled and returned to camp, still cheering.

Shortly after Zhao Zhiyang led his troops in pursuit, in the main tent of the military camp, Ouyang Jinxuan stared at Ao Jun, who was lounging lazily in a chair, with a gloomy face. The other generals glared at her as if they wanted to tear her to pieces. Ao Jun simply ignored all these 'ardent' stares and continued to squint her eyes as if nothing had happened. She liked the 'warmth' in the main tent the most.

Finally, General Hong, whose temperament was rather impulsive, could no longer hold back. He stood up abruptly, pointing angrily at Ao Jun with a pained expression, and said, "You murderer! Five thousand brothers have been killed by you, and you are happy now? Your Highness, please avenge General Zhao and the five thousand brothers, and kill this traitor!" As he spoke, he knelt down.

General Hong's kneeling set a precedent, and soon all the generals knelt down and said in unison, "Please, Your Highness, execute Mo Jun and avenge our brothers."

"Generals, please rise," Jin Xuan said to the crowd in his usual tone. Seeing that they had all risen, Jin Xuan then turned to Ao Jun in a somber voice, "Lord Mo, what else do you have to say?" Had he truly lost this gamble? And the price of that loss was the loss of General Zhao and five thousand brothers?

After a long pause, Ao Jun slowly uttered a single word: "Wait." Why are these people so impatient? Haven't they sent any messages yet?

This one word further enraged everyone present. General Hong immediately started cursing, "Wait, wait for what... wait for General Zhao and the others' bodies to be brought back? Knowing it was a trap, you still ordered General Zhao to lead troops to chase after them. Wasn't that sending them to their deaths? I... I'm going to kill you." With that, he lunged at Ao Jun.

Faced with the menacing advance of a burly man, Ao Jun showed no sign of panic or attempt to move, prompting Jin Xuan to involuntarily call out, "General Hong, stop!"

The hand that was about to touch Ao Jun stopped abruptly: "Your Highness?"

Jin Xuan remained calm and said, "We are waiting."

The three words made Ao Jun slightly open her eyes, smile slightly and nod to Jin Xuan, then leisurely closed her eyes to rest.

Finally, as the last rays of the sun shone into the tent, a soldier rushed in, panting heavily: "Report...report...our army..."

All the generals jumped to their feet, their faces tense as they waited to hear. When the soldier couldn't utter a single word after a long time, General Hong reached out, pulled the soldier up, and shouted, "Speak quickly, what's wrong with our army?"

"Uh...the entire army was wiped out," the soldier, already furious, stammered, terrified by General Hong.

"The entire army was wiped out..." Upon hearing this, General Hong slowly lowered his hand, slumped weakly into his chair, and murmured.

Upon hearing this, the others glared at the 'murderer' with grief and anger, while Jin Xuan slumped down helplessly: He was the one who ruined them! He shouldn't have had any expectations of Mo Jun, he shouldn't have taken that gamble.

"I'll kill you." General Hong suddenly attacked Ao Jun, who was still not reacting much, like a beast released from its cage.

This time, Jinxuan did not stop him. He thought he would definitely be able to kill her, but he did not expect that the seemingly weak Mo Jun could easily avoid his fatal blow. He was a little incredulous as he looked at Ao Jun, who was still sitting there unharmed.

Ao Jun ignored them and coldly said to the soldier who had caught his breath, "Explain yourself." Although she pretended to be nonchalant, Ao Jun couldn't help but wonder: Was the entire army really wiped out? Had her plan really failed? What about Zi Qi? Impossible. She was very confident. With her extensive knowledge of military strategy, although this was her first time applying it in practice, she was already certain of victory in this battle. It was impossible for the entire army to be wiped out.

"Huh?" The soldier was a little confused by Ao Jun's question. After thinking for a moment, he realized what was going on and hurriedly said, "No, no, it's because our army won a great victory. We annihilated more than 20,000 enemy soldiers and captured more than 30,000. Our casualties were less than 1,000. General Wei and General Zhao are currently withdrawing their troops back to camp!"

"Really? How is that possible? The enemy has 50,000 troops! Our army only has 5,000, how is that possible? Say it again." Upon hearing this, General Hong immediately grabbed the soldier by the collar and asked incredulously. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the soldier to speak.

Faced with such a large-scale battle, the soldier could only tremble as he recounted the battle situation once more.