Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 177: Chapter 176: Swear to Follow to the Death_1

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The oldest counselor, Master Fang, paused while stroking his beard: “Between the canyons, the Xiliang army is on the east side, and General Zhang Duanrui on the west. The Xiliang army is trapped between our forces. Our Jin army might not lose!”

“In this battle, only if we follow Mr. Qin’s strategy can we achieve victory. There is no other way!”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince turned towards the door. Bai Qingyan, clad in battle armor, stepped into the government office and saluted the Crown Prince with clasped fists.

The Crown Prince’s pupils trembled slightly. With Bai Qingyan in full armor, she must have decided to join the battle!

Bai Qingyan straightened up and spoke rapidly: “The Xiliang army’s numbers are several times greater than ours. If Xiliang’s warriors attack the east ambush point of Wengshan Canyon and see General Zhang Duanrui’s troops ambushing from the west, wouldn’t they split their forces to attack both sides? Once Zhang Duanrui’s crossbowmen are held back by Xiliang’s warriors, our entire army will be annihilated in Wengshan and Jiuqu Peak!”

Hearing the words “entire army annihilated,” the Crown Prince felt a shiver run down his spine.

If the fifty thousand reinforcements died in Wengshan, the Jin would be at the mercy of Xiliang and Nanyan!

But if they won this battle, his position as Crown Prince would be secure and his fame would spread far and wide!

If they lost, he might as well give up being Crown Prince!

“Your Highness, you must not hesitate!” Qin Shangzhi knelt and urged loudly.

Bai Qingyan also knelt on one knee with clasped fists and solemnly said, “Your Highness, permit me to go! I must go! If you do not allow me to go, I will still go! The strategy for this battle was mine. I cannot watch thousands of soldiers die due to the mistake at Wengshan Canyon! Nor can I watch the remaining Bai family’s army be slaughtered by Yun Poxing and bear the shame!”

The Crown Prince clenched his fist tightly. Remembering Bai Qingyan’s advice last night and this morning, and recalling that she had been praised by the undefeated King of Zhen, Bai Weiting, as a genius in battle, he made a swift decision and let Bai Qingyan go!

He helped Bai Qingyan up and handed her the Commander’s Seal: “Then… Mr. Bai, the task is yours! I will dispatch two thousand guards from Wanping and all Jin soldiers on the Wengshan battlefield to await your command!”

“Your Highness need not worry. Before coming from the camp, I had already ordered the guard commanders to gather soldiers for the Crown Prince’s command! However, Your Highness is the Crown Prince, the foundation of the country. Not all Wanping guards should be deployed. A thousand must stay to protect Your Highness.” After saying this, Bai Qingyan took the Commander’s Seal and said, “Please command the Bai family’s Huying Camp to charge with me to Wengshan Canyon. If we lose this battle… Bai Qingyan will return to face you with my head!”

“Your Highness! Mr. Bai makes sense!” Master Fang, the old counselor, said. “Your Highness is the foundation of the country and must not be left unguarded!”

The Crown Prince gritted his teeth. With the battle imminent, there was no time for delay. Even if he needed to guard against Bai Qingyan… they could consider it after winning this battle!

“Huying Camp is waiting on the slopes outside the city. Take them!” said the Crown Prince.

“Bai Qingyan will not disgrace my mission!”

With that, Bai Qingyan turned and swiftly walked out.

The Crown Prince couldn’t help but follow a few steps and saw Bai Qingyan stride out the door, throw the Commander’s Seal to Bai Jinzhi, and leap onto her horse, calmly instructing, “Bai Jinzhi, quickly take the Commander’s Seal to the camp and assemble a thousand troops to follow me to Wengshan Canyon for a deadly battle!”

“Bai Jinzhi takes the command!” Bai Jinzhi grabbed the Commander’s Seal and galloped away.

“Sir!” Xiao Ruohai tossed a silver spear to Bai Qingyan.

She caught the silver spear with one hand, strapped the Shooting Sun Bow on her back, and spurred her horse to charge forward.

The Crown Prince’s throat tightened. Was this the battle aura of the Bai family generals?

Majestic and commanding, all orders from her mouth filled one with fervor and an unstoppable urge to follow her into battle!

Qin Shangzhi stood behind the Crown Prince, his fists clenched tightly.

Qin Shangzhi, stepping onto the battlefield for the first time, couldn’t help but think, upon seeing Bai Qingyan’s heroic bearing, if the current Emperor… could believe in the Bai family’s loyalty and tolerate the Bai family, what an impressive sight the Bai family sons would be on the battlefield! Conquering the world would be a matter of time.

The Duke of Zhen’s family, renowned for generations, reached its pinnacle under Bai Weiting, with his descendants all being exceptionally talented and unified for the cause of unifying the world. Yet, their Emperor lacked the ambition to conquer the world, hence his fear of the Bai family!

This was the reason for the Bai family’s inevitable demise!

What a pity! What a lament!

Xiao Ruohai closely followed Bai Qingyan out of the city gate, heading towards the slope.

At the slope, two bone whistle messengers from Huying Camp were talking about the orders to await commands they had heard last night, when a sentry reported that a fast horse was approaching.

Everyone in Huying Camp stood up, holding their reins and looking into the distance.

Under a withered tree, the deputy commander of Huying Camp, Shen Liangyu, with a straw in his mouth, stood up and squinted into the distance. He saw a young man in silver armor, holding a red-tasseled silver spear atop a galloping horse!

Shen Liangyu found the figure incredibly familiar. Spitting out the straw, he took a few steps forward, trying to recall where he had seen this figure, but he couldn’t remember until the fast horse neared, and the rider pulled the reins sharply, causing the horse to rear. Shen Liangyu’s eyes widened: “Young General Bai?!”

Old members of Huying Camp recognized Bai Qingyan from Shen Liangyu’s murmur and shouted excitedly, “It’s Young General Bai! Young General Bai is back!”

High on her horse, Bai Qingyan tightly reined in her horse. As the horse’s front hooves landed, she scanned the more than two hundred elite soldiers left in Huying Camp with piercing eyes and shouted, “I am Bai Qishan’s eldest daughter, Bai Qingyan, Vice Commander of the Bai family army. Today, our army will battle Xiliang in Wengshan Canyon. The situation is critical! Those who dare to follow me to kill the enemy and save our comrades, mount up and follow me to Wengshan!”

After that, Bai Qingyan turned her horse and sped off with Xiao Ruohai.

The moment Shen Liangyu saw Bai Qingyan, his eyes filled with tears, and his blood surged. He leapt onto his horse and shouted at the top of his voice, “Vice Commander Shen Liangyu swears to follow Young General Bai to the death! Huying Camp, mount up!”

The well-trained elite soldiers of Huying Camp leapt onto their horses and cracked their whips, chasing after Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan, galloping towards Wengshan, met Bai Jinzhi, who had been ordered to bring a thousand Wanping guards to reinforce the Wengcheng.

Bai Jinzhi galloped up to Bai Qingyan: “Eldest Young Lady!”

“Did you bring all the flags?!” She turned to look at the approaching Bai Jinzhi and asked.

“Rest assured, Eldest Young Lady! Not a single one is missing!” Bai Jinzhi assured.

“Shen Liangyu!” Bai Qingyan turned back and shouted.

Shen Liangyu, hearing Bai Qingyan’s call, sped up and responded enthusiastically, “I am here!”

“Order you to lead Huying Camp to the top of Wengshan Canyon and Jiuqu Peak, shoot Xiliang soldiers from high ground to cover us! Plant the Bai family’s army flag in the most prominent place to boost our morale!”

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