Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

"what?"

Chu Ning clenched his hands suddenly, his eyes were red, and veins on his forehead bulged, like an enraged beast.

The flickering candlelight on the street illuminated his hideous face.

"A hundred Han troops besieged Xiuning?"

He asked word by word, his voice so low and terribly low that each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Xue Huaide's eyes were filled with worry as he said bitterly, "Your Majesty... The situation was critical at the time. Her Royal Highness the Princess..."

"enough!"

Chu Ning suddenly shouted, and slammed his right fist into the nearby house. Amidst the flying wood chips, he turned to face Xue Huaide, his eyes boiling with murderous intent:

"Pass on my order to immediately execute all Han prisoners, leaving no one behind!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Huaide's bronze face suddenly froze.

He subconsciously tightened his grip on the sword at his waist, his lips moving as if to dissuade him.

But when he looked up and met Chu Ning's bloodshot eyes, all his words of persuasion were stuck in his throat.

What burned in those eyes was not only anger, but also a kind of terrifying madness and despair.

"Yes."

In the end, Xue Huaide just bowed deeply and sighed imperceptibly when he turned around.

He walked aside and whispered a few words to the messenger who had been waiting for a long time.

The young soldier turned pale when he heard this, but still obeyed the order and left.

Soon, screams were heard one after another on the streets of Yumen Pass.

Amidst the flash of swords, hundreds of bound Han prisoners fell in a pool of blood.

Blood flowed through the cracks in the bluestone road, appearing a strange dark red in the moonlight.

A few crows cried in the distance, as if playing mournful music for the massacre.

On the street, Chu Ning stood in front of the window, looking at all this with an expressionless face.

His slender fingers unconsciously stroked the spear, and his fingers crackled with the force.

When Xue Huaide returned, he saw Chu Ning's back looking particularly lonely in the moonlight.

This all-powerful emperor now had his shoulders slightly hunched, as if he was bearing an invisible pressure.

"Your Majesty the Emperor of Chu..." Xue Huaide said carefully, "Where would you like to start looking for Her Royal Highness the Princess?"

Chu Ning did not answer immediately.

He turned around slowly, and in the candlelight, Xue Huaide noticed the dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that the emperor had not had a good rest for a long time.

"Bring that maid here." Chu Ning's voice was terribly hoarse. "I want to interrogate her personally."

Xue Huaide was about to respond when he saw Chu Ning suddenly stagger.

"Your Majesty the Emperor of Chu!" Xue Huaide stepped forward.

Chu Ning waved his hand and rubbed his temple tiredly: "It's okay, my cavalry has been marching for thousands of miles and needs to rest. Let's rest tonight."

After saying this, he seemed to have used up his last bit of strength and became completely dejected.

Xue Huaide quickly called his personal guards and personally sent Chu Ning to the house that had been prepared long ago.

This is a large house with three courtyards, which was originally the residence of Fan Zhong, the commander of Yumen Pass.

The towering ancient trees in the courtyard rustled in the night wind, casting mottled shadows.

Chu Ning almost fell onto the bed.

Xue Huaide was about to leave when he heard an almost inaudible whisper behind him: "She must still be alive!"

Xue Huaide turned around and saw Chu Ning lying on the bed with his clothes on, his eyes closed but his brows still furrowed.

The moonlight filtered through the window lattice, casting tiny spots of light on his face and revealing the moisture in the corners of his eyes.

That night, Chu Ning slept very uneasily.

Wu Xiuning's figure kept flashing in the dream - her heroic figure when riding a horse, her calmness when commanding on the battlefield, and her hesitant look when she said goodbye for the last time.

"Xiuning!"

Chu Ning woke up suddenly and found that the sun was already high in the sky outside the window.

He was covered in cold sweat and his heart was beating wildly.

It took him half a quarter of an hour to come back to his senses from the terrible dream - in the dream, he saw Wu Xiuning being besieged by the Han army, covered in blood.

"Your Majesty, are you awake?" Zhao Yu's voice came from outside the door.

Chu Ning wiped his face, his voice still filled with sleep: "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon," Zhao Yu replied from outside the door. "General Xue and the maid have been waiting for a long time."

Chu Ning stood up immediately after hearing this.

After a simple wash, he changed into a black brocade robe and only wore a long sword at his waist.

In the bronze mirror, he saw that the dark circles under his eyes were more obvious, and his beard had sprouted. He looked haggard. But at this moment, he could no longer care about these things.

In the hall, Xue Huaide sat upright. When he saw Chu Ning come in, he immediately stood up and saluted.

Kneeling beside him was a young woman in plain clothes, probably in her early twenties, with a haggard face and red and swollen eyes, obviously she had cried many times.

"Is this the maid you arranged?" Chu Ning asked coldly, and walked straight to the main seat and sat down.

Xue Huaide bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this woman's name is Qingluan. She is the personal maid of Her Royal Highness the Princess and a martial arts expert personally selected by this general."

Chu Ning's eyes swept across the maid like a knife: "Tell me! What exactly happened at that time?"

Qingluan shuddered and kowtowed, "Your Majesty the Emperor of Chu, please allow me to report that Your Highness the Princess has broken through two Han army formations in a row, killing thousands of enemy soldiers. The Han army holds a grudge against her for this."

As Qingluan continued her story intermittently, Chu Ning's expression became increasingly ugly.

It turned out that after Wu Xiuning won two great victories, the Han army set up a strategy to lure the enemy.

When she led her troops in pursuit, she fell into an ambush. Although she discovered the situation and broke through in time, her whereabouts were exposed and she was followed and pursued by the elite cavalry of the Han army.

"I and my servants fought desperately to protect them, but the Han army is increasing in number."

Qingluan's voice choked as she spoke: "I wanted to divert the pursuers, but...but the Han army saw through my plan."

"And then?" Chu Ning's voice was as cold as ice.

Qingluan burst into tears. "I was injured by the Han army. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Her Royal Highness the Princess being surrounded by at least a hundred Han cavalrymen."

She suddenly kowtowed heavily, her forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud: "Damn this servant! I failed to protect Her Highness the Princess!"

The hall was dead silent, with only Qingluan's suppressed sobs echoing.

Chu Ning clenched his fists, his nails dug deep into his palms, blood seeping through his fingers, but he seemed to feel no pain.

"Take me to the place where Xiuning disappeared." He suddenly spoke, his voice so low that it was almost inaudible.

Xue Huaide looked troubled. After a moment's hesitation, he smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor of Chu, please forgive me. After the Han army learned of the princess's disappearance, they launched a mad counterattack. Now that area has been reoccupied by the Han army."

Chu Ning suddenly looked up, a cold light flashing in his eyes: "What do you mean?"

"If you want to go to the place where the princess disappeared."

Xue Huaide gritted his teeth and explained, "We must first defeat the 30,000 elite Han troops stationed there."

"boom!"

Chu Ning slammed his fist on the table, causing the teacup to jump up and spill tea all over the table.

He stood up slowly, a suffocating murderous aura emanating from his body.

"Then fight."

He squeezed every word out between his teeth: "Order the entire army to prepare immediately. I will personally lead the cavalry and flatten the Han army camp!"

Xue Huaide saw this and knew that it was useless to persuade him any further, so he could only bow deeply and said, "I will go and prepare it right away."

When he turned around, he looked at the bright sunshine outside the window, but a shadow fell on his heart.

The Chu emperor is on the verge of losing control, and the next battle is likely to be extremely brutal.