Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 481 The Princess is Captured
When the rattan armor soldiers around Yang Jia rushed up, the soldiers around Chen Baxian could no longer hold on.

Looking back at the chaotic scene behind him, Chen Baxian realized that the situation was hopeless.

He tried to find Princess Yongxing in the chaotic crowd, but saw that there was no one in the sedan chair, and he didn't know where Princess Yongxing had hidden in the chaos.

Chen Baxian realized that his mission had failed, and in despair he led his personal guards in a fighting and retreating attack. As he began to retreat, the chaos in the entire team intensified.

I don't know who shouted, "The princess ran away!"

The wedding procession completely collapsed and everyone began to flee frantically.

The battle ended quickly. When Chen Baxian led his personal soldiers to escape, Yang Jia did not rush his men to pursue them. Instead, he asked the soldiers to search for the whereabouts of Princess Yongxing nearby.

Princess Yongxing lived a life of luxury and could not walk at all on such a mountain road.

She had no prestige in her daily life, and even Chen Baxian had escaped. There was no one around her who would risk her life to protect her.

Sure enough, in the dense forest beside the mountain road, Yang Jia found Princess Yongxing, who was trembling all over.

Yang Jia grinned and laughed. The biggest gain of the day had already been pocketed, and from now on it would be pure profit.

He called out to the soldiers:
"General Hou has already said that all the spoils will be distributed to everyone!"

"Brothers, divide the captured items equally! Throw them on the ground after grabbing them. If anyone delays military operations in the fight for the captured items, Sima Zhang will record it for me and punish them by military law afterwards!"

"General Hou will also give everyone the books that the princess brings as a dowry at the rate of one piece of silk per book."

"Chase!"

The soldiers received the promise and chased after them with weapons in hand.

As for the palace maids and eunuchs that came with the princess as dowry, they carried too much treasure and their quality was far inferior to that of the mountain infantry under Yang Jia's command, so they were quickly caught up and killed by them.

Following Yang Jia's instructions, the soldiers placed their belongings on the roadside, waiting for Zhang Chong, the military commander in the rear, to count them, and then continued to charge at the faster-running enemy.

Near noon, Yang Jia received a report from Zhang Chong that the soldiers had killed more than seventy people and that property had filled ten donkey carts.

"withdraw!"

It’s almost time, and there are several Liao people’s villages nearby. We’ll be in trouble if they take advantage of us.

Yang Jia quickly led his men to escape from the battlefield and joined Hou Jing who was stationed in Ba County.

On the other side, Chen Baxian, who had lost Princess Yongxing, gathered more than 20 remnants.

Looking at these brothers who followed him, Chen Baxian couldn't help but shed tears.

It is true that Xiao Yan was a Bodhisattva Emperor, but he also showed his Bodhisattva side to his relatives and close ministers.

Who the hell is Chen Baxian? He messed up the marriage and lost the emperor's daughter. I'm afraid if he escapes to Baidi City, he will be kidnapped by Wang Sengbian and sent to Jiankang to be punished.

"Master, what should we do?"

These soldiers were all old subordinates who had followed Chen Baxian to quell the Guangzhou rebellion. They shared the same glory as Chen Baxian and all looked at him.

A middle-level officer in the Southern Dynasty, whose rank was below the army and above the team. In the Northern Dynasties, it was roughly the same as the military officer at the level of colonel, lieutenant, or brigade commander.

Chen Baxian thought that he would be promoted to the rank of general for his meritorious service in escorting the bride, but he did not expect that he would fail miserably and this time he could not even save his life.

Chen Baxian thought about it, gritted his teeth and said:
"If we go back, we will surely die. It is better to surrender to the north!"

The soldiers nodded one after another, but Chen Baxian stood up and said:

"But if you surrender empty-handed, I'm afraid you won't be valued. You need to bring some merit with you!"

All the soldiers looked at Chen Baxian. He had a very high prestige in the group and the soldiers truly supported him, so they believed in his judgment.

Chen Baxian saw his men looking at him and said with a fierce look on his face:

"We ended up like this just because we wanted to escort the bride. We have to find the perpetrators and settle the accounts with those Liao people!"

During these days, Chen Baxian made many diplomatic missions to Liaozhai and was very disgusted with these greedy Liao people.

"Let's see if we can find some brothers. Let's go to Nanping Liaozhai!"

The next morning, Chen Baxian brought his remaining troops to Liaozhai in Nanping.

When he saw Kexian, Chen Baxian burst into tears and told him that he had been attacked by Hou Jing's troops, the whereabouts of Princess Yongxing was unknown, and her dowry was looted by the northerners. He begged Kexian to send troops to take revenge.

Chen Baxian also made it clear that he had failed to escort the princess properly and would be punished if he returned to Southern Liang. He was willing to lead his brothers to shave their heads and tattoo their faces and come to Nanping Mountain to seek refuge with Kexian.

But looking at the elite soldiers behind Chen Baxian, he did not doubt him, but happily welcomed them to stay.
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"Is this the princess of Nanliang?"

Hou Jing looked at Princess Yongxing with interest, only to see that she had a cloth ball stuffed in her mouth and was looking at him with a look of fear on her face.

Yang Jia crossed his hands and said, "This is Princess Yongxing, who was sent by the Southern Liang Dynasty to marry. She is Xiao Yan's eldest daughter."

Xiao Yan and his first wife Xi Hui had no sons, only three daughters, and Xi Hui died before the establishment of Southern Liang.

So these princesses are much older than the remaining princes, and Princess Yongxing is actually over 30 years old.

The princess was frightened along the way and had no maid to serve her. She looked a little dirty and not very pretty.

This made Hou Jing a little disappointed. He said to Yang Jia:

"I thought all princesses in the world were like the mistress, but I didn't expect that the princess of the Southern Dynasty would be like this, not even as good as the village women in Shu."

Hou Jing had not met many princesses. One was Princess Shouyang, who was married to the grassland, one was Princess Nanyang, the wife of Xiao Baoyin, and the other was his own mother, Princess Chenliu.

In Hou Jing's view, the princesses of our Great Wei are all fairy-like figures, especially the mistresses, who take good care of their own wives. In his heart, they are like bodhisattvas.

A few days ago, his wife sent someone to deliver a message saying that her due date was approaching. Princess Chenliu specially sent her nanny who accompanied her during childbirth and the best medical officer in the county mansion to Hou Jing's house so that Hou Jing could fight well on the front line. Hou Jing was naturally very grateful and vowed to serve his mistress and mother to the death.

In contrast, Princess Yongxing of the Southern Dynasty rebelled against her father, committed adultery with her uncle, and most importantly, she didn’t look that good.

What a woman could not accept the most was naturally the evaluation of her appearance. Princess Yongxing glared at Hou Jing and even forgot her identity as a prisoner.

Yang Jia didn't know how to answer, so after Hou Jing "enjoyed" her for a while, he ordered Princess Yongxing to be escorted away.

After all, she was a princess of a country, so Hou Jing naturally had no power to deal with her. He still had to report to Guanzhong and ask the gentlemen in the Government Affairs Hall to make the decision.

Hou Jing was very happy with such a great contribution. He asked Yang Jia:

"This time, I will write a letter to the Duke of the County for your contribution. As long as you can catch the Duke's eye, you will have it for the rest of your life."

Everyone knows that Su Ze is good at judging people, and the talents he values ​​will definitely be recognized by others.

It would be a lie to say that Yang Jia was not excited, as a bright future was just around the corner.

Hou Jing said again:
"Go back first and reorganize the army. Don't go up the mountain this month."

Yang Jia was a little confused about Hou Jing's order. Princess Yongxing had just been captured. Wasn't this the time when the enemy's morale was at its lowest? Shouldn't they pursue the victory?
Could it be that General Hou doesn't want me to continue making contributions and is deliberately suppressing me?

No, General Hou is not that kind of person.

Hou Jing came from the bottom of the Six Garrisons. He was very kind to the grassroots officers and soldiers, and never reduced the rewards he promised.

Yang Jia was an old subordinate who had been promoted under Hou Jing. Logically, Hou Jing would not target him like this.

However, in the Guanzhong army, obedience has always been the top priority. Since Hou Jing did not explain the reason, it must be that there are some strategic considerations that are inconvenient to disclose.

Yang Jia took the order and withdrew, while Hou Jing began to write letters to Su Ze in the distance, reporting the situation in Shu and attaching his new strategic plan.

Hou Jing was naturally not jealous of his subordinates' achievements. In fact, a mere princess of Southern Liang was not a great achievement in Hou Jing's view.

Hou Jing never took the Nanping Liao seriously, thinking they were just a group of rabble.

The reason why Hou Jing kept the Nanping Liao was that he had a more ambitious goal - Baidi City.

Baidi City was the gateway to Shu. As long as it was controlled by Wang Sengbian, Hou Jing would become unable to sleep or eat.

The kidnapping of Princess Yongxing was a perfect opportunity for Hou Jing to surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements.

Wang Sengbian was indeed very cunning and cautious. No matter how he was provoked, he insisted on defending Baidi City and not leaving.

But now he had no choice but to come out. Hou Jing planned to make a big fuss about Princess Yongxing's matter and force Wang Sengbian to come out of the city to attack him.

Hou Jing's judgment was correct. Wang Sengbian in Baidi City really could not bear the impact of Princess Yongxing being kidnapped.

While reporting to Xiao Yi in Jingzhou, he also sent elite troops into Ba County, trying to find out the whereabouts of Princess Yongxing and trying to get her back through various means.

But Wang Sengbian soon got the news that Princess Yongxing was in Ba County. Hou Jing even sent someone to tell him, "If you have the guts, come to Ba County and take the princess back!"

Wang Sengbian was furious after hearing this, but then he fell into hesitation.

This is due to Wang Sengbian's personality.

As a general, Wang Sengbian was first-rate and both wise and brave, but his flaw was also obvious. He always hesitated when facing a strong enemy and could never make a decision immediately.

His superior, Xiao Yi, the governor of Jingzhou, was a man who was unwilling to take responsibility and did not have much decision-making ability.

After receiving the news that his imperial sister had been kidnapped, Xiao Yi instinctively did not want to take responsibility. He simply ordered Wang Sengbian on the front line to handle it on his own, and sent someone to report to Jiankang and ask his father to make the decision.

In mid-March, Wang Sengbian received another call for help. Hou Jing had surrounded Nanping Mountain and was going to suppress the rebellious Liao people near Ba County.

Hou Jing even sent Princess Yongxing's wedding dress in an insulting manner. Wang Sengbian could not bear it any longer, so he led the army and navy of Baidi City to support Ba County both by sea and by land.

(End of this chapter)