CHAPTER 827: CHAPTER 502: AMBUSH ON PRINCE HENG (PART 3)

"Coward, if you have the guts, kill me. It turns out my choice to side with Lord Zhao was undoubtedly right. A useless person like you, apart from being arrogantly conceited, dreaming of becoming an emperor, and bullying women, what else can you do?"

Prince Heng’s face suddenly turned grim, but he didn’t actually use his knife. Instead, he held the knife in one hand and violently dragged Mrs. Xiao up, heading outdoors, sneering:

"You better hope that the Zhao weakling can come rescue you."

Xiao Donger was momentarily stunned, capturing the hidden message in Prince Heng’s words, but before she could confirm it, Prince Heng roughly pulled her out of the barracks.

Behind the barracks, a servant had already prepared the carriage. Seeing the prince coming with a knife, his heart skipped a beat, trembling with fear: "Prince, are you this...?"

Prince Heng said nothing, throwing the continuously cursing Mrs. Xiao wholesale into the carriage compartment, then, with a backhand, slew the coachman as well.

Only then did he leap onto the carriage, personally snapping the reins, wielding the whip, driving the carriage rapidly along the road, escaping towards Qingzhou.

He actually abandoned the entire Qingzhou Army and fled alone!

...

"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!"

On the empty official road, a carriage raced by, leaving the sounds of the battle behind.

Soon, within the carriage compartment, Mrs. Xiao, bound hand and foot and jolted almost to the point of vomiting, could no longer hear the sounds of warfare between two armies.

She lay sideways inside the compartment, her cloud-like hair in disarray, her forehead bruised red and purple from bumping, through the shaking curtain she caught sight of the blood-streaked long knife, along with the silhouetted back of Prince Heng driving.

Though the Qingzhou Army was defeated, with Ning Xianzong’s abilities, leading the remaining elite was not without a fighting chance.

At least, they could block the Divine Mechanism Camp for quite some time, which would be enough time for Prince Heng to escape far away.

However, just as Mrs. Xiao closed her eyes, thinking she would be taken all the way back to Qingzhou by Prince Heng.

Suddenly, the carriage abruptly stopped!

Wearing a gray servant’s attire and a small cap, acting as the coachman was the valiant Vassal King, clutching the reins with his left hand, instinctively reaching for the knife handle with his right hand, his eyes fixed ahead.

He saw in the center of the empty official road, flanked by green trees, a troop of cavalry silently blocking the way ahead.

A group of elite Divine Mechanism Camp cavalry, armored and armed, expressionless, brimming with killing aura, sealing off his path forward.

And at the forefront on a black horse, Zhao Douan casually sat, playing with an ancient bronze mirror the size of a palm in his hand.

On the mirror surface, ripples undulated, the scene of Prince Heng driving the carriage gradually fading away, disappearing without a trace.

Zhao Douan tucked the "Fengyue Treasure Mirror" into his chest, with interest gazing at the King of Qingzhou, whom he met for the first time, but whose picture he had seen countless times:

"Prince Heng, where are you planning to go?"

...

Capital.

Within a side hall of the Imperial Palace, a closed-door court meeting was taking place.

The attending officials were few, yet all were high-ranking ministers.

The atmosphere was oppressive and heavy, the Empress sat on the dragon throne, closing the memorial in her hand, placing it on the desk covered with yellow satin, her lacquer-bright eyes sweeping over Grandmaster Dong, Yuann Li, the Chiefs of Staff of various departments, Ma Yan... these faces.

"Is this the opinion of all of you?" Xu Zhenguan’s voice was cold, giving no indication of emotions.

Only two days had passed since the settlement of the Li Party’s rebellion, the aftermath of the political upheaval in the city had yet to completely subside, and the military report of Qingzhou rebel army defeating the Five Army Camp had once again stirred up turmoil for the court.

For a moment, none of the ministers answered, until finally, Imperial Censor Yuann Li sighed, voluntarily stood up, and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, the talent of Junior Guardian Zhao is beyond doubt by any civil or military officials in the court; yet he, although a military general, has never truly commanded troops in battle, and even with Shi Meng by his side, such rash action may not be prudent. Moreover..."

Yuann Li paused, glancing at Ma Yan beside him whose face was drawn.

Ma Yan took the hint, took out a confidential letter from his sleeve:

"Your Majesty, this is the intelligence just sent back from Qingzhou’s Shadow Guard. According to the spies there, Prince Heng not only secretly keeps vicious men, but also holds a Suppressing Object ’Red Flame Saint Armor,’ which is said to be a Holy Relic from the Zoroastrianism, destroyed six hundred years ago in the Martial World. Although Zhao Douan has entered the Worldly Realm, should he encounter this item, he might still face grave danger."

Red Flame Saint Armor? Holy Relic of Zoroastrianism? Xu Zhenguan’s beautiful eyes narrowed.

...

PS: Returning home these past days, perhaps due to entering new terrain and the uncomfortable environment for writing, updates have been sluggish, alas...