Feng Xiyun listened to Xiao Jinxing’s cold words and suddenly burst into wild laughter.

It turned out she brought this upon herself.

She was courting death bit by bit.

If she hadn’t repeatedly tried to frame An Ning, and even now wanted to perish together with her, would the Emperor have gone this far with her?!

She always thought she was smart enough.

From a young age, she could read people’s thoughts, and from then on, everything went smoothly.

She thought she would get whatever she wanted.

And the same with the Emperor.

As long as she tried hard enough, as long as she used every means possible, the Emperor would be hers.

The position of Empress would also be hers.

Sure enough.

An Ning was right.

She was overestimating herself.

What she thought was intelligence was a joke in front of the Emperor and Empress.

She never thought that one day, she would be in such a miserable and pathetic state...

"Archers, ready!" Xiao Jinxing ordered.

The soldiers around him immediately drew their bows, aiming at the spies trapped inside.

No longer caring about Feng Xiyun as a so-called hostage.

Once the arrows were released.

Even if Feng Xiyun wasn’t killed by the spies, she could still be shot to death by a barrage of arrows!

Feng Xiyun was ultimately afraid.

Ultimately panicked.

Looking at the countless archers before her, her whole body seemed to collapse, "Emperor, I realize my mistake, I beg you to save me, save me... I don’t want to die... Emperor..."

Xiao Jinxing remained unmoved.

"Emperor, even for the sake of my excellent medical skills, for the fact that I can still be of use, save me! I swear I will never dare to frame the Empress again, nor have any improper thoughts about the Emperor..." Feng Xiyun pleaded humbly.

"The chances I have given you are more than once, yet you repeatedly failed to restrain yourself." Xiao Jinxing’s eyes tightened, "Release the arrows!"

No need.

To hesitate.

Feng Xiyun was terrified.

The feeling of death was right before her eyes.

Countless arrows shot directly toward them.

The spies were unable to protect themselves, and had no time to care about Feng Xiyun, pushing her off the horse’s back, while hastily using swords to block the arrows coming from all directions.

Feng Xiyun fell off the horse’s back directly.

Her whole body rolled on the ground, causing her such pain that she couldn’t help but scream.

Arrows were everywhere around her, piercing into her body as well.

"Ah!"

Feng Xiyun screamed incessantly.

The other spies were also quickly annihilated under the rain of arrows.

All the spies fell to the ground.

They died tragically.

Xiao Jinxing dismounted, walking toward the dozen or so fallen spies before him.

With a look.

The trusted aide beside him hurriedly tore off the spies’ black veils.

They were all ordinary soldiers.

Only the leader had a slightly higher rank.

Xiao Jinxing gave an order, "Behead them all and send the heads to the Cang Kingdom’s camp."

"Yes!"

Xiao Jinxing turned to leave.

"Emperor..." A weak voice suddenly called out.

Xiao Jinxing glanced over.

Feng Xiyun lay on the ground, covered in blood, barely alive, yet still holding onto life.

Xiao Jinxing’s eyes shifted slightly.

He hadn’t expected Feng Xiyun to still be alive.

"Emperor, I beg you to save me. I don’t want to die, I beg you..." Feng Xiyun used the last of her strength to crawl to Xiao Jinxing’s feet.

Xiao Jinxing looked coldly at her pitiful state.

He turned and mounted his horse directly.

As he left, he tossed out a final command, "Throw Feng Xiyun into the Wounded Soldier Camp."

Without any special treatment.

...

Late at night.

Inside the Cang Kingdom’s camp.

Gao Ziyue was so furious he jumped up and down.

In his rage, he slashed the table in front of him in two with his sword.

Such was his fury.

"That dog emperor, that dog emperor!" Gao Ziyue gnashed his teeth.

He had killed all the spies he placed in the Daxuan Army camp.

And he had even sent their skulls back, which was simply an enormous humiliation!

He must kill Xiao Jinxing to vent his anger, he must kill him!

"Deploy the army! Deploy immediately!" Gao Ziyue lost all reason, "I want Xiao Jinxing dead with no burial place!"

"Your Highness, please calm down. This is Emperor Daxuan’s provocation, you must not fall into his trap!" Du Jianghong hurriedly advised.

"If I don’t vent this anger today, I’m not the Crown Prince of Cang Kingdom!"

"Your Highness, we just suffered a defeat last time, and if we engage in battle now, the chances of victory are slim! Only by delaying the war do we possibly have a slim chance at victory. You must not act impulsively." Du Jianghong continued to counsel.

"That dog emperor has pushed me to this extent, and you still want me to endure it!" Gao Ziyue spat harshly, "This is intolerable!"

"Your Highness!"

"Shut up for me!" Gao Ziyue’s anger surged.

Du Jianghong still wanted to say something...

"I also think that dog emperor is going too far!" Yuan Kai couldn’t stomach it either.

The last defeat had left him extremely displeased.

In all these years of training and fighting, he had never felt so stifled.

"General Yuan, how can you also lose your composure? You should know better than anyone that in a head-on fight, we are no match for the Daxuan Army..."

"Enough! Du Jianghong, I’ve tolerated you for long enough. Since the beginning of the war, you’ve constantly dampened our army’s morale and boosted the enemy’s arrogance! The defeat last time was because you discouraged our army’s morale!" Yuan Kai pointed his anger towards Du Jianghong.

Du Jianghong was also red-eyed with urgency, pointing at Yuan Kai, "You, you, you... You’re simply reckless! Utterly unreasonable!"

"Order to dispatch the troops immediately!" Gao Ziyue didn’t hesitate any longer, "I want no one left alive in the Daxuan Army!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Yuan Kai glared at Du Jianghong before striding out.

Du Jianghong saw that the situation was irreparable and had to compromise.

He stepped out of the Crown Prince’s tent and summoned a subordinate, "Are there still two spies left in the Daxuan Army camp?!"

"Yes." The subordinate replied, "The Crown Prince ordered the assassination of the Daxuan Empress, but as it’s not done yet, they have remained hidden. Once it’s accomplished, they will swiftly return to Cang Kingdom."

"Relay my orders, do not kill the Daxuan Empress for now," Du Jianghong instructed, "Capture her alive instead."

The subordinate was puzzled.

"Do as I command."

"But the Crown Prince..." the subordinate expressed concern.

"I will take responsibility." Du Jianghong understood that the Crown Prince and General were too enraged to listen to reason, and had no mind to target the Daxuan Empress, only focusing on winning the battle to vent their frustration.

"Yes." The subordinate accepted the command.

Du Jianghong thought of something else and instructed, "The Daxuan Empress is no ordinary person. All these years, our top assassins have failed to capture her, so we must not underestimate her. Follow my plan to capture the Daxuan Empress alive."

Saying this, he whispered into the subordinate’s ear.

"Go now."

The subordinate departed.

Du Jianghong’s eyes narrowed.

Given the current situation, today’s battle was bound to end in defeat, without a doubt.

After suffering a defeat, if the Crown Prince and General could remain calm and follow the previous plan to delay the war, there might be a chance for victory, but if they continued on this reckless course, they would ultimately be routed, the final outcome inevitably a desperate escape.

And he must prepare in advance to ensure they could retreat safely.

Since Feng Xiyun could no longer be used as a threat to the Daxuan Empress... it was clear that if she were a threat, their spies wouldn’t have been completely wiped out. It must have been an intentional ploy by Emperor Daxuan to eliminate them completely.

There was no denying Emperor Daxuan’s depth and wisdom!

And since Feng Xiyun wasn’t his beloved, what about the Daxuan Empress?!

Without a better strategy, he had no choice but to gamble!