Lu Qingwan took a deep breath. "You guard below. If His Highness arrives, tell him not to attack rashly. Wait for my signal. Chen Tianhe, Han Tongguang, take the crossbows and go up to the city wall."
At her command, a group of black-clad figures appeared like phantoms and swiftly approached the city walls of Ziyang Pass. Their crossbows bit into the brickwork, and shadows scaled the wall.
Feng Xiwu arrived at this very moment. To avoid alerting the main army, he had left them behind and approached Ziyang Pass alone, only to be shoved into the grass by Li Qing. Trusting his own men, Feng Xiwu offered no resistance. After cooperating with Li Qing to conceal themselves, he patiently asked, "What's going on? Where is the Princess Consort?"
Li Qing, emboldened by the circumstances to make such a bold move on his own prince, was about to confess his wrongdoing when Feng Xiwu's question diverted his attention. "The Princess Consort is over there, Your Highness, look!" He pointed to the pitch-black night sky. "She's on the city wall. The Princess Consort asked me to tell you not to attack rashly, but to wait for her signal."
Feng Xiwu remained silent under the night sky. Li Qing, however, seemed a little guilty. "But the Princess Consort didn't discuss any signal with me before she left. I don't know what she wants you to wait for her signal for."
Feng Xiwu finally turned back, looking at him with the gaze of someone caring for a fool. "Lying here any longer is useless. Have your men keep an eye on the rebels' positions, prepare the trebuchets and explosives, and be ready to cover the Princess Consort's retreat at any time."
"Understood!" Li Qing accepted the order in a small voice. Soon, no one remained in that patch of grass.
Meanwhile, on the city wall, Lu Qingwan and her men had made their way to the parapets. Ziyang Pass only had four parapets, but Lan Huaxiao possessed twelve cannons. As soon as Lu Qingwan reached the city wall, she spotted four cannons and quickly signaled her brothers to conceal themselves. "Lan Huaxiao has twelve cannons, and there are only four parapets here. Everyone split up and search. We must find all the cannons before we act together. Otherwise, if we alert them, our brothers below will lose their lives. Brothers, I'm counting on you!"
Before ascending the city wall, Lu Qingwan hadn't expected Lan Huaxiao to hide his cannons. The mission had suddenly become more difficult, and Lu Qingwan, as the commander, bore a share of the responsibility. The Xuanjia Army soldiers showed no signs of blame and immediately carried out their orders. These were clearly regular Xuanjia Army soldiers, but Lu Qingwan had somehow turned them into secret agents and special operatives, disappearing into the night without a sound.
As Lu Qingwan inwardly cursed her oversight, she summoned her best intelligence agents, Da Bai and Teng She. "Quickly contact your beastly subordinates and help me find the cannons. Once found, find a way to notify me. Hurry!" With such excellent intelligence agents, it was a wonder she had only just remembered to use them. Fortunately, Da Bai and Teng She were efficient. After disappearing for a short while, they returned with the precise locations of all twelve cannons.
"There are eight cannons on the parapets. The remaining four... oh no!" Lu Qingwan stuffed the two little creatures into her spatial laboratory and rushed towards the parapet. As she arrived, she saw several Xuanjia Army brothers already engaged in a fierce fight with the rebels on the parapet. Lan Huaxiao was not foolish; he knew the importance of cannons and had stationed a considerable number of guards on the parapets, who were not to be underestimated. The battle against Lu Qingwan's Xuanjia Army was evenly matched, with neither side gaining an advantage.
However, when Lu Qingwan arrived, a rebel soldier had approached the rear of a cannon and was reaching for the fuse. The muzzle of that cannon was aimed directly at Feng Xiwu and his men. Lu Qingwan had been on the city wall for some time and had no idea where Feng Xiwu and his group were. If this cannon were fired, the consequences were unimaginable. Furthermore, once the cannon was fired, it would alert the rebels above and below the city wall. Their small group of a few dozen people would be no match for them.
Acting before she could think, Lu Qingwan leaped forward and tackled the rebel soldier to the ground. The next moment, a dagger pierced his throat. Even so, the rebel's saber heavily struck the cannon. With a dull thud, it sounded exceptionally abrupt in the quiet night.
"Cut the cannon fuses and retreat!" Lu Qingwan commanded as she got to her feet and slashed the fuse of the cannon in front of her. Just as she was about to move to the other side to cut another fuse, a Xuanjia Army soldier across the way, holding a pair of scissors, snipped the fuse of that cannon. Simultaneously, shouts erupted from the parapet, "Enemy attack! Report to the general immediately!" The commotion on the parapet did not escape the notice of the Imperial Guards and Lan Huaxiao's rebels inside and outside the city wall. Battle was imminent.
Lu Qingwan pulled out a signal flare, and green smoke shot straight into the sky before exploding. She tossed her crossbow to a nearby Xuanjia Army soldier and sternly ordered, "Retreat!" The single word was unmistakable. The Xuanjia Army soldiers gritted their teeth, climbed onto their crossbows, and slid down in a flash.
Soon, the roar of battle filled the air. Lu Qingwan stood on the parapet, covering her brothers' retreat while also defending the four parapets. The two sides had already engaged, but the cannons were not being used, indicating their actions had been successful. Just as she was about to retreat with relief, a deafening boom sounded. A cannon on the parapet furthest from her fired a projectile, and the fireworks in the sky illuminated Lu Qingwan's vision.
The cannonball landed in the midst of the Imperial Guards. Lu Qingwan felt she could hear the panicked cries of the Imperial Guards even from that distance. Without a second thought, she dashed onto the parapet and, using the buttresses between each parapet, made her way towards that cannon. The Xuanjia Army soldiers, who had already begun to retreat, turned back upon seeing that a cannon had not been destroyed. Over a dozen of them gathered at the parapet, covering Lu Qingwan as she went to destroy the cannon.
Lu Qingwan rushed over and discovered that the Xuanjia Army soldier assigned to destroy this cannon had been beheaded. A true beheading, with the head falling to the ground. She didn't know who the assailant was, but the highly trained Xuanjia Army soldiers had lost their lives without even a chance to call for help, their eyes wide with surprise even in death. Lu Qingwan had no time for grief; she forcibly closed the young soldier's eyes and immediately went to cut the cannon's fuse.
Before her hand could touch the fuse, a chill ran down her spine. Lu Qingwan instinctively ducked and retreated. A dark figure leaped from above, and the blade in his hand struck the ground with a sickening sound. The scattering gravel starkly told Lu Qingwan that if she hadn't retreated, she would have been sliced in half by that blade.
A shiver of fear ran through her, but she dared not delay. She flung out her steel whip, aiming straight for the assailant's vital point.
"Heh," the figure let out a cold laugh from his throat. "Your skills are quite good, but unfortunately, you've met me, the Envoy. You can only blame your bad luck!" With that, the great saber in his hand slashed towards Lu Qingwan without mercy. Lu Qingwan met the attack with all her might, yet he was still able to deal with those Xuanjia Army soldiers attempting to rescue Lu Qingwan. With a left and a right slash, two Xuanjia Army soldiers became his fallen victims.