Young White Horse: The Poison Sword Master of the Wen Family, Shocking the Apocalypse

"Afternoon?" Lei Mengsha exclaimed in surprise. "Seventh Brother, didn't you say we were going to rest for three days? Soldiers..."

Xiao Ruofeng looked out of the tent; at this moment, the morning mist was gradually dissipating, and the outlines of the distant mountains were becoming clearer.

"We can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer, who knows what other changes might occur in Tianqi City? The sooner we go back, the sooner we can end this!"

He paused, then looked at Ye Xiaoying: "With your injuries, are you able to travel?"

Ye Xiaoying struggled to sit up straight: "I can! Your Highness, rest assured, even if I have to crawl, I will crawl back to Tianqi!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ruofeng gently patted Ye Xiaoying's shoulder, then turned to Xun Yichuan and said:

"Yichuan, go and make preparations. Travel light. Leave the seriously wounded in Ezhou for treatment, and bring along those who can walk."

"We'll only bring five days' worth of provisions; the rest of the supplies...we'll discard them if possible! Even if we leave them in Ezhou and hand them over to the governor, I worry that Ezhou might fall to the Pofeng Army someday, and we'll just be doing them a favor!"

"Yes!" Xun Yichuan accepted the order and left.

Lei Mengsha hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Seventh Brother, what are your plans for the disciples of our Lei Clan?"

Xiao Ruofeng then remembered the Lei Men members and asked, "Why did they come with the army?"

Lei Meng briefly recounted the imperial decree granting him a title, and then angrily exclaimed, "His Majesty intends to use the Lei Clan as a tool to deal with the Wen family's drug-using people! My uncle is also foolish to have taken on this hot potato!"

After listening, Xiao Ruofeng pondered for a moment and said, "I have long heard that your Lei Clan has an ancestral rule that you do not join the army or get involved in court politics. Now that you are making an exception to accept the imperial decree, I'm afraid it is out of necessity."

He looked at Lei Mengsha: "Second Senior Brother, you are both a disciple of the Lei Clan and a general of the imperial court, so this matter is quite awkward."

"Alright then, the members of Lei Men will temporarily return to the capital with the army. After the Tianqi Emperor's reign, I will petition His Majesty to see if Lei Men can withdraw from this campaign."

"Seventh Brother..." Lei Mengsha's eyes welled up with tears, "On behalf of the entire Lei Clan, this humble general thanks Your Highness!"

"No need to thank me." Xiao Ruofeng smiled bitterly. "Whether it will succeed is still unknown. I am barely able to protect myself now, and all I can do is try my best."

Having said that, he turned and walked out of the tent.

The morning light shone on him, casting a long shadow.

Xiao Ping followed behind, looking at his prince's somewhat desolate figure, and felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

Once upon a time, Xiao Ruofeng, the Prince of Langya, was famous throughout the land, commanding an army of 200,000, and was full of vigor and ambition.

But now, the defeated general's future is uncertain.

“Xiao Ping,” Xiao Ruofeng suddenly spoke.

"Your subordinate is here."

"Why do you think Miss Situ would leave without saying goodbye?" Xiao Ruofeng asked softly. In the past, he would never have asked his personal attendant.

But now, the series of setbacks and blows have caused this once-shrewd strategist to gradually lose confidence in his own judgment.

Xiao Ping was taken aback, and said carefully, "Miss Situ has always been intelligent, and there must be a reason for her actions. Moreover, Miss Situ has repeatedly declined Your Highness's offer to take her as a princess. I think that her departure without saying goodbye this time may be because... she does not want to implicate Your Highness."

"Damage me?" Xiao Ruofeng stopped and turned to look at him. "What makes you say that?"

Xiao Ping lowered his head and said, "We will surely be blamed when we return to the capital after our defeat. If Situ Xue is in the Prince's mansion, she will be His Highness's weakness."

But if she's not there, His Highness will have one less thing to worry about and one more room to maneuver.

He paused, then added, "Moreover, she is already pregnant. With royal bloodlines scattered abroad, His Majesty will surely send people to search for her."

As long as Miss Situ hides the child well, the child will be born safely. Perhaps... this is the last thing Miss Situ can do for His Highness!

Xiao Ruofeng was stunned; he had never considered this possibility.

Did Situ Xue choose to leave to protect him and the child?

But if that's really the case, where could a frail woman like her, heavily pregnant, go? And how long could she hide?

“Xiao Ping,” Xiao Ruofeng’s voice trembled slightly, “send a letter to Baixiaotang and Jixia Academy in my own words, asking them to use their spies in the martial arts world to search for Situ Xue’s whereabouts with all their might.”

If any clues are found, I, the King of Langya, will reward you handsomely! Remember, it must be done secretly, without making a sound!

"Yes!"

"Also," Xiao Ruofeng looked north, towards Tianqi, "send someone to keep an eye on Jin Xuan. Once we return to the capital after our defeat, he will definitely take some action!"

Xiao Ping's heart skipped a beat: "Your Highness suspects..."

“I don’t doubt anyone,” Xiao Ruofeng interrupted him, “but one should always be wary of others.”

The morning mist has completely dissipated.

On the desolate plains north of Ezhou, more than 50,000 remnant troops began to break camp.

The banners were tattered and the armor was incomplete, yet the ranks remained orderly.

These are all veterans who survived countless battles; even in defeat, their spines remain upright.

Xiao Ruofeng mounted his horse and glanced back at the southern horizon.

Juzhou, Fuzhou, Tiejiling... the burial grounds of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

This journey to Tianqi is both an apology and a farewell. He gripped the reins tightly and urged his horse forward.

……

At the same moment, in Tianqi City, at the Shadow Sect.

In the secret chamber deep underground, the flickering candlelight casts a ghostly glow on the various weapons hanging on the walls.

Ib sat behind a black iron desk, dozens of secret reports spread out in front of him. He flipped through them one by one, his expression growing increasingly grim.

The defeat in the southwestern campaign, the remnants of the Prince of Langya's forces arriving in Ezhou, the loss of the underground river in Xueyue City... there wasn't a single piece of good news!

"metropolitan!"

The door to the secret chamber opened, and a black-robed Shadow Sect guard bowed as he entered, presenting a newly arrived secret letter: "Urgent report from Ezhou."

Ib took it, unwrapped the sealing wax, glanced at it, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The letter was sent by a spy planted by the Shadow Clan within the army; its contents were concise yet astonishing—

"Situ Xue, from the Langya Prince's residence, has gone missing; she has been confirmed pregnant. Upon learning the news, the Langya Prince decided to return to the capital ahead of schedule, and his camp was moved from Ezhou this afternoon."

“Pregnant…missing…” Ib muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming.

He suddenly got up and paced around the secret room.

Situ Xue's disappearance at this time is too suspicious. Is she fleeing to escape punishment? Or was she secretly kidnapped? Or perhaps... it was an escape plan she devised herself?

If it's the latter, then it's worth investigating thoroughly.

Ib walked to the wall and placed his hand on a blue brick. The brick dented, and the wall slid open silently, revealing a smaller, dark room.

That was the secret chamber of the Shadow Sect, which contained the roster and files of all members of the royal family of Tianqi Imperial City, as well as files of people related to the royal family.

Yi Bu entered the dark room and found a scroll in the compartment of the Langya Prince's Mansion. Yi Bu carefully took out the scroll and slowly unfolded it.

Skipping over the information about Xiao Ruofeng, Xiao Ping, Xiao Yu'an, and others, Yi Bu's gaze fell on a woman's name—Situ Xue!

Situ Xue – the eldest daughter of the Situ family, a Vajra Realm expert, skilled in swordsmanship, and free-spirited.

At the age of seventeen, she followed Xiao Ruofeng from the Sword Heart Tomb into the Langya Prince's Mansion, and thereafter lived a secluded life, having no dealings with any faction in the court. On the surface, she was just an ordinary person from the martial arts world.

But Ib knew that this person was far more complex than the records suggested.

She didn't stay at the Langya Prince's Mansion often, spending most of her time in the martial world. Her trip to Tianqi City was due to the mourning for the Tai'an Empire; she was worried that Xiao Ruofeng would be overwhelmed with grief.

This time, Situ Xue stayed for more than three months, but the day after the Prince of Langya led his army to war, Situ Xue disappeared!

Where did she go? Who did she meet? What did she do?

Ib used all the resources of the Shadow Sect to investigate, but found nothing.

"Pregnant...but keeping it a secret..." Yi Bu stared at the dossier, then suddenly sneered, "A woman from the martial world having royal blood is not something His Majesty can be proud of!"

He put the files away and resealed them in the dark room.

Returning to his desk, Iblis picked up his pen and wrote two secret letters, placing them in envelopes of different colors.

"Someone come here."

Three shadow guards entered in response.

"Send the red envelope to the palace and give it to Eunuch Jinxuan." Yi Bu handed over the first letter. "Send the yellow envelope to Jiangnan and give it to the head of the Dark River family."

"Yes!"

The shadow guard acknowledged the order and withdrew.

Ib sat alone in the secret room, the candlelight casting his distorted shadow on the wall.

……