The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

With a swift stroke, Fang Xiu's head rolled to the ground in front of the crowd.

Even in death, Fang Xiu's eyes were filled with disbelief.

He couldn't believe that Chen Nan had actually cut him down like that!

Not only him, but the soldiers around him were even more shocked, and their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Chen Nan.

After all, a general who is a fourth-rank martial artist can be killed at will, let alone a group of soldiers.

Fang He stared blankly at the head on the ground.

When he finally came to his senses, he stared at Chen Nan with bloodshot eyes, panting heavily, but there was nothing he could do.

He wanted to go up and demand justice for his brother, but he didn't dare, because Chen Nan was really going to chop him up.

"Alright, quickly drag General Fang away, the army is ready to march!"

Hongming came out and interrupted everyone.

Chen Nan watched as Fang He left with a resentful expression.

Turning to look at Hongming, who was laughing behind him, he asked, "What? What's your relationship with Hongyao?"

"He's a retainer in my household!" Hongming said with a sense of helplessness.

No one mentioned Fang Xiu, who had died.

Under Hongming's command, the army quickly set off.

Two days later, in Suzhou.

Chen Nan, Hong Ming, and Hong Ze stared with dark faces at the two middle-aged men kneeling on the ground in front of them.

One of the men was wearing green armor, which was completely unmarked.

The other man wore a green robe, tattered clothes, and disheveled hair, and occasionally let out a cry.

Suddenly, the man raised his head and crawled forward a few steps on his knees.

He shouted, "General Hong, Lecheng has fallen! It's all my fault, Qin Feng, for failing to defend the city properly. Please punish me, General!"

"County Magistrate Qin, please stand up and speak!" Hongming said expressionlessly, his voice cold.

After Qin Feng stood up, the man in armor behind him also slowly stood up.

Upon seeing this, Hongming flew into a rage: "Did I tell you to get up?"

Helpless, the man who had just stood up knelt down again.

"County Magistrate Qin, tell us about the situation in Lecheng."

"General Hong doesn't blame me?" Qin Feng was very surprised.

Hongming said calmly, "The Great Qian Dynasty has an army of 300,000, while your Le City garrison has only 5,000."

"And since County Magistrate Qin defended the city, the blame for the loss of the city does not lie with you."

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng's eyes flashed visibly.

Even though it disappeared quickly, Chen Nan still managed to catch it.

He just didn't bring it up immediately.

Hongming pointed to a chair next to him, and Qin Feng sat down.

That's when the story began.

"General, two days ago, the Daqian army of 300,000 arrived at Lecheng and completely surrounded it."

"And the general's army is not in Lecheng."

"Even though I only have five thousand soldiers under my command, I still do not want to abandon the city and flee."

"Let's join forces with Battalion Commander Wu and prepare to fight Daqian to the death."

"But, but at this critical moment, Battalion Commander Wu actually abandoned his men and fled the city."

"With Battalion Commander Wu's escape, the north gate of Lecheng was wide open, and the people of Daqian entered directly through the north gate without any effort."

"This humble official truly wishes to defend the city, but alas, I am powerless to do so!"

As Qin Feng finished speaking, he seemed to have all his strength drained away.

He slumped completely off the chair, tears streaming down his face.

As he was speaking, Chen Nan's eyes remained fixed on Battalion Commander Wu, who was kneeling on the ground.

He knew that each border city of the Northern Wei Dynasty would have a battalion commander, and most of them had a force of five thousand men.

However, these five thousand men would only obey the battalion commander's orders.

Each battalion commander had independent authority and was directly under the command of the prefect.

Unless he had private dealings with the county magistrate, he would always have military power in his hands.

Chen Nan also knew that Lecheng had not been lost before he left Daqian.

Both Suzhou and Lecheng originally belonged to the Great Qian Dynasty.

However, Hongming was too fast. While Chen Nan was meeting with the Empress Dowager of Northern Wei, he took the opportunity to capture Lecheng.

After listening to Qin Feng's explanation, Hongze kindly went up to help him up.

Just as Hongze's hand touched Qin Feng's arm...

Chen Nan questioned, "County Magistrate Qin, you just said that Daqian has completely surrounded Le City, so how did Battalion Commander Wu manage to escape from the city?"

He wasn't asking this without reason.

As Qin Feng recounted the story, mentioning Battalion Commander Wu's escape, he could clearly feel the helplessness and hatred of the man kneeling on the ground.

"Huh? This?" Qin Feng was stunned by the sudden question.

His mouth seemed to be stuck, and he couldn't say a word.

Hongze clearly sensed that there was something they were unaware of.

The hand that was supporting him was silently lowered.

Qin Feng, who had already been helped halfway up, collapsed to the ground again because he had lost his footing.

The three of them were waiting for an explanation.

But Qin Feng was like a mute, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Hongming could no longer contain himself and slammed his hand on the table: "Qin Feng, what is the actual situation? Tell me quickly!"

Her slap startled Qin Feng.

Even Chen Nan was bewildered by her sudden outburst. He shook his head and went straight to Battalion Commander Wu.

They dragged him outside the main tent.

The two siblings from the Hong family had their minds on Qin Feng the whole time and had no interest in paying attention to Chen Nan.

Naturally, no one noticed his action.

As the two men emerged from the main tent, Chen Nan was about to ask them a question.

The system suddenly popped into my mind.

[Detection indicates that Lecheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, has fallen to the Daqian Dynasty.]

[Task issued: The host must retake Le City within three days.]

[Mission Reward: Dragon's Gallant Silver Spear!]

"accept!"

Chen Nan silently recited a sentence in his mind.

He was very familiar with the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear; it was Zhao Yun's weapon during the Three Kingdoms period.

[Host accepts mission; three days remain until mission expires.]

"Um, what are the penalties for failing to complete the mission?"

Chen Nan silently asked himself.

Generally, there will be penalties for failing to complete a task.

The system also responded promptly.

[Failure to complete the task will trigger a system backlash, resulting in the host's elimination.]

"Erase?"

"How cruel!"

Chen Nan silently felt a chill run down his spine.

It wouldn't be difficult to take over Lecheng with these 200,000 people.

But the key question remains whether these 200,000 people are truly on his side.

Even with the initial show of force, those people wouldn't be entirely obedient in carrying out his orders.

Not to mention he had little intention of killing the 300,000 people of Daqian.

For a moment, he regretted speaking too quickly and accepting the task.

Just then, Battalion Commander Wu, who had been called out separately, pursed his lips and asked softly, "General, is there something you need me for?"

Chen Nan smiled slightly: "Commander Wu, right?"

The latter nodded, looking at Chen Nan with a puzzled expression.

"I'd like to ask about the actual situation regarding the loss of Lecheng?"

Upon hearing this question, Battalion Commander Wu hesitated.

After a while, he asked a strange question: "May I ask what position the general holds?"

Battalion Commander Wu wasn't stupid; he knew that in Northern Wei, the lowest rank for someone to enter the main tent for discussions was a fifth-grade general.

However, it seems that a fifth-rank general is still a little short of being able to deal with the person behind Qin Feng.

Without hesitation, Chen Nan revealed his identity: "General Zhennan, Deputy Commander of the Army!"

"Do you have any questions?"