He Lan Tianxia

Lingyi squatted in front of the stone gate, neither eating nor sleeping, guarding it for over a month without any movement. He was filled with regret; he shouldn't have brought the prince and princess to visit his cave. If anything happened to them, even if he were to atone with his death, he wouldn't be able to escape the blame. Seeing their cave master in this state, the snakes were all worried and dared not utter a sound, silently raising their heads and surrounding him.

That morning, a sudden rumble echoed from inside the cave, the stone door burst open, and a whirlwind rushed in, sending sand and stones flying. The prince's body shot out, and with a powerful push off the top of the cave, he executed a beautiful backflip, followed by a fierce tiger coiling into a dragon, standing firmly in front of the cave with his sword.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Lingyi's almost dim eyes. He immediately stepped forward, standing firm and exclaiming joyfully, "Your Highness, we've been waiting for you to emerge!" As soon as he finished speaking, the snakes lined up respectfully in two rows on either side of the cave entrance. Lingyi glanced behind the prince and reminded him, "Where is the Princess Consort?"

"What princess?" the prince asked, puzzled.

"Your Highness, you went in with the Princess."

Suddenly, the prince struck Lingyi with a palm strike, his face cold as he said, "I am not yet married. If you continue to spout nonsense and slander me, I will not let you off easily."

Lingyi touched his cheek, which had been slapped, and looked on with suspicion.

"I think I've lost something?" The prince thought hard, but couldn't remember. He paused, then suddenly added, "I forgot. If you find my things, bring them back to me."

Lingyi wanted to say, "Your Highness, what you lost wasn't a thing, it was a person! How could you forget?" The prince left the stunned Lingyi and walked straight towards the cave entrance.

Outside the cave, a hawk screeched as it approached, clearly having spotted Murong Junlan. It hadn't seen him since tossing him a pheasant. The hawk hadn't expected that Lingyi, the cave master of the Spirit Serpent Cave, had placed a barrier at the entrance, but Lingyi, preoccupied with searching for the prince, had long since removed it. So, the hawk saw Murong Junlan as soon as he emerged and flew straight towards him; Murong Junlan still remembered hawks. Not seeing Yan'er, the hawk flapped its wings and circled around Murong Junlan.

Murong Junlan looked up and noticed a small message slip on the eagle's leg. He picked it up, opened it, and his handsome face immediately turned serious. He asked, "Lingyi, is there a shortcut to the capital Yan Kingdom from here?"

"Is there something urgent, Your Highness?"

"The capital is in dire need of help." Murong Junlan looked at Jiang He's flying eagle messenger in his hand, a hint of urgency in his eyes.

"I am willing to lend Your Highness a hand."

"it is good."

"The woman who came with the prince is still inside," Lingyi dared not fail to remind him.

Murong Junlan thought for a moment, and it seemed that a woman had indeed fallen off the cliff with him, but he couldn't remember what happened afterward. With the capital city in dire need of attention, there was no time to dwell on it, so he decisively said, "Let's return to the capital city first."

"Alright." Lingyi instantly transformed into a giant python. "Your Highness, please take a seat."

"Thank you for your trouble." Murong Junlan bowed and turned to sit on the giant python. With a flick of its tail, the python suddenly soared into the air and flew towards the sky. The python did not go up the Broken Heart Cliff, but instead flew through the dense forest towards the direction of the Capital Yan Kingdom.

At this moment, the Du Yan Kingdom was besieging the city, facing defeat on all sides. The emperor was personally overseeing the battle from the city wall, and Jiang He had been temporarily appointed as a general. A large banner bearing the character "Jiang" fluttered in the wind, but it seemed powerless against the overwhelming force of the enemy army. The enemy's war drums sounded once more, and the enemy troops swarmed towards the city wall like ants.

"Your Majesty, this humble general requests permission to go into battle," Jiang He pleaded with the emperor.

"General Jiang, you have already fought three battles today. I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up if you go any further." The Emperor looked at Jiang He with concern, and then ordered, "Archers, prepare for battle."

"Yes." The archers immediately scrambled to the top of the city wall, lined up in a row, arrows nocked, ready to fire. The enemy wielded their spears, pushed their chariots, and erected siege ladders, launching a massive, overwhelming attack.

"Release!" At the Emperor's command, a volley of arrows was unleashed, thwarting the enemy's first attack, which was followed by an even fiercer assault.

"Your Majesty, we're running low on arrows," Jiang He said with a worried expression. Indeed, after defending the city for a month, even the most abundant weapons would eventually be used up.

"Set it on fire." The emperor was as stubborn as an ox, his eyes blazing with fierce flames.

Jiang He suddenly felt that this seemingly frail man, who usually sat on the throne in the Golden Palace, had become unusually fierce today, and he felt his eyes welling up with tears. Looking at the rolling pile of firewood and the crushing enemy troops, he felt that if he didn't seize this opportunity to catch them off guard, the situation would only worsen. He made up his mind that even if the Emperor forbade it, he wouldn't let this chance slip by. He immediately stepped forward and volunteered, "Your Majesty, this humble general requests permission to fight."

The Emperor glared fiercely ahead with bloodshot eyes, spitting out a single word through gritted teeth: "Granted." Just as Jiang He was about to turn and leave, the Emperor added, "Wait. Change the flag."

"Your Majesty, you absolutely mustn't!" Jiang He exclaimed in alarm. The Emperor was personally leading the battle, and as a general, he bore a heavy responsibility.

"My mind is made up. Open the city gates!"

A short while later, the city gates opened wide, and the Imperial Guards filed out from both sides. A banner bearing the words "Murong" rushed out of the city, and the Emperor donned his battle robes and personally went into battle.

"Charge!" The two armies immediately clashed.

Suddenly, a guard came to report to Jiang He, "General, the Prince's two Red Hare steeds have broken free of their reins and run away!" Jiang He wanted to order the guard to chase after them, but with the enemy at hand and the lives of his soldiers in grave danger, he had no time to worry about the two horses. Although the Prince had been missing for over two months, Jiang He still believed he was alive, so he personally fed the Red Hare steeds every day. However, due to the continuous fighting these past two days, he had been unable to attend to them and had entrusted the care of the guards to him. Considering how fierce the Red Hare steeds were, even on the battlefield they were hard to harm in the slightest, and the fact that the two horses had a habit of looking after each other, he could only silently pray for the two Red Hare steeds. At this moment, an enemy general charged towards the Emperor, and Jiang He immediately leaped forward on his horse to protect him and fight bravely.

The battle raged from dawn till dusk, and then from midnight until daybreak, lasting a full day and night, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

"Your Majesty..." Seeing the enemy reinforcements arriving in an endless stream, Jiang He looked at the exhausted Emperor and didn't know what to do.

"We have nowhere to retreat. If only Lan'er were here." The Emperor sighed deeply. Murong Junlan was a figure feared by the enemy, but tragically, the child fell off the Cliff of Broken Hearts. Was this the ominous sign the Prime Minister spoke of? "Heaven is determined to destroy me, what can I do?"

"I am willing to fight to the death to serve the Emperor and fight the enemy to the bitter end," Jiang He declared immediately. The soldiers were also ready to die for their country and expressed their willingness to live and die with the Du Yan Kingdom.

Seeing this scene, the Emperor laughed loudly and said, "I have you all, that's enough. The capital of Yan has you all, that's enough." The Emperor drew his sword, mounted his horse, and gave the order: "Go to war!" And so another battle broke out outside the capital of Yan, and the sky darkened.

At midday, a sudden sandstorm swept in from the west, and two fiery red steeds galloped in with lightning speed. Riding them were none other than Prince Murong Junlan and Ling Yi, who had transformed back into a handsome young man. Murong Junlan casually grabbed a halberd and charged into the encirclement, while Ling Yi wielded a spear, fighting his way through the enemy ranks. Wherever they went, enemy soldiers fell in terror. Murong Junlan reached the enemy leader, just in time to deflect a blow that was about to strike the emperor's shoulder. After several dozen rounds, he executed a swift counterattack, beheading the enemy commander. Seeing their leader killed, the enemy scattered and fled, their army collapsing in disarray.

"Father, please forgive me for being late in coming to your aid," Murong Junlan said guiltily, looking at his father who looked exhausted and powerless.

"Fortunately, we arrived in time." The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, I knew you were still alive." Jiang He was so excited he didn't know what to say. "So the Red Hare risked its life to find Your Highness."

"Return to the city." This is not the place for reminiscing, so the emperor gave the order, and the army returned to the city.