After her rebirth, the empress received a tragic and beautiful script.

Chapter 244 Unsheathing

Lu Yanchen's face darkened.

Since Cao Qing has intervened, no matter what the final outcome of the battle here is, his Western Army will inevitably be involved when it is investigated afterwards.

"You guys wait here." After Lu Yanchen said this, he rushed into the crowd and headed straight towards Cao Qing.

"You are committing treason! Kill all these rebellious civilians without mercy!" The voice of County Magistrate Tan Chunhui rang out among the soldiers defending the city.

Lu Yanchen used the walls on both sides to leap in front of Cao Qing. Before he could ask Cao Qing any questions, swords and guns attacked him.

He swung his sword together with the sheath without drawing it, and in a few moves he defeated all the soldiers.

"Thank you, General, for saving me!" After Cao Qing thanked him, he pulled out the woman he had been protecting from behind him and said to her, "Little sister, this is my second brother's military commander, thank him quickly!"

A petite woman appeared from behind Cao Qing. Her hair was messy and her eyes were full of fear. She was still wearing shackles on her hands. Her wrists were rubbed raw and blood was faintly visible. She looked at the tall Lu Yanchen wearing armor and holding a sword, and seemed to be frightened. She couldn't speak for a long time.

Lu Yanchen frowned as he looked at her, but before he could open his mouth to question Cao Qing, Tan Chunhui's voice sounded not far behind him.

"May I ask which army this warrior belongs to?"

Lu Yanchen turned around and saw Tan Chunhui, protected by a team of personal soldiers, squeezed out of the crowd and walked in front of him.

Lu Yanchen put the knife in his hand to his side and saluted, "I am Lu Yanchen, the commander of the Western Army of the Northern Expedition Army. I was assigned by the Ministry of War to come here to replenish the baggage and food."

After saying this, he handed over the badge and the letter from the Ministry of War with both hands.

When Tan Chunhui heard the words "Northern Expedition Army", he frowned. He only glanced at the things in his hand from a distance without checking them, and said, "I haven't heard any orders to transfer grain. General Lu has also seen the current situation. Please take your people and move to another place."

Lu Yanchen hesitated for a moment, put away the things in his hand, and decided to say to Tan Chunhui: "Mr. County Magistrate, these people are all victims of the disaster, not stubborn people. If the disaster is reported to the court, the court will understand and relax the tax requirements."

Tan Chunhui's face immediately changed, and he said angrily: "This is my Yingzhou's business! Even if there is a disaster, it is me, the county magistrate, who should report it. Besides, there was no natural disaster last year. The poor harvest is obviously due to the laziness of these unruly people and their neglect of farming. It is not your turn for the Yunzhou army to make irresponsible remarks and interfere."

After saying that, he looked around and soon saw a dozen Western Army baggage soldiers dressed similarly to Lu Yanchen not far away.

He immediately felt relieved: it turned out that there were only a few of them, yet they dared to be so arrogant.

Then, Tan Chunhui waved his hand and said, "Capture them all. Don't let any of them leave the city!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers around him stepped forward to capture Lu Yanchen.

Lu Yanchen took out his badge and held it in front of the personal soldier, shouting, "I am the commander of a thousand men under the Northern Expedition Army, a fourth-rank lieutenant general appointed by the court. Even though a military general is one rank lower than a civil official, I am still one rank higher than a sixth-rank county governor like you. What right do you have to arrest me?"

His words were convincing and his demeanor was righteous, which for a moment stopped several guards in their tracks. They stared at each other, and no one dared to step forward.

Seeing his men were cowardly, Tan Chunhui became furious. He pushed everyone away, snatched the knife from the guards, and said angrily, "A bunch of useless things..."

Although he was not very good at using a knife, he could not lose his momentum in such a situation. He walked up to Lu Yanchen with a knife in hand and said loudly: "The Northern Expedition Army and the rebels are in collusion with each other and incited the people to riot in my Qing County. They are worthy of death. No matter the rank of the traitors, I can take them down even if they are a first-rank commander!"

After saying that, he rushed towards Lu Yanchen with the five-jin knife in hand. Lu Yanchen looked at his frivolous steps and his expression turned cold.

It seems that the reasoning doesn't make sense.

He put the badge back into his arms and drew his long sword from its sheath. In a flash, the back of the long sword knocked the knife out of Tan Chunhui's hand. He flicked his wrist downward, and the blade easily cut Tan Chunhui's belt, and the county magistrate's sash tied inside the belt also fell to the ground.

"Mr. County Magistrate, this is not the way you use a knife. If you take another step forward, the next thing you cut will not be the belt." Lu Yanchen's face was cold and his voice was even colder.

Tan Chunhui's face was as white as lime. He took two deep breaths to slow down and said, "How dare you cut off my sash? It was given by the imperial court! Capture this rebel!"

This time he finally stopped caring about his face. As he spoke, he took a few steps back and hid in the crowd.

"Go! Go to the county government office and call for reinforcements." He ordered with gritted teeth, while thinking in his mind that if he caught this man, he would make sure to give him a good beating.

However, the situation did not develop as he expected.

After all, that was Lu Yanchen who could fight against a hundred imperial guards alone, and who could escape unscathed with hostages from the Beidi camp of more than ten thousand people.

Tan Chunhui had never seen anyone so good at fighting, he couldn't even imagine it.

He couldn't see Lu Yanchen's figure, but he could see the knife in his hand. His knife was like a bright crescent moon, emitting a dazzling and weird light in the crowd. Even though Tan Chunhui had never been on a real battlefield, he could feel that the knife seemed to be emitting a terrifying evil aura, which was very evil.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Tan Chunhui quietly slipped away from the alley when no one was paying attention.

Lu Yanchen did not kill the enemy, and his sword avoided the enemy's vital points as much as possible. But the enemy was too numerous, and by the time he sheathed his sword, the sun was setting.

Everywhere he looked, he saw corpses lying on the ground and groaning wounded soldiers.

Although we won, it was a pyrrhic victory.

Lu Yanchen frowned. Although the war was over, he did not feel happy at all. Instead, he felt worried.

He quickly counted the people he brought with him, most of them were injured and would be unable to move in the short term. Cao Qing was also covered in blood, leaning against the wall on the street, gasping for breath while bandaging the wound on his right leg with a piece of cloth torn from his clothes. His little sister knelt beside him, tears streaming down her face.

Qi Liyi was also injured. After he gave instructions for the cleanup and finishing work, he came to Lu Yanchen with the help of a brother. He looked at him with gratitude and said, "Qi Liyi, on behalf of the people of Qing County, would like to thank General Lu for his righteousness!"

As he said this, he was about to break away from the people around him and bow to Lu Yanchen to express his gratitude.

Lu Yanchen quickly stopped him: "You and I have both calculated our fates, so there is no need for these empty formalities."

"General, if you need anything in Qing County, just tell me." Qi Liyi said.

Lu Yanchen frowned again and said, "Give me paper and pen. I want to write a letter to the capital right away."