His words fell, and two injured men in black walked from behind him, speaking quickly: "Boss, let's go. Everyone is dead."
Nangong Yue froze, clearly too shocked to remember what he should do. He immediately turned and led the two men in black into a secluded path. Bai Han was about to lead his men in pursuit when Liu Liu raised his hand and spoke with a grave expression.
"Don't chase. He is very likely my brother, Su Liufeng. Aunt said his appearance greatly resembled someone from the Su family. I wonder if he has a plum blossom mark on his arm, but it's been sealed with something like wax."
"What?" Bai Han and the others dared not speak further. If Nangong Yue was indeed the Empress's own brother, wasn't it courting death to go and kill him? Moreover, they couldn't kill him anyway.
Xiao Xiao only wanted to write peacefully. If there were any words that caused conflict among everyone, they would be deleted immediately. Also, to Yan'er, Xiao didn't see the previous comment and apologizes here. Thank you all.
Feng Xie walked to Liu Liu's side, looking at her with concern, his eyes filled with deep tolerance, "Liu'er, is it really possible that Nangong is your brother?"
If it were true, it would be what she owed the Su family, so even if Nangong Yue did something he shouldn't have, Feng Xie would forgive him. And if he were truly Liu'er's brother, he would let go of everything.
"Intuitively, he is my brother Su Liufeng. This feeling is getting stronger now, but what happened in between? Why is there no plum blossom mark on his arm, and why was that Obsidian Jade Pendant in someone else's hand that day?" Liu Liu murmured in confusion. If there were a plum blossom mark on his arm, she would have recognized him on逍遥岛 that day, not waited until now.
"Alright, don't think about it," Feng Xie saw her confusion and quickly pulled her forward, signaling her not to think too much. He turned and ordered Ri Ying and Yue Ying, "Find out how many people died?"
"Yes, Master. We've already checked. Over three hundred people were killed, and only Nangong Yue and two other men in black escaped. By this calculation, there should be three people left among the Thirteen Eagles," Ri Ying reported respectfully.
Feng Xie nodded in satisfaction. This ambush battle was fought well. He waved his hand and commanded everyone, "Good, everyone get back on your horses and proceed to Yueyang immediately."
"Yes," everyone cupped their fists, received the order, turned, descended the valley peak, and rode towards Yueyang.
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the high city red like blood. On the city walls, figures carrying long spears flickered back and forth, with no further movement.
Twenty li outside Yueyang City, many tents were pitched. In the largest main tent sat many people with grim expressions. The man at the head wore silver armor, and his handsome face was rendered robust and firm, his features becoming more distinct. The corners of his lips curled into a cold and stern expression as he looked at the deputy generals and officials seated on both sides.
"Speak, what is the situation in Yueyang now?"
The deputy general seated at the head immediately cupped his fist and stood up to report, "Reporting to Prime Minister, Yueyang has been controlled by those people. They have twenty thousand troops stationed inside Yueyang City. We are not afraid of them, but those people completely disregard the common people. If we approach the city, they will kill the common people and hang their heads on the city banners as a show of force. It's as if they want all the city's people to die." xxs
Liu Ting's face was grim. He sat at the head without a word. This time he brought fifty thousand elite soldiers and summoned twenty thousand reserve troops from another city, for a total of seventy thousand men.
There would be no problem fighting battles normally, but the current difficulty was that they couldn't approach Yueyang City at all. As soon as any troops approached Yueyang City, those people would kill the common people in retaliation, so they had no way to engage in battle. This was the most infuriating part.
Thinking of this, Liu Ting angrily pounded the command table, startling the guards in the tent into silence.
At this moment, a subordinate walked in from outside and reported respectfully, "Prime Minister, someone requests an audience."
"Mm," Liu Ting frowned, his eyes already glimpsing a few people emerging from behind the subordinate. Ri Ying and Yue Ying. Upon seeing these two figures, he knew the Emperor had arrived. He hurriedly got off the command table and spoke respectfully, "This subject greets His Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress."
He hadn't expected His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress to personally come to Yueyang. It seemed this Emperor and Empress truly cared for their subjects, and he had heard that Her Majesty the Empress was exceptionally wise and had made many extraordinary and bold decisions.
He hoped that with Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty personally coming to Yueyang this time, all matters would be resolved.
Feng Xie's stern voice sounded, "Everyone, rise."
After speaking, he led Liu Liu to sit in the commander's position. The others sat in order. Liu Ting sat on the left, looking at Liu Liu seated beside the Emperor, a hint of worry in his eyes. Liu Liu met his gaze and smiled gently, "I'm fine. Brother."
Upon hearing her speak, Liu Ting realized that Her Majesty had regained her memory. This was truly wonderful.
"What is the situation in Yueyang City now?"
Feng Xie turned to the generals on both sides, his voice muffled and filled with killing intent. His brows were unconsciously tinged with fury. Who was behind these Thirteen Eagles? They were so arrogant. What did he want to do by controlling Yueyang City?
If they besieged the city for a month, the city would inevitably run out of food. Didn't they care?
"Reporting to His Majesty, no situation can be detected. Those people are heavily guarded, and no one knows what's happening inside. We only know that two prominent figures led twenty thousand elite soldiers to seize the prefectural yamen by surprise, controlling all officials, killing and injuring countless soldiers and officers. The remaining ones probably dare not act rashly now."
The person speaking was originally the official in charge of Yueyang City. Because he was out transporting grain and fodder, he had not stayed in the city.
"Two prominent figures, who?" Feng Xie's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. Could it be Feng Luo? Had Feng Luo colluded with Nangong Yu?
"I don't know."
The official retreated, knowing almost nothing about those mysterious people. The scouts they sent out couldn't even enter Yueyang City.
As soon as they appeared, they were killed by those people. This was enough to show that those people were not only insidious but also extremely cunning, having anticipated that they would enter the city to investigate and thus strengthening the defenses at key checkpoints, making it impossible for others to enter the city.
Liu Liu swept her gaze over everyone in the grand tent and said coldly, "One of them must want to take Yueyang?"
Liu Liu couldn't figure out this problem for a moment, because they were stubbornly holding onto a city, and with no grain allowed in, there was no way to capture other cities.
Moreover, she believed that those people knew all of this, yet they still acted this way. Could it be? A sharp, dark glint flashed in Liu Liu's eyes, and she blurted out.
"Do they want to turn Yueyang into a dead city, using the people of Yueyang as sacrifices?"